Claims
- 1. A magazine assembly for supplying labels to a labeling machine comprising a main magazine for holding a supply of labels in a stack, first feed means for feeding the labels from the main magazine to a take-out location, a support connected to the main magazine for holding a supply magazine containing a stack of labels in alignment with said main magazine, second feed means for feeding the labels from an aligned supply magazine on the support to the main magazine, said support having an entry opening along one longitudinal side thereof for receiving full replaceable supply magazines and an exit opening for discharging empty supply magazines, a supply magazine feed device disposed adjacent said entry opening for supplying full replaceable supply magazines to said support, said feed device including a slideway extending laterally outwardly from the opening side of the support in a direction transverse to the label feed direction and the longitudinal side of the support, said slideway adapted to hold a plurlaity of full supply magazines in side-by-side and contacting relationship with one another, means for continuously feeding said full supply magazines while in said relationship along the slideway toward and onto said support in a direction transverse to the label feed direction, said magazine feeding means comprising a pair of pusher arms slideably mounted on either side of the slideway for displacement in the direction of movement of said magazines along the slideway and pivotally mounted between a position where each arm engages an end of the outermost supply magazine and a retracted position and drive means for moving said pusher arms toward and away from said entry opening, means for ejecting empty supply magazines from said support and stop means located on the longitudinal side of the support opposite from said opening side to arrest and align a full supply magazine on the support with the main magazine.
- 2. The magazine assembly of claim 1, wherein said exit opening is located on the opposite longitudinal side of said support from said opening side.
- 3. The magazine assembly of claim 2, wherein said stop means comprises at least one vertically displaceable cam adapted to be raised above the level of said support to engage a side of a supply magazine on the support and lowered to a position below said support to permit an empty supply magazine to be ejected from said support and means for raising and lowering said cam.
- 4. The magazine assembly of claim 3, including 2 cams, one adjacent a front portion and one a rear portion of the supply magazine on said support.
- 5. The magazine assembly of claim 2, wherein said stop means is a fixed guide rail located at a level above said exit opening so that it is engagable by the stack of labels in said supply magazine on said support but not by the magazine.
- 6. The magazine assembly of claim 2 wherein the means for feeding replaceable full supply magazines through said entry opening onto said support also and simultaneously ejects an empty supply magazine located on said support through said exit opening by the pressure exerted on the empty by the replacement full supply magazine.
- 7. The magazine assembly of claim 2 including end stops on said support that engage a forward end portion of a full supply magazine on said support to hold the supply magazine in position as the labels are fed from the supply magazine to the main magazine but that permit unhampered transverse replacement of said supply magazines.
- 8. The magazine assembly of claim 1, including collector means for receiving ejected empty supply magazines adjacent said exit opening.
- 9. The magazine assembly of claim 1 wherein the second feed means includes a label pusher mounted for displacement in the label feed direction independent of the first feed means, said pusher feeding the labels from the supply magazine located on the support through the main magazine to the take-out location until said supply magazine is empty and thereafter said first feed means feeding the labels in said main magazine to the take-out location.
- 10. The magazine assembly of claim 9 including a sensor located at the entrance end of said main magazine for generating a signal when the supply magazine on said support is empty to retract said label pusher.
- 11. The magazine assembly of claim 10 including a limit switch on said support for generating a signal when said label pusher is retracted to its initial position away from the take-out location to activate the supply magazine feeding device to replace empty supply magazine on the support.
- 12. The magazine assembly of claim 11 including a limit switch on said support for generating a signal when a full supply magazine is on the support in alignment with said main magazine to activate said label pusher.
- 13. The magazine assembly of claim 1 including a detector on said supply magazine feed device to generate a signal in response to the presence of supply magazines on said slideway.
- 14. The magazine assembly of claim 1 in which said supply feed device has lateral guides for guiding said supply magazines on the slideway.
- 15. The magazine assembly of claim 14, wherein said guides are slide rails running the length of the slideway, said supply magazines having conforming structure on their ends cooperating with said rails.
- 16. The magazine assembly of claim 1 wherein said exit opening is located at the end of said support opposite from the take-out location, and the assembly includes an ejector device for ejecting empty supply magazines in a direction opposite to the label feed direction.
- 17. The magazine assembly of claim 16, wherein said ejector device comprises an ejector member traveling in synchronism with said second feed means.
- 18. The magazine assembly of claim 17, wherein said ejector member is connected to said second feed means.
- 19. The magazine assembly of claim 18, wherein the second feed means includes a label pusher mounted for displacement longitudinally of a supply magazine on the support and in the label feed direction for feeding labels from the supply magazine into the main magazine, said pusher carrying a pivotally mounted catch that engages with a front end portion of an empty supply magazine to eject an empty supply magazine from said support upon retraction of the pusher.
- 20. The magazine assembly of claim 19, wherein said catch is mounted for rotation about a horizontal axis on a rear face of the label pusher.
- 21. The magazine assembly of claim 1 including a magnet located on said support for holding a supply magazine made of metal in alignment with said main magazine.
- 22. The magazine assembly of claim 1, including actuator means for pivoting the pair of pusher arms between their engaged and retracted positions.
- 23. The magazine assembly of claim 1, wherein said pusher arms are pivotally mounted pawls that are spring biased into engagement with said supply magazines on the slideway as they are moved toward said opening but that pivot to a retracted position as they are moved away from said opening.
- 24. A magazine assembly for supplying labels to a labeling machine comprising a main magazine for holding a supply of labels in a stack, first feed means for feeding the labels from the main magazine to a take-out location, a support connected to the main magazine for holding a supply magazine containing a stack of labels in alignment with said main magazine, second feed means for feeding the labels from an aligned supply magazine on the support to the main magazine, said support having an entry opening along one longitudinal side thereof for receiving full replaceable supply magazines and an exit opening located on the opposite longitudinal side of the support from the entry opening for discharging empty supply magazines, a supply magazine feed device disposed adjacent said entry opening for supplying full replaceable supply magazines to said support, said feed device including a slideway extending laterally outwardly from the opening side of the support in a direction transverse to the label feed direction and the longitudinal side of the support, said slideway adapted to hold a plurlaity of full supply magazines in side-by-side and contacting relationship with one another, means for continuously feeding said full supply magazines while in said relationship along the slideway toward and onto said support in a direction transverse to the label feed direction, means for ejecting empty supply magazines from said support and stop means located on the longitudinal side of the support opposite from said opening side to arrest and align a full supply magazine on the support with the main magazine, said stop means comprising a fixed guide rail located at a level above said exit opening so that it is engagable by the stack of labels in said supply magazine on said support but not by the magazine.
- 25. The magazine assembly of claim 24, wherein the means for feeding replaceable full supply magazines through said entry opening onto said supply also and simultaneously ejects an empty supply magazine located on said support through said exit opening by the pressure exerted on the empty magazine by the replacement fully supply magazine.
- 26. The magazine assembly of claim 25, including end stops on said support that engage a forward end portion of a full supply magazine on said support to hold the supply magazine in position as the labels are fed from the supply magazine to the main magazine but that permt unhampered transverse replacement of said supply magazines.
- 27. The magazine assembly of claim 24, wherein the means for feeding the full supply magazines along the slideway of the supply feed device comprises at least one smooth, endless belt extending between return pulleys that engages with the underside of the magazines on the slideway and means for turning said belt.
- 28. The magazine assembly of claim 27, including a plurality of endless belts each engaging the undersides of the magazines on the slideway.
- 29. The magazine assembly of claim 24, wherein the means for feeding the full supply magazines along the slideway of the supply feed device comprises at least one pusher slideably mounted for displacement in the direction of movement of said magazines along the slideway and adapted to engage the outermost supply magazine and drive means for moving said pusher toward and away from said entry opening.
- 30. The magazine assembly of claim 29, including a pair of pusher arms pivotally mounted on either side of the slideway between a position where they engage an end of the outermost supply magazine and a retracted position.
- 31. The magazine assembly of claim 30, wherein said pusher arms are pivotally mounted pawls that are spring biased to operatively engage said supply magazines on the slideway as they are moved toward said opening but that pivot to a retracted position as they are moved away from the opening.
- 32. The magazine assembly of claim 39, including actuator means for pivoting the pair of pusher arms between their engaged and retracted positions.
- 33. The magazine assembly of claim 24, including collector means for receiving ejected empty supply magazines adjacent said exit opening.
- 34. The magazine assembly of claim 24, wherein the second feed means includes a label pusher mounted for displacement in the label feed direction independent of the first feed means, said pusher feeding the labels from the supply magazine located on the support through the main magazine to the take-out location until said supply magazine is empty and thereafter said first feed means feeding the labels in said main magazine to the take-out location.
- 35. The magazine assembly of claim 34, including a sensor located at the entrance end of said main magazine for generating a signal when the supply magazine on said support is empty to retract said label pusher.
- 36. The magazine assembly of claim 35, including a limit switch on said support for generating a signal when said label pusher is retracted to its initial position away from the take-out location to activate the supply magazine feeding device to replace the empty supply magazine on the support.
- 37. The magazine assembly of claim 36, including a limit switch on said support for generating a signal when a full supply magazine is on the support in alignment with said main magazine to activate said label pusher.
- 38. The magazine assembly of claim 24, including a detector on said supply magazine feed device to generate a signal in response to the presence of supply magazines on said slideway.
- 39. The magazine assembly of claim 24, in which said supply feed device has lateral guides for guiding said supply magazines on the slideway.
- 40. The magazine assembly of claim 39, wherein said guides are slide rails running the length of the slideway, said supply magazines having conforming structure on their ends cooperating with said rails.
Priority Claims (3)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
3503621 |
Feb 1985 |
DEX |
|
3525035 |
Jul 1985 |
DEX |
|
3536294 |
Oct 1985 |
DEX |
|
Parent Case Info
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 824,648, filed Jan. 31, 1986 now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (4)
Number |
Name |
Date |
Kind |
3861543 |
Elsworth |
Jan 1975 |
|
3915338 |
Kronseder et al. |
Oct 1975 |
|
4618305 |
Cedrone et al. |
Oct 1986 |
|
4653665 |
Heisner et al. |
Mar 1987 |
|
Foreign Referenced Citations (6)
Number |
Date |
Country |
1222943 |
Aug 1966 |
DEX |
2014410 |
Aug 1971 |
DEX |
2153169 |
Mar 1973 |
DEX |
2145508 |
Mar 1973 |
DEX |
2202525 |
Jul 1973 |
DEX |
2303547 |
Aug 1974 |
DEX |
Continuations (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
824648 |
Jan 1986 |
|