DEVICES AND METHODS FOR APPLYING ADHESIVE LINER-LESS SECURITY LABELS TO ARTICLES
First Claim
1. A label application system for applying liner-less labels comprising adhesive tape to passing articles on a conveyor, comprising:
- a dispenser for dispensing adhesive tape;
a vacuum drive belt unit comprising a drive belt onto which the adhesive tape dispensed by the dispenser is received and retained, the adhesive tape being received onto the drive belt so that its non adhesive side contacts the drive belt and its adhesive side faces up, the adhesive tape being retained on the drive belt by vacuum fans beneath the drive belt;
a print head for printing information on the adhesive side of the tape as it passes adjacent to the print head;
a cutter for cutting the tape; and
an applicator for applying the printed, cut portion of tape onto an article passing on the conveyor.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A liner-less seal application system is programmed to generate a real time seal, the serial number of which is data-matched with product label data on an approaching article. The image is printed onto the adhesive surface of the sealing tape. A vacuum drive belt has both low and high vacuum sections to assist in moving the sealing tape along a vacuum drive belt toward the print head. The real-time seal is printed while the belt drive indexes the tape, and the cutting action is done while the system collects data and the belt drive is stationary. There is only one stepper motor employed to drive the vacuum belt. The vacuum belt drive pulls the tape from the unwind assembly and feeds the tape through the print head and onto the vacuum drum applicator. A perforator device bursts perforation across the round element of the seal image, as an anti-tampering measure.
4 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A label application system for applying liner-less labels comprising adhesive tape to passing articles on a conveyor, comprising:
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a dispenser for dispensing adhesive tape; a vacuum drive belt unit comprising a drive belt onto which the adhesive tape dispensed by the dispenser is received and retained, the adhesive tape being received onto the drive belt so that its non adhesive side contacts the drive belt and its adhesive side faces up, the adhesive tape being retained on the drive belt by vacuum fans beneath the drive belt; a print head for printing information on the adhesive side of the tape as it passes adjacent to the print head; a cutter for cutting the tape; and an applicator for applying the printed, cut portion of tape onto an article passing on the conveyor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A label application system for applying liner-less security seals comprising adhesive tape to passing articles on a conveyor, comprising:
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a dispenser for dispensing adhesive tape; a drive belt onto which the adhesive tape dispensed by the dispenser is received and retained, the adhesive tape being received onto the drive belt so that its non adhesive side contacts the drive belt and its adhesive side faces up; a controller having a processor for directing the operation of the system; a reader adjacent to the conveyor for reading a product label disposed on a face of an article to be sealed, and transmitting the read information to the processor; a print head for printing information on the adhesive side of the tape as it passes adjacent to the print head; a cutter for cutting the tape; and an applicator for applying the printed, cut portion of tape onto an article passing on the conveyor. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method of applying tamper-resistant seals to passing articles, comprising:
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advancing a length of adhesive tape along a feedpath onto a vacuum drive belt, the tape having an adhesive side and a non-adhesive side, wherein the adhesive side contacts the vacuum drive belt and the non-adhesive side faces upwardly; reading information contained on a product label disposed on an article approaching a seal applicator and transmitting that information to a processor; using the information from the product label obtained by the reading step to cause the processor to generate information specific to the approaching article and to transmit that information to a print-head; using the print head to apply the specific information generated by the processor to a portion of the adhesive side of the tape as it passes adjacent to the print head; cutting the printed portion of the tape from a remaining length of tape, and feeding the cut portion to an applicator; and applying the cut and printed portion of the tape to the approaching article. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification