A TAG ATTACHMENT SYSTEM

Abstract: In a tag attachment system for the application of tags 11 to the necks of bottles by mechanical means, the tags 11 are attached one behind the other on a carrier strip 10. Each tag has an aperture 12 in one end portion thereof for engagement about the neck of the bottle. The area of the strip covered by each tag carries an adhesive and the face of the tag in contact with the adhesive is coated with a release material. The areas of the carrier strip 10 not covered by tags are non-adhesive. Each tag may have adhesively secured thereto a folded leaflet 16 which is sealed closed.

Description: This invention concerns a tag attachment system for the attachment of tags to the necks of bottles and like necked articles by mechanical means. FR-A-2447859 discloses an apparatus for dispensing labels from a stack on to the necks of bottles travelling along a conveyor, the labels having therein an aperture in which the neck of the bottle engages. US-A-4555299 discloses an apparatus for attaching labels to a carrier strip and subsequently transferring the labels from the carrier strip to the sides of respective containers travelling along a conveyor. According to this invention in one aspect there is provided a tag attachment strip comprising a carrier strip having adhesive on one surface thereof and a plurality of tags releasably secured at spaced intervals lengthwise of the strip by said adhesive, characterized in that each tag has an aperture adjacent one end thereof for engagement about the neck of a necked article, the face of the tag facing said one surface having thereon a coating of release material, and the areas of the strip not covered by the tags being non-adhesive. According to a preferred feature of the invention, the end of each tag remote from said one end has means whereby said remote end can be adhesively secured to the article. Preferable said means comprises a portion at said remote end a surface of which portion facing the strip carries an adhesive operative to secure said portion releasably to the strip. The tag may have a folded leaflet attached thereto. The leaflet may be held closed against the tag by a cover sheet detachably secured to the tag at opposite ends of the folded leaflet. The invention also provides a method of attaching tags to the necks of respective necked containers moving in succession along a flow path with the necks of the containers projecting at right angles to the flow path, characterized by feeding a carrier strip in the same general direction as the movement of the containers along a path which is inclined towards the tops of the necks of the containers and which at a location adjoining the flow path of said tops extends about a guide from where the strip moves in a direction generally opposite to the direction of movement of the containers, which strip has adhesive on its surface remote from the guide and a plurality of said tags releasably secured at spaced intervals lengthwise of the strip by said adhesive, each tag having a hole therein adjacent its leading end with respect to the movement of the strip for engagement over the neck of a container, the face of each tag facing said surface of the strip having thereon a coating of a release material, and the areas of the strip not covered by the tags being non-adhesive, whereby the leading end of each tag as it comes to the guide peels from the strip so that the hole is in the path of movement of and becomes engaged about the top of the neck of one of the containers and the tag becomes attached to the container. The invention will now be described in more detail with reference by way of example to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which: Figure 1 is a plan view of a tag application system according to the invention, Figure 2 is a sectional view on the line 2-2 of Figure 1, Figure 3 is a fragmentary view similar to Figure 1 of a tag incorporating an additional feature, Figure 4 is a view in the direction of the arrow 4 of Figure 3, Figure 5 illustrates a method according to the invention of employing the tag application system, and Figure 6 illustrates a modification of the Figure 5 method. Referring to Figures 1 and 2 the system employs a common strip to form a succession of tags 11 each formed with an aperture 12 near its leading end by which the tags are to be looped over the necks of bottles flowing along a conveyor line. The carrier strip 10 is coated with a layer 14 of pressure-sensitive adhesive by which the tags 11 are secured to the strip. Each tag has a coating 15 of a silicone or other release material on its face secured to the carrier strip. A leaflet 16 attachment is adhesively bonded to the upper face of the tag and overlies the whole area of the tag except for a narrow strip 11a at the trailing end of the tag. The leaflet is in this instance formed from a strip of paper material the leading part 17 of which is a single layer and overlies the corresponding part of the tag and the trailing part 18 of which is folded inward. The leading part 17 of the leaflet has an aperture in register with the aperture 12 in the tag and is secured to the tag by three spaced parallel transversely extending lines of adhesive spaced apart lengthwise of the tag. Thus there is a double thickness of paper about the neck of the bottle for strength while at the same time, the use of the transverse parallel lines of adhesive improves the flexibility of the leading part for reeling of the strip. The trailing part 18 of the leaflet comprises a top part 19 which is a continuation of the leading part 17, a first continuation part 20 underlying the top part 19 and connected to the top part along a fold line 21, and a second continuation part 22 which is connected along a fold line 23 to the first continuation part and which lies between the top and first continuation parts. A transverse line of adhesive 24 along the trailing edge of the first continuation part 20 secures the trailing end of the leaflet to the tag. A line of perforations 25 is provided between the leading and trailing halves and when torn open gives access to the inner parts of the leaflet. These inner parts may or may not be separable from the outer parts, whichever is desired. Initially the whole upper surface of the carrier strip is coated with adhesive 14 but the adhesive in the areas not covered by the tags is subsequently rendered inactive by a varnish applied to these areas and exposure to ultra-violet light in the known manner, so that the strip carrying the tags can be formed into a roll. Preferably a narrow band extending under the periphery of the tag is similarly treated to render its adhesive inactive. A notch 26 is formed in the top sheet 19 at each end of the line of perforations 25 and straddles the line so as to show the position of the line. In use, referring now to Figure 5, the strip is fed, with the apertured ends of the tags leading, along a downwardly inclined path towards the tops of a succession of bottles 30 standing on a conveyor and moving in the same general direction as the strip. At the lower end of the path is a roller 31 of small diameter about which the strip is led, the tags being on the face of the strip remote from the roller. At the downstream side of the guide roller the strip is engaged in a clutch and brake mechanism 28 which feeds the strip forward stepwise one tag at a time in response to a signal from a sensor 29 actuated by the passing of a container on the conveyor. When the clutch is thus operated the strip beneath a tag commences to move about the roller, and the relative stiffness of the tag and the release material on its lower surface cause the tag 11 to commence to part from the strip 10, and a bottle 30 on the conveyor is arranged to pass under the roller 30 at the same time so that its neck engages in the aperture in the tag and the tag with its leaflet is transferred to the neck of the bottle. The strip less the tags is fed to a take-up spool (not shown) for discarding. In a development illustrated in Figures 3 and 4 means is provided whereby the trailing end of the tag can be adhesively secured to the bottle. A piece of paper material 33 carrying a pressure-sensitive adhesive 34 is placed partly overlapping and secured to the trailing end 11a of the tag, and the portion not attached to the tag is releasably bonded to a deactivated area of the strip, the varnish operating as a release material when the tag is detached from the strip so that the adhesive surface on the piece of paper material can be used to secure the trailing end of the tag to the bottle. Referring now to Figure 6 a modified form of the apparatus and method is illustrated. In this apparatus, a vacuum box 35 is disposed above the guide roller 31 and has an apertured bottom plate 36 which is inclined downward towards the tops of the containers. When the previous tag has become attached to its container, the mechanism 28 actuates a forward step of the strip, and as the strip is drawn about the roller 31, the leading tag peels off and becomes attached to the underside of the plate by vacuum applied to the vacuum box at an instant such that the apertured leading end of the tag projects beyond the plate and comes to rest in the path of the top of a container. The neck of the container thus engages in the aperture and the tag becomes engaged on the container. The container may drop the tag from the plate, overcoming the vacuum, or air may be blown into the vacuum box to discharge the tag from the plate, as desired. Holes in the vacuum plate may be blocked off to give the exact pattern required. It will be understood that the leaflet may incorporate as many sheets as desired, may be in any desired form and may be detachably or non-detachably secured to the tag and with or without detachable parts, and that the leaflet is omitted entirely.

Claims: A tag attachment strip comprising a carrier strip (10) having adhesive on one surface thereof and a plurality of tags (11) releasably secured at spaced intervals lengthwise of the strip by said adhesive, each tag having an aperture (12) adjacent one end thereof for engagement about the neck of a necked article, the face of the tag facing said one surface having thereon a coating of release material, and the areas of the strip not covered by the tags being non-adhesive. A tag attachment strip as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the end of each tag remote from said one end has means (33, 34) whereby said remote end can be adhesively secured to the article. A tag attachment strip as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that said means comprises a portion (33) at said remote end a surface of which portion facing the trip carries an adhesive (34) operative to secure said portion releasably to the strip. A tag attachment strip as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the tag has a folded leaflet (16) attached thereto. A tag attachment strip as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that said leaflet (16) is held closed against the tag by a cover sheet detachably secured to the tag at opposite ends of the folded leaflet. A method of attaining tags to the necks of respective necked containers (30) moving in succession along a flow path with the necks of the containers projecting at right angles to the flow path, comprising feeding a carrier strip (10) in the same general direction as the movement of the containers along a path which is inclined towards the tops of the necks of the containers and which at a location adjoining the flow path of said tops extends about a guide (31) from where the strip moves in a direction generally opposite to the direction of movement of the containers, which strip (10) has adhesive on its surface remote from the guide (31) and a plurality of said tags (11) releasably secured at spaced intervals lengthwise of the strip by said adhesive, each tag having an aperture (12) therein adjacent its leading end with respect to the movement of the strip for engagement over the neck of a container, the face of each tag facing said surface of the strip having thereon a coating of a release material, and the areas of the strip not covered by the tags being non-adhesive, whereby the leading end of each tag (11) as it comes to the guide (31) peels from the strip so that the aperture (12) can be disposed in the path of movement of and become engaged about the top of the neck of one of the containers (30) to cause the tag to become attached to the container. A method as claimed in claim 6, characterized in that the tag peeled from the strip becomes attached to the underside of a vacuum plate (36) by a vacuum applied to the upper side of the plate (36), the apertured end of the tag projecting beyond the downstream end of the plate into the path of the neck of one of said containers so that the aperture (12) in the tag (11) becomes engaged about the neck of the container (30) and the tag becomes attached to the container.

Inventors: COOPER, MICHAEL J.
Applicants: DENNY BROS. PRINTING LIMITED
Application year: 1988
Main classification: B65C3
IPC codes: B65C9, B65C3, B65C7