APPARATUS INCLUDING A TAPE APPLICATOR HEAD

Abstract

A digital flatbed cutter is described. The cutter includes a flatbed on which a workpiece can be positioned. A head unit is movable in a plane above the flatbed. A tape applicator head and a cutter head are mounted to the head unit. The tape applicator head includes an applicator roller for applying a strip of tape to the workpiece that is rotatable about an axis that is normal to the plane so that strips of tape can be applied to the workpiece in any direction. The cutter head includes a knife or blade for cutting the workpiece. A creaser head that includes a creaser wheel for creasing the workpiece can also be mounted to the head unit.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising: a flatbed on which a workpiece can be positioned; a tape applicator head including an applicator roller for applying a strip of tape to the workpiece; and a head unit to which the tape applicator head is mounted; wherein the head unit is movable in a plane above the flatbed and at least the applicator roller is rotatable about an axis that is normal to the plane.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the tape applicator head includes a knife or blade for cutting the tape.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the tape applicator head further comprises a support for supporting a tape roll.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the tape applicator head further comprises one or more guide rollers and/or one or more stationary guides for guiding the tape from the tape roll to the applicator roller.

5. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the whole of the tape applicator head is rotatable relative to the head unit, including the support for supporting the tape roll.

6. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the support for supporting the tape roll does not rotate relative to the head unit.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein at least the applicator roller is movable along the axis that is normal to the plane.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a feed mechanism for positioning a workpiece on the flatbed.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the flatbed is a conveyor.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a control unit adapted to control the movement of the head unit.

11. A tape applicator comprising: a flatbed on which a workpiece can be positioned; a tape applicator head including an applicator roller for applying a strip of tape to the workpiece; and a head unit to which the tape applicator head is mounted; wherein the head unit is movable in a plane above the flatbed and at least the applicator roller is rotatable about an axis that is normal to the plane.

12. A digital flatbed cutter comprising: a flatbed on which a workpiece can be positioned; a tape applicator head including an applicator roller for applying a strip of tape to the workpiece; a cutter head including a knife or blade for cutting the workpiece; and a head unit to which the tape applicator head and the cutter head are mounted; wherein the head unit is movable in a plane above the flatbed and at least the applicator roller is rotatable about an axis that is normal to the plane.

13. The digital flatbed cutter of claim 12, wherein the tape applicator head includes a knife or blade for cutting the tape.

14. The digital flatbed cutter of claim 12, wherein the tape applicator head further comprises a support for supporting a tape roll.

15. The digital flatbed cutter of claim 14, wherein the tape applicator head further comprises one or more guide rollers and/or one or more stationary guides for guiding the tape from the tape roll to the applicator roller.

16. The digital flatbed cutter of claim 12, wherein at least the applicator roller is movable along the axis that is normal to the plane.

17. The digital flatbed cutter of claim 12, further comprising a feed mechanism for positioning a workpiece on the flatbed.

18. The digital flatbed cutter of claim 12, wherein the flatbed is a conveyor.

19. The digital flatbed cutter of claim 12, further comprising a control unit adapted to control the movement of the head unit.

20. The digital flatbed cutter of claim 12, wherein the head unit further comprises a creaser head with a creaser wheel for creasing the workpiece.

Description

DRAWINGS

[0042] FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of a digital flatbed cutter according to the present invention;

[0043] FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the cutter of FIG. 1;

[0044] FIG. 3 is a visual representation of a digital file for controlling the cutter according to the present invention;

[0045] FIG. 4 is a top view of a workpiece; and

[0046] FIG. 5 is a packaging blank for a container produced from the workpiece using the cutter according to the present invention.

[0047] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a digital flatbed cutter 1 includes a flatbed 2 on which a workpiece W can be positioned.

[0048] A head unit 4 is mounted above the flatbed 2. The head unit 4 is mounted on a support rail 6 and can move from side to side along the support rail (i.e., along a y-axis direction) by a suitable actuator (not shown). The support rail 6 is mounted on side rails (not shown) and can move backwards and forwards along the side rails (i.e., along an x-axis direction) by one or more suitable actuators (not shown). The actuators are controlled by a control unit (not shown) which can include a suitable processor and a user input device such as a touch display screen or keypad, for example. By controlling the actuators, the head unit 4 can be positioned precisely and can be moved in any direction in a parallel plane above the flatbed 2 defined by the perpendicular x- and y-axes.

[0049] The head unit 4 includes a tape applicator head 8.

[0050] The tape applicator head 8 includes an applicator roller 10 for applying a strip of tape to the workpiece 8. The applicator roller 10 is mounted to be rotatable about an axis that is normal to the plane (i.e., about the z-axis). This is in addition to the normal rotation of the applicator roller 10 about its longitudinal axis that is parallel to the plane and about which the applicator roller rotates when it is in contact with the workpiece and applying tape to the workpiece.

[0051] The tape applicator head 8 includes a support bracket 12 for supporting a tape roll TR and one or more guide rollers 14 for guiding the tape from the tape roll to the applicator roller 10.

[0052] The tape roll TR is supported on the support bracket 12 so as to be freely rotatable when tape is being removed and applied to the workpiece. The tape applicator head 8 can be compatible with different tape types and widths with tape rolls being easily interchanged on the support bracket 12. In particular, the support bracket 12 includes a rotatable hub that is sized and shaped to be received in an opening in the tape roll TR.

[0053] Each guide roller 14 can be a driven roller or a non-driven roller—i.e., which is freely rotatable by the movement of the tape. The tape applicator head 8 includes a knife or blade (not shown) for cutting the tape.

[0054] The applicator roller 10 is mounted so that it can move along the axis that is normal to the plane (i.e., along the z-axis direction). The applicator roller 10 can be moved by an actuator between a first position—shown in FIGS. 1 and 2—where it is spaced apart from the workpiece W and a second position where it is in contact with the workpiece for applying a strip of tape, and optionally where contact pressure is applied to the workpiece by the applicator roller.

[0055] The head unit 4 also includes a cutter head 16 with a knife or blade 18 and a creaser head 20 with a creaser wheel 22. The tape applicator head 8, cutter head 16 and creaser head 20 are conveniently referred to below as “tool heads” and the applicator roller 10, knife or blade 18 and creaser wheel 22 as “tools”. The knife or blade 18 is mounted so that it can move along the axis that is normal to the plane (i.e., along the z-axis direction). The knife or blade 18 can be moved by an actuator between a first position—shown in FIGS. 1 and 2—where it is spaced apart from the workpiece W and a second position where it is in contact with the workpiece for cutting. The creaser wheel 22 is also mounted so that it can move along an axis that is normal to the plane (i.e., along the z-axis direction). The creaser wheel 22 can be moved by an actuator between a first position—shown in FIGS. 1 and 2—where it is spaced apart from the workpiece W and a second position where it is in contact with the workpiece for creasing.

[0056] The up and down movement of the tools in the z-axis direction is controlled by the control unit. The control unit can therefore position the head unit 4 over the workpiece W so that the appropriate tool head is at the required position, move the appropriate tool down into contact with the workpiece, move the head unit with the tool in contact with the workpiece to cut, crease or apply tape, move the tool up and away from the workpiece, and reposition the head unit over the workpiece. If the tool is the applicator roller 10, it is rotated about the z-axis so that it is aligned with the direction in which the head unit 4 will be moved over the flatbed 2 (i.e., so that its longitudinal axis is substantially perpendicular to the movement direction of the head unit).

[0057] The cutter 1 can include a feed mechanism (not shown) for positioning a workpiece on the flatbed 2. Any suitable feed mechanism can be used, e.g., a vacuum feed that can be integrated into the head unit 4 or the support rail 6 and which can be used to pick up an individual workpiece from a stack and position it on the flatbed 2.

[0058] The flatbed 2 can be a conveyor which can be used to remove a workpiece from the cutter 1.

[0059] The movement of the head unit 4 can be controlled by the control unit using a digital file.

[0060] A visual representation of the digital file for a packaging blank is shown in FIG. 3 where cutting information is shown in solid line, creasing information is shown in dashed line and tape application information is shown in dotted line. In particular, the solid line indicates where the workpiece W shown in FIG. 4 should be cut by the cutting head 16, the dashed line indicates where the workpiece should be creased by the creasing head 20, and the dotted line indicates where a strip of tape of pre-determined width should be applied to the workpiece.

[0061] The workpiece W shown in FIG. 4 is a printed sheet of card stock. The workpiece W has printed areas that are indicated by the shading and which will be the outer surfaces of an assembled container. The workpiece W also includes six printed registration marks M1, M2, . . . , M6.

[0062] The workpiece W shown in FIG. 4 is positioned on the flatbed 2 using the feed mechanism (not shown). A stack of identical workpieces can be located at an end of the flatbed 2 and an individual workpiece can be picked from the stack and positioned on the flatbed. The head unit 4 is precisely aligned with the workpiece W. For example, the head unit 4 can include a camera (not shown) and the control unit can use optical recognition of the printed registration marks M1, M2, . . . , M6 to determine the precise position and orientation of the workpiece W on the flatbed 2. Once the head unit 4 has been precisely aligned relative to the workpiece, the workpiece can be cut by the cutter head 16, creased by the creaser head 20, and tape can be applied by the tape applicator head 6 based on the respective information in the digital file.

[0063] More particularly, after the workpiece W has been cut and creased, in a tape application process, the head unit 4 can be positioned over a first glue tab GT1, the applicator roller 10 can be rotated about the z-axis to be aligned with the x-axis and moved down into contact with the workpiece, the head unit can be moved in the x-axis direction to apply a first tape strip S1 to the first glue tab GT1, the applicator roller can be moved up and away from the workpiece, the head unit can be re-positioned over a second glue tab GT2, the applicator roller can be rotated about the z-axis to be aligned with the y-axis and moved down into contact with the workpiece, the head unit can be moved in the y-axis direction to apply a second tape strip S1 to the second glue tab GT2, and the applicator roller 10 can be moved up and away from the workpiece. (This assumes that the workpiece W has been positioned on the flatbed 2 such that its edges are exactly aligned with the x- and y-axes of the cutter. In practice, the edges of the workpiece W are likely to be mis-aligned with the x- and y-axes of the cutter such that the head unit 4 is moved along directions that are angled slightly with respect to the x-axis direction and the y-axis direction with the applicator head 10 being rotated about the z-axis accordingly.) It will be understood that the applicator roller 10 is not limited to applying tape strips that are aligned with the x-axis direction or the y-axis direction. In practice, the applicator roller 10 can be rotated about the z-axis to be aligned with any direction in which the head unit 4 can be moved. For example, the applicator roller 10 can be used to apply a diagonal tape strip that is not aligned with either the x-axis direction or the y-axis direction. In some arrangements, the applicator roller 10 can be rotated about the z-axis while it is in contact with the workpiece and is applying tape if the movement direction of the head unit 4 changes.

[0064] FIG. 5 shows a finished packaging blank B for a container with the tape strips S1 and S2 applied to the glue tabs GT1 and GT2. If the tape strips S1, S2 are double-sided tape, the backing layer can be removed to expose the adhesive and the packaging blank can be folded and assembled to form a container.