Patent ID: 7024841

Claim:
A labeling station for use in a beverage bottling plant for filling bottles with a liquid beverage filling material, said labeling station comprising: a storage being configured and disposed to store a continuous collapsed tube of flat uncut sleeve labels disposed sequentially one after the other; a mandrel structure having a substantially cylindrical outer surface; said mandrel structure being configured to open a continuous collapsed tube of uncut sleeve labels; said mandrel structure having a receiving end and a discharge end remote from said receiving end; a first set of roller apparatus being configured and disposed to advance an opened continuous tube of uncut open sleeve labels along said mandrel structure from said receiving end towards said discharge end; said first set of roller apparatus being disposed adjacent said receiving end of said mandrel structure; a second set of roller apparatus being configured and disposed to further advance an opened continuous tube of uncut open sleeve labels received from said first set of roller apparatus along said mandrel structure to said discharge end; said second set of roller apparatus being disposed between said first set of roller apparatus and said discharge end of said mandrel structure; a cutting apparatus being configured and disposed to cut an open sleeve label from an opened continuous tube of uncut open sleeve labels to thus produce a cut open sleeve label for a bottle disposed at said discharge end of said mandrel structure; said cutting apparatus being disposed between said first set of roller apparatus and said second set of roller apparatus; an expander apparatus being disposed in said mandrel structure; said expander apparatus being configured and disposed to expand and project beyond said outer surface of said mandrel structure to sufficiently expand a portion of an uncut open sleeve label, immediately adjacent said cutting apparatus, between said first set of roller apparatus and said second set of roller apparatus, to make taut a portion of an opened tube of uncut open sleeve labels adjacent said cutting apparatus and thus to minimize bunching of an opened continuous tube of uncut open sleeve labels on said mandrel structure, and also to maximize precision of the cut being effectuated by said cutting apparatus; said second set of roller apparatus also being configured and disposed to remove a cut open sleeve label from said mandrel structure with sufficient velocity and to position a cut open sleeve label about a bottle disposed at said discharge end of said mandrel structure, and thus to minimize misalignment of the cut of a sleeve label being cut and to permit elevated cutting speeds and thus to afford shorter cycle times; and a heating apparatus being configured and disposed to heat-shrink a cut open sleeve label, positioned by said second set of roller apparatus about a bottle, to the surface of a bottle.