JP2011057248A - Label applicator - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a label applicator for surely knowing whether a label is attached properly or not. <P>SOLUTION: The first color sensor 150 is provided to cover one of a plurality of nozzles. The second color sensor 160 is provided at the downstream of a transfer part 170. The sensor 150 detects a suction position for a label L through the nozzle while the label L is sucked by a suction part 141. The sensor 150 detects the moving trajectory of the label L on an object W to be applied which is transferred by the part 170 after the label L, is attached to the object W. The sensor 160 detects the label L attached to the object W transferred by the part 170 at the downstream of the part 170. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a label attaching device for attaching a label to a product.

  Currently, in supermarkets, which are an example of merchandise stores, for example, an operator uses a printing device on a product whose expiry date is approaching, and manually attaches a discount label to the product. A product sales system is in place to promote sales and reduce inventory. When products are provided to customers in this way, various devices and systems are used in merchandise sales stores.

  For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a label attaching device. In the label sticking device described in Patent Document 1, when the end face of the label sticking object passes through the frame of the position detector, the position is detected, and the label applicator is moved in accordance with this position.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-112728

  However, the above-described conventional label applicator is configured to move the label applicator in accordance with the position of the end face of the object, but it is not certain whether or not the label has been applied reliably. .

  The objective of this invention is providing the label sticking apparatus which can recognize reliably whether the sticking of the label was performed appropriately.

(1) A label affixing device according to one aspect is a label affixing device that affixes a label for displaying product information to an object, and includes a conveyance unit that conveys the object and an object conveyed by the conveyance unit. And a first detection unit that is provided in the affixing unit and detects a position where the label is affixed to the object.

  In the label sticking device according to one aspect, the object is transported by the transport unit. A label is affixed with respect to the target object conveyed by the conveyance part by the affixing part. And the 1st detection part detects the sticking position to the target object of a label.

  In this case, since the position where the label is attached to the object is detected by the first detection unit provided in the attaching part, it is possible to detect whether or not the attaching position is appropriate before attaching. . Further, since the first detection unit is provided in the pasting unit, the relative positional relationship between the first detection unit and the label is constant. Therefore, the detection accuracy of the pasting position is affected by the influence of the height and inclination of the object. Can be prevented from decreasing. Furthermore, since it is detected whether or not the pasting position is appropriate before pasting, the influence of ambient light can be suppressed or prevented. Thereby, the detection accuracy of the pasting position is improved.

(2) The label affixing device may further include a determination unit that determines whether or not the label is appropriately affixed to the object based on the detection result by the first detection unit. In this case, since the determination unit determines whether or not the label is properly attached to the object, after that, depending on the determination result, a measure such as a warning can be taken.

(3) It is preferable that the affixing unit has a nozzle for adsorbing and adhering the label by air suction and blowing, and the first detection unit is provided on the nozzle.

  In this case, the label that is adsorbed and held by the nozzle of the affixing unit is affixed to the object. Since the first detection unit is provided on the nozzle, the labeling position is affixed by the first detection unit via the nozzle in a state where the possibility of being affected by ambient light is extremely low. Whether or not is appropriate.

(4) A conveyance part may convey the target object with which the label was affixed, and a 1st detection part may detect the label after a sticking process and the movement locus | trajectory of a target object.

  In this case, the movement of the label and the object after the pasting process is detected by the first detection unit, so that the subsequent movement of the label and the object can be recognized. If the movement of the label and the object is the same, it can be determined that the pasting has been performed normally, while if the movement of the label and the object is different, the pasting is normal. It can be judged that it was not done.

(5) The label affixing device may further include a second detection unit that detects the label and the object after the affixing process downstream of the conveyance path by the conveyance unit.

  In this case, even if the normal attachment position is detected by the first detection unit, when the label is peeled off or displaced after that, the change in the attachment position due to these is detected by the second detection unit. Can be detected. Therefore, it can be recognized whether there is any abnormality in the attaching position even after the label is attached.

(6) One or both of the first detection unit and the second detection unit may include a color sensor. In this case, it is possible to accurately detect the label attachment position by employing the color sensor. That is, the background color, the color of the transport unit, the color of the object, and the color of the label can be clearly recognized by the color sensor, so that the label attaching position can be accurately detected.

  According to the label applicator according to the present invention, it is possible to reliably recognize whether or not the label has been appropriately applied.

It is a schematic diagram which shows schematic structure of the label sticking apparatus which concerns on this embodiment. It is a schematic diagram which shows the structure of the label printer which issues the label used with a label sticking apparatus. It is a perspective view which shows the state of the 1st color sensor provided on the nozzle block. It is a schematic diagram which shows schematic structure of the guide apparatus used at the time of conveyance of a target object. It is a schematic diagram which shows the other example of a sticking head. It is a schematic diagram which shows the label guide provided in the adsorption | suction part. It is a schematic diagram which shows the other example of the peeling method of a label. It is a perspective view which shows the other example of the alignment method of a target object.

  Hereinafter, a label attaching apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a label affixing device 100 according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of a label printer 800 that issues a label used in the label affixing device 100. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a state of the first color sensor 150 provided on the nozzle block 142, and FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the guide device 400 used when the object W is conveyed. .

  As shown in FIG. 1, the label affixing device 100 according to the present embodiment mainly includes a control unit 120, a suction device 130, an affixing head 140, a first color sensor 150, a second color sensor 160, and a transport unit 170. . A label printer 800 for issuing a label and a guide device 400 for guiding an object (article) W to which the label is attached are provided upstream of the label attaching device 100. The details of the configuration of the label printer 800 and the guide device 400 will be described later.

  The pasting head 140 includes a nozzle block 142 having a suction portion 141 that sucks and holds the label L.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the nozzle block 142 is regularly provided with a plurality of nozzles 143 communicating with the suction device 130 of FIG. Each of the plurality of nozzles 143 is formed so as to penetrate from the upper surface of the nozzle block 142 to the lower surface (suction portion 141).

  The control unit 120 controls the suction device 130 to suck, blow out, and stop air from the plurality of nozzles 143. The label L is sucked and held by the suction portion 141 by suction of air by the plurality of nozzles 143. Further, the label L sucked and held by the sucking portion 141 is attached to the object W by blowing air from the plurality of nozzles 143. The object W to which the label L is affixed is conveyed downstream along the direction H1 by a conveying unit 170 formed of a belt conveyor or the like. A second color sensor 160 is disposed downstream of the transport unit 170.

  In FIG. 3, a plurality (two in FIG. 3) of first color sensors 150 are provided so as to cover any one of the plurality of nozzles 143.

  The first color sensor 150 detects the suction position of the label L during the suction of the label L by the suction portion 141. In this case, the position of the label L is detected via the nozzle 143. Further, the first color sensor 150 detects the movement locus of the label L on the object W conveyed by the conveying unit 170 after the label L is attached to the object W.

  The second color sensor 160 detects the label L attached to the object W transported by the transport unit 170 downstream of the transport unit 170.

  Based on the detection result by the first color sensor 150 and the detection result by the second color sensor 160, the control unit 120 determines whether or not the label L is adsorbed to the adsorption unit 141 at an appropriate position, and the label L is an object. It is determined whether or not it is properly attached to W. Depending on the determination result, the control unit 120 causes a warning device (not shown) to warn. Thereby, the operator can recognize in real time whether or not the label L is appropriately attached to the object W.

  Here, it is preferable to employ a color sensor as a detector rather than a camera. This is because the background color, the color of the transport unit 170, the color of the object W, and the color of the label L can be clearly recognized by the color sensor, so that the label L attachment position can be accurately detected. In addition, the color sensor is relatively low cost, has a small amount of data, and therefore has a high transfer speed and low power consumption.

  The feature of the label printer 800 shown in FIG. 2 is that it has a mechanism for peeling the label and a mechanism for cutting the label.

  As shown in FIG. 2, in the label printer 800, the label sheet LS pulled out from the strip-shaped label roll 810 is printed and conveyed by a thermal head 820 and a printing roller 830 which are printing conveyance mechanisms.

  Next, only the mount LD is turned from the label sheet LS on the release plate 840 by the release plate 840 and the assist roller 850 which are release mechanisms, and the belt-like label L is released from the mount LD. The mount LD is wound up by the mount winder 860.

  On the other hand, the peeled strip-shaped label L is cut into an arbitrary length by an auto cutter 870 which is a cutting mechanism, and is conveyed as a single label piece on a label standby table 880 subjected to non-adhesive processing. In the above description, it is assumed that the thermal head 820 prints on thermal paper, but an ink ribbon transport mechanism may be added to form a thermal transfer printing mechanism or an inkjet printing mechanism.

  As described above, the label L having different sizes can be issued by one label printer 800 by performing printing, peeling, and cutting continuously. This eliminates the need for the operator to replace the label roll when issuing labels L of different sizes. Further, since the peeled label L can be automatically issued, it is not necessary for the operator to perform the peeling work, and the working time can be greatly reduced. Therefore, the label L can be smoothly supplied to the label applicator 100.

  Furthermore, the number of types of labels that have conventionally been ordered and managed for each label size is reduced, and the types of inventory and the number of inventory can be reduced. In addition, a reduction in label costs can be expected due to the large quantity ordering of the same type of labels and the reduction of the label punching process.

  In the label printer 800, the assist roller 850, the auto cutter 870, and the label stand 880 can be integrally configured as a unit 890. The unit 890 can be opened and closed in the direction of the arrow D3 with reference to the lower fulcrum 891. In such a configuration, the label L can be easily loaded by rotating the unit 890 to be in the open state.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the guide device 400 includes a guide part 410 and a guide part 411 having symmetrical shapes. One end of the guide portion 410 is provided with a roller guide portion 420 that can reciprocate along the direction of the arrow D <b> 1 by the operation of the advance / retreat mechanism 430. Similarly, at one end of the guide portion 411, a roller guide portion 421 capable of reciprocating along the direction of the arrow D1 by the operation of the advance / retreat mechanism 431 is provided.

  The roller guide unit 420 is provided with a plurality of rollers 422 arranged in an arc. Similarly, the roller guide portion 421 is provided with a plurality of rollers 423 arranged in an arc.

  In the guide device 400 having such a configuration, the roller guide portion 420 and the roller guide portion 421 start moving along the direction of the arrow D1 when contacting the object W.

  In the guide device 400, since the plurality of rollers 422 and the plurality of rollers 423 are respectively arranged in an arc shape, the object W that is conveyed away from the path is guided by the roller guide portions 420 and 421. In this case, the roller guide portions 420 and 421 move in the direction of the arrow D1 regardless of the position on the side surface portion (the rollers 422 and 423 side), and the conveyance direction of the object W is the same as the arrow D1. Direction, that is, the normal transport direction. Thereby, the conveyance direction of the target object W can always be corrected to the same direction. Therefore, the object W whose transport direction has been corrected can be supplied to the label attaching apparatus 100. Therefore, the label L can be stably applied.

  Further, when the object W is moved while being in contact with the roller guide portions 420 and 421, the friction when the object W is in contact with the roller guide portions 420 and 421 can be reduced. Thereby, the effective angle of the contact surface of the roller guide parts 420 and 421 gradually becomes smaller with the movement, and the speed change in the conveyance direction of the object W can be suppressed. Thereby, the influence which it has on the precision of the label sticking process of the next process can be made small.

<Effect in this embodiment>
In the present embodiment, the position where the label L is attached to the object W is detected by the first color sensor 150 provided in the attaching head 140, so that the attaching position during suction holding before attaching is performed. Whether or not is appropriate. In addition, since the first color sensor 150 is provided on the pasting head 140, the relative positional relationship between the first color sensor 150 and the attracted label L is constant. It can prevent that the detection accuracy of a sticking position falls by the influence of. Furthermore, since it is detected whether or not the attaching position is appropriate during the suction holding before attaching, the influence of disturbance light can be suppressed or prevented. Thereby, the detection accuracy of the suction position and the pasting position is improved. Therefore, it can be surely recognized whether or not the label L has been properly applied.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the movement of the label L and the object W after being pasted is detected by the first color sensor 150, whereby the subsequent movement of the label L and the object W can be recognized. If the movement of the label L and the object W is the same, it can be determined that the sticking has been performed normally. On the other hand, if the movement of the label L and the object W is different, the sticking is performed. It can be determined that the attachment was not performed normally.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, even if a normal attachment position is detected by the first color sensor 150, when the label L is peeled off or displaced after that, the attachment position due to these is detected. The change can be detected by the second color sensor 160. Therefore, it can be recognized whether there is any abnormality in the attaching position even after the label L is attached. Therefore, it can be surely recognized whether or not the label L has been properly applied.

<Correspondence between each component of claims and each part of the embodiment>
In the above embodiment, the label attaching device 100 corresponds to a label attaching device, the label L corresponds to a label, the object W corresponds to an object, the transport unit 170 corresponds to a transport unit, and is attached. The head 140 corresponds to the pasting unit, the first color sensor 150 corresponds to the first detection unit, the control unit 120 corresponds to the determination unit, the suction unit 141 corresponds to the suction unit, and the second color sensor 160 This corresponds to the second detection unit, and the nozzle 143 corresponds to the nozzle.

<Modification>
In addition, you may comprise the sticking head 140 of FIG. 1 as follows. As shown in FIG. 5A, an attaching head 500 having an inclined attaching surface 510 is used. In the pasting head 500, the width s1 of the suction holding surface of the label L is designed to be smaller than the width s2 of the label L.

  As shown in FIG. 5 (b), when the article to be conveyed is a substantially convex object W1, when the sticking head 500 is rotated in accordance with the surface shape of the object W1, the label L The edge wraps around the inclined pasting surface 510 of the pasting head 500. Thereby, even if the object has a substantially convex shape, the label L is pressed against the surface of the object W1 by the inclined attachment surface 510 and is firmly attached. Thereby, there is no pasting defect and the working efficiency can be improved.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 6A, a label guide may be provided in the suction portion 141 of FIG. In FIG. 6A, a U-shaped label guide 600 is provided so as to surround the plurality of nozzles 143.

  In the suction portion 141, as shown in FIG. 6B, the label L is sucked and held by the plurality of nozzles 143 while being surrounded by the label guide 600.

  In such a state, as shown in FIG. 6C, even when the suction portion 141 is instantaneously rotated 90 degrees clockwise, for example, by providing the label guide 600, the label L by the plurality of nozzles 143 is provided. The holding state does not shift.

  Thereby, the label L can be affixed to the target object W in an appropriate holding state. This eliminates the need for the operator to redo the label L. Therefore, work efficiency is improved and quality is stabilized. Further, since it is not necessary to increase the suction force of the nozzle 143 and no means for that purpose, an increase in cost can be avoided.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the peeling plate 840 was used as a peeling mechanism, it is not limited to this, You may use the following peeling shafts.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the angle α formed by the rotation direction D2 of the strip-shaped label roll 810 around which the mount LD with the plurality of labels L attached is wound and the axis a1 of the peeling shaft 700 excludes 90 degrees, for example. The peeling shaft 700 is disposed so as to be 75 degrees. In such a configuration, the label L is peeled from the corner region RA of the label L. The angle α is preferably 45 to 85 degrees. Note that the mount LD from which the label L has been peeled is sequentially wound around the mount winder 860.

  With the above configuration, the label L can be easily peeled from the mount LD. That is, as described above, by disposing the peeling shaft 700 in an oblique direction with respect to the rotation direction D2, as compared with the case where the peeling shaft 700 is disposed perpendicular to the rotation direction D2, the label is separated from the mount LD. The area where L begins to peel can be reduced. Thereby, the label L becomes easy to peel off.

  By adopting the present invention, a non-transition label, a cosmetic label, a label with a wide width and a short top (for example, 2 mm), a label with a small thickness, which have been difficult to use conventionally from the viewpoint of improving the peelability. , And highly viscous labels can be used. A non-transfer label means a label that is not a full-auto label (transfer label) that has been peeled off once in the label manufacturing process and then re-attached to the backing sheet, thereby improving the peelability and edge cutting property. The decorative label is a label without printing and is a kind of non-transition label.

  Further, in the food industry, there is much demand for the decorative label in addition to the printed label, and the present invention is useful. In other industries using FA (factory automation) other than the food industry, various types of labels are often used, and these label peeling operations are facilitated by the present invention. Therefore, it leads to market expansion.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although it decided to align the target object W using the guide apparatus 400 of FIG. 4, it is not limited to this, You may use the following belt conveyors.

  As shown to Fig.8 (a), the belt conveyors 900 and 910 which convey the target object W are arrange | positioned along with mutually parallel. A camera 920 is disposed above the belt conveyors 900 and 910.

  The belt conveyors 900 and 910 can be controlled independently. The camera 920 detects the position and orientation of the object W being conveyed. When the position and orientation of the object W are detected by the camera 920, the speeds of the belt conveyors 900 and 910 are adjusted to be different from each other by a control unit (not shown). As a result, a speed difference occurs between the speeds of the belt conveyors 900 and 910. By using this speed difference, the position and orientation of the object W are corrected by rotating the object W on the belt conveyors 900 and 910. After the correction, the speed difference between the belt conveyors 900 and 910 is eliminated and the object W is conveyed. The correction method will be briefly described below.

  As shown in FIG. 8A, the object W whose direction is shifted enters the belt conveyors 900 and 910.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 8B, after a shift in the direction of the object W is detected by the camera 920, the speed of the belt conveyors 900 and 910 is adjusted by a control unit (not shown). Thereby, the target object W is rotated.

  And as shown in FIG.8 (c), if the position and direction of the target object W are corrected, the speed of the belt conveyors 900 and 910 will be adjusted mutually, and the target object W will be conveyed.

  By such a method, regardless of whether or not the object W has a flat side surface, the position and direction of the object W can be corrected and alignment can be performed reliably. Therefore, the label L can be accurately attached to a predetermined position of the object W by the label attaching apparatus 100 in the subsequent process.

  In addition, the article alignment method using a turntable or the like needs to temporarily stop the conveyance, which may impair the productivity. However, in this example, the alignment can be performed without reducing the conveyance speed. , Maintain or improve productivity.

  Further, in the above embodiment, the difference between the label attaching position detected by the second color sensor 160 and the attaching position by the label attaching apparatus 100 input and set in advance by the operator is automatically calculated and calculated. Based on the difference, the attaching position of the label attaching apparatus 100 may be automatically corrected. In this case, the label attaching apparatus 100 is moved by a moving mechanism (not shown). Thereby, after flowing the target object W once, since the label sticking apparatus 100 is moved by the moving mechanism based on the calculated difference, it is possible to reduce the burden of the operator's adjustment work. . Thereby, work efficiency can be improved. Further, if the moving speed of the moving mechanism is improved, work efficiency can be further improved.

  Even when the label L is attached to the tray by the label attaching apparatus 100 according to the embodiment, the tray may be aligned by the following method.

  The guide portion of the transport tray guide is made of a material that can be molded so as to conform to the shape of the tray and is arranged on both sides of the tray. In this case, the molded guide is arranged on both sides in a shape in which the tray is divided into two.

  Before flowing the tray, mold the guide according to the tray shape when switching the tray. Then, the molded guide is centered, and the tray orientation is corrected and aligned with the mold when the tray is transported. Note that the labeling may be performed after the trays are aligned by holding the tray with a guide or after the guide is opened. Affixing accuracy can be improved by attaching the tray while the tray is held by the guide.

  Thereby, trays having irregular shapes such as polygons, circles, and ellipses can be reliably aligned, and the label L can be attached to these trays with high accuracy. Further, the work time for the guide mold making corresponds to the work time for the conventional guide positioning, and therefore the work time is not lost.

  Further, in the above embodiment, the label L adsorbed by the adsorbing portion 141 of the adhering head 140 is applied to the object W by spraying, but the present invention is not limited to this. It is good also as a structure which reciprocates along H2 (FIG. 1), the label L adsorb | sucked by the adsorption | suction part 141 contacts the target object W, and is affixed.

  In the above embodiment, the first color sensor 150 is provided in the pasting head 140 and the second color sensor 160 is provided downstream of the transport unit 170. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the transport unit 170 is not limited thereto. It is good also as a structure which provides a color sensor in the upstream and downstream, respectively. In this case, in the detection result, it can be surely recognized whether or not the label L is attached from the color change before and after the label L is attached. Further, by combining the above, a color sensor may be provided upstream of the transport unit 170, the pasting head 140, and the downstream of the transport unit 170, respectively.

  Furthermore, although one preferable embodiment of the present invention is as described above, the present invention is not limited thereto. It will be understood that various other embodiments may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Furthermore, in this embodiment, although the effect | action and effect by the structure of this invention are described, these effect | actions and effects are examples and do not limit this invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Label sticking apparatus 120 Control part 140 Sticking head 141 Adsorption part 143 Nozzle 150 1st color sensor 160 2nd color sensor 170 Conveyance part L Label W Target object

Claims (6)

A label attaching device for attaching a label for displaying product information to an object,
A transport unit for transporting the object;
An affixing unit for affixing the label to the object conveyed by the conveying unit;
A label affixing device, comprising: a first detection unit that is provided in the affixing unit and detects a position where the label is affixed to the object.   The label sticking apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a determination unit that determines whether or not the label is appropriately attached to the object based on a detection result by the first detection unit. The affixing unit has a nozzle for adsorbing and affixing the label by air suction and blowing,
The label attaching device according to claim 1, wherein the first detection unit is provided on the nozzle. The transport unit transports the object to which the label is attached,
The label attaching device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the first detection unit detects a movement trajectory of the label and the object after the attaching process.   The label affixing according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a second detection unit that detects the label after the affixing process and the target object downstream of a conveyance path by the conveyance unit. apparatus. 6. The label attaching device according to claim 1, wherein one or both of the first detection unit and the second detection unit includes a color sensor.