Decal smoothing apparatus

Claim 1

In an apparatus for automatically applying transfer films of decals to upwardly facing surfaces of pieces of dish-like pottery ware, glass or glass-ceramic ware, or the like, as each piece of ware is intermittently conveyed through a path of travel comprising a plurality of dwell stations including a film smoothing station, an assembly for smoothing and removing any air or solvent which is entrapped between said transfer films and said surfaces of said pieces of ware during the applying of said films, such assembly being disposed at said smoothing station and comprising, in combination, A. a lever arm pivotally supported adjacent its center for vertical reciprocative movement of the ends thereof, B. a cam follower rotatably supported on said arm adjacent a first end thereof, C. a stellate wheel including a plurality of radial fingers of a resilient material, such wheel being rotatably supported by said arm adjacent the second end thereof and above each piece of ware conveyed to and dwelling at said smoothing station so that said wheel can be periodically actuated downwardly and rotated to cause the tips of said radial fingers to contact and move with a wiping squeegee-like action across the transfer film on said upwardly facing surface of each piece of ware dwelling at the smoothing station, such movement of such fingers being in a direction extending generally radially from adjacent the center of each respective piece of ware towards the outer rim thereof, D. a rotary cam having a peripheral rim including thereon high and low regions at selected maximum and minimum distances from the pivotal center of the cam, such cam rotatably mounted on said assembly below said cam follower, E. spring means for forcing said first end of said lever arm in a direction to maintain the peripheral rim of said cam follower in contact with said peripheral rim of said cam, F. means for imparting rotation to said cam for periodic actuation of said second end of said lever arm and, thereby, said stellate wheel to a downward position and the tips of said radial fingers thereof into contact with the transfer film on each respective piece of ware dwelling at the smoothing station and being rotated thereat, and G. means for imparting rotation to said wheel to provide said wiping squeegee-like action of said tips of said radial fingers when such wheel is in its said downward position.

Claim 4

An apparatus for smoothing and removing bubbles from between the transfer film of a decal and a surface of a circular dish-like article to which such transfer film has been applied, such article being supported on a rotating horizontal vacuum chuck with said surface facing upwardly, such apparatus comprising, in combination, A. a lever arm pivotally supported adjacent its center and pivotally supporting, adjacent first and second ends thereof, respectively, a rotatable cam follower roller and a rotatable stelliform wheel including a plurality of similar rays of a resilient material, B. a rotary cam having a peripheral rim including high and low regions thereon, C. spring means connected to said lever arm for maintaining the outer periphery of said cam follower roller in contact with said peripheral rim of said cam, D. means for mounting said lever arm adjacent said chuck with said stelliform wheel above said dishlike article and the center of such wheel in near vertical alignment with the center of such article, the tips of said rays of such wheel contacting said decal transfer film on said surface of the article only when said outer periphery of said cam follower is in contact with said high region of said cam, E. means for periodically rotating said cam, and F. means for rotating said stelliform wheel to cause said tips of said rays to move across said transfer film from adjacent the center of said dish-like article towards the rim thereof when said cam follower is in contact with said high region of said cam, such movement of said tips performing a brushing squeegee-like operation on said transfer film.

Claim 5

An apparatus for smoothing and removing bubbles from between the transfer film of a decal and a surface of a circular dish-like article to which such transfer film has been applied, such article being supported on a rotating horizontal vacuum chuck with said surface facing upwardly, such apparatus comprising, in combination, A. a lever arm pivotally supported adjacent its center and pivotally supporting, adjacent first and second ends thereof, respectively, a rotatable cam follower roller and a rotatable stelliform wheel including a plurality of similar rays of a resilient material, B. a rotary cam having a peripheral rim including high and low regions thereon, C. spring means connected to said lever arm for maintaining the outer periphery of said cam follower roller in contact with said peripheral rim of said cam, D. means for mounting said lever arm adjacent said chuck with said stelliform wheel above said dishlike article and the center of such wheel in near vertical alignment with the center of such article, the tips of said rays of such wheel contacting said decal transfer film on said surface of the article only when said outer periphery of said cam follower is in contact with said high region of said cam, E. means for periodically rotating said cam, and F. means for rotating said stelliform wheel to cause said tips of said rays to move across said transfer film from adjacent the center of said dish-like article towards the rim thereof when said cam follower is in contact with said high region of said cam, such movement of said tips performing a brushing squeegee-like operation on said transfer film.