Machine For Selectively Cutting And Gluing Address Labels

Abstract

Apparatus for cutting address labels from a band is provided comprising means for changing the length of the address labels. The band is mounted on a drive unit adapted to intermittently move the band to a perforating area and a cutting area where labels are cut from the band. A ratchet wheel assembly is connected to the drive unit to control the length of each intermittent movement to thereby control the cutting operation and the length of the labels. In addition to the foregoing, the instant invention also comprises means for automatically glueing the cut labels and applying them after they have been cut from the band.

Description

The present invention deals with such machines for gluing addresses having feeding elements with catchers, such as teeth, pins or like to move in sequences, address lists bands, such as addresslist bands printed by a computer, and having on their edges transport holes for the catchers to stick into, and address list addresses printed across the band forming two or more lengthwise rows of addresses, separated from each other across the band by spaces, and at the same time forming crosswise lines of two or more addresses which lines are separated from each other along the band by even spaces, where during each transport sequence elements for cutting mentioned edgings are cutting off these edgings from the proceeding end of the band and perforating elements perforate the band lengthwise at the spaces separating the rows of addresses as the band is proceeding, and where at the end of each transport sequence a cutting knife immediately cuts off an address line strip, free of edgings and with perforations, containing the first address line which has passed the mentioned knife at the spaced across the band, while the mentioned strip has a width equal to the distance the band is proceeding during each transport sequence, and which gluing machine has, across the mentioned list band, a track where address line strips are falling, and elements for detaching separate address tickets, one at a time, from the address line strip at perforations, for taking glue to the bottom of separated address tickets and for pressing so processed tickets onto products.

Machines for gluing addresses, known so far, and working as mentioned, have a disadvantage because the list band has to run along rather a winding and at the same time tight track. This makes it difficult to feed the list band into the machine and also to adjust its running so that the list band is always cut by the cutting knife at the right place. These machines also have a disadvantage because they can be used for gluing address tickets having only a certain width that the machine is built for. Due to this it is necessary to use a separate machine unit for each different ticket width, which essentially adds to the running costs, of course. Besides this, trouble at the gluing end of the machine, for instance, can cause trouble at the same time in the feeding of the list band.

An object of the present invention is to eliminate mentioned disadvantages and to provide also other improvements.

The machine for gluing addresses, according to the invention, is characterised mainly in that feeding chains or like, with catchers, running around endless tracks, in vertical planes along the address list band, one at each edging of the list band, opposite each other, are acting as feeding elements for the address list band.

The invention and its characteristics will be illustrated with the description of accompanying drawings where only one application has been described, in which drawings:

FIG. 1 shows a side view of the gluing machine,

FIG. 2 shows a section along the line A--A in FIG.1,

FIG. 3 shows, in a larger scale, from above the ratchet wheel device belonging to the address list band transporting device,

FIG.4 shows a side view of that end of the gluing machine where address line strips are handled, and,

FIG. 5 shows, from above, the end of the gluing machine that is shown in FIG. 4.

Number 4 refers to feeding chains, which are feeding the address list band 1, and are provided, in a known way, with pin-like catchers, running around endless tracks in vertical planes along the list band each on its own side, guided by guide wheels 24 and 25. Guide wheels 25, which are fitted with a fixed mounting on their common shaft 26, act at the same time as driving wheels for chains 4. The distances between catchers 55 are equal to the distances between transport holes 56 on the edgings 54 of the list band 1, in this case the distance is half an inch. One of the feeding chains 4 with its guide wheels, in this case the one on the left when looking towards the running direction of the list band, is movable crosswise according to the width of the list band.

To cut off edging 54 from the list band 1 coming from feeding chains 4 and to perforate the list band along the spaces between the rows of addresses, in this case four rows, cutting knives 5 and perforating elements 6 are mounted, in a known way, behind the feeding chains 4. The cutting knives are movable according to the width of the list band 1, and the perforating elements are movable according to the length of the address tickets separated from the list band, movability is provided in a known way.

To cut off address line strips 60, which are free from edgings 54 and perforated, and in this case each having four addresses next to each other, a cutting knife 9 has been mounted behind the cutting knives 5 and the perforating elements 6.

The elements working along the list band 1 are driven by a transmission shaft 27, which is linked to the main shaft of the gluing machine (not shown in drawings) with suitable transmission elements. Power is transmitted from the transmission shaft 27 to wheels 25 driving the feeding chains 4, through an eccentric 46, slewing brackets 45, 44, 43, ratchets 23a, 23b, a ratchet wheel 22, freely mounted with bearings on a shaft 57, a chain wheel 30, freely mounted with bearings on the same shaft 57 and running together with the ratchet wheel 22, a chain 40 and a chain wheel 42, fitted with a fixed mounting onto the shaft 26 of the driving wheel 25. The common pin 58 of ratchets 23a, 23b and the slewing bracket 43, is on a plate-like arm 29, which at one end is freely mounted with bearings on the shaft 57 of the ratchet wheel 22. The chain 40 also runs over a chain wheel 41, fitted with a fixed mounting on the common lower shaft 31 of cutting knives 5 and perforating elements 6, to run these knives and elements are placed only on one side of the list band, as shown in FIG. 2.

To make it possible to use the same machine for addresses with different widths, in these cases for 1 inch and 11/2inches wide addresses, the ratchet wheel 22 can be linked with two ratchets of different lengths, one longer ratchet 23 a reaches the full length of the teeth of the ratchet wheel, but the other shorter ratchet 23b only half of the length of the teeth.

To set the desired address width or to move feeding chains 4 by hand when feeding in the list band and ajusting, a selector screw 7b has been fitted on one end of the ratchet wheel shaft 57, this selector screw 7b links, through known selector elements, in one turning position only the longer ratchet 23a with the ratchet wheel 22, in a second turning position only the shorter ratchet, 23b into similar action and in a third turning position disconnects the ratchets from the ratchet wheel for adjusting the feeding chains by hand.

When running through a list band having 1 wide addresses, for instance the selector screw 7b is turned into such a position that the shorter ratchet 23b alone is linked with the ratchet wheel. When, during each transport sequence, the transmission shaft 27 now turns the eccentric 46 one rotation, into the direction shown by the arrow in FIG. 1, the ratchet wheel also turns through the slewing brackets 45, 44, 43 and the ratchet 23a. In the meantime the feeding chains 4 and with them the list band also move the distance of two hole spacings or 1 inch forward. When running an address width of 11/2inches, the longer ratchet 23a is linked with the ratchet wheel and during one rotation of the eccentric 46 the ratchet wheel turns more while the list band moves the distance of three hole spacings or 11/2inches forward.

At the end of the machine there is a track across the list band, formed by a table 10, where the address line strips 60, cut off from the list band 1, are falling. The table 10 is extended by a gluing shoe 14, reaching from below to the level of the table, working in a known way, with a gluing roller 17, and under the gluing shoe 14 there is a feeding track 59 for the products to be glued, for envelopes, for instance.

In this case at the first address of the address strip 60 there is a crosswise transfer roller 11, which is slightly protruding above the table level from the gap in the table 10, and a counter roller 13 which can be raised or lowered and at its lower position forms together with the transfer roller a ransfer element for the address strip 60. The counter roller 13 is mounted with bearings on a shaft extending crosswise from one end of a double-armed lever 32 turning in a vertical plane along the table 10. At the other end of this lever 32 there is a crosswise roller 33 through which a lever 34, mounted with bearings on a vertical support 37, can be pressed against a spring force downwards so that a braking element, a rubber shoe 16, for instance, at the free end of the lever, is pressed against the address strip 60 on the table 10, at the second address on the strip. The table 10 also has, as suction element 12, a suction pipe ending below at the table level, and preventing the address strip, when free, from following the transfer roller 11. On the outer side of the table there is also a counter strip or like 35 against the table, movable accross the table, according to the width of the address strip 60. On the path of the address strip 60, at the second address of the strip, there is a feeler 18, having one feeling point at the free end of the arm 34 and the other feeling point on the level of the table 10. When the last address of the address strip has been removed from the table, these points can touch each other when the breaking element 16 falls down to its lower positon and they give an impulse to a switch solenoid 19, which immediately starts the transmission shaft 27 driving the feeding chains 4, in order to drop a new address strip, with perforations and free from edgings, cut off from the list band, onto the table 10.

The double-armed lever 32, through which the address strip is handled on the table 10, is put into motion through an eccentric 53, rotating with a transmission shaft 38, the eccentric is linked with the lever 32 through slewing brackets 50 and 51 and a roller 52, crosswise at the lower end of the vertical fork of bracket 51, as shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5. While the eccentric 53 is rotating with the shaft 38 in the direction shown by an arrow in FIG. 4, the lever 32 is in the position shown in FIG. 4, when the roller 52 is touching the surface 47 of the eccentric, but when the roller 52 is touching the surface 48 the lever 32 is in the horisontal position. When the roller 52 is touching the surface 49 the lever 32 is pressing the breaking element 16 into its lower position. At the end of the shaft 38 there is a adjusting knob 7a, through which the surfaces 49 and 47 of the eccentric can be turned in relation to each other, according to the length of the address ticket.

The feeding of the list band into the gluing machine and the functioning of the gluing machine is illustrated by following:

A pair of guiding rods 2 is first turned into its lower position so that its upper rod comes into a postion shown with a broken line in FIG. 1, then the list band 1 is threaded, starting from last end, upside down, through the rods and is brought to feeding chains 4 so that in both chains the first two suitable pins 55 in the upper part of the chain are sticking through corresponding transport holes 56, and at the same time the movable one of chains 4 is moved with its guiding wheels across the list band according to its width. Then the cutting knives 5 for edgings 54 and the perforating elements 6 (three pairs in FIG. 2), are set so that separate address tickets will all be the same length. The adjusting knob 7a is set according to the length of the address ticket and the list band is fed by hand while the selector knob 7b is turned into the position for this kind of feeding. If the width of the addresses is 1 inch, the band is fed until two hole spacings have passed cutting knife 9, which cuts off an address line strip, free from edgings and perforated, from the band. In order to provide a counter force for cutting knives 5 and perforating elements 6, a spring 3 has been fitted in the gluing machine so that while the pair of rods 2 is in the working position the spring 3 is pressing the band aginst the upper rod. If it is found that the cutting has not been done in the right place, the feeding chains 4 can be cut off from the transmission by a fine-adjusting knob 8 and set so that the cutting blade is cutting the band in the right places. When the knob 7b for adjusting the width of the address is set at the mark 1 inch, the list band is ready to be cut into address line strips 60.

As soon as the list band 1 is fed the cutting knife 9 cuts off an address line strip, free from edgings, perforated and with four addresses, immediately after the cutting the strip falls onto the table 10, so that the first address of the strip comes on the transfer roller 11. While the lever 32 is now in the horizontal position, the suction element 12 is holding the strip on the table so that it does not follow the transfer roller. When the counter roller 13 falls down into the lower position against the transfer roller 11, these rollers together start moving the address strip forward and move it until the front edge of the strip is slightly sticking over the point where the front edge 31 of the gluing shoe 14 is in its highest position during the rotation of the shoe 14. In this position the strip is pressed between the gluing shoe and a tearing roller 15 above the shoe, and at the same time the counter roller 13 moves into its higher position and the breaking element 16 falls down from its higher position into its lower positon to hold the address strip at the following address so that while the gluing shoe 14 is rotating the first address ticket is torn off at the perforation and then brought with the gluing shoe to be handled further by the shoe in a known way. When the gluing shoe returns to its higher position again the counter roller 13 has pressed again the address strip, now only with three addresses, between the counter roller and the transfer roller 11, to move the address strip again, to tear off an address from the strip and to handle it further as mentioned earlier, repeating the mentioned steps until the last, in this case the fourth, address of the strip has been transferred from the table 10.

If there is trouble in the feeding of the products where the address tickets are to be glued on, so that the product is not on its feeding path 59 in a certain position for the gluing of the address ticket at a certain moment, the address ticket would then go onto the surface of the feeding path 59 and would be wasted. Due to this a photo cell device has been fitted in this place so that when trouble occurs the device gives an impulse to a breaking solenoid 20, which has at the end of its core an arm 21 which, through a pine 39 in the slewing bracket 51, prevents the counter roller 13 from falling into its lower position and so the address strip from moving forward until the product is again in the right position at the right moment.

The invention is not limited to what is said above about it and what is illustrated in the drawings, but the elements for the transport and the adjusting of the list band, for instance, as well as the elements that are used for adjusting the machine to run a different strip width, can, in their construction and functioning, differ from what is shown in the drawings and what is said before about the invention. Further, a photo cell device can be used as a feeler on the strip table, instead of the feeler points 18. Also the elements for selecting the width of the address strip can be made so that even three different strip widths can be selected.

Claims

I claim:

1. Machine for gluing address labels from address list bands and having feeding elements for moving said address list bands, said bands having transport holes on the lengthwise edges and having addresses printed across the band; said band having two or more lengthwise rows of addresses separated from each other across the band by spaces, and crosswise lines of two or more addresses, said crosswise lines of addresses being separated from each other along the band by spaces, means for cutting off the lengthwise edges after said address list band has moved a selected distance, means for cutting off address line strips after said lengthwise edgings have been cutoff, a track for receiving said line strips and means for detaching separate labels from said address line strips, means for applying glue to the bottom of the detached address label and means for pressing the glued label onto a surface, said feeding elements being mounted on feeding chains which are in turn mounted on a pair of endless tracks in vertical planes along the address list band, said endless tracks being positioned one at each side of said address list band; means for adjusting the length of the cut labels, the length adjusting means comprising a ratchet wheel, a plurality of ratchets of different lengths and means for placing a selected one of said ratchets in contact with said ratchet wheel; means for connecting the endless track for movement with said ratchet wheel, said ratchet wheel and endless track being moveable a selected amount by the one said ratchet to control the length of the label to be cut.