Patent ID: 7618204

Claim:
A system for use in handling a tag web, comprising: an unwind including an unwind motor and a holder driven by the unwind motor and adapted to hold a supply roll of tag web, the tag web having a curl from having been wound into the supply roll, the amount of curl in the tag web increasing as the distance from the outside of the supply roll and the center of the supply roll decreases; a motor-driven feed roll to apply force to feed the tag web from the outside of the supply roll under tension along a path through a bend opposite to the curl in the tag web; wherein the unwind motor is operable to apply a tensioning force to the tag web opposite to the force exerted by the feed roll, wherein the tag web is fed along the path when the force exerted by the feed roll on the tag web overcomes the force exerted by the unwind on the tag web; a movable guide disposed along the path to contact and guide the tag web; a guide motor to move the movable guide; a decurler guide disposed along the path to contact the tag web, downstream of the movable guide; a sensor to sense the back-EMF of the unwind motor; and a controller to control the guide motor to move the movable guide, wherein the controller, in operation, can cause the movable guide to move to increase a bend in the path of the tag web partially around the decurler guide as the tag web is fed from the supply roll, and wherein the controller is configured to be responsive to the sensor and to increase the electrical energy to the unwind motor as the back-EMF of the unwind motor increases.