Patent Grant
12129142
This application claims the benefit of EP 20185212.6, filed Jul. 10, 2020.
The presents relates to a cutter for tape labels.
The invention relates to a cutter for self-adhesive linerless endless tape labels, said cutter comprising a transport roller, which is rotatable about an axis of rotation, and a blade unit that comprises a blade carriage, which is linearly travelable in parallel with the axis of rotation of the transport roller, and a cutting blade that is rotationally fixedly held at the blade carriage and that is directed in the direction toward the transport roller, wherein the endless tape labels can be led between the transport roller and the blade unit. Such a cutter is known from document DE 199 58 274 A1.
To be able to process such linerless labels, which are coated with an adhesive at one side, a cutter or a label printer having a cutter, by which the labels are cut off from the endless tape, is required. For this purpose, the transport roller of the cutter, in its function as a counterholder for the cutting blade in accordance with document DE 199 58 274 A1, is provided with an elastomer coating into which the cutting blade can penetrate on the cutting off of the labels.
It is disadvantageous in this respect that the cutting blade successively damages the elastomer coating and the transport roller is hereby subjected to wear. This is in particular disadvantageous because the labels are disposed on the transport roller with their adhesive-coated side. However, for a trouble-free transport of the endless tape labels, it is essential that the surface of the transport roller offers the adhesive no adhesion or only as small as possible an adhesion. This property of the transport roller, particularly in the case of a transport roller provided with a non-stick coating, is lost over time through the wear due to the penetration of the cutting blade.
It is the underlying object of the invention to provide a cutter of the initially named kind that also enables a problem-free transport of the endless tape layers in the long term.
This object is satisfied by a cutter having the features of independent claim 1, and in particular in that the blade unit comprises a blade holder that forms an assembly with the cutting blade, in which assembly the cutting blade projects with a fixed overhang over the blade holder, with the assembly being displaceably fastened to the blade carriage and a spring device, in particular a compression spring, being provided that preloads the assembly into an extended position.
The cutter in accordance with the invention has the advantage that the cutting blade does not penetrate or at least penetrates less deeply into the transport roller on the cutting off of the labels since the cutting blade, due to its spring-loaded displaceable fastening, can deflect in the direction away from the transport shaft on contact with the surface of the transport shaft. Nevertheless, sufficient pressure is exerted onto the cutting blade by the spring force to achieve a clean cut on the cutting off of a label. Since the cutting blade is displaced together with the blade unit and always has the same fixed overhang with respect to said blade unit, it can be ensured that the penetration depth of the cutting blade into the endless tape labels always remains the same and that the labels can also be reliably cut off in the case of tolerance-induced irregularities in the surface of the transport roller.
Provision is preferably made that the blade holder and the cutting blade are each plate-shaped, with the blade holder and the cutting blade contacting one another with their flat sides. A plate-shaped component is simultaneously light and stable. Two plate-shaped components, which contact one another with their flat sides, reinforce one another.
Furthermore, it is preferred if the cutting blade is arranged between the blade carriage and the blade holder. The cutting blade can be supported at both sides between the blade holder and the blade carriage and can thus be particularly securely held.
The blade carriage can have a base body and a prolongation, in particular a plate-shaped prolongation, which projects from the base body in the direction toward the transport roller and to which the assembly is displaceably fastened, with preferably the flat sides of the plate-shaped prolongation being aligned in parallel with a plane of movement of the cutting blade on the travel of the blade carriage and/or being aligned in parallel with the plane of movement of the cutting blade on the displacement of the assembly. The stability of the arrangement can hereby be increased.
The spring device is preferably supported at the blade carriage, in particular at the aforementioned base body, on the one hand, and at the assembly, on the other hand. Alternatively or additionally, it is preferred if the spring device acts directly on both the blade holder and the cutting blade. A compact design of the arrangement is hereby made possible in each case.
In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, the blade unit comprises a fastening screw by which the assembly is displaceably fastened to the blade carriage, with the assembly being received with clearance between a head of the fastening screw and the blade carriage in an axial direction of the fastening screw. A secure fastening can be achieved in a simple manner by the fastening screw. In order nevertheless to ensure its displaceability, the assembly is received with clearance between the head of the fastening screw and the blade carriage.
To enable the clearance of the assembly between the head of the fastening screw and the blade carriage, the blade unit preferably comprises a spacer sleeve that at least extends through the assembly, with a shaft of the fastening screw at least extending into the spacer sleeve, and with the head of the fastening screw abutting an axial end of the spacer sleeve to enable the clearance.
In this respect, provision can be made that the spacer sleeve, with its other axial end, abuts a side of the blade carriage, in particular of the aforesaid prolongation, facing the assembly and the shaft of the fastening screw extends through the spacer sleeve up to and into the blade carriage, in particular the prolongation, with the fastening screw being screwed in the blade carriage, in particular the prolongation, and with an extent of the spacer sleeve being greater in the axial direction than an extent of the assembly.
Alternatively thereto, provision can be made that the spacer sleeve extends through the assembly and the blade carriage, in particular the aforementioned prolongation, and said spacer sleeve, with a flange formed at its other axial end, abuts a side of the blade carriage, in particular of the prolongation, remote from the assembly, with the fastening screw being screwed into the spacer sleeve, and with the extent of the spacer sleeve being greater in the axial direction than the common extent of the assembly and of the blade carriage, in particular of the prolongation.
Provision is preferably made that an elongate hole is at least formed in the blade holder, through which elongate hole the fastening screw, and in particular the aforementioned spacer sleeve, extends, with the assembly being displaceable in the direction of the elongate hole. The cutting blade can then be arranged in a region of the blade holder that is not in a direct contact with the fastening screw. However, the displaceability of the assembly can also be made possible in another way, for example if the cutting blade is arranged at the side of the blade holder remote from the blade carriage. The head of the fastening screw can then be captured and displaceably guided in a linear guide formed at the blade holder and having abutments at both sides. A respective elongate hole is in particular formed both in the blade holder and in the cutting blade, which elongate holes are coordinated with another and through which in each case the fastening screw, and in particular the aforementioned spacer sleeve, extends, with the assembly being displaceable in the direction of the two elongate holes. This can in particular be the case if the dimensions of the blade holder and of the cutting blade are at least approximately equal, as is preferred for a stable and compact design of the assembly.
In accordance with a further embodiment of the invention, the blade holder and the cutting blade are plugged together to form the assembly, with the blade holder for this purpose having at least one pin projecting in the direction of the cutting blade and the cutting blade having at least one opening receiving the respective pin. A stable assembly can hereby be realized in a simple manner.
It is preferred if the blade holder has two pins and the cutting blade has two openings that are disposed opposite one another with respect to the fastening screw. Due to the symmetrical design resulting therefrom, a particularly stable assembly is provided.
It is furthermore preferred if the respective pin of the blade holder extends through the respective opening of the cutting blade and up to and into a respective elongate hole formed in the blade carriage. A security against rotation for the assembly with respect to the blade carriage is hereby simultaneously ensured by the respective pin. However, it is also possible for a separate security against rotation to be provided, for example two holding arms that project from the blade holder in the direction of the blade carriage and that contact the blade carriage, in particular the aforementioned prolongation, at both sides.
The overhang of the cutting blade over the blade holder can amount to a value that is between 0.1 mm and 0.8 mm, preferably between 0.2 mm and 0.3 mm. It can hereby be ensured that the cutting blade only projects slightly, on the one hand, but projects sufficiently far beyond the blade holder, on the other hand, in order to safely cut off the labels.
In accordance with a further embodiment of the invention, a threaded spindle, comprising a threaded rod and the blade carriage as a spindle nut, and an electric motor driving the threaded rod are provided to linearly travel the blade carriage. A precise travel of the blade carriage is hereby made possible in a simple manner. A straight-line guide extending in parallel with the threaded rod is preferably provided in the form of a guide bar which extends through an aperture formed in the blade carriage and along which the blade carriage is guided in a linearly travelable manner. The blade carriage can hereby be kept particularly stable.
The blade carriage is travelable to and fro between a first end position and a second end position, with the cutting blade having a blade edge at the respective leading edge in both directions of travel of the blade carriage. Thus, a label can be cut off in the forward run and the following label can be cut off in the return run of the blade carriage. After the cutting off of a label, the blade carriage therefore does not first have to be returned to the first end position before the next label can be cut off such that the throughput can be increased. The two blade edges preferably together form a V shape in the plane of movement of the cutting blade on the travel of the blade carriage. Thus, particularly clean cuts can be achieved on the cutting off of the labels since, on the cutting off, the two blade edges each also have a force component that presses onto the endless tape labels from above.
The blade carriage is in particular linearly travelable transversely, in particular perpendicular, to a transport direction of the self-adhesive linerless endless tape labels and/or the assembly is linearly displaceably fastened to the blade carriage. The cutting blade in particular projects with the fixed overhang over an end face of the blade holder disposed in the direction toward the transport roller. The transport roller can be provided with a non-stick coating or can be produced from a non-stick material. The transport roller is preferably a driven transport roller such that the endless tape labels are also pulled and held under tension in the region of the cutter. A print roller of a label printer, which is driven by an electric motor and into which the cutter is installed, as a rule nevertheless provides a controlled transport of the endless tape labels. However, the transport roller can generally also be a non-driven transport roller that runs along.
The present invention further relates to a label printer comprising a cutter for self-adhesive linerless endless tape labels, as explained above.
The present invention additionally relates to a scale, in particular to a store scale, comprising a label printer such as has been explained above.
Further advantageous embodiments of the invention are described in the dependent claims, in the description of the Figures, and in the drawing.
The invention will be described in the following by way of example with reference to the drawing. There are shown
The exemplary store scale 11 shown in
The label printer 19 is shown from the front in an individual representation in
The label printer 19 can in particular be operated with self-adhesive linerless endless tape labels. Therefore, the label printer 19 has a cutter 27 (which is partly concealed by a cover plate 28 in
The self-adhesive linerless endless tape labels are led between the transport roller 29 and the blade unit 31, wherein the adhesive-coated side of the endless tape labels faces the transport roller 29 that acts as a counterholder for the blade unit 31, in particular the cutting blade 34 of the blade unit 31. The two mutually opposite directions of travel of the blade carriage 33 in this respect run perpendicular to the transport direction of the endless tape labels. In
The blade carriage 33 has a base body 45 and a plate-shaped prolongation 47 which projects from the base body 45 in the direction toward the transport roller 29 and at which the cutting blade 34 is held by means of a plate-shaped blade holder 49 of the blade unit 31. The cutting blade 34 is in this respect arranged between the prolongation 47 and the blade holder 49. The prolongation 47, the cutting blade 34, and the blade holder 49 are in this respect arranged contacting one another with their flat sides. The flat sides of these components are thus oriented in parallel with the plane of movement of the cutting blade 34 on the travel of the blade carriage 33. The passage 35 for the threaded rod 37 and the aperture 43 for the guide bar 41 are each provided in the base body 45.
The blade holder 49 and the cutting blade 34 form an assembly 51 (cf.
The cushioned support of the cutting blade 34 or of the assembly 51 has the advantage that the cutting blade 34 or the tip of the cutting blade 34 does not penetrate or at least hardly penetrates into the surface of the transport roller 29 on the cutting off of a label, but is rather urged back by a distance with respect to the extended position that is predefined by the distance relationships between the blade unit 31 and the transport roller 29. It can hereby be prevented that the surface of the transport roller 29 is roughened by a continuous cutting in. A surface roughened in such a manner would namely have the result that the endless tape labels adhere more strongly to the transport roller 29 with their adhesive-coated sides over time, whereby a smooth transport of the endless tape labels would be disrupted.
As can in particular be seen from
The blade unit 31 is preferably oriented such that, on the travel of the blade carriage 33, the cutting blade 34 or the tip of the cutting blade 34 runs along a surface line of the transport roller 29 that is disposed closest to the cutting blade 34 or the tip of the cutting blade 34. However, it is generally also possible that, on the travel of the blade carriage 33, the cutting blade 34 or the tip of the cutting blade 34 runs along a surface line of the transport roller 29 that has a predefined offset from the surface line disposed the closest.
The displaceable fastening of the assembly 51 comprising the blade holder 49 and the cutting blade 34 is ensured by an elongate hole arrangement. For this purpose, a respective elongate hole 57, 59 is formed in the blade holder 49 and the cutting blade 34, which elongate holes 57, 59 are arranged congruently with one another and through which a fastening screw 61 extends such that the assembly 51 is displaceable along the two elongate holes 57, 59. The fastening screw 61 is fixedly screwed in a fastening hole 33 formed in the prolongation 47 of the blade carriage 33.
So that the assembly 51 is not immovably stuck at the prolongation 47, the assembly 51 is received with clearance between the head of the fastening screw 61 and the prolongation 47 in the axial direction of the fastening screw 61. The clearance is achieved in that a spacer sleeve 65 is provided whose extent in the axial direction of the fastening screw 61 is greater than the corresponding extent of the assembly 51 and through which the shaft of the fastening screw 61 is inserted such that the spacer sleeve 65 also extends through the two elongate holes 57, 59. The head of the fastening screw 61 abuts the spacer sleeve 65 at the one axial end and the prolongation 47 of the blade carriage 33 abuts said spacer sleeve 65 at the other axial end.
The blade holder 49 and the cutting blade 34 are plugged together to form the assembly 51. For this purpose, the blade holder 49 has two pins 67 that project in the direction of the cutting blade 34 and that engage into corresponding openings 69 formed in the cutting blade 34. These two plug-in connections are disposed opposite one another with respect to the fastening screw 61 or the spacer sleeve 65. The two pins 67 of the blade holder 49 extend through the two openings 69 formed in the cutting blade 34 and each engage into a corresponding elongate hole 71 formed in the prolongation 47. It can hereby be reliably prevented that the assembly 51 rotates about the longitudinal axis of the fastening screw 61 or of the spacer sleeve 65.
The blade carriage 33 is travelable to and fro between a first end position to the right of the transport roller 29 (cf.
An alternative method of cutting off the endless tape labels 55 is shown in
The holding of the cut-off label in the target position of the blade unit 31 is achieved in that the endless tape labels 55 are disposed on the transport roller 29 with their lower sides and, on the travel of the blade unit 31 from the start position into the target position, are clamped between the end face 56 of the blade holder 49, which is disposed in the direction toward the transport roller 29 and which is disposed on the upper side of the endless tape labels 55, and the transport roller 29. This then in particular also applies to the cut-off label in the target position of the blade unit 31. Finally, the blade unit 31 or the blade carriage 33 is not completely traveled into the aforementioned second end position, but only so far that the end face 56 of the blade holder 49, with a trailing section, is still located in the region of the endless tape labels 55 or of the cut-off label. On the travel of the blade unit 13, the cutting blade 34 is slidingly seated on the surface of the transport roller 29.
In this respect, it is advantageous if, on the travel of the blade unit 31, the end face 56 of the blade holder 49 runs along a surface line of the transport roller 29 that is disposed the closest to the end face 56 of the blade holder 49 since the cut-off label can hereby be held particularly well. The cutting blade 34 or the tip of the cutting blade 34 then runs along a surface line of the transport roller 29 that is offset, in particular slightly offset, therefrom.
It is then waited until the cut-off label is removed by an operator. For this purpose, a detector device, not shown, is provided by which it is detected whether the cut-off label has been removed by an operator. Only when this is the case does the blade unit 31 automatically travel out of the target position. The blade unit 31 can in this respect either return to the start position or travel further into a further start position, which goes beyond the target position and which corresponds to the aforementioned second end position, and the endless tape labels 55 can be retracted up to the respective label start at which the label was cut off (reversing) before the printing of the next label that has already partly run through the printing region. Then, the method steps explained above are repeated for the next label to be cut off.
If the blade unit 31 has traveled further into the further start position, the blade unit 31, in order to cut off the next label, in this respect travels in the opposite direction of travel, i.e. in the direction of the start position, up to and into a further target position (not shown) that corresponds to the position shown in
To calibrate the start position of the blade unit 31, a reference travel of the blade unit 31 takes place on the switching on of the label printer 19. For this purpose, the blade unit 31 is provided with a magnet 75 that cooperates with a stationary magnetic field sensor 77, in particular a Hall sensor, that detects the magnet 75 moving past (cf.
A flowchart that illustrates the method steps explained above is shown in
In
The alternative blade unit 31 in accordance with
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