High speed label applicator and methods
AssigneeLabel-Aire Inc.
InventorIsrael Vega
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A label application system for applying labels to relatively short, round, straight-walled articles is constructed and designed so that labels to be applied to passing articles are delivered to the label application zone on a carrier web in a short feed orientation, with each label being oriented lengthwise across a width of the carrier web. At the time of labeling, the label is held stationary on a flat vacuum surface, and the label is applied by spinning the articles past the vacuum surface. As a result, the system is capable of labeling articles at processing speeds of at least 450 articles per minute or more.
Claims18
A label application system which applies labels to round or straight-walled articles, comprising:
- a main frame;
- a label applicator assembly comprising a flat, planar vacuum surface which is sized to receive and retain an entire label to be applied to a cylindrical surface of an article thereon with its adhesive side up;
- a conveyor assembly having a conveyor which transports articles to be labeled past the label applicator assembly, the conveyor assembly comprising a label application zone adjacent to the label applicator assembly;
- a pressure control assembly upstream of the label application zone which dispenses individual articles to be labeled as they travel down the conveyor toward the label application zone;
- and
- a carrier web comprising a plurality of labels which are separable therefrom, to be applied to passing articles, the carrier web being fed to the vacuum surface in a direction of travel transverse to a direction of travel of the conveyor, wherein each label separated from the carrier web has a length and a width, the length of each label being equal to or less than a length of the flat, planar vacuum surface and the width of each label being equal to or less than a width of the flat, planar vacuum surface;
- wherein the flat, planar vacuum surface is held in a stationary position while a label is being applied to an article cylindrical surface.
A label application system for applying labels to round or straight-walled articles, comprising:
- a main frame;
- a label applicator assembly comprising a flat, planar vacuum surface which is sized to receive and retain an entire label to be applied to a cylindrical surface of an article thereon with its adhesive side up;
- a conveyor assembly having a conveyor for transporting articles to be labeled past the label applicator assembly, the conveyor assembly comprising a label application zone adjacent to the label applicator assembly;
- and
- a pressure control assembly upstream of the label application zone which dispenses individual articles to be labeled as they travel down the conveyor toward the label application zone, the pressure control assembly initiating rotation of each individual round, straight-walled article as the article enters the label application zone;
- wherein the flat, planar vacuum surface is held in a stationary position while a label is being applied to the article cylindrical surface.
A method for applying labels to round or straight-walled articles, comprising:
- feeding a carrier web on which a plurality of labels are disposed in a direction toward a conveyor which moves round, straight-walled articles through a label application zone, each of the plurality of labels having a length and a width and being sequentially fed onto a flat, planar vacuum surface, so that the entire length and width of the fed label is disposed on the flat, planar vacuum surface, wherein an adhesive side of the fed label faces outwardly toward articles passing by the flat, planar vacuum surface on the conveyor in a downstream direction of travel;
- retaining the fed label on the flat, planar vacuum surface using applied vacuum pressure;
- holding the flat, planar vacuum surface in a stationary position as an article to be labeled enters the label application zone adjacent to the flat, planar vacuum surface;
- and
- applying the fed label to the article to be labeled in the label application zone while holding the flat, planar vacuum surface in the stationary position;
- wherein the carrier web feeding direction is transverse to the downstream direction of travel of the conveyor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.