Medicine packaging apparatuses and methods for accurately determining a remaining sheet amount of a medicine packaging sheet are described. The apparatus includes: a roll support section to which a core tube of a medicine packaging sheet roll is attached; a sensor disposed in the roll support section for outputting a count value according to a rotation amount; a wireless reader-writer unit for writing information to a core tube IC tag and reading said information; an information generation section for generating information to be written to the core tube IC tag; a remaining sheet amount estimation section for estimating a current amount of remaining sheet based on the information and dimensional information of the core tube; and a controller which selectively performs an operation if a reference time-point count value is not yet written to the core tube IC tag and another operation if the count value is already written thereto.

A tape roll includes a cylindrical core, a strip-shaped tape wound on the core, and a marking portion that represents type information of the strip-shaped tape and that is applied to an inner peripheral surface of the core. Preferably, the type information of the strip-shaped tape includes at least one piece of type information selected from a group consisting of a width, a length, a material, an adhesive force, and a shelf life of the tape, and the marking portion has slots or an identification code representing the at least one piece of type information. A tape mounter for bonding, to a workpiece, the tape which is wound on the core of the tape roll is also disclosed.

A system for dispensing a flexible hose includes a hose dispensing carousel having a frame, a spool support plate rotatably mounted to the frame and having a plurality of spool axles for rotatably supporting a plurality of spools of hose, and a lock adapted to fix a position of the spool support plate relative to the frame in a plurality of discrete positions. The system further includes a guide defining an opening adapted to receive a free end of a hose held on one of the plurality of spools. The guide defines at least one rotatable bearing surface positioned at the opening, and is adapted to guide the hose toward a tool for performing a manufacturing operation on the hose.

Medicine packaging apparatuses and methods for accurately determining a remaining sheet amount of a medicine packaging sheet are described. The apparatus includes: a roll support section to which a core tube of a medicine packaging sheet roll is attached; a sensor disposed in the roll support section for outputting a count value according to a rotation amount; a wireless reader-writer unit for writing information to a core tube IC tag and reading said information; an information generation section for generating information to be written to the core tube IC tag; a remaining sheet amount estimation section for estimating a current amount of remaining sheet based on the information and dimensional information of the core tube; and a controller which selectively performs an operation if a reference time-point count value is not yet written to the core tube IC tag and another operation if the count value is already written thereto.

A rebar tying tool may include: a reel comprising a bobbin and a wire wound around the bobbin; a reel attaching part to which the reel is rotatably attached; a feeding unit configured to feed the wire from the bobbin around rebars; a twisting unit configured to twist the wire around the rebars; a type detector configured to detect a type of the reel; and a support supporting the reel attaching part, the feeding unit, the twisting unit, and the type detector. The type detector may include a movable member configured to move with respect to the support. The movable member may be at an initial position when the reel is not attached to the reel attaching part. The movable member may be at an attaching position according to the type of the reel when the reel is attached to the reel attaching part.

There are provided a carrier tape supply unit that supplies a carrier tape storing components, and a carrier tape processing unit that pulls out the carrier tape from the carrier tape supply unit, forms the carrier tape into a roll shape, and stores the carrier tape in a case. Further, the carrier tape processing unit includes a roll body creating unit that includes a shaft member holding a tip end part of the carrier tape, and creates a roll-shaped roll body by rotating the shaft member to wind the carrier tape around the shaft member, and a shaft member extracting unit that extracts the shaft member from the roll body created by the roll body creating unit.

The invention relates to a method and a system for moving and labelling reels (R.sub.1, R.sub.2, R.sub.3, R.sub.4, . . . R.sub.n) of a web material such as paper or nonwoven in which each reel has a central core piece (3) which is hollow and around which the web material is wound. A robot arm (6) is inserted into the central core piece (3) of at least one reel (R.sub.1) and is then used to move the (R.sub.1) from a first position (P1) to a second position (P2) and to fix an inner label (15) onto the central core piece (3). According to the invention, the inner label (15) is placed on the robot arm (6) before the robot arm (6) is inserted into the central core piece (3) and the robot arm (6) is used both to fix the inner label (15) to the central core piece (3) and to move the at least one reel (R.sub.1).

A method for labelling reels, wherein a movable expansion shaft of a robot engages a first portion of a cylindrical inner surface of a reel and an application roller with a printed label retained thereon engages a second portion of the cylindrical inner surface and attaches the printed label on the second portion of the cylindrical inner surface.

A system for dispensing a flexible hose includes a hose dispensing carousel having a frame, a spool support plate rotatably mounted to the frame and having a plurality of spool axles for rotatably supporting a plurality of spools of hose, and a lock adapted to fix a position of the spool support plate relative to the frame in a plurality of discrete positions. The system further includes a guide defining an opening adapted to receive a free end of a hose held on one of the plurality of spools. The guide defines at least one rotatable bearing surface positioned at the opening, and is adapted to guide the hose toward a tool for performing a manufacturing operation on the hose.

A wheel-balancing weight application apparatus comprising a supplying module including a first strip of wheel-balancing weights and a second strip of wheel-balancing weights, the first and the second strips of wheel-balancing weights including a different characteristic, and an application module for securing a portion of one of the first strip of wheel-balancing weights and the second strip of wheel-balancing weights to a wheel, wherein a selection of wheel-balancing weights from the first strip of wheel-balancing weights and the second strip of wheel-balancing weights is selected on a basis of a characteristic of the wheel to match the wheel-balancing weights characteristic with an identified characteristic of the wheel. A method of using the balancing weight application apparatus is also provided.