Patent Grant
8986803
The present invention relates to a tack labeler capable of automatically adhering, onto adherence objects, tack labels that do not require a usage of release papers and are punched out in a shape of an ellipse, circle, or the like; and also relates to a label formation base material pair suitable for the tack labeler.
A general tack label is provided as being adhered to a release paper, and thereby has problems such as a high cost due to having the release paper and a need for disposing the release paper as trash after having a tack label detached therefrom. Therefore, in recent years, two sheets of tack labels are provided in a state of being detachably adhered to each other as a label pair without using a release paper. When using the tack label, the two pieces of tack labels are detached and simultaneously adhered onto two adherence objects.
However, the two pieces of tack labels that are detachably adhered to each other, in particular, tack labels that are punched out in a shape of an ellipse, circle, or the like, are difficult to handle when compared to the tack labels that are adhered to a release paper. Therefore, such tack labels are generally provided in a sheet form and are manually handled when being adhered.
Therefore, a task of the invention is to provide: a tack labeler capable of automatically adhering, onto adherence objects, tack labels that do not require a usage of release papers and are punched out in a shape of an ellipse, circle, or the like; and a label formation base material pair suitable for the tack labeler.
In order to achieve the above described task, the invention according to claim 1 provides a label formation base material pair formed by detachably adhering to each other, on respective adherence surface sides, long strip-like label formation base materials used for cutting therefrom tack labels having a predetermined shape; each of the label formation base materials having formed thereon, successively in a longitudinal direction thereof and at a predetermined interval, cut lines with the shape of the tack labels having connection portions that are uncut at one part thereof and that are located at one end side of the tack labels in the longitudinal direction; cut lines formed on one of the label formation base materials and cut lines formed on the other label formation base material being shifted in position so as not to match to each other.
In order to achieve the above described task, the invention according to claim 2 provides a tack labeler comprising: base material pair delivering means for reeling out the label formation base material pair according to claim 1 from a base material pair roll formed by winding the label formation base material pair in a roll shape, and delivering the label formation base material pair from an end on a side of the connection portions of the cut lines having the shape of the tack labels; separating-delivering means for separating the delivered label formation base material pair into the respective label formation base materials, and delivering the respective label formation base materials; cutting means for successively cutting the connection portions formed on each of the separated label formation base materials so as to form individual tack labels; adhering means for adhering the formed individual tack labels onto adherence objects; and base material collecting means for collecting each of the label formation base materials from which the tack labels have been cut off, wherein the separating-delivering means has a pair of separating-delivering rollers that are disposed on both sides of the label formation base material pair so as to nip the label formation base material pair, and that are for delivering each of the separated label formation base materials in directions away from each other while having the label formation base materials follow along outer peripheral surfaces of the separating-delivering rollers.
In order to achieve the above described task, the invention according to claim 3 provides a tack labeler comprising: base material pair delivering means for reeling out, from a base material pair roll formed by winding in a roll shape a label formation base material pair formed by detachably adhering to each other, on respective adherence surface sides, long strip-like label formation base materials used for cutting therefrom tack labels having a predetermined shape, and delivering the label formation base material pair; cut-line forming means for successively forming, on the delivered label formation base material pair, cut lines with the shape of the tack labels having connection portions that are uncut at one part thereof and that are located at a downstream side of a delivering direction; separating-delivering means for separating, into the respective label formation base materials, the label formation base material pair having formed thereon the cut lines having the shape of the tack labels, and delivering the respective label formation base materials; cutting means for successively cutting the connection portions formed on each of the separated label formation base materials so as to form individual tack labels; adhering means for adhering the formed individual tack labels onto adherence objects; and base material collecting means for collecting each of the label formation base materials from which the tack labels have been cut off, wherein the separating-delivering means has a pair of separating-delivering rollers that are disposed on both sides of the label formation base material pair so as to nip the label formation base material pair, and that are for delivering each of the separated label formation base materials in directions away from each other while having the label formation base materials follow along outer peripheral surfaces of the separating-delivering rollers.
In order to achieve the above described task, the invention according to claim 4 provides a tack labeler comprising: base material pair delivering means for reeling out, from a base material pair roll formed by winding in a roll shape a label formation base material pair formed by detachably adhering to each other, on respective adherence surface side, long strip-like label formation base materials used for cutting therefrom tack labels having a predetermined shape, and delivering the label formation base material pair; separating-delivering means for separating the delivered label formation base material pair into respective label formation base materials, and delivering the respective label formation base materials; cut-out means for cutting out each of the separated label formation base materials into the predetermined shape to form individual tack labels; adhering means for adhering the individual tack labels cut out from the label formation base material onto adherence objects; and base material collecting means for collecting each of label formation base materials from which the tack labels have been cut out, wherein the separating-delivering means has a pair of separating-delivering rollers that are disposed on both sides of the label formation base material pair so as to nip the label formation base material pair, and that are for delivering each of the separated label formation base materials in directions away from each other while having the label formation base materials follow along outer peripheral surfaces of the separating-delivering rollers.
As described above, in the label formation base material pair which is the invention according to claim 1, formed on the pair of label formation base materials detachably adhered to each other on respective adherence surface sides are cut lines with the shape of the tack labels having connection portions that are uncut at one part thereof and that are located at one end side of the tack labels in the longitudinal direction. Therefore, when the label formation base materials adhered to each other are detached starting at the one end side in the longitudinal direction, cut-line enclosed portions that are to be the tack labels can also be detached and separated with certainty.
Furthermore, on the label formation base material pair, cut lines formed on one of the label formation base materials and cut lines formed on the other label formation base material are shifted in position so as not to match each other. Therefore, the portions enclosed by the cut lines formed on one of the label formation base materials that are to be the tack labels are adhered and held outside the cut-line enclosed portions that are to be the tack labels on the other label formation base material. Thus, the cut-line enclosed portions that are to be the tack labels on both of the label formation base materials do not become loose, and thereby the label formation base material pair can be reeled out and delivered smoothly with certainty.
With the tack labeler, which is the invention according to claim 2 and which is configured as described above, when the separating-delivering roller is rotated in a state where a leading end of the label formation base material pair delivered by the base material pair delivering means is split to follow along the outer peripheral surfaces of the separating-delivering rollers, the two sheets of the label formation base materials that are adhered to each other become separated. Here, since the connection portions of the cut lines formed on the two sheets of label formation base materials are located on the downstream side of the delivering direction of the label formation base materials, the cut-line enclosed portions that are to be tack labels are also separated with certainty due to the connection portions. Then, by successively cutting the connection portions formed on each of the separated label formation base materials by using the cutting means, the individual tack labels are formed and then adhered, with certainty, onto the adherence objects by the adhering means.
With the tack labeler, which is the invention according to claim 3, when the separating-delivering rollers are rotated in a state where a leading end of the label formation base material pair delivered by the base material pair delivering means is split to follow along the outer peripheral surfaces of the separating-delivering rollers, the two sheets of the label formation base materials that are adhered to each other become separated. However, before the two sheets of the label formation base materials are separated, cut lines are successively formed on the label formation base material pair by the cut-line forming means in a shape of the tack labels having the connection portions that are uncut at one part thereof and that are located at a downstream side of the delivering direction. Due to the connection portions, the cut-line enclosed portion that are to be tack labels are also separated with certainty. Then, by successively cutting the connection portions formed on each of the separated label formation base materials by using the cutting means, the individual tack labels are formed and then adhered, with certainty, onto the adherence objects by the adhering means.
With the tack labeler, which is the invention according to claim 4, when the separating-delivering rollers are rotated in a state where a leading end of the label formation base material pair delivered by the base material pair delivering means is split to follow along the outer peripheral surfaces of the separating-delivering rollers, the two sheets of the label formation base material that are adhered to each other become separated. Then, by successively cutting out each of the separated label formation base materials by the cut-out means, the individual tack labels are formed and then adhered, with certainty, onto the adherence objects by the adhering means.
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A roll detection sensor 36 including a transmissive-type photoelectric sensor for detecting the dancer roller 33 is installed beside the moving pathway of the dancer roller 33 at a middle part of the moving range of the dancer roller 33. When an accumulation amount of the label formation base material pair LMP becomes large, i.e., when the dancer roller 33 moves toward the outer side of the base plate 2 in the width direction, the dancer roller 33 is detected by the roll detection sensor 36. However, when the accumulation amount of the label formation base material pair LMP becomes small, i.e., when the dancer roller 33 moves toward the inner side of the base plate 2 in the width direction, the dancer roller 33 is not detected by the roll detection sensor 36.
The control units that are not illustrated conduct ON/OFF control of the geared motor 24 of the reeling-out unit 20, such that: while the dancer roller 33 is not detected by the roll detection sensor 36, i.e., while the accumulation amount of the label formation base material pair LMP is insufficient, the reeling-out action by the reeling-out unit 20 for the label formation base material pair LMP is executed; and when the dancer roller 33 is detected by the roll detection sensor 36, i.e., when the label formation base material pair LMP has accumulated sufficiently, the reeling-out action by the reeling-out unit 20 for the label formation base material pair LMP is stopped.
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In addition, similar to the central shaft 42 of the suction driving roller 41A, the central shaft 43 of the suction driving roller 41B on one side includes: a main suction passage 43a that extends in the vertical direction through the central part of the central shaft 43 and whose top end is blocked; a recessed portion 43b formed at a portion, from a position at which the roller tubes 44 and 44 of the pair of the suction driving rollers 41A and 41B are located closest to each other on the outer peripheral surface of the middle shaft 43M, to a position located 90 degrees away from said position in the delivering direction of label formation base materials LM; five communication passages 43c that allow communication between the main suction passage 43a and the recessed portion 43b and that are arranged one above another. A connection elbow 43d for a suction tube for connecting to the suction blower 82 via a pressure regulating valve is attached at an open bottom end of the main suction passage 43a.
The roller tube 44 that is a part of each of the suction driving rollers 41A and 41B includes: a main body portion 44A formed from aluminum; and a cover portion 44B formed from urethane rubber for covering the outer peripheral surface of the main body portion 44A in order to prevent sliding of the label formation base material pair LMP that is to be nipped and delivered and sliding of the two sheets of the label formation base materials LM obtained through separation of the label formation base material pair LMP. The suction holes 44a are formed on both the main body portion 44A and the cover portion 44B.
Furthermore, gears 48A and 48B, which are meshed to each other and which rotate together with the respective roller tubes 44 and 44, are attached to the pair of the suction driving rollers 41A and 41B. Since the gear 48A of the suction driving roller 41A on one side is meshed together with a gear attached to a drive shaft of the servomotor 47, a rotational driving force of the servomotor 47 is transferred to the pair of the suction driving rollers 41A and 41B, and thereby enables the pair of the suction driving rollers 41A and 41B to rotate in opposite directions.
The auxiliary rollers 49, which make contact with the adherence surface side of label formation base materials LM, are arranged at two height levels to allow adjusting of height positions, have a disc shape whose height is smaller than the width of the non-adhesive layers PL in label formation base materials LM as shown in
A so-called pitch control is conducted on the separating-delivering unit 40 by the sub control unit in cooperation with the main control unit for intermittently delivering a predetermined amount of the label formation base material pair LMP. After the mark sensor 81 detects the mark printed on the label formation base material pair LMP, the separating-delivering unit 40 delivers the label formation base material pair LMP for the predetermined amount that is determined in advance, such that the connection portions formed on the separated label formation base materials LM are moved to a cut position of the cutting units 50.
As described above, in the label formation base material pair LMP, since the label formation base materials LM are shifted in position from each other in the longitudinal direction thereof such that the cut lines CL formed on one of the label formation base materials LM and the cut lines CL formed on the other label formation base material LM do not match each other, a distance D1 from a separation position of the label formation base material LM to a stop position of a connection portion cp in a cut line CL of one of the label formation base materials LM differs from a distance D2 from the separation position of the label formation base material LM to a stop position of a connection portion cp in a cut line CL of the other label formation base material LM as shown in
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On each of the movable portions 62 of the suction plates 61, a single suction hole 62a is formed on a suctioning-holding surface of the movable portion 62, and a comb-shaped suction groove 62b that communicates with the suction hole 62a is formed. On each of the fixing portions 63 of the suction plates 61, two suction holes 63a and 63a are formed on a suctioning-holding surface of the fixing portion 63, and a suction groove 63b that communicates with the two suction holes 63a and 63a are formed so as to surround the circular movable portion 62.
The suction plates 61 are installed between the respective cutting units 50 and 50 and the respective suction driving rollers 41A and 41B of the separating-delivering unit 40 so as to be adjacent to both. The suction plate 61 installed on a side of the cutting unit 50 distal to the separation position of the label formation base materials LM is formed wider than the suction plate 61 installed on a side of the other cutting unit 50.
The outer peripheral edge of each of the movable portions 62 of the suction plates 61 is arranged such that an end edge on the side of the cutting unit 50 in the fixing portion 63 matches the outer peripheral edge of the movable portions 62. Thus, when a connection portion cp in a cut line CL formed on the label formation base material LM reaches the cut position, each of the movable portions 62 will be located inside the portion that is enclosed by the cut line CL formed on each of the label formation base materials LM so as to be a tack label L.
In addition, each of the suction holes 62a and 63a of the suction plates 61 is connected to the suction blower 82 via a vacuum valve (not illustrated) that uses air as a drive source, and as described in the following, suctioning action by the suction plates 61 is intermittently conducted by having the control unit, which is not illustrated, operate an air valve 83 for opening and closing the vacuum valve through a control of the supply of air for driving the vacuum valve.
When each of the separated label formation base materials LM is delivered for the predetermined amount and is stopped, the suctioning action by the suction plates 61 is initiated and the label formation base material LM is held by the suction plates 61. At this moment, each of the movable portions 62 of the suction plates 61 is located inside the portion that is enclosed by the cut line CL formed on each of the label formation base materials LM so as to be the tack label L.
Here, when the cutting units 50 cut the connection portions cp of the cut lines CL formed on each of the label formation base materials LM, the tack labels L are cut off from each of the label formation base materials LM, and the tack labels L that have been cut off are suctioned and held only by the movable portions 62 of the suction plates 61. Subsequently, the movable portions 62 that have suctioned and held the tack labels L advance, and the tack labels L are adhered to trunk portions of containers C conveyed to adherence positions by container conveyance units. Then, the suctioning action by the suction plates 61 is stopped, and the suction plates 61 retreat to initial positions.
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With the tack labeler 1 as configured as described above, the respective label formation base materials LM adhered to each other are separated when the suction driving rollers 41A and 41B are rotated in a state where a leading end of the label formation base material pair LMP delivered from the reeling-out unit 20 is split to follow along the outer peripheral surfaces of the suction driving rollers 41A and 41B of the separating-delivering unit 40. At this moment, since the connection portions cp of the cut lines CL formed on each of the label formation base materials LM are located on the downstream side of the delivering direction of the label formation base materials LM, the portions that are enclosed by the cut lines CL and that are to be tack labels are also separated with certainty due to the connection portions cp. Then, by successively cutting the connection portions cp formed on each of the separated label formation base materials LM by the cutting units 50, the individual tack labels L are formed, and then, the tack labels L are adhered onto the containers C by the adhering units 60 with certainty.
Furthermore, on the label formation base material pair LMP, the cut lines CL formed on one of the label formation base materials LM and the cut lines CL formed on the other label formation base material LM are shifted in position in the longitudinal direction of the label formation base materials LM so as not to match each other. Therefore, as shown in
Another embodiment is shown in
Used for the above described the tack labeler 1 are the label formation base material pair LMP having formed thereon in advance the cut lines CL with the shape of the tack labels having the connection portions cp that are uncut at one part thereof and that are located at one end side of the tack labels in the longitudinal direction of the label formation base materials LM which are detachably adhered to each other. However, the tack labeler 1A uses a label formation base material pair LMP1 obtained by simply detachably adhering long strip-like label formation base materials LM on adherence surface sides thereof, and the tack labeler 1A forms the tack label-shaped cut lines CL on the label formation base materials LM forming the label formation base material pair LMP1. Therefore, a laser cutter 90 is mounted on the tack labeler 1A, and forms, on the label formation base material pair LMP1 and at a location between the base material pair accumulation unit 30 and the separating-delivering unit 40, the cut lines CL with the shape of the tack labels having the connection portions cp that are uncut at one part thereof and that are located at the downstream side of the delivering direction.
With the tack labeler 1A, the label formation base materials LM, on which the cut lines CL are to be formed by the laser cutter 90, are separated by the separating-delivering unit 40 immediately after the cut lines CL are formed. Therefore, with regard to the cut lines CL formed on the label formation base material pair LMP1, it is not necessary to shift the positions of the cut lines CL formed on one of the label formation base materials LM from the positions of the cut lines CL formed on the other label formation base material LM in the longitudinal direction of the label formation base materials LM so as not to match each other as in the case with the label formation base material pair LMP used in the above described tack labeler 1. Thus, the cut lines CL of the label formation base material pair LMP1 may be formed such that the cut lines CL formed on both label formation base materials LM match each other (cf.,
Furthermore, since the cut lines CL formed on one of the label formation base materials LM and the cut lines CL formed on the other label formation base material LM are not shifted in position in the longitudinal direction of the label formation base materials LM, a distance D1 from a separation position of the label formation base materials LM to a stop position of the connection portion cp in the cut line CL of one of the label formation base materials LM matches a distance D2 from the separation position of the label formation base materials LM to a stop position of a connection portion cp in the cut lines CL of the other label formation base material LM, as shown in
It should be noted that, although the laser cutter 90 is used as the cut-line forming means for forming the cut lines CL on the label formation base material pair LMP1 in the tack labeler 1A, the present invention is not limited thereto; and the cut lines CL may be formed on the label formation base material pair LMP1 by pressing the label formation base material pair LMP1 using a punch-out mold having a blade with a similar cut line shape.
Furthermore, the cut lines CL may be formed on the label formation base material pair LMP1 when separating the label formation base material pair LMP1 into two sheets of the label formation base materials LM, by providing a function as the cut-line forming means such as a die roll or an anvil roll on the separating-delivering rollers such as the suction driving rollers 41A and 41B included in the separating-delivering unit 40.
Another embodiment is shown in
With the above described tack labeler 1, the individual tack labels L are formed by cutting the connection portions cp by the cutting units 50, by using the label formation base material pair LMP having formed thereon in advance the cut lines CL with the shape of the tack labels having the connection portions cp that are uncut at one part thereof and that are located at one end side of the tack labels in the longitudinal direction of the label formation base materials LM which are detachably adhere to each other. However, the tack labeler 1B uses the label formation base material pair LMP1 obtained by simply detachably adhering the long strip-like label formation base materials LM on the adherence surface sides thereof; and the individual tack labels L are formed by separating the label formation base materials LM by the separating-delivering unit 40 and then punching out the label formation base materials LM as tack label shapes at adherence positions of the tack labels L. Thus, punch-out units 100 are installed on the tack labeler 1B instead of the cutting units 50 of the tack labeler 1.
As shown in
Thus, with the tack labeler 1B, when delivering action for the label formation base materials LM stops, as shown in
It should be noted that, in the above described embodiments, although the separating-delivering unit 40 includes the auxiliary rollers 49 and 49 for nipping each of the label formation base materials LM between the suction driving rollers 41A and 41B, the auxiliary rollers 49 and 49 can be omitted.
Furthermore, when using the auxiliary rollers 49 and 49, instead of the suction driving rollers 41A and 41B, a nip roller including a follower roller and a driving roller not having a suction function may be disposed at the position of the suction driving rollers 41A and 41B.
Furthermore, in the above described label formation base material pair LMP, although the tack label-shaped cut lines CL have the connection portions cp that are perfectly uncut, the connection portions cp may be perforations.
Furthermore, in the above described label formation base material pair LMP, although the cut lines CL formed on one of the label formation base materials LM and the cut lines CL formed on the other label formation base material LM are shifted in position in the longitudinal direction of the label formation base materials LM so as not to match each other, the present invention is not limited thereto; and, it is also possible to, for example, shift the positions by rotating either one of the cut lines CL or both of the cut lines CL by using mutually matched connection portions cp as centers as shown in
The invention can be applied when automatically adhering tack labels that do not use release papers and that are punched out in shapes such as an ellipse, circle, or the like.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2009/004306 | 9/1/2009 | WO | 00 | 2/8/2012 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO2011/027385 | 3/10/2011 | WO | A |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3312005 | McElroy | Apr 1967 | A |
| 4210688 | Sato | Jul 1980 | A |
| 4335172 | Sato | Jun 1982 | A |
| 5336541 | Kobayashi | Aug 1994 | A |
| 6596359 | Roth et al. | Jul 2003 | B2 |
| 7625619 | Hodson et al. | Dec 2009 | B2 |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| A-05-117604 | May 1993 | JP |
| A-10-142742 | May 1998 | JP |
| WO 2009110197 | Sep 2009 | WO |
| Entry |
|---|
| Mar. 6, 2012 International Preliminary Report on Patentability issued in PCT/JP2009/004306. |
| Dec. 15, 2009 International Search Report issued in International Patent Application No. PCT/JP2009/004306. |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20120141715 A1 | Jun 2012 | US |
