LABELLING PROFILE FOR MARKING ELECTRICAL INSTALLATIONS AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING LABELLING STRIPS

Abstract

The invention relates to a labeling profile for marking electrical installations, comprising a labeling region which has a cover surface to be labeled, and comprising a support region which connects to the labeling region facing away from the cover surface, wherein, when viewed in a cross-section transverse to the longitudinal extension, at least sections of the support region have a smaller width than the labeling region, wherein the labeling profile has a constant cross-section when viewed along its longitudinal extension and wherein the labeling profile has spaced-apart, optically detectable position markers on at least one surface facing away from the cover surface, wherein intermediate regions are formed between the position markers and wherein the position markers have in particular reflective properties which differ from the intermediate regions.

Claims

1. Labeling profile for marking electrical installations, comprising a labeling region which has a cover surface to be labeled, and comprising a support region which connects to the labeling region facing away from the cover surface, wherein, when viewed in a cross-section transverse to the longitudinal extension, at least sections of the support region have a smaller width than the labeling region, wherein the labeling profile has a constant cross-section when viewed along its longitudinal extension and wherein the labeling profile has spaced-apart, optically detectable position markers on at least one surface facing away from the cover surface, wherein intermediate regions are formed between the position markers, and wherein the position markers have in particular reflective properties which differ from the intermediate regions.

2. Labeling profile according to claim 1, characterized in that the position markers are formed by a plurality of regions that are spaced apart in the longitudinal extension and are reflective to a limited extent and/or transparent to a limited extent, the regions that are reflective to a limited extent and/or transparent to a limited extent being formed in particular by a black or dark coloration.

3. Labeling profile according to claim 1, characterized in that a position marker has a length measured in the longitudinal extension of 4 mm or more and/or has a height measured transversely to the longitudinal extension of 3 mm or more.

4. Labeling profile according to claim 1, characterized in that the position markers, when viewed in the longitudinal extension, have a spacing of 20 mm or more, in particular have a spacing of 30 mm or more, in particular have a spacing of 30 mm.

5. Method for producing labeling strips for an electrical installation, comprising the following method steps: providing a labeling profile, wherein the labeling profile is designed according to claim 1; feeding the labeling profile to a printer, in particular a label printer; labeling the cover surface; assembling and/or perforating the labeling profile to form at least one labeling strip to a predefined length; wherein at least two or more position markers of the labeling profile are optically detected before, during or after the labeling, wherein in particular a relative position of the labeling profile to a print head of the printer is determined on the basis of the detected position markers.

6. Method according to claim 5, characterized in that a feed speed of the labeling profile into the label printer and/or a print head movement of the label printer is adapted on the basis of the detected position markers; and/or assembly and/or perforation of the labeling strip is adapted on the basis of the detected position markers, the length of the labeling strip being adapted on the basis of that of the detected position markers.

7. Method according to claim 5, characterized in that a plurality of labeling strips are produced from the labeling profile, the length of a first labeling strip and/or the length of a second labeling strip being increased or decreased if a deviation in the feed speed has been detected on the basis of the detected position markers, in particular if the feed speed is set to be constant.

Description

[0044] The invention is described in greater detail in the following with reference to drawings showing embodiments, in which, schematically:

[0045] FIG. 1 shows a labeling profile according to the invention in a perspective view;

[0046] FIG. 2 shows the labeling profile from FIG. 1 in a view from below;

[0047] FIG. 3 shows the labeling profile from FIG. 1 in a further view from below;

[0048] FIG. 4 shows another variant of a profile according to the invention in a view from below;

[0049] FIG. 5 shows another variant of a profile according to the invention in a view from below.

[0050] FIG. 1 shows a labeling profile 2 for marking electrical installations. The labeling profile 2 has a labeling region 4 which has a cover surface 6 to be labeled.

[0051] The labeling profile 2 has a support region 8 which connects to the labeling region 4 facing away from the cover surface 6. As can be seen from FIG. 1, when viewed in a cross-section transverse to the direction of longitudinal extension L, at least sections of the support region 8 have a smaller width than the labeling region 4.

[0052] The labeling profile 2 is provided to a printer as a continuous material.

[0053] The labeling profile 2 has a constant cross-section when viewed along its longitudinal extension. This means that the labeling profile 2 is not pre-assembled by predetermined breaking points or the like and has no molded notches that would predefine a longitudinal division.

[0054] The labeling profile 2 has spaced-apart, optically detectable position markers 12 on a surface 10 facing away from the cover surface 6. Intermediate regions 14 are formed between the position markers 12, wherein here the position markers 12 have reflective properties which differ from those of the intermediate regions 14.

[0055] In the present case, the position markers 12 are formed by a plurality of regions 12 that are spaced apart in the longitudinal extension L and are reflective to a limited extent. The position markers 12 are formed by locally coloring the labeling profile 2 consisting of plastics material.

[0056] In the present case, a particular position marker 12 has a length L1 measured in the longitudinal extension L of 4 mm. A particular position marker 12 has a height H1 measured transversely to the longitudinal extension L of 20 mm. The position markers 12, when viewed in the longitudinal extension L, are spaced 30 mm apart. The spacing S1 is thus 30 mm.

[0057] FIGS. 4 and 5 show further embodiments of labeling profiles according to the invention, wherein only the differences from the embodiment described above are discussed in order to avoid repetition.

[0058] The embodiment of a labeling profile 16 shown in FIG. 4 differs from the embodiment described above in that position markers 18 are provided, the height H2 of which is only 3 mm. The length L2 in the present case is 4 mm. According to the further variant of a labeling profile 20, such position markers 18 are arranged in two rows.

[0059] To produce a labeling strip for an electrical installation, a labeling profile 2, 16, 20 is first provided.

[0060] The labeling profile 2, 16, 20 is fed to a printer (not shown). Inside the printer, the cover surface 6 is labeled in the region of the printing regions 22, 24.

[0061] Subsequently, the particular labeling profile is assembled or cut to length to form at least one, two, or more labeling strips, where, for example, a predefined length L3 is cut to length from the labeling profile 2 for the printing region 22 provided for a first labeling strip.

[0062] The respective position markers 12, 18 are optically detected before, during or after the labeling.

[0063] In the present case, a plurality of labeling strips are produced from a particular labeling profile 2, 16, 20, wherein the length of a first labeling strip and/or the length of a second labeling strip is increased or decreased if a deviation in the feed speed of the printer has been detected on the basis of the detected position markers, in particular if the feed speed is set to be constant. The correction of the length is indicated by the arrows 26.