Apparatus for dispensing adhesive-backed foil

Claim 1

Apparatus for dispensing a strip of adhesive backed foil having a foil side and an adhesive side from a roll and applying the foil along and extending laterally from the edges of a substantially flat workpiece free of a peel off adhesive protective covering, the foil being of a width greater than the width of the edges of the workpiece, said apparatus comprising in combination: (a) a frame; (b) means for rotatably supporting the roll upon said frame; (c) a first guide roller rotatably mounted on said frame for guiding the foil, said first guide roller including a circumferential groove of a width commensurate with the width of the foil for contactingly receiving the protective covering side of the foil; (d) a second guide roller rotatably mounted on said frame for guiding the foil from said first guide roller to the edges of the workpiece, said second guide roller including a circumferential groove of a width commensurate with the width of the foil for receiving the foil side of the foil and exposing the adhesive side of the foil to the edges of the workpiece, said second guide roller being vertically and horizontally positioned with respect to said first guide roller to define a Z-shaped path for the foil transported from the roll to the edges of the workpiece; (e) each of said grooves of said first and second guide rollers having a rectangular cross-section and being of a constant depth to support the full foil width and edge of the workpiece on application of the foil to the edges of the workpiece; (f) a peel blade disposed at the point the foil, extending from said first guide roller, contacts said second guide roller, said peel blade being disposed intermediate the foil and the protective covering to urge peeling of the protective covering from the foil and to expose the adhesive side of the foil, which peeling is aided by the reverse curvature of the foil resulting from the supporting contact of the foil with said groove of said second guide roller; and (g) pin means for slidingly contacting a lateral surface of the workpiece to guide the edges of the workpiece with respect to said groove of said second guide roller, said pin means including means for adjustably locating said pin means relative to said groove of said second guide roller to accommodate different thickness workpieces and determine the positional relationship between the edges of the workpiece and the foil disposed in said groove of said second guide roller.