Patent ID: 8146334

Claim:
A device for placing sleeves on traveling articles, said sleeves being cut from a continuous sheath passing over a sheath-opening shaper; which shaper is held floating between first outer wheels and backing wheels having parallel axes carried by said shaper; said first wheels serving to cause the sheath to advance along the shaper up to and beyond cutter means; second outer wheels being provided downstream from the cutter means to eject each cut-off sheath segment onto an article located vertically below the shaper as a result of said article passing a cell; said first wheel is rotatably driven by a first electric motor and said second wheel is rotatably driven by a second electric motor, wherein the first and second electric motors are controlled synchronously by a virtual-shaft common electronic programmer; wherein the electronic programmer varies the speeds of the first and second electric motors in a accordance with a first and second continuous profile, respectively; said first and second continuous profiles being bell-shaped curves that define the speed of the first and second electric motors, respectively, and having a common end segment in which the profiles coincide, which corresponds to the speeds of the of the first and second electric motors being identical; wherein the length of said common end segment is selected so that the sheath is advanced beyond the point of tangential contact with the second wheels in such a manner that said sheath is pinched by said second wheels prior to being held stationary for the cutting and ejection pass.