US2507683A - Label attaching mechanism for wrapping machines - Google Patents

Description

May 16, 1950 J. w. SMITH 2,507,683

LABEL ATTACHING MECHANISM FOR WRAPPING MACHINES Filed March 31, 1947 J 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 w 3 m Q INVENTOR.

Jab/7 M 6277/71? May 16, 1950 J. w. SMITH 2,507,683

LABEL ATTACHING MECHANISM FOR WRAPPING MACHINES May 16, 1950 J. w. SMITH 2,507,683,

LABEL ATTACHING MECHANISM FOR WRAPPING MACHINES Filed March 31, 194'? 4 Shets-Sheet 3 45 I 47 47 fig INVENTPR.

c/afm J/W/f/Y y 1950 J. w. SMITH 2,507,683

LABEL ATTACHING MECHANISM FOR WRAPPING MACHINES Filed March 31, 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 was &

INVENTOR.

"@FMLZJ Patented May 16, 1950 LABEL AT'IAOIIING MECHANISM FOR WRAPPING MACHINES John W. Smith, Battle Creek, Micln, assignor to Battle Creek Bread Wrapping Machine Company, Battle Creek, Mich.

Application March- 31, 1947, Serial No. 738,391

13 Claims. (01. 216-29) This invention relates to improvements in a label attaching mechanism for a wrapping machine.

The principal objects of this invention are:

First, to provide an attachment for a web fed article wrapping machine such as a bread or cake wrapping machine which will print and apply labels to proper sections of the web asit is fed into the wrapping machine.

Second, to provide a label attaching mechanism for a wrapping machine which will operate to attach a label to a portion of the web without interrupting the feed of the web to the wrapping machine.

Third, to provide paper feeding mechanism for a wrapping machine having a variable speed feed which will stop portions of the web for attaching labels thereto without interrupting the variable feed of paper into the wrapping machine.

Fourth, to provide an attachment for a wrapping machine having adjustable mechanism for taking up and feedin out slack in a continuous web of wrapping paper on both sides of a label 1 attaching station so that the web will remain stationary during label attaching operations without,

interrupting the continuous flow and output of the web from the attachment.

Fifth, to provide means for feeding, severing and attaching labels from a continuous roll of labels to a web of wrapping paper in which the attaching mechanism is adjustable laterally and angularly with respect to the web to selectively locatethe position of the label with relation to the edges of the web and the position of labels along the length of the web.

Sixth, to provide novel means for feeding a continuous strip of labels to an attaching mechanism which means will maintain the strip of labels in proper registry regardless of varying conditions of tension and elongation in the strip.

Other objects and advantages pertaining to the details and economies of the invention will be apparent from the description to follow and the claims.

The drawings, of which there are four sheets, 11- lustrate a preferred form of my label attaching mechanism as applied to a wrapping machine for baked goods.

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary, plan view of the inlet 2 Fig. 2 is a fragmentary, vertical, longitudinal, cross sectional view along the line 2-2 in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a fragmentary, elevational view of the left side of the wrapping machine and label attaching mechanism as viewed in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary, elevational view of the right side of the wrapper feeding mechanism as viewed in Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged. fragmentary, plan view of the'label feeding and printing mechanism illustrated in Fig. 1 with the label roll removed.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged, fragmentary, cross sectional view along the broken lines 66 in Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged, fragmentary, cross sectional view along the broken line 1-1 in Fig. 5.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary perspective view of the label feeding roll in operative position relative to the strip of labels.

The wrapping machine on which my label attaching mechanism is mounted consists of suitable side frame members I, the rear ends of which are provided with bearings for supporting a knife roll 2, pressure roll 3 and feed roll 4.. The rolls are mounted respectively on a knife roll shaft 2A, pressure roll shaft 3A and feed roll shaft 4A. A driving shaft 5 positioned underneath the knife roll 2 and adjacent to the stationary knife 6 (see Fig. 2) is arranged to be driven from a suitable power source by the driving chain 1 (see Fig. 1).

As is most clearly illustrated in Fig. 3, the driving shaft 5 is provided on its left end with a gear 8 which is constantly meshing in driving relationship with a gear 9 carried on the end of the 5 knife roll shaft 2A for rotating the knife roll at g a uniform speed. The shaft 5 is also provided with a driving pinion In in constant. driving engagement with an idler gear II. The idler gear H is in constant driving engagement with a feed 0 roll gear I! arranged to drive the feed roll 4 in the manner which will be more particularly described presently. The idler gear H is mounted on a stub shaft l3 which is in turn mounted on a pivoted arm l4 having an arcuate slot therein and arranged to be clamped to the side frame I or feeding end of a wrapping machine havin my roll relative to the knife roll and thus vary the label attaching mechanism mounted thereon.

length of web fed into the machine between cutoff cycles of the knife roll. The mechanism thus far described is more or less standard feeding mechanism for wrapping machines.

- The knife roll shaft 2A carries on its left end a crank wheel I5 having a radially extending T- slot l5 formed along the outer surface thereof. The slot I5 is arranged to receive a block I1 carrying a crank pin it. The block is adjustable radially in the slot by manipulation of the screw member l9 (see Fig. 3).

The crank pin I8 forms a pivotal connection for one end of a connecting rod 20, the other end of which is pivotally connected at 2| to a rocker arm 22. The rocker arm 22 is pivotally supported on a stub shaft 23 and is provided with an arcuate gear segment or rack 24 meshing with a pinion 25 rotatable about the feed roll shaft 4A. It should be apparent that when the block i1 carrying the crank pin is is located at the center of the crank wheel l5, no movement will be imparted to the rocker arm or gear segment so that the. pinion 25 will remain stationary. As the block I1 is moved radially outwardly in the T-slot IS, the connecting rod and rocker arm will be actuated by rotation of the knife roll to impart an oscillating motion to the gear rack 24 and pinion 25.

The pinion 25 and the feed roll driving gear l2 are connected to two inner races of an overrunning clutch generally illustrated at 25 and the clutch is provided with a central outer race fixedly secured to the feed roll shaft 4A. Thus when no motion is imparted to the arcuate rack 24, the drive of the feed roll shaft 4A will be through the idler gear ll, driving gear l2 and its associated inner race to the outer race of the clutch 26 and shaft 4A. This drive will be of constant speed and determines the minimum length of web which will be fed through the machine before being severed by the knife roll 2. As oscillating motion is imparted to the arcuate rack 24, the pinion 25 and its associated inner race will oscillate on the shaft 4A and while rotating 0pposite to the feed roll will be disconnected therefrom by the over-running clutch so as not to interfere with the constant feed through the driving gear i2. As the direction of rotation of the pinion 25 reverses and its rotational speed becomes greater than that of the driving gear I2, the over-running clutch associated with the pinion 25 will pick up and drive the outer race of the clutch 25 at a faster rate of speed than the driving gear l2 and its associated inner race which will then idle behind the outer race and the feed roll shaft 4A.

By means of this mechanism the feed of the web into the wrapping machine may be made to run at a constant minimum speed throughout 180 of the rotation of the driving shaft 5 and to increase to a greater speed during the remaining 180 rotation of the drive shaft. Thus the length of web fed through the feeding rolls between cutoff cycles of the knife roll may be readily varied to determine the length of wrapping sheets furnished to the wrapping machine by merely adjusting the screw I9.

The paper feeding and label attaching mechanism associated with the wrapping machine just described is provided with side frame members 21 which are bolted or otherwise secured to the rear of the side frame members I of the wrapping machine. The frame members 21 form supports for transversely extending rockshafts 28 and 29 and roll shafts 30 and 3i (see Fig. 2). A guide roll shaft 32 also extends between the side frame members 21. The rear ends of the side frame members 21 are connected by a cross bar 33 which forms a support for the label feeding mechanism as will be described presently.

The right side frame member 21 as viewed in the drawings is provided with a stub shaft 84 (see Fig. 4) on which is rotatably mounted a sleeve 85 having two sprockets 36 and 36' secured thereto. The inner sprocket 85 is arranged to be driven by a chain 31 from a sprocket on the right end of the drive shaft 5. The outer sprocket 85 is connected by the chain 38 to a sprocket 88 rotatably mounted on the end of the roll shaft 80. The roll shaft carries a cam wheel 40 and a pin type clutch 4! is provided for connecting the sprocket 39 to the cam wheel and roll shaft. The shaft 80 may thus be connected to be driven in timed relationship to the drive shaft 5 and knife shaft 2A.

The cam wheel 40 has a closed circuit cam slot 42 (see Fig. 4) on its inner side which is arranged to actuate a cam roller 43 secured to a vertical slide bar 44 slidable along the right side frame member 21. The slide bar 44 carries a yoke 45 on its lower end having a horizontal slot 46. The slot 45 is engageable with an adjustable crank block 41 adjustably mounted in the slot 48 in the arm 49. A screw member 50 is provided for adjusting the position of the block 41 in the slot 48. The arm 49 is non-rotatably secured to the rockshaft 29 so that vertical motion of the slide bar 44 under the influence of the cam roller 43 will be transmitted through the block 41 into rocking motion of the arm 49 and rockshaft 29. The amplitude of the rocking motion may be easily adjusted by manipulation of the screw 50.

As is most clearly illustrated in Fig. 2 the rockshaft 29 is provided between the side frame members 21 with a pair of arms 5| supporting a swinging shaft 52 between their outer ends. The shaft 52 rotatably supports an intake slack roll 58 which is oscillated between the full line and dotted positions as shown in Fig. 2 to take up and give out a length of the wrapping web 54 as it is pulled in over the guide roller 32.

The left end of the rockshaft 29 is provided with a crank arm 55 (see Fig. 3), the outer end of which is pivotally connected to a connecting rod 55. The upper end of the rod 55 is secured near the perimeter of a crank wheel 51 clamped to the left end of the rockshaft 28. Thus oscillation of the rockshaft 29 will result in simultaneous and opposite oscillation of the rockshaft 28 and the amplitude of oscillation of both shafts may be controlled and adjusted by manipulation of the screw 50.

The rockshaft 28 carries just inside of the side members 21 a. pair of sprockets 58 oscillatably supportinga pair of chain loops 59. The lower ends of the chain loops are passed around suitable idler sprockets on stub shafts 50 (see Fig. 2). The stub shafts 50 are supported on the lower ends of the guide bars 5| extending downwardly and forwardly from the side frame member 21. The chain loops 59 are provided with special links 52 forming bearings for an outlet slack roll 53 which is moved upwardly and downwardly by oscillation of the rockshaft 28 and chains 59. The crank wheel 51 may be released from the shaft 28 for adjustment of the chains 58 by loosening the locking hand wheel 51A.

The web of wrapping paper 54 as is shown in Fig. 2 is threaded from a supply roll 84 on the bottom of the wrapping machine frame over the guide roll 32 around the intake slack roll 53 and idler roll 80A from where it passes over a label aso'nees attaching support 88 to the idler roll 8|. From the idler roll 3| the web is passed around the outlet slack roll 68 to the feed roll 8 of the wrapping machine.

Thus far it should be apparent that as the shafts 5 and 38 are driven, the feed roll 8 will deliver the wrapping web at a variable rate and the rockshafts 28 and 28 will be oscillated at adjustably fixed amplitudes depending upon the adjustment of the screw 88. As the feed shaft 8A is rotated by the driving gear I2 to feed the webat the minimum rate through the cutting rolls, the rockshafts 28 and will be oscillated to raise the slack roll 88 and swing the slack roll 53 forwardly. This motion results in the intake slack roll 58 taking up slack in the web 58 as it is fed from the supply roll 88 and in the slack roll 83 feeding out slack to the feed roll 8. As a result that portion of the web positioned over the label attaching support 88 will remain stationary for attachment of the label as will be described presently. As the rotation of the drive shaft 5 and crank wheel l8 continuesbringing the arcuate rack 28 into driving operation to increase the rate of speed of the feed roll 8, the slack shaft 68 will descend taking up slack in the web delivered around theidler roll 8I and the slack shaft 53 will be moved to the rear delivering the web to the roll 88A at a faster rate than the web is being supplied from the roll 68. Thus while the web is held stationary at the label applying station through a portion of each cycle,

Secured to the tops of the rearwardly extending plates 12 and 13 is a bracket 85 having an upstanding arm carrying a stub shaft 88 on which a reel 81 of blank labels is arranged to be secured. The strip of labels indicated at 88 is led downwardly from the reel 81 around an idler roll88 and forwardly over an impression roll 88. The impression roll 88 is carried on a shaft which is rockably mounted on an arm 8| spring urged upwardly against the printing roll 82 secured to the printing roll shaft 15. The inking roll 83 is carried on an arm 88 and arranged to ink the type 85 carried on the printer roll for marking each label with a date or any other indicia. From the impression roll 88 the strip of labels is led around a label feed roll 86 secured to the label feed shaft 18 from where the strip of labels is fed under a guide 81 to the knife 88 carried on the label knife shaft 18. A stationary knife 88 cooperative with the rotating knife is mounted on the underside of a support plate I88 extending from the rearwardly extending plate 13.

The clamp plate 88 which clamps the label feed bracket to the cross bar 33 is provided with a forwardly extending arm I8I forming a vertical guide slot for a label attaching bar I82. The bar I82 carries an electrically heated head I83 on the lower end thereof. The head I83 is positioned over the label attaching support 65 and the bar is urged constantly downwardly by a coil spring I88. The upper end of the attaching bar is provided with a pin I85 which is arranged the feed from a supply roll 88 remains relatively constant eliminating jerks and strains on the web.

The label applying mechanism is most clearly illustrated in Figs. 5, 6 and '1 and consists of a bracket member 88 having an open slot 81 on its forward side which slidlngly fits the cross member 33 extending between the side frame members. A clamp plate 88 is provided on the front of the cross bar 33 for clamping the bracket to the cross bar. The clamp plate 88 is provided with an upstanding bracket 88 (see Figs. 1 and '1) having a tapped hole engageable by a screw 18 to laterally adjust the position of the bracket on the cross bar 38. The shank of the screw 18 is rotatably secured in a bracket 1| secured to the forward side of the cross bar (see Fig. 1). The head of the screw engages one side of bracket 1i, while a stop collar applied on the shankengages the other.

The bracket 68 includes rearwardly extending parallel plates 12 and 18 which are bored to form bearings for a label knife shaft 18, printer roll shaft 15 and label feed shaft 18. The knife shaft 18 extends to the left beyond the plate 12 and is iournaled in the left side frame 21 as at 11 (see Fig. 1) where it carries a free pinion 18 meshing with a gear 18 secured to the end of the shaft 38. A pin type clutch 88 is provided for connecting the gears 18 and 18 to the label knife shaft. The shaft 18 has a telescopic sectional construction at 18A (see .Fig. 1) which permits the label feeding mechanism to be ad- Justed laterally on the bar 88 without interrupting the drive.

Adjacent to the left side of the rearwardly extending plate 12 the label knife shaft 18 is provided with a sprocket 8I around which is passed a chain 88 for driving the printer roll shaft 15 from the label knife shaft. The printer roll shaft 15 is provided with another sprocket 88 (see Fig. 3) for driving a chain 88 and the label feed shaft 18.

to be engaged and lifted by a dog I86 secured to the rockshaft I81. The rockshaft I81 is journaled in a boss I88 on the top of the plate 13 and is provided with a crank arm I 89 (see Fig. '7) connected to a link H8. The link defines a slot positioned around the printer shaft 15 and carries a cam roller II I engageable with an attaching cam II2 rotatable with the printer shaft 15. Thus as the dater shaft rotates, the depressed portion of the attaching cam is brought into engagement with the roller III permitting the link and crank arm to rise and the rockshaft I81 to rotate forwardly lowering the dog I86 and attaching bar I82.

As is most clearly illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3 the rockshaft I81 extends beyond the label feeding mechanism to the side frame member 21 where it is provided with a crank arm II3 connected to a link II8 which extends downwardly to a crank arm H5 secured to a shaft H6. The shaft H6 is arranged to control the rotation of the paper supply roll 88. A sliding telescopic connection H1 is provided in the rockshaft I81 so that the label feeding mechanism may be adjusted laterally without affecting continuous operation of the shaft I81. This connection between the shaft II6 and I81 is provided so that when the machine is stopped and the rotation of the feed roll 68 stopped by actuation of the shaft I I8,the link H8 and rockshaft I81 will be actuated automatically to raise the heated attaching head I83 from the web. Thus the heated head cannot be accidentally left in contact with the web when the machine is stopped and thus burn the label and web.

The arm 8I which supports the impression roll is non-rotatably secured to a shaft "8 journaled in the rearwardly extending walls 12 and 13 of the bracket 66. Between the walls 12 and 13 the shaft H8 is provided with a crank arm H9 which is connected by the link I28 to a crank I2I secured to the shaft I22. The shaft I22 is also journaled in the walls 12 and 13 and supgnomes means of which shaft I22 may be locked in a forwardly rotated position which will operate to swing the arm SI and impression cylinder downwardly out of engagement with the type roll 82 so that the labels may be fed through the label feed mechanism without being printed.

The shaft I22 also carries an arm III on its right end, the lower end of which carries a pressure roll I26 cooperative with the feed roll 94 for feeding the strip of labels to the knife roll I4.

A feature of the feed roll 94 not readily apparent from the drawings but still of major importance in the efficiency of the label feed is the fact that the diameter of the feed roll 94 is slightly larger than would apparently be needed to feed a given length of the label strip therearound. It will be noted that the strip of labels 44 is formed of a series of identical labels separated by notches I21 along the edges of the strip and arranged to be severed between the opposed notches to form individual labels. The feed roll 96 is provided with radially extending pairs of prongs I28 arranged to mesh in the notches I21 to positively feed the label strip to the knife roll. I have found that if the circumference of the feed roll 98 between the pairs of prongs I28 is equal to the corresponding lineal distance between the adjacent pairs of notches I21 on the label strip, the labels will not be fed evenly through the attaching mechanism and the strip will ride up on the feed roll so that the prongs will not register with the notches as would be expected. In order to correct this fault, I have found that by increasing the diameter of the feed roll slightly so that the circumferential distance between pairs of prongs I28 is slightly longer than the lineal distance between the notches of the unstressed strip of labels, the labels will feed smoothly through the feeding mechanism and the prongs will at all times register with the notches I21.

From the foregoing description it should be apparent that the label feed roll 44 and printer shaft are driven in positively timed relationship with the knife roll 14 which is in turn driven in timed relationship with the feed of the web of wrapping paper to the wrappin machine. The label feeding attachment will therefore print and feed a label to the wrapping web in each cycle of the web feeding mechanism so that the label will be positioned under the heated attaching head I03 in proper relationship to the incomingweb. The screw member I4 is operative to adjust the label feeding and attaching mechanism laterally of the wrapping web. The position of the labels may be adjusted longitudinally of the web by loosening the locking wheel "A and turning the shaft 28 independently of the crank wheel 51 to raise or lower the starting position of the slack roll 63. A hand wheel I2! is keyed to the shaft 24 for this purpose and a disc I30 having measuring indicia thereon is also keyed to the shaft (see Fig. 1) to readily indicate the adjusted position of the shaft and the position of the labels longitudinally of the web. If the position of the slack roll 43 is relatively high on the chain loops 59, there will be a relatively short length of web between the label attaching station and the feed roll 4 and the position of the labels will be advanced toward the leading end of the web. Lowering the slack roll II retracts the position of the labels. The pin clutch." which connects the label knife shaft I4 and label. feeding mechanism to the rest of the machine may be operated to delay the feed of the label strip to the web without affecting the relative angular positions of the oscillating shafts 24 and 29 with respect to the feed roll 4 of a wrapping machine. Thus the machine is readily adjustable to feed and attach printed or unprinted labels to the web of the wrapping machine in any desired position.

When the block I! is adjusted on the crank wheel ii to vary the amount of web fed into the knife roll 2, a corresponding adjustment will naturally be made in the position of the block 41 which controls the amplitude of oscillation of the rockshafts 24 and 24 and the length of slack handled by them. The relative angular position between the rotational cycle of the feed roll 4 and the oscillating cycle of shafts 24 and 24 may be varied by releasing the pin clutch 4I and rotating the feed roll 4 until the parts are in the desired relative angular relationship.

It should be understood that the physical attachment between the wrapping web and the individual labels is accomplished by employing a web or label or both which have a thermoplastic heat fusible composition or coating which the heated attaching head I03 will bond together. While notched labels are shown, labels with holes or closed slots along their edges could be substituted and still cooperate with the pins I24 on the label feed roll and the term notched labels" is intended to be interpreted in its broad sense to mean notches or openings engageable by the pins.

I have thus described a highly practical commercial embodiment of my label attaching mechanism so that others may reproduce the same or with such minor modifications as are desired without further description.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In combination with a wrapping machine having a feed roll arranged to feed a length of web into said machine at a minimum rate through a portion of the rotation of said roll and at an adjustably increased rate through the remainder of the rotation of said roll, a label attaching mechanism comprising frame members secured to said wrapp machine and having a pair of idler rolls mounted therebetween, a pair of rockshafts journaled in said side frame members, a pair of arms secured to one of said rockshafts and supporting an incoming slack roll therebetween arranged to take up and give out slack in the web as it is fed to said idler rolls, a third arm on said one rockshaft link connected to a wheel on said other rockshaft for simultaneousoscillation of said rockshafts, sprockets carried by said other rockshaft, depending guide rods secured to said frame members and having idler sprockets at the lower ends thereof, chain loops positioned around said first sprockets and idler sprockets, an outlet slack roll supported between said chain loops for oscillation thereby to take up and give out slack in said web a it is delivered from said idler rolls, a drive shaft for said label attaching mechanism driven in timed relationship to said wrapping machine, a clutch for disconnecting said dnive shaft from said wrapp machine, a cam rotatable by said drive shaft, a cam follower actuated by said cam and arranged to oscillate an arm secured to said first rockshaft, the connection between said arm and cam follower being adjustable radially of said arm, a label feeding roll driven from said drive shaft and arranged to feed a strip of labels to said web between said idler rolls, a label knife roll driven in timed relationship to said label feed roll and arranged to sever individual labels from said strip, and a heated label attaching head positioned over said web between said idler rolls and cam reciprocated in timed relationship with said label knife shaft to attach said labels to said web.

2. In combination with a wrapping machine having a feed roll arranged to feed a length of web into said machine at a minimum rate through a portion of the rotation of said roll and at an adjustably increased rate through the remainder of the rotation of said roll, a label attaching mechanism comprising frame members secured to said wrapping machine and having a pair of idler rolls mounted therebetween, a pair of rockshafts journaled in said side frame members, a pair of arms secured to one of said rockshafts and supporting an incoming slack roll therebetween arranged to take up and give out slack in the web as it is fed to said idler rolls, a third arm on said one rockshaft link connected to a wheel on said other roekshaft for simultaneous oscillation of said rockshafts, sprockets carried by said other rockshaft, depending guide rods secured to said frame members and having idler sprockets at the lower ends thereof, chain loops positioned around said first sprockets and idler sprockets, an outlet slack roll supported between said chain loops for oscillation thereby to take up and give out slack in said web as it is delivered from said idler rolls, a drive shaft for said label attaching mechanism driven in timed relationship to said wrapping machine, a cam rotatable by said drive shaft, a cam follower actuated by said cam and arranged to oscillate an arm secured to said first rockshaft, the connection between said arm and cam follower being adjustable radially of said arm, a label feeding roll driven from said drive shaft and arranged to feed a strip of labels to said web between said idler rolls, a label knife roll driven in timed relationship to said label feed roll and arranged to sever individual labels from said strip, and a heated label attaching head positioned over said web between said idler rolls and cam reciprocated in timed relationship with said label knife shaft to attach said labels to said web.

3. In combination with a wrapping machine having a feed roll arranged to feed a length of web into said machine at a minimum rate through a portion of the rotation of said roll and at an increased rate through the remainder of the rotation of said roll, a label attaching mechanism comprising frame members secured to said wrapping machine and having a pair of idler rolls mounted therebetween, a pair of rockshafts journaled in said side frame members, a pair of arms secured to one of said rockshafts and supporting an incoming slack roll therebetween arranged to take up and give out slack in the web as it is fed to said idler rolls, a third arm on said one rockshaft link connected to a wheel on said other rockshaft for simultaneous oscillation of said rockshafts, sprockets carried by said other rockshaft, depending guide rods secured to said frame members and having idler sprockets at the lower end thereof, chain loops positioned around said first sprockets and'idler sprockets. an outlet slack roll supported between said chain loops for oscillation thereby to take up and give out slack in said web as it is delivered from said idler rolls, a drive shaft for said label attaching mechanism driven in timed relationship to said wrapping machine, a cam rotatable by said drive shaft, a cam follower actuated by said cam and arranged to oscillate said first rockshaft, a label feeding roll driven from said drive shaft and arranged to feed a strip of labels to said web between said idler rolls, a label knife roll driven in timed relationship to said label feed roll and arranged to sever individual labels from said strip, and a label attaching head position over said web between said idler rolls and cam reciprocated in timed relationship with said label knife shaft to attach said labels to said web.

4. In combination with a wrapping machine having a feed roll arranged to feed a length of web into said machine at a minimum rate through a portion of the rotation of said roll and at an increased rate through the remainder of the rotation of said roll, a label attaching mechanism comprising frame members secured to said wrapping machine and having a pair of idler rolls mounted therebetween, a pair of rockshafts journaled in said side frame members, a pair of arms secured to one Of said rockshafts and supporting an incoming slack roll therebetween arranged to take up and give out slack in the web as it is fed to said idler rolls, a third arm on said one rockshaft link connected to a wheel on said other rockshaft for simultaneous oscillation of said rockshafts, sprockets carried by said other rockshaft, depending guide rods secured to said frame members and having idler sprockets at the lower end thereof, chain loops positioned around said first sprockets and idler sprockets, an outlet slack roll supported between said chain loops for oscillation thereby to take up and give out slack in said web as it is delivered from said idler rolls, a drive shaft for said label attaching mechanism driven in timed relationship to said wrapping machine, a driving member reciprocably connected to said drive shaft and arranged to oscillate said first rockshaft, a label feeding roll driven from said drive shaft and arranged to feed a strip of labels to said web between said idler rolls, a label knife roll driven in timed relationship to said label feed roll and arranged to sever individual labels from said strip, and a label attaching head positioned over said web between said idler rolls and cam reciprocated in timed relationship with said label knife shaft to attach said labels to said web.

5. In combination with a wrapping machine arranged to draw in a continuous strip of wrapping web at a variable rate during each cycle of operation thereof, web feeding mechanism comprising a pair of side frame members secured to said wrapping machine and having an idler roll mounted therebetween, slack shafts oscillatably and rotatably mounted on said side frame members, a cam' driven from said wrapping machine, a cam follower driven from said cam, a crank arm adjustably secured to said cam follower and arranged to oscillate said slack shafts, and a clutch interposed between said cam and the driving connection to said wrapping machine to adjust the relative angular oscillated position of said slack shafts with respect to said wrapping machine.

6. In combination with a wrapping machine arranged to draw in a continuous strip of wrapping web at a variable rate during each cycle of operation thereof, web feeding mechanism comprising a pairofside-frame members-secured latably and rotatably mounted on said side frame members and arranged to take up and give out slack in said web on either side of said idler roll 1 whereby said web remains stationary over a label attaching station through a portion of the cycle of operation thereof without interrupting the continuous feed of web to said wrapping machine, a rotating member driven from said wrapping machine, a connecting member oscillatably driven from said rotating member, a crank arm adjustably secured to said connecting member and arranged to oscillate said slack shafts, and a clutch interposed between said rotating member and said wrapping machine to adjust the relative angular oscillated position of said slack shafts with respect to said wrapping machine.

'7. Label feeding mechanism for feeding a strip of labels to the web of a wrapping machine comprising a bracket carried by said wrapping machine and adjustable laterally with respect thereto, parallel plates on said bracket, a knife shaft and label feed shaft journaled in said plates and arranged to be driven from said wrapping machine, a support for a spool of labels mounted on said plates, a feed roll carried on said feed shaft, a knife carried on said knife shaft, a label attaching bar reciprocably mounted on said bracket for motion normal to said wrapping web, a heated label attaching head carried by said bar, a cam rotated by one of said shafts, and a cam follower arranged to be actuated by said cam and connected to reciprocate said label attaching bar, said feed roll having radially extending prongs thereon engageable with openings between the labels of said spool of labels, the circumferential distance between said prongs being slightly greater than the length of said labels between said openings.

8. In combination with a wrapping machine arranged to continuously draw in a web of wrapping paper and sever the web into a series of wrapping sheets, label attaching mechanism comprising frame members secured to said machine and having web directing rolls mounted therebetween, part of said rolls being oscillatably mounted and arranged to cause part of said web to be held stationary over a label attaching station throughout a portion of the cycle of said machine, a cross plate supported between said frame members and adjacent to the label attaching station, label feeding and securing means supported upon said cross plate and adjustable laterally therealong, means for oscillating said rolls bodily while permitting rotation thereof, a driving connection for said oscillating means from said wrapping machine, a clutch interposed in said driving connection, another driving connection for driving said label feeding and securing means from said oscillating means, another clutch interposed in said other driving connection, and a knife shaft forming a driven part of said other driving connection arranged to sever individual labels from a continuous strip of labels advanced by said label feeding and securing means prior to the delivery of said labels to the securing portion of said means.

9. In combination with a wrapping machine arranged to continuously draw in a web of wrapping paper and sever the web into a series of wrapping sheets, label attaching mechanism comprising frame members secured to said machine between, said rolls being oscillatablyarransedto cause part of said web to be held stationary over a labelattaching station throughout a portion of the cycle ofsaid machine, a cross member supported between said frame members, label feeding and securing means supported upon said cross member and adjustable laterally therealon meansfor oscillating said rolls bodily while permitting rotation thereof, a driving connection for said oscillating means from said wrapping machine, a clutch interposed in said driving connection, another driving connection for driving said label feed and securing means from said oscillating means, and a knife shaft forming a part of said other driving connection arranged to sever individual labels from a continuous strip of labels advanced by said label feeding and securing means prior to the delivery of said labels to the securing portion of said means.

10. In combination with a wrapping machine arranged to continuously draw in a web of wrapping paper and sever the web into a series of wrapping sheets, label attaching mechanism comprising frame members secured to said machine and having web directing rolls mounted therebetween, said rolls being oscillatably arranged to cause part of said web to be held stationary over a label attaching station throughout a portion of the cycle of said machine, a cross member supported between said frame members, label feeding and securing means supported upon said cross member and adjustable laterally therealong, means for oscillating said rolls bodily while permitting rotation thereof, a driving connection for said oscillating means from said wrapping machine, another driving connection for driving said label feed and securing means from said oscillating means, a clutch interposed in said other driving connection, and a knife shaft forming a driven part of said label feeding mechanism arranged to sever individual labels from a continuous strip of labels advanced by said label feeding and securing means prior to the delivery of said labels to the securing portion of said means.

11. In combination with a wrapping machine arranged to continuously draw in a web of wrapping paper and sever the web into a series of wrapping sheets, label attaching mechanism comprising frame members secured to said machine and having web directing rolls mounted therebetween, said rolls being arranged to hold said web stationary throughout a portion of the cycle of said machine, a cross member supported between said frame members and adjacent to the stationary portion of said web, label feeding and attaching mechanism supported upon said cross member and adjustable laterally therealong, a driving connection for driving said feeding rolls from said wrapping machine, a, clutch interposed in said driving connection, another driving connection for driving said label feed and attaching mechanism from said rolls, and another clutch interposed in said other driving connection.

12. In a label feed mechanism arranged to feed a continuous strip of labels to a wrapping machine, said strip being notched on the opposite edges thereof and arranged to be severed at said notches to form individual labels, a feed roll for advancing said strip, and pairs of prongs projecting from the surface of said roll and arranged to engage the notches in said strip, the circumferential distance between said pairs of prongs being slightly greater than the lineal distance between said notches in the unstressed condition of said and having web directing rolls mounted there- 15 label strip.

label strip.

JOHN W. SMITH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

Number UNITED STATES PA'I'EN'I'S Name Date Edwards July 8, 1902 Bechman June 2, 1908 Beerworth Apr. 22, 1924 Caldwell June 3, 1941 Bailey May 7, 1946

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