Patent Application
20080135158
The present inventions relate to feeding a web of material and splicing a trailing edge of that web to a leading edge of a next web to facilitate continuing operation of a process downstream of the web feed as well as bundling and removing web material in successive bundles, such as following an upstream process carried out on the web. The inventive aspects will, for ease of explanation, be described in relation to feeding self-adhesive label containing webs to a labelling head as well as removing the waste web, exclusive of labels, from the labelling head. It will be appreciated that the specific description relative to labelling apparatus is not limiting upon the generality of the aspects of the present invention.
A purpose of preferred embodiments of the present inventions is to improve elements of self-adhesive label application while running self-adhesive labels continuously without having to stop for reel changes, in one aspect, or waste removal, in another aspect. Conventional systems are momentarily stopped for reel changes and waste removal and this causes considerable downtime when aggregated over time.
What follows is a discussion of a typical example of a conventional system associated with a labelling machine with four labelling stations which operates on two shifts per day at a rate of 250 labelled items per minute.
According to figures provided by users of such arrangements some labelling machines may consume up to two twelve minute periods per hour for reel changes at the four labelling stations. This reflects a twenty percent downtime for fitting reels of new labels and for waste removal. If such an existing operation is averaged over a year having, say, two hundred and fifty working days with two eight hour shifts per working day then that equates to a loss of twenty shifts per year directly attributed to reel changes or, putting it another way, 2.4 million items of lost throughput per year.
The waste web or backing release paper upon which self-adhesive labels are mounted is generated as each label is peeled off that backing paper. That waste web must be removed out of the indexing or continuous motion drive system of a labeler once a predetermined size of waste has been reached. For this reason a waste removal device which automatically removes the waste into a bin has been used. Conventional systems remove the waste from the labelling machine area via a human operator which generally requires the machine to be stopped when the operator is carrying out that task.
When the end of a label-feeding reel is reached the machine is generally stopped to allow transfer to another full feeding reel. There exist automatic and semi-automatic splicing facilities which are in use but they differ in their mode of operation from that aspect of the present invention.
A splicing device for the present invention functions to join the end of a label carrying web of an exhausted reel to the beginning of the web of the next full reel while the label applying station continues to run at its normal operating speed in registration with, say, a label die cutting edge. How this is able to be effected is disclosed below.
By integration of the independent inventive aspects disclosed herein it is possible to provide a method and means for feeding a web of self-adhesive labels to a label applying station and for removal of the waste web material so as to ameliorate existing difficulties associated with feeding a web of self-adhesive labels and with removing the waste web.
With regard to feeding a web which holds self-adhesive labels to a labelling head and thereafter removing the waste web, it is usual to operate as a reel-to-reel arrangement with the label applying head therebetween.
Problems arise in maintaining a continuous feed of labels to the label applying head while changing over from an exhausted label supplying reel to a full reel and making a satisfactory splice between the end of the label supporting web, from the exhausted reel, and the beginning of the web from the full reel.
There are also problems in effectively removing the waste web material from the reel downstream of the label applying head, when that downstream reel is full.
The reference to any prior art in this specification is not, and should not be taken as, an acknowledgment or any form of suggestion that the prior art forms part of the common general knowledge in Australia.
Throughout this specification and the claims which follow, unless the context requires otherwise, the word “comprise”, and variations such as “comprises” or “comprising”, will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or step or group of integers or steps but not the exclusion of any other integer or step or group of integers or steps.
A typical prior art arrangement employs two separate label supplying reels feeding respective label applying heads at a label applying station. When one reel feeding its labels to its label applying head is exhausted the other reel commences feeding its associated label applying head. This mode of operating supply reels and label applying heads enables an exhausted reel to be replaced during operation of the other unwinding reel. Such an arrangement is difficult to manage so that there is a smooth transition from one label applying head to the other while maintaining label applying accuracy during that transition. It also entails the use of an additional label applying head.
In the broadest form of a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of splicing a trailing edge of a first web to a leading edge of a second web, said method including having two web supplying stations, one web supply feeding one splicing station and another web supply feeding another splicing station; and drawing one web from its supply while a leading edge of the other web is positioned at the other splicing station ready to be spliced to a trailing edge of the one web; detecting and holding the trailing edge of the one web, moving said trailing edge to the other splicing station and splicing the trailing edge of the one web to the leading edge of the other web and drawing off the other web from the other web supplying station.
Preferably, each web supplying station is a reel.
In another embodiment a sufficient supply of one web is provided downstream of the one web splicing station to meet a demand for supply of web material during holding and splicing of the trailing edge of the one web to the leading edge of the other web preparatory to drawing off the other web. Preferably, the sufficient supply of one web is facilitated by at least one loop control.
In a particularly preferred embodiment the first and second webs are carrying self-adhesive labels to be fed to a labelling head
In a second aspect the present invention provides a method of forming and removing a roll of web material from a rotatable device, said method comprising loading a quantity of web material onto the rotatable device, clamping and cutting the web being wound onto the rotatable device when a predetermined quantity of web material has been wound onto the rotatable device, pushing the wound web off the rotatable device, re-attaching the cut end of the web to the rotatable device and winding a next quantity of web onto the rotatable device.
A preferred form of the second aspect includes a loop control in the path of web material upstream of the clamping and cutting location. The provision of loop control of the web material enables the web material to be cut and removed from the rotatable device while an upstream process, such as the operation of a labelling head, continues and provides web material which is temporarily stored in the loop by operation of the loop control.
Preferably, the second aspect of the invention is employed in forming a roll of waste web material from a labelling machine and pushing the roll from the rotatable device.
In a third aspect the present invention provides a splicing tape for use in a splicing method and apparatus of the present invention or for use in other applications separate from a splicing method of the present invention. This splicing tape is formed as a reel of adhesive tape where the adhesive surface is fitted with release paper separable longitudinally of the tape.
In a fourth aspect the present invention provides a method and means for affixing a web of material to a hub of an unwinding reel, said method comprising applying a double-sided adhesive tape to the hub of the reel, said tape having adhesives of differing strengths on opposite sides and wherein the side with the higher adhesive strength is applied to the hub, the adhesive side of the tape facing outwardly of the hub is adapted to grip and hold the end of a web wound onto the hub such that upon unwinding of the web, the end of the web separates from the adhesive tape and the adhesive tape remains adhered to the hub.
Embodiments of the present inventions will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:—
a and 3b are front elevation views showing alternate positions for the splicing head depending upon whether a label web is being fed from one unwind reel or the other;
a is an isometric view of a reel of adhesive tape suited for use as a splicing tape in association with an adhesive label supporting web;
b is an end elevation view of the tape of
c is an end elevation of a second embodiment of a tape of the kind of
a is a front elevation of a second embodiment of an adhesive label web-unwinding and waste web winding-up assemblies incorporating embodiments of aspects of the present invention;
b is a close-up view of the second embodiment of
a and 10b are front elevation views showing alternate positions for the splicing head of
a and 11b are magnified views of the splicing station of
a and 12b show an alternate arrangement to that of
c is an isometric view of a modified portion of web material.
At the commencement of operation an operator feeds a label web from one of the loaded unwind reels 13 and 13′. As shown in
Waste web 20, being web 16 with the self adhesive labels removed, enters loop control zone 21 before passing clamping and cutting station 22 then on to be wound to waste take-up reel or spindle 40.
It will be appreciated that there are substantial safety issues relating to operation of machinery of the type shown in the drawings. In particular, access to various sections of the equipment will result in pausing the motion of moving parts so as to allow an operator to carry out appropriate operations in a safe manner. Detailed discussion of those safety aspects will not be provided here, as they do not form an essential inventive aspect of the various embodiments of the inventions, as such, which are disclosed herein.
Operation of the apparatus 10 as shown in
The operation of the splicing head is more clearly depicted in
To initiate a splice between the end of web 16 and the beginning of web 24, an end of web 16 is detected by a scanner 27 which activates web clamp 70 ready to execute a splice between the end of web 16 and the beginning of web 24. This occurs in conjunction with controlling a loop control motor for the first loop in zone 17 whereupon web clamp 70 and bladder clamp 74 on a carriage moves downwardly as shown between
In more detail, a splice is executed in the following manner:
To initiate a splice the reel in use (13 or 13′) must see an end of web (16 or 24) condition on scanner 27. Once the end of web (16 or 24) is sensed, the end of web is positioned and clamped by clamping cylinder 70 ready to execute a splice. This positioning movement is made by loop control drive 31.
Once the end of web is gripped in the correct location by clamping cylinder 70, the horizontal cylinder 71 extends to displace the carriage supporting the end of web, clamp 70 and clamp 74 and thereafter the vertical cylinder 72 changes location. The horizontal cylinder 71 retracts the carriage to the position for the splice to be made. A splice effected by extending splice bladder clamp 74 toward table 26 with webs 16 and 24 therebetween and removing web bladder clamp 73. After clamp 74 is released the newly spliced web (16 to 24 or 24 to 16) is ready to be run to the labelling head (not shown) once clamping cylinder 70 is also released.
During the splicing of web 16 to web 24 the label applying head consumes labels on web material looped in zones 17 and 18. If both loops become exhausted before a splice is made the label applicator is controlled to shut down. Control of the size loops in each of zones 17 and 18 is achieved by control signals provided by respective sensors 29,30. In this embodiment sensors 29,30 are ultrasonic devices that measure the distance between each sensor and its associated loop of label web 16.
Once a splice is successfully made, web clamp 73 is released to allow feeding of web material 24 as shown in
Preferably control of the above-described splicing operation is automatically achieved by means of air cylinder or motor movements. Once emptied reel 13 stops operating and feed of a new web 24 from reel 13′ is under way, reel 13 can be replaced by a fully loaded reel and readied to be in the position shown by
It will be appreciated that while two loops of web material 16 or 24 are shown in zones 17 and 18 of this embodiment, the number of loops that are required are up to the designer and very much depend upon the rate of feed of labels to a label applying head as compared with the time taken to effect a splice between webs 16 and 24 or 24 and 16, as the case may be.
The operation of the embodiment of an automatic waste removal system of another aspect the present invention as shown in the drawings is as follows:
In
Jaws 35 are in the form of forks or arms that project in the direction of into the page of drawing
After jaws 35 holding web 20 have traveled through forks 41 and open jaws 38, the latter are clamped together to hold web 20 while jaws 38 are retracted to release web 20 and allow open clamp 34 to be returned to its position as shown in
Spindle 40 is then activated to wind-up web 20 to form a reel of waste release paper with its winding-up rate being controlled in harmony with the rate of consumption of labels by the labelling head (not shown).
When the reel of waste web 20 on spindle 40 reaches a predetermined size for ejection from spindle 40, clamp 34 is operated to clamp and cut web 20. Clamp 34 includes a cutting knife 23 which cuts web 20 as jaws 35 come together to clamp web 20. As the labelling head is still operating and producing waste web material 20 during clamping cutting and ejection, the waste web loop control 21 operates to take up the web material 20 which is output during the ejection of the reel of material 20 off spindle 40. Air cylinder 42 moves its strut 43 to the right as shown in
Once cutting knife 23 cuts the waste web material, the rotational speed of spindle 40 is slowed, air operated waste spindle expansion cylinders 44 retract and waste ejection cylinder 45 is activated to drive waste ejector 46 against the reel of waste material and push that reel along and off fork arms 41.
After each reel of waste material has been ejected off fork arms 41 the waste spindle is stopped in its homed position as shown in
a shows a roll 50 of single-sided adhesive tape with the adhesive surface being outermost and covered by separate portions of release paper 51, 52.
The manner of use of the adhesive tape of the embodiment of
The embodiment of
The embodiments shown in
In
For initial loading of spindle 40 of
In an alternative mode, the sequence for reloading of spindle 40 is reversed where clamp 39 functions to be the web moving clamp and clamp 34 with knife 23 at cutting station 22 is fixed. In this version the initial loading of web 20 is held by jaws 35 of clamp 34. Clamp 39 with jaws 38 open are moved to the upstream side of side of clamp 34 and then jaws 38 clamp web 20. Clamp 34 is then opened and jaws 38 gripping web 20 passes through forks 41 and the winding up is commenced.
a and 10b are equivalent to the arrangements shown in
In this embodiment the carriage, comprising splice bladder clamp 70, vacuum head 74 coupled to mounting arm 75, position cylinder 76 and locating pin 48, is movable between the positions shown in
Referring to
Cylinder 72 is then activated to move the carriage down to the position shown in
Vacuum head 74 with the trailing edge of web 16 attached is lowered on mounting arm 75 so that the underside of the trailing end of web 16 is brought into contact with adhesive surface 78 at the leading end of web 24.
Once adhesive contact has been made between webs 16 and 24 the splice is complete and vacuum and clamping head 74 is released so that the last of web 16 with the front of web 24 attached is then allowed to continue feeding web to a desired station.
To go from the position of
By having sufficient web material with a variable length feeding loop or loops 17, 18 it is possible to maintain continuity of web delivery to a downstream station while the splicing operation is being effected.
a and 12b show an alternate mode of loading web material 20 onto a wind-up spindle 40. In these cases the web 20 is oriented to pass vertically down between forks 41 under the action of drive 33. Thereafter spindle 40 is spun to wind up web 20. All other operations being handled in a similar way as described with regard to
In the embodiment of
c is an isometric view of a portion of ribbed or folded web material as employed in the embodiment of
It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that numerous variations and/or modifications may be made to the inventions as shown in the specific embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the inventions as broadly described. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004902639 | May 2004 | AU | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/AU05/00703 | 5/16/2005 | WO | 00 | 8/22/2007 |
