Rolled Label Strip Cassette

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a portable type label applying apparatus for delaminating printed labels, which are temporarily adhered in series to a web of backing paper, and for applying the labels to articles. More particularly, the present invention relates to a rolled label strip cassette for use in such an apparatus.

2. Description of the Prior Art

For applying labels of the above-specified type in a supermarket, or the like, a portable type label printing and applying machine which is usually called a hand labeler is used. The hand labeler is comprised of: a holding unit for holding a rolled up composite label web, which web is comprised of unprinted labels temporarily adhered in series to their backing paper web; a printing unit for printing the labels; a feed unit for feeding the label web; and a delaminating unit for delaminating the printed labels from the backing paper of that composite label web to feed the labels out of the hand labeler. Thus, the printing, feeding and delaminating operations are manually performed, and the delaminated labels are applied by adhering them to articles.

This hand labeler is used to applying the printed labels to goods, mainly at a sales counter at which the goods are displayed. Printing and applying of the bar codes for POS systems have spread in recent years. However, some problems arise.

1. Since the printed bar codes are read out by means of an optical reader, strict accuracy is required for the widths and spacings of those bar codes. However, the type of simplified printing head that is mounted in a hand labeler might fail to accurately print bar codes due to constructional errors or due to excessive or insufficient ink being applied to the surfaces of the types by means of an ink roller. As a result, printed bar codes on labels are frequently incorrectly read out by optical readers.

2. A printing head for printing bar codes is necessarily larger than a printing head for printing human readable characters, due to the size relationship of the standardized bar codes. As a result, the size and weight of bar code printing hand labelers are so enlarged as to make the hand labeler difficult to handle and as to increase the fatigue of the operator.

3. Check digits are required for the bar codes. It is, however, difficult for a hand labeler to have the function of automatically calculating check digits because of the restrictions on its size and construction. Therefore, the check digits must be separately calculated, one by one, and then be set in the printing head.

In view of the aforementioned problems with bar code printing hand labelers, there is the practice in which after the composite label web is printed by means of a desk type printer, the printed labels are manually peeled one by one from the backing paper of the composite label web and are applied to goods. However, this manual method remarkably reduces the label applying speed and this deteriorates the working efficiency. Further, the prints on the label surfaces are rubbed during the label applications by the finger tips, so that they become obscure. Therefore, an apparatus which can accurately and efficiently print and apply bar code labels is desired.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a portable type label applying apparatus which is able to apply labels that have been accurately printed with indicia, including check digits by a desk type printer. The applying apparatus should have excellent operability at a high applying speed without fatiguing the operator and the printed surfaces of the labels should be protected against being blurred.

These and other objects of the invention are accomplished by providing a cassette for holding a rolled strip of labels which have been printed and which are temporarily adhered to a web of backing paper. The cassette includes a frame with a feeding side, label rolling means on the frame for rolling up thereon the printed composite label web, delaminating means on the frame for turning back only the backing paper web to delaminate the labels therefrom as the web is fed from the label rolling means, and guide means for guiding the turned back backing paper web along the feeding side of the frame. The label rolling cassette may be removably attached to a label applier, including a feed mechanism for feeding the backing paper web that has been turned back along the feeding side of the frame to delaminate the labels. The cassette, in one embodiment, also includes a movable bail on the frame with a curved portion for shifting the label strip to make a sharp turn around the delaminating means.

Other objects and features of the invention will become apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention is conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

FIGS. 1 and 2 are side and sectional views respectively showing a label rolling cassette and a label applier;

FIGS. 3(A) and 3(B) are a top plan view showing the label rolling cassette and a section taken along line III--III of FIG. 3(A), respectively;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view essentially showing a printer;

FIG. 5 is a section taken along line IV--IV of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a section showing the label rolling cassette attached to the label applier;

FIGS. 7 and 8 are perspective views showing a storage shelf and a box of the label rolling cassette, respectively; and

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a composite label web.

The present invention will now be described in connection with one embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The label applying apparatus of FIG. 1 is comprised of: a label rolling cassette 1 according to the present invention for rolling up a composite label web 5 which has been printed with indicia, such as bar codes, by the action of a printer 3; and a label applier 2, to which that label rolling cassette 1 is removably attached and which can be manually operated to feed the composite label web 4 and to delaminate labels 6 one by one from a web of their backing paper 5, thereby to bring those labels 6 into an appliable state.

In the center portion of the frame 7 of the label rolling cassette 1, a rolling core 8 having a cylindrical shape is rotatably fitted. At each of four equi-distantly spaced portions of the outer circumference of the rolling core 8, there are a recess 9 and a clamping spring 10 which clamp the leading end of the composite label web 4 when the web is being rolled. One side end portion of the core 8 is closed, as shown in FIG. 3(B), to form a radially reduced abutting portion 11 which protrudes through the frame 7 to the outside.

A rotary bail 12 is hinged to a pair of annular lands 58 which are formed on the facing inner walls of the frame 7 outside of the rolling core 8. The rotary bail 12 is formed at the rear portions of both its side walls with a pair of sideways label web looseness preventing plates 12a, which are provided to prevent the composite label web 4 rolled on the core 8 from being loosened sideways. The front end of the bail 12 has a semi-circular label holding portion 13 which merges into both side plates thereof.

The label rolling cassette 1 is gently curved up from its bottom side at the left or front in FIG. 2 to its right or rear end to form a curved guide plate 14 with a lower side that is formed with a backing paper guide groove 15 extending from the front end to the rear end.

The guide plate 14 has a turning pin 16 at its front end for turning the backing paper web 5 from the composite label web 4. Midway along the guide plate 14, a subroller 17 is rotatably attached. Its outer circumference protrudes slightly for feeding the backing paper web 5 in cooperation with the feed roller 42 of the label applier 2, as described below.

A pair of backing paper holding plates 18 protrude from the frame 7 into the backing paper guide groove 15. A hook member 19 is slidably received in the rear end of the frame 7. The hook member 19 is formed with a pair of right and left protruding hooks 20 at its rear portion and with a pair of knobs 21 at both of its right and left ends. The hook member 19 is continuously biased rearwardly by a torsion spring 22 so that the hooks 20 usually protrude from the rear side of the frame 7.

The frame 7 is formed in the upper side of its rear portion with a recess 24 for receiving an indication plate 23. An elastic member 25 is disposed below the rolling core 8 for preventing the rolled up composite label web 4 from becoming slack. The label rolling cassette 1 is slightly recessed at the outer sides of its lower portion between the sides of the frame 7 to form an attachment portion 26, at which the cassette is attached to the printer 3 or the label applier 2. The frame is formed with round engaging lands 27 at both sides of the front end of the attachment portion 26.

The label applier 2 includes a frame 28 which is recessed at its upper portion to form a receptacle 29 in which the attachment portion 26 of the label rolling cassette 1 is to be placed and received. The front end of the receptacle 29 is formed in both its sides with recesses 30 which engage with the engaging lands 27 of the label rolling cassette 1. A label applying roller 31 is rotatably pivoted to the front end of the frame 28. Below the roller 31, a label exit 32 is opened.

The bottom of the receptacle 29 is defined by a curved guide plate 33 which corresponds in shape to the guide plate 14 of the label rolling cassette 1. That guide plate 33 has a rear portion which at its upper end carries a backing paper cutter 34. Below the backing paper cutter 34, the guide plate includes a pair of hook holes 35 for receiving the hooks 20 of the label rolling cassette 1.

The lower portion of the frame 28 extends obliquely backward to provide a grip 36. Below the grip 36, a hand lever 37 is swingably disposed. The leading end of the hand lever is attached to the frame 28 by pivot pin 38. A return spring 39 is disposed in the hand lever 37. The upper end of the spring 39 abuts against a portion of the frame 28 so that the hand lever 37 is always biased clockwise (i.e. downward). An actuating lever 40 has a lower end that is fixed to the hand lever 37 and has an upper end formed with a rack 41. The rack 41 is positioned and sized to mesh with the pinion 43 of the feed roller 42 which is fitted in the frame 28. The feed roller 42 is equipped with a built-in one-way clutch mechanism (not shown), so that it is adapted to rotate only in the clockwise direction in FIG. 2. As a result, only the pinion 43 is rotated when the hand lever 37 is squeezed to lift the actuating lever 40. When the hand lever 37 is released, on the contrary, the feed roller 42 is rotated clockwise together with the pinion 43.

The outer circumference portion of the feed roller 42 is made of an elastic material, such as rubber, and the portion then at the guide plate 33 is exposed to the outside at the opening formed in the plate 33. The feed roller engages the backing paper web and pulls it to the rear.

Next, one example of a printer 3 which is suitable for use with the present invention is described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. The printer 3 is a thermal printer which prints the labels 6 of the composite label web 4 by a thermal head 44. The composite label web 4 thus printed is rolled up upon the label rolling cassette 1 which is removably set in the receptacle 45 of the printer 3.

The receptacle 45 is constructed similarly to the receptacle 29 of the label applier 2 in that both sides of its front end are formed with recesses 46 and the upper portion of its rear end is formed with a pair of hook holes 47.

At one lateral side of the receptacle 45, there is a supporting post 62, through which a transmission shaft 48 extends (FIG. 5). One end of the transmission shaft 48 is equipped with a knob 49 and its other end is equipped with a slip permitting rubber element 50. The transmission shaft 48 is always biased (to the right in FIG. 5) away from the knob 49 by the coil spring 51. A pulley 52 (FIG. 5) is mounted on the transmission shaft 48. The pulley 52 is rotatable through a belt 53, pulleys 54 and 55 and a belt 56 in synchronism with a platen roll 57 (FIG. 5). There is a cutter 59, which is to be depressed after the printing operation by means of a knob, or the like (not shown), to cut the composite label web 4.

The operation of the foregoing embodiment is now described.

First, the label rolling cassette 1 is set in the printer 3. The attachment portion 26 is placed and received in the receptacle 45, while the round engaging lands 27 at the front end of the cassette 1 are engaged with the recesses 46 of the receptacle 45, and the hooks 20 at the rear end of the cassette are brought into engagement with the hook holes 47. By this setting operation, the round laterally projecting abutting portion 11 of the rolling core 8 is brought into aligned abutment against the slip rubber element 50 (FIG. 5), thereby to transmit the rotation of the transmission shaft 48 to the rolling core 8. During this setting operation of the label rolling cassette 1 in the printer 3, the rotary bail 12 is held at the erected state indicated at double-dotted lines in FIG. 2.

A predetermined number of labels 6 are idly fed from a source (not shown) to the printer 3 until the leading end of the composite label web 4 is clamped by the actions of the clamping springs 10 of the rolling core 8. After that, printing is performed. During printing, the rolling core 8 is rotated to roll up the composite label web 4 in synchronism with the platen roll 57 for feeding the composite label web 4. As the rolling diameter of the rolling core 8 increases, the abutting portion 11 of the core slips relative to the slip rubber element 50 of the transmission shaft 48, effecting the rolling operation without trouble.

After a predetermined number of labels have been printed, a few more are idly fed, and the composite label web 4 is then cut by the cutter 59.

Next, the cassette 1 is removed from the printer 3 after the knobs 21 are pushed forward to disengage the hooks 20 from the hook holes 47.

The cassette 1 is next set in the label applier 2. The cut off, now leading end of the composite label web 4 is extracted, pulled forward to, and turned rearward around the front of the turning pin 16 at the front end of the cassette 1 and is then guided to extend along the guide groove 15 of the bottom guide plate 14 and then upward between the backing paper holding plates 18. Then, the rotary bail 12 is rotated counterclockwise to its solid line position in FIG. 2 so that the label holding portion 13 thereof abuts the composite label web 4. This guides the web to move straight forward to the pin 16, making the rearward turn around the pin 16 a sharp turn for facilitating label separation.

Next, the attachment portion 26 of the cassette 1 is attached to the receptacle 29 of the applier 2, while the engaging lands 27 at the front end of that cassette 1 engage with the recesses 30 of the receptacle 29, until the hooks 20 come into engagement with the hook holes 35 (as shown in FIG. 6). By this setting step, a backing paper passage at the guide groove 15 is formed between the guide plate 14 of the cassette 1 and the guide plate 33 of the label applier 2, and the sub-roller 17 is moved to abut against the feed roller 42 to clamp the backing paper web 5 between them.

If the hand lever 37 is squeezed at this stage, the actuating lever 40 is moved upward so that its rack 41 rotates the pinion 43. However, the feed roller 42 cannot be rotated due to the one-way clutch mechanism. If the hand lever 37 is now released, the actuating lever 40 is moved down together with the hand lever 37 by the return spring 39 so that the feed roller 42 is rotated a predetermined angle in the clockwise direction together with the pinion 43. The backing paper web 5 is fed upward in accordance with the rotation of the feed roller 42 because it is clamped between the feed roller 42 and the sub-roller 17.

Only the backing paper web 5 is turned back around the pin 16 at an acute angle while the composite label web 4 at the turning pin 16 is held at a horizontal orientation by the label holding portion 13. As a result, the labels 6 are advanced to the left in FIG. 6, while being delaminated from their backing paper web 5, until the labels are fed to a position below their applying roller 31 through the label exit 32.

The labels 6 are applied to articles by the label applying roller 31 when the underside (i.e. the adhesive side) of the label 6 then below the applying roller 31 is applied to and rubbed against an article, similarly to what is done with the usual hand labeler.

The feed means for feeding the backing paper web 5 need not be limited to the combination of the feed roller 42 and the sub-roller 17. It can be a combination of perforations formed in a backing paper web and feed pins on the feed roller engaging with the perforations.

A preferred embodiment of the label applying apparatus is now described. The apparatus can be used so that the composite label web 4 is printed each required time by means of the printer 3 and is then rolled up upon the cassette 1 and such that the cassette 1 is then attached to the label applier 2 so that the labels 6 may be applied to goods. As an alternative, cassettes 1 may be specially prepared in advance for the respective goods and may be stored either in a fixed type storage shelf 60, as shown in FIG. 7, or in a portable type storage box 61, as shown in FIG. 8. Moreover, the stored cassettes 1 may be prepared to have a predetermined number of printed labels rolled up on them in the form of the composite label web, and a selected label roll may be extracted and set in the label applier 2 for each use.

The applications of labels to goods in a supermarket are done in a back room or at a sales counter. In the latter case, the means for carrying the desired cassettes 1 to the sales counter is conveniently exemplified either by the storage box 61 of FIG. 8 or by a belt (not shown) which is formed with a number of cassette receptacles similar to a gun cartridge belt.

As described above, the label applying apparatus comprises the label rolling cassette according to the present invention, which rolls up the composite label web that was printed by the printer, and the label applier to which that label rolling cassette is removably attached and which is manually operated to advance the label strip to delaminate the labels from their backing paper web and to apply the labels to articles. Therefore, the present invention has the following advantages:

1. Since the printing operation may be performed with a desk type printer, the imprints are more accurate and clearer than with printing by a hand labeler. Especially during printing bar codes, the check digits can also be automatically calculated and printed.

2. Since the printing head can be dispensed with, the label applier can have its size and weight reduced. As a result, the operation of the label applier can be improved to speed up the label applications and to reduce the fatigue of the operator.

3. The loading of the label applier with a label rolling cassette can be easily performed by a single action, trouble-free, so that the composite label web is guided in the label applier.

4. The label applying speed is higher than with the manually applying method while being freed of the disadvantageous blurring of the printed surfaces of the labels.

Although the present invention has been described in connection with a preferred embodiment thereof, many variations and modifications will now become apparent to those sklled in the art. It is preferred, therefore, that the present invention be limited not by the specific disclosure herein, but only by the appended claims.