| CPC B65C 9/36 (2013.01) [B65C 9/02 (2013.01); B65C 9/08 (2013.01)] | 20 Claims |
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1. A label applicator that is traversed along a linear motion path to apply a label to a surface, the label applicator comprising:
a base portion;
a label-retainer head;
a fan assembly;
an exhaust assembly;
one or more force attenuators; and
one or more multi-directional articulation joints, wherein:
the base portion is configured to attach the label applicator to an actuator,
the label-retainer head extends transverse to the linear motion path, comprises a label-retaining surface that engages the label when the label is applied to the surface, is configured to hold the label using a negative pressure when the label is applied, and is nonlinear along a reference plane extending normal to the label-retaining surface,
the fan assembly is configured to pull airflow through at least one aperture in the label-retainer head and direct the airflow to the exhaust assembly to provide a source of the negative pressure,
the fan assembly is coupled to the exhaust assembly via the one or more force attenuators in a manner to permit at least one of the fan assembly to be movable towards the exhaust assembly or the exhaust assembly to be movable towards the fan assembly upon receiving a compressive force against the label-retainer head to dampen the compressive force, and
the one or more multi-directional articulation joints are positioned between the label-retaining surface and the base portion and are configured to permit the label-retaining surface and the base portion to pivot in multiple planes to angularly adjust an orientation of the label applicator.
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