Apparatus for conveying and marking pellet-shaped articles
First Claim
1. An apparatus for applying indicia to pellet-shaped articles, comprising:
- a feed hopper for containing a plurality of said articles;
drum means operatively associated with said feed hopper, for receiving articles from said feed hopper and for orienting said articles to receive said indicia;
conveyor means operatively associated with said drum means, for receiving said oriented articles from said drum means;
wherein the outer surface of said drum means includes a plurality of article receiving cavities which are radially grouped in circumferential rows spaced along the outer surface of said drum means such that different rows of said drum means are provided with different shaped cavites to receive different shaped articles therein;
wherein said drum means and said conveyor means combine to transport said articles along a transport path; and
first and second printing means operatively associated with said apparatus at different locations along said transport path.
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Abstract
An article marking apparatus which generally includes a transfer drum for receiving a series of articles from a feed hopper, for transfer to a conveyor system, and a pair of printing heads associated with the article marking apparatus at different locations along the path through which the articles progress. One printing head is positioned along the arcuate transfer path developed as the articles progress about the transfer drum, so as to apply indicia to one side of the articles being processed as they traverse the transfer drum. The other printing head is positioned along the conveyor system, so as to apply indicia to the other side of the articles being processed as they traverse the conveyor system. As a result, indicia are capable of being applied to both sides of the articles being processed in a single processing operation.
To permit the application of indicia to different types of articles with a minimum amount of set-up and readjustment, the transfer drum preferably incorporates series of laterally spaced, yet differently configured rows of article receiving cavities; and a vacuum shoe which is capable of variable positioning along the inner face of the transfer drum so as to select the rows or groupings of rows of cavities which are to be called into operation, and accordingly, the type of articles which are to be processed.
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Citations
40 Claims
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1. An apparatus for applying indicia to pellet-shaped articles, comprising:
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a feed hopper for containing a plurality of said articles; drum means operatively associated with said feed hopper, for receiving articles from said feed hopper and for orienting said articles to receive said indicia; conveyor means operatively associated with said drum means, for receiving said oriented articles from said drum means; wherein the outer surface of said drum means includes a plurality of article receiving cavities which are radially grouped in circumferential rows spaced along the outer surface of said drum means such that different rows of said drum means are provided with different shaped cavites to receive different shaped articles therein; wherein said drum means and said conveyor means combine to transport said articles along a transport path; and first and second printing means operatively associated with said apparatus at different locations along said transport path. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. An apparatus for applying indicia to pellet-shaped articles, comprising:
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a feed hopper for containing a plurality of said articles; drum means operatively associated with said feed hopper, for receiving articles from said feed hopper and for orienting said articles to receive said indicia, wherein said drum means includes an inner and an outer surface; a plurality of cavities formed in the outer surface of said drum means, for receiving said articles therein, and in communication with the inner surface of said drum means, wherein said cavities are radially grouped in a plurality of circumferential rows spaced along the outer surface of said drum means; and a vacuum head in sliding, vacuum sealing engagement with the inner surface of said drum means and including at least one circumferential slot alignable with at least one row of said cavities; wherein said vacuum head is laterally slidable relative to said drum means so that said slot is selectively alignable with different rows of said cavities. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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Specification