CA1139273A

CA1139273A - Wine bottle labeler

Info

Publication number: CA1139273A
Application number: CA000368948A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Michael Crankshaw
Original assignee: Label Aire Inc
Current assignee: Label Aire Inc
Priority date: 1980-12-24
Filing date: 1981-01-21
Publication date: 1983-01-11
Also published as: US4314869A

Abstract

WINE BOTTLE LABELER

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE

A method of applying multiple labels to a la-bel receiving surface of an article comprising conveying articles to be labeled to a label applying station, dis-pensing first and second labels onto a vacuum belt trans-port, transporting the first and second labels to the label applying station utilizing the vacuum belt trans-port and wrapping the first and second labels onto dif-ferent locations on the label-receiving surface of a first of the articles.

Description

~39;2~3 3 The typical wine hottle has a curved~ usually 4 cylindrical, peripheral wall. It is often necessary to apply two labels to the peripheral wall of the wine 6 bottle, with each of these labels carrying different 7 information. In the past, this has been accomplished 8 by utilizing two separate wrap-around label applicators, 9 with the first wrap-around label applicator applying the first label and the second wrap-around label applicator 11 applying the second of the labels.
12 Although this prior labeling technique works 13 satisfactorily, it requires two separate wrap-around 1~ label applicators. This doubles the cost of the equip-ment required for this labeling operation.

17 SU~MARY OF THE_INVENTION

19 This invention provides a novel method which enables a single label applicator to apply a plurality 21 of labels to different locations on a label-receiving 22 surface of an article to be labeled. In the case of a 23 wine bottle, this may mean, for example, that Eront and 24 back labels each containing different information are applied to opposite locations on the cylindrical, peri-.~6 pheral wall of the wine bottle utilizing only a single 27 label applicator.
28 With this invention, articles to be labeled 29 are conveyed through a label applying station, and first and second labels are dispensed onto a vacuum belt ~39~'~3 1 transport means which transports the first and second

2 labels to the label applying station. The first and

3 second labels'are then wrapped onto different locations

4 on a first of the articles. The different locations may be, for examp],e, on a curved surface of the arti-6 cle. Label wrapping is accomplished utilizing wrap-7 around labeling techniques which involve contacting 8 the article with an adhesive face of the first label 9 on the vacuum belt transport means to adhere the first label to a first location on the article, rotating the 11 article and contacting the article with an adhesive 12 face of the second label on the vacuum belt transport 13 means to adhere the second label to a second location 14 on the article. Although these steps can be carried out utilizing label applicators of different constructions, 16 a wrap-around label applicator of the type shown in 17 Crankshaw U.S. Patent No. 4,124,429 is currently pre-18 ferred.
19 Although the labels can be provided in differ-ent ways, it is pref,erred to provide them in one or more 21 rows on an elongated backing strip. A product signal is 22 provided as a first of the articles to be labeled ap-23 proaches the label applying station. In response to 24 the product signal, a first group of labels is dispens-ed onto the vacuum belt transpo,rt means with the adhe-26 sive faces of the labels facing outwardly. The first 27 group of labels includes at least two labels from at 28 least one row of labels. The speed of the vacuum belt 29 transport means in relation to the speed with which the labels are dispensed onto the vacuum belt transport 1 means controls the spacing between the labels on the 2 vacuum belt transport means and, hence, the spacing of 3 the labels as they are applied to the article. r~'ypical-4 ly, to conserve the backiny strip, the ~abels are pro-vided in closely adjacent relationship on the back.ing 6 strip, and the vacuum belt transport means is run at 7 an .increased velocity so as to increase this spacing.
8 The vacuum belt transport means may comprise one or 9 more belts and is utilized to convey the labels from the dispensing station to the label applying station and 11 as a part of the means for wrapping the labels onto the 12 article.
13 At times, a label must contain information 14 about the product that will be inapplicable after an indeterminable quantity of the product has been label-16 ed~ For example, in the case of wine, the vintage date 17 is only applicable for a year. To avoid loss of labels 18 that would result if too many were preprinted with spe-19 cial information, such as the vintage date, it is pre~
ferred to print this special information onto the la-21 bel just prior to the labeling operation.
22 The typical label applicator dispenses one 23 or more labels in response to each produc-t signal. The 24 label dispensing means responds to the leading or trail-ing edge of each label or to the gap between labels to 2~ determine when the desired number of labels has been 27 dispensed. In the case of labeling wine bottles and 28 other products, the front and back labe.ls typically con-29 tain different information. Accordingly, if a label is missing from the backing s-trip, a wine bottle may receive 1 two front or two back labels. In addition, if a label 2 is missing and if one or more printers is being iltiliæ~
3 ed upstream of the dispensing station to print informa-4 tion on the labels, thereafter the information will be printed on the wrong label.
6 To prevent printing on the wrong label, the 7 length of movem~nt of the backing strip in response to 8 each product signal is controlled by providing sensing 9 marks on the backing strip which determine the position 0 at which the backing strip must stop. Sensing marks of this type are known and have been used previously to 12 bring about termination of movement of the backing 13 strip, such as in connection with the label applicator 14 shown in Crankshaw and Kucheck U.S. Patent No. 4,046,613.
The invention, together with further features 16 and advantages thereof, may best be understood by ref-17 erence to the following description taken in connection 18 with the accompanying illustrative drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE !)RAWING

22 Fig. 1 is a partially schematic plan view of 23 a wrap around label applicator which can be used to carry 24 out the method of this invention.
Fig. 2 is a fragmentary plan view illustrating 26 a section of the backing strip and labels.
2~

~139Z73 1 DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED E~30DIMENT
2 __ 3 Fig. 1 shows a label applicator 11 on which 4 the method of this invention can be carried out~ Al-though the label applicator 11 can be of various dif-6 ferent constructions, in the émbodiment illustrated, q it is very similar to the label applicator shown in 8 Crankshaw U.S. Patent No. 4J124,429.
- 9 The label applicator 11 includes a suitable supporting structure 13 on which a supply reel 15 and a take-up reel 17.are rotatably mounted. A backing 12 strip or web 19 of release paper having labels 21 ad-13 hered to it is wound on the supply reel 15 and is guid 14 ed along a path to the take-up reel 17.by a plurality of guide rollers 23. The backing strip 19 is driven 16 by a drive roller 25 and a cooperating pinch roller 17 27.
18 The backing strip 19 and the labels 21 are 19 first moved through a conventional label printer 29 which prints information, such as the vintage.date, 21 on every label, every other label or in accordance 22 with some other s~lected program. The backing strip 23 19 and the labels 21 are then moved through an index 24 control station 31, the function of which is descxibed hereinbelow, and then over a conventional peeler bar 26 33 which remove~ the labels 21 from the backing strip 2~ 19 and dispenses them onto a vacuum belt transport 28 means 39. The labels 21 have their adhesive faces 29 facing outwardly on the vacuum belt 39. The backing strip Lhen passes from the peeler bar 33 to the take-up 31 reel 17.

~1392~3 Although the vacuum belt transport means 35 2 can be of various different cons-tructions, in the em~
3 bodiment illustrated, it includes a housing 37, an 4 apertured endless vacuum belt 39 mounted for endless movement on the housing 37 by idler rollers 41 and a 6 drive roller 43. A baffle 45 extends from the idler 7 roller 41 adjacent the peeler bar 33 to a location 8 closely adjacent the drive roller 43 with the baffle 9 45 being relatively close to the adjacent section of the vacuum belt 39.; Accordingly, the baffle 45 co~
11 operates with the adjacent section of the vacuum belt 12 39 to define a vacuum chamber 47 which can be partially 13 evacuated by a vacuum pump or other means (not shown) 14 ~ia a conduit 49. Because the vacuum belt 39 is aper-tured, the vacuum pressure within the vacuum chamber 47 16 results in a suction force being applied to the labels 17 21 that are dispensed onto the vacuum belt 39, and 18 this enables the vacuum belt 39 to transport the la-19 bels 21 from a dispensing station at the peeler bar 33 to a labeling station 51 at which. the 1labels are applied 21 to articles 53.
22 The articles 53, such as wine bottles, are 23 conveyed in sequence through the labeling station 51 24 by a conveyor 55. A label transport section 57 of the vacuum belt 39 between two of the idler rollers 41 ex-26 tends essentially from the peeler bar 33 toward the la-27 beling station 51 and the conveyor 55, and a labeling 28 section 59 of the vacuum belt 39 intermediate one of 29 the idler rollers 41 and the drive roller 43 extends parallel to the labeling station 51 and the conveyor ~139Z73 1 55- With this arrangement, a single endless belt, such 2 as the vacuum helt 39, can be used for transporting the 3 labels 21 to the labeling station 51 and to assist with 4 the wrap around labeliny operation. However, these functions can be carried out by separate endless belts 6 as shown, by way of example, in Crankshaw Patent No.
7 4,124,429.
8 A rail 61 urges the articles 53 against the 9 labeling section 59 to bring about a ~rap around label-ing function in which the labels 21 at the labeliny sta-11 tion are adhered to the peripheral wall of the article.
12 In the example illustrated, two of the labels 21 are 13 wrapped around or onto each o~ the peripheral walls of 14 the articles 53, and each of such peripheral walls is cylindrical. The vacuum belt 39 has a higher linear 16 velocity than the backing strip 19 and consequently 17 the spacing of the labels 21 on the vacuum belt 39 is 18 greater than the spacing of the labels 21 on the back-19 ing strip.
The drive roller 25 indexes the backing strip 21 19 in response to a product signal received from a prod-22 uct sensor. In the embodiment illustrated, the product 23 sensor includes a light source 63 and a photocell 65 24 positioned so that the passage of an article 53 to be labeled through a predetermined location interrupts the 26 light beam to provide the product signal. In response 27 to the product signal, the drive roller 25 initiates ad-28 vancing movement of the backing strip 19.
29 A light source 67 and photocell 68 read sens-ing marks 69 (Fig. 2) provided on the backing strip 19 ~L1392', 3 1 adjacent every other label 21 to stop the drive roller 2 25. This assures that, for each of the pxoduct si.gnals 3 received from the photocel:l. 65, the backing strip 19 4 does not move a distance greater than the distance re-quired to dispense two adjacent labels 21. The sensing 6 marks 69 may be, for example, black ink spots which to-7 tally block transmission of light from the light source 8 67 to the photocell 68. The photocell .is responsive to 9 .this "dark" condition to provide a stop signal for the drive roller 25.
1 With the method of this invention, the arti-12 cles 53 are conveyed on the conveyor 55 through the la-13 bel applying station 51. As one of the articles 53 14 passes through a predetermined location, a product 15, signal is provided by the photocell 65 to bring about 16 one indexing movement of the drive roller 25 which is 17 sufficient to dispense, in this example, two of the la-18 bels 21 in sequence onto the label transport section 57 19 of the vacuum belt 39. The printer 29 prints on one or more of the labels either on the fly or when the back-21 ing strip comes to rest in accordance with known tech-22 niques for printing on labels as part of the label ap-23 plication process.
24 The labels 21 on the label transport section 57 are spread apart due to the increased velocity of the 26 vacuum belt 39. These two labels are applied to the 27 same one of the articles 53 in a wrap around labeling ~139Z'~3 1 operation at the labeling station 51. Specifically, 2 the vacllum belt 39 has a higher linear v~locity than 3 the conveyor 55 and, because the r~il 61 holds the ar-4 ticle 53 against the belt 39 at the labeling sta-tion 51, the article 53 rotates on its axis as it is moved 6 through the labeling station by the conveyor. This ~ rotational movement of the article 53 and the spacing 8 of the labels 21 on the belt 39 enable a single label 9 applicator to wrap two separate labels onto different locations of the same article.
11 Although an exemplary embodiment of the in-12 vention has been shown and described, many changes, 13 modifications and substitutions may be made by one hav-14 ing ordinary skill in the art without necessarily de-parting from the spirit and scope of this invention.16 _g _

Claims

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. A method of applying a plurality of la-bels to a label-receiving surface of an article, said method comprising:
conveying articles to be labeled through a label applying station with each of the articles hav-ing a label-receiving surface;
providing labels with each of the labels hav-ing an adhesive face and an information-carrying face adapted to have information thereon;
dispensing first and second of the labels onto a vacuum belt transport means with the adhesive faces of the first and second labels facing outwardly;
transporting the first and second labels to the labeling applying station with the vacuum belt trans-port means; and contacting a first of the articles at the la-beling station with the adhesive face of the first label on the vacuum belt transport means to adhere the first label. to a first location on the label-receiving face of the first article, rotating the first article and contacting the label-receiving surface of the first ar-ticle with the adhesive face of the second label on the vacuum belt transport means to adhere the second label to a second location on the label-receiving surface of the first article whereby the first and second labels are applied to different locations on the label-receiv-ing surface of the first article,

2. A method as defined in claim 1 wherein said step of providing includes providing the labels adhered to a backing strip, providing a signal in re-sponse to the first article reaching a predetermined location, said step of dispensing includes removing only the first and second labels from the backing strip and dispensing the first and second labels onto the vacuum belt transport means in response to such signal.

3. A method as defined in claim 2 wherein the vacuum belt transport means includes a vacuum belt and including moving the vacuum belt at a velocity which is greater than the velocity of the labels as the labels are dispensed onto the vacuum belt to there-by space the first and second labels farther on the vacuum belt than such labels were spaced apart when on the backing strip.

4. A method as defined in claim 1 wherein said step of providing includes providing the labels on a supply reel and said step of dispensing includes moving the labels from the supply reel to a dispensing location and said method includes printing on at least one of the first and second labels intermediate the supply reel and the dispensing location.

5. A method as defined in claim 1 wherein said step of providing includes providing the labels on a backing strip, said method includes providing a product signal in response to the first article reach-ing a predetermined location, said step of dispensing includes moving the backing strip a predetermined dis-tance in response to the product signal to remove a first group of the labels from the backing strip and to dispense the first group of labels in sequence onto the vacuum belt transport means, said first group of labels including said first and second labels, and pro-viding the first label with different information on its information-carrying face than on the information-carrying face of the second label.

6. A method as defined in claim 5 including printing information on the information-carrying face of the first label prior to said step of dispensing.

7. A method as defined in claims 1 or 6 wherein the backing strip is provided with sensing marks and including sensing the sensing marks to move the backing strip said predetermined distance in response to said product signal.