A taping apparatus includes an elongate body portion having a moveable control member for controlling the advancement of tape and a head portion connected to the elongate body portion for advancing the tape. The head portion includes a first stop, a second stop, a guide extending from the first stop to the second stop, and a tape advance mechanism moveable along the guide. The tape advance mechanism and the control member are coupled to one another such that the tape advance mechanism is moveable in response to movement of the control member. The tape advance mechanism includes a rotatable cam and a needle that rotates with the cam.

A label peeling device has a holding unit that can hold label paper conveyed from a label printer that ejects ink onto label paper P having labels Pb and a liner Pa to which the labels Pb are affixed; a peeling unit that is disposed downstream on the label paper P conveyance path from the holding unit, can move bidirectionally between a start peeling position separated from the holding unit and an end peeling position near the holding unit, and peels labels Pb from the liner Pa by moving from the start peeling position to the end peeling position; a motor that moves the peeling unit; an encoder that detects the position of the peeling unit; and a controller that controls the motor based on the position of the peeling unit detected by the encoder.

An apparatus and method for producing a coated analytic substrate using a compact and portable automated instrument located in the laboratory setting at the point of use which can consistently produce one or a plurality of coated analytic substrates on demand for using the analytic substrate immediately after coating, preferably without a step of rinsing the coated analytic substrate before use. The apparatus preferably uses applicator cartridges having a reservoir containing the coating compositions used to form the coatings. Preferably the cartridges are removable and interchangeable to facilitate the production of individual analytic substrates having different coatings or different coating patterns. These coated analytic substrates have superior specimen adhesion characteristics due to the improved quality of the coatings applied by the coating apparatus and due to the quickness with which the coated analytic substrates can be used in the lab after production.

An apparatus and method for producing a coated analytic substrate using a compact and portable automated instrument located in the laboratory setting at the point of use which can consistently produce one or a plurality of coated analytic substrates on demand for using the analytic substrate immediately after coating, preferably without a step of rinsing the coated analytic substrate before use. The apparatus preferably uses applicator cartridges having a reservoir containing the coating compositions used to form the coatings. Preferably the cartridges are removable and interchangeable to facilitate the production of individual analytic substrates having different coatings or different coating patterns. These coated analytic substrates have superior specimen adhesion characteristics due to the improved quality of the coatings applied by the coating apparatus and due to the quickness with which the coated analytic substrates can be used in the lab after production.

A band pressing device in an edge banding machine including a glue applying roller includes first and second resilient members. The first resilient member has a first resilient section spaced apart from the glue applying roller at a first distance. The first resilient section generates a first biasing force pressing an edge band against the glue applying roller when the edge band has a thickness larger than the first distance. The second resilient member has a second resilient section spaced apart from the first resilient section at a second distance. The second resilient section generates a second biasing force pressing the first resilient section against the edge band when the first resilient section is deformed to deform the second resilient section.

An apparatus and method for producing a coated analytic substrate using a compact and portable automated instrument located in the laboratory setting at the point of use which can consistently produce one or a plurality of coated analytic substrates on demand for using the analytic substrate immediately after coating, preferably without a step of rinsing the coated analytic substrate before use. The apparatus preferably uses applicator cartridges having a reservoir containing the coating compositions used to form the coatings. Preferably the cartridges are removable and interchangeable to facilitate the production of individual analytic substrates having different coatings or different coating patterns. These coated analytic substrates have superior specimen adhesion characteristics due to the improved quality of the coatings applied by the coating apparatus and due to the quickness with which the coated analytic substrates can be used in the lab after production.