IES62530B2 - A labelling apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

A labelling apparatus (10 is provided for transferring labels (13) dispensed by a label printer (12) to packaged products. The apparatus comprises a housing (11) adapted to engage the label printer and transfer means (20). The transfer means is moveable from a home position in which the transfer means picks up a label dispensed by the printer, figure 2, to a dispense position in which the transfer means dispenses the label onto the product, figure 3.

Description

A Labelling Apparatus The present invention relates to a labelling apparatus for transferring labels dispensed by a label printer to packaged products.

According to the present invention there is provided a labelling apparatus for transferring labels dispensed by a label printer to packaged products comprising a housing adapted to engage the label printer and transfer means movable from a home position in which the transfer means picks up a label dispensed by the printer to a dispense position in which the transfer means dispenses the label onto the product.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a labelling apparatus according to the invention and a label printer; Figure 2 is a detailed perspective view of the transfer mechanism of the labelling apparatus of Figure 1 of the drawings with the transfer plate in a home position; Figure 3 is a detailed perspective view of the transfer mechanism of Figure 2 of the drawings with the transfer plate in a dispense position; Figure 4 is a timing diagram illustrating the sequence of operations of the labelling apparatus according to the invention; and .! I n Figure 5 is a section view of the clip securing the printer to the housing.

Referring now to the drawings wherein similar numerals have been used to indicate like parts, there is shown a labelling apparatus generally indicated at 10 according to the invention- The labelling apparatus 10 comprises a substantially rectangular housing 11 which includes control circuitry for the labelling apparatus . A commercial label printer 12 fits onto the housing 11. An example of a label printer 12 is the MP5500plus, distributed by Gesellschaft fur Computer-und Automations-Bausteine GmbH of Karlsruhe, Germany. The label printer 12 has a base 16 whiOh is the same size as top face 17 of the housing 11. The base 16 includes a metal base plate with rubber feet (not shown) located at each corner. The rubber feat are located in respective holes (not shown) formed in the top face 17 of the housing 11.

In order to secure the printer 12 to the housing 11, a clip (not shown), located on the rear edge 8 of the housing 11, is inserted between the rear plate (not shown) of the printer 12 and over the base plate 16. In use, the front plate of the printer 12, through which labels 13 are normally dispensed, is removed, enabling a clip 18, located on the front edge 9 of the housing 11, to be tightened over the front edge of the base plate 16 to secure the printer 12 to the housing 11, Figure 5.

The printer 12 is secured to the housing 11 so that the labelling apparatus 10 may be employed vertically or horizontally. Thus, the apparatus 10 may be located above or below a horizontal conveyor belt (not shown), to dispense labels 13 onto the top or bottom surfaces respectively of packages to be labelled; or the apparatus may be located to the side of a conveyor belt to dispenses labels onto the side of packages.

The printer 12 dispenses individual printed labels 13 on backing paper 14. The backing paper 14 is dispensed from the front of the printer 12 over a roller 19. Patterns printed on the labels 13 may be defined in three ways. For fixed format labels with variable content, for example, labels for variable weight packages, the packages are weighed as they are conveyed to the labelling apparatus 10. The package weight is transmitted from the weighing apparatus (not shown) to the printer 12 and the respective label 13 is printed with the package weight printed in bar code and/or text form. Other variable information such as time and date can also be included in the label 13. Alternatively, a memory module (not shown) containing a label pattern can be plugged into the printer 12. The printer 12 can also be connected to a computer (not shown), where user defined label layouts can be generated as required.

In order to transfer labels 13 from the printer 12 to the package, a transfer mechanism 20 is provided. The transfer mechanism 20 comprises a stock 21 which is fixed to the front edge 9 of the housing 12 and extends away from the housing 11 along the front of the printer 12. A transfer plate 15 is connected to the stock 21 via an arm 22. The arm 22 lies on a parallel plane to the stock 21 and is mounted on a pin 23 which passes through and rotates within the stock 21. The transfer plate 15 is at right angles to both the stock 21 and the arm 22. Rotation of the pin 23 is pneumatically driven by a mechanism 24 located on the opposite side of the stock 21 to the transfer plate 15. The mechanism 24 is connected to the control circuitry via supply lines 34.

Rotation of the pin 23 is limited by the mechanism 24 to move the transfer plate 15 between a home position, in which the transfer plate 15 lies on a plane parallel to the top face 17 of the housing 11, Figure 2, through 90° to a dispense position, in which the transfer plate 15 lies on a plane parallel to the face of the package onto which a label 13 is to be dispensed, Figure 3.

A hollow tube 26, is fixed at right angles to the stock 21 and is disposed below the transfer plate 15, Figure 1. The end of the tube 26 remote from the stock 21 is closed, the other end of the tube 26 being connected to a pressurised air supply. A hole 27 is formed at a mid-point along the length of the tube 26.

In use, the backing paper 14 is fed back into the printer 12 under a roller 28 where it is taken up on a ribbon take-up roller (not shown). Rotation of the ribbon take-up roller peels the backing paper 14 away from the label 13 and air blown through the hole 27 in tube 26 blows the label 13 towards the transfer plate 15.

A vacuum and pressurised air supply line 25' and 25 respectively are connected to the upper face 35 of the transfer plate 15. A plurality of holes 29 approximately 1mm in diameter, arranged in a pattern of concentric circles, pass through the transfer plate 15 providing a channel between the pressurised air supply 25 and the lower face 36 of the transfer plate 15, Figure 3. Four holes 30..33 disposed towards the corners of the transfer plate 25 partially penetrate the transfer plate 15 from the lower face 36. Each hole 30..33 is connected, through a respective channel (not shown) machined in the transfer plate 15, to the vacuum supply line 25 8 . The supply lines 25s,25-“ are connected to a psi pneumatic supply via the housing 11, where the control circuitry switches each line 25’,26 to either suck or blow air through the transfer plate 15 as required.

When a label 13 is being dispensed the transfer plate 15 is in the home position. Air blown from the hole 27 causes the label 13 being dispensed by the printer to pass against the transfer plate 15, and the vacuum 25’ sucks the label 13 towards the transfer plate 15. Initially, the label 13 covers the holes 30 and 31 and air is still sucked in through the holes 32 and 33. This ensures that the label 13 does not adhere to the transfer plate 15 until the label 13 covers all four holes 30..33 and that every label 13 adheres to the transfer plate 15 at the substantially the same position. It is then the label 13 is transferred by the transfer plate 15 to the dispense position. In the dispense position, the vacuum supply 25’ is switched off and the pressurised air supply 25 switches on to blow the label 13 onto the package to be labelled.

The labelling apparatus 10 is switchable between two inodes of operation. In the first mode, packages to be labelled travel along the conveyor at variable intervals. Figure 4 illustrates a cycle in which a label 13 is printed and dispensed onto a package. The duration of variable periods within the cycle is controlled by four delay circuits each having time constants defined by potentiometers P1...P4 and a respective capacitor.

The cycle begins when a sensor, for example a photocell, located at a known position on the conveyor senses the passing package. At this time, the transfer plate 15 is in the home position. The sensor is electrically connected to a sensor input of the labelling apparatus control circuitry, the sensor input going active high when triggered by the passing package. This transition causes the control circuitry to activate a print output. The print output is connected to a port on the printer 12 and, when activated, causes the printer 12 to print and dispense the label 13. A stop input is provided so that the control circuitry can detect when the printer 12 has finished printing and dispensing the label 13. The stop input is connected to the printer’s motor mechanism and is activated when the motor stops after a label 13 is dispensed, at this time the label 13 has been sucked onto the transfer plate 15.

After a delay defined by potentiometer P2, the control circuitry activates the mechanism 24 to cause the transfer plate 15 to swing from the home to the dispense position over a constant time H-D. The delay caused by P2 compensates for variations in the distance of the sensor from the dispense position of the tranfer plate 15. When the plate 15 arrives in the dispense position, the control circuitry switches on the pressurised air supply 25” and switches off the vacuum 25’. The time taken to blow the label onto the package is defined by the potentiometer Pl. At the end of this time the pressurised air supply 25” is turned off and the vacuum 25’ is turned on. After a delay defined by the potentiometer P3, the control circuitry activates the mechanism 24 to swing the transfer plate 15 from the dispense to the home position over a constant time D-H.

After the transfer plate 15 arrives back to the home position, a subsequent cycle begins when the sensor input is activated. In the second mode of operation, the control circuitry does not monitor the sensor input. The subsequent cycle begins a constant time, defined by the potentiometer P4, after the transfer plate 15 arrives in the home position. At the end of this time the print output is activated at the beginning of the subsequent cycle.

It will be realised that because of the pneumatic action of the transfer plate 15, the apparatus 10 is independent of gravity» Thus, the labelling apparatus 10 may be mounted so that labels 13 are applied to the side, underside or otherwise of packages to be labelled.

The stock 21 comprises two slotted plates 21s and 21 fixed together with a bolt 35. The first plate 21’ has a slot 36 running perpendicular to the front face of the printer 12, while the second plate 21” has a slot 37 running parallel to the front face of the printer 12» The bolt 35 passes through the two slots 36 and 37, so that loosening the bolt 35 enables the position of the transfer plate 15 relative to the front of the printer to be adjusted to compensate for various models of printer 12» Similarly, the tube 26 is also movablv connected to the plate 2190 through a bolt 38 to enable the position of the tube 26 relative to the transfer plate 15 to be adjusted.

If it is not possible to locate the apparatus 10 such that, when in the dispense position, the transfer plate 15 is not close enough to the package to be labelled, the stock 21 can include telescopic sections so that it may extend and retract from the front of the printer 12. In such a case, the stock 21 extends away from the printer 12 after the transfer plate 15 moves into the dispense position and retracts after the label is dispensed onto the package.

A bar code capture scanner can also be integrated into the transfer plate 15, so that information can be read from printed labels 13 and transmitted to some further data processing means (not shown).

The invention is not limited to the embodiments described herein which may be modified or varied without departing from the scope of the invention.

F. R. KELLY & CO.

Agents for the Applicants

Claims (5)

1. CLAIMS;

1. A labelling apparatus for transferring labels dispensed by a label printer to packaged products comprising a housing adapted to engage the label printer and transfer means movable from a home position in which the transfer means picks up a label dispensed by the printer to a dispense position in which the transfer means dispenses the label onto the product.

2. A labelling apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the transfer means comprises a stock projecting from the housing and a transfer plate having a front and a rear face, said transfer plate being movable relative to the stock from the home position in which the front face lies adjacent a slot in the printer for dispensing labels to the dispense position in which the front face is disposed over a package to be labelled.

3. A labelling apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the transfer plate includes a plurality of channels running from the front face to the rear face of the transfer plate, the openings of the channels on the rear face being connected to a fluid supply, the fluid supply being controllable such that in the home position air is drawn from the front to the rear face causing labels to be lifted away from the printer and in the dispense position air is pumped from the rear to the front face causing labels to be dispensed onto a package.

4. A labelling apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein a tube projects from the stock parallel to and spaced apart from the transfer plate so that labels dispensed from the printer pass between the transfer plate and the tube, said tube including a channel one end of which is connected to a fluid supply the other being directed towards the transfer plate, the fluid supply being controllable to direct a stream of fluid towards a label being dispensed causing it to adhere to the transfer plate.

5. A labelling apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.