GB2079242A

GB2079242A - Improvements in or relating to apparatus for applying labels to articles

Info

Publication number: GB2079242A
Application number: GB8120267A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Vacuumatic Ltd
Current assignee: Vacuumatic Ltd
Priority date: 1980-07-08
Filing date: 1981-07-01
Publication date: 1982-01-20

Abstract

A labeling apparatus including a conveyor (10) along which vertical bottles (11) are passed to a label applying station (12) at which a transfer pad (13) having a front suction face to hold the labels thereon is spring (24) urged into the path of the bottles. Labels are fed on to one end of the suction face by a backing strip (35) and a register pin (30) accurately defines the position of the label on the suction face so that the label is applied accurately to the bottle. The pin (30) is depressed when a bottle contacts a label and forces the pad (13) out of its path. A plurality of transfer pads may be mounted on a continuously or intermittently rotating turret. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements in or relating to apparatus for applying labels to articles This invention relates to apparatus for applying labels to articles and is particularly or not exclusively applicable to apparatus for applying identification labels to bottles for drinks and other like containers.

The invention provides an apparatus for applying labels to articles comprising, a label holder having a label holding surface, means to apply an air pressure differential to a label on the surface to hold a label temporarily to the surface, means to feed self-adhesive labels one by one to the surface adhesive side-out, means to register the labels with a required position on the surface, and means to intercept the surface and a path of movement of a succession of articles to be labelled to apply a label on the label holding surface to an article at a required position on the article.

More specifically means may be provided for feeding articles one by one along a fixed path and the label holder may have mounting means which permit the holder to move towards and away from the path to intercept the label holding surface with an article moving along the fixed path.

The mounting means for the holder may support the holder with at least a part of the label holding surface projecting into the fixed path and facing generally in the direction of approach of the articles along the path, the mounting means including means to permit the holder to move to one side of the path when engaged by an article moving along the path, means being provided to bias the holder to project into the path so that a label supported thereby is engaged with an article moving along the path when the article reaches the holder and movement of the article causes the holder to retract allowing the article to pass with a label applied thereto.

In a further construction, the label holder may be pivotally mounted on a rotary turret mounted adjacent the path of movement of articles and means may be provided for swinging the holder outwardly from the turret into the path of the articles to apply a label supported on the holding surface of the holder to an article passing along the path.

In a further construction, the rotatable drum may be mounted with the periphery of the drum coincident with the extremity of the path of movement of articles along said fixed path and the holder may be formed with an arcuate section of part of the periphery of the drum.

The articles to be labelled may be moved by a linear conveyor or a rotary conveyor to intercept the label holder.

Since in all the above arrangements the label is applied to the holding surface and is registered on the holding surface, the problems arising with the accuracy of operation of the feed mechanism of the labels supplying the labels to the holding surface do not arise.

The following is a description of some specific embodiments of the invention reference being made to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a diagrammatic plan view of part of a label applying apparatus for labelling bottles; Figure 2 is an elevation view of part of the apparatus shown in Figure 1; and Figure 3 is a diagrammatic view of a further embodiment; and Figures 4 and 5 show modified forms of the embodiments of Figures 1 and 3.

Referring firstly to Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings there is shown an apparatus for applying labels to bottles comprising a conveyor 10 having vertically spaced upper and lower tracks between which bottles 11 are supported in upright attitude at the upper and lower ends thereof and are fed in the direction of the arrow past the label applying station indicated generally at 12.

At the label applying station a label transfer pad 13 which is mounted at one end 14 of the pad on the upper end of a vertically extending post 1 5.

The lower end of the post is attached to one end of an arm 16 the other end of which has a bore 1 7 which engages over a sleeve 18 and is locked to the sleeve by a pinch bolt 1 6a at the end of the arm. As best seen in Figure 2, the sleeve 18 is located on a vertical pivot pin 1 9 between collars 20, 20a fixed to the pivot pin, the lower end of the pivot pin being mounted on a plate 21. The plate 21 is, in turn, mounted on a base 22 by means of screws 23 which engage in slots 21 a in the plate 21 to permit horizontal adjustment of the plate parallel to the conveyor 10. The transfer pad 1 3 can thus pivot about the axis provided by the pivot pin 19 into and out of the path of containers 11 passing along the conveyor.The transfer pad is biased to swing into the conveyor path by means of a tension spring 24 attached to the post 1 5 at one end and to an anchorage adjacent to the conveyor system at the other end and movement of the pad into the path of the conveyor is limited by means of an adjustable screw stop 25 mounted on the back of the transfer pad and engageable with an abutment face 26 below the conveyor. As can be seen in Figure 1 of the drawings, when the stop 25 is in engagement with the abutment face 26, the front face of the transfer pad extends generally obliquely into the path of the articles along the conveyor facing across the direction in which the articles move along the conveyor and stopping just short of the centre line of the conveyor.

A suction box 27 is mounted at the back of the transfer pad 13 and has a suction pipe 28 connected thereto. The front face of the transfer pad has a PTFE faced castellated rubber covering with suction inlets placed in recesses between the castellations to hold a label on the surface.

The end part of the transfer pad which projects into the conveyor path is concavely curved as indicated at 29 and immediately beyond that end of the path there is a finger 30 which projects at one end beyond the front face of the transfer pad and the other end of which is mounted on an L-shaped bracket pivotally mounted at 32 at the back of the transfer pad. A tension spring 33 acts between the bracket and transfer pad to bias the finger 30 forwardly and an adjustable screw stop 34 limits the forward movement so that the finger projects beyond the front face of the pad as shown. The finger 30 provides a register for locating a label in the correct position on the transfer pad for application to a container 11.

Self-adhesive labels are fed on to the transfer pad at the other end of the pad adhesive-surface outwards from a supply of labels temporarily attached to a backing strip 35. The strip is passed through an acute angle formed by a beak 36 adjacent the supply end of the transfer pad which peels the label from the pad and feeds the label on to the pad until the leading edge of the label engages the finger 30. The label is then correctly located on the pad for transfer to a container 11 passing along the conveyor. At this stage the label may still be attached at its trailing end to the backing 35 or may have become fully detached from the backing. Suction applied to the pad holds the label on the pad.

When a container 11 engages the projecting transfer pad 13 as it moves along the conveyor at the labelling station the register finger 30 is depressed and the container contacts the leading end of the label which adheres to the container. As the container continues to advance it forces the transfer pad out of its path against the action of the spring 24 and in so doing draws the label away from the pad. The end of the transfer pad which projects into the conveyor path has a label press down finger 37 which engages the container 11 and rubs over the label applied to the bottle as the bottle moves past the transfer pad. The pressed down finger thus adheres the label around the leading side of the bottle.Once the pressed down finger 37 has passed the bottle at its widest point the spring 24 will urge the transfer pad back into the path of the conveyor and the finger will thus continue to press the label down on to the trailing side of the bottle. When the bottle has finally dis-engaged from the transfer pad, the pad will then be ready for the next label applying operation.

The transfer pad may be retracted from the path of the conveyor by means other than the action of engagement by the bottle. For example, a cam mechanism timed by the movement of bottles along the conveyor may be provided to retract the pad at the appropriate moment after a label has been applied to a bottle.

The operation of the backing web to move past the beak and to deposit the label on the transfer pad can be instigated automatically in response to the detection of a bottle 11 moving along the conveyor. The suction applied to the transfer pad can be a light suction which is applied continuously to the pad or can be switched on as a label is applied to the pad to hold the label on the pad and switched off automatically as soon as the pad beings to retract after engagement by a bottle indicating that application of the label to the bottle has started.

A duplicate of the label applying device may be provided on the other side of the conveyor so that two labels are applied on either side of the bottle passing along the conveyor simultaneously. Since the devices can be adjusted to apply the leading edges of the label in accurately predetermined positions on the peripheries of the bottles by adjusting the stop screws 25, the spacing of the leading edges of the labels on the bottle can be accurately determined.

Referring now to Figure 3 of the drawings there is shown a further arrangement in which the suction box arrangement as in a previously described system is replaced by a rotary turret 40 mounted to rotate about an axis 41 with a periphery of the turret at one location lying closely adjacent the path of the containers 11 moved by the conveyor 10. A drive motor is provided which is not shown for rotating the turret either intermittently or continuously so that the part of the periphery of the drum adjacent the path of the articles is moving in the same direction as the articles.

The turret carries a number of arcuate suction pads 42 pivotally mounted at 43 at their trailing ends on the turret to retract into and extend from the drum as shown in the full-line and dotted-line positions. Each suction pad has an outer arcuate surface 44 provided with suction holes to hold a label indicated at 45 on the surface. When the pads are in the retracted positions, the outer surfaces 45 form a continuation of the cylindrical outer surface of the turret.

Each pad has a spring loaded projection 46 at the end remote from the pivot 43 to provide a register for labels fed on to the surface at the label feed station indicated at 47 which is spaced around the turret axis from the conveyor 10. The label feed station comprises means for feeding the backing web to which adhesive labels are attached through a reverse turn around a beak 34 as described with the previous embodiment. The labels are fed on to the surface 44 and the suction applied to the surface holds the label adhesiveoutwards on the surface with the label registered by the projection 46.Rotation of the drum brings the suction pad 42 carrying the label into the delivery position adjacent the conveyor 10 and a device on the turret which may be mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic or electrical swings the suction pad outwardly to the dotted line position as indicated to intercept an article moving along the conveyor 10. Engagement of the article with the label held on the surface 44 adheres the label to the article and the projection 46 is retracted by the article or by mechanism (not shown) to allow the label to be withdrawn from the suction pad and wiped around the surface of the container by the pad. The pad is then automatically retracted ready to receive a further label at the label applying station 47. It will be appreciated that the rotation of the turret is timed in relation to the speed and spacing of the articles along the conveyor so that a suction pad with a label to be applied meets an article to receive a label as shown.

In the above embodiment the arcuate suction pads are pivoted on the turret at their trailing ends. It will be appreciated that the pads could equally be pivoted at their leading ends on the turret. Likewise the spring loaded projection 46 could be located at the pivoted end of each pad.

In a modification of this arrangement the rotating turret is replaced by a drum having suction areas corresponding to the pad surfaces 44 with projections at the leading ends of the areas to define the registration positions of the label. In this case the drum is rotated at the speed of the container and is arranged in relation to the conveyor so that the container meets the drum tangentially. The label on the drum is thus applied to and rolled around the container. Such an arrangement is only therefore suitable for circular containers.

Figure 4 of the drawings shows a modification to the arrangement of Figures 1 and 2 in which the straight line conveyor 10 for the articles 11 is replaced by a rotary conveyor 10 removing the articles 11 in succession to the label applying station. Figure 5 shows a corresponding modification to the apparatus of Figure 3 in which again the straight line conveyor 10 for the articles 11 is replaced by a rotary conveyor 10 to the articles.

Claims

1. An apparatus for applying labels to articles comprising, a label holder having a label holding surface, means to apply an air pressure differential to a label on the surface to hold a label temporarily to the surface, means to feed self-adhesive labels one by one to the surface adhesive side-out, means to register the labels with a required position on the surface, and means to intercept the surface and a path of movement of a succession of articles to be labelled to apply a label on the label holding surface to an article at a required position on the article.

2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the label holding surface is either a vertical surface or a surface angled to the vertical according to the surface of the article to which the label is to be applied and means are provided to move the articles to be labelled horizontally through the labelling station to intercept with the labelling surface.

3. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the means to apply an air pressure differential to hold a label on the label holding surface comprise suction means acting on the label holding surface.

4. An apparatus as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the means for feeding labels to the label holding surface comprise means for feeding a backing strip to which the labels are temporarily adhered through an acute reverse turn adjacent the label holding surface to cause the label to peel from the backing strip and to feed on to the label holding surface.

5. An apparatus as claimed in any of the preceding claims where the means to register the labels with a required position on the holding surface of the label holder comprise a projection on the holding surface at the opposite end of the surface to the end from which the label is fed on to the surface by said feeding means to define the location to which the label is fed on the holding surface and means to allow the projection to retract when the holding surface intercepts the article to allow the label to be drawn off the holding surface past the projection.

6. An apparatus as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein means are provided for feeding articles one by one along a fixed path and the label holder has mounting means which permit the holder to move towards and away from the path to intercept the label holding surface with an article moving along the fixed path.

7. An apparatus as claimed in claim 6 wherein the mounting means for the holder support the holder with at least a part of the label holding surface projecting into the fixed path and facing in the direction of approach of the articles along the path, the mounting means including means to permit the holder to move to one side of the path when engaged by an article moving along the path, means being provided to bias the holder to project into the path so that a label supported thereby is engaged with an article moving along the path when the article reaches the holder and movement of the article causes the holder to retract allowing the article to pass with a label applied thereto.

8. An apparatus as claimed in claim 7 wherein the means to mount the label holder comprises an arm pivotally mounted at one end and carrying the holder at the other end, the holder being spaced in the direction of travel of the article from the pivotal mounting so that the engagement of an article with the holder swings the holder about the pivot out of the path of the article.

9. An apparatus as claimed in claim 8 wherein spring means are provided to bias the holder towards the path of the article and means are provided for limiting the movement of the holder under the action of the spring means towards the path of the article.

10. An apparatus as claimed in claim 9 wherein the holding surface lies obliquely to the path of the articles when the holder is located at said limit of its movement.

11. An apparatus as claimed in claim 10 wherein the holding surface of the holder is concave about a vertical axis.

12. An apparatus as claimed in any of claims 6 to 11 wherein a projection for registering the label is mounted at the end of the holding surface of the holder adjacent the fixed path of the articles and spring means are provided to bias the projection to extend in front of the holding surface to provide an abutment against which a label may be fed to register the label on the holding surface.

13. An apparatus as claimed in claim 12 wherein a presser member is mounted on the holder and has a contact end disposed beyond the register projection from the label holding surface to rub over the label after it has been applied to the article to adhere the label firmly to the article.

14. An apparatus as claimed in any of claims 1 to 5 wherein the label holder is pivotally mounted on a rotary turret mounted adjacent the path of movement of articles and means are provided for swinging the holder outwardly from the turret into the path of the articles to apply a label supported on the holding surface of the holder to an article passing along the path.

1 5. An apparatus as claimed in claim 14 wherein the holder has an arcuate holding surface for receiving a label and is pivotally mounted on the turret at one end of the arcuate surface about a vertical axis, means being provided for swinging the holder about said axis with respect to the turret between a retracted position in which the axis of the arcuate surface coincides with the turret axis and an extended position in which the arcuate surface projects into the fixed path of movement of the articles.

16. An apparatus as claimed in claim 14 or 15 wherein the means for supplying a label to the holder on the turret are positioned around the axis of the turret from the location where the periphery of the turret is adjacent the fixed path of movement of the articles.

1 7. An apparatus as claimed in any of claims 14 to 1 6 wherein a plurality of holders are mounted at spaced locations around the turret.

18. An apparatus as claimed in any of claims 14 to 1 6 wherein means are provided for rotating the turret continuously.

1 9. An apparatus as claimed in any of claims 14 to 1 8 wherein means are provided for rotating the turret intermittently.

20. An apparatus as claimed in any of claims 1 to 5 wherein a rotatable drum is mounted with the periphery of the drum coincident with the extremity of the path of movement of articles along said fixed path and the holder is formed by an arcuate section of part of the periphery of the drum.

21. An apparatus as claimed in claim 20 wherein the retractable projection is located at the leading end of the arcuate section of the drum in relation to the direction of rotation thereof to define the registration position for a label on the holding surface of the section.

22. An apparatus as claimed in claim 21 wherein the projection is spring loaded to bias the projection outwardly of the surface of the arcuate section but to permit the projection to be retracted to the surface of the drum by engagement with the article to which the label is to be applied to permit the article to adhere to and withdraw the label from the holding surface of the arcuate section.

23. An apparatus as claimed in claim 21 wherein means are provided for positively retracting the projection after the label has been applied to the holding surface and prior to application of the label to a container.

24. An apparatus as claimed in claim 22 or claim 23 wherein the drum has a plurality of holding surfaces defined by arcuate sections around the periphery of the drum.

25. An apparatus as claimed in claim 24 wherein the means are provided for rotating the drum continuously.

26. An apparatus as claimed in any of claims 20 to 25 wherein means are provided for rotating the drum intermittently.

27. An apparatus as claimed in any of claims 20 to 26 wherein the means for supplying labels to the drum are located around the drum axis away from the fixed path of articles past the drum.

28. An apparatus as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein a linear conveyor is provided for moving the articles to be labelled to intercept the label holder.

29. An apparatus as claimed in any of claims 1 to 27 wherein originally the conveyor is provided for moving the articles to be labelled to intercept the label holder.

30. A label applying apparatus substantially as described with reference to and as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings.

31. A label applying apparatus substantially as described with reference to and as illustrated in Figure 3 of the accompanying drawings.

32. A label applying apparatus substantially as described with reference to and as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 as modified by Figure 4 of the accompanying drawings.

33. A label applying apparatus substantially as described with reference to and as illustrated in Figure 3 as modified by Figure 5 of the accompanying drawings.