Patent GB-1207833-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to labelling and like machines
Inventor: WATSON WILLIAM
IPC: B65C9/40
Filed: 1967-07-13
Abstract: 1,207,833. Conveying bottles; labelling machines. MORGAN FAIREST Ltd. 11 Oct., 1968 [13 July, 1967], No. 32255/67. Headings B8A and B8F. Labelling machines 1A are supplied by a common feed conveyer 6A which is associated with a recirculating conveyer 6B for returning articles which fail to be fed from the conveyer 6A to the machines 1A, there being switch means 18 along the conveyer 6B responsive to articles being circulated to effect an increase in the labelling rate. Each machine 1A is driven by a motor 14 having an infinitely variable belt drive to a drive shaft 15C of the machine. The drive is varied by movement of the motor 14 (left to increase speed, right to decrease, as shown in Fig. 8) under the action of a screw 24 driven by a motor 25. The latter is controlled by switches 19-22 operated by respective slides 19A-22A carried by the base of the motor 14. The slide 19A is adapted to close the switch 19 when it is out of engagement with the latter and opens the switch when it is in engagement (as shown in Fig. 9). The slides 20A-22A each cause closure of their respective switches when they are in engagement with them and open their switches when they move out of engagement. The switches 20-22 are in parallel with each other (Fig. 10), and in series with a forward starter of the motor 25. The switch 19 is in series with a reverse starter of the motor 25.  Operation.-Initially the motor is in its most rightwards position so that the machine is running at idling speed. Bottles are diverted by a deflector 29 to an infeed conveyer 12 of the first labelling machine 1A. They are held from entry to the machine by a stop 31 (Fig. 4) until they back up and operate a switch 16. This completes a circuit (Fig. 10) through the switch 20 to energize the motor 25. When the motor has moved leftwise to a predetermined degree raising the speed of the machine 1A from idling speed to a first predetermined running speed, the slide 20A disengages from the switch 20 thus stopping the motor 25. If build-up continues in the feed to the first machine 1A, bunching of the bottles operates a switch 17 and this re-energizes the motor 25 through the switch 21 until a new higher running speed of the machine 1A is reached. Similarly, when bottles spill over a dead plate 35 between the conveyers 6A and 6B, and operate a deflector member 36 to close a switch 18, the motor 25 is again energized by a circuit through the switches 18 and 22 (Fig. 18) until top speed is reached. If the supply of bottles drops until the operating member 33 of the switch 16 is free to open the latter, a circuit is established through the switch 19 (now closed) to energize the reverse starter of the motor 25. This brings the motor 14 back in a rightwards direction until idling speed is re-established. The switch 19 is then opened by engagement of the slide 19A the initial conditions now being re-established. When the first machine 1A is running at full speed, the pressure of bottles may deflect the associated baffle 29 so as to permit bottles to pass to the infeed conveyer 12 of the second machine 1A. In this way the machines 1A are brought successively into action. By this means additional machine 1A successively takes up the load, also if a machine becomes unserviceable a successive machine automatically takes over.