Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture – Surface bonding means and/or assembly means therefor – With cutting – punching – piercing – severing – or tearing
Reexamination Certificate
1999-04-19
2001-05-22
Gray, Linda L. (Department: 1734)
Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture
Surface bonding means and/or assembly means therefor
With cutting, punching, piercing, severing, or tearing
C156S302000, C156S355000, C156S358000, C156S565000, C156S570000, C156S571000, C156S572000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06234230
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a device for the continuous application of self-adhesive handles to moving articles.
Conventional devices are mounted on a frame and include: means for supporting a spool of adhesive tape on one face, means for guiding the tape to a handle application station, a station that applies a section of non-adhesive tape or a label to the adhesive surface of the tape to form the gripping area of each handle with regular spacing, and at the application station, a paddle rotating about a horizontal, transverse axis that is disposed above the trajectory of the articles moving on a conveyor belt. The paddle is connected to drive means that can cause it to pivot one half-turn synchronously with movement of an article from a vertical position in which its lower part is in the trajectory of the articles and its face that supports the tape faces upstream, and being provided with holding means that temporarily and/or sequentially connect each of its lengthwise faces with the handle formed at the end of adhesive tape to pull this tape and apply its non-adhesive back to said lengthwise face, and, additionally, cooperates with means for cutting the end handle off the tape.
With such a conventional device, when an article comes in contact with the lower end of the vertically disposed paddle and presenting the non-cut handle of the adhesive tape and disposed with its adhesive face facing the moving article, a detector causes the paddle to rotate one half-turn. After the adhesive end of the handle has been applied to the downstream face of the article, upstream tilting of the paddle, during which tilting said paddle assumes a horizontal position above the article before returning to the vertical position just behind the article, guides the wrapping of the handle while bringing and applying the other adhesive end of this handle against the upstream face of the article.
Simultaneously, rotation of the paddle unwinds the adhesive tape and brings the next handle against the other lengthwise face of the paddle, namely against the face which, at the end of the cycle, points upstream.
As soon as the paddle has become vertical once again, the upstream end of the handle applied to the article is cut from the adhesive tape to enable the object to continue its movement.
Such a device is described in European Patent 560,699 in the name of the applicant according to which each end of the paddle has means for holding the adhesive tape, but also cutting means. The holding means are comprised of levers oscillating in the traverse plane and coming together to grip the tape in order to pull the tape and to form a counter-blade cooperating with the cutter blade that cuts the tape.
In the absence of regular maintenance and replacement of the two knives as soon as they become dull, this arrangement causes operating mishaps requiring production downtime. Typical mishaps are insufficient cutting, excessive adhesion of the tape to the clamp, fouling of the cutting means, and tearing off of the applied handle.
Another drawback of this device is that it requires precise adjustments of the timing means for the movements of the clamps and the movements of the knives.
Finally, the arrangement, at each end of the paddle, of the holding and cutting mechanisms with their drive means causes weights and inertias that limit the rotational speed of the paddle and, in any event, do not allow it to function satisfactorily at the high speeds now required, which are on the order of 80 to 100 articles/minute.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention provides a device that simplifies and lightens the structure of the paddle and eliminates cutting mishaps while allowing the device to function at higher speeds.
The device, according to the invention, provides cutting means that include, on each of the two ends of the paddle, a transverse cylinder reversing the adhesive tape, the cylinder being spaced from the end of the paddle to which it is connected by a lateral support, and by a transverse cutting blade supported by the frame and disposed such that it becomes inserted between the cylinder and the end of the paddle that is upstream of the trajectory of the objects, when said paddle is substantially horizontal, while the holding means are comprised of two clamps supported by the paddle and disposed lengthwise on either side of and near the rotational axis of the paddle, each clamp cooperating with means disposed outside the paddle and controlling its movements between a holding position, in which it holds part of the adhesive tape provided with the label on the corresponding lengthwise face of the paddle, and a retracted position in which the clamp is transversely remote from the aforesaid face to enable the adhesive tape to be placed on the article.
Thus, separation of the handle from the rest of the tape takes place outside of the transfer area and before the transfer to the moving object, by means of a knife assuming a fixed position at this time and the cylinder provided at the end of the paddle forming a counter-blade. When the cut takes place, the cut-off end of the tape remains applied to the face of the paddle by the movement thereof until the adhesive part comes in contact with the downstream face of the next moving article. Before cutting, the section of adhesive tape to be applied to the article is connected to the paddle by actuation of a clamp.
This device, which uses the energy of the paddle to bring about cutting relative to a fixed knife, and holds the adhesive tape in its area covered by the label, eliminates all cutting problems and problems resulting from the sticking of the adhesive to the clamps, thus ensuring proper functioning of the application operation.
The arrangement of clamps on either side of a rotating shaft of the paddle reduces inertia and enables the paddle to be subjected to greater accelerations and declarations without needing to be oversized to withstand the kinetic energy.
These and other objects of the invention will be described in or be apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiment.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5458726 (1995-10-01), Castoldi
patent: 0 560 699 B1 (1993-09-01), None
patent: 870148 (1961-06-01), None
patent: 94/12395 (1994-06-01), None
Cefma Company
Gray Linda L.
Oliff & Berridg,e PLC
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