JPH024468B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to a labeling device, and more particularly, to a labeling device that affixes a label to the top surface of a product that has reached a predetermined position on a conveyance path.

<Prior art and its technical issues> Conventionally, as a labeling device, a labeling device is installed in a hanging structure on a product conveyance path via a support member.
A label affixing device is used in which a label is affixed from the label drop-in port of the affixing device to a predetermined position on the top surface of the product, which is guided by a guide plate whose one side serves as a reference surface for the label affixing position and reaches the bottom of the affixing device. ,
The support member has an inverted L-shape in which a column and a support arm are integrally connected, and has a structure in which a label applicator is fixedly attached to the tip of the support arm and suspended.

However, the position of the label on the product is
There are various types of packaging that can be seen through the product, depending on the type of contents and the arrangement direction.For example, each part is designated as the pasting position, such as the four corners of the product, such as the upper right corner and the lower left corner, or the center of each front and rear edge. Furthermore, the orientation of the attached label may change.

However, in the above-mentioned label affixing device, the label drop-in port is located directly above the label affixing position where the distance from one side edge of the product to the label affixing position is specified based on the product transfer reference surface (guide plate) provided on the conveyance path. However, when the label pasting position changes depending on the product as described above, in conventional equipment, the support member is removed from the machine frame and relocated to adjust the placement of the label pasting device and to transfer the product. The guide plate was being moved in order to change the reference plane of the machine, and the adjustment work was time-consuming and resulted in low work efficiency.

In view of such conventional circumstances, the present invention improves the workability of adjusting the arrangement of the label applicator by adjusting the arrangement of the label applicator while keeping the support member and guide plate in place so as to follow changes in the label applicator position. The purpose is to improve the

<Technical Means for Achieving the Object> The labeling device of the present invention includes a support member that protrudes horizontally from the upper end of the support member and has a parallel link including arm rods parallel to the left and right sides. The label applicator is rotatably suspended from the tip of the support arm via a vertical axis, and the label applicator is rotated every 90 degrees about the vertical axis from the support arm. The present invention is characterized in that a first adjustment mechanism for fixing the support arm at a fixed position and a second adjustment mechanism for fixing the support arm at an arbitrary swing position are provided.

The rotation angle of the above label applicator is the set position (0
degree), 90 degrees, 180 degrees, and 270 degrees, and the label drop-in port of the label applicator moves to a position corresponding to the angle.

Further, the positional relationship between the vertical axis, which is the axis of rotation of the label applicator, and the label drop-in port may be either coaxial or offset.

<Example> When an example of the present invention is described with reference to the drawings, the first example is
In the figure, reference numeral 1 is a machine frame, a is a conveyance path, 2 is a guide plate with which one side of the product b comes into contact and constitutes a transfer reference surface, and A is a label pasting device.

The conveyance path a is placed immediately after a mechanical automatic packaging section or a manual packaging section (not shown), and the drawings show the first, second, and third belt conveyors a ₁ , a _{2 .} , a ₃ are arranged in a straight line, and the second belt conveyor a ₂ is installed on the measuring instrument 3 and also serves as a weighing pan for the measuring instrument 3.

Product B is placed on one side of the conveyance path a by the guide plate 2.
It is conveyed from the first belt conveyor _a1 to the third belt conveyor _a3 direction while hitting the belt conveyor a1, and when it reaches the top of the second belt conveyor _a2 , its weight is measured by the weighing device 3.

The label applicator A is composed of a support member 10 and a label applicator 30 which is installed in a suspended manner on the third belt conveyor _a3 by the supporting member 10.

The support member 10 is a support column 11 installed on the machine frame 1.
and a support arm 12 that projects horizontally from the upper end of the column and constitutes a parallel link mechanism.

The support column 11 is mounted so as to be height adjustable by a mechanism or structure not shown, and support shafts 13, 13' are installed at the upper end at left-right intervals, and arm rods forming the support arm 12 are attached to the shafts 13, 13'. One end of each of 14 and 14' is rotatably supported.

Boss portions 15, 1 are provided at the tips of the arm rods 14, 14'.
A support plate 17 is connected between both ends by means of support shafts 16, 16' which are rotatably inserted into the boss parts 15, 15', and both arm rods 14, 14' are parallel to each other. keep it in place.

Therefore, the support arm 12 constitutes a parallel link mechanism with the arm rods 14, 14', the support plate 17, and the support shafts 13, 13', 16, 16', and the support shafts 13, 13' on the side of the support column 11 are It can be swung horizontally.

Reference numeral 18 in the figure is a lock screw attached to the boss portion 15 of the arm rod 14, and by hooking the screw 18 to the support shaft 16, the support arm 12 is prevented from swinging and held in a fixed state. be.

The support plate 17 of the support arm 12 is provided with a boss portion 20 having a shaft hole 19 passed through it vertically at the lower center thereof, and a vertical shaft 21 is rotatably mounted in the shaft hole 19 of the boss portion 20. It is suspended from a support plate 17.

The vertical shaft 21 is integrally projected from the upper surface of the machine frame of the label applicator 30, and the label applicator 30 is rotatably suspended and held by the support plate 17 via the vertical shaft 21.

The support plate 17 has a boss portion 20 with a lock screw 22 screwed into the side wall, and the vertical shaft 21 has hanging holes 23, 23 spaced apart by 90 degrees on the circumferential surface facing the lock screw 22.
... is opened and the locking screw 22 is inserted into the hole 23 so that the rotation of the vertical shaft 21, that is, the label applicator 30 is regulated.

The support plate 17, vertical shaft 21, lock screw 22
and the hanging holes 23, 23..., the label pasting device 30
A first adjustment mechanism is configured to rotate and fix the rotation at 90 degree intervals.

Furthermore, the label pasting device 3
0 in the width direction of the belt conveyor _a3 and fixes it at a desired position.

The label applicator 30 has a built-in printer unit (not shown) that prints necessary data on the label c, and the printer unit prints the data attached to the product b, such as the product name and the weight measured by the scale 3. The weight, unit price, date, product number, price, bar code, etc. are printed on labels c, and the labels c are issued one by one in sequence.

Note that the applicator 30 may not include a built-in printer section and may be of a type that issues preprinted labels one by one, and the measuring device 3 is not essential in the present invention.

A label drop-in port 31 is provided on the bottom surface of the applicator 30, and the label c issued to the drop-in port 31 is temporarily held by a suction means or the like using a vacuum, and the product b is placed in a predetermined position under the applicator 30. When the label c is reached, the label c is dropped from the drop-in port 31 by downward air jet or mechanical elevating means, and is affixed to the top surface of the product b.

The timing for dropping the label c is when the product b reaches a predetermined position.For example, a pair of product detectors 32 and 32' are installed on the belt conveyor _a3 .
The detectors 32 and 32' detect the front end or rear end of the product b being transferred on the conveyor a ₂ , and the product b is stopped under the applicator 30 after a predetermined time set by a timer or by a stopper that allows the applicator b to retract. The label c is dropped from the drop-in port 31 at a time such as when it is detected that the label has been dropped.

In this embodiment, the product relationship between the label drop-in port 31 and the vertical shaft 21, which is the center of rotation of the applicator 30, is as shown in FIG _.
This is a position where both the transfer direction (X direction) and the width direction (Y direction) are offset.

Therefore, even if the applicator 30 is rotated 180 degrees, the droplet 31 will also move in the X direction from its original position.

Modifications of the positional relationship between the drop port 31 and the vertical shaft 21 are shown in FIGS. 7 and 8.

FIG. 7 shows a structure in which both 31 and 21 are aligned in the X direction and deviated in the Y direction. According to this structure, when the applicator 30' is rotated 180 degrees, the Y The drop port 31 can be moved to a directionally symmetrical position.

FIG. 8 shows a structure that is vertically coaxial with the center of both 31, 31, that is, does not deviate in the X direction and Y direction. According to this structure, when the applicator 30'' is rotated 180 degrees, , rotate the droplet 31 180 degrees at the same position, that is, change the direction of label c.
It can be rotated 180 degrees.

The label affixing position on the product b is directly below the label drop-in port 31 of the applicator 30, but the label is affixed at the drop-in port 31 so that the label is pasted at a certain distance l from the guide plate 2. (the above l is determined depending on the product). However, depending on the product or the product arrangement direction, the
Positions P ₁ to _{P 8} as shown in Figure 1 are required.

Now, set the initial setting position of the label applicator 30 to P ₁
Then, when changing the pasting position to _P2 , the first adjustment mechanism holds the pasting device 30 in a rotated state of 180 degrees.

In this case, when the predetermined Y-direction coordinate, that is, the position of the distance l from the guide plate 2 changes, the applicator 30 is moved in the direction of the guide plate 2 by the second adjustment mechanism to adjust to the predetermined distance l.

The second adjustment mechanism moves the applicator 30 to the guide plate (Y
direction), the X-direction coordinate of the drop-in port 31 also deviates, but this X-direction deviation corresponds to the timing of label dropping at the drop-in port 31, that is, the timer after the product detectors 32, 32' are activated. The amount of deviation can be eliminated by changing the setting time.

By the above operation, the label c is turned upside down and the same result as when it is attached at a distance l from the guide plate 2, that is, at a position _P2 on the product b, is obtained.

When changing the pasting position to P ₃ or P ₄ , the above position
By changing the above-mentioned timer setting time based on the arrangement of the applicator 30 for pasting on P ₁ and P ₂ ,
Perform operations to change the direction coordinates.

In the case of the label applicator 30', the same operation as that of the label applicator 30 is performed to move from position P ₁ to P ₂ and P ₁ , P ₂ and
It is possible to change to P ₃ or P ₄ .

In the case of the label applicator 30'', simply rotating the applicator 30'' by 180 degrees turns the label c in the opposite direction while maintaining a constant distance l, so the position can be changed without operating the second adjustment mechanism. It is possible to change from P ₁ to P ₂ , and as described above, it is also possible to change from positions P ₁ and P ₂ to P ₃ and P ₄ by changing the timer setting time.

Next, in order to change from the initial position P ₁ to the pasting position P ₅ or P ₇ , the label pasting device 30,
30', 30'' by 90 degrees or 270 degrees and the applicator 30, 30', 3 by the second adjustment mechanism.
0'' in the Y direction so that the label drop-in port 31 is moved a predetermined distance l' from the guide plate 2.

Moreover, in order to change from the pasting positions P ₅ and P ₇ to the positions P ₆ and P ₈ , the above-described timer setting time can be changed.

<Effects> Since the present invention is configured as described above, the label applicator can be rotated at 90-degree intervals while being attached to the support arm, or the support arm can be swung along with the rotation operation in the width direction of the conveyance path. By moving the applicator and fixing it at a predetermined position, it is possible to adjust the arrangement of the label dropout opening of the applicator, that is, change the position of the label to be applied to the product on the conveyance path to a desired position, and also to adjust the position of the label dropout port of the applicator to a desired position. The distance from the surface to the label pasting position can be adjusted accurately and easily.

Therefore, compared to the conventional operation in which the support member itself is moved and the position of the guide plate is adjusted as in the conventional device, work efficiency and attachment accuracy can be significantly improved.

Further, since the support arm is formed by a parallel link mechanism that protrudes from the upper end of the column so as to be able to swing horizontally and includes arm rods that are parallel to the left and right, the support arm can be swung when the label applicator is moved in the width direction. In this case, even if the supporting arm itself moves in an arc, the angle of the label applicator itself with respect to the conveyance path does not change, so there is no need for subsequent angle correction of the label applicator, and the angle setting of the label applicator is The adjustment operation of the label applicator can be further improved with the simple suspension structure.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a product conveyance path equipped with the device of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a front view thereof, Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the labeling device, Fig. 4 is a plan view of the device, and Fig. 5 is a 6 is a sectional view taken along the line, FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a modification of the device, FIG. 8 is a plan view showing another modification, and FIGS.
FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating the position of label attachment on a product. In the figure, a is a conveyance path, a ₁ , a ₂ , a ₃ are belt conveyors, 2 is a guide plate, A is a label pasting device, 10 is a support member, 11 is a column, 12 is a support arm, 13, 1
3', 16, 16' are support shafts, 14, 14' are arm rods,
15, 15' are boss parts, 17 is a support plate, 18 is a lock screw, 19 is a shaft hole, 20 is a boss part, 21 is a vertical shaft, 22 is a lock screw, 23 is a hanging hole, 30, 3
0' and 30'' are label applicators, 31 is a label drop-in port, 32 and 32' are product detectors, b is a product, and c is a label.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A label applicator is installed in a suspended structure on a product conveyance path via a support member, and one side of the label applicator is guided by a guide plate that serves as a reference surface for the label attaching position, and the label applicator is placed at a predetermined position on the top surface of the product reaching below the label applicator. In a label pasting device for pasting a label from a label dropout opening of a pasting device, the supporting member is provided with a support arm that protrudes horizontally from the upper end of the support shaft and is constituted by a parallel link mechanism including arm rods that are parallel to the left and right. The label applicator is rotatably suspended from the tip of the support arm via a vertical shaft, and the label applicator is fixed to the support arm at rotational positions of every 90 degrees with respect to the vertical axis. 1. A labeling device comprising: a first adjustment mechanism and a second adjustment mechanism for fixing the support arm at an arbitrary swing position.