JPS6350257B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an apparatus for high-speed labeling of cylindrical containers and is an improvement over the inventions of US Pat. Nos. 3,765,991 and 3,834,963.

The said patent shows an apparatus for applying container labels having the following general features: a container feeding member such as a turret having a pocket for holding the containers is used to transport each container. and proceed to a glue application station where a line of glue is applied to the containers and each container is further tangentially transferred to a vacuum drum having a label with a line of glue on its respective trailing edge. It is designed to be sent in the direction. The containers are gripped during this time and are prevented from rotating about their axes, so that as each container is brought into tangential contact with the drum, the leading edge of each label is placed first. It is attached to the container with an adhesive line applied to the container. The container is then moved away from the vacuum drum and rotated about its axis, thus effecting envelopment of the label onto the container.

Vacuum drums are typically provided with a land to which the trailing edge of each label is applied, and the labels are held to the drum by the vacuum. The adhesive applicator applies adhesive to the trailing edge of the label overlying the land. Near the rear of each land adjacent to each land is a trough or groove that serves to retain excess adhesive. The labels themselves are supplied as a continuous label stock and are cut by the cutting action of a rotary blade and a stationary blade. However, the stationary blade is swung into external contact with the rotary blade so as not to impede access of the label material to the cutting device.

The present invention provides further improvements over conventional devices, as further described below.

Although this type of equipment has worked well for the rapid application of labels to a wide variety of containers, difficulties at higher speeds are sometimes encountered when attempting to achieve proper envelopment of the label on each container. There is.
Also, such devices, during contact with the vacuum drum,
Gripping or clamping of the container is usually required, and for some applications this requirement becomes unduly burdensome.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improvement to a container feeding mechanism having the general characteristics described above.

Another object of the invention is to provide a container dispensing device of the general nature described above in which no clamping of the containers is required during the labeling operation.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device of the general nature described above for applying labels to bottles or similar cylindrical containers in a fast and fully automatic process and in a more adaptable manner than hitherto. be.

The present invention will be explained in more detail below with reference to the drawings.

The labeling device, indicated generally by the reference numeral 10, comprises a cylindrical, rotating vacuum drum 1 on an axis 11a.
1, the vacuum drum comprises an outer elastic part 1
2 and an axial groove 13 adapted to receive any excess adhesive that may be present, as in the aforementioned patents. Continuous strip label material 1
5 is fed through the guide means 19 by a feed roller 17 on the shaft 18, at which point a continuous strip of label stock 15 is fed into a rotary cutter 22 with a knife 23 bolted to the support as shown. and a stationary (but oscillating) knife 25 in a holder 26, the labels 21 are cut into individual labels 21. The knife 25 is pivoted out of the way for part of each cycle to allow passage of the label stock 15, but is held stationary during cutting.

The knife holder 26 is pivoted to the position shown by suitable means, such as a liquid cylinder and rod. A stop member may be provided to limit movement of the knife 25 and a spring may be used to return the knife to the cutting position.

Roller 2 rotatable on shafts 29 and 31, respectively
7 and 28, each label 21 is a label material 15
Grasp the label material 15 just before it is cut from the
Then, the front edge of the cut label is placed on the vacuum drum 1.
This gripping is continued until the label contacts 1 and is suctioned and held onto the vacuum drum 11 at the label pick-up position 64 by vacuum. Roller 27 is driven and roller 28 is an idler roller. roller 2
8 can be biased with respect to roller 27 by suitable biasing means.

The adhesive applicator 33 is attached to the vacuum drum 11
and has an applicator hole 35 through which the adhesive is directed from the applicator to a portion of the exposed surface of the cut label 21 at the adhesive application location 6.
Coated with 5. Lands (not shown) may be provided on the vacuum drum below one or both ends of the cut strips 21 to allow application of adhesive to only the ends of each strip. In an alternative preferred method, adhesive may be applied in a bead pattern onto the exposed surface of each strip according to suitably placed applicator holes 35.

The rocking means for the supply roller 17, rotary cutter 32, vacuum drum 11, adhesive applicator 35, driven roller 27 and rocking knife 25 are all suitably synchronized by means known in the art. (Therefore, no further explanation will be given here).

The container feeding mechanism 37 includes a container feeding and labeling machine or star wheel 39 rotatable about a shaft 41, the star wheel 39 having a plurality of open pockets 42 angularly spaced about its circumference. Each pocket receives and holds a cylindrical container 45 parallel to the parallel axis, and the outermost surface of each received and held container is coaxial with the star wheel axis 41 due to the rotation of the star wheel. The container feeding mechanism 37 further includes a conveyor 43 which carries a plurality of containers side by side and in an upright position at high speed in the direction of the arrow. The container is then moved past the vacuum drum 11 so that the sides of the container are in contact with the working surface of the drum 11. The container stop part 44 is
An upstream container guide member 61 pivots in synchronization with the rotation of the star wheel 39 to allow each container to enter the open pocket 42 of the star wheel 39 and to receive and hold each container in each of the open pockets. The upstream container guide member is configured to move in the tangential direction of the vacuum drum 11 after each container held in the open pocket enters the gap provided between the vacuum drum 11 and the star wheel 39. , are arranged to guide each label 21 on the vacuum drum 11 to each container at a label sticking position 63.

A downstream container guide labeler or roll-on pad 47 having an upward curve 48 at the container receiving end is attached to the axis of the vacuum drum 11 at a distance slightly less than the diameter of each container 45 from the vacuum drum. attached to arm 49 coaxially with 11a and facing the working surface of the drum and forming a downstream container guide 62 which comprises:
Containers to which a portion of the label is adhered are sequentially taken out from the open pocket, and the label is arranged so as to be wrapped around the side surface of the container by contact rotation with the vacuum drum. The roll-on pad 47 is made of a resilient material such as foam rubber;
As the containers are fed by the star wheel 39 in the direction indicated by the arrow, the containers are forced firmly against the vacuum drum 11. Also, as the container contacts the stationary roll-on pad 47 on one side of the container and the rotating vacuum drum on the other side, the container is rotated in a counterclockwise direction so that everything is smooth and continuous. By this operation, the label 21 with adhesive is removed from the vacuum drum 11 to the container 4.
It is moved to the side of 5 and firmly adhered.
The upstream container guide member 61, the rotary container feeding/labeling machine, or star wheel 39, and the downstream container guide member 62 form an S-shaped track and serve as a container conveyance path. The upstream part of the S-shaped track is formed by the upstream container guide member 61 forming a concave track with respect to the star wheel 39, and the downstream part of the S-shaped track forms a concave track with respect to the vacuum drum 11. It is formed by a downstream container guide member 62, and furthermore, the bent part of the S-shaped track is arranged in the gap between the drum 11 and the star wheel 39,
The container 45 transported on the S-shaped track can smoothly pass through the track while being continuously and reliably controlled by each element that makes up the track.

The roll-on pad 47 can be adjusted laterally to increase or decrease pressure on the container. A screw 53 is provided in a slot 54 in arm 49 to allow roll-on pad 47 to be moved toward and away from the container to increase or decrease pressure on the container. A screw 56 in a slot 57 in a bracket 58 allows for lateral adjustment of the roll-on pad 47. Accordingly, the roll-on pad 47 can be properly positioned for containers of various sizes and adhesive labels of various patterns.

The working of the device will be clear from the above description.
Among the advantages of operation is the fact that the container feed mechanism maintains control of the containers during the labeling operation as the containers are transported from left to right in the direction of the arrow. No separate fastening means or the like is required to hold the container against movement during the labeling operation.

In short, the container feeding mechanism of the present invention provides a smooth, continuous, and high speed apparatus for applying labels to cylindrical containers.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawing is a plan view of a labeling device according to the invention, in which the star wheel feeding means feeds containers between a resilient roll-on pad and a label holding vacuum drum having a resilient exterior. There is. 10...Label pasting device, 11...Vacuum drum, 12...Outer elastic portion, 13...Groove, 15
... Label material, 17 ... Supply roller, 19 ...
Guide means, 21... Label, 23... Knife, 2
5... Knife, 33... Adhesive applicator,
35...Applicator hole, 37...Container supply mechanism, 39...Star wheel, 47...Roll-on pad, 61...Upstream container guide member, 62...Downstream container guide member, 63...Label pasting position, 64 ……
Label pick-up position, 65...Adhesive application position.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A labeling device comprising: (a) a cylindrical rotary vacuum drum 11 for conveying labels and a rotary container supply, each comprising a mechanism adapted to rotate in opposite directions around parallel axes; ―
It consists of a label pasting machine, that is, a star wheel 39. A gap is provided between the vacuum drum 11 and the star wheel 39, and while the vacuum drum 11 is rotating, it sucks and holds the label 21 at a label pick-up position 64, and adheres the label. Adhesive is applied to a part of the exposed surface of the label at the adhesive application position 65, and each label is released at the label application position 63, and the star wheel 39 is arranged at regular angular intervals on its circumference. It has a plurality of open pockets 42 arranged,
Each pocket is adapted to receive and hold a cylindrical container 45 parallel to the parallel axis; (b) upstream of the vacuum drum 11, the outermost portion of each container received and held in each open pocket; The upstream container guide member 61 is configured to guide the side surface in an arcuate manner along the surface of the cylindrical body that is coaxial with the axis 41 of the star wheel due to the rotation of the star wheel, and the upstream container guide member guides the open pocket. each container held in the vacuum drum 11 is arranged to reach the gap and be moved tangentially to the vacuum drum 11 and guided to the adhesion of each label 21 on the drum 11 to each container at a labeling position 63. and (c) a downstream container guide member having a roll-on pad 47 coaxial with the axis 11a of said vacuum drum 11 and spaced relative to said drum at a spacing slightly less than the diameter of each container 45. 62, the downstream container guide member is arranged to sequentially take out the containers to which a portion of the label is adhered from the open pocket, and wrap the label around the side surface of the container by contact rotation with the vacuum drum; d) The upstream container guide member 61, the rotary container feed-labeling machine or star wheel 39, and the downstream container guide member 62 constitute an S-shaped track, and the upstream portion of the S-shaped track is connected to the star wheel 3.
9, the downstream portion of the S-shaped track being formed by the upstream container guide member 61 having a concave track relative to the vacuum drum 11; The labeling device is formed by a member 62, and further characterized in that a bent portion of the S-shaped track is disposed in a gap between the drum 11 and the star wheel 39. 2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the roll-on pad (47) is adjustably mounted to accommodate containers of different diameters. 3. The adjustable mounting of the roll on pad 47 is such that the roll on pad is moved facing the working surface of the label conveying vacuum drum and the roll on pad of each container is removed from the star wheel. 3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein on-pad removal and contact rotation with said vacuum drum are controlled. 4. The device of claim 1, wherein each open pocket of the star wheel has such a depth that a portion of the cylindrical surface of the container protrudes from the pocket.