Owens-illinois, Inc.

Clyde F Hadl

Stephen W Amberg

Shepard L Harmon

There is disclosed apparatus for feeding articles, such as bottles, for example, to a machine and includes a conveyor advancing articles past a gate member and into an infeed worm which times and spaces the articles properly for introduction to the machine. The articles are accumulated upstream of the worm on the conveyor and the accumulation detected by a sensor means. The gate is extendable across the conveyor to close and arrest the bottles when an insufficient supply accumulation is sensed. When a sufficient article accumulation occurs, the sensor means enables the gate to retract or open. The opening of the gate is timed by a first proximity switch in circuit with the sensor means so that articles which first pass the gate will be synchronized with the worm and enter it smoothly. If and when articles are in short supply, the sensor means signals to close the gate for again accumulating them. The timing of closing the gate is achieved by a second proximity switch which closes the gate between articles and avoids striking them.

Article infeed gate and control therefor

This invention discloses a method and apparatus for forming a tubular sleeve of a shrinkable cellular polymeric material from a predecorated web. Predecorated neck labels are formed from a web having a pair of cross-dimension score lines in precise location to facilitate flat folding. The neck labels preformed from the web are adapted to overlying the neck and closure of a bottle, for example, to provide a tamper-proof feature. Such labels are formed from a web by cutting a presized blank having, if desired, a partial-depth slit along the longitudinal dimension to provide a parting line, winding the blank on a mandrel while successively forming the score lines in precise location, and then overlapping the ends and seaming the same to make a tubular sleeve having precisely-formed sides adapted to uniform flat-folding. The sleeves are stripped from the forming mandrel, flat-folded and packed into tightly-nested stacks for subsequent use. The sleeves are subsequently opened and applied to the neck and closure of a bottle for heat-shrinking thereon to provide a snug fit. This disclosure pertains to both novel apparatus and method for making the sleeves from a semi-rigid plastic sheet blank and flat-folding the same for later use. The interior score lines are formed successively interiorly during winding of the blank just prior to heat seaming its ends on the same mandrel to ensure precise location of the score lines for flat-folding. The present invention relates to method and apparatus for making labels for containers of heat-shrinkable polymeric material which is preprinted or predecorated in web form and then cut to length into individual blanks for forming presized tubular sleeves. The cut blanks are scored in precise location on a forming mandrel and heat sealed into tubular form on the same mandrel to ensure flat-folding. The sleeves may then be packed in nested condition in a multipack for their application and heat-shrinking onto the neck and closure portion of a container in a subsequent operation. The shrunken label also provides a tamper-proof feature for the container.

Method and apparatus for forming tubular plastic sleeves for flat folding

There is disclosed a control device for a sleeve label forming and applying machine of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,013,496, for labelling bottles, which controls the number of sleeves being fabricated to correspond with the number of bottles going through the machine. The control includes a pivoted switch arm across the bottle path at the outlet from a timing worm loading bottles into the machine. The arm when engaged by a bottle actuates its switch in the control circuit for engaging and disengaging the power drive means operating the supply of the label stock to the sleeve fabricating mechanism of the machine. The first bottle and every bottle into the machine is assured to receive a sleeve label, and the last bottle receives the last sleeve label fabricated.

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Toledo, OH, United States of America

Clyde F Hadl