Patent ID: 6334248
Filing Date: 2002-01-01
Classification: B41F,B41P,B44C,Y10T

Abstract:
A machine for transferring discrete areas of material from a flexible carrier onto a substrate at locations spaced apart along the substrate, comprising:a transfer station through which said substrate and said carrier pass between an input and output thereof, a transfer station including at least one contact area that periodically urges the carrier against the substrate while moving therewith to transfer discrete areas of material from the carrier to the substrate but otherwise allows relative movement between the carrier and substrate within the transfer station, means for moving said substrate through the transfer station with a first velocity profile, a first sensor of the movement of said substrate through the transfer station, means responsive to said first sensor for supplying said carrier to said transfer station with a second velocity profile that is a fraction less than unity of said first velocity profile, a second sensor of the periodic urging by said at least one contact area of the carrier against the substrate, and means responsive to said first and second sensors for simultaneously adjusting by equal and opposite amounts path lengths followed by the carrier on the input and output sides of the transfer station in a manner that moves a segment of the carrier within the transfer station according to a third velocity profile that, when combined with said second velocity profile, causes the carrier to move through the transfer station with a fourth velocity profile having a value equal to that of the substrate when said at least one contact area is urging the carrier against the substrate but otherwise having a velocity that is significantly less than that of the substrate, thereby to efficiently utilize the material from the carrier.