MXPA97009934A - Machine for etique - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a machine for applying on the articles labels (7) distributed regularly on a rolled strip (5), comprises assembled on a platform-base (1), an oscillating arm (9) for detecting articles, a drum (11) of tension of the band (5) that is put in movement of rotation, step by step, by a driving device (13), control means (15) of the driving device (13), the means of detection ( 17) of the angular displacement of the arm (9) and of the means connected to the arm and ordered, by the movement of the strip, of transfer of labels from the strip (5) to the corresponding articles, characterized in that the means of detection (17) of the angular displacement are the means for detecting the start of angular displacement of the arm (9), connected to the control means (15) with objects, during the start of the movement in one direction, to advance the drum through them (11) in one complete step and so, achieve the labeling of the article detected by the arm (

Description

LABELING MACHINE FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to the machines for applying to labels articles, distributed regularly on a rolled strip, comprising mounted on a platform-base, an oscillating arm, article detector, a pull drum of the strip set in motion of step-by-step rotation, by a driving device, driving means of the driving device, means of detecting the angular displacement of the arm and the means connected to the arm and regulated by the movement of the strip, of the transfer of labels, from the strip to the corresponding articles. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention applies, in particular, to automatic machines intended for the application of REP: 26345 labels on articles of different forms, particularly on fruits and vegetables.

One of these machines is described, for example, in the patent application FR-A-2 619 079. In this application, a lever attached by means of one of its ends to the detection arm drives directly on an electric valve of the drive of the driving device.

In these machines, placed in packaging or portable places and used manually, the passage of an article under the detection arm is done through the lifting of the same and the means of detecting the movement of the arm start, through the control means, the pulling of the strip and the application of a label on the detected article.

However, in current machines, the detection arm must be moved at a considerable angle to perform the labeling of the article; Therefore, placed in packing locations, these machines are not capable of labeling all articles by raising the arm. In addition, the manual use of these machines requires a certain muscular force to be able to carry out the labeling of all the articles and these machines do not allow to obtain a great cadence of the labeling. In addition, when the driving device contains a wheel with a pin driven by an alternate movement member, preferably constituted by a rod connected, for example, to the piston of a pneumatic jack or float of an electromagnet, the detection arm must return to go down to a considerable angle to be able to cause the return of the rod to the position of being ready to make the labeling, in such a way that said machines are not capable of labeling two articles placed very close, which further limits the rate of labeling for any use case.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention has the purpose of remedying the aforementioned drawbacks by creating a machine for applying labels on articles and capable of labeling all articles by moving the detection arm, whatever their sizes and the rhythm of the labeling. For this purpose, the invention proposes a machine for applying to articles the labels distributed regularly on a rolled strip that is composed of, mounted on a platform-base, an oscillating arm for detecting articles, a pull drum of the strip placed on step-by-step rotation, by a driving device, of means for controlling the driving device, of means for detecting the angular displacement of the arm and of means, connected to the arm and in charge, by the movement of the strip, of the transfer of labels from the strip to the corresponding articles, characterized in that the means for detecting the angular displacement are the means for detecting the start of the angular displacement of the arm, connected to the control means ordered, at the start of one-way displacement, of the traction of the drum in a complete step and, in this way, carry out the labeling of the article detected by the arm.

According to the particular modes of embodiment, the machine has one or more following characteristics: - the means for detecting the angular displacement comprise a sensor of the start of the angular displacement, connected to the means of the control of the driving device, a lever for detecting the displacement of the arm, articulated on the arm by means of an axis, a retaining stop which fixes the initial position of the free end of the displacement detection lever, practically at the contact of said captor, and the means of the coupling of the arm and of the lever for detecting the displacement of the arm forming clutch with friction braking when the lever detection of the displacement of the arm is put in contact with the aforementioned captor now with said stop stop; the coupling means comprise an elastic member which is held in frictional contact with the detection arm and the detection lever which rotates around the axis, the elastic member and the surfaces of the detection arm and of the detection lever of the detection arm. displacement of the arm in contact thereby constituting said friction clutch; - the sensor comprises a switch with short path pushbutton placed in front of the oscillating end of the displacement transmission member and connected to the control means; the driving device comprises a wheel with a pin that drives the drum; the said wheel with rocket is set in rotation by an organ of alternate displacement, a captor of the execution of a complete step by the wheel with rocket is connected to the control means for these to trigger the return of the organ of the alternate displacement towards its position of waiting for the labeling of a following article; - the captor of the execution of a complete step of the wheel with rocket is a sensor of the end of the movement of the organ of alternate displacement; - the alternate displacement organ is connected to the piston of a pneumatic jack, the control means have an information processing unit whose inputs are connected to the captor of the start of the angular displacement and to the captor of the execution of a complete step by the wheel with pin and an electric control valve of the pneumatic jack connected to the outputs of the information processing unit; -the sense of the beginning of the labeling is the sense of rotation of the detection arm upwards. The invention can be better understood by reading the description that follows, only by way of example and depending on the attached drawings, in which: - Figures 1 and 2 are two side views showing two opposite sides of a labeling machine, according to the invention, - figure 3 represents a partial and schematic sectional view, according to line III-III, of figure 2, - figure 4 is a synoptic diagram showing different connections of the control device of the machine of figure 1, - Figure 5 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the machine of Figure 1. Figures 1 and 2 represent a machine for labeling, according to the invention, containing, on a platform-base 1, a coil dependent 3 of a strip 5, a label holder, which has at regular intervals, the labels 7, an article detection arm 9, a drum 11 that puts the strip into action, a driving device 13, the control means 15 of the driving device 13 and of means 17 for detecting the movement of the detection arm 9.

The detection arm 9 is mounted oscillating on an axis 19 at the end, before the platform 1. It consists of a fitting with guiding folds of the strip. It has at its free end, located outside the platform 1, a support wheel 21 and a guiding finger 23. The folds fitting and the support wheel 21 constitute the means of transferring the labels on the articles whose operation it will be explained later. The strip 5 that leaves the coil 3 passes under the guiding finger 23 and follows the guiding path, then retracts to the free end of the detection arm 9, to get to be placed below it following a path substantially parallel to the path of the guided. It passes immediately on a roller 25 mounted on the fitting forming the arm 9; then, on the drum 11 that puts the strip into action. The strip 5 is provided with regularly distributed transverse perforations in which the tips 27 of the drum 11 come to wedge the strip on the drum during its rolling on the latter. The strip then passes over two idle rollers 29 and 31; then, between two rollers 33 and 35, integral with two pinions 37 and 39, engaging the one with the other, of which only one is represented. The roller 35 carries a rubber ring 36, or of any flexible material, on the strip 5, for its evacuation outside the platform 1. The drum 11 is integral with a shaft 41 mounted rolling on the platform 1 and a pinion 43 solidary in rotation of the drum and draft on the tree, between the drum and the platform. The driving device 13 comprises a rounded wheel 45 integral with the shaft 41 running through the platform, a rod 47 having at one end a ratchet 49 and connected at its other end to the piston of an air cylinder 51. The pneumatic jack can be of the double-acting type or with spring-retainer. An anti-turn wedge 53 is fixed to the platform 1 to prevent rotation of the wheel 45 in the reverse direction. The pawl 49 is held in abutment on a peripheral surface of the wheel 45 with the help of a spring leaf 55 which comes to rest on the finger 57 attached to the pawl. Figure 3 illustrates more particularly the structure of means 17 for detecting movement of the arm. They consist of a lever 59 for detecting the movement of the arm, mounted at one of its ends rolling on the axis 19 on the same side of the platform 1 as the arm 9 and stuck against it. A coil spring 61, threaded on the shaft 19 and supported on a nut / locknut / casing system 63, maintains the lever 59 and the arm 9 in frictional contact, which is locked in translation by the nut / counter nut / casing system 65. The free end of the lever 59 can oscillate between a bracket 67 (Figure 2) attached to the platform-base and a captor 69 with a short path push button. The relative position of the stirrup 67 and of the captor 69 is such that the lever 59 can oscillate following a weak resistance corresponding to the path of the sinking of the push button, between the initial position, in which the lever end is in contact with the stirrup 67, and an active detection position, in which the end of the lever completely sinks the push button 69. In practice, the initial position of the free end of the lever 59 is practically in contact with the captor 69. On the other hand, a pushbutton switch 71 is placed at the end of the ratchet path on the platform 1 and is adapted to be sunk by the ratchet 49. It thus constitutes a captor of the execution of a complete step by the wheel with rocket 45. The control means of the driving device 15 comprises an information processing unit 73 and an electric valve 75 with three ways / two positions. One way is connected, via the feed conduit 77, to the end of the jack opposite the rod, and another is connected, via the conduit 79, to an air supply source 81. The two captors, 69 and 71, are connected to the inputs of the information unit 73, as indicated in FIG. 4. The information processing unit 73 comprises a microprocessor and data and program storage means. The output of the information processing unit 73 is connected to the electric valve 75. The microprocessor is suitably programmed to be able to ensure the operation of the machine, explained above, with references to figures 4 and 5.

The operation of the machine will be described for use in a packing place. In such a case, it is fixed on top of a means of transporting articles, for example, a circulating band, which puts the articles to the arm contact.

The operation of the motor device is as follows: the opening of the electric valve drives the jack 51, the rod 47 then moves and pushes with the pawl 49 the rocket placed in front, thus putting in rotation the wheel 45, the drum 11, the pinion 43 and the roller 35, by means of the pinion attached thereto. This traction device is able to put the strip in motion along the established route of the evacuation, thanks to the rubber ring 36 that rests on the roller 33.

The transfer of a label 7 takes place when an article is in contact with the arm 9 and the strip is in motion, thanks to the point of regressive lifting of the trajectory, which causes the detachment of a label. Roulette 21 will now apply tag 7 on the article that is in contact with the arm. This way of proceeding is classic.

The operation of the detection device 17 of the arm displacement is as follows. The spring 61 holds the arm 9 and the lever 59 in frictional contact thus creating a friction clutch. The two parts, 9 and 59, then clutch by a coupling value transmitted lower than a frictional limit coupling determined by the tension of the spring 61. The arm 9 and the lever 59 are disconnected since the transmitted coupling exceeds this value .

When the arm is in the initial resting position, ie when it is not raised, the lever 59 rests against the stirrup 67. As soon as an article begins to move this arm, the lever 59 finds no resistance force and the transmitted coupling is zero, the arm 9 and the lever 59 are integral until the lever 59 comes into contact with the push button of the captor 69. The spring tension is selected sufficiently large so that the clutch under the friction transmits the necessary coupling for the sinking of the short path pushbutton; when the push button is depressed, the rotation of the lever 59 is blocked. When the coupling is exceeded, the arm 9 and the lever 59 are disengaged. The arm 9 then continues its angular displacement until it reaches the top of the article. Thanks to the relative position of the bracket 67 and of the captor 69, the push button is sunk from the start of rotation towards the top of the arm. When the oscillating end of the arm begins to lower again, it drives the lever 59 which does not encounter any obstacle during its return to the stirrup 67. The arm 9 and the lever 59 are then engaged until the lever 59 is supported against the stirrup 67. The push button is relaxed from the beginning of the angular displacement downwards of the arm. The arm and the lever are now disengaged and the arm can go back down to its initial position; in such a case, the lever is held by the stop near the captor ready to detect the start of the arm lift.

The overall operation of the machine will be described with reference to figure 5. To facilitate this description, the expression "open captor" designates the state when the push button of the captor is relaxed and the "captor closed", will refer to the state when the Push button is sunk. It is assumed that the machine is ready, at position 87, when the catchers 69 and 71 are open and the pawl is in its initial position waiting for a labeling; that is, completely to the left, in Figure 1, the electric valve 75 being closed. Stage 89 is a test of the closure of the captor 69.

While this captor is open, that is, as long as the arm does not detect any item, the test starts again.

If this captor is closed, it is passed to stage 91 which orders the opening of the electric valve 75. This causes the drive of the drive device for a movement of the drum in a complete step. Thus, since an article raises the arm, a label begins to be applied to it.

The next stage 93 is a test of the lock of the captor 71. While the captor is open, that is, the ratchet does not reach the end of the trajectory, this stage is repeated again. When the captor 71 is closed, that is, when the pawl is at the end of the path, it is passed to the next step 95 which commands the closing of the electric valve 75 and, therefore, the return of the ratchet to its initial position. . This return is produced by the air placement of the conduit 73 by the third way of the electric valve 75.

The test 93 ensures that since a fruit lift the arm, it is already tagged, because it is necessary that the captor 71 is closed to interrupt the pull of the strip. In addition, the electric valve is closed since the ratchet reaches the end of trajectory; this allows the ratchet to return immediately to its position of waiting for a new labeling, without it being necessary to wait for the return of the arm 9 to its initial position. The invention also allows to obtain high rates of labeling. The next step 97 is a test of the drive of the captor 69. While this is still closed, that is, while the article intended to be labeled is still under the arm, this step is restarted. But since that one is open, that is to say, since the article destined for the labeling has already passed the arm, one returns to stage 89. It will be necessary to wait for the arm to begin to lower before being able to label an article again, which Avoid placing two labels on the same item. In addition, it is sufficient that the arm begins to lower again to authorize a new labeling. You can then label two items placed very close, the situation that corresponds to a brief low, followed by a brief rise of the arm. Under these conditions, the arm will not return to its initial position, as it is in the case of the technique that allows a new labeling. The description of the operation is made for use in a packing place. The operation is similar for manual use with the difference that the user has to place the detection arm on the article. The present invention thus makes it possible to label all the articles detected by the arm 9 with a cadence that is limited only by the speed of movement of the jack 52 and, generally, of the driving device 13.

Claims (8)

1. Machine for applying on the labels articles (7) distributed regularly on a rolled strip (5), comprising mounted on a platform-base (1), an oscillating arm (9) for detecting articles, a drum (11) for pulling the strip (5) that is put into a rotational movement, step by step, by a motor device (13), means for control (15) of the driving device (13), the detection means (17) of the angular displacement of the arm (9) and of the means connected to the arm and ordered, by the movement of the strip, of transfer of labels from the strip (5) to the corresponding articles, characterized in that the detection means (17) of the angular displacement are the means for detecting the start of angular displacement of the arm (9), connected to the control means (15) in order to, during the start of the movement in one direction, advance the drum (11) through them in a complete step and thus achieve the labeling of the article detected by the arm (9).

2. Machine, according to claim 1, characterized in that the means for detecting the angular displacement comprise a sensor (69) of the start of angular displacement connected to the control means (15) of the motor device (13), a lever (59) of detection of the displacement of the arm (9) articulated on the arm (9) by means of a shaft (19), a bracket (67) fixing the initial position of the free end of the lever (59) of detection of the displacement practically to the contact of said captor (69) and means for coupling the arm (9) and the lever (59) for detecting the displacement of the arm (9) forming a friction clutch that can stop when the lever for detecting the displacement of the arm is put in place. the contact is with the said captor (69) or with the said stirrup (67).

3. Machine, according to claim 2, characterized in that the coupling means comprise an elastic member (61) to keep it in frictional contact, with the detection arm and the detection lever (59) rotating on the shaft (19), and keeping the elastic member (61) in contact with the surfaces of the detection arm (9) and the lever (59) for detecting the displacement of the arm (9) thereby constituting the said friction clutch.

4. Machine, according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the sensor (69) contains a switch with a short path pushbutton placed in front of the oscillating end of the displacement transmission member (59) and connected to the control means (15). ).

5. Machine, according to one of the claims, from 1 to 4, in which the driving device (13) contains a wheel with rocket (45) that drives the drum; said rotated wheel is set in rotation by an alternate displacement member (49), characterized in that a captor of the execution of a complete step by the scroll wheel (45) is connected to the control means (15). ) with the object of starting by these of the return of the organ (49) of the alternate displacement towards its position of waiting for the labeling of a following article.

6. Machine, according to claim 5, characterized in that the captor of the execution of a complete step of the wheel with rocket (45) is an end-of-travel sensor of the alternate displacement member (71).

7. Machine, according to claim 5 or 6, in which the alternate displacement member is connected to the piston of a pneumatic jack (51), characterized in that the control means (15) contains an information processing unit (73). ) whose inputs are connected to the trigger of the start of the angular displacement (69) and to the captor of the execution of a complete step by the wheel with pin (71), and an electric valve (75) for actuating the pneumatic jack (51) connected to the outputs of the information processing unit. Machine, according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the direction of start of the labeling is the direction of rotation of the detection arm (9) towards the top. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention refers to a machine for applying, on articles, the labels (7) distributed regularly on a rolled strip (5), comprising, mounted on a platform-base (1), an arm (9) oscillating device for detecting articles, a drum (11) for pulling the strip (5) which is set in rotation, step by step, by a motor device, means for controlling the motor device, means for detecting the angular displacement of the arm (9). The devices (17) for detecting the angular displacement are the means for detecting the start of the angular displacement of the arm (9), connected to the actuating means with the object of, during the start of the movement in one direction, advancing through them the drum (11) in a complete step and thus, achieve the labeling of the article detected by the arm (9). It is noted that in relation to this date, the best method known by the applicant to carry out the aforementioned invention, is the conventional one for the manufacture of the objects to which it relates. Having described the invention as above, the content of the following is claimed as property.