High-rate label applicator method and apparatus
An auto sort and label (ASL) system includes a conveyor, a controller, a sensor, and a label, print, and apply (LPA) system. The conveyor conveys articles through the ASL system. The sensor is positioned along the conveyor and identifies an article. The controller receives sensor data from the sensor. The LPA is positioned alongside the conveyor and prints labels in sequence with the corresponding article as it travels along the conveyor and applies the labels to the corresponding articles as the article passes the LPA. The controller controls the conveyor such that a gap and/or pitch between a first article and a second article is adjusted to an optimal distance to match the operation capability of the LPA. The controller verifies placement and contents of the label upon the article as defined by sensor data and accepts or rejects the labeled article for further handling based on the verification.
1 . An auto sort and label (ASL) system comprising:
a conveyor configured to convey a plurality of articles through the ASL system, the conveyor having a linear conveying direction and a conveyor length extending along said ASL system;
a sensor array being positioned along the conveyor and extending along the conveyor length and configured to detect and identify each article of the plurality of articles on the conveyor;
a controller configured to receive sensor data from the sensor array and to determine a gap and/or a pitch between adjacent ones of the articles and configured to control the conveyor to dynamically adjust the gap and/or the pitch between adjacent ones of the articles if the determined gap and/or pitch is not within a predefined gap and/or pitch;
a label, print, and apply system (LPA) configured to print and apply a label to each article, wherein the LPA is positioned with respect to the conveyor such that the LPA can interact with the articles upon the conveyor as they pass by;
wherein the conveyor comprises a plurality of individually addressable motorized driven rollers (MDRs) and the controller is configured to individually control the MDRs such that the gap and/or the pitch between adjacent ones of the articles is dynamically adjusted while the articles are conveyed along the linear conveying direction of the conveyor to the LPA to ensure that the label is ready prior to each article arriving at the LPA;
wherein the controller is configured to select a print string for the LPA as defined by the identity of each article, and wherein the LPA is configured to print and apply labels to each respective article as defined by the respective print strings;
wherein the controller is configured to verify placement and contents of each respective label upon each article as defined by the sensor data from the sensor array; and
wherein the controller is configured to accept or reject a labeled article for further handling.
2 . The ASL system of claim 1 , wherein the sensor array comprises a first sensor array and a second sensor array, the first sensor array configured to determine an identity of each article of the plurality of articles, and the second sensor array configured to verify a labeled article.
3 . The ASL system of claim 2 , wherein the first sensor array and the second sensor array are part of a single sensor array.
4 . The ASL system of claim 1 , wherein the conveyor comprises a belted conveyor.
5 . The ASL system of claim 1 , wherein the sensor array comprises a plurality of cameras and/or a plurality of barcode scanners, and/or a plurality of photo eyes.
6 . The ASL system of claim 1 , wherein the LPA comprises a label applicator configured to apply the label to each article by releasing a measured quantity of air to blow the label onto each article.
7 . The ASL system of claim 6 , wherein the controller and/or the LPA is configured to determine whether a current print string matches an article, and wherein the label applicator is configured to blow off the label into the air when the current print string does not match the article.
8 . The ASL system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to direct the conveyor to allow a verified article of the plurality of articles to proceed to further handling.
9 . The ASL system of claim 8 , wherein the controller is configured to direct the conveyor to kick an unverified article of the plurality of articles off the conveyor and into a holding bin for further handling.
10 . The ASL system of claim 1 , wherein the LPA is configured to handle and apply labels onto a wide range of material to be handled (MTBH), wherein the MTBH comprises articles of 3 mm thick padded envelopes that weight under 1 pound up to packages 25 inches tall that weight up to 60 pounds.
11 . The ASL system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to control the conveyor to increase or decrease the gap and/or increase or decrease the pitch between adjacent ones of the articles if the determined gap and/or pitch is not within the predefined gap and/or pitch.
12 . An auto sort and label (ASL) system comprising:
a conveyor configured to convey a plurality of articles through the ASL system, the conveyor comprising a plurality of individually addressable motorized driven rollers (MDRs) and having a linear conveying direction and a conveyor length extending along the ASL system;
a sensor array being positioned along the conveyor and extending along the conveyor length, the sensor array configured to detect and identify each article of the plurality of articles;
a controller configured to receive sensor data from the sensor array and to individually control the MDRs of the conveyor to dynamically adjust a gap and/or a pitch between adjacent ones of the articles based on the sensor array data;
a label, print, and apply system (LPA) configured to print and apply a label to each article of the plurality of articles, wherein the LPA is positioned with respect to the conveyor such that the LPA can interact with the articles upon the conveyor as they pass by in the linear conveying direction;
wherein the controller is configured to select a print string for the LPA as defined by the identity of each article, and wherein the LPA is configured to print and apply the label to each article based on the print string; and
wherein the controller is configured to accept or reject the label or a labeled article for further handling when the controller determines the current gapping and/or pitch between the articles while being conveyed by the conveyor along the linear conveying direction is insufficient for labeling.
13 . The ASL system of claim 12 , wherein the controller and/or the LPA is configured to determine whether the label has been improperly printed, and wherein the LPA is configured to discard the label when the label has been improperly printed before application to the first article.
14 . The ASL system of claim 13 , wherein the LPA comprises a label applicator, and wherein either (i) the LPA is configured to apply the label to an article by releasing a measured quantity of air by the label applicator to blow the label onto the article, or (ii) the label applicator is configured to discard the label into the air when the label has been improperly printed before application to the article.
15 . The ASL system of claim 13 , wherein the controller is configured to control the conveyor such that the gap and/or the pitch between adjacent articles is adjusted to reach a threshold gap.
16 . The ASL system of claim 15 , wherein the controller is configured to determine whether a determined current gap and/or pitch between adjacent articles is sufficient or insufficient for labeling.
17 . The ASL system of claim 16 , wherein the LPA comprises a label applicator, and when the controller determines the current gap and/or pitch between adjacent articles is insufficient for labeling, the label applicator is configured to discard the label.
18 . The ASL system of claim 16 , wherein the controller and/or the LPA is configured to determine whether a current print string matches an article, and wherein when the current print string matches the article, the LPA is configured to print the label based on the current print string, and wherein the LPA is configured to apply the label printed with the current print string to the article.
19 . The ASL system of claim 12 , wherein the controller is configured to kick an unlabeled or mislabeled article of the plurality of articles off the conveyor and into a holding bin for further handling.
20 . The ASL system of claim 12 , wherein when the conveyor comprises a belted conveyor.
21 . The ASL system of claim 12 , wherein the LPA is configured to handle and apply labels onto a wide range of material to be handled (MTBH), wherein the MTBH comprises articles of 3 mm thick padded envelopes that weight under 1 pound up to packages 25 inches tall that weight up to 60 pounds.