Tubular label spreader with transfer apparatus
View Patent ↗Apparatus for guiding an opened tubular label from a tube spreader onto a cylindrical object, e.g. a product cylindrical container, being conveyed past the spreader in a manufacturing environment. The spreader is adapted with an array of wires forming a skirt from the lower surface of the spreader to the top of the cylindrical container. The wires are short at the upstream edge of the spreader to not contact the upper surface of the cylindrical container, and long at the downstream edge of the spreader to contact the upper surface of the cylindrical container.
1. Apparatus for opening a flat tubular sleeving and mounting a cut sleeve of the opened tubular sleeving on a cylindrical object being moved along a path perpendicular to an axis of the cut sleeve, comprising:
a. a spreader having a conical first portion and a cylindrical second portion; and
b. a skirt affixed to the cylindrical second portion for guiding the opened sleeving onto the cylindrical object, the skirt comprising a segment having a length that extends into the path of the cylindrical object such that the cylindrical object contacts the segment and deflects the segment as the cylindrical object moves along the path.
2. The apparatus described in claim 1 , wherein the segment extends in a direction substantially parallel to an axis of the spreader from the second portion of the spreader to a position to contact a proximal portion of the cylindrical object.
3. The apparatus described in claim 1 , wherein the segment comprises a plurality of elongated transfer members spaced apart from each other about a periphery of the cylindrical second portion.
4. The apparatus described in claim 3 , wherein the transfer members comprise a plurality of wire members.
5. The apparatus described in claim 2 , wherein the segment comprises a plurality of elongated transfer members spaced apart from each other about a periphery of the cylindrical second portion.
6. The apparatus described in claim 5 , wherein the transfer members comprise a plurality of wire members.
7. The apparatus described in claim 1 , wherein the segment is a first segment having a first length, the skirt further comprising a second segment having a second length that is shorter than the first length.
8. The apparatus described in claim 3 , wherein the plurality of elongated transfer members is a first number of the transfer members having a first length, the skirt further comprising a second number of elongated transfer members having a second length that is shorter than the first length.
9. The apparatus described in claim 7 , wherein the second segment is sized to remain out of contact with the cylindrical object and the first segment is sized to contact the cylindrical object.
10. The apparatus described in claim 9 , wherein the first segment of the skirt is sized to contact a length of the cylindrical object substantially equal to 3.0 mm (⅛ inch).
11. The apparatus described in claim 1 , wherein a length of the cylindrical second portion of the spreader plus a length of the skirt is equal to or less than a length of the cut sleeve.
12. The apparatus described in claim 1 , wherein the skirt is circular in cross section.
13. Apparatus for opening a flat tubular sleeving and mounting an opened portion of the tubular sleeving on an object being moved along a path, comprising:
a. a spreader positioned above the path, the spreader having an upper portion and a lower portion, the upper portion shaped to open the flat tubular sleeving as the flat tubular sleeving moves downward over the upper portion, the lower portion shaped to hold the tubular sleeving in open form; and
b. a skirt extending downward from the lower portion for guiding the opened portion of the tubular sleeving onto the object, the skirt formed by a plurality of spaced apart members, wherein a first number of spaced apart members have a first length and a second number of spaced apart members have a second length that is longer than the first length.
14. The apparatus described in claim 13 , wherein at least a first one of the second number of spaced apart members has a downward extending length that causes the first one member to be contacted by the object moved along the path.
15. The apparatus described in claim 14 , wherein at least a second one of the first number of spaced apart members has a downward extending length that causes the object moved along the path to pass beneath the second one member without contacting the second member, wherein the second one member is positioned upstream of the first one member relative to a movement direction of the object.
16. The apparatus described in claim 13 , wherein the plurality of spaced apart members are elongated transfer members spaced apart about the periphery of the lower portion, the transfer members capable of flexing relative to the lower portion of the spreader.
17. Apparatus for opening a flat tubular sleeving and mounting an opened portion of the tubular sleeving on an object being moved along a path, comprising:
a. a spreader positioned above the path, the spreader having an upper portion and a lower portion, the upper portion shaped to open the flat tubular sleeving as the flat tubular sleeving moves downward over the upper portion, the lower portion shaped to hold the tubular sleeving in open form; and
b. a skirt extending downward from the lower portion for guiding the opened portion of the tubular sleeving onto the object, the skirt having a length that contacts the object as the object is moved along the path to flex the skirt relative to the lower portion of the spreader as the object moves thereby.
18. The apparatus described in claim 17 , wherein the skirt is formed by a plurality of spaced apart transfer members.