Patent ID: 6841018

Claim:
In a method for applying adhesive-backed labels to moving articles in which individual labels are carried by a web and transferred to a vacuum drum, and from said vacuum drum are transferred to articles to be labeled and wherein faulty labels are identified by a scanner while the labels are still on said web, and in which faulty labels are removed from said vacuum drum prior to application to one of said articles on the basis of information obtained during said scanning, the improvement which comprises removing said faulty label by pressing against the adhesive surface of said faulty label a second web that is moved at substantially the same tangential speed at its point of contact with the adhesive label as the tangential speed of the vacuum drum at the point of contact, and thereafter removing said second web away from said vacuum drum, thereby moving said faulty label with said second web, and thereafter scanning said second web to verify and reconcile faulty label removal.