Device for labels feeding

The present invention relates to a device for dispensing labels, tags, labels and the like useful in particular for cigarette making machines for dispensing labels or sealing tapes. Labels of this type are generally separated from a continuous strip or removed from a column of labels. Machines using these labels are provided with a feeding device whose construction depends on the type of labels being fed.

The gradual increase in the productivity of cigarette manufacturing machines raises the need to improve the design of the label dispensing device, which should be able to change the type of label to be supplied in a short time when changing the type of finished articles, such as cigarettes. The device should also have the capability of rapidly changing the type of labels to be applied when the product is re-labeled, depending on whether the product is intended for the domestic market or for export when. it must bear the country of origin indication. Obviously, changing the production program from one product type to another is economically justifiable only if it is possible to convert the device to another type of production in a relatively short time.

Previously known cigarette making machines are provided with either a strip stripping device by separating them or another 'strip stripping device' of a column located in a cartridge provided with a take-up opening underneath. Conversion of one kind of feed device to the other was only possible by replacing substantially all of the device, all of its parts.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a construction of a label and label feeder that allows the use of both a ribbon stock and a column stock of individual labels, with easy replacement and no need to change the device. The device should be provided with a delivery device which can be easily adapted from one system to another by replacing a very small number of components with other elements, and the replacement should be carried out within a short period of time.

This object is achieved by a label dispensing device according to the invention, which consists of a support body, a guide for a continuous strip of labels extending along the support body and comprising an inlet section and an outlet section with a separating slot therebetween , of a carriage mounted on a support body adjacent to a guide and movable reciprocatingly, of a displacement device mounted on a carriage and pivotable to a strip of labels for its displacement along the inlet portion, a hollow shaft rotatably supported on the carriage and rotatable about its axis depending on the slide position, a cutting device mounted on the support body and rotatable about its axis depending on the slide position, and two additional devices, one of which · is attached to the support body at a location opposite the separating slot, one of the auxiliary devices being provided with a fixed cutting tool positioned opposite the separating slot and having a cutting edge positioned tangentially to the guide; As well as the path of the rotary cutting device. The second add-on is provided with a fixed column stack of labels positioned opposite the slit, and a rotary ejector for ejecting individual labels mounted on a hollow shaft whose travel extends into the space between the end of the cartridge and the guide; on the exhaust system.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the support body is provided with internally threaded openings for attaching a second additional device with a fixed label container or a first additional device with a detachment tool, wherein the additional devices are provided with a connection plate with holes opposite the holes in the support body.

The fixed cutting tool of the first attachment is provided with a fixed cutting edge positioned perpendicular to the guide, the rotating cutting tool of the apparatus comprising a movable cutting edge located on the opposite side of the guide track against the fixed cutting edge. Both blades are U-shaped and have an axial recess extending from the cutting edge.

The dispensing device of the invention may be adapted to feed labels or continuous strip labels from which the individual labels are separated by a pair consisting of a rigid and movable cutting tool, with a very easy and quick adjustment by loosening the four screws, interchangeable feeding labels from a continuous belt past the magazine with a stack of individual labels from which the individual labels are ejected by a rotatable ejector. The replacement of the column magazine with the means for feeding and separating the label strip is equally easy and fast. The remaining parts of the device remain unchanged during this replacement.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE FEEDING DEVICE OF THE INVENTION FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a label feeder device, some of which are omitted for clarity; FIG. 2 is an axonometric view of the inner drive assembly of the feed device; Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a first additional device with a column magazine; Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a second attachment with a cutting tool; and Figs. 5 is a perspective view of the operating position of the cutting tool of FIG. 4 in the feed device.

Feeding device 1 for feeding stickers, labels, sealing strips and the like

β adhesive parts are designed especially for cigarette making machines. The feed device consists of a box support body 2 provided with a side vertical wall 3. An inlet plate 4 perpendicular to the side vertical wall 3 and having a rectangular planar shape is connected to the outer surface of the side vertical wall 3. The inlet end of the inlet plate 4 adjoins a guide block 5 with a convexly curved guide surface against which a concave inlet portion of the guide plate 6 is disposed above the inlet plate 4 and defines together with the inlet plate 4 an inlet portion of the guide track 7 1 in dotted lines. The strip 8 is formed from a set of stickers 9 which are partially separated from one another by transverse notches 10 extending from the center of the strip 8.

The end portion of the strip 8 running along the guide track 7 is maintained in contact with the surface of the inlet plate 4 by means of a braking device formed by a brush 11 extending from the underside of the guide plate 6. The opposite end (not shown) of the belt 8 is wound on a coil (not shown), at the outlet of which a winding device 12 consisting of a drive roller 13 and a pressure roller 14 is placed, between which a strip 8 of stickers 9 is inserted and clamped. it forms a supply loop 15 before entering the feed device.

The inlet plate 4 is provided with a longitudinal groove 16, one end of which is open at the end of the inlet plate 4 and is located opposite the outlet plate 17, the functional surface of which is flush with the functional surface of the input plate 4. is separated from the inlet plate 4 by a dividing slot 18 which extends perpendicularly to the longitudinal groove 16 and the side vertical wall 3. The side wall 3 extends through a rotary shaft 19 carrying a rotary knife or a generally rotatable cutting tool 20, which can be pivoted into the space of the separating slot 18 so that its cutting edge is tangential to the plane intersected by the guide track 7. divided into two parts by a central recess 21 whose width equals the width of the longitudinal groove 16.

An elongated window 22 is formed in the side vertical wall 3, the longitudinal axis of which extends above the inlet plate 4 and above the outlet plate 17 parallel to them. The elongated window 22 is covered by the front surface 23 of the carriage 2 * 4, housed in the box support body 2 and movable by reciprocating sliding movements along the guides 25 parallel to the inlet plate 4 and the outlet plate 17.

As can be seen from FIG. 2, the carriage 24 is connected to a drive assembly 26 consisting of an input shaft 27 coupled to a motor (not shown) and supporting a gear 28 serving as a crank with a slotted link 29 rotatably mounted on a pin 30. For this purpose, the gear 28 is provided with an eccentric pin 31 on which the slide 32 is rotatably mounted, displaceably disposed in the longitudinal slot 33 of the slotted link 29, which in turn is provided with a guide slot 34 in its upper end. for connecting a tie rod 36 pivotally connected at the other end to another pin 37 carried by the slide 24.

The gear 28 forms an input member of the drive gear 38, the output of which is an output gear 39 connected to the shaft 19 and is intended to rotate the shaft 19 in a defined phase relationship with the movement of the slide 24. 40 for controlling the displacement of the belt 8, which consists of a support piece 41 fixedly mounted on an arm 42 attached to the carriage 24 and having an L-shape. This arm 42 consists of a web extending between the inlet plate 4 and the side vertical wall 3, and a flange disposed beneath the inlet plate 4, the support 41 extending upwardly and obliquely from the end of the lower flange of the arm 42 and slidably mounted in the longitudinal groove 16 The support member 41 terminates at its upper end with an upper surface 43 that is in the plane of the upper surface of the inlet plate 4. The displacement device 40 further comprises a hinged thumb 44 reaching beyond the upper surface 43 with its end tooth 45. The hinged thumb 44 is fastened at the end of a shaft 46 mounted rotatably and slid 24 passing therethrough and arranged perpendicular to the side vertical wall 3. The opposite end of this shaft 46, away from the tipping tip 44, is rigidly coupled to a crank 47 provided with a follower pulley 48 and urged by a spring 49 onto the cam 50 coupled to the actuator 51 granting the cam 50 a reciprocating movement in precise phase synchronized coupling to the movement of the carriage 24 so that the tilting thumb 44 is rotated about the axis of the shaft 46 according to a predetermined pattern, which will be explained later.

At the other end of the carriage 24 facing away from the unwinding device 12, a support 54 is attached to the carriage 24 through which a cylindrical shaft 53 whose axis is parallel to the shaft 46 and which bears a connecting flange at its end protruding from the elongated window 22 '. 54. At the opposite end of the cylindrical shaft 53, a toothed wheel 55 is engaged, which engages a rack bar 56 fixedly coupled to the housing support body 2.

The cylindrical shaft 53 is connected at the end provided with a sprocket 55 to a flexible conduit 57 connected to a suction device (not shown). In the side vertical wall 2 of the box support body 2, two groups of apertures 58, 59 are formed opposite the front surface 23 of the carriage 24, which allow the attachment of one of the additional devices 60, 61 (Figs. 3 and 4).

The additional devices 60, 61 are alternately usable depending on whether the stock of labels 9 is arranged in a stack of single pieces stacked on top of each other or in a continuous strip 8.

The first attachment 60 comprises a container 62, the axis of which is perpendicular to the plane of the inlet plate 4, and is rigidly attachable to the side vertical wall 3 above the dividing slot 18 by means of an attachment plate 63 provided with apertures 64. the side vertical wall 3 of the housing support body 2. The cartridge 62 may comprise a stack of stickers 9 positioned one above the other and removable at one of the lower open ends of the cartridge 62 by means of a withdrawal device consisting of suction discs 65 firmly connected to the connecting flange 54 for transverse movement together with the slide 24 and two guide systems of strips 66 connected to the carriage by a second group of apertures 59.

The guide strips 66 are located on opposite sides of the suction discs 65 and can be reciprocated along a plane that is tangential to both the periphery of the suction discs 65 and the lower open end of the cartridge 62.

The second attachment 61 comprises a knife or a fixed cutting tool 67 which is rigidly attached to the side vertical wall 3 by means of a bracket 68 connected to a connector plate 69 having the same design as the first connector plate 63. Similarly, the second connecting plate 69 is provided with holes 70 that can be positioned against the holes 58, the cutting tool 67 being positioned above the separating slot 18 so as to form a support for the rotary cutting tool 20 on the rotary shaft 19, which is positioned tangentially. to the guide plane. The fixed cutting tool 67 is also located tangential to the circular path of movement of the cutting edge of the rotary cutting tool 20.

Also, the fixed cutting tool 67 is provided with a longitudinal cutout 71 extending from its cutting edge which is positioned opposite the central recess 21 and has the same width as the central recess 21, both of which cut-out portions are slightly greater than the width of the hinged thumb 44 the pusher 40.

The operation of the feed device 1 will now be explained first in combination with the first attachment 60 and then with the second attachment 61.

If the stickers 9 are arranged in a stack of individual stickers 9 placed one above the other, the feed device 1 is provided with a first additional device 60, which is positioned by its holes 64 in the connection plate 63 against the holes 58 in the side vertical wall 3 and connected via its connection plate 63 and by means of fastening screws.

The guide strips 66 are then attached to the carriage by means of screws passing through the second group of holes 59. The first additional device 60 is completed by connecting the suction discs 65 by means of screws to the connecting flange 54 of the cylindrical shaft 53.

In operation, the input shaft 27 rotates such that one of its rotations corresponds to one slide movement 24 back and forth along the guides 25 due to the interaction with the sliding gate 29, resulting in the reciprocating displacement of the suction discs 65 and strips 66 below the lower end of the cartridge 62. Since a coupling is provided between the sprocket 55 mounted in the hollow cylindrical shaft 53 and the rack 56, the displacement of the carriage 24 back and forth corresponds to the forward and reverse rotation of the suction discs 65 about their axis.

As the slide 24 moves toward the outlet plate 17, the suction discs 65 rotate counterclockwise below the bottom of the container 62 to pull one sticker 9 out of the container 62 using the guide strips 66, which is at the end of the slide 24 positioned on the outlet plate 17 immediately in front of the carriage 24. As the carriage 24 moves back towards the inlet plate 4, the suction discs 65 are rotated to their original position for a new cycle of removing the labels 9. Simultaneously with the movement of the carriage 24, the input shaft 27 drives the rotary shaft 19 via the drive gear 38 supporting the rotary cutting tool 20.

The shifting device 40 also moves in reciprocating movements as it is supported by the carriage 24, the support member 41 and the hinged thumb 44 moving relative to each other according to the regularity given by the control device 51, as will be described later. However, the rotary cutter 20 and the displacement device 40 have only a slight effect on the displacement of the label 9 withdrawn from the bottom of the cartridge 62 and as a result can be permanently attached to the feed device 1 without any disadvantages.

However, the rotary cutting tool 20 and the displacement device 40 are fully applied when using labels 9 in the form of a continuous belt 8, wound on a spool (not shown), also supported by a holder (not shown) and placed in front of the unwinding device 12. In this case, the first attachment 60 is replaced by a second attachment 61, which consists of a fixed cutting tool 67 mounted on the attachment plate 69 whose holes 70 are located opposite the holes 58 in the side vertical wall 3 and which are fastened by means of screws. In operation of the machine, the label strip 8 is unwound from the spool and is first fed between the drive roller 13 and the unwinding pressure roller 14 and then comes under the guide plate 6, having previously formed a supply loop 15.

The free end of the strip 8 is then guided along the inlet plate 4 until the first of its transverse notches 10 reaches the exit edge of the upper face 43 of the support member 41.

Assuming that the carriage 24 is positioned at the end of its stroke in the position facing the unwinding device 12, the drive of the input shaft 27 is caused by the reciprocating sliding gate 29 to move the carriage 24 and the shifting device 40 connected to the carriage. 24, towards the outlet plate 17.

During this movement, the actuator 51 keeps the cam 50 in the raised position, which allows the hinged thumb 44 to be held in a position pressed against the support member 41, with the end tooth 45 of the hinged thumb 44 engaging in the longitudinal groove 16. As a result The end tooth 45 engages the upper surface of the strip 8 immediately after said transverse notch 10 in the feed direction and moves its edge downwards to the support member 41. The support 41 comes into contact with its lower edge 43 with the lower edge of the transverse notch 10, so that it can cause the belt 8 to move and, consequently, to reduce the stock loop 15, which is immediately restored by the unwinding device 12. moving them in the direction away from the unwinding device 12 as soon as the edge of the upper surface 43,