IN-MOLD LABEL SUPPLY SYSTEM FOR PLASTIC BLOW MOLDING MACHINE

摘要

An in-mold label supply system (20) for a plastic blow molding machine (22) has particular utility for use with rotary wheel type blow molding and includes a hopper assembly (68) including a feed hopper (70) for positioning discrete sheet-like labels (72) in a vertical feed stack (74). A feeder (76) of the system includes a feed member (78) that selectively grips the lowermost label (72) of the feed stack (74) to provide delivery thereof to a conveyor (80) for conveyance to the blow molding machine (22) where a label dispenser (82) transfers the label (72) to a mold (24) of the machine for placement within a mold cavity section (28). A gate (104) of the feeder (76) cooperates with the feed member (78) to permit only the lowermost label (72) to be fed from the feed stack (74) to the conveyor (80). The feed member (78) is preferably embodied by a feed roller (114) to which pressurized gas and a vacuum are alternately fed to control the label feeding.