A sheet of film is unspooled from an unwind roll and passed through a tube forming apparatus that overlaps the edges of the film. The overlapping edges completing the tube enclosure are connected using ultrasonic welding or the like. The sleeve is then passed to an iris carrier. An in-line continuous feed sleeve labeling machine labels containers, such as beverage containers, in an in-line fashion maintaining the elevation of the containers during their linear transport. The in-line continuous feed sleeve labeling machine of the present invention receives bottles in flood feeder or linear fashion. A timing screw or the like properly separates, and both spatially and temporally disposes, the containers for sleeving.

Once the label sleeve has reached the appropriate point (generally adjacent to the central portion of the bottle), the iris carrier allows the label sleeve to engage the central portion of the bottle. Frictional attachment or otherwise allows the finger rods of the iris carrier to pull away from the sleeve as the iris carrier continues to descend down towards the pedestal. The sleeve then becomes attached to or engaged by the bottle until the finger rods of the iris carrier free themselves from the sleeve label. A container stabilizer may provide lateral bottle support and aid the enslavement process. The finger rods then dilate to better disengage the bottle as the iris carrier ascends up and away from the bottle. The bottle is then transported to an exit conveyor having been properly sleeved, while the iris carrier returns to transport another sleeve.

A timing screw 70 separates and aligns the bottles B for carrying upon the pedestal system 64. A low-friction transition plate 72 allows the low-friction timing screw 70 to move a bottle B from an input conveyor 74 to one of the pedestals 66 of the pedestal system 64. The timing screw 70 allows for a flood feed system in and to the in-line continuous feed sleeve labeling machine 50, where a number of individual bottles B are bunched about the timing screw 70. The timing screw 70 then picks up a single one of several adjacent available bottles B and moves it into synchronized position for pickup by the pedestal system 64 and ensleevement by an ensleeved iris carrier 54.

As shown in the Figures, the in-line continuous feed sleeve labeling machine 50 is shown generally in its entirety in FIGS. 1-6. The in-line continuous feed sleeve labeling machine 50 has the ability to sleeve or label bottles or containers continuously as they pass through the labeling machine 50. As used herein, the term "bottles" is synonymous with the term "containers" and related vessels, and the term "label" is synonymous with the term "sleeve" and the like, including other indicia that can be attached by the present machine to bottles.