GB2157260A - Applying stamps to packets - Google Patents

Abstract

Stamps are applied against a face of hinged lid packets 2 located on a conveyor 6 by an applicator 7. The stamps extend beyond the face edge. Synchronised conveyor and folding bands convey the products and fold over the stamps respectively. The folding band has its run spaced from the packets and angled towards them to provide a component of movement perpendicular to the packet movement to enable folding. Folding members on the folding band may fold over the stamps at the leading or trailing side of the packets. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Applying stamps to packets This invention relates to the application of stamps onto packets and particularly concerns the application of revenue stamps onto hinged lid cigarette packets.

The faces of a hinged lid packet may be identified as the front, back, sides and ends. The top and bottom ends are the faces of smallest area, while the front and back are the faces of largest area.

The hinged lid extends over the top end and over part of the front face, and is opened to allow cigarettes to be removed by hinging about a line towards the top of the back face. Revenue stamps are usually applied to a hinged lid packet at a position which covers the hinge line on the back face, or else at a position which covers part of the opening on a side face and part of the hinge line on the back face.

In a known arrangement hinged lid packets formed on a packing machine are conveyed with their front facing down, and with a side face leading, towards a wrapping machine which wraps each packet in a transparent wrapper. The wrapper is wrapped around the front, back and side faces and the edges are then tucked over the end faces and sealed. The wrapper is usually provided with a tear strip which lies at the boundary between the body and lid on the front face. It is necessary for hinged lid packets to enter the wrapping machine in the same orientation, and the apparatus for applying revenue stamps must therefore be adaptable if the stamps are to be applied at different positions.

Stamps are usually applied while the packets are being conveyed towards a wrapping machine. A suitable apparatus for applying stamps to the backs of packets is described in British patent specification No. 2103586. However, if the stamp is also required to cover part of the side face, then means must be provided for folding the stamp.

In a known machine the packets each have a stamp applied to part of the back face so that it projects over a side face. The packets are then successively transferred into a vertical stack where the projecting part of each stamp is folded down by side guides in the stack which define a space just large enough for the packets to pass upwards. The stack also provides extra pressure to secure each stamp onto its respective back face.

The disadvantages of forming a stack in the manner described are that a complicated mechanism is required for feeding packets to the stack, and that a change in height occurs between the packing machine and the wrapping machine.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved arrangement for applying stamps to packets, and in particular to hinged lid cigarette packets.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of applying a stamp to a first face and to an adjoining second face of a packet, comprising the steps of continuously transporting a packet along a linear path with said first face parallel to said path, applying part of a stamp onto said first face while the packet is being transported along said path, and progressively folding the remaining part of the stamp onto said second face with a moving folder having a component of movement perpendicular to said path.

By the term "stamp" is meant any form of adhesive label, including a revenue stamp, banderole and the like.

The method may be employed for applying stamps to hinged lid cigarette packets, before the packets are individually overwrapped in a transparent wrapper.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided apparatus for applying a stamp to a first face and to an adjoining second face of each of a succession of packets (for example hinged lid cigarette packets), comprising a timed conveyor means for continuously transporting a packet along a linear path with said first face thereof parallel to said path, means for applying part of a stamp onto said first face while the packet is being transported along said path, a conveyor band having a folder mounted thereon which in the operative run of the band is timed to engage with the stamp on the packet, said band moving during its operative run with a component of movement perpendicular to said path, so that the folder folds the remaining part of the stamp onto said second face.

In a preferred apparatus the first face is the uppermost face and the conveyor band moves downwards such that the folder folds the stamp onto the leading or trailing face of the packet. When applying stamps to hinged lid cigarette packets which are being conveyed between a packing machine and a wrapping machine, the stamps are thereby folded onto either the leading side faces or the trailing side faces of said packets.

In a preferred arrangement said conveyor band is in the form of a timing belt having transverse grooves on its inner side which cooperate with corresponding ridges on sprockets. Preferably said band is supported by three sprockets, one of which is driven.

Said perpendicular component of movement during the band's operative run may then be provided by an inclined portion of the band between two of the sprockets, the remaining downstream part of the operative run being parallel to said path. By reversing the direction of the folder on the band, and appropriately changing the timing of the band, it may be arranged to adapt the apparatus to folding stamps over either the leading or the trailing faces of packets.

In a preferred arrangement a plurality of equally spaced folders are mounted on said band. Preferably a plurality of pushers are mounted on the conveyor means, the spacing between them being equal to that between the folders on the band.

Adjacent to said folder the band may be provided with a resilient pad for applying pressure against said part of the stamp on the first face of the packet, particularly during the downstream parallel run of the band.

Alternatively pressure band means may be trained around the conveyor band, said pressure band means being provided with apertures timed to correspond with the folders and through which said folders extend into said path. Where the conveyor means is a top band, said pressure band means may be provided merely by widening the top band.

The invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which: Figure 1 is a schematic front elevation of an apparatus for applying revenue stamps to the back face of hinged lid cigarette packets and for folding each such stamp onto the trailing side face of its respective packet.

Figure 2 is a rear elevation of the folding apparatus shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a rear elevation of the apparatus shown in Figure 2 which has been modified to fold stamps onto the leading side faces of packets.

Figure 4 is a plan view of the apparatus shown in Figure 3.

In the apparatus of Figure 1 a star wheel 1 feeds hinged lid cigarette packets 2 from a packing machine via an elevated packet reservoir (not shown).

The packets are lowered onto a platform 4 having a central channel through which pushers mounted on a conveyor 6 transport the packets towards a stamp applicator wheel 7.

The wheel 7 rotates in synchronism with the pushers 5 and has two segmental supports 8 each to hold a stamp by vacuum. As a stamp support 8 passes under a stack 9 of revenue stamps, suction is applied to the support to remove one stamp (not shown) from the stack. The wheel 7 rotates past a glue applicator, shown generally at 10, which applies glue to the stamp, and then rotates further to apply the stamp onto a packet 2. For a more detailed description of such a stamp applicator reference may be made to the above mentioned G.B.

specification No. 2103586.

Packets are transported along platform 4 with a side face leading and with their back face uppermost The timing between the conveyor 6 and the applicator wheel 7 may be adjusted to place the stamps in different positions, i.e. it may be applied to the back face only or to the back face and one of the side faces. In Figure 1 the applicator wheel 7 applies a stamp to the back face of each packet but with a portion extending over the trailing side face.

This portion is then folded onto the trailing side face by the folding apparatus 12, which will be described in greater detail with reference to Figures 2 to 4.

On leaving the folding apparatus 12 an oscillating pusher 14 plunges each packet 2 into a pocket 15 of a wrapper drum 16 to entrain a sheet of transparent film which then partially surrounds the packet. The wrapper drum 16 (which forms part of a wrapping machine) then indexes to continue the process of wrapping the packet.

The folding apparatus 12 is shown from the rear in Figure 2 and includes a conveying band 20 and a folding band 21. Both of these bands are timing belts made from a plastics material, as they have to be accurately synchronised and must not slip or stretch. Alternatively the bands could be formed from chains or links made from metal or other suitable materials.

The conveying band 20 is supported by two sprockets 22 and 23 while the folding band 21 is supported by three sprockets 24, 25 and 26. The sprockets engage with transverse grooves formed on the insides of the respective bands. Sprockets 22 and 26 are mounted on a common drive shaft 31 about which the whole assemblies of the bands 20 and 21 are pivotable to facilitate access to the platform 4 and conveyor 6.

A first region of the folding band 21 between sprocket 24 and 25 is slightly downwardly inclined with respect to the direction of movement of the conveying band 20, although the inclination is shown exaggerated in the drawings for the sake of clarity. Sprocket 25, which acts as a guide for the folding band 21, may be replaced by a fixed guide plate but is preferably a sprocket which is free to rotate. A second region of the folding band between sprockets 25 and 26 is parallel to the conveying band 20.

The bands 20 and 21 travel at a slightly greater speed than conveyor 6 (Figure 1), therefore as a packet 2 approaches the end of conveyor 6 it is pushed by a pusher 26 mounted on the band 20.

During transport by the pusher 26 over the first region, a folder 27 on the band 21 approaches the packet. As the folder 27 passes around sprocket 25 a stamp S secured to the back face of the packet is folded into the required position and is held in that position over the second region until the folder 27 reaches sprocket 26. A section of resilient foam material forming a pad 28 applies pressure to the portion of the stamp S secured to the back face.

Brushes 29 are provided along both sides of the platform 4 to prevent the packets from twisting under the forces applied by a pusher 26 and a folder 27, and to provide a resistance to forward movement of the packet to ensure that there is sufficient pressure between the folder 27 and the packet to secure the remaining folded portion of the stamp against the trailing side face.

The spacing between successive folders 27 is constant and equal to the distance between successive pushers 26. In the embodiment shown the bands are of equal length and the number of folders on the folding band is therefore equal to the number of pushers on the conveying band.

In the modified arrangement shown in Figures 3 and 4 the apparatus has been adapted to apply stamps to the back and to the leading side faces of the packets as they are conveyed towards the wrapper drum 16. The folding band 21 of Figure 2 has been removed and applied to sprockets 24, 25 and 26 in the reverse direction. The folding members 27 must also be longitudinally displaced relative to the pushing members 26 by a distance equal to the width of the packets being wrapped. It can be seen by comparing Figure 3 with Figure 2 that when stamps S are folded onto the trailing side faces, each stamp is held firmly onto the back face by a pad 28 before the stamp is actually folded. However, this may not be the case when folding the stamp onto the leading side face.

In an alternative non-illustrated embodiment for folding stamps on to the leading side face (or trailing side face), the conveying band is wider than the band 20 shown and extends over the position of each stamp which has been stuck onto the back face. Apertures are provided in the conveying band to allow folders to fold the stamps onto their respective leading (or trailing) faces while they are held firm by said band. Folders are again mounted on a folding band, but the band rotates within the conveying band and therefore has fewer folders than the conveyor band has pushers, although the spacings are again equal and the bands move at the same speed.

In another alternative embodiment (not shown) the conveyor 6 is extended to replace the conveyor band 20. The conveyor 6 and the folding band 21 must be accurately synchronised and preferably have a common drive means.

The method and apparatus are not restricted to applying stamps to hinged lid cigarette packets, and may for example be used for applying labels or the like onto boxes or cartons. If required to ap ply stamps onto an end face and to an adjacent side face of a packet, the folding band (and possi bly the conveying band) may be arranged perpendicular to the planes of Figures 1 to 3 in which the packets are being transported, so that the sprockets 24, 25 and 26 rotate about vertical axes.

Claims (11)

1. A method of applying a stamp to a first face and to an adjoining second face of each of a succession of packets, comprising the steps of continuously transporting each packet along a linear path with said first face parallel to said path, applying part of a stamp onto said first face while the packet is being transported along said path, and progressively folding the remaining part of the stamp onto said second face with a moving folder having a component of movement perpendicular to said path.

2. Apparatus for applying a stamp to a first face and to an adjoining second face of each of a succession of packets (for example hinged lid cigarette packets), comprising a timed conveyor means for continuously transporting each packet along a linear path with said first face thereof parallel to said path, means for applying part of a stamp onto said first face while the packet is being transported along said path, a conveyor band having a folder mounted thereon which in the operative run of the band is timed to engage with the stamp on the packet, said band moving during its operative run with a component of movement perpendicular to said path, so that the folder folds the remaining part of the stamp onto said second face.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2, in which said conveyor band is in the form of a timing belt having transverse grooves on its inner side which cooperate with corresponding ridges on sprockets about which the band is trained.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3, in which said band is trained about by three sprockets, one of which is driven.

5. Apparatus according to any of claims 2 to 4, in which a plurality of equally spaced folders are mounted on said band.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5, in which a plurality of pushers are mounted on the conveyor means, the spacing between them being equal to that between the folders on the band.

7. Apparatus according to any of claims 2 to 6, in which said conveyor band is provided adjacent to said folder with a resilient pad for applying pressure against said part of the stamp on the first face of the packet, particularly during the downstream parallel run of the band.

8. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 2 to 6, further comprising pressure band means for applying pressure against said part of the stamp on the first face of the packet, said pressure band means being provided with apertures timed to correspond with the folders and through which said folders extend into said path.

9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 8, in which said conveyor means is located adjacent to said first face and incorporate said pressure band means.

10. A method of applying a stamp to a first face and to an adjoining second face of each of a succession of packets, substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

11. Apparatus for applying a stamp to a first face and to an adjoining second face of each of a succession of packets, substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.