A labeling machine, which includes a conveyor of containers to be labeled along an advancement path and at least one labeling unit arranged along the advancement path and provided with a respective transfer drum that can move in rotation about its own axis, with respect to a supporting base, and which is adapted to receive, in adhesion to its lateral surface, from a feeder unit, labels to be applied to the containers, at a feeding station, and to transfer the labels received at the feeding station to respective containers that arrive from the conveyor at a transfer station which is angularly spaced apart from the feeding station about the axis of the transfer drum; at least one portion of a sector of the lateral surface of the transfer drum is rotatably movable, with respect to the remaining part of the transfer drum.

A label dispenser for peel-off labels pulls a web with peel-off labels attached from a label supply location to a take-up spool. The label dispenser maintains the web in a taut condition when the web passes over a peeling edge by providing first and second rods about which the web wraps in a sinuous flow path on the feed side of the peeling edge. The take-up spool resists turning in the reverse direction to maintain the web in a taut condition. A cam is selectably rotatable about an axis that is spaced apart from the center of curvature at each location on the curved surface that may contact the web to adjust the thickness of the flow path of the web at the peeling edge.

A vacuum station comprising a main housing and a pair of arms extending from the main housing. The arms are configured to hold a roller. The main housing has a front face and a rear face, with the front face having a recess therein. An air path extends from the front face to the rear face. The vacuum station also includes a removable plate having a plurality of suction holes therethrough located within the recess in the front face of the main housing. The removable plate is removably connected to the main housing by magnets. A sheet of labels can be held to the removable plate by a suction force through the air path in the main housing and the suction holes in the removable plate.

A labelling machine comprises a supply spool support for supporting a supply spool comprising label stock; a take-up spool support adapted to take up a portion of the label stock; a movable element which defines a portion of a web path between the supply spool and the take-up spool support; a sensor configured to produce a sensor signal indicative of the position of the movable element; a controller configured to receive the sensor signal and output a brake assembly control signal based upon the sensor signal; and a brake assembly configured to apply a braking force to one of said spool supports based upon the brake assembly control signal, the braking force resisting rotation of said one of said spool supports. The controller is configured to control the brake assembly based upon the sensor signal so as to cause the moveable element to move towards a desired position.

A device for joining webs with self-adhesive labels comprises a web retaining element (18) for, in use, selectively retaining the starting end (16) of a new web (13) at an operating zone (15) positioned along a feed path of a first web being used and a pressure element (26) positioned on the opposite side of the first web; at least one of either the retaining element (18) or the pressure element (26) being movable relative to the other, between a non-operating position in which they are at a distance from each other and an operating position in which the pressure element (26) presses the first web (10) onto an adhesive element fixed to the new web (13); it also comprises a cutting (27) movable between a non-interference position and a cutting position, movement means for moving the cutting element (27) from the non-interference position to the cutting position, and controlled feeding means for the first web (10) which are operatively associated with the movement means for causing controlled feeding of the first web (10) in the operating zone (15) during movement of the cutting element (27) towards the cutting position. A method for joining implemented by the device is also claimed.

The invention relates to a roll holder for a label roll, in particular for a label printer for a packaging machine for wrapping products with a packaging film, having an horizontally arranged, fixed-position holding mandrel whose one end is fastened to a carrier and whose other end projects in an unsupported manner from the carrier, and having a first roll mount and a second roll mount separate from the first roll mount, wherein the first roll mount is configured to engage into a first end of the label roll, and wherein the second roll mount is configured to engage into a second end of the label roll, such that the label roll is receivable between the two roll mounts, with the second roll mount being pushable onto the holding mandrel from the unsupported end of the holding mandrel.

Systems and methods for applying decorations from a web onto substrates are disclosed. According to some aspects, a decoration may be transferred from the web directly to a substrate based on contact of the substrate with an adhesive of a portion of the decoration while the portion of the decoration is attached to the web.

A labelling device having a label dispenser and transfer device for transferring a row of labels delivered to the transfer device to an article web. The transfer device may include at least one vertically adjustable slide assembly mounted thereon for pressing the labels onto the article web, and the slide assembly may comprise a base plate and a plurality of pressing elements. The slide assembly may further comprise at least one cassette module assembled with the base plate, and one or more of the pressing elements may be arranged on each of the cassette modules.

An automatic, high speed labeling machine is provided for applying individual labels to large and variable size produce items. The label strips used are much larger and heavier than known label strips used for small produce such as apples and pears. The increased weight causes label strip overrun when the labeler is paused and also causes slippage of the label strip. A label strip deflector is provided which causes the larger and heavier label strip to fold back on itself rather than to overrun and foul the application of labels. The drive rollers are modified to eliminate slippage of the heavier label strip.

A pre-feed system and method for a liner-less label printer includes a drive roll that is configured to peel liner-less labels from a reel and pass the labels to an in-line label printer at a consistent rate. An idler roll disposed in proximity to the drive roll creates a nip for pulling labels from the reel. The idler roll is comprised of silicone which prevents the adhesive side of the liner-less label from sticking. A print controller monitors a non-contact reflective object sensor disposed in proximity to the path of the liner-less labels between the drive roll and the in-line printer. The print controller adjusts the speed of the drive roll to maintain a consistent rate for labels entering the print feed of the in-line label printer and reduces the amount of force required to feed labels into the printer.