Claims
- 1. A method for applying a label on a supply web to a product conveyed by a conveyance mechanism, comprising:conveying said product past a first sensor; conveying said label past a second sensor; determining a first distance, said first distance being the distance of said product to a nip point, based upon an output of said first sensor; determining a second distance, said second distance being the distance of said label to said nip point, based upon an output of said second sensor; calculating an electronic gear ratio by dividing said second distance by said first distance; monitoring the instantaneous position of said supply web with a closed loop control system; monitoring the instantaneous position of said conveyance mechanism with a positional encoder; continuously coupling the position of said supply web to the position of said conveyance mechanism based on said electronic gear ratio; and applying said label to said product at said nip point.
- 2. A method for applying a label to an item conveyed by a conveyance mechanism, comprising:determining a first distance, said first distance being the distance of an item to a nip point; determining a second distance, said second distance being the distance of a label to said nip point; calculating an electronic gear ratio by dividing said second distance by said first distance; continuously coupling the position of said label with respect to the position of said item by continuously applying said electronic gear ratio to said position of said item to adjust said position of said label; monitoring the instantaneous position of said item by monitoring the instantaneous position of said conveyance mechanism with a positional encoder; monitoring the instantaneous position of said label by monitoring the instantaneous position of a supply web on which said label is attached; conveying said item continuously past said nip point; causing said supply web bearing said label to move over a peel tip to produce a peeled label; directing said label into said nip point created with said item; and applying said label to said item.
- 3. The method of claim 2, further comprising supporting said peeled label while it is directed from said peel tip to said nip point.
- 4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:drawing said label toward said support with vacuum forces from the time said label leaves said peel tip to the time said label arrives at said nip point.
- 5. A method for controlling the movement of a label of a label placement machine comprising:determining a first distance required for an item to be labeled to travel to a nip point; determining a second distance required for said label to travel to said nip point; calculating an effective gear ratio using said first distance and said second distance; monitoring the instantaneous position of said label with a closed loop control system; monitoring the instantaneous position of said item with a positional encoder; and continuously coupling the movement of said label with respect to the movement of said item by continuously coupling the position of said label to the position of said item by continuously applying said effective gear ratio to said position of said item to adjust said position of said label such that said label and said item arrive at said nip point substantially simultaneously.
- 6. The method of claim 5 wherein said label and said item arrive at said nip point at substantially different speeds.
- 7. A method for placing a label onto an item using a label placement machine comprising:sensing the position of said item; sensing the position of said label; determining a first distance required for said item to travel to a nip point; determining a second distance required for said label to travel to said nip point; calculating an electronic gear ratio by dividing said first distance and said second distance; controlling the instantaneous position of said label by controlling the web on which said label is attached with a closed loop control system; controlling the instantaneous position of said item by monitoring the position of a conveyor with a positional encoder; continuously coupling the position of said label with respect to the position of said item by continuously applying said electronic gear ratio to said position of said item to adjust said position of said label such that said label and said item arrive at said nip point substantially simultaneously; advancing said item to said nip point; and placing said label onto said item at said nip point.
- 8. The method of claim 7 further comprising:wherein said label and said item arrive at said nip point at substantially different speeds.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation of U.S. non-provisional application Ser. No. 09/318.875 entitled “DEVICE AND METHOD FOR APPLYING LABELS TO PRODUCTS” filed May 26, 1999 now abandoned by Timothy H. Klein, Craig D. Bakken, and Richard E, Schaupp, which is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 08/944,310 filed Oct. 6, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,925,214 entitled “DEVICE AND METHOD FOR APPLYING PRESSURE SENSITIVE ARTICLES TO CARTONS” issued Jul. 20, 1999 by Timothy H. Klein and Craig T. Bakken, the entire disclosure of each is additionally specifically incorporated herein by reference for all that they disclose and teach.
US Referenced Citations (9)
Foreign Referenced Citations (3)
Number |
Date |
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EP0085418 |
Jan 1983 |
DE |
339615 |
Nov 1989 |
EP |
EP0347290 |
Jun 1989 |
FR |
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
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Parent |
09/318875 |
May 1999 |
US |
Child |
10/017339 |
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US |
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
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08/944310 |
Oct 1997 |
US |
Child |
09/318875 |
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US |