초록 ▼

Apparatus for applying a sleeve of heat-shrink material (a “band”) to a container comprises a rotary drum having a plurality of upstanding heads. A web of banding material is intermittently advanced and lengths cut off, each cut length being held by fingers in the path of a gripper head mounted on t

Apparatus for applying a sleeve of heat-shrink material (a “band”) to a container comprises a rotary drum having a plurality of upstanding heads. A web of banding material is intermittently advanced and lengths cut off, each cut length being held by fingers in the path of a gripper head mounted on the rotary drum. Each head has forward-facing vacuum port through which air is drawn on a timed basis, so that a band 30 will be picked-up and held by one side face as the gripper head passes the fingers. The resilience of the banding material allows the band partially to open out as it is transferred by the gripper head. The rotation of the drum is synchronized to advancement of the containers, so that a held band is rolled on to the top of a container, the container serving to assist in the opening-out of the band, whereat the band is released by the gripper head.

대표청구항 ▼

A method of applying tubular bands to articles advanced through a banding station, in which method: banding material is drawn from a supply of folded-flat banding material; the banding material is opened out and re-folded and re-flattened with the folds disposed mid-way between the original folds; t

A method of applying tubular bands to articles advanced through a banding station, in which method: banding material is drawn from a supply of folded-flat banding material; the banding material is opened out and re-folded and re-flattened with the folds disposed mid-way between the original folds; the re-folded banding material is advanced to a pick-up station and is severed into bands each of a predetermined length which bands are delivered one at a time to the pick-up station; a delivered band is picked-up by a gripper head mounted on a rotary drum the band being held by only one side face to a vacuum port provided in the gripper head and facing the direction of advancement of the gripper head; the band is advanced to said banding station by rotation of the drum, during which advancement the band is allowed partially and resiliently to open out whilst being held only by said one side face; and the drum rotation is synchronised to the advancement of the articles thereby to apply a band to an article by entering the top of an advancing article into a partially opened-out band, whereafter said band is rolled on to the article top by the synchronised movement of the drum with the advancing article.