JPS61164936A - Labeller - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] Industrial applications The present invention relates to a labeling machine.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In recent years, with the development of POS, there has been a trend to print barcodes on labels along with weight values, product names, etc. Labels printed in this way are attached to the surface of wrapped items using a labeling machine and sold, and when the barcode is read by a scanner at the cash register, the item is turned over. However, depending on the product, such as sashimi or flavored fish, when the product is turned over, the product loses its shape or the meat juices drip out, reducing the product value. It is necessary to attach a label for customers and a label with a barcode printed on the back so that it can be read with a scanner.

For this reason, some devices are equipped with a label pasting machine for pasting on the back side, separate from a label pasting machine for pasting on the front side.

What is important here in a label pasting machine is the reliability of label pasting. In particular, with label pasting machines for pasting on the back side, it is difficult to confirm whether the label has been pasted or not, and there is a risk that the label may peel off during transportation of the item after pasting the label. A means of labeling is required.

In this regard, conventionally, the roller method shown in FIG. 8 and the air jet method shown in FIG. 9 are common. First, in the roller system shown in FIG. 8, the article 5 is conveyed by the front belt conveyor 2 supported by rollers 1 and the rear belt conveyor 4 supported by rollers 3. The label 11 printed by the platen roller 7 and the thermal head 8 and peeled off from the backing paper 10 by the peeling plate 9 is advanced to the back pasting position 6 with a space between 2 and 4. It is to be pasted on the back of the .

On the other hand, in the air jet method shown in FIG. 9, belt conveyors 13 supported by rollers 12 are provided in parallel on the left and right (direction perpendicular to the conveying direction), and labels are peeled off from a mount 15 by a peeling plate 14. 16 is suctioned and held by the negative pressure of the air box in the holding body 17, and the product 1
When the label 8 comes directly above the holder 17, the label 16 is affixed to the back surface of the item 18 by spraying it with positive pressure from an air compressor that is higher than the negative pressure.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention In the case of the former roller method, the transported item 5 and label 1
This method relies only on adhesive strength with No. 1, and labeling is uncertain. Further, in this method, since a gap is provided between the front and rear belt conveyors 2 and 4, the apparatus becomes larger. Furthermore.

The label issuing mechanism is subject to positional restrictions, such as providing the peeling plate 7 close to the back sticking position 6.

On the other hand, even with the latter air jet method, the affixing state and affixing position of the label 16 are uncertain and inaccurate.

That is, since the distance between the holder 17 and the article 18 is required to be quite large due to its structural limitations, the flying distance of the label 16 due to positive pressure is long, resulting in a lack of reliability in attachment. In addition, since the label is attached to the item 18 using the adhesive force on the back side of the label, the reliability of label attachment is lacking in cases where the adhesive strength is weak or there are water droplets etc. on the item and the adhesive is poor. Become something.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a labeling machine that can reliably and accurately affix labels to articles.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a transport means 21 for transporting the article 20 to which a label 37 is to be attached, and a label issuing mechanism for issuing the label 37 for the article 20. 29 is provided, and the label 37 issued by the label issuing mechanism 29 is suction-held and moved toward the item 2o, and the pressure is switched to positive pressure to release the label 37.
7 is attached to the article 20.

The label 37 issued by the operational label issuing mechanism 29 is received and held by suction and holding using negative pressure.

In this suction and holding state, the label holder 44 is moved toward the item 20. In this way, when the label 37 approaches the item 20, the air in the label holder 44 is switched from negative pressure to positive pressure, and the label 37 is sprayed onto the item 2o. Since it is sprayed on, it is possible to apply labels reliably and accurately.

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be explained based on FIGS. 1 to 7. First, the overall structure of the labeling machine is shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, in which a conveying means 21 for conveying articles 20 is provided on the upper side.

This conveyance means 21 is constituted by a plurality of round belts 25 that are rotatably supported between both side plates 22 and passed between rollers 23 and 24 that are rotationally driven. For this reason,
A plurality of belt grooves 23a and 24a are formed in the rollers 23 and 24. A top plate 26 is attached between the both side plates 22 so as to be located above the inside of these round belts 25. or,
A tension roller 27 is provided in contact with the round belt 25. Furthermore, a discharge roller 28 is provided downstream of the round belt 25.

Below such a conveying means 21, a label issuing mechanism 2 is provided.
A pasting unit 31 is provided in which a label pasting mechanism 30 and a label pasting mechanism 9 are combined into a unit. The pasting unit 31 is slidable in the left and right directions orthogonal to the conveyance direction by a slide mechanism 33 for positioning the pasting with respect to the support body 32. 34 is a drawer handle for this purpose. Further, the label issuing mechanism 29 prints a bar code or the like using a thermal head 38 on labels 37 that are continuously pasted onto a long backing paper 36 that is conveyed by a platen roller 35 or the like, and prints a bar code or the like using a peeling plate 39. Gluing this label 37 from the mount 36 is done by peeling it with the surface facing upward.
The mount 36 is wound up by a winding mechanism.

On the other hand, the label pasting mechanism 30 is constituted by a label holder 44 including a sponge part 40 and a metal fitting 43 in which an air passage 41 communicating with a compressor air source is formed up to the sponge part 40 and is moved up and down by a cylinder 42. . The air flowing through the air passage 41 of the label holder 44 can be arbitrarily switched between negative pressure and positive pressure by switching a solenoid valve in the air piping, which will be described later. 45 is an auxiliary spray nozzle directed toward the label holder 44 from above. Therefore, the label 37 that has been peeled off from the mount 36 by the peeling plate 39 is transferred to the auxiliary spray nozzle 4.
5, the label holder 4 is suctioned and held on the sponge part 40 by negative pressure, and the cylinder 42 is driven.
4 is moved upwardly to the vicinity of the item 20, and then the air is switched from negative pressure to positive pressure to spray and attach the label 37 to the back surface of the item 20. A pasting unit 3 is installed on the top plate 26 so as not to interfere with such a label pasting operation.
An opening 46 is formed which is elongated in the first sliding direction. Also, the round belt 25 is inserted into the belt groove 23 of the roller 23°24.
A, 24a are not provided for all of them, and an opening 47 for attaching a label is formed by the spaced portion. Here, these round belts 25 are connected to rollers 2
The belt grooves 23a and 24a of belts 3 and 24 (that is, in the left-right direction perpendicular to the conveying direction) can be freely changed, and the position of the opening 47 can be changed in the left-right direction. Further, a photosensor 48 is provided to detect the conveyance of the article 20 to such a labeling position.

Next, the air piping configuration will be explained with reference to FIG.

First, a compressor 50 serving as an air source is provided, and a pressure switch 52 that detects the compressor pressure via a filter 51 is connected. Further, a solenoid valve 53 is provided between the compressor 50 and the cylinder 42 to control the raising and lowering of the label holder 44. Further, this cylinder 42 is provided with a reed switch 54 for detecting its original position and a reed switch 55 for detecting movement of the tip to the top dead center. And compressor 50
- A solenoid valve 56 is provided between the auxiliary blow nozzles 45 to control the blowing of air intermittently. Therefore, the air passage 41 of the compressor 50/label holder 44
In between, a solenoid valve 57 that intermittently controls positive pressure (spraying) and a solenoid valve 58 having a check valve structure that intermittently controls negative pressure (suction) are provided in parallel. A vacuum switch 59 is provided. This vacuum switch 59 is
It creates a vacuum negative pressure by the principle of shaking during suction, and is equipped with a volume that can adjust the degree of vacuum, and can detect the degree of vacuum by passing through the set vacuum degree.

In such a configuration, operations such as label issuing and label pasting are controlled according to the timing chart shown in FIG. First, the packaged and weighed items 20 are conveyed by a round belt 25 that is constantly rotating. In parallel with such operations, the label issuing mechanism 29 prints a bar code or the like on the item 20 and issues a label 37. In synchronization with this label issuing operation, the inside of the air passage 41 is brought into a negative pressure suction state by the control of the solenoid valve 58 on the label pasting mechanism 30 side, and the single issued label 37 is sucked and held on the sponge part 40 by this negative pressure, and is pasted. It will be in a standby state. FIG. 1(a) shows such a label adsorption operation. Prior to this suction/holding operation, the blowing from the auxiliary blowing nozzle 45 controlled by the solenoid valve 56 is assisted by air. Then, when the conveyance of the article 20 progresses and the leading end reaches the labeling position detected by the photosensor 48, the driving of the round belt 25 is stopped and the article 20 is stopped. That is, the item 20 is located above the opening 46 of the top plate 26. This makes it possible to attach the label, so the cylinder 42 is upwardly displaced under the control of the solenoid valve 53, and the label holder 44 is upwardly displaced while holding the label 37. This operation is shown in FIG. 1(b). When the label holder 44 reaches the top dead point near the back of the item 20, it is detected by the reed switch 55, and the cylinder 42 (
When the label holder 44) stops, the electromagnetic valve 57 is switched based on this detection, and positive pressure is applied to the air passage 41 from the compressor 50. As a result, the label 37 on the sponge part 40 is pressed against the item 20 by this positive pressure.
It is sprayed and pasted on the back side of the . When labeling is completed, the solenoid valve 5°3 is switched and the cylinder 42 is lowered, so that the label holder 44 is moved downward to the lower position, and the round belt 25 is driven again to discharge the labeled item 20. let

By the way, in this embodiment, the label pasting operation is controlled based on the vacuum degree check of the air passage 41 in the label holding pair 44 by the vacuum switch 59. The flowchart in FIG. 7 shows this operation. First, after a label issuing command is issued, immediately before issuing the label, the vacuum switch 59 checks whether the air passage 41 of the label holder 44 has a predetermined degree of vacuum. Here, the fact that the predetermined degree of vacuum is not reached means that there is an error condition such as an abnormality in the label holder 44 or the previous label 37 remaining on the sponge part 40, and an error signal is generated to stop the pasting device. stop and notify the operator. If there is no such error, labels will be issued as usual. Based on this label issuance, the label pasting operation is performed as described above, and the label 37 is released toward the item 20 by positive pressure. Immediately after the pasting operation is completed, the degree of vacuum is checked by the vacuum switch 59. The fact that the degree of vacuum of the label holder 44 has not reached a predetermined value at this point means that the released label 37 is not actually attached to the item 20, and an error signal is issued.

Thereafter, as part of the pasting operation, the label holder 44 returns to the home position, but even after returning to the home position, the degree of vacuum is checked by the vacuum switch 59. In this case as well, an error signal is issued if the predetermined degree of vacuum has not been reached. This occurs when the label holder 44 is lowered while the label 37 is not actually affixed to the item 20 but remains on the sponge portion 40. In these cases, if a predetermined degree of vacuum is reached, it is detected that the label 37 has actually been pasted, and the next label is issued and pasted. According to such a method,
This allows the worker to automatically check whether the label has been properly pasted without turning over the item 20 after completing the work.

According to this embodiment, the label 37 held under suction by the label holder 44 is moved to the vicinity of the back surface of the item 20 by the upward displacement of the label holder 44, and in this state, the pressure is switched from negative pressure to positive pressure. Since the label 37 is affixed to the article 20 by spraying, the affixation of the label 37 is reliably performed and the affixing position is also accurate.

With such reliable label affixation, there is no worry that the label will peel off while the affixed item 20 is being transported to the subsequent stage.
Furthermore, by adopting the label push-up approach spraying method as in this embodiment, the label issuance position by the label issuance mechanism 29 is not particularly restricted, compared to conventional roller methods, air jet methods, etc. Become.

In this embodiment, the explanation has been given by taking as an example the application of a label to the back surface of an article, but the present invention can also be applied to the application of a label to the front surface of an article whose contents are soft. This is to allow the label to be applied without actually pressing the label onto the item, thereby avoiding deformation of the item.

Effects of the Invention As described above, the present invention sucks and holds the label issued by the label issuing mechanism using negative pressure, moves it to the vicinity of the item, and then switches from negative pressure to positive pressure to spray the label onto the item. Since a label holder is provided for pasting, spraying near one item will result in pasting.

Labels can be pasted reliably and in accurate positions, and since the stroke between the label receiving and pasting positions can be adjusted, the label issuing position in the label issuing mechanism is not subject to any particular restrictions. It is possible.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 to 7 show an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 1(a) and 7(b) are longitudinal sectional front views showing label suction and pasting operations, FIG. 2 is a plan view, and FIG. Figure 3 is a longitudinal side view;
Figure 4 is a vertical front view, Figure 5 is a configuration diagram of air piping, Figures 6 (a) to (j) are timing charts, Figure 7 is a flow chart, and Figure 8 is a side view showing a conventional example of the roller system. 9 are side views showing a conventional example of the air jet system.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A conveying means for conveying the item to which a label is to be attached is provided, and a label issuing mechanism is provided for issuing a label for this item, and the label issued by the label issuing mechanism is sucked and held and moved toward the item. A label pasting machine characterized in that a label holder is provided which is switched to positive pressure at the same time to apply a label to the item.