EP1897811B1

EP1897811B1 - Assembly for applying labels

Info

Publication number: EP1897811B1
Application number: EP20060425620
Authority: EP
Inventors: Francesco Marchioni
Original assignee: FIMA Srl
Current assignee: FIMA Srl
Priority date: 2006-09-07
Filing date: 2006-09-07
Publication date: 2009-11-11
Anticipated expiration: 2026-09-07
Also published as: EP1897811A1; DE602006010381D1

Description

The present invention relates to an assembly for picking up and applying labels.
Many products have their own packaging.
In this case, as a consequence of standards which require the indication of a minimum amount of consumer information on each package and in view of the need of the manufacturer to allow to distinguish immediately the products by applying company trademarks and/or names, the need arises to place on the outer surface of the package adhesive labels which bear all or part of this information.
For the sake of convenience, these labels are generally produced starting from a tape which is constituted by two coupled sheets, one of which is provided with an adhesive surface, the opposite surface bearing the indications.
Of course, in this case it is necessary to cut such second sheet in order to obtain the individual labels from it. In cases of particular practical interest, the sheets bear on their surface a series of labels, which adhere to the sheet by means of adhesive and are already mutually separated.
All these constructive solutions have the need for their easy removal, which simplifies their application to the product.
Label application is in fact often complicated and has to be performed manually, making packaging particularly expensive.
For cases in which it is possible to apply the labels by means of automatic machines, such as known from GB 2 243 135 A for example, it has to be noted that these automatic means, besides not being applicable to all kinds of label, are generally very complicated and expensive (both at purchase and in terms of operating costs).
The solution using linear labels designed to close in a "necktie" configuration is of particular importance in application: this type of label, in this particular type of application, entails particular difficulty in automating the arrangement of the labels on the finished product.
The aim of the present invention is to provide an assembly for picking up and applying labels which is adapted to apply labels to any product in a completely automatic manner.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an assembly for picking up and applying labels which is adapted for the automatic application of linear labels closed in a "necktie" fashion.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an assembly for picking up and applying labels which has a low cost, is relatively simple to provide in practice, and is safe in application.
This aim and these and other objects, which will become better apparent hereinafter, are achieved by the present assembly for picking up and applying labels according to claim 1.
Further characteristics and advantages will become better apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred but not exclusive embodiment of an assembly for picking up and applying labels, illustrated by way of non-limiting example in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a simplified diagram of an assembly for picking up and applying labels by taking them from a dispenser;
Figure 2 is a schematic top view of the portion of an assembly according to the invention during a first step of the application of the label to the product;
Figure 3 is a schematic top view of the portion of an assembly according to the invention during a subsequent step of the application of the label to the product;
Figure 4 is a schematic top view of the portion of an assembly according to the invention during the final step of the application of the label to the product;
Figure 5 is a schematic side view of a product to which a label is applied by means of the assembly according to the invention.

With reference to the figures, the reference numeral 1 generally designates an assembly for picking up and applying labels 2.
The assembly 1 is arranged downstream of a suitable dispenser 3 of the labels 2, the characteristics of which do not affect directly the operation of the assembly 1: it should be specified that the dispenser 3 must allow the pick-up assembly 1 to pick up the labels 2 without said assembly interfering mechanically with the elements of the dispenser 3 in performing its movements.
The assembly 1 comprises at least one grip unit 4, which is provided with at least one pair of rotating levers 5 and 6, which have a respective flap 5a and 5b which can be mutually aligned so as to constitute a grip surface 7 for the labels 2.
According to the embodiment shown in Figure 1, the grip unit 4 comprises a substantially hollow body 8, on which the levers 5 and 6 are pivoted independently. In particular, the levers 5 and 6 are pivoted in pairs with respect to a common axis. According to the illustrated embodiment, the pairs of levers 5 and 6 are three and are arranged at 120° with respect to each other: depending on the constructive requirements, it is possible to provide assemblies provided with a single pair of levers 5 and 6 or with several pairs which are distributed angularly on the body 8.
The grip surface 7 is provided with means for supporting the labels 2: in particular, the levers 5 and 6 comprise a respective internal channel 9 and 10 which leads upstream to an internal cavity 11 of the body 8 of the grip unit 4 and downstream to at least one opening 12 toward the outside of the grip surface 7.
Since the internal cavity 11 has a connector (not shown in the figure) for connection to a suction circuit which is connected to a vacuum pump, the pressure inside the cavity 11 and in the internal channels 9 and 10 of the levers 5 and 6 is lower than the external pressure.
The grip surface 7 thus retains by means of the suction through the at least one opening 12, the respective label 2.
The levers 5 and 6 are substantially C-shaped and are pivoted to the body 8 at their base 13 with a radial arrangement with respect to the body 8.
According to the embodiment shown in Figure 1, the substantially hollow body 8 is cylindrical and has a base which is associated rotatably with the machine on which the assembly 1 works.
In particular, the base associated with the machine comprises the connector for connection to the suction circuit (circuit and pump, which will be included in other areas of the machine not shown in the figure).
The grip unit 4 can move (as a consequence of rotations of the body 8 with respect to the machine that accommodates it) from a first configuration of alignment of the grip surface 7 with an outlet 14 of the dispenser 3 to a second configuration of alignment of the grip surface 7 with a product 15 onto which the label 2 is to be applied. The levers can rotate with respect to the pivoting axis, which passes through the product 15 and is perpendicular to the supporting surface of the product 15, said plane being perpendicular to the grip surface 7.
The assembly 1 applies the label 2 to the product 15 by performing a series of operations in sequence, the first of which consists in activating the dispenser 3 of labels 2 so that it places the label 2 in a pick-up position 2a.
The hollow body 8 turns and, by means of an appropriate cam device, moves the pair of levers 5 and 6 into a configuration in which their ends (flaps 5a and 5b) are aligned so as to constitute the grip surface 7.
The rotation of the hollow body 8 aligns the grip surface 7 with the outlet of the dispenser 3.
The grip surface 7 can thus pick up the label 2, retaining it by suction through the at least one opening 12.
By means of a successive rotation, the body 8 moves the pair of levers 5 and 6 so that the grip surface 7 is adjacent to the product 15 onto which the label 2 is to be applied.
At this point, by means of a further increase in the rotation of the hollow body 8, while the product 15 is kept stationary in its position, the grip surface 7 moves the label 2 into contact in the central part of its surface with a portion of the product 15. The elements that turn the levers 5 and 6 about their pivoting axis are then actuated, causing the label 2 to adhere around at least one portion of the product 15 and producing the subsequent "necktie" closure of the two flaps of the label 2 (since the label 2 has an adhesive surface on the side that comes into contact with the product, the contact between the two flaps of the label causes their mutual adhesion and therefore their closure).
It has thus been shown that the invention achieves the proposed aim and objects.
The invention thus conceived is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations, all of which are within the scope of the appended claims.
All the details may further be replaced with other technically equivalent ones.
In the exemplary embodiments shown, individual characteristics, given in relation to specific examples, may actually be interchanged with other different characteristics that exist in other exemplary embodiments.
In practice, the materials used, as well as the shapes and the dimensions, may be any according to requirements without thereby abandoning the scope of the protection of the appended claims.
Where technical features mentioned in any claim are followed by reference signs, those reference signs have been included for the sole purpose of increasing the intelligibility of the claims and accordingly such reference signs do not have any limiting effect on the interpretation of each element identified by way of example by such reference signs.

Claims

An assembly for picking up and applying labels (2), arranged downstream of a suitable dispenser (3) of labels (2), comprising at least one grip unit (4) which is provided with at least one pair of rotating levers (5, 6), which have a respective flap (5a, 6a) which can be mutually aligned so as to constitute a grip surface (7) for the labels (2), which is provided with means (12) for supporting said labels (2), said grip unit (4) being movable from a first configuration for alignment of the grip surface (7) at the output of said dispenser (3) to a second configuration for the alignment of the grip surface (7) with respect to the product (15) onto which said label (2) is to be applied, said levers (5, 6) being able to rotate with respect to an axis which passes through said product (15) and is perpendicular to the supporting plane of the product (15), said plane being perpendicular to said grip surface (7), causing the label to adhere around at least a portion of the product, closing onto itself.
The assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that said grip unit (4) comprises a substantially hollow body (8) on which said levers (5, 6) are pivoted independently, said levers (5, 6) being pivoted in pairs with respect to a common axis.
The assembly according to claim 2, characterized in that said levers (5, 6) comprise a respective internal channel (9) which is connected upstream to the internal cavity (11) of said grip unit (4) and downstream to at least one opening (12) toward the outside of said grip surface (7).
The assembly according to claims 1, 2 and 3, characterized in that said internal cavity (11) of said unit (4) has a connector for connection to a suction circuit which leads to a pump, the pressure inside the cavity (11) and in the internal channels (9) of the levers (5, 6) being lower than the external pressure, said grip surface (7) blocking the respective labels (2) by means of suction through the at least one opening (12).
The assembly according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said levers (5, 6) are substantially C-shaped and are pivoted to said substantially hollow body (8) so that their base is arranged radially with respect to said body.
The assembly according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said substantially hollow body (8) is cylindrical and has a base which is associated rotatably with the machine on which said assembly (1) works.
The assembly according to claim 6, characterized in that said base associated with said machine comprises said connector for connection to the suction circuit.
A method for applying labels with an assembly according to one or more of the preceding claims, comprising the steps of:
- activating the pump upstream of said suction circuit and said dispenser (3) of labels (2);

- keeping said pair of levers (5, 6) in a configuration in which their ends are aligned so as to constitute said grip surface (7);

- aligning said grip surface (7), by means of the rotation of said hollow body (8), with the outlet of said dispenser (3) of labels (2);

- picking up the label (2), blocking it on the grip surface (7) by suction through the at least one opening (12) of the grip surface (7);

- by means of the rotation of said hollow body (8), aligning said grip surface (7) and arranging it adjacent with respect to the product (15) onto which the label (2) is to be applied;

- moving the product (15) toward the grip surface (7) and beyond it and rotating said hollow body (8) toward the product (15) and beyond it so that the label (2) rests its central surface on a portion of said product (15), activating the elements for moving said levers (5, 6) so that they rotate with respect to their pivoting axis, so that the label (2) adheres around at least one portion of the product (15), closing onto itself.