Patent ID: 7185689

Claim:
Apparatus for applying a printed label to a loaded pallet, comprising: a label printer capable of printing a label; a label applicator mechanism including a label applicator arm rotatable about a generally vertical axis and operatively connected with said label printer for directly receiving a label printed by said label printer and rotating the printed label about the generally vertical axis toward one side of the loaded pallet for applying the printed label thereto at a predetermined label position which is variably definable for individual loaded pallets independent of pallet size, the label applicator arm rotating about the generally vertical axis during application of the printed label to the one side of the loaded pallet; a drive mechanism capable of moving said label applicator mechanism in a vertical direction relative to the loaded pallet; and a programmable control operatively coupled to said drive mechanism and configured to receive data defining said predetermined label position, said programmable control, in response to receiving said label position data, causing said drive mechanism to move said label applicator mechanism in the vertical direction so as to apply the printed label to the one side of the loaded pallet at the predetermined label position.