LABELLING MACHINE, METHOD FOR HANDLING A WEB-LIKE LABELLING MATERIAL IN AN AUTOMATED LABELLING PROCESS AND LABEL

摘要

The invention relates to a labelling machine (1) configured to apply labels (2) onto articles (3) destined to contain a pourable product; the machine (1) comprises: a conveyor (6) configured to advance a plurality of articles (3) along a transfer path (P); a transfer device (13) configured to receive a succession of labels (2) in a receiving station (B), and to feed them to an application station (A), at which they are applied onto respective articles (3); at least one position sensor (15), configured to sequentially detect the position of reference elements (16), each provided on a respective label (2), and to generate a corresponding first information correlated to the current position (R) of each reference element (16); and a control unit (17) configured to receive the first information generated by said position sensor (15), so as to compare it sequentially with a second information correlated to a pre-set nominal position (N) of the reference element (16), and calculating a position error (E) between the current position (R) and the nominal position (N); the control unit (17) is furthermore configured to: control a discard of the articles (3) onto which a corresponding label (2) has been applied for which the control unit (17) has calculated a non-zero position error (E), when the position error (E) is higher than a pre-set first threshold value (Es1) and lower than a preset second threshold value (Es2) higher than the first threshold value (Es1); and to control a stop of the machine (1) when the position error (E) is higher than the second threshold value (Es2) for a pre-set number of labels (2).