GB1159375A - Labelling Apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

1,159,375. Labelling machine; feeding webs; endless conveyers. RHONE-POULENC S.A. 11 March, 1968 [16 March, 1967], No. 11716/68. Headings B8A, B8F and B8R. An apparatus for applying labels supplied from a continuous reel to cylindrical articles comprises a rotatably mounted reel 1 of label strip, an intermittent brake and drive mechanism 6, 7, 8 for feeding the label strip 1A in response to signals from a device 5 for detecting the position of the labels, means 13 for cutting a label from the strip when stationary, a pregummed collector 16 for picking up a severed label, a rotary transfer cylinder 21 having an at least partly perforated periphery to which vacuum can be applied, means 23 for removing a label from said collector to enable it to be picked up and held by the vacuum on the transfer cylinder 21, means for feeding articles between the transfer cylinder 21 and a counter pressure member 24, and electrical control means for synchronizing the operation of the brake/drive assembly and cutting means 13 with the position of the label strip 1A and the position of the collector 16. In response to a signal from the detector 5 which senses e.g. notches in the label strip 1A, the drive means 7, 8 is disconnected and the brake 6 applied. A label is severed from the stationary strip 1A by the cutting device 13 and is picked up by the collector 16 which has been previously gummed by the roller system 17. The label is lifted away from the collector 16 by a finger 23 engaging in a peripheral groove in the collector 16 and is picked up by the vacuum apertures of the transfer cylinder 21. It is thus held until the cylinder has rotated to a position where the vacuum is cut off, and the label is transferred to a cylindrical article which has meanwhile been synchronously fed between the transfer cylinder 21 and the counter-pressure member 24, by the conveyer means 27, 28. After application of the label the article is rotated about its cylindrical axis by conveyer belts 29 to ensure a firm securing of the label to the container. The cutter 13 may be replaced by a cutting wheel or hot wire and the control of the brake 6 and the roller 7 may be effected by pneumatic, hydraulic or electrical means. The detecting device 5 may detect the presence of a notch in the label strip by means of a jet of air supplied by the device impinging on the diaphragm of a pneumatic capsule which actuates a contact in an electric circuit controlling the feed of the lable strip. Alternatively the detector device may be a mechanical device, or a photo-electric device detecting a difference in luminosity or an electrical or magnetic device detecting an electrical or magnetic discontinuity respectively in a coating on the label strip. In an alternative arrangement the apparatus disposed upstream of the cutter may be arranged in a substantially vertical plane, the cutting being effected in a substantially horizontal plane.