STRAIGHT THROUGH LABELLING MACHINE

Abstract: Labelling machine comprising a cylindrical vacuum (11) drum, a feed screw (15) located in relation to the vacuum drum to move cylindrical containers (13) from a starting point to a release point past the vacuum drum with their cylinder axes parallel to the cylinder axis of the vacuum drum and in tangent contact with the vacuum drum, and a continuous drive belt (16) located to contact the sides of containers opposite their sides in contact with the feed screw, said belt serving to spin the containers from the starting point to the release point.

Description: This invention relates to a labelling machine, more particularly for the high speed labelling of cylindrical containers. A very successful machine for labelling containers is that described in US-A-4,500,386 in which containers are supplied by a star wheel to a vacuum drum on which labels, with adhesive applied to their leading ends and trailing ends, are held by vacuum. Each container is brought into tangential contact with the leading end of a label held on the vacuum drum and the container is then caused to roll between the cylindrical surface of the vacuum drum and what is known as a "roll on pad" which is concentric to the vacuum drum. The container, as it moves along the circular arc thus provided, wraps the label around itself. The path of containers while under control of the star wheel container feed and the vacuum drum/roll on pad is an S-shaped path which requires change of direction including an inflection at the point of transfer from the star wheel to the vacuum drum/roll on pad. These changes of direction impose acceleration and high handling loads which limit the speed of labelling. A straight through labelling machine avoids such changes of direction. (By "straight through" is meant a machine in which the containers proceed in a straight line through the labelling station.) Straight through machines are described in von Hofe US-A-2,524,945 (Reissue Patent No. 24,097), Pechman US-A-3,159,521, Burroughs US-A-3,300,363, Hoffler US-A-3,367,822 and Hutchinson US-A-3,472,722. Belts are employed to move the containers and to spin them to apply labels. The Pechman patent is illustrative. It supplies containers to a vacuum drum by means of a feed screw/timing device (hereinafter referred to as a feed screw); labels with heat activated adhesive are carried by a vacuum drum to the point of contact with a container; and the container with a label applied is released from the vacuum drum and is moved linearly and is caused to spin by an endless belt which also drives the vacuum drum. However such straight through labelling machines are deficient, among other reasons because there is a sudden change of spin velocity as the container leaves the feed screw and starts to spin by reason of contact with the endless belt. This sudden change of spin velocity imposes high acceleration loads on the container and tends to destabilize it at the very point where maximum stability is desired. It is an object of the present invention to provide a straight through labelling machine which is capable of high speed operation and which avoids or ameliorates the disadvantages of prior straight-through machines. It is a further and particular object of the invention to provide a straight-through labelling machine in which there is no change or a minimum of change of direction, of spin velocity and of translational speed during the entire labelling cycle. US-A-4 714 515 discloses a machine for applying segments of sheet or film material to cylindrical surfaces of cylindrical articles in accordance with the prior art portion of claim 1. This prior construction uses two facing endless belts to define a path for the articles to be labelled with one of these belts being porous to act, near one end thereof, as vacuum means for carrying a segment into contact with a cylinder to which it is to be applied. With this arrangement, there can be no difference in surface speeds between the web and the surface of the article which means that the wrapper cannot be tensioned about the article. The present invention, as defined in claim 1, uses a pair of helical screws to advance the articles into direct contact with a vacuum drum, which is separate from the belt which causes the rotation of the article, enabling there to be a difference in surface speed between the drum and the article with positive pressure being applicable between the vacuum drum and the article by means of the transporting screw members which cause positive engagement with the vacuum drum covering the segment to be applied as well as carefully controlled speed of the article so as to avoid unnecessary acceleration or deceleration of the article, whereby the article moves under steady state rotational conditions from a location before the application of a segment thereto by the vacuum drum to a location well downstream therefrom. While US-A-3 532 583 discloses the use of a screw member for advancing articles to be labelled, this is generally in a low-efficiency machine which can only label at relatively slow speeds and in which the article is not rotated during movement past a labelling drum. The articles are held against rotation and the use of a screw as disclosed in this reference could not be used to meet the requirements of the present invention to provide an improved high-efficiency straight-line labelling machine. The use in the present invention of two spaced parallel screws to advance the articles ensures that the articles are retained in a required orientation, completely through the label-applying portion of its run with, preferably, a roll-on pad being mounted between the screws to engage the surface of the article further to ensure its rolling rotation during advance past the segment-applying vacuum drum. A method of applying segments in accordance with the invention is defined in claim 9, the prior art portion of this claim also being based upon the above-mentioned US-A-4 714 515. The invention is illustrated, by way of example, in the accompanying drawings which illustrated certain embodiments of the invention. Referring to these drawings: Figure 1 is a schematic top plan view of one embodiment of the invention employing a pair of feed screws, a primary container drive belt and a secondary belt; Figure 2 is a section taken along the line 2-2 of Figure 1; and Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 1 of another embodiment of the invention employing a vacuum drum driven by the same drive belt that spins the containers. Referring now to Figure 1, a labelling machine is shown at 10A having a vacuum drum 11 which carries label segments to be applied to cylindrical containers 13. Other articles than containers may be labelled. Also, it should be understood that the segments need not be labels but may be film or sheet material which is wrapped around cylindrical articles for decorative purposes, for added strength or for other purposes than labelling. The labels may be cut from a continuously moving strip of label stock or the labels may be precut and supplied to the vacuum drum from a stack. Suitable label feeds (continuous and stack feeds) are well known in the art. Also cutting mechanisms for cutting individual labels from continuous label stock. See, for example, US-A-4 108 710 for a label feed and cutting mechanism which are suitable for purposes of the present invention for cutting continuous label stock into separate labels and depositing each label on a continuously rotating vacuum drum. See also US-A-4 181 553 and 4 500 386. The containers 13 travel by gravity or other means along a guideway 14 to the ends of a pair of parallel feed screws (which serves also as a timing device) 15A and 15B which move the containers forwardly or to the right as viewed in Figure 1. The containers are also caused to spin in a counter-clockwise direction as viewed in Figure 1 by an endless belt 16 mounted on rollers or pulleys 17 ad 18 which are rotatably mounted in the frame of the machine. One of the rollers or pulleys 17,18 is driven in timed relation to the surface speed from the vacuum drum and the container continues to spin until the label is firmly applied. The apparatus may be used for "spot labelling" in which a label is not wrapped entirely around the container. If full, wrap-around labelling is employed the feed screws 15A preferably extend far enough for complete wrapping of the label around the container. However it is not essential that a label be completely applied to a container by the time it leaves the exit end of the feed screws although such is preferred. It may be sufficient to wrap a sufficient portion of the label around the container that it is firmly applied. The belt 16 is driven by an independent drive which, however, is preferably coordinated with the speed of the vacuum drum so that the container 13 spins at a rate such that its surface speed equals, and preferably somewhat exceeds the surface speed of the vacuum drum. The surface speed of the container will be the resultant of its spin velocity and its translatory velocity. The feed screw extends beyond the point of tangency of the container 13 and the vacuum drum 11 a sufficient distance so that, before the container is released by the feed screw, the label is securely applied to the container. The labelled (or partially labelled) container is then released to a downstream component including a second endless belt 20 mounted on rollers or pulleys 21 and 22 and including a roll on pad 23. The velocity of belt 20 can either match that of belt 16, in which case the translational velocity of the containers will decrease (due to the absence of the feedscrew in that area), or the velocity of belt 20 can be greater than that of belt 16 to minimize or eliminate this effect. Other downstream container handling equipment may be employed than that which is shown but the equipment shown is preferred because it is simple and it continues the straight line path of the containers and can operate at the desired speed. Of course the labelled containers are ultimately removed from the machine as shown in Figure 1. As shown in the section of Figure 2 the two feed screws 15A and 15B are located one near the upper end of the container 13 and the other near the lower end of the container 13; there is a primary roll on pad 30 between the feed screws; and there are two primary drive belts 16A and 16B, one above and the other below the vacuum drum. A bottom support 31 for the containers is also shown in Figure 3. There is, of course, a bottom support in all of the embodiments. Advantages of the machine using two feed screws as illustrated include the fact that the container, especially if it is a tall container and/or is a lightweight plastic container, is held and moved more stably by the primary roll on pad 30 which, as shown by the broken lines in Figure 1, extends substantially the length of the feed screws 15A and 15B thus ensuring getting the container up to the desired speed. In addition the roll-on pad nested between the feed screws improves initial roll-down of the label onto the container. Referring now to Figure 3, the machine there shown is similar, except for the combination belt and vacuum drum drive, to the machine of Figure 1. The same reference numerals are employed for the most part in the machine of Figure 3. The primary container drive belt 16A is driven by the vacuum drum 11A. The belt 16A may be wrapped around a portion of the surface of the drum 11A having the same diameter as the portion of the surface of the drum which carries the labels 12, in which case the belt 16A and the containers 13 will move at a linear speed which is equal to the surface speed of the drum.

Claims: A machine for applying segments (12) of sheet or film material to the cylindrical surfaces of cylindrical articles (13), such machine comprising an advanceable vacuum means (11), to the surface of which said segments are fed to be held thereon, and means (15,16) for feeding said articles (13) tangentially with respect to said vacuum means (11) surface whilst said articles (13) are rotated about their axes whereby said segments (12) are applied to the article cylindrical surfaces, said feeding means comprising a continuously movable endless belt (16) for supporting and rotating said articles and transporting means (15) spaced from said belt (16) and facing said belt (16) for urging said articles against said belt (16) and said vacuum means (11) surface, said transporting means (15) being adapted to cause the articles to be advanced linearly at a speed different from the speed of advance of the belt (16) whereby the articles (13) are caused to advance linearly at a predetermined speed and to rotate about their axes, said transporting means (15) having a longitudinal extent for carrying the articles (13) without substantial acceleration or deceleration from a location (17) substantially in advance of the vacuum means (1) to a location (18) substantially beyond said vacuum means, characterised in that the vacuum means comprises a vacuum drum (11), the axis of which is parallel with the axes of the articles (13) advanced therepast and the surface of which is tangential to the path of movement of the articles (13), and in that the transport means comprises a pair of parallel rotatable helical article feed and timing screw members (15A,15B), one being located near the tops of the articles (13) and the other (15B) being located near the bottoms of the articles (13) to hold the articles (13) against the vacuum drum (11) whilst advancing the articles (13) therepast. A machine according to claim 1, in which the belt (16) is moveable at a speed such that the surface speed of each article (13) exceeds the surface speed of the vacuum drum (11). A machine according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the endless belt (16) and the vacuum drum (11) are driven independently. A machine according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the belt (16) and vacuum drum (11) have a common drive. A machine according to claim 4, wherein the belt (16) is driven by the vacuum drum (11). A machine according to any preceding claim, in which a roll on pad (30) is located between the two feed screws (15A,15B) to contact the surface of the container (13) opposite the endless belt (16). A method of applying segments (12) of film or sheet material to the cylindrical surfaces of cylindrical articles (13), which comprises: (a) providing a cylindrical vacuum drum (11) capable of receiving such segments (12) successively at a segment receiving station, holding each segment on its cylindrical surface and transporting the thus held segment, by rotation of the drum about its cylindrical axis, to a segment applying station; (b) so operating said vacuum drum (11); (c) transporting such cylindrical articles (13) in succession with their cylindrical axes parallel to the cylindrical axis of the vacuum drum (11), such transport being through a straight line from a first location (17) to a second location (18), such path being so positioned that between the first location and second location each article is brought into tangent contact with the leading end of a segment (12) in the segment applying station, with said path being defined by a run of an endless belt (16) tangential with the point of contact of the segment in the segment applying station, such contact occurring a substantial distance from the first location and from the second location; and (d) imparting to each article (12) while it is being transported from the first location to the second location a spinning motion about its cylindrical axis, whereby each segment (12), in turn, is released in the segment applying station, picked up by the article (12) to which it is to be applied and wrapped around the article at least partially while it is undergoing simultaneous linear movement and spinning motion, characterised in that the segment is picked up by the article (13) directly from the vacuum drum (11) with said path being defined between and formed by a pair of parallel feed screws (15A,15B) and the endless belt (16) with each article (13) being confined between the screws and the belt and being moved along the path by the feed screws and being caused to spin by movement of the belt. A method according to claim 7, wherein a roll on article engaging pad (70) between the feed screws (15A,15B) forces the articles (13) against the vacuum drum (11).

Inventors: MITCHELL, MONTE C.
Applicants: B & H MANUFACTURING COMPANY
Application year: 1989
Main classification: B65C3
IPC codes: B65C9, B65C3