US3918143A

US3918143A - Tag feeding and attaching method

Info

Publication number: US3918143A
Application number: US456712A
Authority: US
Inventors: Harold N Grushon
Original assignee: Monarch Marking Systems Inc
Current assignee: Avery Dennison Retail Information Services LLC
Priority date: 1973-01-02
Filing date: 1974-04-01
Publication date: 1975-11-11
Anticipated expiration: 1992-11-11

Abstract

There is disclosed a tag attaching machine, specifically, a pinning machine, for pinning tags onto merchandise. The machine has a die and a cooperable plunger, a pin magazine for driving a pin through a tag and the merchandise while the die and the plunger are in cooperation at a pinning position or zone, a pin feeder for feeding pins to the pin magazine, and a tag feeding mechanism for feeding tags to the pinning position. The tag feeding mechanism is adapted to handle a wide range of sizes of tags. The tag feeding mechanism causes relative movement between the tag stack and endless feed means to feed one tag at a time to a waiting position and to thereafter feed the waiting tag to the pinning position. The tag feeding mechanism has a side guide mechanism by which a stack having tags of any selected width can be held in the tag hopper and by which a holding force can be exerted on the tag at the pinning position. A brake mechanism prevents the side guide mechanism from moving into the space occupied by the tag stack when the stack is depleted or nearly depleted. The feeding mechanism is mounted by a subframe pivotally mounted to the frame to provide access to the underside of the feeding mechanism and to the remainder of the machine. A pin clinching and tag holding member is constructed and operated to hold a tag at the pinning position and to thereafter clinch the pointed end of the pin into the tag.

Description

United States Patent [191 Grushon NOV. 11, 1975 [73] Assignee: Monarch Marking Systems, Inc.,

Dayton, Ohio 22 Filed: Apr. 1, 1974 21 Appl. No.: 456,712

Related US. Application Data [62] Division of Ser. No. 320,340, Jan. 2, 1973, Pat. No.

[52] US. Cl 29/429; 29/200 R; 271/121; 271/10 [51] Int. Cl. B65H 5/00 [58] Field of Search 29/429, 200 R; 271/121,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,971,963 8/1934 Kohnle 227/136 2,080,968 5/1937 Krell 271/124 3,025,054 3/1962 Clemens et a1. 271/140 3,173,684 3/1965 Binzoni et a1 271/122 3.285,6OO 11/1966 Godin 271/10 3,285,604 11/1966 Parker 271/135 3,469,834 9/1969 Stange et a1. 271/10 3,524,639 8/1970 Smith et a1 271/10 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,375,322 9/1964 France 271/37 k \N 0 w Q Prt'nmr E.\'aminerC. W. Lanham Assistant E.\'aminerDan C. Crane Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Joseph J. Grass [57] ABSTRACT There is disclosed a tag attaching machine, specifically, a pinning machine, for pinning tags onto merchandise. The machine has a die and a cooperable plunger, a pin magazine for driving a pin through a tag and the merchandise while the die and the plunger are in cooperation at a pinning position or zone, a pin feeder for feeding pins to the pin magazine, and a tag feeding mechanism for feeding tags to the pinning position. The tag feeding .mechanism is adapted to handle a wide range of sizes of tags. The tag feeding mechanism causes relative movement between the tag stack and endless feed means to feed one tag at a time to a waiting position and to thereafter feed the waiting tag to the pinning position. The tag feeding mechanism has a side guide mechanism by which a stack having tags of any selected width can be held in the tag hopper and by which a holding force can be exerted on the tag at the pinning position. A brake mechanism prevents the side guide mechanism from moving into the space occupied by the tag stack when the stack is depleted or nearly depleted. The feeding mechanism is mounted by a subframe pivotally mounted to the frame to provide access to the underside of the feeding mechanism and to the remainder of the machine. A pin clinching and tag holding member is constructed and operated to hold a tag at the pinning position and to thereafter clinch the pointed end of the pin into the tag.

3 Claims, 23 Drawing Figures U.S. Patent N0v.11, 1975 Sheetlof 10 3,918,143

5 w W 32 w FIG-2 r US. Patent Nov. 11,1975 Sheet 2 of 10 3,918,143

US. Patent Nov. 11,1975 Sheet 3 of 10 3,918,143

US. Patent Nov.11, 1975 Sheet40f10 3,918,143

U.S. Patent Nov. 11, 1975 Sheet 5 of 10 3,918,143

w. 2| FIG-IO 5 r W 2/ /20b I Z5 2 o O 206 &\

I /22 206 o /Z0 0 o I w a I! 3/ I I l l8? I Z42: 35 2, 222

U.S. Patent Nov. 11, 1975 Sheet 6 of 10 3,918,143

US. Patent Nov. 11, 1975 FIG-l4 Sheet 7 of 10 Nov. 11, 1975 US. Patent Sheet 8 0f 10 US. Patent Nov.1l, 1975 Sheet 100f10 3,918,143

83 E56 M52 6 22.2818 wHEEQ cs ON 2:

WZZEHGE QEEEEZ E58 P Q:

MZZWIE 808 3:5 mew 88 ESE 25 mN wI TAG FEEDING AND ATTACHING METHOD CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a division of copending Ser. No. 320,340, filed Jan. 2, 1973, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,837,554. Reference is hereby made to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 102,686, filed Dec. 30, 1970, now U.S. pat. No. 3,709,420 which was pending during the pendency of application Ser. No. 320,340. Reference is also hereby made to another divisional application Ser. No. 456,711, filed Apr. 1, 1974, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,887,107.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates in general to the art of tag attaching machines and in particular to pinning machines.

2. Prior Art The following U.S. patents are made of record: U.S. Pat. Nos. 976,640; 1,971,963; 2,125,626; 2,378,250; 3,025,054; 3,285,604; and 3,357,618.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention provides an improved method and apparatus for pinning a tag onto merchandise. The machine is of the type having a die and a cooperable plunger, a pin magazine, a pin feeder for feeding pins to the pin magazine, and a hopper for a stack of tags. The invention provides improved method and apparatus in which endless drive means is continuously driven throughout an operating cycle, so that the feeding of a tag from a waiting position in frictional contact with the endless driver toward a pinning position starts at the beginning of a cycle, thereafter during the cycle positioning the tag at the attaching position, thereafter during the cycle attaching the tag to merchandise and feeding another tag from a stack to the waiting position near the end of the cycle. The use of endless feed means, instead of the conventional feed fingers, to feed a tag from a stack to the pinning position enables long tags such as or more inches in length to be fed from a stack to the pinning position. In order to accommodate tags of different widths, there is provided a movable side guide which is urged against the side of the stack. Means are provided to prevent the side guide from moving into the space which would be occupied by the tag stack when the stack is depleted or nearly depleted. The side guide also carries another movable side guide which contacts the side edge of a tag at the pinning position to hold the tag and to urge the tag against a stationary side guide. The movable side guides are always in the right position irrespective of the width of the tag stack. Means are provided to both hold the tag at the pinning position and to clinch the pointed end of pin into the tag. This is accomplished by positioning a tag holding and clinching member in one of three positions. When the holding and clinching member is in a first or initial position, the tag is admitted to the pinning position, in the second position the tag is held at the pinning position, and in the third position the pointed end of the pin is clinched. Means are also provided to uncouple the feed wheel from the drive system to enable a jam to be readily cleared. There is also an arrangement by which the tag feeding mechanism is carried by a subframe which is movably mounted to the frame to allow access to the machine components. Another feature is the provision of means to prevent operation of the machine when the hopper and the subframe are moved relatively away from each other. Other features will be apparent when reference is made to the following specification and drawings.

BRIEF. DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a pinning machine in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the pinning machine shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a fragmentary portion of ,a tag having been pinned to merchandise by the pinning machine;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of part of the drive system for the pinning machine;

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view showing major components of the pinning machine,

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view supplemental to FIG. 5 showing particularly structure for feeding tags to the pinning position;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line 77 of FIG. 1, showing structure by which a pin strip is advanced to the pin magazine, the pin feeder being shown in the rest position;

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 7, but the pin feeder being shown in the feeding position;

FIG. 9 is a side elevational view of the tag feeding mechanism in its initial position at the beginning of the machine cycle;

FIG. 10 is a side elevational view showing the tag feeding mechanism of the machine near the end of the machine cycle just prior to the feeding of a tag to a waiting position;

FIG. 11 is a side elevational view similar to FIG. 10, but showing the tag feeding mechanism feeding a tag to the waiting position;

FIG. 12 is a side elevational view showing the feeding mechanism feeding a tag toward the pinning position;

FIG. 13 is a sectional view showing the manner by which a roller assembly is mounted relative to a feed wheel;

FIG. 14 is a top plan view of the machine with part of the tag feeding mechanism broken away for clarity;

FIG. 15 is a fragmentary front elevational view of the machine showing the pin clinching and tag holding mechanism in its initial position prior to a tag having been fed to the pinning position;

FIG. 16 is a view similar to FIG. 15, but showing the pin clinching and tag holding mechanism in a tag holding position in which a tag is held at the pinning position and in which a side guide is shown spaced slightly from one side of the tag;

FIG. 17 is a view similar to FIGS. 15 and 16, but showing the plunger in cooperation with the die, a pin driver of the pin magazine completing its pin driving movement, the pin clinching and tag holding mechanism being in a clinching position in which the pointed end of the pin is being clinched into the underside of the tag and the side guide has moved to a position in which the tag is urged against the other side guide;

FIG. 18 is a sectional view taken generally along line l818 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 19 is a fragmentary view taken generally along line 1919 of FIG. 10 showing the underside of the tag hopper and showing a brake mechanism in its ineffective position;

FIG. is a view similar to FIG. 19, but showing a fragmentary portion of the brake mechanism in the effective (braking) position;

FIG. 21 is a fragmentary view taken generally along line 2121 of FIG. 10 showing the upper side of the tag hopper and showing the brake mechanism in its ineffective position;

FIG. 22 is a view similar to FIG. 21, butshowing a fragmentary portion of the brake mechanism in the effective position; and

FIG. 23 is a timing chart.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With reference initially to FIGS 1, 2 and 3, there is shown a tag attaching machine and particularly a pinning machine generally indicated at 30. The machine is capable of attaching a tag T to merchandise M by means of a pin P having a head 11 and a pointed end 2. The pinning machine 30 has a frame generally indicated at 31 which pivotally mounts a subframe generally indicated at 32. The frame 31 mounts an electric motor 33, a speed reducer 34, a plunger or anvil 35, a die 36 with which the plunger cooperates, a pin magazine 37, and a pin feeder 38 for feeding pins P on a pin strip PS from a pin roll PR. The subframe 32 mounts a tag feeding mechanism generally indicated at 39. The frame 31 also pivotally mounts an actuator or operating lever 40 pivotally mounted about a fixed pivot 41. Depression of the actuator 40 causes a clutch operator 42 to initiate the operation of a single revolution clutch 43 driven by the speed reducer 34.

With reference to FIG. 4, there is shown the motor 33, the speed reducer 34, and the single revolution clutch 43. The speed reducer 34 drives a sprocket 44 which in turn drives a sprocket 45 via a roller chain 46. The sprocket 45 drives an input shaft 47 to the clutch 43. The clutch 43 drives an output or drive shaft 48 through one revolution each time the clutch 43 is engaged. Manual triggering of the apparatus, specifically by engagement of the clutch 43, is effected by depression of the actuator 40 (counterclockwise movement as I viewed in FIG. 4) which shifts the clutch operator 42 against the force of tension spring 42. The clutch oper ator 42 is mechanically coupled to the clutch 43 as indicated by broken line 42". A cam 49, a bevel gear 50, and

cams

51 and 52 are secured. to the drive shaft 48. The cam 49 drives a follower lever 53 to raise and lower the plunger 35 in succession once during each rotation of the shaft 48. The lever 53 is pivotally mounted on a pivot 54 secured to the frame 31. The plunger 35 is mounted for reciprocal movement by a housing 55.

The bevel gear is in mesh with a rotatably mounted bevel gear 56 secured to a sprocket 57. The sprocket 57 in turn drives a roller chain 58 also shown in FIGS. 2, 5, and 9.

The cam 51 drives a follower arm 59 which is biased against the cam 51 by a spring 60. The arm 59 is secured to a bracket 61 which is pivotally mounted on a fixed pivot 61 carried by the frame 31. A pin clinching and tag holding member 62 is secured to the underside of the bracket 60. The cam 51 is contoured to drive the member 62 successively from an initial first position into second and third positions and to return the member 62 to the first position during one revolution of the drive shaft 48 as will be described below in greater detail.

The cam 52 has a cam groove 63 in which a follower roller 64 is disposed. The follower roller 64 is carried by a rigid link 65. The link 65 is guided for reciprocal movement in opposite directions as shown by a doubleheaded arrow 66. The link 65 operates the pin maga zine 37 including its pin driver 67.

With reference to FIG. 5, the roller chain 58 drives a sprocket 68 secured to a shaft 70. The shaft 70 is rotatably mounted in a bearing 69 mounted in a hole 69 in a subframe plate 71 of the subframe 32. A pinion gear 72. secured to the sprocket 68 is mounted on a bearing 73. The bearing 73 is received in a hole 75 in subframe plate 76 of subframe 32. The pinion gear 72 meshes with a gear 77. A cam 78 is adjustably secured to the gear 77 by screws 79 which pass through holes 80 in the gear 77 and through arcuate slots 81 in the cam 78. The screws 79 are threadably received in threaded holes 82 in hub 83 of a cam 84. A post 85 extends through a central hole 86 in the hub 83, through a hole 87 in the cam 78, through a hole 88 in the gear 77 and through a hole 90 in subframe plate 76. Threaded end 91 of the post 85 which extends through the hole 90 threadably receives a nut 89. The screws 79 hold the cam 78 in adjusted position relative to the gear 77 and to the cam 84 so that the gear 77 and the

cams

78 and 84 rotate as a unit about the post 85. The sizes of the bevel gears 50 and 56, the

sprockets

57 and 68, and the

gears

72 and 77 are such that one complete revolution of the drive shaft 48 drives the gear 77 and the

cams

78 and 84 through one complete revolution. Accordingly, the ratio between the drive shaft 48, and the gear 77 and

cams

78 and 84, is 1 to 1.

The gear 77 carries a roller 92. The roller 92 drives a follower 93 pivotally mounted on reduced diameter section 73 of the bearing 73. The follower 93 carries a pin 94 received in an elongated slot 95 of an actuator 96. The actuator 96 is pivotally mounted by a pivot screw 97 which extends through a hole 98 in the subframe plate 76, through a spacer 99, through a hole 100 in the actuator 96, through a hole 101 in a bracket 102, and threadably receives a nut 103. The bracket 102 is securely mounted to the subframe plate 76. A tension spring 104 is connected at one end to a post 105 carried by the plate 76 and is connected at its other end to a post 106 carried by the actuator 96. The spring 104 normally urges the actuator 96 into a return position shown in FIG. 7.

The cam 78 has a cylindrical outer surface 107 concentric with the central hole 87 with a depression or low point 108. A follower roller 109 bears against the cam 78. The roller 109 is carried by a lever 110 pivotally mounted on a post 111 secured to the subframe plate 71. A clip 112 retains'the lever 110 on on the post 111. The lever 110 has a bifurcated end 113 which receives a pin 114 secured to a slide bar 115. The slide bar 115 has a pair of elongated slots 116. Pins 117 secured to the subframe plate 71 extend through the slots 116. A tension spring 1 18 is connected at its one end, to end portion of the one pin 117 (toward the front of the machine 30) which extends through the respective slot 116. The other end of the spring 118 is connected to end portion of a pin 1 19 secured to the slide bar 1 15. The spring 119 urges the bar 115 and a pusher 120 toward the front of the machine 30 and causes the roller 109 to be urged against the cam 78. When the roller 109 enters depression 108, the lever pivots clockwise (FIG. 9) and the slide bar and a pusher carried by the slide bar 115 shift toward the front of the machine 30. As soon as the cam 78 rotates far enough for the roller 109 to again roll on the surface 107, the lever 110 pivots counterclockwise (FIG. 9) and the slide bar 115 and pusher 120 shift toward the rear of the machine 30. The pusher 120 comprises a roller 120a and a rod 120)). The roller 120a is mounted on an arm 1206 which is connected to a flange 120d attached to the slide bar 115. The roller 120a and the arm 1206 are movable between the

wheels

186 and 187. The rod 120b is threadably and hence adjustably threaded into the flange 120d.

In order to control the movement of feed fingers 121 (FIG. 6), there is provided an arm 122 (FIG. 5) having a hole 123 and a bifurcated end 124. The hub 83 extends through the hole 123. The hole 123 is large enough to allow the arm 122 to pivot about post 122' which passes through hole 122". A pair of spaced apart

rollers

125 and 125 are carried by the arm 122. The rollers 125 and 125' engage the cam 84 at opposite locations (FIG. 9). As the cam 84 rotates, the arm 122 is oscillated first in one direction (clockwise in FIGS. 5 and 9) and thereafter after in the opposite direction (counterclockwise in FIGS. 5 and 9). The bifurcated end 124 receives a roller 126 carried by a bell crank 127. The bell crank 127 is pivotally mounted by a pivot or shaft 128. The pivot 128 is rotatably mounted in a bearing 129 secured in a hole 130 in plate 71. A screw 131 extends through a hole 132 in the bell crank 127, through an arcuate slot 133 in plate 71, and is threaded into a bar 134 (FIG. 6). Construction and operation of the feed fingers 121 will be described below.

With reference to FIGS. 2 and 5, there is provided a pusher generally indicated at 135 for exerting force on the end of the stack S of tags T in hopper H. The pusher 135 includes a plate 136 which exerts force against one end of the tag stack S. A link 137 is pivotally connected to the plate 136 by a pin 138. The link 137 is pivotally connected to the a 139 by a pin 140. As best shown in FIG. 5, the link 139 includes a hub 141 having a hole 142. A screw 143 is threadably received in a threaded bore 143' in the hub 141. The respective ends 146 and 147 of the tube or rod 144 receive screws (not shown) that pass through holes and 145' in a bracket 31' secured to a frame plate 372 and thus the tube 144 is prevented from rotating. A screw threadably received by the hub 148 of a plate 149 secures the plate 149 to the tube 144 at any rotational position. The subframe 32 is pivotally mounted on the shaft 70 which extends through bearings 145" in the bracket 31.

A collar 151 has a pin 152 which can fit into any one of holes 153 in the plate 149. The collar 151 carries a post 154 which is engaged by one end 155 of a torsion spring 156. The other end 157 of the spring 156 is engaged with the screw 143. The spring 156 is loosely received about a sleeve 158 through which tube 144 extends. The amount of torque which the spring .156 can exert on the link 139 is adjustable by shifting the collar 151 away from the plate 149 so that the pin 152 clears the hole 153 in which is was received, then rotating the collar 151 in either the loosening (clockwise in FIG. 5) or tightening (counterclockwise in FIG. 5) direction, and then shifting the collar 151 toward the plate 149 so that the pin 152 fits into one of the holes 153. The pitch of the spring 156 is such that collar 151 can be shifted away from the plate 149 to allow the pin 152 to clear the hole 153. It is apparent that the amount of torque applied to the link 139 can be varied and consequently the amount of pressure that the plate 136 applies to the tag stack S can also be varied. It is sometimes desirable to change the amount of force which is applied to the stack S depending upon the size and shape of the tags T or the material of which the tags T are constructed to facilitate reliable tag feeding.

The shaft 70, which is rotatably mounted by bearing 69 (FIG. 5), is also rotatably mounted in a bearing 159 (FIG. 6) received in a hole 160 in the plate 71a. A sprocket 161 is secured to the shaft 70 by a screw 162. A roller chain 163 is engaged with the sprocket 161 and with a sprocket 164. The chain 163 is also trained partially around and under a roller 163' which is secured to the plate 71a by a bracket 163". The sprocket 164 has a hub 165 which is received in a bore 166 of a hub 167 of a gear 168. A key 169 prevents relative rotation between

respective hubs

165 and 167. The gear 168 carries a pair of opposed pins 170. The pins 170 can fit into a pair of opposed holes 171 in a plate 172. Another plate 172 is secured to the plate 172 by a hub 173. The plates 172 and 172' and the hub 173 comprise a movable coupling member 174. A shaft 175 extends through a bore 176 in the hub 165 and into the hub 173. The coupling member 174 is shiftable relative to the shaft 175 and pins 170 so that the pins 170 can move out of or into holes 171 in the plate 172. Although the coupling member 174 can be shifted relative to the shaft 175, lug 177 does not leave the keyway 179 in the hub 173 when the coupling member 174 is shifted. The shaft 175 is rotatably mounted in

bores

180, 180a, and 180b (FIG. 5) in

respective plates

71, 71a and 71b. With reference to FIG. 6, an endless feed member in the form of a feed wheel generally indicated at 182 is secured to a reduced diameter section 183 of the shaft 175 by a screw 184. The feed wheel 182 is shown to comprise a hub 185 to which spaced-apart

wheels

186 and 187 are secured. The

wheels

186 and 187 have

respective coverings

188 and 189 composed of a material having a high co-efficient of friction such as rubber or the like secured to their respective peripheries.

A gear 190 which meshes with the gear 168 is secured to a shaft 191 by a screw 192. Reduced diameter end, section 193 of the shaft 191 is rotatably received in. a bearing 194 received in a bore 195 in subframe plate 71b. Reduced diameter end section 196 of the shaft 191 is rotatably received in a bearing 197 received in a bore 198 in plate 710. A gear 199 secured to the shaft 191 by screw 200 meshes with a gear 201. The gear 201 is secured to a shaft 202 by a screw 203. A bearing 204 is received in a hole 205 in the plate 710. The shaft 202 extends through and is rotatably received by the bearing 204. An endless feed member in the form of a feed wheel 206 is secured to the shaft 202 by a screw 207. The feed wheel 206 has a covering 206 composed of a material having a high co-efficient of friction such as rubber or the like secured to its periphery. The right end of the shaft 202 (FIG. 6) is received by a bearing 208 mounted in a hole 209 (FIG. 5) in the plate 71. It is apparent that the

feed wheels

182 and 206 rotate in the same direction, namely clockwise as viewed in FIG. 6.

In the event it is desired to disengage the feed wheel 182 from the drive system as is desirable in case of a jam in the tag feeding mechanism 39, the member 174 is shifted (to the left as viewed in FIG. 6) away from the gear 168. When the pins 170 are out of the holes 171, the gear 168 is no longer drivingly coupled to the shaft 175. Accordingly, the feed wheel 182 can be freely rotated manually (together with the shaft 175 and the member 174). Thereafter, when the member 1 74 is moved toward the gear 168 and pins 170 enter holes 171 in the plate 172, the feed wheel 182 is again drivingly coupled to the gear 168. The member 174 can be shifted manually by means of a lever 210 which is pivotally mounted about a pin 211. The pin 211 passes through holes 212 in the lever 210 and through holes 213 in a bracket 214. The bracket 214 is secured to subframe plate 71b by means of screws 215. The lever 210 carries a pair of rollers 216 which fit between the plates 172 and 172' along their diameters and outward of the holes 171. While the gear 168 is coupled to the member 174, and thus the pins 170 extend through the holes 171, the rollers 216 will not interfere with rotation of the gear 168 and member 174. A compression spring 217 bears against the plate 71b at its one end and is received at its other end about a post 218 secured to the lever 210. A pin 219 secured to one end of the lever 210 extendsthrough an enlarged hole 220 in the plate 71b. Applying a manual force against the pin 219 toward the right (as viewed in FIG. 6) causes the lever 210 to pivot about the pin 211, thereby compressing the spring 217. The rollers 216 acting against the plate 172' move the member 174 to the left (as viewed in FIG. 6) so that the plate 172 loses contact with the pins 170, thereby uncoupling the gear 168 and the shaft 175. When the user releases the pin 219, the spring 217 will cause the lever 210 to pivot about the pin 211 until pins 170 enter the holes 171. It is seen that in this manner the shaft 175 and the associated feed wheel 182 can be readily uncoupled from and coupled to the remainder of the drive system.

With continued reference to FIG. 6, the feed fingers 121 are shown to be pivotally "mounted to a plate 221 by pins 222. As plate 221 oscillates first in one direction and thereafter in the opposite direction during each machine cycle, the feed fingers 121 will move forward and thereafter backward. Spaced-apart spring fingers 223 are mounted to a bar 224 having a threaded stud 225 which extends through a hole 226 in the plate 71a and threadably receives a nut (not shown). The other end of the bar 224 has a threaded stud 227 which extends through a hole (not shown) in the plate 71 and threadably receives a nut (not shown). In this manner the bar 224 is non-rotatably secured to the

subframe plates

71 and 71a. The spring fingers 223 bear against the respective feed fingers 121 and urge them downwardly as viewed in FIG. 6. The plate 221 is secured to the pivot 128. One end of the pivot 128 extends through the bearing 129 and the other end of the pivot 128 extends through abearing 228 mounted in a hole 229 in the plate 71a. A cam 230 is secured to the end 231 of pivot 128 by means of a screw 232. The cam 230 operates a side guide G as will be described below in greater detail.

With reference to FIG. 5, a plate 233 is shown to be secured to the flanged upper ends of the

plates

71a and 71b by screws 234 (only one of which is shown). The plate 233 carries opposed ball tracks 235 and 236 in which

respective ball bearings

237 and 237 are received. A top plate 238 is joined to a front plate 239 and to a rear plate 240. A pair of oppositely facing generally channel-shaped

members

241 and 242 are secured to the top plate 238 by screws (not shown) passing through holes 243. The

members

241 and 242 have respective ball tracks 245 and 246. The ball bearing 237 is received in

opposite tracks

235 and 245 and the ball bearing 237' is received in

opposite tracks

236 and 246. A generally vertical side guide or guide plate 247 having a flange 248 is secured to the plate 238 by screws (not shown) passing through a pair of holes 249 in the flange 248 and a pair of holes 250 in the plate 238. The guide 247 engages the side edges of tags or tickets T in the tag stack S (FIG. 1).

With reference to FIG. 5, a pin 251 secured to the underside of the plate 238 extends through an elongated slot 252 in the plate 233. A constant torque Negator brand spring 253 is connected at its free end 254 to the pin 251. A pin 255 secured to the plate 233 extends through the center of the spring 253. A fastener 256 holds the spring 253 on the post 255. As the plate 238 and the associated

plates

239, 240 and 247 can move either to the left or to the right (FIG. 1), the spring 253 urges the plate 247 against side edges of the tags T in the stack with the same force irrespective of the width of the tags T which comprise the stack S. Thus, irrespective of the position of the side guide, the plate 247 will exert the same force against the side edges of the tags T in the stack. The

plates

238, 239, 240 and 247 are considered to constitute the side guide mechanism G.

With referenceto FIG. 6, there is shown a plate 257 having opposed

flanges

258 and 259 by which the plate 257 is attached to

subframe plates

71 and 71a. A pair of rollers 260 are rotatably mounted on a pivot 261. One end of the pivot 261 is secured to a bracket 262 and its other end is received in a hole 263 in a bracket 264. The rollers 260 fit between the side edges of a cutout 265 in the plate 257.

Screws

266 and 267 fit through elongated slots 268 and 269 in the

brackets

262 and 264 and are respectively threadably received in respective mounting

blocks

270 and 271. The

blocks

270 and 271 are secured to the underside of the plate 257 by screws (not shown) passing through respective pairs of

holes

272 and 273. A tag guide plate 274 is also secured to the underside of the plate 257 at its forward end by screws 275. A pivot pin 276 extends through

holes

277 and 278 in

brackets

262 and 264 and through holes 277 and 278' in

respective plates

280 and 281 of a roller assembly generally indicated at 282. A pair of

tie rods

283 and 285 interconnect the

plates

280 and 281. Screws 284 extend through the

plates

280 and 281 and are threadably received by the tie rod 283 and in similar manner the tie rod 285 is secured to the

plates

280 and 281. The

plates

280 and 281 have open ended slots 286. Relatively

thin plates

287 and 288, having enlarged holes 290', are secured to the

respective plates

280 and 281. Rollers 289 have reduced diameter ends 290 received in the enlarged holes 290' in the

plates

287 and 288. As best shown in FIG. 13, springs 291 which contact the reduced diameter ends 290 urge the rollers 289 into contact with the outer surface of the feed wheel 182. Accordingly, each of the rollers 289 is individually biased at each of its ends 290. In that the entire roller assembly 282 is pivotally mounted on the pivot 276, the entire roller assembly 282 can move relative to the feed wheel 182. A spring 292 received by a post 293 on the tie rod 285 bears against a tie rod 294 which connects subframe plate 71 and bracket 257. The spring 292 normally urges the entire roller assembly 282 into contact with the feed wheel 182.

With reference to FIGS. 7 and 8, there is shown the gear 72 secured to the shaft 70. The gear 72 is a pinion which meshes with the gear 77. The gear 77 is shown in its initial position in FIG. 7 with the roller 92 which it carries out of contact with the follower arm 93. In the initial position of the driver 96 the spring 104 holds driver 96 against a stop 96. The gear 77 makes one revolution each time the single revolution clutch 43 is engaged. As the gear 77 rotates clockwise from the position shown in FIG. 7 to the position in FIG. 8, roller 92 moves into contact with the lever 93 to pivot the driver 96 counterclockwise about the post 97. Counterclockwise movement of the driver 96 against the biasing force of the spring 104 causes the pin feeder 38 to advance the pin strip PS toward the pin magazine 37 (FIGS. 1 and 2) by a distance equal to the distance between the centerline of one pin P in the pin strip PS to the centerline of the next successive pin P in the pin strip PS known as the pitch. As soon as the roller 92 starts moving away from the lever 93, the spring 104 will cause the driver 96 to pivot clockwise which causes the lever 93 to pivot counterclockwise. Rotation of the gear 77 during the remainder of the machine cycle will affect return of the gear 77 and the roller 92 to their initial positions as shown in FIG. 7. As shown in FIG. for example the roller 120a and the rod 120b normally hold the stack S out of cooperation with the

feed wheels

182 and 206.

With reference to FIG. 9, the arm 122, the

cams

78 and 84, and the bell cranks 110 and 127 are in their initial positions. Upon engagement of the single revolution clutch 43,

cams

78 and 84 rotate as a unit in a counterclockwise direction (FIG. 9). In that the cam 78 makes almost one complete revolution before the roller 109 moves to its low point 108, bell crank 110 does not move until near the end of the machine cycle in which the cam 78 is in the position shown in FIG. 1 1. In FIG. 11 the bell crank 110 is shown to be rotated clockwise from the position shown in FIG. 9 and the bar 1 15 is shown as having been shifted to the left (FIG. 11). The pusher 120 is moved to the left (toward the front of the machine 30) so that the roller 120a and the rod lb now allow the endmost ticket T in the stack S to move into engagement with the

feed wheels

182 and 206. In that the roller 109 is only in contact with the low point 108 for a very short period of time, the pusher 120 moves from its position shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, for example, to the position shown in FIG. 11 and then back to the position shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 during a very short period of time. This period of time is only long enough for the endmost tag T to move into feeding cooperation with

feed wheels

182 and 206. As soon as the endmost tag T is fed. to a position between the feed wheel 182 and the rollers 260 as best shown in FIG. 13, that endmost tag T continues to be fed until it is in a waiting position indicated by phantom lines W in FIGS. 10 and 13. The endmost tag T stops in the waiting position W when the

feed wheels

182 and 206 stop rotating at the end of the machine cycle. With reference to FIG. 9, it is seen that at the beginning and at the end of the machine cycle the follower roller 109 is in position just beyond the low point 108.

As the cam 84 makes one complete revolution during each machine cycle (counterclockwise as viewed in FIG. 9), the arm 122 which is pivotally mounted by the pivot 122 rotates clockwise as the high point 84 of the cam 84 is in contact with the roller 125. Clockwise movement of the arm 122 causes the bell crank 127 and the plate 221 which it drives to rotate clockwise as viewed in FIGS. 6 and 9. This causes the feed fingers 121 to move to their forward position as best shown by solid lines in FIG. 12. Continued rotation of the cam 84 will cause the arm 122 and the bell crank 127 to pivot counterclockwise to cause the plate 221 to pivot counterclockwise to return the feed fingers 121 to their fully rearward position shown by phantom lines 121P in FIG. 12.

With reference to FIGS. 14 through 17 there is illustrated the action of the pin clinching and tag holding member 62. The member 62 which is mounted by the bracket 61 is movable from a first or initial position shown in FIG. 15 to a second or tag holding position shown in FIG. 16 and to a third or pin clinching position shown in FIG. 17. With reference to FIG. 15, the cam 51 is shown to be comprised of a pair of side-byside cams or plates 51a and 51b. The follower 59 carries a post 59a which carries a roller 59b. A set screw 590 extends through the post 59a. The roller 59b is in the same plane as the cam 51a and the screw 59c is in the same plane as the cam 51b. The cam 51a has a low dwell portion 300 and a high dwell portion 301 and the cam 51b has a low dwell portion 302 (which the screw 59c never contacts) and a high dwell portion 303. The cams 51a and 51b are shown in their initial positions in FIG. 15. Clockwise rotation of the shaft 48 (FIG. 15) will causee the roller 59b to roll on the low dwell portion 300 of the cam 51a (which constitutes one section of the cam 51) through only a small rotational angle until the rounded end of the screw 59c engages an inclined portion 304 of the cam 51b. The inclined portion 304 constitutes a transition between the low dwell portion 302 and the high dwell portion 303 of the cam 51b. Continued rotation of the shaft 48 causes the end of the screw 59c to ride on the high dwell portion 303 of the cam 51b (which constitutes another section of the cam 51). As the screw 59c rides up the inclined portion 304, the follower 59 will rotate counterclockwise (FIG. 15) which causes the pin clinching and tag holding member 62 to move from the position shown in FIG. 15 to the position shown in FIG. 16, wherein the screw 59c is shown to be in contact with the high dwell portion 303 of the cam 5 lb. A tag T is delivered to the pinning position at the instant when the inclined portion 304 starts contacting the end of the screw 59c. By the time the cam 51b is in the position shown in FIG. 16, the member 62 is urging the tag T against a lateral extension 305 of the die 36. The member 62 supports the tag T and presses it lightly against the lateral extension 305. Immediately after the member 62 moves into the position shown in FIG. 16, a side guide 306 pivots counterclockwise and contacts side edge sel to shift the tag T so that its other side edge se2 is against a stationary side guide 307 at the edge of the die 36. With reference to FIG. 17, the side guide 306 is shown to have moved counterclockwise into contact with the side edge sel and has driven the tag..T laterally until its side edge se2 is in contact with the stationary side guide 307. As is seen in FIG. 17, the cam 51 has rotated to the position in which high dwell portion 301 of the cam plate 51a is in contact with the roller (which constitutes still another section of the cam 51). When the roller 59b contacts inclined portion 308 of the cam plate 51a, which constitutes the transi tion between the low dwell portion 300 and the high dwell portion 301, the follower 59 is rotated still further from the position shown in FIG. 16 to the position shown in FIG. 17. By the time the inclined portion 308 contacts the follower roller 5919, the plunger 35 has already moved into cooperation with the die 36 and during such cooperation the pin driver 67 drives the pin P through the tag T and the merchandise M, through the merchandise M again, and through the tag twice again. The end of the plunger 35 is grooved as indicated at 35 so that the pin P, which travels from right to left as viewed from the front of the machine 30 and as seen in FIG. 17, is diverted by the plunger 35 and contacts the die 36 so that the end of the pin is again driven through the tag T. When the pin clinching and tag holding member 62 is in the position shown in FIG. 17, the end e of the pin P is bent and directed into the underside of the tag T. As the cam 51 continues to rotate, the roller 59b passes from contact with the high dwell portion 301 to the low dwell portion 300 of the cam plate 51a, thereby returning the member 62 to the initial position shown in FIG. 15.

A thin flexible plate 309 is secured to a generally horizontal stationary plate 310 mounted to the frame 31. The plate 309 is secured to the plate 310 only by the two screws 311. In the position shown in FIG. 15, the plate 309 is just in touching contact with the upper surface of the bracket 61. The end 62 of the member 62 is shown in FIG. to extend upwardly through a cutout 312 in the plate 309. In addition, the plate 309 is cut out as indicated at 313 to allow the plunger 35 to cooperate with the die 36. As the follower 59 pivots counterclockwise through the positions shown in FIGS. 15, 16 and 17, the bracket 61 flexes the plate 309 upwardly. This flexure of the plate 309 causes the plate 309 to urge the left side of the tag as viewed in FIG. 16 to be held against lateral extension 305. Thus, the end of the member 62 as well as the plate 309 exert holding forces on the tag T providing that the tag T is wide enough to be contacted by the plate 309. The narrowest tags will be contacted by the end 62 of the member 62, but their side edges will be short of edge 314 of the plate 309.

With reference to FIG. 5, the side guide 306 is pivotally mounted on a pin 315 carried by the plate 239. The pin 315 passes through a hole 316 in the side guide 306. A pin 317 carried by the guide 306 extends into an elongated slot 318 in a lever 319. The lever 319 is pivotally mounted on a pin 320 which passes through a hole 321. A tension spring 322 is connected at one end to a pin 323 carried by the lever 319 and is connected at its other end to a pin 324 secured to a plate 239. Accordingly, the spring 322 urges the lever 319 clockwise to urge the side guide 306 counterclockwise, as viewed in FIGS. 1 and 5. The lever 319 has a flange 325 which threadably receives a screw 326. A lock nut 327 (FIG. 18) can lock the screw 326 to the flange 325 in any adjusted position. The lever 319 can be pivoted counterclockwise (FIGS. 1 and 5) against the force of the spring 322 by means of a follower generally indicated at 328 (FIGS. 5 and 18). The follower 328 is pivotally mounted on a post 329 mounted by

subframe plates

71a and 71b. As best shown in FIG. 5, the follower 328 comprises a relatively wide plate 330 having a flange 331 at its one end. A pair of flanges 332 are joined to the sides of the plate 330. A follower roller 333 is mounted by a post 334 carried by an appendage 332 to the one flange 332. The roller 333 is driven by the cam 230 which is secured to the end 231 of the pivot or shaft 128 (FIG. 6). The cam 230 first oscillates counterclockwise from the solid line position shown in FIG. 18 tothe phantom line position represented by the phantom lines 2301 and thereafter the cam 230 returns to the solid line position. The follower 328 remains in the solid line position (FIG. 18) until the roller 333 moves from the high dwell portion 335 to the low point 336 as indicated by the phantom lines 3361. Accordingly, the follower 328 and its flange 331 move to the position shown by phantom lines 328P, the screw 326 moves to the position shown by phantom lines 326P and the flange 325 moves to the position shown by phantom lines 325P. The spring 322 causes the roller 333 to be urged into continuous contact with the surface of the cam 230. When the follower 328, its flange 331 and its roller 333 return to the solid line position (FIG. 18) under the biasing of the spring 322, the lever 319 is urged clockwise (FIGS. 1 and 5) thereby driving the sideguide 306 counterclockwise. In that the cam 230 is attached to the shaft 128, the side guide 306 is in its position shown in FIG. 17 when the feed fingers 121 are in their forward position such as shown by solid lines in FIG. 12.

The side guide 306 and the lever 319 are considered to comprise a side guide mechanism G which is actuated by the actuator 328 and the cam 230. The side guide mechanism G is carried by the side guide mechanism G and takes a position at the pinning zone PZ which is determined by the position of the side guide mechanism G. More specifically, the position of the plate 247 of the side guide mechanism G which engages the side of the tag stack S determines the position of the side guide mechanism G. Accordingly, irrespective of the width of the tags T which comprise the stack S, when the side guide 306 is in its clockwise position as shown in FIG. 16, the face of the side guide 306 will be a small predetermined distance from the side edge sel of the tag T which is at the pinning position PZ. If for example the tags T which comprise the stack S are narrower than the tag T shown in FIG. 16, then the side guide 306 would be to the right of the position shown but the face of the side guide 306 would still be spaced thesame predetermined distance from the side edge sel of such a narrower tag in the clockwise position of the side guide 306. Accordingly, the side guide 306 is always in the correct position irrespective of the width of the stack S. In that the flange 331 (FIG. 5) of the follower 328 is relatively wide the end of the screw 326 can contact the underside of the flange 331 in any position across its width. Accordingly, the follower 328 can control the side guide 306 irrespective of the position at which the screw 326 contacts the underside of the flange 331.

As explained with reference to FIG. 5, the spring 253 urges the side guide mechanism G against the side of the tag stack S. It is desirable that the side guide mechanism G not move into the space occupied by the tags T when the tag stack S is depleted or nearly depleted, in that the plate 247 may buckle the last one or two tags T which may cause a jam. In addition, the side guide 306 will move to a position immediately in front of the plunger 35. Accordingly, a brake mechanism generally indicated at 350 and shown in FIGS. 6 and 19 through 22 can apply a braking force to the side guide mechanism G. More specifically the braking force is applied directly to the plate 240 (FIGS. and 19 through 22). With reference to FIGS. 6 and 21, the brake mechanism 350 includes a bell crank 351 pivotally mounted on a post 352 on the underside of the plate 257. A pin 353 of a slide bar 354 is received in an elongated slot 353' of the bell crank 351. The slide bar 354 has a pair of elongated slots 355 in which pins 356 secured to the underside of the plate 257 are received. Accordingly, the bell crank 351 can pivot about the post 352 and the slide bar 354 can move in opposed directions relative to the plate 257. A tension spring 357 is connected at its one end to one pin 356 and at its other end to a post 358 carried by the slide bar 354. The spring 357 urges the slide bar 354 to the right as viewed in FIG. 21. The slide bar 354 has a pair of opposed cam surfaces or faces 359. The cam surfaces 359 are shown to be in contact with respective pins 360 carried by respective eccentrics 361. The pins 360 extend through respective enlarged holes 362 in the plate 257. The eccentrics 361 are rotatably mounted on respective pivot screws 363. A tension spring 364 is connected at its ends to the pins 360. As shown in FIGS. 19 and 21, the spring 364 pulls the pins 360 against the cam surfaces 359. The spring 364 is not strong enough, however, to cause the slide bar 354 to move to the left (FIGS. 19 and 21) by overcoming the force of the spring 357. Accordingly, the eccentrics 361 are held in the positions shown in FIGS. 19 and 21 away from the plate 240. Accordingly, the side guide mechanism G is free to move sideways toward the right side of the machine as viewed in FIG. 1 under the influence of the spring 253 (FIG. 5) or to be manually moved toward the left side of the machine as viewed in FIG. 1, as is desirable when tickets T are being stacked in the hopper I-I. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, a screw 365 is threadably received by the arm 139. The screw 365 is adjusted so that when the stack S is depleted or nearly depleted, the end of the screw 365 comes into abutment with a flange 366 on the bell crank 351 to effect clockwise pivoting of the bell crank 351 as viewed in FIG. 21. Thus, the bell crank 351 is considered to have sensed the screw 365. Such clocka wise pivoting of the bell crank 351 will cause the slide bar 354 to be shifted to the left (FIG. 21) against the force of the spring 357; in that the cam surfaces 359 also moves to the left, the spring 354 will cause the pins 360 to move generally toward each other which will affect rotation of the eccentrics 361 into braking or clamping engagement with the plate 240 as best shown in FIGS. 20 and 22. This will prevent any further movement of the side guide G from the left side toward the right side of the machine as viewed in FIG. 1, and as viewed in FIGS. 20 and 22, the plate 240 is prevented from shifting to the right. As soon as the screw 365 moves out of contact with the flange 366 of the bell crank 351, the spring 357 returns the slide bar 354 and its cam surfaces 359 to the positions shown in FIGS. 19 and 21 and thereupon the cam surfaces 359 return the eccentrics 361 to their positions as shown in FIGS. 19 and 21. If it is desired to have the brake mechanism 350 effective when there is only one tag T remaining in the stack S, the screw 365 is adjusted so that the brake mechanism 350 will take effect when there is only one tag remaining in the stack S. The number of tags T which should remain in the stack prior to the brake mechanism 350 taking effect is dependent as a practical matter upon resistance of the tag or tags to bending in response to the force exerted by the side guide mechanism G. It is generally preferred that the screw 365 be adjusted so that the brake mechanism 350 takes effect when there are still three tags T in the stack S.

With reference to FIG. 1, the power to the motor 33 is controlled by a switch arm 367 of an electric switch 368. A rod 369 secured to the subframe plate 76 and which extends horizontally, moves the switch arm 367 from the inclined position shown in FIG. 2 to a vertical position when the subframe 32 and the feeding mechanism 39 it carries are pivoted upwardly about the pivot shaft 70, thereby opening the switch 368. So long as the subframe 32 is in the upward position, the rod 369 is in the position shown by phantom lines 369P. Thus, the switch 368 cannot be closed while the subframe 32 is raised because the switch arm 367 cannot be pivoted clockwise (FIG. 2). When the subframe 32 has been returned to its position as shown in FIG. 2, the rod 369 will be in its lower position which will enable the user to close the switch 368 by moving the switch arm 367 clockwise (FIG. 2).

The subframe 32 can be latched in the raised position by a latch 370 (FIG. 5). The latch is pivotally mounted on the shaft 329 (FIG. 18). The latch 370 passes through an elongated slot 371 in a frame plate 372. A tension spring 373 urges the latch 370 against end 374 of the slot 371. One end of the spring 373 passes through a hole 375 at the end of the latch 370 and the other end of the spring 373 is connected to a post 376 secured to the underside of the plate 372. The latch 370 has an open-ended slot 377. When the subframe 32 is raised to a position where the slot 377 is aligned with the slot 371. The spring 373 pivots the latch 370 couterc'lockwise (FIG. 5) so that end 378 of the slot 377 is against end 374 of the slot 371. To lower the subframe 32, the lever 370 is manually pivoted clockwise, and the subframe 32 can be lowered gravitationally. It is sometimes desirable to raise the subframe 32 should it be desirable to clear a jam in the feeding mechanism 39, when oiling the machine 30, and so on. A tension spring 379 is connected at one end to the plate 71 and at its other end to the frame plate 372. The spring 379 assures that the subframe 32 will always be held in the lowered position during use of the machine 30.

In briefly describing the operation of the machine 30, reference may be made to the drawings including the timing chart shown in FIG. 23. In order to operate the machine 30 for one machine cycle, the user depresses the actuator 40 which operates the single revolution clutch 43 to drive the shaft 48 from an initial position through one complete revolution (360 degrees). At the end of the complete revolution the shaft 48 is again in its initial or home position, and the machine 30 has thus completed one machine cycle. To initiate operation of the machine 30 through another machine cycle, the user again depresses the actuator 40.

In pinning a tag T to the merchandise M, the merchandise M is placed over the plunger 35. Engagement of the clutch 43 will cause the tag T which is in a waitmg position W to be fed in front of the feed fingers 121 upstream of the pinning zone PZ. During rotation of the cam 84, the bell crank 127 rotates clockwise as viewed in FIG. 9 to move the feed fingers 121 forward (toward the front of the machine 30). The feed fingers 121 now finally position the tag T at the pinning position or zone P2. The pin clinching and tag holding member 62 starts moving toward lateral extension 305 to exert a frictional drag on the tag T as it arrives at the pinning zone PZ. In that the cam 230 is secured to the shaft 128, the side guide 306 is operated while the feed fingers 121 are completing their forward stroke to cause side edge se2 to move against the stationary side guide 307. Then the plunger 35 moves into cooperation with the die 36. The pin feeder 38 is driven by the driver 96 to deliver a pin P to the pin magazine 37. When the pin driver 67 has moved to its fully leftward position as shown in FIG. 17, the end 62 of the member 62 starts clinching the end e of the pin P. Thereafter the plunger 35 starts returning to the downward position and the merchandise M with the tag T pinned to it can now be removed by the user. The pin driver 67, the pin feeder 37, the member 62, the side guide 306, and the feed fingers 121 are then returned to their initial positions.

For details of a typical pin magazine, reference may be made to FIGS. 15 through 22 for example and the related description of above-mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 1,971,963. Details of a typical plunger or anvil and a typical pin feeder are shown in respective FIGS. 3 and 8 of U.S. Pat. No. 1,917,963. Any suitable known magazine, plunger or pin feeder can be used.

By way of example, not limitation, the

feed wheels

182 and 206 are driven at the same peripherial speed. The feed wheel 182 is driven through nine revolutions during each machine cycle at a rate of about 855 R.P.M. It is apparent that for each revolution of the drive shaft 48, the feed wheel 182 rotates through nine revolutions. Thus, the ratio between the drive shaft 48 and the feed wheel 182 is 9 to 1. The diameter of the feed wheel 182 is about 2 inches and the diameter of the feed wheel 206 is about five-eighths inch.

The

feed wheels

182 and 206 comprise the endless feed means which feed the tags successively from the stack S to the pinning zone PZ. The endless feed means could comprise belts instead of feed wheels or combinations of belts and wheels. The provision of endless feed means enables a variety of sizes of tags T having as small a tag size as 1 inch wide by 1.9 inch long to 3.375 inches wide by 5 inches long to be fed and yet there is no need for feed fingers which have such a long stroke. Actually the feed fingers 121 only finally position the tag T at the pinning zone PZ and that even for long tags such as 5 inches or greater in length, a stroke of 1% inch for the feed fingers 121 is ample. In that a tag T is fed from a waiting position W at the beginning of a cycle, the tag T arrives at the pinning zone PZ in ample time. The tag T, it should be noted, loses contact with the feed wheel 182 upstream of the pinning zone PZ, but this enables the feed fingers 121 to perform the final positioning. Although the

feed wheels

182 and 206 rotate throughout the machine cycle, they do not feed a tag T out of the hopper H until near the end of the cycle when pusher moves toward the front of the machine (to the left in FIG. 10) to allow the

feed wheels

182 and 206 to feed the endmost tag T to the waiting position W. This arrangement is more versatile than prior arrangements which have used feed fingers for separating a tag from a stack and for feeding the tag to the pinning zone.

Other embodiments and modifications of this invention will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art, and all such of these as come within the spirit of this invention are included within its scope as best defined by the appended claims,

I claim:

1. Method of attaching tags to merchandise wherein the tags can have any one of a variety of predetermined lengths, comprising the steps of: manually triggering a tag attaching apparatus to initiate each tag attaching cycle, continuously driving endless feed means throughout a tag attaching cycle so that the feeding of a tag in a waiting position in frictional contact with the endless feed means toward an attaching zone starts at the beginning of the cycle and the tag is delivered to the attaching zone irrespective of the length of the tag, attaching the tag to merchandise during the cycle, and feeding another tag from a hopper to the waiting position near the end of the cycle by means of the endless feed means.

2. Method of attaching tags to merchandise wherein the tags can have any one of a variety of predetermined lengths, comprising the steps of: manually triggering a tag attaching apparatus to initiate each tag attaching cycle, continuously driving endless feed means throughout an attaching cycle so that the feeding of a tag from a stack in a hopper to a waiting position in frictional contact with the endless driver toward an attaching zone starts at the beginning of the cycle and the tag is delivered to the attaching zone irrespective of the length of the tag, thereafter during the cycle positioning the tag at the attaching zone irrespective of the length of the tag, thereafter during the cycle attaching the tag to merchandise, and feeding another tag from the stack to the waiting position near the end of the cycle by means of the endless feed means.

3. Method of attaching tags to merchandise wherein the tags can have any one of a variety of predetermined lengths, comprising the steps of: manually triggering a tag attaching apparatus to initiate each tag attaching cycle, continuously driving endless feed means throughout the cycle to feed a tag from a waiting position in contact with the endless feed means toward an attaching zone during part of the tag attaching cycle irrespective of the length of the tag, causing relative movement between the endless feed means and a tag in a stack so that a tag in a stack will be fed toward the attaching zone during the next cycle, and attaching the one tag to merchandise at the attaching zone.