US3266417A

US3266417A - Marking device

Info

Publication number: US3266417A
Application number: US402739A
Authority: US
Inventors: Martin A Evers
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1964-10-09
Filing date: 1964-10-09
Publication date: 1966-08-16
Anticipated expiration: 1983-08-16

Description

M. A. EVERS MARKING DEVICE Aug. 16, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 9, 1964 INVENTOK MARTIN A. EVERS www w ATTORNEYS Aug. 16, 1966 v s 3,266,417

MARKING DEVI CE Filed Oct. 9, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FlG-4 is 4s 83 00 o o c k o Q 00 oo o o o 00 3- oo o oo o 0000 00 oo oo o oo oo oooo o o o o o o oo o o o o oo o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o oo o oo o o oo oo oo o o o o o oooooo o@oo@o o@o o o o oo o oo o 000 o oo o o o oo o oooooooooooooooooooo o oooo ooo@oo@ooo o 00 000 000 0000000 0 o 000 oooooooooooooooooooo 0000 00 oo@oo@o o 00 00000 o 0000 o oo oo oo o v o 0000 000 oc c ooooooo HZ I N VEN TOR.

MARTIN A. EVERS ATTORN EYS 3,266,417 [Ce Patented August 16, 1966 3,266,417 MARKING DEVICE Martin A. Evers, 282 Annette Drive, Dayton, Uhio Filed Oct. 9, 1964, Ser. No. 402,739 Claims. (61. l41) This application relates to marking or stamping devices, and more particularly, to a device for marking simultaneously a plurality of articles prearranged in uniform spaced relationship within a packaging case or the like.

A common procedure for marking the price on case lot articles distributed through retail stores, such as supermarkets and grocery stores, is to price each article individually immediately prior to removing the article from the case and placing it on display for the customer. Generally, this marking is accomplished with the use of a hand manipulated stamping device having selectable numbers on the bottom thereof for presetting according to the desired code, price or the like to me marked on the article. The stamping device is then carried in one hand back and forth across the rows of articles arranged in the case with a repetitive and successive hand stamping action on the individual articles.

This marking procedure has been found to require considerable time on the part of the person in charge of marking a price on each article, and when combined with the repetitive nature of the operation, the procedure results in a rather costly operation in addition to becoming rather monotonous. However, it has been observed that this cost of individually marking each article has, in time, become accepted as a necessary overhead cost for distributing and selling the articles.

It has also been observed that this individual price marking method is used on a wide variety of articles including canned and bottled goods as well as goods in paper boxes and wrapped pack-ages. Furthermore, frequently the wholesale distributor assumes the task of marking the price on the articles, and thus often a salesman for the wholesale distributor is burdened with the job of marking the articles prior to arranging them for the retailers display. As a result, additional time is required of the salesman in order to set up or complete his display. Then too, the relatively higher hourly cost of a salesmans time when compared to a stock boys time results in increasing the selling cost of the articles. For these reasons, the present invention is directed to a device which substantially reduces the time and effort for making the price on articles before removal from the container in which they are packed, generally referred to herein as a case.

Accordingly, one primary object of the present invention is to provide a novel marking device including a plurality of marking elements which are adapted to mark simultaneously a corresponding top surface of a group of articles arranged as a layer within a case.

As another object, the present invention provides a marking device as outlined above wherein means are provided for adjustably spacing the marking elements in order that the device can accommodate articles of various sizes arranging in spaced relationships depending upon the customary manner of packaging the articles within the case.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a marking device as outlined above wherein the marking elements are removably retained on a support member so that each marking element may be easily removed and exchanged for a similar marking element having a different price or mark thereon.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a marking device for stamping the price on a plurality of prearranged articles, wherein the device is adapted for automatic operation as a case layer of the articles is moved in step-like successive manner beneath the device.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a novel marking device as outlined above wherein means are provided for arranging the marking elements in a cluster to facilitate the quick and easy removal or exchange of the marking elements.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description, the accompanying drawings and the appended claims.

In the drawings FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a marking device ac cording to the invention illustrating a power operated mounting for marking simultaneously the price on a dozen articles of canned goods arranged as a layer within a case;

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the marking device of FIG. 1 showing twelve marking elements and the directions in which they can be adjustably spaced;

FIG. 3 is a bottom View of the marking elements in FIG. 2 shown arranged in a cluster for quick and simple removal or exchange of the elements;

FIG. 4 is an elevational section view of the marking device as viewed along the line 44 of FIG. 2 and showing the locking mechanism for retaining the marking elements according to a predetermined spaced relationship corresponding to the spaced relationship of the articles within the case;

FIG. 5 is a view partly in elevation and partly in section of a typical holder for a marking element as employed in the device of FIG. 1 and showing means for removably retaining a marking element as well as a spring biased means for accommodating a slight differential in elevation between the top surface of a layer of articles;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a collecting and supporting device to simplifiy removal and insertion of the marking elements while arranged in a cluster shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged bottom view of the marking element and holder shown in section in FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is an elevational section View of a modified marking element showing an alternate means for releasably retaining the element;

FIG. 9 is a bottom view of a marking device according to another embodiment of the invention and showing the means for adjustably spacing the marking elements to accommodate the simultaneous marking of articles of various sizes and arranged in various spaced relationships;

FIG. 10 is an enlarged fragmentary section view of the support member employed in the marking device of FIG. 9 and showing a means for removably retaining the marking elements to the frame member; and

FIG. 11 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the marking device shown in FIG. 9.

Referring to the drawings, which illustrate preferred embodiments of the invention, FIG. 1 shows a marking device including generally a support member 15 comprising a frame 16 which serves to support a series of longitudinal rods 18 and lateral rods 20 spaced at right angles to each other. At each of the cross-over portions of the

rods

18 and 20 is mounted a square tubular holder 22 which supports at the bottom thereof a marking element 25 as shown in the bottom view of FIG. 2.

The marking device shown in FIG. 1 is supported through the brackets 26 by a pair of fluid operated pressure cylinders 27 which are adapted to lower automatically the marking elements 25 downwardly until they contact the top surfaces 29 of a plurality of articles 30 closely spaced to define a layer within the case 32 and then to raise the elements 25 to their original starting positions. The articles 30 are typically illustrated in FIG. 1 as canned goods, but it is to be understood that the term articles as used herein includes any article which may be arranged in a group for economical packaging and shipping. For example, the articles may be bottled, canned or packaged boxes of various shapes and sizes and may be grouped in many various numbers to define a layer within a case or the like. Usually, however, the articles are packed in layers of 12, 24 or 48.

As shown in FIG. 1, for high speed marking it has been found desirable to carry the opened case of articles on a conveyor 35 which passes over a table 36 and is power operated with a step by step movement so that each layer of articles .pauses directly underneath the marking device to allow sufficient time for the fluid cylinder to move the marking elements downwardly and to mark simultaneously the prices 37 on the top surface 29 of each of the articles 30. In place of the power operated belt conveyor 35, however, a suitable roller type conveyor or other suitable conveyor means may be satisfactorily employed.

Preferably, the support member 15, including the frame 16, rods 17 and 18, and holders 22 is formed from a plastic material having a low coefiioient of friction which enables the holders 22 to be moved freely so that the stamping elements 25 may be easily positioned and spaced with respect to one another according to the size and spaced relationship of the articles within the case. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the ends of the

rods

18 and 20 are adapted to slide within

grooves

40 and 42, respectively, which are formed within the frame 16. The end of the rod 18 shown in FIG. 5 is typical of each end of the

rods

18 and 20 and is formed with a tongue adapted to be received within the

grooves

40 and 42 and thereby to provide for an easy gliding movement of the

rods

18 and 20 back and forth within the frame 16.

It can be seen that due to the construction of the support member 15, the rows of holders 22 will always remain in uniformly spaced relationship with each other and thus provide for quick and simple adjustment of the marking elements 25. In order to lock the

rods

18 and 20 in place for preventing shifting of the holders 22 and thus the marking element 25, the bottom of one of the grooves 40 and one of the grooves 42 is defined by an elongated wedge 47 which is adapted to slide back and forth on the inclined surface 48 to increase or decrease the width of the

grooves

40 and 42 and thereby to clamp or release the tongues 45 spaced within the grooves. Once the

rods

18 and 20 have been positioned, the wedge 47 is moved endwise by a knob 52 which is connected to the wedge 47 by a threaded screw 54 extending from the wedge through the slot 56. Thus by tightening the knob 52, the wedge 47 is held firmly in place, and the

rods

18 and 20 are prevented from sliding within the frame 16.

The support member 15 shown in FIG. 1 is assembled by first extending the

rods

18 and 20 through the

openings

58 and 59, respectively, formed within the tubular holders 22 in a position as shown in FIG. 1 and then the frame 16 is slipped over the tongues 45 on each end of the

rods

18 and 20, after which the frame retaining screws 62 are inserted. It has been determined that only one end of the

rods

18 and 20 need to be locked in order to prevent movement between the marking elements 25. Thus the elongated wedges 47 are mounted in only one end and one side of the frame 16, as illustrated by the knobs 52 in FIG. 2. It is to be understood, however, that while only three longitudinal rods 18 and four lateral rods 28 are shown in the marking device of FIG. 1, more or less rods may be employed depending upon the number of marking elements 25 desired.

As shown in FIG. 5, a typical marking element 25 includes an inverted plastic cup 65 having a boss 67 of reduced diameter extending from the top, and from which extends a stem 69 which is removably retained within a plug 72 by four resilient finger tips 73. Within the cup 65 is fastened a marking tip 75 by a suitable cement. Preferably, the marking tip 75 is formed from a resilient material having a reticulated open pore structure for retaining a supply of ink by capillary action. For further description of such material, reference is made to US. Patent No. 2,763,208, issued September 18, 1956, and U.S. Patent No. 3,022,542, issued February 27, 1962.

As shown in FIG. '7, the plug 72 is square in configuration and is adapted to slide vertically within the tubular holder 22 but is retained for limited travel therein by a set screw 77 extending through a slot 78 formed within the holder. Spaced between the top of the plug 72 and a pin 81 extending through the tubular holder 22 is a compression spring 83 which is adapted to hold the marking element 25 in a biased downward position. This resilient mounting of the marking elements 25 permits uniform marking on a layer of articles having a slight differential in elevation among the top surface 29.

The resilient fingers 73 extending from the stem 69 of the marking element 25 are so constructed as to permit the marking element to be easily inserted and removed by a slight detent force. However, during the use of the device, the resiliency within the tip 73 is sufiicient to retain the marking elements 25 and to prevent them from dropping out of the plug 72. As a result of the sliding rod mounting construction shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the marking elements 25 may be easily removed by arranging the elements in a cluster as shown in FIG. 3 so that a finger like member 85 (FIG. 6) may be employed to slide in between the marking elements 25 around the boss on each element (FIG. 5) whereby all of the marking elements 25 may be removed or inserted at one time. Another advantage of arranging all of the marking elements 25 in a cluster is to simplify the addition of ink to the marking tips 75. This can be accomplished simply with the use of a conventional ink pad, roller or other suitable applicator.

Another means for removably retaining the marking elements and to provide for a resiliency in the mounting of the elements is shown in FIG. 8. Here the marking element 98 includes a stem 92 having a neck 93 defined by an elongated tapered portion of reduced diameter which is adapted to receive a ball 95 biased by the spring 96 and retained within an opening formed in the plug 97 by a set screw 98. This assembly serves as a detent for the stem 93 inserted within the hole 99 formed within the plug 97 rigidly connected to the square tubular holder 104 by the set screw 98.

A resilient, washer 106, preferably formed from a sponge-like material, is provided between the cup portion 107 of the marking element 98 and the bottom of the plug 97 to serve the same purpose as the compression spring 83 shown in FIG. 5. That is, the resilient washer 106 provides for an independent upward movement of the marking element 98 in relation to the holder 184 so that the marking device can accommodate slight irregularities in the elevation diiferential among the top surface of the articles. It has been found, however, that with many packed articles, the top surfaces of all the articles is so nearly coplanar that only a slight resilient means, such as the washer 186 or compression spring 83, is necessary.

Furthermore, with some articles the inherent resiliency within the porous marking tip 75 is adequate to provide uniform marking of all of the articles within the layer.

A marking device according to another embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG. 9 wherein the marking elements 110 are mounted on a generally flat support member 112 through the openings 114. By providing the support member 112 with a large number of openings 114 having -a distance D equal to approximately A inch between the centerlines of the openings 114, it has been found that the marking elements 110 can be adjustably spaced in various arrangements to accommodate substantially all articles which are packed to define a layer of a case. For example, the marking elements 110 may be mounted in adjacent openings 114- for the marking of small spice bottles or in every fourth opening 114 for the marking of No. 2 cans.

As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the marking element 110 includes a split stem 116 defining resilient fingers 117 which are adapted to extend through the openings 114 within the support members 112 and are maintained in perpendicular alignment with the support provided by a boss 120 surrounding each of the openings 114. In this manner, each of the marking elements 110 may be easily snapped in and out of engagement with the support member 112 for exchanging with elements having different markings thereon or respaced within different openings 114 to correspond with a different size article or different spaced relationship of the articles. A resilient washer 122 serves the same purpose as the washer 106 shown in FIG. 8, that is, to accommodate slight irregularities in elevation among the top surfaces of the articles.

Preferably, the support member 112 is formed from a transparent plastic material so that when the marking device is used manually, the operator can see the articles spaced below the device and thereby precisely align the marking elements 110 with the top surface of the article. A transparent support member 112 also provides for simple and accurate spacing of the marking elements 110, in that the support member 112 can be placed directly on top of a case of articles in an inverted manner so that the marking elements can be inserted through the openings 114 directly above the position on the article where the mark is to be made. This is especially helpful where the top surface of the articles is relatively small, as for example, the caps on a case of catsup bottles. Here for example, the marking elements 110 must be pre cisely spaced in relation to one another so that the marking elements 110 engage substantially the center area of the caps on the bottles. Of course, with the device shown in FIG. 1, the support member is substantially open so that the article within the case below can be observed during the arranging and spacing of the marking elements 25.

It can be seen from the drawings and the above description that a marking device according to the present invention provides a number of advantages. Specifically, the device can be simply and easily adjusted for marking articles in a wide variety of sizes which may be packed within a case in uniform spaced relationships. For ex ample, the device is adaptable for simultaneously marking articles arranged 12, 24 or 48 within a single layer. Also, the marking device according to the invention lends itself to manual operation as well as automatic operation.

Another important feature of a device according to the invention is that the marking elements are removably retained by the support member such that the marking elements may be quickly and easily interchanged with other marking elements having different prices or marks thereon. The resilient mounting of the marking element is considered an additional feature of the invention by which the device is adapted to mark articles arranged in a layer but do not have a top surface lying precisely within a common plane. As a result, the device according to the invention assures that each article will receive a firm and uniform contact of the marking element on the top surface of the article. The primary feature, however, which is derived from a device according to the invention is the substantial saving in time required to mark the layers of articles over the present time-consuming method of successively stamping individually each article within each layer with a hand operated stamping device.

While the forms of apparatus herein described constitutes preferred embodiments of the invention, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to these precise forms of apparatus, and that changes may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention which is defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A device for simultaneously marking a plurality of articles uniformly spaced to define a layer within a packaging case and especially adapted to mark the selling price on all of the articles simultaneously prior to removal of the articles fro-m the case, said device comprising a support member, a plurality of marking elements corresponding to the number of articles to be marked simultaneously, means for mounting said elements on said support member with said elements spaced in a substantially coplanar relationship for engaging a corresponding top surface on each article within the layer, and means for adjustably moving each said element laterally on said support member while maintaining said coplanar relationship to space said elements corresponding to the spaced relationship of the articles within the case for accommodating articles of various sizes arranged in various spaced relationships.

2. A device for simultaneously marking a plurality of articles uniformly spaced to define a layer within a packaging case and especially adapted to mark simultaneously the selling price on the articles prior to removal of the articles from the case, said device comprising a support member, a plurality of holder members corresponding to the number of articles to be marked simultaneously, a corresponding plurality of marking elements, means for mounting each of said elements on said member with said corresponding holder elements spaced in a substantially coplanar relationship for engaging a corresponding top surface on each article within the layer, means for movbly mounting each said holder member on said support member to space said elements on said support member corresponding to the spaced relationship of the articles within the case for accommodating articles of various sizes arranged in various spaced relationship, and means for removably retaining each of said elements on said corresponding holder member to provide for a simplified exchanging of said elements with different markings thereon.

3. A marking device as defined in claim 2 including means for locking each said holder member in fixed relationship on said support member after said holder members are moved to a spaced relationship corresponding to the spaced relationship of the articles in the case.

4. A device for simultaneously marking a plurality of articles uniformly spaced to define a layer within a packaging case and especially adapted to mark simultaneously the selling price on the articles prior to removal of the articles from the case, said device comprising a support member including a frame having a series of longitudinal rods extending from end to end and a series of lateral rods extending from said to side, a plurality of holders mounted at the cross over portions of said longitudinal and lateral rods, a corresponding plurality of marking elements, resilient means for mounting each of said elements on one of said holders with said elements spaced in a substantially coplanar relationship and adapted to provide a uniform marking on a corresponding top surface of each article within the layer, means for movably mounting said holders on said rods, means for movably mounting said rods in said frame for adjusting said ele- References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,928,715 10/1933 Wilson 101379 5 2,173,025 9/1939 Parker 101-394 2,661,681 12/1953 Fensterrnaker 101-379 X 2,969,734 1/1961 Hall 101-368 X DAVID KLEIN, Primary Examiner. 10 WILLIAM F. MCCARTHY, Assistant Examiner.

Claims

1. A DEVICE FOR SIMULTANEOUSLY MAKING A PLURALITY OF ARTICLES UNIFORMLY SPACED TO DEFINE A LAYER WITHIN A PACKAGING CASE AND ESPECIALLY ADAPTED TO MARK THE SELLING PRICE ON ALL OF THE ARTICLES SIMULTENEOUSLY PRIOR TO REMOVAL OF THE ARTICLES FROM THE CASE, SAID DEVICE COMPRISING A SUPPORT MEMBER, A PLURALITY OF MARKING ELEMENTS CORRESPONDING TO THE NUMBER OF ARTICLES TO BE MARKED SIMULTANEOUSLY, MEANS FOR MOUNTING SAID ELEMENTS ON SAID SUPPORT MEMBER WITH SAID ELEMENTS SPACED IN A SUBSTANTIALLY COPLANAR RELATIONSHIP FOR ENGAGING A CORRESPONDING TOP SURFACE ON EACH ARTICLE WITHIN THE LAYER, AND MEANS FOR ADJUSTABLY MOVING EACH SAID ELEMENT LATERALLY ON SAID SUPPORT MEMBER WHILE MAINTAINING SAID COPLANAR