Bottle labelling apparatus
OwnerHorst A. Benoitinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Container conveying apparatus comprises a conveyor for conveying evenly spaced-apart containers and means for individually engaging containers and shifting containers laterally of the conveyor. Such container conveying apparatus may be used in association with container labelling apparatus where lateral movement of container on conveyor is desired preparatory to the next labelling step.
Claims41
In container conveying apparatus, means for conveying containers, container registration means for evenly spacing such containers on said means for conveying, and means which travels with said means for conveying for individually engaging such containers to maintain container even spacing and shifting such conveyed engaged containers laterally a predetermined extent on said means for conveying.
Labelling apparatus for applying a label strip to container tops, said apparatus comprising conveyor means for conveying evenly spaced-apart containers along said apparatus and means which travels with said conveyor means for individually engaging containers and shifting such engaged conveyed container laterally of the conveyor means to align such container top with label strip applying means which applies an individual label strip to each container top.
Labelling apparatus for applying labels to container sides and applying a label strip to such container tops, said apparatus comprising a conveyor for conveying containers along said apparatus, container registration means for evenly spacing such containers on said conveyor, overhead container engaging means which contacts container tops and travels with them to hold them in their registered position on said conveyor, a label applying station for applying labels to such container sides as they are conveyed past said label applying station and held in position by said overhead container engaging means, a label compression station which begins compressing such labels against such container sides prior to said overhead engaging means disengaging such containers, said label compression station comprising a plurality of opposing compression pads moving with said conveyor and which are laterally movable relative to the conveyor's length, at least one cam rail mounted on each side of said conveyor to provide at least one pair of opposing cam rails, each opposing pair of compression pads having cam followers and means for biasing said cam followers against their respective cam rails, each pair of opposing cam rails being so configured to move their respective pair of compression pads inwardly to contact respective container sides and press such labels against such container, said cam rails being adjustable to positions which cause said compression pads, upon contacting such containers, to shift such containers laterally on said conveyor to align such container tops for accurate receipt of label strips from label strip applying means.
In a container conveying apparatus, means for conveying a row of containers, container registration means for evenly spacing such containers on said means for conveying, a plurality of opposing compression pads moving with said conveyor means, said compression pads being laterally movable relative to the length of said conveyor means, a pair of opposing cam rails, each mounted to a side of said conveyor means, each said compression pad having a cam follower and means for resiliently urging said cam follower against its corresponding cam rail, each cam rail being so configured to move the respective compression pad inwardly to contact the respective container side to thereby sandwich such container between opposing compression pads, one of said cam rails having at its downstream end at least two vertically spaced-apart cam segments, at least one of said cam segments causing a compression pad with corresponding cam follower to move laterally of said conveyor means and thereby shift laterally to a predetermined extent a corresponding contacted container to provide at least two rows of conveyed containers, the other cam rail being so configured to retract an opposing compression pad from an engaged container prior to lateral shift of a container.
In container conveying apparatus, means for conveying containers, container registration means for evenly spacing such containers on said means for conveying, and means for individually engaging containers in a single row of conveyed containers and travelling with said means for conveying in maintaining container even spacing, said means for engaging containers shifting predetermined containers of the conveyed row a predetermined extent on said means for conveying to provide two rows of conveyed containers.
In container conveying apparatus of claim 35, said means for engaging such containers comprising a plurality of opposing compression pads which travel alongside and with said means for conveying and which are adapted to receive and to sandwich individual containers therebetween, each pair of opposing compression pads with a predetermined container therebetween being shifted laterally in unison the predetermined extent and releasing such shifted predetermined conveyed container to provide said two rows of conveyed containers.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.