Ink-jet system for marking pellet-shaped articles
First Claim
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1. An apparatus for marking indicia on pellet-shaped articles, comprising:
- a feed hopper for receiving a plurality of said articles;
conveyor means operatively associated with said feed hopper for receiving said articles from said feed hopper and within a plurality of article receiving pockets, and for conveying said received articles through said apparatus; and
means for applying said indicia to said articles, operatively associated with sloping portions of said conveyor means to apply said indicia as said articles pass said indicia applying means, without coming into contact with surfaces of said articles, and including a guide and a printing device operatively associated with said guide, wherein said guide includes a slot for permitting communication between said printing device and articles conveyed by said conveyor means, wherein said guide overlies said sloping portions of said conveyor means so that said articles contained within said article receiving pockets are caused to contact said guide to position portions of said articles against said guide and in alignment with said slot to position said articles at a spaced distance from said printing device, and wherein said articles receiving pockets include means for drawing said articles into contact with said guide to position said portions of said articles against said guide for the application of said indicia.
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Abstract
A pellet marking device which does not rely upon contact between the marking device and the pellets to be marked in the course of its operation makes use of a system for carrying the pellet-shaped articles to be imprinted, and an ink-jet system for applying the indicia to the articles as the articles are carried through the apparatus.
102 Citations
61 Claims
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1. An apparatus for marking indicia on pellet-shaped articles, comprising:
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a feed hopper for receiving a plurality of said articles; conveyor means operatively associated with said feed hopper for receiving said articles from said feed hopper and within a plurality of article receiving pockets, and for conveying said received articles through said apparatus; and means for applying said indicia to said articles, operatively associated with sloping portions of said conveyor means to apply said indicia as said articles pass said indicia applying means, without coming into contact with surfaces of said articles, and including a guide and a printing device operatively associated with said guide, wherein said guide includes a slot for permitting communication between said printing device and articles conveyed by said conveyor means, wherein said guide overlies said sloping portions of said conveyor means so that said articles contained within said article receiving pockets are caused to contact said guide to position portions of said articles against said guide and in alignment with said slot to position said articles at a spaced distance from said printing device, and wherein said articles receiving pockets include means for drawing said articles into contact with said guide to position said portions of said articles against said guide for the application of said indicia. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 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, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59)
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5. The apparatus of clam 2 wherein said ink-jet printing device uses an FDA-approved ink.
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60. A process for marking indicia on pellet-shaped articles, comprising the steps of:
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providing means for conveying said articles through said apparatus; feeding articles from a feed hopper to a plurality of article receiving pockets associated with said conveying means; conveying said articles along sloping portions of said conveying means which include a guide and a printing device operatively associated with said guide, wherein said guide includes a slot for permitting communication between said printing device and articles conveyed by said conveying means, and wherein said guide overlies said sloping portions of said conveying means so that said articles contained within said article receiving pockets are permitted to contact said guide; drawing said articles into contact with said guide, causing said articles contained within said article receiving pockets to contact said guide to position portions of said articles against said guide and in alignment with said slot to position said articles at a spaced distance from said printing device; and applying said indicia to said articles as said articles are conveyed along said sloping portions of said conveying means, without coming into contact with surfaces of said articles. - View Dependent Claims (61)
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Specification