Surface mount assembly system with integral label feeder
US6923878B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Nov 26, 2003 |
| Grant date | Aug 2, 2005 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 26, 2023 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10T156/1994
- WIPO fieldHandling
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
The present invention is a method and apparatus conveying a roll of liner stock bearing removably adhered components such as labels. The liner is pulled through the feeder by a capstan drive having opposed fluted nip rollers driven by a stepper motor. Advance of the stepper motor is controlled by a programmable electronic controller. The linered labels are led through a tensioner and around an acute-angle peeler edge which separates the labels from the liner. The peeling action advances a label onto a platform comprising a bed of rollers having an inherently low-adherence surface. Preferably the rollers are undercut to form circumferential ridges and reduce the surface area in contact with the label adhesive and to minimize adherence thereto. When peeling of a label is completed, the label has been advanced onto the roller bed to precisely the proper location for acquisition by a pick-and-place machine. The presence of a label on the platform is confirmed by a sensor that signals the controller to stop further liner advance. The signal also serves to reset the feeder for advance of the next label after the first label is picked from the roller bed.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.