In-mold labeling apparatus and method
AssigneeVention Medical, Inc.
InventorsThomas R. Houdeshell, Bradley A. Atkins
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An in-mold labeling apparatus for an injection-molded product includes a label magazine, a handling tool, an injection mold, and a controller. The injection mold has a suction port disposed in the mold cavity. A pin may be fixedly or movably disposed in the suction port. A method of in-mold labeling an injection-molded product includes applying a static charge to the label using the handling tool, activating the suction port in the mold cavity, deactivating a suction port of the handling tool, and activating the injection molding.
Claims15
An apparatus for in-mold labeling an injection-molded product, comprising
- a label magazine comprising a plurality of label storage stations,
- a handling tool configured to handle a plurality of labels, and
- a mold having a plurality of mold cavities, the mold being configured to receive injected material to create an injection-molded product, wherein the handling tool is configured to remove a plurality of labels from the magazine, and to position each of the labels in a target area in one of the mold cavities, and each of the target areas of the mold cavities comprises a suction port located along a longitudinal length of the mold cavity, wherein the suction port has a pin disposed therein, and the pin comprises an end, a first body portion and a second body portion, the end, the first body portion and the second body portion are axially aligned, at least two of the end, the first body portion, and the second body portion each have a differently-shaped cross-section, the second body portion has a modified triangularly shaped cross section and modified corners of the triangularly shaped cross section contact the interior of the suction port to center the pin in the port, and the pin is positioned in the suction port so that the end is disposed in the mold cavity during at least a portion of the injection-molding process.
An apparatus for in-mold labeling an injection-molded product, comprising
- a label magazine comprising a plurality of label storage stations,
- a handling tool configured to handle a plurality of labels, and
- a mold having a plurality of mold cavities, each mold cavity being configured to receive material forced into the mold cavity by injection to create an injection-molded product, wherein the handling tool is configured to remove multiple labels from the magazine, and position each of the removed labels in a target area located along a longitudinal length of one of the mold cavities, and the target area is configured to maintain the position of each of the labels in the mold cavities during the injection of material into the mold cavity, wherein each target area has a suction port disposed therein, the suction port has a pin disposed therein, the pin comprises an end and a plurality of body portions each having a different cross-section, and one of the body portions has a modified triangularly shaped cross section and modified corners of the triangularly shaped cross section contact the interior of the suction port to center the pin in the suction port.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.