GB2025896A - Apparatus for printing and dispensing labels - Google Patents

Abstract

The requirement is to provide a hand-held manually-operable label applicator which can easily be threaded with a label web by an inexperienced operator. The applicator includes a spent backing strip 20 mounting and a fresh web mounting 19 and includes in the path of the web a dispense edge defined by a printing platen member 24. The dispense edge and platen member 24 is pivotally mounted to expose the web path between the two mountings 19, 20. By pivoting the dispense edge and platen member a registration device 26 which serves to locate individual labels at an exact location on the platen 24 is moved further to facilitate the threading operation. The invention is applicable to label applicators particularly those which employ a web incorporating a backing strip and a plurality of rectangular or square labels divided from one another by a V-section groove. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Apparatus for printing and dispensing labels This invention relates to apparatus for printing and dispensing labels from a label web including a release-agent coated backing strip and a plurality of labels carried on one face of the strip, such labels being coated with pressure-sensitive adhesive. The individual labels are defined transversely of the web by notches extending into the depth of the web as described in our copending application 4157/78.

Such apparatus, generally known as label applicators, have been in use for many years and requirements by users have led to the development of applicators which are capable of printing two rows of characters on a single label and moreover such printing takes place during a single operational cycle. In one such applicator as described and claimed in our British Patent No.

1,408,755 these objectives were successfully achieved but it is now considered desirable that the amount of force necessary to operate the applicator should be reduced both if the apparatus is manually operated and also if it is to be electrically operated by means of a battery.

It has already been proposed in our co-pending application 1160/78 (NOR V) to reduce the operating force required by disposing a registration device for the applicator upstream of a dispense-edge member where individual labels are peeled from the backing strip. By means of this arrangement registration can be effected without application of a high tension which is required when the feed action and registration action takes place downstream of the dispense-edge member.

The present invention is concerned with a label applicator which has some of the features of our co-pending application 1160/78 but in which the mechanism is incorporated in an applicator in which actuation is effected by means of a squeeze action trigger.

According to the present invention, there is provided apparatus.for printing and dispensing labels from a label web including a backing strip, the individual labels being formed transversely of the strip by notches, said apparatus comprising a label web reel mounting, a spent backing strip mounting, means defining a web path between the mountings, a printing mechanism and a printing platen member forming a part of the web path defining means and arranged to co-operate with the printing mechanism, said platen member being pivotally mounted to facilitate threading of a label web through the web-path defining means.

Label applicators embodying the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which: Figure 1. is a longitudinal section of one embodiment of label applicator; Figure 2 is a side elevation, partly broken away, showing the manner in which a fresh label web can be threaded through the applicator; and Figure 3 is a side elevation of the opposite side of the applicator to that of Figure 1 showing in broken away section the mechanism which controls the indexing movements of a registration device of the applicator.

The applicator 10 illustrated in the drawings comprises a casing 12, and a trigger 14 pivotally mounted on the casing adjacent the one end portion of the applicator which forms a fixed handle 1 6. The main part 18 of the applicator casing carries a label web reel 1 9 projecting beyond the outline of the casing, a take-up reel mounting 20 which serves to re-wind the backing strip after the labels have been dispensed, print heads 22 towards the front of the applicator, a printing platen and dispense-edge member 24 disposed below the printing mechanism and a trigonal registration device 26 disposed in the web path upstream of the platen and dispense-edge member 24.The trigger 14 is generally conventional and has an internal form convenient to receive the fingers of one hand and is pivoted at the end remote from its pivot axis 25 to the fixed handle 16, to a short link 28 spring biased by a helical tension spring 30 in the direction towards the free end of the fixed handle 1 6. The short link 28 is itself pivoted to an arm 32 generally of "L" shape which, in turn, pivotally carries the print heads 22 of the print mechanism. The actuation and operation of the print heads is more fully described respectively in our co-pending application nos. 21429/78 ("Overcentre") and 21428/78 ("Cammed Printing"). Each print head 22 is arranged to have operative print facets 21 inked by a respective one of two rotary ink pads 23.Labels dispensed from the member 24 at a roller 27 can be applied to an article by means of a soft rubber roller 29 disposed forwardly of the roller 27. The roller 27 also acts asa a guide for the spent backing strip.

The movable trigger member 14 serves to drive the rewind reel which in turn actuates the trigonal web. reg-istration device 26 disposed upstream of the printing platen and dispense edge member 24 in the direction of forward movement bf the web.

The drive is further described with reference to Figure 3.

The platen and dispense edge member 24 is pivotally mounted at 34 coaxially with a web -guide roller 36 and as is apparent in Figure 2 the member 24 can be swung downwardly tb enable convenient threading of an.end portion of a fresh label web 38. As will be apparent from Figure 2 a short link 40 is provided between the trigonal registration device 26 and an upstanding portion 42 of the platen and dispense edge member 24.

This link 40 serves to move the trigonal member 26 into a position forward of the web path and a web guide and brake member 44 and cam follower 46 is also moved about its axis to allow access to the rewind reel mounting 20 centrally disposed within the main part 1 8 of the applicator.

A catch (not shown) serves to hold the member 24 in the closed position.

Referring now to Figure 3, the. take-up reel core mounting 20 is rotated in steps by the trigger member 14, an extension 45 of which engages in successive operations an actuating member of a one-way clutch (not shown) of conventional form.

The take-up reel mounting acts to rotate a wheel 48 having asymmetric notches 50 regularly spaced around its periphery through a ratchet arrangement 52. The ratchet arrangement comprises three arcuate ribs 54 on one face of the wheel 48 each having one end enlarged to form a tooth 56 and a member 58 rotatable with the take-up reel mounting including a flexible, elongate tongue 60 arranged to engage successive ones of the teeth 56. The teeth 56 are equally spaced around the periphery of the wheel at intervals of 1260.

The trigonal member is fast for rotation with a three-toothed star pinion 62 which, as is apparent from Figure 3, cannot rotate so long as two arms of the star are in contact with a generally arcuate portion of the wheel. As soon as one of the notches 50 of the wheel 48 is encountered, one arm passes in the notch by engaging a nose 64 of the wheel which causes it to move down one edge of the notch and as the nose 64 contacts a point nearer the centre of the arm, the star pinion is rotated and the trigonal member 26 move through a totai of 1200. Once the notch has passed the star pinion and the next arcuate portions of the wheel is encountered, further rotation of the star pinion in either sense is prevented.

It will be apparent that the star pinion 62 and trigonal member 26 can only turn when the wheel 48 rotates in the direction shown by the arrow.

After registration of each successive label on the trigonal member (described in detail in our co-pending application "Trigonal Registration"), the star pinion prevents the trigonal member from free-wheeling in the reverse sense.

A description of the operation of the hereinbefore described label applicator will now be given. To load a new web reel into the applicator 10, the reel 19 is mounted on the mounting adjacent the fixed handle 16 and a length of the web 38 looped around the member 24 in its downwardly pivoted position as shown in Figure 2 and the free end portion is engaged on the take-up reel located in the mounting 20. The action of pivoting the member 24 to the Figure 2 position moves the guide and brake member 44 away from the trigonal registration member 26 and also provides a large gap adjacent the guide roller 36, to facilitate threading the backing strip on to the spent reel.

When the web 38 has been threaded as shown in Figure 2, the member 24 is swung back to the Figure 1 position and the web assumes the path indicated, that is from the reel 19 it passes around the brake guide member 44, over the trigonal member 26, along the upper surface of the platen 24 past the printing station, around the roller 27, along the under surface of the member 24, around the roller 36 and finally to the spent backing strip take-up reel.

Actuation of the trigger member 14 by a manual squeeze action causes the trigger to pivot at 25 and the extension of the member drives the one-way clutch which in turn drives the take-up reel, the wheel 48, the ratchet arrangement 52, the star pinion 62 and the trigonal registration member 26. As more fully described in our copending application ("Trigonal registration"), the relative position of the member 26 and the brake and guide member 44 is controlled by interaction of the cam follower 46 and the cam 63 mounted for rotation with the star pinion 62. Actual indexing cannot take place however, until the star pinion has encountered one of the notches 50 of the wheel 48 and this does not occur until printing of a label on the platen has been carried out.

As described in our co-pending application 21429/78 ("Overcentre") the trigger member 14 only moves the print heads 22 after the link 28 and the arm have gone over centre and the dimensions and configuration of these parts is such that printing takes place immediately before the indexing action.

The hereinafter described applicator has a straight-forward construction, but nevertheless has the advantages of ease of insertion of a fresh web with automatic take-up of registration of the labels, all active printing and inking takes place in the first half of an operational cycle, printing of the labels is accurately controlled and manufacture involves relatively few parts bearing in mind the facilities provided by the apparatus.

Claims (11)

1. Apparatus for printing and dispensing labels from a label web including a backing strip and pressure-sensitive adhesive labels on one face of the strip, the individual labels being formed transversely of the strip by notches, said apparatus comprising a label web reel mounting, a spent backing strip mounting, means defining a web path between the mountings, a printing mechanism and a printing platen member forming a part of the web path defining means and arranged to co-operate with the printing mechanism, said platen member being pivotally mounted to facilitate threading of a label web through the web-path defining means.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the web path defining means comprises a label registration device disposed upstream of the platen along the web path, said registration device being linked to the platen so that pivotal movement of the platen displaces the registration device thereby to facilitate initial threading of the web through the apparatus.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the web-path defining means includes web brake means between the web mounting and the-platen, the platen including a portion which serves, when the platen is pivoted away from its operational position to displace the brake means from its- normal position thereby further to facilitate initial threading of the web.

4. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the spent backing strip mounting lies wholly within the casing of the applicator.

5. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the printing platen member is elongate and carries a dispense edge for peeling labels from the backing strip disposed at one end of the platen member and a guide roller at the other end arranged to guide the backing strip to the spent backing strip reel.

6. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims comprising actuating means for the printing mechanism and for indexing the web along the web path, said actuating means comprising a trigger member, a one-way clutch operable directly by the trigger member to drive the spent backing strip reel on the backing strip mounting means.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the web-path defining means includes a registration device upstream of the pivotal platen member, said actuating means further including a wheel arranged to index the registration device.

8. Apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the wheel has regularly-spaced peripheral notches and the registration device is rotatable by a star pinion arranged to engage in and be rotated by successive notches, lands of the wheel between the notches serving to lock the registration devices between indexing movements.

9. Apparatus according to claim 8, including a ratchet arrangement between the spent backing strip mounting and said wheel.

1 0. Apparatus for printing and dispensing labels from a label web including a backing strip and pressure-sensitive adhesive labels on one face of the strip, the individual labels being formed transversely of the strip by notches, said apparatus comprising a web reel mounting, brake means, a label registration device, a printing platen and a label dispense edge member arranged in succession along the web-path through the apparatus, and actuating means for actuating the registration device including a trigger member, a one-way clutch and means for releasing the registration device for rotation once during each operational cycle.

11. Apparatus for printing and dispensing labels from a label web including a backing strip and pressure-sensitive adhesive labels on one face of the strip, the individual labels being formed transversely of the strip by notches, said apparatus comprising a label registration device, a printing mechanism, a common trigger member for initiating operation of the registration device and the printing mechanism through a one-way clutch and through a toggle mechanism respectively.

1 2. Apparatus for printing and dispensing labels substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.