JP5457221B2 - Labeling machine - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a label applicator for attaching a label to an adherend conveyed by a conveyor, and more particularly to a label applicator for attaching a label to a thin adherend.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for enlarging and explaining the portion to which the adherend P of the conventional label applicator 50 is transported and the label is applied, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a printing applicator 51 to be described later. is there.
The conventional label sticking machine 50 includes a printing sticking machine 51, a conveyor unit 52, a conveyor operation unit 53, a detection unit 54, and a control unit 55.

  FIG. 5 shows an explanatory diagram of the printing pasting machine 51. The printing sticking machine 51 includes a label supply unit 56, a ribbon supply unit 57, a printing unit 58, and a label sticking unit 59.

  The label supply unit 56 includes a label supply reel 60 and a label take-up reel 61. The label supply unit 56 mounts a label continuous body in which a plurality of labels L are temporarily attached to a belt-like mount on the label supply reel 60, and takes up the label. The reel 61 is wound up, and the label continuous body is supplied to the printing unit 58.

  The ribbon supply unit 57 includes a ribbon supply reel 62 and a ribbon take-up reel 63, and the thermal transfer ribbon is mounted on the ribbon supply reel 62 and is taken up by the ribbon take-up reel 63 and supplied to the printing unit 58. Has been.

  The printing unit 58 includes a thermal head 64 and a platen roller 65. A label continuum and a thermal transfer ribbon are sandwiched between the thermal head 64 and the platen roller 65, and are pressed by the platen roller 65 to print on the label L. At the same time, the label continuous body is conveyed.

  The label sticking part 59 is composed of a peeling plate 66, a driving roller 67, a drawing roller 68, a driven roller 69, a transfer belt 70, and a label feeding port 71. The peeling plate 66 has an acute-angled tip, and the label L is peeled off by folding and transporting the printed backing of the label continuous body with the peeling plate 66. The transfer belt 70 is surface-treated with a release material such as silicone, and is stretched between a driving roller 67 and a driven roller 69. The drawing roller 68 is provided on the opposite surface of the driving roller 67, and rotates in the direction opposite to the driving roller 67 to draw the label L peeled off by the peeling plate 66, and the label L is temporarily attached to the transfer belt 70. . The label feeding port 71 is a space provided between an upstream conveyor 73 and a downstream conveyor 74 of the conveyor unit 52, which will be described later, and has a distance in the conveyance direction such that the adherend P does not fall, and the leading end of the label L pops out. The label L is affixed when the adherend P passes.

  The conveyor unit 52 as a “conveying unit” includes a frame 72, an upstream conveyor 73, and a downstream conveyor 74, and the upstream conveyor 73 and the downstream conveyor 74 include an endless belt 75, a pair of turning rollers 76, and a motor. 77.

  The frame 72 is supported by the outer frame of the label sticking machine 50 which is not illustrated along the conveyance direction at both ends of the conveyor unit 52. The pair of upstream turning rollers 76 and the pair of downstream turning rollers 76 are supported by a frame 72. The turning roller 76 is rotated by driving a motor 77, and the endless belt 75 stretched around the turning roller 76 is driven. By doing so, the adherend P on the endless belt 75 is arranged to be conveyed.

  The conveyor operation unit 53 includes an operation switch 78 for operating the conveyor unit 52.

  The detection unit 54 includes a light emitter 79 and a light receiver 80, and the light emitter 79 is attached at an arbitrary height position in the height direction of the frame 72 of the upstream conveyor 73. The frame 72 on the opposite side, that is, the frame 72 on which the light emitter 79 is provided, is disposed in a straight line with the light emitter 79 on the frame 72 facing the endless belt 75. In the example of FIG. 4, the light emitter 79 is installed on the right frame 72 and the light receiver 80 is the left frame 72.

  The control unit 55 includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like (not shown), and is connected to the above-described units through an interface (not shown), and controls the operation of each unit.

The conventional label sticking machine 50 has the above-described configuration. First, information corresponding to the adherend P is printed on the label L by the printing sticking machine 51 and peeled off by the peeling plate 66 of the label sticking part 59. Temporarily attached to the transfer belt 70. The adherend P is conveyed in the direction of arrow F in FIG.
By the way, in the label sticking machine 50 mentioned above, when detecting the to-be-adhered body P, it is detecting by the detection part 54 provided in the arbitrary positions in the height direction. That is, when the adherend P reaches the detector 54, the light emitted from the light emitter 79 and received by the light receiver 80 is blocked in the height direction of the adherend P, and the change in the amount of light is controlled by the controller. By detecting by 55, it is detected that the adherend P has reached a predetermined position. The detection signal is sent to the control unit 55, and based on this, the driving roller 67 of the label applying unit 59 is driven, the label L temporarily attached to the transfer belt 70 is issued to the label feeding port 71, and the conveyed adherend Pasting is performed by contacting the bottom surface of P (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  However, when the adherend P is thin, for example, like a rice cracker in a bag, the position of the adherend P is likely to be shifted during conveyance, and the detection unit 54 installed at an arbitrary position in the height direction. Since there is not a sufficient thickness that can be detected by the method, erroneous detection is likely to occur, and the label L cannot be attached to an appropriate position. When such a malfunction occurs, all the work processes are stopped and the production efficiency is lowered.

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 06-54517

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and at the same time, it is possible to reliably detect that the adherend has arrived at a predetermined position while eliminating the deviation of the conveyance of the thin adherend. It is an object of the present invention to provide a label applicator capable of accurately attaching a label to a predetermined position of the apparatus with an inexpensive and simple configuration.

The present invention focuses on a label applicator that accurately applies a label to a predetermined position of a thin adherend, and the gist of the invention of claim 1 is to transport an adherend to which a label is to be attached. In addition, an upstream conveyor divided into at least first and second belts along the transport direction, and a transport section composed of a downstream conveyor, and a reflector disposed between the first and second belts And a light emitting device that emits light toward the reflecting plate, and a light receiving device that receives light from the light emitting device reflected by the reflecting plate, and the light from the light emitting device that is reflected by the reflecting plate. Is blocked, a detection unit for detecting that the adherend has reached a predetermined position, a label feeding opening formed at an arbitrary interval between the upstream conveyor and the downstream conveyor, Label the label A printing applicator unwinding issue towards the out port, in labeling machine, characterized in that it comprises a.
The gist of the invention according to claim 2 is the label sticking machine according to claim 1, wherein a pressing portion for pressing the adherend downward is provided at an upper portion of the label feeding opening. . According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a guide portion for guiding the adherend to the reflecting plate disposed between the first and second belts. In the labeling machine described.

The label applicator of the present invention can reliably detect that the conveyed adherend has reached a predetermined position, and can apply a label to the predetermined position.
Further, it is possible to attach a label to a predetermined position of the adherend with a simple and space-saving configuration without using expensive equipment.

It is the schematic explanatory drawing which looked at the whole label sticking machine concerning an embodiment of the invention from the side. It is the top view which looked at the label sticking machine concerning an embodiment of the invention from the upper part. It is a perspective view explaining the detection mechanism of the to-be-adhered body of the label sticking machine which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a general | schematic expanded explanatory view for seeing and explaining the part to which a label is stuck of the conventional label sticking machine from upper direction. It is explanatory drawing explaining the printing mechanism of the conventional label sticking machine.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, and 3. FIG. In addition, below, the part similar to the past is attached | subjected to attaching | subjecting the same code | symbol, and the overlapping description is abbreviate | omitted.
The label applicator 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a printing applicator 51, a conveyor unit 2, a conveyor operation unit 53, a guide unit 3, a detection unit 4, a pressing unit 5, and a display unit 6. It is composed of

As shown mainly in FIG. 2, the conveyor unit 2 as a “conveying unit” includes a frame 72, an upstream conveyor 7, and a downstream conveyor 74. A space serving as a label feeding port 71 is provided between the upstream conveyor 7 and the downstream conveyor 74.
In FIG. 2, the detection unit 4 described later is omitted for convenience of explanation.

  The upstream conveyor 7 includes a first endless belt 8, a second endless belt 9, a pair of turning rollers 76, and a motor 77. The first endless belt 8 and the second endless belt 9 are shorter in width than the endless belt 75 constituting the conventional upstream conveyor 73 so that both are disposed in the apparatus. The first endless belt 8 and the second endless belt 9 are stretched around a pair of turning rollers 76, and detection light, which will be described later, enters and reflects between the first endless belt 8 and the second endless belt 9, In addition, an interval is provided so that the adherend P does not fall during conveyance.

  The downstream conveyor 74 has a configuration in which an endless belt 75 is stretched around a pair of turning rollers 76.

  The guide portion 3 is composed of a pair of side plates 10, one of which is supported on the frame 72 along the first endless belt 8 and the other on the second endless belt 9. It is arranged so as to guide to the center and prevent displacement of the adherend P in the width direction.

The detection unit 4 is provided on the upstream conveyor 7 side, and mainly as shown in FIG. 3, the first support member 11, the second support member 12, the third support member 13, and the fourth support member 14. , An issuing machine 15, a light receiver 16, a reflecting plate 17, and a thin plate 18.
The first support member 11 is installed upright on the frame 72. The second support member 12 is attached to the first support member 11 at a position at a predetermined height from the upper end of the frame 72 substantially in parallel with the transport direction F. Similar to the second support member 12, the third support member 13 has a predetermined height from the upper end of the frame 72, is attached to the second support member 12 substantially orthogonally, and protrudes toward the upstream conveyor 7 side. Yes. The fourth support member 14 is attached in parallel to the second support member 12 and orthogonal to the third support member 13 at the tip of the third support member 13, that is, above the upstream conveyor 7. The light emitter 15 and the light receiver 16 are attached to the tip of the fourth support member 14 via a Z-shaped attachment plate. The thin plate 18 is attached to the space between the first endless belt 8 and the second endless belt 9 at a height retracted slightly below the upper part of the upstream conveyor 7, and the adherend P is conveyed without dropping. It is like that. The reflection plate 17 is made of a material having high light reflectance such as acrylic resin, and is attached to the thin plate 18 so as to face the light emitter 15 and the light receiver 16, and is emitted from the upper light emitter 15. The reflected light can be reflected and received by the light receiver 16. The reflection plate 17 is mounted on the thin plate 18, but does not protrude upward from the upper part of the upstream conveyor 7 when the thin plate 18 and the reflection plate 17 are stacked.

  When the adherend P reaches the detection unit 4, the light emitted from the light emitter 15 is blocked by the adherend P and is not reflected by the reflecting plate 17. When the light is emitted from the light emitter 15, the light received by the light receiver 16 is received by the light receiver 16 after being reflected by the reflector 17 without being blocked by the adherend P. The amount of light to be greatly varied, and the arrival of the adherend P is detected by setting a threshold value between these differences.

  The pressing portion 5 is provided immediately above the feeding port 71 and includes a bracket 19, a DC motor 20, a sponge roller 21, and a timing belt 22. The DC motor 20 is supported by the bracket 19, and the DC motor 20 and the sponge roller 21 are connected via a timing belt 22. The sponge roller 21 is always rotated counterclockwise in FIG. 1 by driving the DC motor 20. When the adherend P with the label L attached to the lower surface passes through the gap between the sponge roller 21, the upstream conveyor 7 and the downstream conveyor 74, the adherend P is prevented from being lifted from above by being pressed from above. The label L issued from the feeding port 71 is attached to the lower surface of the adherend P. Further, since the sponge roller 21 is always rotating counterclockwise in FIG. 1, even when the adherend P is thin and light, the conveyance in the downstream direction is smooth. Note that the sponge roller 21 may not always rotate, but may rotate for a certain period of time when the adherend P is detected by the detection unit 4. 2 and 3, the sponge roller 21 is shown by an imaginary line for convenience of explanation.

  The display unit 6 includes a liquid crystal screen 23 and support columns 24. The liquid crystal screen 23 is attached to the column 24. The liquid crystal screen 23 displays information and control status, and is a touch screen, for example, so that information can be manually input and rewritten.

  A series of operation | movement of the label sticking apparatus 1 comprised as mentioned above is demonstrated. The turning roller 76 is driven by the drive of the motor 77, and the adherend P on the conveyor unit 2 is conveyed in the direction of arrow F. The adherend P is conveyed to the detection unit 4 side by the guides of the pair of side plates 10 via both ends of the divided upstream conveyor 7. The adherend P that has reached the detection unit 4 blocks the reflection of the light emitted from the light emitter 15 by the reflecting plate 17, and the amount of light received by the light receiver 16 is lower than a predetermined value. Thereby, it is reliably detected that the adherend P has reached the detection unit 4. Receiving the detection signal, the control unit 55 sends a signal to the printing pasting machine 51 to start and transfer printing of the information on the adherend to the label L. The adherend P is affixed with the label L by passing over the label L fed out in synchronization with the transport of the adherend P. Furthermore, the sticking is strengthened by pressing with the sponge roller 21 after the sticking.

  In this way, the upstream conveyor 7 is divided, the reflector 17 is attached between them, the light emitted from the light emitter 15 is reflected by the reflector 17, and the retroreflective detection is received by the light receiver 16. Thus, the detection of the adherend P is reliably performed, and the adherend P is guided by the side plate 10, and at the same time, while preventing the transfer of the adherend P, at the same time, a predetermined position of the adherend P It becomes possible to affix a label reliably to. Furthermore, since an expensive high-precision control device or image sensor is not used, the cost can be reduced. Further, compared with the transmission type sensor, the light emitted from the light emitter 15 is reflected by the reflecting plate 17, so that the light passes through the adherend P twice even when the adherend P is transparent. Therefore, since the attenuation of light is large, reliable detection is possible. Further, the transmissive sensor has a configuration in which the light receiver 16 is installed at the position of the reflector plate 17 of the present application. In this case, not only the light emitted from the light emitter 15 but also the light from the upper fluorescent lamp or the like is received. However, this problem can be solved by performing the retro-reflective detection.

  In this embodiment, the number, position, shape, and the like of each constituent member are not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be set to a number, position, shape, and the like that are suitable for carrying out the present invention. The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and it is obvious that the embodiments can be appropriately changed within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention.

1 Labeling machine 2 Conveying section (conveyor section)
3 Guide unit 4 Detection unit 5 Press unit 6 Display unit 7 Upstream conveyor 8 First endless belt 9 Second endless belt 10 Side plate 11 First support member 12 Second support member 13 Third support member 14 Fourth support member 15 16 Light receiver 17 Reflector 18 Thin plate 19 Bracket 20 DC motor 21 Sponge roller 22 Timing belt 23 Touch panel 24 Strut 50 Label sticker (Conventional)
51 Printing and Pasting Machine 52 Conveying Unit (Conveyor Unit)
53 Conveyor operation unit 54 Detection unit 55 Control unit 56 Label supply unit 57 Ribbon supply unit 58 Printing unit 59 Label application unit 60 Label supply reel 61 Label take-up reel 62 Ribbon supply reel 63 Ribbon take-up reel 64 Thermal head 65 Platen roller 66 Release plate 67 Drive roller 68 Pull-out roller 69 Drive roller 70 Transfer belt 71 Label feed port 72 Frame 73 Upstream conveyor 74 Downstream conveyor 75 Endless belt 76 Turning roller 77 Motor 78 Operation switch 79 Light emitter 80 Light receiver P Substrate L Label

Claims (3)

A transport unit that transports the adherend to which the label is to be attached, and is divided into at least first and second two belts along the transport direction, and a downstream conveyor;
A reflector disposed between the first and second belts, a light emitter that emits light toward the reflector, and a light receiver that receives light from the light emitter reflected by the reflector. A detector that detects that the adherend has reached a predetermined position when light from the light emitter reflected by the reflector is blocked;
Between the upstream conveyor and the downstream conveyor, a label feeding opening formed at an arbitrary interval;
A label sticking machine comprising: a printing sticking machine that issues and feeds the label toward the label feed opening.   The label sticking machine according to claim 1, wherein a pressing portion that presses the adherend downward is provided at an upper portion of the label feeding opening.   The label sticking machine according to claim 1, further comprising a guide portion that guides the adherend to the reflecting plate disposed between the first and second belts.

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