Label applying apparatus

Claim 1

An apparatus for successively applying an elongated label having an adhesive on one surface, to articles intermittently presented thereto by wrapping the ends of the label about each article to apply the label thereto, said apparatus comprising a labeling station defining a leading end and a trailing end, means for sequentially feeding labels along a path of travel to said labeling station and including an endless belt defining an upper surface extending along said path of travel and across said labeling station, drive means for rotating said endless belt, and vacuum means for maintaining a label on said belt during movement along said path of travel and upon reaching said labeling station, means responsive to each label reaching said labeling station for terminating operation of said feeding means, means for sequentially lifting the leading and trailing ends of the label positioned at said labeling station and folding such ends about an article positioned to transversely overlie the medial portion of the label and including a. means positioned at the leading end of said labeling station for at least partially lifting the leading end of each label fed thereto, b. a vertically movable lift arm positioned immediately below the trailing end of said labeling station, c. a first arm carried adjacent the trailing end of said labeling station and movable longitudinally along said path of travel, d. a second arm carried adjacent the leading end of said labeling station and movable longitudinally along said path of travel, and means for actuating said lifting and folding means upon an article being positioned to transversely overlie the medial portion of the label and including control means for sequentially a. moving said lift arm upwardly to at least partially lift the trailing end of a label positioned at said labeling station, b. moving said first arm toward and then away from said second arm to fold the trailing end of a label over the article, and c. moving said second arm toward and then away from said first arm to fold the leading end of a label over the article, manually operable switch means for actuating said control means, and means for reactuating said feeding means to deliver another label to said labeling station upon removal of the article and the applied label from said labeling station.

Claim 2

An apparatus for successively applying an elongated label having an adhesive on one surface, to articles intermittently presented thereto by wrapping the ends of the label about each article to apply the label thereto, said apparatus comprising a labeling station defining a leading end and a trailing end, means for sequentially feeding labels along a path of travel to said labeling station and including an endless belt defining an upper surface extending along said path of travel and across said labeling station, drive means for rotating said endless belt, and vacuum means for maintaining a label on said belt during movement along said path of travel and upon reaching said labeling station, means responsive to each label reaching said labeling station for terminating operation of said feeding means, means for sequentially lifting the leading and trailing ends of the label positioned at said labeling station and folding such ends about an article positioned to transversely overlie the medial portion of the label and including a. means positioned at the leading end of said labeling station for at least partially lifting the leading end of each label fed thereto, b. a vertically movable lift arm positioned immediately below the trailing end of said labeling station, c. a first arm carried adjacent the trailing end of said labeling station and movable longitudinally along said path of travel, d. a second arm carried adjacent the leading end of said labeling station and movable longitudinally along said path of travel, and means for actuating said lifting and folding means upon an article being positioned to transversely overlie the medial portion of the label and including control means for sequentially a. moving said lift arm upwardly to at least partially lift the trailing end of a label positioned at said labeling station, b. moving said first arm toward and then away from said second arm to fold the trailing end of a label over the article, and c. moving said second arm toward and then away from said first arm to fold the leading end of a label over the article, manually operable switch means for actuating said control means, and means for reactuating said feeding means to deliver another label to said labeling station upon removal of the article and the applied label from said labeling station.

Claim 8

An apparatus for successively applying serially arranged labels having an adhesive on one surface and releasably adhered to a carrier web of indeterminate length to articles intermittently presented thereto by wrapping the ends of a label about each article to apply the label thereto, said apparatus comprising a labeling station, means including a corner member around which the web is adapted to be drawn for sequentially separating the labels from the carrier web, means for individually delivering the separated labels from said corner member to said labeling station with the adhesive surface of the labels facing upwardly and for holding a label at said labeling station, and including an endless belt having an upper portion extending from said corner member and across said labeling station, a plurality of closely spaced apart openings extending through said belt, means for drawing a partial vacuum below said upper portion whereby a suction is developed through said belt openings to secure a label thereto, and drive means for rotating said belt, means responsive to an individual label reaching said labeling station for terminating operation of said separating means and said delivering means, label applying means for sequentially applying the delivered labels to articles placed thereupon at said labeling station and including means for sequentially folding the leading and trailing ends of the label about the article to adhere the ends of the label thereabout, and means for actuating said label applying means upon an article being positioned to transversely overlie the medial portion of the label.

Claim 9

An apparatus for successively applying serially arranged labels having an adhesive on one surface and releasably adhered to a carrier web of indeterminate length to articles intermittently presented thereto by wrapping the ends of a label about each article to apply the label thereto, said apparatus comprising a labeling station, means including a corner member around which the web is adapted to be drawn for sequentially separating the labels from the carrier web, means for individually delivering the separated labels from said corner member to said labeling station with the adhesive surface of the labels facing upwardly and for holding a label at said labeling station, and including an endless belt having an upper portion extending from said corner member and across said labeling station, a plurality of closely spaced apart openings extending through said belt, means for drawing a partial vacuum below said upper portion whereby a suction is developed through said belt openings to secure a label thereto, and drive means for rotating said belt, means responsive to an individual label reaching said labeling station for terminating operation of said separating means and said delivering means, label applying means for sequentially applying the delivered labels to articles placed thereupon at said labeling station and including means for sequentially folding the leading and trailing ends of the label about the article to adhere the ends of the label thereabout, and means for actuating said label applying means upon an article being positioned to transversely overlie the medial portion of the label.

Claim 14

An apparatus for successively applying serially arranged labels having an adhesive on one surface and releasably adhered to a carrier web of indeterminate length to articles intermittently presented thereto by wrapping the ends of a label about each article to apply the label thereto, said apparatus comprising a labeling station, means for sequentially separating the labels from the carrier web and including a corner member around which the web is adapted to be drawn and means for drawing the web around said corner member, means for feeding the separated labels along a path of travel from said corner member to said labeling station with the adhesive surface of the labels facing upwardly and including an endless belt having an upper portion extending along said path of travel and across said labeling station, drive means for rotating said endless belt, and vacuum means for drawing each label downwardly into firm contact with the upper portion of the belt during movement of the label along said path of travel and upon reaching said labeling station, means responsive to an individual label reaching said labeling station for terminating operation of said separating and feeding means, label applying means for sequentially applying the delivered labels to articles placed thereupon at said labeling station and including a. inclined cam surface means for guiding the leading end of a label upwardly upon being delivered to said labeling station, b. vertically movable lift arm means for lifting the trailing end of the label when the label is positioned at said labeling station, c. longitudinally movable first arm means for folding one of the lifted ends of the label over the article, and d. longitudinally movable second arm means for folding the other lifted end of the label over the article, means for actuating said label applying means to sequentially a. move said lift arm means upwardly to at least partially lift the trailing end of a label positioned at said labeling station, b. move said first arm means toward and then away from said second arm means to fold said one end of the label over the article, and c. move said second arm means toward and away from said first arm means to fold said other end of the label over the article, and means for reactuating said separating and feeding means to deliver another label to said labeling station after removal of the article and applied label from said labeling station.

Claim 15

An apparatus for successively applying serially arranged labels having an adhesive on one surface and releasably adhered to a carrier web of indeterminate length to articles intermittently presented thereto by wrapping the ends of a label about each article to apply the label thereto, said apparatus comprising a labeling station, means for sequentially separating the labels from the carrier web and including a corner member around which the web is adapted to be drawn and means for drawing the web around said corner member, means for feeding the separated labels along a path of travel from said corner member to said labeling station with the adhesive surface of the labels facing upwardly and including an endless belt having an upper portion extending along said path of travel and across said labeling station, drive means for rotating said endless belt, and vacuum means for drawing each label downwardly into firm contact with the upper portion of the belt during movement of the label along said path of travel and upon reaching said labeling station, means responsive to an individual label reaching said labeling station for terminating operation of said separating and feeding means, label applying means for sequentially applying the delivered labels to articles placed thereupon at said labeling station and including a. inclined cam surface means for guiding the leading end of a label upwardly upon being delivered to said labeling station, b. vertically movable lift arm means for lifting the trailing end of the label when the label is positioned at said labeling station, c. longitudinally movable first arm means for folding one of the lifted ends of the label over the article, and d. longitudinally movable second arm means for folding the other lifted end of the label over the article, means for actuating said label applying means to sequentially a. move said lift arm means upwardly to at least partially lift the trailing end of a label positioned at said labeling station, b. move said first arm means toward and then away from said second arm means to fold said one end of the label over the article, and c. move said second arm means toward and away from said first arm means to fold said other end of the label over the article, and means for reactuating said separating and feeding means to deliver another label to said labeling station after removal of the article and applied label from said labeling station.