Owens-illinois, Inc.

Owens-brockway Glass Container Inc.

Owens-illinois Glass Container Inc.

Russell W Heckman

George A Nickey

Robert C Miller

Robert J Burmeister

Walter E Traxler

Terry C Potter

Marshall G Brummett

Larry P Shiple

James A Herman

James E Taylor

Frederick William Braker

Frank J DiFrank

Roger R Rhoads

Robert F Olsen

John E Poole

Joseph S Koluch

A method of applying a label to a container which includes an intermediate portion of the sidewall thereof which has an annular curved surface wherein the vertical height of the portion having a curved surface is a minor portion of the entire height of the container. A narrow rectangular label of shrinkable material is first provided with one or more longitudinally extending strips of adhesive extending intermediate the longitudinal edges of the label at the area of the label which is to contact the portion of greatest diameter on the curved portion of the container. The strip of adhesive material is shorter than the length of the label so that the adhesive material does not contact the overlapping edges of the label. An adhesive is applied to the trailing edge of the label only and the label is wrapped about the compound curved portion with the adhesive strip engaging the curved portion of the container at the area of greatest diameter. The edges of the label are overlapped and bonded and the overlapped label is then shrunk into position by moving the container and label through an oven. The curved portion of the container may have a compound curvature.

Container having a label applied to a curved portion

A method of applying a label to a container which includes an intermediate portion of the side wall thereof which has an annular curved surface wherein the vertical height of the portion having a curved surface is a minor portion of the entire height of the container. A narrow rectangular label of shrinkable material is first provided with one or more longitudinally extending strips of adhesive extending intermediate the longitudinal edges of the label at the area of the label which is to contact the portion of greatest diameter on the curved portion of the container. The strip of adhesive material is shorter than the length of the label so that the adhesive material does not contact the overlapping edges of the label. An adhesive is applied to the trailing edge of the label only and the label is wrapped about the compound curved portion with the adhesive strip engaging the curved portion of the container at the area of greatest diameter. The edges of the label are overlapped and bonded and the overlapped label is then shrunk into position by moving the container and label through an oven. The curved portion of the container may have a compound curvature.

Method of applying a label to a container having a curved portion

A method and apparatus for forming a shrinkable sleeve of plastic material and applying it as a label to a glass or plastic container. The plastic is fed from a source, cut to successive lengths, wrapped about successive mandrels and sealed to form each sleeve. Thereafter each sleeve is transferred from the mandrel onto an overlying container. The mandrels are circumferentially positioned on a turret, and a combined heat seal bar and tucker bar is associated with each mandrel to bond the overlapping ends of the severed length of plastic material to one another. A stripper transfers each sleeve that has been so formed from a position on the mandrel axially onto an overlying aligned container while the path of the container overlies the respective mandrel for a portion of its movement by the turret.

Apparatus for forming and applying a shrinkable sleeve on a container

An oven for preheating glass containers in which the containers are moved through the oven on a conveyor with the conveyor moving at a linear speed that is in excess of the permitted speed of the container movement. This permits the containers to produce a 'gear effect' rotation of the containers that are guided on the conveyor by side rails that are spaced apart a distance greater than the container diameter. A source of heated air is directed against the shoulder of the container by an adjustable nozzle and another nozzle is directed against the heel so that these areas of the container will be preheated so that the shrinking of a plastic label about the container will be uniform.

Preheat oven for glass containers

A solvent applicating roll, mounted for rotation about its vertical axis for transferring a solvent from etched or gravure areas on the roll surface to plastic labels that are moved into rolling contact with the roll, has its temperature controlled. The roll is formed as a hollow cylinder with heated air fed to the interior thereof to heat the roll to keep the solvent at a working temperature and prevent evaporative cooling of the roll due to solvent evaporating from the surface during operation. The heated air is passed through a distributor that assures the heated air will effectively transfer its heat to the metal roll.

Heated solvent applicating gravure roll

An infrared heat tunnel with hot air circulation for heat shrinking wraparound labels on containers which are moved through the tunnel in an upright attitude on an open weave conveyor belt. The infrared heating is by electrical strip heaters along the sides of the tunnel and air is blown by blowers across these heaters to impinge on the sides of the containers. The air is drawn down through the conveyor belt since the inlet to the blowers is from beneath the conveyor. A vertical air curtain along each side of the first half of the tunnel is adjustable in length to effectively delay the skin shrinkage of the film-foam material of the labels in order to get wrinkle-free shrinkage of the film and underlying foam about the container wall and heel areas without bottle rotation.

Label shrink oven

The present invention relates to method and apparatus for applying a tubular plastic sleeve or label to a rigid base article or container, such as a glass or plastic bottle. The sleeve may be formed immediately prior to its application and be comprised of oriented, heat-shrinkable, thermoplastic material which is telescopically assembled over the container while both are conveyed through a coincidental aligned path. The container preferably consists of a hollow glass or plastic bottle held upright by its neck or finish portion. The tubular sleeve is made slightly larger in diameter than the container body portion. The sleeve is telescoped upwardly over the container body portion and held in aligned relation during its transport through a heat-shrinking tunnel oven. Electrical heat energy having a high level of infra-red energy is employed to heat-shrink the sleeves in a thermoconstrictive operation during such transport, the sleeve being contracted into snug engagement with the container body portion.

Method and apparatus for applying plastic sleeves to containers

The present invention relates to improved apparatus for forming a tubular plastic sleeve immediately prior to its application to a rigid base article, such as a glass or plastic bottle. A rectangular blank of plastic material is wrapped around a cylindrical mandrel and seamed lengthwise thereon to form the tubular sleeve. The mandrel has a plurality of spline-shaped grooves in its curved peripheral surface and a stripper ring mounted to closely surround such peripheral surface to be slidable thereon. The ring has a plurality of internal lugs which slidably fit within the spline-shaped grooves. The mandrel has a lineal array of vacuum ports for retaining the leading and trailing edges of the plastic blank on the mandrel for its wrapping thereon, and an axial resilient strip mounted in the curved peripheral surface of the mandrel for operation of a movable, axially-extending sealing bar thereagainst. A wedge-shaped expansion member is also mounted in a wedge-shaped channel or groove in the mandrel peripheral surface between a pair of spline-shaped grooves. The expansion member is adapted to be moved vertically with respect to the mandrel for contraction of the mandrel diameter to release the newly-formed sleeve for its removal therefrom. The sleeve is then applied to a glass or plastic bottle for heat shrinking thereon in a thermoconstrictive operation. The apparatus is especially adapted to forming a wide range of thicknesses of a variety of heat-shrinkable thermoplastic materials into suitable tubular sleeves for telescopic mounting on such containers in a rapid, efficient manner.

Apparatus for forming tubular plastic sleeves for application to bottles

Organic hygroscopic powders are preconditioned to render them free flowing and to facilitate their electrostatic application to preheated workpieces. The preconditioning technique includes drying the powder prior to electrostatic application to remove moisture and break up agglomerates using a fluidized bed drying process with concurrent mechanical agitation to form a substantially dry, free flowing powder.

Power preconditioning for electrostatic application

This invention relates to a method for producing a composite container having a body label or tubular sleeve mounted thereon adapted to be shrunken onto exterior surface areas of a cylindrical container. The tubular sleeve is preformed of thin flexible thermoplastic material and may be flat-folded until ready for use when it is fully opened and conveyed in axial registry with the container inverted therebeneath. The sleeve preform of heat-shrinkable plastic material is telescopically assembled onto the inverted container while the latter is conveyed through a coincidental aligned path. The container preferably consists of a hollow glass or plastic container held invertedly by its neck portion with the tubular preform made slightly larger in diameter to surround the body and neck portions of the container. The tubular sleeve preform is held fully opened and is then transported downwardly in telescopic relation when in axial alignment with the inverted container. The opened sleeve and upright inverted container are continuously moved in synchronism in a coincidental lineal path for such sleeve mounting in temporary relation on the container body and neck where it is adapted to controlled heat-shrinking in place in permanent conforming arrangement.

Method for assembling plastic sleeve preforms and containers

Apparatus for preconditioning of organic hygroscopic coating powders to render them free flowing and facilitate their electrostatic application to preheated workpieces. The preconditioning technique includes drying the powder prior to electrostatic application to remove moisture and break up agglomerates using a fluidized bed drying process with concurrent mechanical agitation to form a substantially dry, free flowing powder and aspirating powder from the fluidized bed.

Powder dryer including fluidized bed aspirator

A method of heat shrinking a sleeve of pre-oriented polyolefin plastic over the outer surface of a bottle by heating the plastic in annular regions along the height thereof in successive stages while conveyed in vertical upright position along the length of an oven. Infrared radiant heat is directed onto a mid body annular region of the plastic sleeve overlying the large dimension of the bottle. The mid body portion is firmly shrunken around this region of the bottle. Also, the first zone of the oven applies some heat in an upper annular region of the sleeve to soften the plastic thereat and raise its temperature to near the shrinking condition while the bottle and sleeve are rotating at a speed that will hold the upper region opposite the neck of the bottle erect and avoid foldover or collapse. Next, the bottle is conveyed in front of infrared burners in a second control zone of the oven, wherein the radiant heat is directed individually against the upper and lower annular regions of the sleeve. This second zone heating is concentrated to completely shrink the upper portion on the neck and the lower portion over the heel and on the bottom of the bottle, and avoid damage to the surface of the shrunken mid body. High production rates are experienced with the controlled heating, and a superior finish of the plastic wrap over substantially all of the outer surface of the bottle is obtained.

Method of heat shrinking thermoplastic sleeve wraps on glass containers

An apparatus for forming a smooth, even, substantially encapsulating layer of a heat shrinkable polyolefin plastic on a glass container. The body of the container is substantially greater in diameter compared with the neck. A cylindrical sleeve of polyolefin is telescopically placed along the outer surface of the container and the two are conveyed together into a heating oven for shrinking the sleeve snugly over the container. During heating, the polyolefin initially softens and becomes limp such that the sleeve tends to fold over or upon shrinking creates wavy top margins on the shrunken covering. The apparatus provides controlled rotation of the bottle and sleeve in the oven to apply a centrifugal force to the limp plastic which remains erect and billowed outwardly to give the material time to react with the heat such that the sleeve material shrinks into overall even, snug contact about the contour of the container without folds and wrinkles. By way of example, using 14-15 mil foam polyethylene sleeve on the order of 4-5 inch diameter over a bottle having a body diameter 4-5 inch and neck diameter 1-2 inch, the foam being pre-oriented in machine direction (sleeve circumference) 60- 80% and cross dimension 0-15% is subjected to a bottle rotation in the range of 150-300 RPM while immersed in the oven heated by hot air at a ware production rate (speed) of 100-250 BPM.

Apparatus controlling shrinkage of a sleeve wrap on a container

Apparatus for heat shrinking pre-oriented polyolefin plastic sleeves over the outer surface of a glass bottle. The bottles with sleeves in position thereon are gripped and suspended from rotatable chucks spaced along a movable conveyor means extending through an oven. The oven is constructed with a first zone of infrared burners directed at the mid body of the bottles and a succeeding second zone of infrared burners in upper and lower placement are directed at the neck and heel portions of the bottle, respectively. During travel past the burners, the bottles and sleeves are rotated at controlled speed to prevent collapse of the sleeve as it becomes heated. Opposite the burners is an exhaust section of the oven having plural sets of damper means, each set controlling air flow in plural vertically spaced horizontal rows of exhaust ports along the length of the oven. Air is drawn across the oven and over the conveyor chucks to aid directing heat on the sleeves and cool the chucks. The exhaust section includes fan means for drawing air in and over the oven through the ports and to an exhaust stack. The burners are mounted for vertical and angular adjustment with respect to the path of the bottles in the oven. The first zone of burners heats the annular mid part of the sleeve and shrinks that part firmly on the bottle body; and, through the control of exhaust air, some heat is applied to the upper portion of the sleeve, and by the same means, heat is kept from the lower portion. The second zone of burners adds enough heat to shrink the upper part of the sleeve onto the neck of the bottle, plus heat and shrink the plastic in the lower portion of the sleeve onto the heel and bottom of the bottle, but heat is directed so as not to damage the surface of the shrunken mid portion. High production rates are experienced with a relatively short span of oven utilizing the apparatus, and a superior finish of wrap over the outer surface of the bottle is achieved.

Oven apparatus for shrinking thermoplastic sleeve wraps on glass

There is disclosed a method of covering glass containers with a preformed, cylindrical sleeve of a polyethylene or like polyolefin material, or laminates of polyolefins, that are heat shrinkable circumferentially of the sleeve and made from sheet of a foam or a laminate of said plastic material such as a foam-film laminate. Upon application of heat, the sleeve initially softens or becomes limp, and grows or enlarges, such that in its telescopic assembly on the upright bottle it tends to slip from position. The method includes supporting the sleeve from underneath during heating it for shrinkage by conveying the container and sleeve over a water-cooled sleeve support bar extending into the heating device a substantial distance allowing the sleeve to shrink onto the bottle. The sleeve support bar includes a lubricious surface layer adjacent the sleeve. The lubricious layer combined with water cooling maintains support surface below 200.degree. F, preferably below 150.degree. F, and prevents sticking of the plastic on the support.

Growing community of inventors

Perrysburg, OH, United States of America

Russell W Heckman