Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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This invention relates to label dispensing apparatus.
Especially the invention relates to label dispensing
apparatus of the type having a reel of composite tape having
self adhesive labels on a removable backing tape.
Prior art label dispensing apparatus comprise a feed
roller to carry a reel of composite tape having labels
affixed to a backing tape, and a take-up roller to wind up
discarded backing tape after a label has been dispensed from
it. The take-up roller is parallel to the reel roller and
located so that the longitudinal axis of the backing tape is
in the same plane on both rollers.
The path of travel of the tape from the reel to the
take-up roller passes through an acute angle to bend sharply
away from the labels located on it. This may be achieved by
means of a peeler plate located in the path of travel of the
composite strip of labels and backing tape issuing from the
reel. The peeler plate is forward of both rollers so that
the tape travels first forwardly from the reel and then
makes a sharp turn rearward to travel rearwardly and
downwardly to the take-up roller. As the composite strip
turns through a sharp angle there is a tendency for the
label to separate from the backing tape. The peeler plate
may be provided with side flanges to guide the backing taPe
so that the longitudinal axis remains in the same plane.
Rollers may be provided above the peeler plate. One of
these rollers may be a rearward roller to exert some
pressure on the label downwardly towards the backing tape to
provide a base from which the label may spring upwardly from
the backing tape as the backing tape bends rearwardly and
downwardly away from it. A forward roller may limit any
upward spring of the label from the backing tape as it
separates from it and may guide the label forwardly in the
predetermined path.
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Frequently, the take-up roller is driven by an electric
motor in steps limited to the length of the label, this
being measured in the longitudinal direction of the backing
tape.
Large label dispensing apparatus may include several
transverse rows of labels on a single backing tape. Small
label dispensing apparatus may be designed for use with only
a narrow backing tape carrying an elongate label. The take-
up roll may be operated by means of an electric motor
triggered with a trigger or brake as described or, in very
unsophisticated label dispensing apparatus it may be
manually driven. The peeler plate may or may not be
provided with rollers for manipulation of the label.
The stepping of the electric motor by switching it on
or off or by the engagement and disengagement of gear means
for the take-up roller may be operated by means of a light
trigger forward of the peeler plate and locatable to be a
distance from it corresponding to the length of a label.
Such label dispensing apparatus are well known and examples
of them are described and claimed in U.S. Patents Nos.
3,941,278 issued March 2, 1976 to Oglander et al, and
4,194,646 issued March 25, 1980 also to Oglander et al.
Whatever the previously known details of label
dispensing apparatus of this type, there have been
limitations on their use. For the label to separate
satisfactorily when the backing tape is bent sharply away
from it, the label itself must have appreciable resllience.
Thus when a label is made of very thin, fine material or is
very soft, it may be possible to bend it at the sharp angle
with the backing tape and fail to separate from it. When a
label operated trigger for stepping the electric motor is
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provided, the label must be of sufficient resllience and be
presented properly to operate the trigger.
In order to feed wide backing tapes posslbly having
several rows of labels thereon, considerable support for the
peeler plate must be provided possibly by mounting each end
of the peeler plate in a support member. The result has
tended to be a heavy machine especially when an electric
motor is included. Lightweight machines for desktop use
have been provided by supporting only one end of the peeler
plate on a support member and dispensing with a support
member distant from the electric motor. This has resulted
in a practical limitation on the length of the peeler plate
and, as a result, the width of the backing tape. This
limitation is greater when the support member is formed from
lightweight plastics material in an attempt to reduce the
overall weight of the machine.
The inventor has attempted to improve the design of
known label dispensing ~h~n~5 mainly by improving the
peeler plate mechanism. Firstly the inventor has attempted
to provide a label dispensing machine in which tilt of the
peeler plate is easily adjustable whereby a label may be
dispensed at an optimum, consistent presentation, and the
feed path of the composite strip comprising the backing
sheet and the labels is ad~ustable for optimum peel off of
the labels. The front edge of the peeler plate is bevelled
to improve the sharpness of the angle for the rearward run
of the backing tape from which the label has been dispensed.
When the label dispenser only has one support member and the
support member is sturdily formed of lightweight metal such
as anodized aluminum. A suitable thickness for a support
member plate may be 1/4 inch.
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The invention will now be described with reference to = -
the following drawings in which:
Figure 1 shows desk top label dispensing apparatus as
known in the art;
Figure 2 shows desk top label dispensing apparatus
according to the invention;
Figure 3 shows a detail of the peeler plate fixing
means of the label dispensing apparatus of Figure 2;
Figure 4A is a sketch showing the peeler plate in one
position and the reel of composite scrip being full;
Figure 4B is a sketch similar to that of Figure 4A but
showing the peeler plate in a different position and the
reel approaching its empty conditioni and
Figure 5 is a working sketch showing another embodiment
of the invention.
The drawings show label dispensing apparatus 10 having
a feed roller 12 carrying a reel 14 of composite strip
comprising backing tape 16 and self adhesive labels 18
temporarily adhered to the backing tape. The label
dispensing apparatus 10 also has a take-up roller 20 driven
through an electric motor 22. The composite strip
comprising backing tape 16 and labels 18 is fed from reel 14
forwardly across peeler plate 24 and then sharply changes
direction through acute angle (I to wind onto take-up roller.
It is important that the longitudinal axis of the tape
remains in the same plane through out the operation. Take-
up roller 20 and feed roller 12 are parallel one with the
other and peeler plate 24 located forwardly of both rollers
may be provided with guide flanges 26 to help keep the
longitudinal axis of the tape in the same plane. A foot 25
is provided for stability
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A further guide may be provided by support wall member :~
28, to which roller 12, take-up roller 20 and peeler plate
24 are all attached. As shown, the rollers 12, 20 and
peeler plate 24 are attached at one end only to one support
wall member 28. For larger machines a second support member
may be provided for the distal end of peeler plate 24. The
support member 28 in such prior art machines may be a rigid
plastics material sheet. For desk top machines a handle
aperture 27 may be punched in a top part of the support.
The peeler plate 24 is provided with a rear roller 30
comprising a tube coaxially about a support rod which
extends through guide flanges 26 of the peeler plate 24 at
each end thereof and, at one end through support member 28.
At the end of rear roller 30 which is mounted on support
member 28, the rear roller 30 is held in position by means
of knurled end cap mating with a screw threaded end of the
rod which projects through support member 28. At the distal
end of rear roller 30 the cylinder may be secured on the rod
by a knurled end cap 34.
A forward roller 36 is provided to locate labels 18
which peel off the backing tape 16. This forward roller 36
is secured by blind nuts 38 in screw threaded engagement
with a rod extending through the roller 36 and guide flanges
26.
lt may be seen that the location of peeler plate 24 may
be adjusted by pivoting the peeler plate 24 on the rear
roller and tightening the knurled knobs to hold it firmly in
place. Tt may also be seen that if the knobs are not
tightened sufficiently the position of the peeler plate may
slip from that at which it is initially set.
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Figure 2 shows a label dispenser according to the
invention and Figure 3 shows detail of the modified mounting
of the peeler plate~in apparatus according to the invention.
Significant advantages may be obtained by such modified
peeler plate mounting. In Figures 2 and 3 similar parts
will be referred to by similar reference numerals to those
of Figure 1 but reference numerals used with reference to
the peeler plate 24 and its mounting are different since
many of the functions are different.
Tn apparatus according to the invention a peeler plate
40 freely pivotally mounted on a support wall member 28 at
the end of a front roller 42 of the peeler plate 40. The
support wall member 28 may be 1/4 inch anodised aluminum
plate and may, for desk top models have a handle aperture
27. The edge of the aperture 27 may be smoothed into a
curve to make it more comfortable for hand carrying.
The pivotal connection of the peeler plate 40 may be by
any convenient means but conveniently comprises a solid
front roller 42 having a stub axle 44 which pro~ects through
a bearing aperture of support 28 and through the adjacent
guide flange 45. The stub axle 44 is provided with an end
cap to prevent accidental withdrawal of the stub axle 44
from the aperture 42 of support 28. The end cap 46 may
conveniently be in the form of a screw threaded cap. A
similar stub axle 44 and end cap 46 may be provided through
the guide flange at the distal end of the roller 42 lodged
in a bearing of the guide flange 45 at said distal end.
The position of the peeler plate may be set by means of
lock nut 48 on bolt 50 which is located in curved slot 52.
The curved slot 52 is curved radially with respect to its
centre which is the axis of stub axle 44. solt 50 may at
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its other end extend lnto a rear roller 51 acting downwardly
on the composite tape.
Peeler plate 40 has a bevelled front edge 41, the sharp
edge of the bevel being uppermost to sharpen the angle
through which the tape 16 must bend in its path to take-up
roller 20. Peeler plate 40 also has an appreciable distance
of plate extending forwardly of forward or pivot roller 42.
Such forward distance of plate may act as guide for a label
and balances pivoting of the plate about forward roller 42.
Since balanced pivoting is possible, a more sturdy peeler
plate may be possible than has been the case for known prior
art apparatus.
The above described arrangement of the peeler plate 40
mounting may allow for ~uick and easy ad~ustment of the
peeler plate. Figures 4A and 4B show the peeler plate 40
ad~usted with its tilt at one angle in Figure 4A when take-
up roller reel 14 is full or nearly full and with its tilt
at a different angle in Figure 4s for use when the take-up
roller is empty or nearly empty. By the use of such
adjustment the angle at which the backing tape is pulled
away from the label can be ad~usted towards a constant value
irrespective of the amount of backing tape wound on the
take-up roller, thus allowing for exact presentation of a
dispensed label in the same orientation whether or not the
feed reel is full or nearly empty. The presentation of the
dispensed label is of importance in operating a trigger 54
for the electric motor 22 to stop feed of the tape 16 when a
label 18 has been dispensed but has not been removed from
the apparatus.
Moreover, since solid rollers may be used the whole
apparatus may be assembled with less parts than the known
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prior art machines resulting ln reduction ln manufacturing
costs.
In the past, operation of the electric motor 22 to stop
its operation intermittently at accurate steps corresponding
to the dispensing of each label has been difficult. Tt has
been so difficult that U.S. Patent No. 4,194,646, referred
to above, described and claimed in manually operated
apparatus to overcome the problems which arose when using
electric motors. Since that time, a practical system for
stepping the electric motor has been devised and is
described below. This system however is very dependent upon
the presentation of the label as it is dispensed.
A practical embodiment of an operating system for
stepping the motor 22 comprises a trigger 54 located on a
pivotal arm 55 on the support 28 and locatable in the path
of a label 18 which is peeling off the backing tape 16 as it
is being dispensed. The trigger 54 is a hair trigger and,
when the label 18 presses against it, moves to stop the
motor 22 and thereby stop rotation of the take-up roller 20
and the movement of the dispensed label 18 is halted with
the label 18 in a position for manual removal and use. When
the label 18 is removed, pressure on the trigger 54 is also
removed and it moves to allow the electric motor 22 to
rotate the take-up roller 20 to dispense another label 18.
It may be seen that presentation of the dispensed label 18
is all important in operation of the trigger 54.
A further illl~lUV~ t offered by the invention is the
provision of a separator strip 57 forward of the forward
roller of the peeler plate. The separator strip 57 may
comprise a narrow sliver of spring steel directed to lightly
touch the surface of the tape 16 just downstream of the
point where separation of the label 18 of the backing tape
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16 is expected in the region of the mid part of the label
but, preferably, the separator strip 57 will extend the
width of the label to act over the entire length of the
front edge of the label. If the label is adhered a little
too firmly to the backing tape and does not start separating
therefore at the point expected, the edge of the label will
encounter the tip of the spring steel sliver which will act
to help it lift from the backing tape.
The spring steel sliver may be an elongate sliver
attached at one end to the forward roller and extending
downwardly and forwardly to gently scrape tape passing
beneath it and to hook or otherwise encourage lifting of the
forward edge of the label 18 passing beneath it. This
sliver may also add guidance to a label which has lifted off
the backing tape 16 so that it is presented to the trigger
54 in a correct and accurate presentation.
Roller 12 may be located on a rearwardly and upwardly
extending leg 56 of support member 28 (see Figure 5). This
may be useful when a large reel is to be used which, on
desktop models, might foul the operation of take-up roller
20. It is also possible to provide various mounting points
58 on the leg 56 on support 20 for feed roller 12 so that
the angle of approach path of composite tape comprising
backing tape 16 and labels 18 may be ad~usted to alter the
value of angle a if desired.
Angle c~ is preferably as sharp as possible but
conveniently may be between say 10 and 45~ up to even
possibly as much as 90~.
