WO1995027613A1 - Method and apparatus for producing a sleeve label and container with such sleeve label - Google Patents

Abstract

Method and apparatus for forming a heat shrinkable plastic sleeve label and applying that label to a conveyor transported container with subsequent shrinking of the label into tight conformance with the container, including the improvement of heat or adhesively sealing the seam of the sleeve with an adhesive or hot air means (13, 14) operating inside a continuously rotating sleeve mandrel (6), the top load strength of the sleeve label is also enhanced by methods and apparatus which automatically form top-to-bottom creases in the sleeves.

Description

00001 Method and Apparatus for Producing a Sleeve Label and

00002 Container with such Sleeve Label

00003

00004 The invention is first concerned with a method for pro-

00005 ducing a sleeve label of shrinkable plastic material,

00006 comprising providing a web of the material. 00007

00008 Such method is known for example from US-patent 3 767

00009 496. Further, it has been practiced to provide apparatus

00010 to form a sleeve of thermoplastic material on a series

00011 of rotatable sleeve-forming mandrels that are carried on

00012 a circular turret, for example as shown in US-patent 3

00013 802 942. There is disclosed the process of forming

00014 sleeves from the point where a foamed material is extru-

00015 ded as a tube, then slit into a flat sheet. The sheet is

00016 provided with a stretch orientation in the direction of

00017 its width by reason of its being inflated as it is extru-

00018 ded in the tube form. The inflation of the tube stretch-

00019 es the tube in a circumferential direction, which pro-

00020 vides some built-in shrinkage in that direction and

00021 stretching the tube in the machine direction, imparting

00022 a much higher shrink capacity in the machine or longitu-

00023 dinal direction. Thus, when the longitudinally stretched

00024 material is slit in that direction and formed into a

00025 sleeve, it will, upon application of heat, shrink into a

00026 smaller sleeve or tube. Prior to forming the sleeve,

00027 this material is decoratively printed with appropriate

00028 artwork for the final customer. When the unshrunk sleeve

00029 is placed loosely over a container and heat is applied,

00030 the sleeve shrinks and is tightly fitted over the cont-

00031 ours of the container, providing a protective and de-

00032 corative label. Further, from US-patent 4 704 173 it is

00033 known to wrap a label stock in form of a web directly

00034 around the container itself using the container as a 00035 mandrel, sealing the leading edge of the label to the

00036 container, rotating the container around its axis, lap-

00037 ping the trailing edge of the label over the leading

00038 edge and forming a seal. The wrapped container is then

00039 moved through a heated oven where the label is shrunk to

00040 the container. In the first process in which a sleeve is

00041 formed on a mandrel and is transfered to the container,

00042 the mechanisms are extremely expensive and the process

00043 places strict requirements on the label materials. The

00044 process of US-patent 3 802 942 requires that the contai- 00045 ners be transported from the normal plant conveyor -

00046 accurately positioned to receive the label sleeve - and

00047 then placed back on the plant conveyor after processing.

00048 The mechanism to provide the in and out transfer plus 00049 transport within the machine is very expensive. The

00050 sleeve material processed in this machine design must

00051 have sufficient top-to-bottom strength to be able to be

00052 stripped off the mandrel and onto the container in a

00053 smooth, uninterrupted manner. If the label does not have

00054 sufficient top-to-bottom strength, the label collapses

00055 in an accordion fashion forming unacceptable products.

00056 The machine mandrels, which perform the wrapping and

00057 sealing of the sleeve are required to spin around their

00058 axis during the wrap cycle. They must stop at a very

00059 accurate position to allow the seal to be made and then

00060 re-start the spin. These steps must be made during each

00061 rotation of the main machine. The stop/start mechanisms

00062 to perform these steps are not only expensive to build

00063 the first time, they require continuous maintainance

00064 during the life of the machine. The process according to

00065 US-patent 4 704 173 has some limitations which rest-

00066 ricted its use to round containers with limited varia-

00067 tion in contour, oval containers cannot be processed and

00068 containers which have variation along the outside surf-

00069 aces such as the traditional waist-shaped coke container 00070 do not provide the surface support to allow an accepta-

00071 ble seal to be formed on the label using this process.

00072 Further, there have already been methods proposed to

00073 use hot air to seal the overlapped tail end of this web

00074 forming the sleeve to the leading end, see for example

00075 US-patent 3 970 492 and German laid open publication 2

00076 462 343. The use of hot air seal improved the reliabi-

00077 lity of the process but did not reduce the expense or 00078 complexity of the process in that the mandrels had to

00079 rotate to wrap the sleeve and then stopped to allow the

00080 seal to take place and then renew rotation to pick up

00081 the next label. There has further been proposed an im-

00082 provement as to the process of the US-patent 4 704 173

00083 to allow a hot air sealing system to be used on the

00084 label cutting and registration drum, see US-patent 4 724

00085 029. However, there is only a very limited time availa-

00086 ble to hot air heat and seal the label material at

00087 reasonable production speed. The problem is also not

00088 solved with a further proposal made by US-patent 5 271

00089 783. 00090

00091 Therefore, a technical problem of the invention is to

00092 provide a method and an apparatus, which improve the

00093 shortcomings of the historical process used to shrink-la-

00094 bel containers. This is especially to provide higher pro-

00095 cessing speed and/or label application to a broader

00096 class of containers and/or significantly reducing the

00097 cost, complexity and maintainance requirements for the

00098 equipment. It is also a technical problem to be solved

00099 with the present invention to propose method to produce

00100 a label especially a sleeve label for an application to

00101 containers, which containers have no or only small

00102 cylindrical extensions but are rather conical or of

00103 other uneven shape. Further it is to propose an ap-

00104 paratus for producing such label or label sleeve and 00105 also to propose a method to produce a container with

00106 such label and a container with label. 00107

00108 This technical problem is first solved with regard to

00109 the method by the invention as described in the claim 1.

00110 It is of importance, that a contact between the overlap

00111 and a heated element is produced with the heated element

00112 being located inside of the sleeve by pressing the

00113 leading end of the sleeve against the heated element.

00114 Compared with the further method to create the sleeve

00115 described lateron, this method is especially advanta-

00116 geous with respect to thin web material of for example

00117 50g/m ^ . Preferably, the pressing of the leading end of

00118 the sleeve against the heated element is performed from

00119 outside of the sleeve. However, it is also possible, to

00120 move the heated element being located inside of the

00121 sleeve, into a pressing contact with the leading end of

00122 the sleeve. The pressing contact between the leading end

00123 and the heated element involves or leads further to a

00124 contact between the leading end and the tail end and

00125 thereby, due to the heat transfered by the heated ele-

00126 ment, to a welding between the leading end and the tail

00127 end. It is further prefered, that the overlap is moved,

00128 for performing the welding, against the heated element

00129 by a contact element or pressing element located outside

00130 of the sleeve. The method is performed such, that the

00131 pressing element and the heating element squeeze in the

00132 overlap for a very short time. 00133

00134 The invention is' also concerned with a product, normally

00135 a container, having a sleeve label produced according to

00136 the method as described before. Especially, the invent-

00137 ion is concerned with a label sleeve, the sleeve having

00138 a seam made by welding the leading end to the tail end,

00139 whereby the welding is performed from inside the sleeve. 00140 It is of importance for the outer surface of the sleeve,

00141 that the welding is made from inside the sleeve, whereby

00142 inducing a very reduced harm to the outside of the

00143 sleeve compared with known sleeves. Also, it is of im-

00144 portance, that the seam has nearly no freely moveable

00145 overlap on the outer side but a freely moveable overlap

00146 on the inner side of the sleeve. 00147

00148 A further method of the invention is concerned with a

00149 stiffening of such sleeve. In this regard, it is of

00150 importance, that the method comprises producing extensi-

00151 ons in a substantially perpendicular direction with

00152 respect to a plane in which the web extends. This

00153 characterization is made with respect to the web not

00154 wrapped around a drum or a mandrel but extending

00155 straight in a plane. The invention provides mandrel

00156 designs, which form the sleeve label while continuously

00157 rotating. Further devices, which crease the label for

00158 increasing the column strength of the label thus redu-

00159 cing the label weight and improving the label position-

00160 ing accuracy. The creases allow to provide a sleeve with

00161 the necessary top-to-bottom strength without the need to

00162 improve the strength of the material itself. It is not

00163 necessary for example to increase the thickness of the

00164 material in order to reach the desired strength. In

00165 further detail, the extensions are ribs or creases,

00166 which are made on the web material itself. For example

00167 by. impressing the creases into the web or by folding the

00168 web such that the respective ribs are created. These

00169 extensions are also preferably oriented along a width of

00170 the web. This means, that once the web is finally

00171 applied to the container, the extensions extend mainly

00172 in a vertical direction of the container. The extensions

00173 are further preferably resiliently, whereby the resilien-

00174 ce maybe due to the resilient properties of the web 00175 material itself, at least as long as the web material is

00176 not yet shrunk, or that the resilience is due to the

00177 folding or other technique which may be used to produce

00178 the extensions. Especially by folding, there can be 00179 produced in the web an additionl length, which may serve

00180 as supply for the resilience when the web or maybe a

00181 sleeve made from such web is applied to a container,

00182 prior to shrinking the web on the container. This means

00183 that in further detail or maybe also independant from

00184 the features mentioned before, the method may also com-

00185 prise wrapping a web of the material having a leading

00186 end and a tail end around a mandrel, with the ends in an

00187 overlapping relation, keeping the ends in a first step

00188 in a distance to each other and applying heat to one or

00189 both of the end surfaces, and pressing the ends in a

00190 second step together for welding the tail end to the

00191 leading end. Further, it is prefered, that the mandrel

00192 is rotating during the wrapping of the web around it and

00193 that the heat is applied to the ends over at least one

00194 revolution of the mandrel. Also the heat can be applied

00195 by an air stream. In this respect, preferably, the hot

00196 air is directed from inside the mandrel through a gap

00197 created by the ends being seperated - but in a overlap-

00198 ping relation - to each other. The extensions or creases

00199 or ribs may be also created during the revolution of the

00200 mandrel. Alternatively, the creases may be created dur-

00201 ing adherence of the web at a vacuum drum, which drum

00202 may be located in the overall process prior to the man-

00203 drel, In detail, the web is then delivered from the

00204 vacuum drum to the mandrel. To produce the creases dur-

00205 ing the adherence of the web at the vacuum drum is

00206 especially of advantage in case the web is provided with

00207 an adhesive in a manner per se known, for example hot

00208 melt glue or solvent, during the adherence on the vacuum

00209 drum. By the same device which applies the adhesive on 00210 the web, also the creases or ribs may be produced in the

00211 web as described later on in detail. Further, it is

00212 prefered, that the hot air is further supplied to the

00213 inside of the sleeve after the ends are welded together.

00214 The hot air may then flow out in a vertical direction,

00215 especially when the containers, on which the web or the

00216 sleeve builded as described before, is to apply, are

00217 already in a vertically alined position to the sleeve.

00218 As long as the containers are not yet vertically alined

00219 to the mandrel or the sleeve builded on the mandrel

00220 respectively, there may be a lower seal or closure of

00221 the hot air manifold in the mandrel. The flow of the hot

00222 air along the inner side of the sleeve may also be of

00223 advantage with respect to a pre-warming of the sleeve

00224 already during its location on the mandrel. Of ore im-

00225 portance seem to be however, that the hot air exiting

00226 from the bottom of the mandrel may help the sleeve find

00227 center and slide on the container. 00228

00229 A further aspect of the invention is an apparatus for 00230 producing a heat shrinkable sleeve label. It is of im- 00231 portance, that an overlap of the leading end and the

00232 tail end of the web on the mandrel is in the region of a

00233 gap and that the gap has a heat source having a tempera- 00234 ture above a welding temperature of the web. This allows

00235 to press the overlap against the heat source or, alterna-

00236 tively to move the heat source against the overlap for

00237 welding the end in the overlap together. The contact

00238 time between the overlap, or, more specifically between

00239 the leading end and the heat source is preferably very

00240 short. For example, the contact time can be less than

00241 1/10 of a second, preferably less than 5/100 of a

00242 second, for example 15/1.000 of a second. More specifi- 00243 cally, the mandrel may have on both sides of the heat 00244 source suction ports, by which the leading end as well 00245 as the tail end of the web wrapped around the mandrel

00246 may be held. For example, over the circumference of the

00247 mandrel, there may be specifically three suction port in

00248 one horizontal plane. These suction ports, may however, 00249 in vertical direction, extend in form of a nut. By two

00250 of the suction ports, the leading end may be held on

00251 both sides of the heat source, whereas by the third

00252 suction port the tail end may be held, in a region,

00253 where the tail end is not yet in overlap with the

00254 leading end. Alternatively, it is also possible, that

00255 one of the suction port, the one who is located near to

00256 or at the edge of the leading end, may be such, that

00257 also the tail end is held by this same suction port. The

00258 heat source itself may be a tube, through which flows

00259 hot air. Further, the tube may have, at least on its

00260 side directed to the overlap, a teflon coating. The tube

00261 may be of copper. The pressing element or contact ele-

00262 ment may be in detail of different construction. First,

00263 it can be a roller, which may have a soft covering, for

00264 example a rubber covering. Further, it can be a finger-

00265 like part, which is on its front part coming into co-ope-

00266 ration with the overlap and pressing the overlap against

00267 the heat source made of a soft material like rubber or

00268 which is made completely of the soft material. Also the

00269 pressing element may consist of two spaced apart to each

00270 other finger-like part (which may however have a verti-

00271 cal extension according to the vertical length of the

00272 overlap). The spacing may be for example 1 mm, whereas

00273 the two spaced apart parts may have each a whidth of 2mm. 00274

00275 According to a further aspect of the invention, which is

00276 also independant of the before described features of

00277 importance, the appartus may have elments for performing

00278 creases in the web or sleeve. Such apparatus comprises

00279 means for forming the sleeve by wrapping a web having a 00280 leading end and a tail end around a mandrel and forming

00281 a seam in an overlap of the leading end and the tail

00282 end, and creasing means for establishing longitudinal

00283 creases in the web. The creasing means may first consist

00284 of a mandrel or a drum being in rolling contact with a

00285 roller, whereby the roller and the mandrel or the drum

00286 have recessions and projections respectively, whereby

00287 the creases in the web are produced being attached to

00288 the mandrel or the drum. Also, alternatively, one of the

00289 surfaces of the mandrel or the drum may be resilient,

00290 for example made by an appropriate rubber or foam materi-

00291 al. The mandrel may be the vacuum drum or the mandrel as

00292 described before, on which the sleeve is finally pro-

00293 duced. The creases are mainly vertically directed with

00294 respect to the final attachment of the sleeve on the

00295 container. Further alternatively, the roller may have a

00296 resilient surface and the cylindrical means may have

00297 projections forming the creases in the web through the

00298 contact with the rolling means. 00299

00300 Further, the invention is also concerned with a contai-

00301 ner having a label sleeve of plastic material, which

00302 sleeve is attached to the container by shrinking the

00303 label on the container. The container is preferably of a

00304 contour, which has no or only a small cylindrical

00305 region, with respect to a vertical extension of the

00306 container. Further, the container may be of conical

00307 shape in the region, in which the label is attached. Of

00308 importance is, that the sleeve is first attached to the

00309 container with an overlength with respect to the overall

00310 circumferential length of the container but that the

00311 sleeve is already in this state on distant locations

00312 over the circumference of the container in contact with

00313 the container. Such contact maybe in detail reached by

00314 creases or ribs formed in the web material, which 00315 creases or ribs extend in a substantially vertical

00316 direction. 00317

00318 The invention is also directed to an apparatus for form-

00319 ing a heat-shrinkable sleeve label of plastic material,

00320 comprising a mandrel for forming the sleeve by wrapping

00321 the label around the mandrel. Hereby is focussed on the

00322 features, that the mandrel has means for applying heat

00323 to the ends of the label wrapped around the mandrel. By

00324 applying heat to the ends of the label being on the

00325 mandrel, it is possible, to produce a complete sleeve

00326 only by adhesion between the ends of the label. Hereby,

00327 the invention takes advantage of the comparatively long

00328 time, the wrap is on the mandrel, as the mandrel is

00329 turning around its own axis and further turning around

00330 a turret axis. In more detail, the mandrel is connect-

00331 able to a hot air supply. The connection is made prefera- 00332 bly during the turning of the mandrel around the own

00333 axis of the mandrel. As to this, the mandrel may have an

00334 internal conduit, being connectable to the hot air sup-

00335 ply. As already explained and as described in more de-

00336 tail later on, the conduit has an outflow orifice being

00337 radially directed. The conduit may have also an outflow

00338 orifice being directed axially to the bottom of the

00339 mandrel. In an embodiment, where the mandrel has suction

00340 ports to fasten the plastic sheet material on the man-

00341 drel, the radially directed outflow ofifice is arranged

00342 circumferentially between and on the shortest circum-

00343 ferential distance of such suction ports. 00344

00345 For the invention is further essential the underlying

00346 concept of the machine, that means in detail, that the 00347 mandrel is rotating around its own axis while moving

00348 from a web receiving location^' to a sleeve applying lo-

00349 cation. This rotating around its own axis of the mandrel 00350 provides for a certain time, to complete the sleeve,

00351 especially to complete the sleeve by applying heat to

00352 the leading and the tail end of the web and thereby

00353 creating a seam between the leading end and the tail

00354 end. In more detail, the moving of the mandrel between

00355 the web receiving location and the sleeve applying lo-

00356 cation is reached by the fact, that the mandrel is jour-

00357 naled on a turret and the turret is moving also around

00358 its own axis. As to the amount of the rotation of the

00359 mandrel it is prefered, that the mandrel is rotating

00360 around its own axis for about 360 , while rotating with

00361 the turret for about 45^°, at least 30°. If, as in a

00362 prefered embodiment, the rotation of the turret between

00363 the web receiving location and the sleeve applying lo-

00364 cation is about 180 , the mandrel is rotating about four

00365 times around its own axis. 00366

00367 Further, the invention is described with respect to the

00368 attached drawings, wherein shows: 00369

00370 fig. 1 a schematic plan view of the machine;

00371

00372 fig. 2 a representation according to fig. 1, in an

00373 alternative embodiment;

00374

00375 fig. 3 a perspective detail view of the cutting

00376 station;

00377

00378 fig. 4 a schematic detail plan view of the mandrel

00379 being in rolling contact with a roll for pro-

00380 ducing the creases in the label- on the mandrel; 00381

00382 fig. 5 a vertical cross section of the mandrel with

00383 hot air manifolds; 00384 00385 fig. 6 a horizontal cross section of the mandrel

00386 cutted along the line VI-VI in fig. 5 with a

00387 web attached thereon, with the ends in overlap-

00388 p ng but distant relation; 00389

00390 fig. 7 a schematic side elevation of the machine on

00391 the side where the sleeves are put on the

00392 containers; 00393

00394 fig. 8 a detailed view of the representation acc-

00395 ording to fig. 7, with an alternative embo-

00396 diment in which hot air is supplied inside of

00397 the sleeve on the mandrel; 00398

00399 fig. 9 an enlarged horizontal cross sectional view of

00400 a container with a label sleeve thereon, prior

00401 to shrinking the label in intimate contact to

00402 the container; 00403

00404 fig. 10 a cross-section view of a sleeve with creases

00405 being applied to a container; 00406

00407 fig. 11 a schematically cross-sectional view of a

00408 further embodiment of the andrel with a web 00409 wrapped around;

00410

00411 fig. 12 the mandrel according to fig. 11, whereby the

00412 overlap is pressed into contact with a heating

00413 element; 00414

00415 fig. 13 schematically and in perspective view dif-

00416 ferent forms of a pressing element; and 00417

00418 fig. 14 a representation similar to fig. 9, with a

00419 label sleeve according to fig. 11 or 12. 00420 Represented and described is, first with respect to fig.

00421 1, a machine 1 for producing a label sleeve 2 (see for 00422 example fig. 7 and 9 ) of a heat εhrinkable material,

00423 especially a foamed plastic material. The plastic materi-

00424 al used is a polyolefin or copolymer of olefins, for

00425 example polyethylene or lamiates or coextrusion of polyo-

00426 lefins, e.g. a polyethylene foam layer and an ethylene

00427 acrylate film or a polystyrene foam with a polyolefin or

00428 polystyrene blend coextruded or lamitated layer. The

00429 process is also useful with non-foamed film laminates

00430 and coextrusion of polystyrene polyolefin blends in a

00431 single or multiple layers. 00432

00433 The plastic materials is made in sheet or web form that 00434 is highly orientated in the longitudinal dimension (Md 00435 direction) of the web which is to become the circum-

00436 ference of the sleeve. There may be some orientation in

00437 the cross dimension (Td direction) of the web; however, 00438 this should be minimal in relation to the longitudinal

00439 direction Md because this Td direction is ultimately the

00440 height dimension of the sleeve and it is desirable to

00441 control the top margin of the sleeve level at a straight

00442 line along the container, (see f.e. fig. 7) 00443

00444 Examples of plastic sheet materials that may be run in a

00445 web are foamed polystyrene, or polyethylene coextrusion

00446 or laminates on the order of 0.006 to 0.020 inches thic-

00447 kness (0.006 x 2.54 cm to 0.02 x 2.54 cm) and highly

00448 oriented. in the running (Md). direction of the web. Md 00449 direction orientation for shrinkage should be at least

00450 30% and on the order of 60-80% is preferable. The cross

00451 (Td) direction orientation should be less than 15% and

00452 in the range of 0-15%. 00453 00454 The plastic is preferably in form of a foam sheet with a

00455 foam/film coextrusion or film lamiate to reduce materi-

00456 als cost at the same strength, but the principles of the

00457 invention will also work with non-foam plastic materials

00458 or solid sheets of properly manufactured plastics. 00459

00460 There is first an unwinding roll R of label material.

00461 The label material is delivered in form of a sheet S to

00462 a cutting station 3, which is in fig. 1 only schematic-

00463 ally depicted. The cutting station 3 is shown in more

00464 detail in fig. 3. The sheet S is advanced toward the

00465 rotatable vacuum drum 5 by a driver feed roll 55 past a

00466 web guide 56 and a stationary directing bar 57 which is

00467 parallel to and adjacent to the outer periphery of a

00468 rotating member 58. The sheet S is guided by the action

00469 of the directing bar 57 and a primary feed guide 59 on

00470 the outer side of the passing sheet S toward the vacuum

00471 drum 5 and a final guide 60 guides the leading end of

00472 the cut web W into contact with the rotating vacuum drum

00473 5. Individual webs W are formed at a severing station

00474 indicated generally by reference number 61, by means of

00475 a knife 62 which is mounted on the periphery of the

00476 rotating member 58 and which seers the sheet S into a

00477 succession of webs W by virtue of the periodic engage-

00478 ent of the knife 62 with fixed knife 63. The leading

00479 end of the web W emerging from the severing station 61 00480 is engaged by vacuum in the rotatable vacuum drum 5

00481 which is applied to the web W through vacuum post 64. A

00482 flexible plastic web W such as a web formed from a po-

00483 lystyrene foam/film laminate or coextrusion, is partly

00484 wrapped around a portion of the periphery of the rotatab-

00485 le vacuum drum 5. 00486

00487 After the sheet 2 has been cut in webs 4, 4' , the web 4

00488 is first adhered to a vacuum drum 5, which is rotatable 00489 about its vertical axis. The vacuum drum 5 is further in

00490 nearly tangential relationship with a mandrel 6 at a

00491 wrap station W. 00492

00493 Prior to delivering the webs 4, 4' to the mandrel 6, the

00494 web 4 may be provided with a glue pattern and additiona-

00495 lly with a crease pattern. As to this, the vacuum drum 5

00496 is in a rolling contact with a rotating cylindrical

00497 applicator 7. This applicator 7 may have protrusions 8,

00498 which match with recessions 9 in the drum 5 for creating

00499 the creases 10 (see for example fig. 4) in the web 4.

00500 The glue pattern may consist of printing or wiping the

00501 tail end of the label with a solvent adhesive located on

00502 applicator 7 which, when rotated about its axis, places

00503 the adhesive on the tail end of the web 4. 00504

00505 The web 4 is, as already indicated, thereafter delivered

00506 to the mandrel 6, on which the web 4 is also adhered by

00507 vacuum. This is shown in more detail in fig. 5 and 6. At

00508 the beginning of the angle beta (see below) is vacuum

00509 supplied to the mandrel 6 which transfers the web 4 from

00510 the rotatable vacuum drum 5 to the mandrel 6 when the

00511 vacuum on the vacuum drum 5 is interrupted. At this

00512 point the web 4 is wrapped around the mandrel 6 as it

00513 rotates and orbits in a counterclockwise direction

00514 around the machine apparatus. After 45^° of turret rota-

00515 tion of the mandrel 6 around the machine turret 65, the

00516 web has completely covered the outside surface of the

00517 mandrel 6. During the 45^° rotation of the total turret

00518 65 the mandrel 6 has rotated around its axis 360°. At

00519 the end of angle beta the roll 51 presses the leading

00520 end and the tail end together. 00521

00522 In detail, a leading end L of the web 4 is first fixed 00523 to the mandrel 6 by a suction port 10 inside the man- 00524 drel 6. Further, the web 4 is 'then wrapped around the

00525 mandrel 6. Near to the leading end of the web 4 but in a

00526 certain distance to the tail end T of the web 4 is a

00527 further suction port 11 in the mandrel 6. By this

00528 suction port, a rearward region 12 of the web 4 is also 00529 adhered or fixed by vacuum to the mandrel 6. Further, in

00530 clockwise direction therefrom to the first suction port

00531 10, the mandrel 6 is provided with a nozzle 13, being

00532 connected to a vertical conduit 14. Through his conduit

00533 14, hot air is supplied as described lateron in more

00534 detail. This hot air is discharged through the nozzle

00535 13, whereby an angle alpha between a tangent 15 on the

00536 mandrel 6 in the region of the nozzle 13 and the flow

00537 direction 16 is a sharp angle, at the embodiment shown

00538 in the range of 45^°. 00539

00540 As it can be further realized from fig. 6, the web 4 is

00541 starting from the suction port 10 (in clockwise direct-

00542 ion) up to the suction port 11 in close contact to the

00543 outer surface of the mandrel 6. The tail end T however,

00544 beginning shortly after the suction port 11, is no more

00545 adhered to the mandrel 6. Thereby, it is possible to

00546 direct the stream of hot air exhausting from the nozzle

00547 13 on the inner side 17 of the tail end of the web 4. At

00548 the same time, also the outer side of the leading end L

00549 of the web 4 is affected with hot air. The affection

00550 takes place in such an amount, that the tail end T and

00551 the leading end L on the respective sides of the web are

00552 heated up to a melting temperature so that they can

00553 lateron - which is not depicted in detail - be welded

00554 together simply by pressing them together. 00555

00556 The nozzle 13 may be in detail a slit extending in verti-

00557 cal direction over a length corresponding approximately

00558 to the vertical length (width) of the web 4. 00559 By exhausting hot air through the nozzle 13, adventa-

00560 geously the aerodynamic principle is used, that the tail

00561 end T is the more forced against the leading end L the

00562 higher the flow velocity of the hot air is. However, as

00563 long as the hot air is flowing, no contact between the

00564 (inner side of) the tail end T and the (outer side of)

00565 the leading end L is possible. Therefore, also the outer

00566 surface of the leading end is well heated. Finally, as

00567 already mentioned, by pressing the tail end and the

00568 leading end together, a seam is produced by welding and

00569 the sleeve is completed. 00570

00571 Alternatively, the sleeve may be produced by applying

00572 glue or solvent to the leading end L and tail end T, in

00573 which case the seam is already completed as soon as the

00574 web is completely wrapped around the mandrel. 00575

00576 Further alternatively to creating the creases already at

00577 the station of the vacuum drum 5, the creases may be

00578 also created only on the mandrel by several further

00579 wheels 18-20 in rolling contact with the mandrel as

00580 shown in fig. 2. Fig. 2 is only indicative. The wheels

00581 18-20 are in praxis located such that the region of the

00582 seam comes always in contact with one of the wheels

00583 18-20. This arrangement is prefered in case the seam is

00584 produced by applying hot melt glue or solvent to (the

00585 inner side of) the tail end as described before. 00586

00587 As shown in more detail in fig. 4, a wheel 18 may have a

00588 resilient outer layer 22 whereas the mandrel 6 may have

00589 in its outer surface 23 rib-like protrusions 24. The

00590 outer surface 23 and the protrusions 24 may be made from

00591 a hard material like metal (steel). By rolling the man-

00592 drel 6 against a wheel 18, the web 4 being attached to

00593 the surface 23 of the mandrel 6, the creases c will be 00594 produced in the web 4 or the sleeve 2 already completed

00595 respectively. There are in detail four creases c in

00596 equal circumferential distance. Whereas a mandrel is

00597 rotating with the turret, the wheels 18-21 are station-

00598 ary and may only rotate about their vertical axis. As a

00599 sleeve as shown has four vertical creases, also in this

00600 case four wheels 18-21 as shown are necessary. 00601

00602 After the sleeve has been completed on the mandrel 6 as

00603 described, during rotation of a turret 25 (see fig. 1),

00604 whereby the mandrel 6 is also rotating relative to the

00605 turret 25 about its vertical axis, the sleeves are push-

00606 ed down on the containers 26. 00607

00608 As to this end, the containers 26 are fed on a conveyor

00609 27 to a timing screw 28, by which the containers 26 are

00610 placed at such intervalls, that they match with the

00611 mandrels 6 atop of them. 00612

00613 As can be seen in detail from figure 7, a mandrel 6 with

00614 a sleeve 2 is aligned vertically to a container 26.

00615 Thereafter, the sleeve 2 is pushed down on the container

00616 26 as only depicted schematically by the downward moving

00617 sleeves 2', 2' ' and 2' ' '. The creased sleeve 2 holds on

00618 a container 26 through the action of the creases forming

00619 a sleeve which expands as the creases are opened through

00620 the action of being pushed or stripped from the mandrel

00621 over the container. The "spring" action of the partially

00622 opened creases hold the sleeve at the correct height as

00623 the sleeve is shrunk. The containers 26 then proceeds

00624 along conveyor 66 downstream to a shrinking tunnel 67

00625 where heat is applied to the shrinkable sleeve 2 which

00626 shrinks the sleeve into tight-fitting conformance with

00627 the container 26 forming the product container with

00628 sleeve. 00629 With respect to figures 5 and 6 is described in more

00630 detail the inner structure of a mandrel 6 and the turret

00631 25. 00632

00633 In a stationary part 29 is supported a conduit 30, on

00634 which conduit vacuum is applied. The conduit 30 ends in

00635 a further stationary part 31. In this part 31 is built

00636 on the side facing to a further part 33 a circumferent- 00637 ial groove 32. Further, in intimate contact to the part

00638 31 is the part 33 which is rotating and has a groove 34

00639 corresponding to the groove 32. However, the groove 34

00640 is not built over the hole circumference of the part 33

00641 but rather only over a part thereof. As long as a groove

00642 34 registers with a groove 32, the vacuum is further

00643 supplied by conduit 14, as already described with res-

00644 pect to figur 6, inside of the mandrel 6 to the suction

00645 ports 10, 11. 00646

00647 The part 29 is provided on its outer circumference with

00648 a toothing. Thereby, part 29 is meshing with a toothed

00649 wheel 50. As the wheel 50 is connected with the mandrel

00650 6 and the mandrel 6 is further connected with the turret

00651 25 by the rotating part 23, there is a gear producing

00652 the rotation of the mandrel 6 about its own vertical

00653 axis. 00654

00655 Furthermore, there is a stationary hot air conduit 38.

00656 This conduit 38 is fastened in the stationary part 39.

00657 Above the stationary part 39 is a rotating part 40 of

00658 the turret in a ring form, which again serves to open

00659 and close the conduit 33 over the circle. The conduit 38

00660 is further in contact with a circumferential chamber 41,

00661 which is rotating and sleeve-like embracing the mandrel

00662 6. This chamber 41 has an opening 42. This opening 42 00663 registers with a hot air manifold 43 inside the mandrel

00664 6- 00665

00666 Further, inside the mandrel 6 is a vertically moveable

00667 rod 44, which is connected via spokes 45 with an outer

00668 stripper 46 on the mandrel 6. The stripper 46 may be

00669 moved down on the mandrel 6 and over a container 26

00670 vertically alined with the mandrel 6 down to a position

00671 as shown in dotted lines. Thereby, the sleeve 2 can be

00672 pushed down on the container 26 (see also fig. 7). 00673

00674 The drive for the rod 44 is not shown in detail. 00675

00676 During a cycle of the turret 25, the following procee-

00677 dings can be distinguished (see fig. 1). Starting on the

00678 location, where the mandrel 6 is in contact with the 00679 vacuum drum 5, first, over a first angle beta of about o

00680 45 one revolution of the mandrel 6 occurs, for winding

00681 the web 4 on the mandrel 6. In case, the seam is made by

00682 hot melt glue or solvent, there is a roll 51 at the

00683 45^"-station, to press the lead end to the tail end.

00684 Further, in case the seam is produced by hot air

00685 sealing, there is a further angle gamma of about 135°,

00686 in which the seal in this case can be finished. There

00687 are different optional locations for seam seal rolls 52

00688 and 53, for pressing in this case the tail end to the

00689 leading end of the web 4. One of the optional locations

00690 will be choosed in case additional heat is needed and/or 00691 on higher speeds. Delaying the pressure from roll 51 to

00692 the positions of roll 52 or 53 increases the time the

00693 web 4 is exposed to tail end heat from the air nozzle 13

00694 located in the various mandrels represented in this

00695 discussion by mandrel 6. In the 180"-position, the man-

00696 drel 6 and a container 26 is for the first time verti- 00697 cally aligned. The vacuum on the mandrel 6 is released

00698 prior to the web 4 (sleeve 2) reaching the 180 rotation

00699 of the turret 65. In the following about 45^° (angle

00700 delta) the transfer of the sleeve from the mandrel to 00701 the container will be performed. Over this way, the

00702 stripper 46 moves down. The following angle epsilon of

00703 also 45^° allows the stripper 46 to return to its "up"-po-

00704 sition. 00705

00706 In fig. 7 the alignment of the mandrel 6 with a contai-

00707 ner 26 and the stripping of the sleeve 2 and pushing on

00708 the container 26 is shown schematically. 00709

00710 There is also schematically shown a further feature of

00711 the machine as described, in that the vacuum drum 5 is

00712 vertically displaceable into a position 5'. In this po-

00713 sition, with to the conveyor appropriately moved, the

00714 webs 4 can be applied directly to a container 26, in

00715 case it will not be necessary to produce first a sleeve

00716 2. In detail, the vacuum drum 5 is moved to the left in

00717 fig. 1. The shrinking oven 67 will then be positioned a

00718 bit more downstream in order to allow the vacuum drum to

00719 come into contact with the containers 26 on the conveyor

00720 66, in a per se known fashion. 00721

00722 Fig. 8 shows a further feature. In fig. 5, it is shown,

00723 that the hot air manifold 43 in the mandrel 6 is closed

00724 at its bottom end. However, it is also possible to open

00725 the hot air manifold 43 at its bottom end. In this case,

00726 there is provided a further stationary part 54, see fig.

00727 8.. The part 54 has.a plate form. This plate blocks the' .

00728 hot air exit from the manifold 43 during the time, the

00729 mandrel 6 is moving over^' the first 180° or less. Prefera-

00730 bly, the part 54 ends (see end 55 in fig. 8) at the po-

00731 sition of the roll 53 (see fig. 1). Thereafter, until 00732 the end of the angle delta, the hot air impinges the

00733 container shoulder, and eventually enters the space

00734 between the label and the container. This is shown in

00735 more detail in fig. 9. Hot air entering the space SP

00736 between the stripper 46, the sleeve label 2 and the

00737 container 26 is of advantage in supporting the applica-

00738 tion of the sleeve 2 on the container 26. Also, ad-

00739 ditionally delivery ports can be included in the mandrel

00740 6, if desired. 00741

00742 Further, in fig. 10 there is schematically shown a cross

00743 section view of a sleeve 2 being applied to a container

00744 26 prior to the shrinking station. It can be seen, that

00745 the sleeve 2 is riding on the container 26 by means of

00746 the creases c, whereby there are four creases c over the

00747 circumferential distance. The remaining parts of the

00748 sleeve are in distance to the container 26. However,

00749 this is only an idealized representation. 00750

00751 In fig. 11 a schematic cross-sectional view of a mandrel

00752 is shown, around which the web W is wrapped such, that a

00753 tail end T is in an overlap to a leading end L. The an-

00754 drel 6 has a vertically extending U-shaped groove 68, in

00755 which is located a tube 69, also extending vertically.

00756 The tube 69 may be of copper and having a teflon coating

00757 70 on its side facing radially outward, to the open side

00758 of the groove 68. The temperature of the heated element

00759 may be in the region of 140-200 C. However, the tempera-

00760 ture of the heated element, the contact time and the

00761 contact pressure are to adjust according to the specific

00762 needs. These will be mainly due to the thickness and the

00763 properties of the web material. Further the groove 68 is

00764 of such depth, that the outer surface of the tube or the

00765 coating respectively is located for a distance d beneath

00766 an outer circumferential surface of the mandrel. 00767 Further, there are suction ports 71, 72 and 73 for fa-

00768 stening the web with the ends in overlapping relation on

00769 the mandrel. Whereas the suction port 72 is located on

00770 the one - circumferential - side of the tube 69, the two

00771 other suction ports 72 and 73 are located on the other -

00772 circumferential - side of the tube 69. 00773

00774 The leading end L bridging the open side of the groove

00775 68 is held by the two suction ports 71 and 72. The tail

00776 end, which extends not over the full width of the groove

00777 68, is only held by the suction port 73. 00778

00779 Further, on the apparatus is arranged a pressing element

00780 74, which is on the embodiment shown made of a resilient

00781 cylindrical form. Due to the rotating movement of the

00782 mandrel 6, first around its own axis and second with

00783 respect to the turret, the pressing element 74 comes

00784 into contact with the mandrel 6 or the web wrapped

00785 around the mandrel 6 respectively. This contact is shown

00786 in fig. 12. One can see, that the pressing element 74,

00787 due to its resilient property, presses the overlap

00788 against the hot surface of the heating element 69,

00789 thereby welding the leading end to the tail end from

00790 inside of the sleeve. Due to the specific welding

00791 technic and the location of the tail end relative to the

00792 groove 68, the seam created is very specific. Specifi-

00793 cally the very edge 74 of the tail end is located in the

00794 region, where , as shown in fig. 12, the welding is

00795 performed. Viewed from the outside of the sleeve, there-

00796 fore, the seam so created is very uniform and nearly no

00797 freely moveable overlap remains on the outer side. On

00798 the other hand, a certain overlap 0, which is freely

00799 moveable, remains on the inside of the sleeve. 00800 00801 Further, in fig. 13, schematically some of the possible

00802 configurations of the pressing element 74 are shown.

00803 Whereas fig. 13a represents also a cylindrical configu-

00804 ration, as in principle already shown in fig. 11, fig.

00805 13b shows a finger-like element, which is slightly

00806 reduced on its forward side. The tip 75 may press the

00807 overlap into the groove 68. The element according to

00808 fig. 13b may be arranged such, that it comes into a

00809 meshing relation with the mandrel, thereby going into

00810 the groove 68 to a certain extent. Nearly the same can

00811 be performed with the configuration according to fig.

00812 13c. With the two spaced apart pressing elements 76, 77,

00813 a double seam can be made. Two vertically, very near to

00814 each other extending welding lines can be performed.

00815 Therefore, a distance f between the two elements 76 and

00816 77 can be very short, for example about 1 mm. The ele-

00817 ments according to fig. 13b and fig. 13c can be of alumi-

00818 nium for example. 00819

00820 Fig. 14 shows the sleeve created as before described on

00821 a container 26. It is shown, that the inside overlap 0

00822 keeps the sleeve in this region - before shrinking - in

00823 a certain distance to the outer surface of the container

00824 26. On the other hand, the overlap 0 is of advantage

00825 with respect to an adjustion of the sleeve on a contai-

00826 ner, especially with a non-cylindrical surface, for

00827 example of conical outer shape. To a certain extent,

00828 this kind of sleeve may lead to a comparable result as a

00829 sleeve with creases as decribed also before. However, a

00830 sleeve as produced according to fig. 11-13 may be also

00831 combined with the creases described above. 00832

00833 The features of the invention disclosed in the preceding

00834 description, the drawings and the claims may be individu-

00835 ally as well as in a free combination of importance for 00836 the realization of the invention. In the disclosure of

00837 the invention herewith also the disclosure of the appro-

00838 priate/attached priority document (copy of the prior

00839 application) are enclosed with their full content.

Claims

00840 C L I M S

0084 1

00842 1- Method for producing a sleeve label (2) of a label

00843 material, preferably shrinkable plastic material, com-

00844 prising wrapping a web (4) of the material having a

00845 leading end (L) and a tail end (T) around a mandrel (6),

00846 with the ends (L, T) in an overlapping relation, and pro-

00847 ducing a contact between the overlap an a heated element

00848 (69) being located inside the sleeve by pressing the

00849 ends (L, T) of the sleeve against the heated element

00850 (69), only the leading end (L) coming thereby in direct

00851 contact with the heated element. 00852

00853 2. Method according to claim 1 or especially according

00854 to claim 1, characterized in that the contact is made by

00855 means of a pressing element located outside of the

00856 sleeve. 00857

00858 3. Method for producing a sleeve label (2) of a label

00859 material, preferably shrinkable plastic material, com-

00860 prising a web (4) of the material, especially according

00861 to a method of claim 1 or claim 2 and producing extensi-

00862 ons (C) in the web, which extensions (C) are oriented in

00863 a substantially perpendicular direction with respect to

00864 a longitudinal direction of the web (4). 00865

00866 4. Method according to claim 3 or especially according

00867 to claim 3 or especially according to claim 3, wherein

00868 the extensions (C) are creases produced in the web mate-

00869 rial. 00870

00871 5. Method according to one or more of the preceding

00872 claims or especially according to one of them, wherein

00873 the extensions (C) are oriented along a width of the web

00874 (4). 00875 6- Method according to one or more of the preceding

00876 claims or especially according to one of them, wherein 00877 the web (4) is adhered to a rotating mandrel (6) and the

00878 creases (C) are produced during rotation of the mandrel 00879 (6).

00880

00881 7. Method according to one or more of the preceding

00882 claims or especially according to one of them, wherein

00883 the web (4) is first adhered to the vacuum drum (5) and

00884 therefrom delivered to the mandrel (6) and the creases

00885 (C) are produced during adherence of the web on the

00886 vacuum drum (5). 00887

00888 8. Method for producing a sleeve label of shrinkable

00889 plastic material comprising wrapping a web (4) of the

00890 material having a leading end (L) and a tail end (T)

00891 around a mandrel (6), with the ends (L, T) in an overlap-

00892 ping relation, keeping the ends (L, T)in a first step in

00893 a distance to each other and applying heat to the ends

00894 (L, T), and pressing the ends (L, T) in a second step

00895 together for welding the tail end (T) to the leading end

00896 (L). 00897

00898 9. Method according to claim 6 or especially according

00899 to claim 6, wherein the mandrel (6) is rotating and the

00900 heat is applied to the ends (L, T) over at least one

00901 revolution of the mandrel (6). 00902

00903 10. Method according to one or more of the preceding

00904 claims or especially according to one of them, wherein

00905 the heat is applied by hot air. 00906

00907 11. Method according to one or more of the preceding

00908 claims or especially according to one of them, wherein

00909 the hot air is directed from inside the mandrel (6) to 00910 the environment thereof through a gap created by the

00911 ends (L, T) being in distance to each other. 00912

00913 12. Method according one or more of the preceding claims

00914 or especially according to one of them, wherein the hot

00915 air is further supplied on the inside of the sleeve (2)

00916 after the ends (L, T) are welded. 00917

00918 13. Apparatus for forming a heat shrinkable sleeve label

00919 of plastic material, comprising a mandrel (6) for form-

00920 ing the sleeve (2) by wrapping a web having a leading

00921 end (L) and a tail end (T) around the mandrel (6), with

00922 the leading end and the tail end in overlapping relat-

00923 ion, characterized in that the mandrel has a heated

00924 element (69) being located such, that it is facing from

00925 inside the sleeve against the web. 00926

00927 14. Apparatus according to one or more of the proceding

00928 claims or especially according to one of them, charact-

00929 erized in that the heated element is in a recessed po-

00930 sition with respect to a circumferencial surface of the

00931 mandrel (6) . 00932

00933 15. Apparatus according to one or more of the preceding

00934 claims or especially according to one of them, charact-

00935 erized in that the heated element is a tube like ele-

00936 ment, heated by hot air flowing through the tube. 00937

00938 16. Apparatus according to one or more of the preceding

00939 claims or especially according to one of them, charact-

00940 erized in that the heated element has a non-sticky surf-

00941 ace. 00942

00943 17. Apparatus according to one or more of the preceding

00944 claims or especially according to one of them , charact- 00945 erized in that the heated element has a teflon surface

00946 (70). 00947

00948 18. Apparatus according to one or more of the preceding 00949 claims or especially according to one of them, charact-

00950 erized in that the apparatus has a pressing element (74)

00951 for pressing the overlap of the web on the mandrel (6)

00952 against the heated element (69) for welding the ends (L,

00953 T) together. 00954

00955 19. Apparatus according to one or more of the preceding

00956 claims or sepecially according to one of them, charact-

00957 erized in that the pressing element is of resilient

00958 material. 00959

00960 20. Apparatus according to one or more of the preceding

00961 claims or especially according to one of them, charact-

00962 erized in that the pressing element is in a meshing

00963 relation to the mandrel (6). 00964

00965 21. Apparatus according to one or more of the preceding

00966 claims or especially according to one of them, charact-

00967 erized in that the pressing element is finger-like form-

00968 ed. 00969

00970 22. Apparatus for forming a heat shrinkable sleeve label

00971 of plastic material, comprising a mandrel (6) for form-

00972 ing the sleeve (2) by wrapping a web having a leading

00973 end (L) and a tail end (T) around the mandrel (6) and

00974 forming a seam in an overlap of the leading end (L) and

00975 the tail end (T), and creasing means for producing longi-

00976 tudinal creases (C) in the web (4). 00977

00978 23. Apparatus according to one or more of the preceding

00979 claims or especially according to one of them, charact- 00980 erized in that the creasing means consist of a roller

00981 (7, 18-21) in rolling contact with cylindrical means (6)

00982 on which the web (4) is attached. 00983

00984 24. Apparatus acoording to one or more of the preceding

00985 claims or especially according to one of them, charact-

00986 erize in that the roller (7, 18-21) has a resilient

00987 surface and that the cylindrical means (5, 6) have

00988 projections forming the creases (C) in the web (4)

00989 through the contact via the web (4) with the rolling

00990 means. 00991

00992 25. Apparatus according to one or more of the preceding

00993 claims or especially according to one of them, charact-

00994 erized in that the creases (C) are oriented in a substan-

00995 tially perpendicular direction with respect to a longitu-

00996 dinal direction of the web (4). 00997

00998 26. Apparatus according to one or more of the preceding

00999 claims or especially according to one of them, charact-

01000 erized in that the creasing means consist of a mandrel

01001 (6) or a drum (5) being in rolling contact with a roller

01002 (7, 18-21), whereby the roller (7, 18-21) and the man-

01003 drel (6) or the drum (5) have recessions and projections

01004 respectively whereby the creases (C) are produced in the

01005 web (4) being attached to the mandrel (6) or the drum

01006 (5). 01007

01008 27. Apparatus for attaching a label of heat shrinkable

01009 plastic material to a container, comprising a vacuum

01010 drum (5) on which a web (4) of the material is adhered

01011 by vacuum which web (4) is either deliverable from the

01012 vacuum drum (5-) to a mandrel (6) in order to produce

01013 based on the web (4) a sleeve (2) on the mandrel (6) or

01014 to apply directly to a container. 01015 28. Apparatus according to claim 16, characterized in

01016 that the vacuum drum (5) is displaceable in a vertical

01017 direction. 01018

01019 29. Apparatus according to on or more of the proceding

01020 claims or especially according to one of them, charact-

01021 erized in that the vaccum drum (5) is displaceable in a

01022 horizontal direction. 01023

01024 30. A container with a sleeve label produced according

01025 to one of the claims 1 or 2 or one or more of the claims

01026 3 to 12. 01027

01028 31. A container with a label sleeve (2), the sleeve

01029 having a seam made by welding the leading end to the

01030 tail end, whereby the wwelding is performed from inside

01031 the sleeve. 01032

01033 32. A container with a label sleeve (2), especially

01034 according to one of the claims 30 and 31, with nearly no

01035 freely moveable overlap on the outer side but freely

01036 moveable overlap on the inner side of the sleeve. 01037

01038 33. A container with a label sleeve (2), the sleeve (2)

01039 having a seam, wherein the sleeve (2) has at least at an

01040 upper or lower circumferential region vertical stif-

01041 fening creases (C) or remaining formations thereof. 01042

01043 34. Apparatus for forming a heat shrinkable sleeve label

01044 (2) of plastic material, comprising a mandrel (6) for 01045 forming the sleeve (2) by wrapping the label around the

01046 mandrel (6), characterized in that the mandrel (6) has

01047 means for applying heat to the ends (L, T) of the label

01048 wrapped around the mandrel (6). 01049 01050 35. Apparatus for forming a heat shrinkable sleeve label

01051 according to claim 20 or especially according to claim

01052 20, whereby the mandrel (6) is turning on a turret,

01053 characterized in that the mandrel(6) is connecable to a

01054 hot air supply (38). 01055

01056 36. Apparatus according to one or more of the preceding

01057 claims or especially according to one of them, charact-

01058 erized in that the connection is made during turning of

01059 the mandrel (6) around its axis. 01060

01061 37. Apparatus according to one or more of the preceding

01062 claims or especially according to one of them, charact-

01063 erized in that the mandrel (6) has an internal conduit

01064 (43) being connectable to the hot air supply (38). 01065

01066 38. Apparatus according to one or more of the preceding

01067 claims or especially according to one of them, charact-

01068 erized in that the conduit (38) has an outflow orifice

01069 being radially directed. 01070

01071 39. Apparatus according to one or more of the preceding

01072 claims or especially according to one of them, charact-

01073 erized in that the conduit (43) has an outflow orifice

01074 (13) being directed radially. 01075

01076 40. Apparatus according to one or more of the preceding

01077 claims or especially according to one of them, charact-

01078 erized in that the conduit (43) has an outflow orifice

01079 being directed axially to the bottom of the mandrel (6). 01080

01081 41. Apparatus according to one or more of the preceding

01082 claims or especially according to one of them , whereby

01083 the mandrel (6) has suctions ports (11) to fasten the

01084 plastic sheet material on the mandrel (6), characterized 01085 in that the radially directed outflow orifice (13) is

01086 arranged circumferencially between and on the shortest

01087 circumferential distance of such suction ports (10,11). 01088

01089 42. Apparatus for attaching a label of a heat-shrinkable

01090 plastic material to a container, especially according to

01091 one or more of the preceding claims, comprising a man-

01092 drel (6) to form a sleeve (2), characterized in that the

01093 mandrel (6) is rotatable around its own axis while

01094 moving from a web receiving location to a sleeve app-

01095 lying location. 01096

01097 43. Apparatus according to one or more of the preceding

01098 claims or especially according to one of them, charact-

01099 erized in that the mandrel (6) is rotating on a turret

01100 (25). 01101

01102 44. Apparatus according to one or more of the preceding

01103 claims or especially according to one of them, charact-

01104 erized in that the mandrel (6) is rotating around its

01105 own axis for about 360^° while rotating with the turret

01106 (25) for about 45°.