An automated package processing system includes a conveyor, a package scale within a movement surface of the conveyor and outputting weight information for a package, a display, a shipping database containing shipping information comprising package recipients and package shippers, a printer within arms-reach of the scale and printing out labels containing a package recipient and a package shipper, at least one scanning device projecting a scanning field onto the scale weighing surface and outputting package measurement information indicating package volume characteristics, and a central processor communicatively connected to the scale, display, shipping database, printer, and scanning device. Each of the packages have package information and a respective package identifier. The central processor is programmed to determine automatically the package shipper and a total shipping cost based upon at least one of the package information and the shipping information independent of the weight of the package.

An auto sort and label (ASL) system includes a conveyor, a controller, a sensor, and a label, print, and apply (LPA) system. The conveyor conveys articles through the ASL system. The sensor is positioned along the conveyor and identifies an article. The controller receives sensor data from the sensor. The LPA is positioned alongside the conveyor and prints labels in sequence with the corresponding article as it travels along the conveyor and applies the labels to the corresponding articles as the article passes the LPA. The controller controls the conveyor such that a gap and/or pitch between a first article and a second article is adjusted to an optimal distance to match the operation capability of the LPA. The controller verifies placement and contents of the label upon the article as defined by sensor data and accepts or rejects the labeled article for further handling based on the verification.

Disclosed is a method for treating containers and, in particular reusable containers, having the steps of: providing a container having at least one first marking which identifies this container; determining at least one first information associated with said first marking, applying a second marking to the container, wherein the second marking is created taking into account the first marking and/or the determined information.

A system of facilitating printing of shipping labels includes a computing device and a label printer. The computing device receive shipment database data from a remote computing device, store the shipment database data in a shipment database, receive scan data associated with an object from a scanning device, determine whether shipment data for the object is in the shipping database, determine shipping information for the object based on whether shipment data for the object is in the shipping database, and send shipping information to the label printer. The shipping information for the object is based on whether shipment data for the object is in the shipping database. The label printer prints a shipping label for the object based on the shipping information.

An automated package processing system includes a conveyor, a package scale within a movement surface of the conveyor and outputting weight information for a package, a display, a shipping database containing shipping information comprising package recipients and package shippers, a printer within arms-reach of the scale and printing out labels containing a package recipient and a package shipper, at least one scanning device projecting a scanning field onto the scale weighing surface and outputting package measurement information indicating package volume characteristics, and a central processor communicatively connected to the scale, display, shipping database, printer, and scanning device. Each of the packages have package information and a respective package identifier. The central processor is programmed to determine automatically the package shipper and a total shipping cost based upon at least one of the package information and the shipping information independent of the weight of the package.

Systems and methods for compounding pharmaceuticals, for example for intravenous delivery. The devices include an infrared camera and an infrared light source, and can backlight and photograph items such as syringes in infrared light for enhanced clarity. A visible light camera may also be provided, for example a color digital camera, for documenting other parts of the compounding process. The device may have other sensors, for example a bar code scanner and a weight sensor, for collecting other data about the compounding process. In one example implementation, the device is a compounding assistance device that leads a user of the device through a compounding task using instructions shown on a display. In other implementations, the device may be robotic.

This disclosure describes methods and apparatus for hygiene monitoring in chain restaurants and grocery superstores. Four sub-systems are introduced to take care of different aspects of hygiene in restaurants. One sub-system uses contactless and in-contact temperature sensors installed on appliances to constantly monitor the temperature of working appliances to be in pre-defined range and use an Internet of Things gateways to transmit the data to remote control unit. The system generate an alert or report if the temperature of the appliances falls beyond the predefined range for more than a specific period of time. Another sub-system use a combination of temperature, humidity, UV and gas detectors to monitor the environment to be unsuitable for growth of fungus and bacteria and alert in case of exposure to harmful material and sun radiation. This sub-system also use an Internet of Things gateways to transmit the data to remote control unit. The third sub-system use a combination of radio frequency tags attached to the staff, RF tag readers and infrared/proximity/motion/microphone/touch sensors installed over the faucet and dispenser to monitor if the staff wash their hands properly after going to the restroom. The forth sub-system automatically generate food expiring label for opened cans and food container based on RF tag worn by the staff. The system generate and print the label whenever the staff gesture their RF tags in front of them and potentially scan the container bar code or select it from a drop-down menu on its touch screen. The last sub-system can also monitor the inventory of opened cans of food in the refrigerator and provide a report or alert when they the time gets close to expiration date.

A label generation apparatus includes an image acquisition interface, a printer interface, and a processor programmed to acquire through the image acquisition interface a captured image including an article and a shelf on which the article is located, to specify information about the article and a position of the article on the shelf based on the captured image, generate shelving allocation information based on the information about the article and the position of the article on the shelf, and communicate with a printer through the printer interface to generate a label of the article based on the shelving allocation information.

The invention relates to a blow labeler for applying labels to packages, comprising a blower head having a base platform, which has an air connection device that comprises a plurality of ports having a compressed air port and at least one suction air port, and a holding platform having a label contact surface that is passed through by a plurality of blow-off openings in fluid communication with the compressed air port and by a plurality of suction openings in fluid communication with the at least one suction air port, wherein the holding platform is rotatably supported at the base platform, wherein the base platform has a drive comprising an electric motor, and wherein the drive is adapted to rotatably drive the holding platform in order to rotate a label held at the label contact surface.

A label printing system and method are generally provided. The label printing system may be optimized for deployment at a user location. The label printing system may comprise a label print engine configured to receive a formatted digital data related to a label and print the related label on media. The label printing system may further comprise a finishing machine configured to receive a printed label from the label print engine and perform a finishing task on one or more printed labels. A central processor may be connected to the label print engine and the finishing machine and configured to send label print and finishing information to the label print engine and the finishing machine respectively. A user portal may be connected to the central processor. The user portal is configured to send an art file related to a label to be printed to the central processor. The central processor is configured to receive the art file and generate a formatted digital data based on the art file to be sent to the print engine for printing of a label.