EP3507197A1

EP3507197A1 - Labeling device

Info

Publication number: EP3507197A1
Application number: EP17726285.4A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Jörg SCHULTE
Original assignee: KHS GmbH
Current assignee: KHS GmbH
Priority date: 2016-08-31
Filing date: 2017-05-24
Publication date: 2019-07-10
Also published as: DE102016116202A1; WO2018041427A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a labeling device (10) for containers (12), comprising a receiving cylinder (14) having a plurality of recesses (16), which are designed to hold a receiving sponge (18) having a receiving surface (20) for a label (22), said receiving sponge being designed to press the label (22) upon transfer of a label (22) to the container (12). Each receiving sponge (18) according to the invention has at least one recess (30, 32) extending parallel to the receiving surface, such as a bore, for example, which can be penetrated by at least one retaining element (40, 42) held on the receiving cylinder (14).

Description

labeling

The invention relates to a labeling device for labeling containers comprising a receiving cylinder with a plurality of designed for holding a recording sponge recordings, wherein the recording sponge is formed for pressing a label to the container.

There are labeling machines are known, the transport means, label containers, a glue roller, Beleimungspaletten and a receiving cylinder, which removes the labels from the Beleimungspaletten, further transported and transmits to the container. For this purpose, receiving fingers and receiving sponges are provided on the receiving cylinder, by means of which the labels are held and which press the labels to the container. Such a labeling device is disclosed in DE 20 2015 106 745 U1.

Due to their plastic deformability sponges are used as pressing elements for the purpose of pressing on the container. This is associated with various disadvantages.

So the sponges or gripper sponges after a certain time can become contaminated by Verimverschleppung. In addition, the material of the sponges is brittle over time, so that parts of the sponges recording can crumble over time. Furthermore, it is possible that the sponges are damaged by broken pieces in a bottle break. The recording sponge is glued in the known solution to a base plate, and this is replaced together with the sponge recording when it is worn or at regular intervals. On the one hand, however, the handling of an adhesive connection is always problematic. On the other hand, the disposal of bonded polysiloxane and metal materials disposal problems, apart from the fact that the provision of a new base plate with each sponge change is also costly. It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a labeling device, which ensures a simple and inexpensive sponge change of the recording sponge. This object is achieved by a labeling machine with the features of claim 1. Advantageous developments are the subject of the dependent claims. Advantageous embodiments of the invention are also disclosed in the description and in the drawings.

According to the invention, the labeling device includes a receiving cylinder with a plurality of receptacles which are designed to hold a receiving sponge with a receiving surface for a label. The recordings may contain other components, such as Have known receiving finger. The sponge is designed to press a label during the transfer of the label to the container. Each receiving sponge has at least one preferably parallel to the receiving surface recess, e.g. Bore formed by at least one retaining element formed on the receiving cylinder, e.g. Holding rod is enforceable .. The spreader is pushed with its bore on the support rod on the receiving cylinder from above, below or from the side and thus he is securely attached to the receiving cylinder. To change the sponge is simply removed from the holding element and replaced by a new one. In sponge changing, only the sponge itself is the only part to be replaced. This is easier to recycle and the replacement costs are also lower because not as in the prior art, each time the base plate must be changed with.

Although the recess preferably runs parallel to the receiving surface of the sponge, this is not absolutely necessary. The recess (s) can / may also be inclined to the receiving surface.

Preferably, the recess and the retaining element are formed complementary to one another, so that a matching positive connection is achieved in the connection, which does not deform the receiving sponge.

Preferably, the receiving sponge is attached to a carrier which is releasably held on the receiving cylinder. The sponge change can then take place, for example, me the carrier done. In addition, the carrier can be cleaned separately from the receiving cylinder, which facilitates the maintenance of the entire device.

In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the carrier is characterized by a profile with a support leg, e.g. Support plate, formed perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the receiving cylinder, on which supporting leg of the preferably parallel to the axis of rotation of the receiving cylinder extending holding rod is held. Thus, the receiving sponge in its pushed onto the holding rod position on the supporting leg and is thus axially fixed in its working position on the support rod.

Preferably, the profile is an angle profile with a base plate for attachment to the receiving cylinder. The support thus has a base plate which gives the receiving sponge the necessary stability on the rear side facing away from the receiving surface. In principle, a carrier without a base plate can also be used, in which case preferably the rear side of the sponge is reinforced, e.g. through a denser and / or stiffer plastic. The rear side facing away from the receiving surface is thus formed from a material which is inelastic relative to the material of the receiving sponge (rear side reinforcement) and thus gives the receiving sponge the necessary structural stability even in the absence of a base plate. In principle, the carrier can also only hold the holding element, e.g. Have holding rods for fixing the sponge.

In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the receiving sponge as a recess on two mutually parallel bores, which are penetrated by a respective holding rod with preferably circular base. In this way, the recording sponge is fixed immobile. The two support rods preferably extend parallel to the base plate or parallel to the receiving surface of the sponge. Of course, the holding element and the recess may also have a profile deviating from a circle, for example plate-shaped or polygonal. In this case, even a single holding element with a non-circular profile in conjunction with the complementary recess in the sponge is able to fix the sponge immovably to the receiving cylinder. Preferably, the recording sponge in a conventional manner of a compressible foam, such as polysiloxane. However, the back and / or the receiving surface of the sponge may consist of inflexible plastic to ensure the shape of the sponge during operation.

In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the receiving sponge in the form of a ring sector, with an inner radius corresponding to the outer radius of the receiving cylinder. The recording sponge can thus be easily fixed to the outer circumference of the receiving cylinder.

The invention also relates to a method for producing a receiving sponge for a labeling device of the type described above. According to the invention, a sponge part cut to the outer dimension is received and held in a first step by a positioning unit in an effective region of a water jet cutting device. In a subsequent step, at least one bore / opening is introduced into the sponge part by means of a jet of water. In this way, a recording sponge is created, which can be fixed with its water jet cut hole on the support rod of a carrier or receiving cylinder. In this way, a cost-effective and easy to implement the manufacturing process for the sponge is created.

Preferably, the bore is inserted continuously so that it extends from the top to the bottom of the receiving sponge. This is easier to implement with the water jet cutting technology than a blind hole.

In an advantageous development of the invention, the entire recording sponge, including the bore, is cut by means of a water jet from a semifinished product. Thus, not only the holes but also the outer contours of the sponge can be cut by the water jet cutting. The advantage here is the production of the entire sponge by a single manufacturing process, possibly in a manufacturing step.

The embodiments of the invention described above can be combined with one another in any desired manner. The following terms are used interchangeably in this patent application: receiving cylinder - gripper cylinder; Picking sponge - claw sponge - sponge; Container - Can - Bottle; Holding element - holding bar - holding rods; Recess - hole; Pallet - gluing pallet; Support leg - support plate; Mounting leg - base plate;

The invention will be described below by way of example with reference to the schematic drawing. In this show:

1 is a plan view of a labeling device,

2 is a perspective view of a recording sponge in the labeling of FIG. 1,

3 shows a perspective view of a receiving sponge held on a carrier,

4a-c different embodiments for carriers of the receiving sponges,

Figures 5a-c show various embodiments of picking sponges, e.g. for the

Carrier according to FIG. 4a-c,

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a part of a receiving cylinder with

Straps for holding the sponges,

7 shows a perspective view of the carrier from FIG. 6 with a first embodiment of a receiving sponge, FIG.

8 is a perspective view of the carrier of FIG. 6 with a second embodiment of a receiving sponge,

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the receiving cylinder of FIG. 6 with held on the carriers receiving sponges and

Fig. 10 shows two different embodiments of receiving sponges for a large wearer.

1 shows a labeling device 10 for labeling containers 12, eg bottles with a receiving cylinder 14, which has at its circumference at equidistant intervals a plurality of receptacles 16, the receiving sponges 18 having a receiving surface 20 for labels 22 and receiving finger 28. The containers 12 are held in a conveyor and, if necessary, around their own Hochach- rotates, wherein the feed dog is for example in a rotary 24. The containers 12 are thus guided past the receiving cylinder 14, which is about a vertical axis of rotation MA., So that from the receiving cylinder 14 labels 22 can be applied to the container 12 located in the rotary. The adhesive side of the labels 22 faces away from the receiving cylinder 14 so that it faces the periphery of the container 12 on the rotary 24. Furthermore, a label feeding device, shown here for example in the form of a rotating pallet 26, which transports individual labels 22 and transfers them to the receiving cylinder 14. In the labeling device 10, for example, a label strip of a cutting device (not shown here) can be provided in which labels are separated and fed. The separated labels can be transferred via the pallet 26 and the receiving cylinder 14 to the container 12, wherein the pallet 26 and the receiving cylinder 14 rotate in opposite directions. The receptacles 16 of the receiving cylinder 14 each have, in addition to the receiving sponge 20, a receiving finger 28, which removes the labels from the pallet 26. The receiving surface 20 of the receiving sponges 18 may optionally have a protective layer 20 covering at least a portion of the receiving surface 20. The recording sponge 18 shown here is preferably in the form of a ring sector (FIG. 2). FIG. 2 shows the receiving sponge 18 of a first embodiment for the labeling device according to FIG. 1 in a perspective view. The receiving sponge 18 has the shape of a cylinder with the base of a ring sector. It consists mainly of an elastic sponge body 19, made of a soft base material such as polysiloxane. The receiving surface 20 may be formed, for example, as a protective layer with an increased rigidity in comparison to the other sponge body. The receiving sponge serves to receive the label 22 from the pallet 26 and press the label 22 against the peripheral surface of the container 12 upon transfer of the label to the container. The back of the sponge 18 may also have a backside reinforcement, eg formed of a denser and / or stiffer plastic, which gives the sponge 22 the necessary structural stiffness even when received in the receiving cylinder 14 without support on a base plate. In the exemplary embodiment, the entire surface 20 of the receiving sponge 18 facing the label 22 during operation is covered with the protective layer 20, which improves both the protective function for the receiving sponge 18 and the pressure distribution. However, areas of the receiving surface 20 of the receiving sponge can also remain uncovered. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the side surfaces are not covered by a protective layer.

The receiving sponge 18 finally has two vertical bores 30, 32, which serve to fix the receiving sponge 18 to the receiving cylinder 14. The holding mechanism of the receiving cylinder 14 for the receiving sponges 18 may be e.g. be formed as in Fig. 3.

Fig. 3 shows very schematically a carrier 34 for receiving a cuboid receiving sponge 18. The carrier 34 comprises a base plate 36 for fastening on the outer circumference of the receiving cylinder 14. At the lower end of the base plate as a support leg a horizontal support plate 38 is attached, the one Contact surface for the receiving sponge 18 forms. Of the support plate 38 are two support rods 40, 42 vertically upwards, to which the receiving sponge 18 is plugged with its bores 30, 32. In operation, the sponge 18 is supported on its rear side by the base plate 36.

The support plate 38 may in principle also extend vertically, while the support rods 40, 42 extend horizontally. An inclined extension of the holding elements is conceivable.

FIGS. 4a to 4c show three different embodiments of supports 34a-34c for fastening the receiving sponge 18 to the outer circumference of the receiving cylinder 14. In particular, the embodiments of the carriers 34a to 34c of FIGS. 4a to 4c correspond to the receiving spiders 18 of FIGS. 5a to 5c.

Thus, the first embodiment of the carrier 34a of Fig. 4a at the upper and lower ends of the base plate 36 each have a support plate 38a, 38b, so that the carrier 34a has a substantially C-shaped profile. From the lower support plate 38b and the upper support plate 38a each extend two short support rods 40a, 40b, 42a, 42b, or holding stumps whose length is so dimensioned that it is shorter than half the length, in particular the quarter length of the base plate between the lower and upper support plate 38a, 38b. Matching sponge 18 from FIG. 5a has two vertical, in particular through holes 30, 32. The receiving sponge 18 from FIG. 5a is inserted into the carrier 34a of FIG. 4a, for example, by compressing it slightly during insertion and removal becomes. The receiving sponge 18 relaxes after compression, as a result of which the holding rods or stumps 40a, 40b, 42a, 42b remain firmly in the bores 30a, 32a due to the inherent elasticity of the sponge 18.

The support 34b of Figure 4b differs from the support 34a of Figure 4a in that the support rods extend continuously between the upper support plate 38a and the lower support plate 38b. Accordingly, the matching receiving sponge 18 of FIG. 5b vertical slits 31, 33 from the vertical holes 30b, 32b to the back of the sponge 18. In this way, the sponge can be easily pressed with its back horizontally against the support rods 40, 42, which through the slots 31, 33 in the holes 30b, 32b of the sponge 18 slide. In this embodiment, a sponge change is very easy. The carriers 34a and 34b from FIGS. 4a and 4b are screwed to their base plate 36 with a part of the receiving cylinder 14.

Fig. 4c shows a carrier designed for the receiving cylinder 14a of Fig. 6. The carrier 34c has a retaining plate 44 with a positional perforation 46 and two fastening perforations 48a, 48b. The positional perforation 46 is larger than the two fastening perforations 48a, 48b and serves to pass the guide collar 47 of the receiving cylinder 14, as shown in FIG.

Attached to the holding plate 44 according to FIG. 4c is a transversely extending upper support plate 38c, from which the two holding rods 40, 42 extend downwards. On the support rods 40, 42 from the bottom of a cover plate 50 can be plugged or screwed. For changing the receiving sponge 18 from FIG. 5c, the end plate 50 is removed and the receiving sponge 18 is pushed or pulled off axially from / to the bottom. The receiving sponge 18 preferably has a back and / or side reinforcement 52, since the carrier 34c has no baseplate. te, against which the sponge 18 could be supported. The backside reinforcement 52 thus provides the sponge 18 with some structural stability. The rear side reinforcement 52 is preferably made of a harder and relatively inelastic to the other material of the sponge 18 plastic material.

In general, it may be advantageous to improve the durability of the receiving sponges 18 by providing back and / or side reinforcement 52. This is generally done by impregnating the surfaces of the sponge 18 in question in a fluid which remains there and dries out and / or hardens there and / or reacts chemically in a suitable manner and forms a compound. This structure and method for the pretreatment of receiving sponges, as well as the attachment of a protective layer 20, basically known in the art and is also applied here as needed.

Fig. 6 shows the carrier 34c of Fig. 4c matching receiving cylinder 14a.

This contains at equidistant intervals on its outer circumference 60 position flanges 62 for carriers 34d of receiving spurs 18, which position flanges 62, the position perforation 46 engages in the holding plate 44 of the carrier 34c. The two fastening perforations 48a, 48b are penetrated by screws 66a, 66b to secure the carrier 34c securely in the mounted position. Such a receiving cylinder 14a allows a very fast sponge change. Preferably, the associated sponge 18 of FIG. 5c has a backside reinforcement 52. FIGS. 7 and 8 implement the basic attachment shapes of the sponges on the supports 34a, 34b of FIGS. 4a and 4b to the embodiment of the support of FIG. 4c for use in FIG Receiving cylinder 14a of FIG. 6.

Correspondingly, both carriers 34d, 34e have a holding plate 44 with a position perforation 46 and fastening perforations 48a, 48b. The holding plate 44 merges into the base plate 35. In the carrier 34d of Fig. 7 is connected to the base plate 36, a support plate 38 on which two mutually and to the base plate parallel support rods 40, 42 are mounted, which extend upwards. This carrier 34d is particularly suitable for the receiving sponge 18 of Figures 4a and 7, the only the holes 30, 32 has. The Schwannnn 18 can therefore be easily attached to the support rods. Of course, the other receiving sponges can be used with this carrier. For fixing to the receiving cylinder 14a, the position perforation 46 and the fastening perforations 48a, 48b already described in FIG. 4c are formed on the holding plate 44 of the carrier 34d.

The carrier 34e of Fig. 8 differs from that of Fig. 7 in that here an upper support plate 38a and a lower support plate 38b are attached to the base plate 36, between which the support rods 40, 42 extend continuously. Therefore, in particular, the sponge 18 of Figures 5b and 8, in which the holes 30, 32 through slots 31, 33 to the back of the sponge are open, so that the sponge 18 can be pressed horizontally against the support rods, wherein the support rods pass through the slots 31, 33 in the holes 30, 32 of the sponge 18, whereby this is securely held on the carrier 34e. In this case, in particular radially outwardly projecting guide rails on the sides of the base plate 36 are provided (not shown), by means of which the sponge 18 is laterally supported in its rear region and unscrewing from the slots 31, 33 is prevented.

FIG. 9 shows the receiving cylinder 14a with receiving sponges 18 inserted. Furthermore, the guide ring 47 can be seen on which carrier 34 slides radially to and fro during the movement of movement. It can be seen that the fixed guide ring 47 extends through the receiving perforation 46 when the carrier 34 is displaced radially inwards in the direction of the rotation axis MA.

The carrier 34f shown in FIG. 10 has an upper support plate 38a, a lower support plate 38b and a receiving perforation 46. The left receiving sponge 18 in FIG. 10 extends as in the embodiment according to FIG. Fig. 5a, 5b over the entire height of the carrier 34f and is penetrated in the installed position on the top and on the foot side of parallel support rods. The recording sponge 18 shown on the right extends on the same carrier. 10 not over the entire height and beats in the installed state above against the support plate 38a and is at its lower end, for example, by a suitable te end plate 50 is fixed in the raised position. This end plate 50 is clamped in a suitable manner, screwed or fastened in any other way. Alternatively, but not shown, it is also possible to provide at least one spacer element which bridges the distance from the lower support plate 38b to the base of the receiving sponge 18 and in this way supports the receiving sponge 18 in the raised position. An analogous procedure and attachment is of course possible if the receiving sponge does not extend to the very top against the support plate 38a or not quite between the two support plates 38a, 38b. The missing sponge length can be easily compensated and supplemented by suitable spacer and / or clamping elements.

Common to the recording sponges 18 gem. 10 and more generally all receiving sponges 18, which must bridge the area of the receiving perforation 46 or the movement space of a guide such as the guide ring 47, that this on the back of a suitable, analogous recess 46a have, which is in the installed state the height of the receiving perforation 46 is located and in which the guide or the guide ring 47 collision-free retractable. This recess 46a is shown in the figure 10 as a dashed line and basically known in the art.

For installation of the recording sponge 18 shown on the left in Figure 10, it is as in the embodiment according to. 4a, the receiving sponge 18 to be compressed in its length and, after positioning on the support 34f and on the support rods 40, 42, to relax it again, so that the full length is reached again.

In the present case, if a plurality of carriers 34 and corresponding picking sponges 18 have been shown, one will usually provide a carrier on which most of the shapes and sizes of picking sponges 18 can be arranged. This is esp. The carrier 34f gem. 10, which allows the fixing of different sponge sizes and shapes with very small clamping and / or spacer elements. LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

10 labeling device

12 containers - bottle

14 receiving cylinder

16 recording

18 recording sponge

19 sponge body

20 pickup area for a label

22 label

24 rotary container transport machine

26 pallet

28 receiving finger

30 first hole

31 first slot

32 second bore

33 second slot

34 carriers (34a-34f)

36 base plate

38 support plate

40 first stop bar

42 second holding bar

44 retaining plate

46 position perforation

46a recess

47 Wreath

48a, b fixing perforations

50 end plate

52 rear side reinforcement

60 outer circumference of the receiving cylinder

62 position flange

66a, b fixing screws

MA axis of rotation MA.

Claims

claims:

1 . A labeling device (10) for containers (12), comprising a receiving cylinder (14) with a plurality of receptacles (16) designed to hold a receiving sponge (18) with a receiving surface (20) for a label (22), which receiving sponge is formed when a label (22) is transferred to the container (12) for pressing on the label (22), characterized in that each receiving sponge (18) has at least one recess (30, 32) preferably parallel to the receiving surface , eg Bore, which is enforceable by at least one on the receiving cylinder (14) formed holding element (40, 42).

2. Device (10) according to claim 1, characterized in that the holding element (40, 42) to the recess (30, 32) is complementary.

3. Device (10) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the receiving sponge (18) by means of a carrier (34) on the receiving cylinder (14) is held.

4. Device (10) according to claim 3, characterized in that the carrier (34) by a profile with a support plate (38) perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the receiving cylinder (14) is formed, on which support plate (38) the holding element (40, 42) is held.

5. Device (10) according to claim 4, characterized in that the profile (34) is an angle section with a mounting leg, e.g. a base plate (36) for attachment to the receiving cylinder (14).

6. Device (10) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the holding element is formed by a holding rod, preferably by two parallel support rods (40, 42).

7. Device (10) according to claim 6, characterized in that the Aufnahmeschwannnn (18) has two mutually parallel recesses, in particular bores (30, 32), which are penetrated by a respective holding rod (40, 42).

8. Device (10) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the receiving sponge (18) has a receiving surface (20) facing away from the rear side reinforcement (52), which is formed from a relative to the other material of the receiving sponge (18) inelastic material ,

9. Device (10) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the receiving sponge (18) consists of a compressible foam.

10. Device (10) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the receiving sponge (18) has the shape of a ring sector, with an inner radius corresponding to the outer radius of the receiving cylinder (14).

1 1. Method for producing a receiving sponge (18) for a labeling device (10) according to one of the preceding claims, in which a sponge part cut to the outer dimension is received and held in a first step by a positioning unit in the effective region of a water jet cutting device, and in a subsequent step in the sponge part by means of a water jet at least one recess (30, 32) / opening is introduced.

12. The method according to claim 1 1, characterized in that the recess (30, 32) is introduced continuously.

13. The method of claim 1 1 or 12, characterized in that the entire receiving sponge (18) including the recess (30, 32) is cut by means of a water jet from a semifinished product.