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US 4,230,065 AGranted
Apparatus for printing and protecting ink indicia on fruits
AssigneeSunkist Growers, Inc.
InventorsNed C. Carter, Jerry W. Cramer, Dennis E. Bilton
Life of this patent
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AssigneeSunkist Growers, Inc.
InventorsNed C. Carter, Jerry W. Cramer, Dennis E. Bilton
Estimating the term…
Apparatus for printing an indicium on objects, fruits and the like with an ink which may or may not be water soluble, but which is preferably of a type which may be readily consumed by humans without damaging effect, the fruit being successively pre-oriented and delivered by a conveyor to a printing station where inked printing dies carried by a printing roller are utilized to apply the indicia, after which the fruit is then discharged from the conveyor in a free-fall trajectory path onto a receiver, an air-brush type nozzle being utilized to jet-spray the indicium with a quick drying sealant coating as the fruit is moved through the trajectory path. The spray nozzle is directed towards a collecting opening having a connection with a suction source. Also, a selector valve is provided to permit disconnection of the coating material supply to the nozzle, and connection of the nozzle to a supply of cleaning solvent.
In apparatus for printing and protecting indicia on an object which apparatus includes a conveyor for conveying objects, said conveyor having a delivery end, a printing station through which said conveyor passes, a printing die at said printing station arranged to print indicia on the upper surface of said objects as they pass through said station and a receiver spaced from said delivery end, said conveyor being arranged to project said objects from said delivery end to said receiver in a free flight path across the space therebetween, said path having a substantial horizontal component, the improvement comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.