Patent ID: 8733416

Claim:
An apparatus for attaching labels to articles, the apparatus comprising: a first roller; a second roller; a moveable contact member; an actuator configured to move the moveable contact member from a first position to a second position, the moveable contact member being biased towards the second position and the actuator being configured to resist the biased movement of the moveable contact member; a label inlet opening for receiving a label; an article-receiving area defined by an area between the first roller, the second roller, and the moveable contact member when the moveable contact member is in the first position; a label-receiving area defined by an area between the first roller, the second roller, and the moveable contact member when the moveable contact member is in the second position; and a control system for controlling the actuator's movement of the moveable contact member from the first position to the second position, the control system being programmable to receive inputs that control the actuator's movement of the moveable contact member, wherein the article-receiving area is larger than the label-receiving area so that when an article with a cross-sectional area that is smaller than the article-receiving area is received within the article-receiving area it does not contact each of the first roller, the second roller, and the moveable contact member, and when the article is received within the label-receiving area, the article does contact each of the first roller, the second roller, and the moveable contact member.