Airflow‐induced high‐speed separation method for stacked paper labels and its mechanism

An airflow‐induced separation method for stacked paper labels is proposed with a stream of compressed air used to jet vertically onto the side of the stacked labels and force constraints applied to the two ends of the labels. Its mechanism is revealed that the viscous force caused by airflow is the main driving force for the initial separation of labels and the vertical force is the main factor for the formation of successive separation channels. Theoretical and experimental analyses are implemented to ensure the effects of airflow velocity, label characteristics, label stress, and other factors on label separation and show that a stable separation gap can be generated with separation efficiency of more than 3600 sheets per minute and reliability of 99.99%. A complete airflow‐induced label separation device is designed, which can be integrated into the existing packaging machine, and the physical feasibility of the stack label separation method is verified by experiments.