Cutting unit for a labeling machine as well as a labeling machine with such a cutting unit

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a cutting unit for a labeling unit. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a labeling unit with such a cutting unit.

[0002] Cutting devices are known, particularly for labeling bottles or similar containers with so-called roll-fed labels, which are produced by peeling and separating a length of label from a continuous label material. These devices consist, for example, essentially of a cutting drum with at least one cutting drum knife on the drum's circumferential surface and a knife shaft with at least one counter knife.

[0003] In a known embodiment, the cutting drum and the cutter shaft are driven synchronously around their parallel axes for the cutting process, such that the cutter shaft and the cutting drum have the same circumferential speed and the same direction of movement at least at the time of the actual cutting process.

[0004] Whenever a cutting drum knife reaches the cutting position, i.e., the cutting gap formed between the cutting drum and the cutter shaft, a counter knife on the cutter shaft is also positioned there, so that the cutting process is carried out with both knives. To achieve flawless cutting and, in particular, to prevent mutual damage to the knives, it is necessary to adjust the knife gap, i.e., the distance between the overlapping knives during the cutting process, as optimally as possible. This adjustment is made, for example, by adjusting the rotation angle of the cutter shaft. This means that, with the cutting drum knife in the cutting position, the rotational position of the cutter shaft corresponding to this rotational position of the cutting drum is changed so that the desired, ideally narrow, knife gap is achieved without the risk of damaging the knife.

[0005] The angle of rotation is adjusted mechanically, for example via the gearbox driving the cutter shaft, which is specifically designed for this purpose and includes a corresponding angle adjustment mechanism. Other designs of cutting units are also known, such as those with a stationary, i.e., non-rotating, counter-knife carrier, e.g., a cutter shaft that performs a controlled oscillating back-and-forth motion.

[0006] Furthermore, a labeling device with continuous feeding of a wound label film is known, for example, from German patent application DE 698 22 238 T2. This device includes a cutting unit with a cutting edge arranged along the radii of a rotating roller and a non-rotating counter-cutting edge. A drum is provided for capturing and transferring the detached labels to a hot roller that applies adhesive to specific areas, and subsequently to a container. This patent application is particularly distinguished by the fact that the labeling device comprises a one-piece elastic holder for the non-rotating counter-cutting edge, the holder of which allows pivoting about a pivot point to move the counter-cutting edge away from or towards the cutting edge.

[0007] From publication EP 1 052 209 A1, a film cutting device, particularly for a wrapping machine, is known, comprising a stationary support structure, a rotating knife rotatably mounted on the stationary support structure about a first axis and carrying a first blade, and a stationary knife rotatably mounted by the support structure about a second axis parallel to the first axis for adjustment movements, carrying a second blade that interacts with the first blade. Furthermore, this publication discloses adjusting means for changing the distance between the stationary knife and the rotating knife, which are provided for changing the working angle of the stationary knife about the second axis.

[0008] Furthermore, a cutting unit according to the preamble of claim 1 is known from German patent application DE 10 2006 051 359 A1, in particular for use in a labeling unit of a labeling machine, comprising a cutting drum which is driven around a drum axis and which has at least one cutting drum knife provided on the drum circumference and at least one counter knife which cooperates with the cutting drum knife for cutting and is held on a counter knife carrier, wherein the knife gap formed during cutting between the cutting drum knife and the counter knife is adjustable by means of an adjusting element which acts with at least one control surface on a control element of a knife gap adjusting arrangement of the counter knife carrier and / or the cutting drum and is movable relative to the control element for this purpose.This publication is particularly distinguished by the fact that the control surface is provided on an actuating element that can be moved by a threaded spindle.

[0009] A disadvantage of known cutting units is that the blade gap can only be adjusted very coarsely, and that, particularly when processing very thin label material (e.g., with a thickness in the range of 30 to 40 µm), this either leads to faulty cutting or, if an attempt is made to adjust the blade gap accordingly, to damage to the blades. Furthermore, cutting units known from the prior art are not designed to refrain from cutting a label for individual gaps in the bottle flow of the labeling unit, i.e., to temporarily disengage the counter blade from the cutting blade provided on the cutting drum.

[0010] Based on this, the present invention aims to provide a cutting unit for a labeling unit which avoids the aforementioned disadvantages and in particular enables a very fine adjustment of the knife gap and can at the same time be temporarily disengaged from the cutting knives provided on the cutting drum.

[0011] This problem is solved by the features of claim 1. The dependent claims relate to particularly preferred embodiments of the invention.

[0012] The essential aspect of the present invention is to provide a cutting unit for a labeling unit of a labeling machine, comprising a cutting drum driven around a drum axis and with at least one cutting drum knife provided on a drum circumference. The cutting drum knife can be guided past a counter knife provided on a switching and adjusting device to cut a label. Furthermore, the counter knife can be pivoted between a cutting position and a waiting position via a first pivot section formed on the switching and adjusting device, such that the counter knife is in active engagement with the rotating cutting drum knife in the cutting position and is out of active engagement in the waiting position.Thus, via a second joint section formed on the switching and adjusting device, the knife gap formed between the cutting drum knife and the counter knife in the cutting position can be adjusted independently of the controlled pivoting movement of the first joint section. This is particularly advantageous because it allows both the counter knife to be disengaged from the cutting drum knife and the knife gap to be adjusted. Since two joint sections are provided on the switching and adjusting device, both functionalities can be adjusted independently of each other.

[0013] According to an advantageous embodiment, the switching and positioning device can be designed to pivot the first joint section between the cutting position and the waiting position in such a controlled manner that, in the case of individual gaps in the bottle flow of the labeling unit, no label is cut for at least this one empty, unoccupied container handling position on the rotor.

[0014] According to the invention, the switching and actuating device has a solid-body joint by means of which the two joint sections are realized. Thus, both the first and second joint sections can be formed with a solid-body joint. In other words, the solid-body joint thus has the first and second joint sections in the form of a double solid-body joint. The solid-body joint is therefore designed as a double solid-body joint with the first and second joint sections. It can therefore be provided that the solid-body joint is designed as a double solid-body joint in which the first and second joint sections are manufactured exclusively with the solid-body joint. The first and second joint sections can advantageously be formed in one piece, in particular integrally with the solid-body joint.The first and / or second joint section of the solid-body joint can be designed to save material, for example, by means of a material constriction, and / or a bend in the solid-body joint. Advantageously, the double solid-body joint is thus designed to be elastically deformable, at least in the areas of its first and second joint sections. For example, the solid-body joint can be designed as an essentially U- or C-shaped solid-body joint. By designing the solid-body joint in the manner of a double solid-body joint, mechanically simple joint sections are provided for the switching and actuating device.

[0015] According to a further advantageous embodiment, the solid body joint can be provided to have a first lateral leg section, a second lateral leg section oriented essentially parallel to the first leg section, and a base leg section connecting the two lateral leg sections at a free end.

[0016] According to a further advantageous embodiment, it can be provided that the first joint section of the solid body joint is formed in the transition area between the first lateral leg section and the base leg section, and the second joint section is formed in the transition area between the second lateral leg section and the base leg section, and that the solid body joint is designed to be elastically deformable at least in its respective joint section.

[0017] According to a further advantageous embodiment, it can be provided that the solid body joint is designed in one piece, in particular as a single unit.

[0018] According to a further advantageous embodiment, it can be provided that the switching and adjusting device is fixedly attached to a housing of the cutting unit via a holder attached to the first side leg section.

[0019] According to a further advantageous embodiment, the switching and positioning device may include a switching lever element extending in a substantially L-shape, which is connected to the base leg section with a first side to initiate a pivoting movement between the cutting position and the waiting position on the counter blade and interacts directly or indirectly with a switching device with a second side in such a way that the switching lever element can be pivoted about the first joint area in a controlled manner when an positioning movement is initiated via the switching device.

[0020] According to a further advantageous embodiment, it can be provided that the switching lever element has a mechanical stop in the area of ​​its free end section on the second side, by means of which the deflection of the switching lever element between the waiting position and the cutting position can be adjusted.

[0021] According to a further advantageous embodiment, it can be provided that the switching and actuating device has a knife holder on its second side leg section of the solid body joint, on which the counter knife is held in such a way that the counter knife is pivotable in a controlled pivoting movement about the first joint area directly proportional to the deflection of the switching element lever.

[0022] According to a further advantageous embodiment, it can be provided that the relative positioning of the knife holder provided on the second side leg section to the shift lever element can be fixed in a position-secure manner by means of a locking plate.

[0023] According to a further advantageous embodiment, it can be provided that the knife holder, including the counter knife held thereon, is designed to be pivotable about the second joint section relative to the shift lever element for adjusting the knife gap by means of an adjusting device provided on the knife holder.

[0024] According to a further advantageous embodiment, the adjusting device may have a threaded spindle with a differential thread, wherein the threaded spindle has at least a first threaded section and a second threaded section along its shaft, both having the same thread direction but with different thread pitches, wherein the first threaded section of the threaded spindle is engaged in a mating thread of the knife holder and the second threaded section is engaged in a mating thread of the shift lever element.

[0025] The expression "essentially" or "approximately" means, within the meaning of the invention, deviations from the respective exact value by + / - 10%, preferably by + / - 5% and / or deviations in the form of changes that are insignificant for the function.

[0026] Further developments, advantages and application possibilities of the invention also result from the following description of exemplary embodiments and from the figures.

[0027] Although some aspects have been described in connection with a device, it is understood that these aspects also constitute a description of the corresponding process, so that a block or component of a device is also to be understood as a corresponding process step or as a feature of a process step. Similarly, aspects described in connection with or as a process step also constitute a description of a corresponding block, detail, or feature of a corresponding device. Some or all of the process steps may be performed by (or using) a hardware apparatus such as a microprocessor, a programmable computer, or an electronic circuit. In some embodiments, some or more of the main process steps may be performed by such an apparatus.

[0028] The invention will be explained in more detail below with reference to exemplary embodiments shown in the figures. The figures show: Fig. 1 shows a schematic and top-view representation of a labeling unit of a labeling machine for labeling containers; Fig. 2 shows an enlarged detail of the Figure 1 The cutting unit according to the invention is shown in Fig. 3 in a schematic side view, an exemplary embodiment of a switching and adjusting device of a cutting unit is shown in Fig. 4 in a schematic top view, the switching and adjusting device according to Figure 3 , Fig. 5 in schematic perspective view the switching and actuating device according to Figure 3 .

[0029] For identical or similarly functioning elements of the invention, identical reference numerals are used in the figures. Furthermore, for the sake of clarity, only those reference numerals necessary for describing the respective figure are shown in the individual figures. The invention is also presented in the figures only as a schematic view to illustrate its operation. In particular, the illustrations in the figures serve only to explain the fundamental principle of the invention. For the sake of clarity, not all components of the device are shown.

[0030] In the figures, 1 is a labeling unit of a labeling machine for labeling bottles or similar containers 2 with so-called roll-fed labels 3. These labels are pulled from a supply roll 4 of endless, ribbon-like label material 3.1 and cut from the label material 3.1 to the required length for each label 3 in a cutting unit 5 of the labeling unit 1. The resulting labels 3 are transferred via a labeling and transfer drum 6 to the containers 2, which are moved past the labeling unit 1 on a rotor 7 of the labeling machine rotating about a vertical machine axis. The directions of rotation of the rotor 7 and the transfer drum 6 are indicated by arrows A and B, respectively.

[0031] The label material 3 is drawn from a supply roll 4 by means of conveyor rollers 8 and 9 synchronously with the rotation of the rotor 7 and fed to the cutting unit 5. The cutting unit 5 comprises, in particular, a cutting drum 10, which is driven in a rotating direction around its vertical drum axis TA during labeling, in the opposite direction to the transfer drum 6 (arrow C). Such a cutting drum 10 is generally known to those skilled in the art in terms of its construction and function. A more detailed description is therefore omitted. Reference is made in this context only by way of example to the cutting drum shown and described in publication DE 20 2005 002 793 U1.

[0032] On the circular cylindrical drum circumferential surface 10.1, the cutting drum 10 has a cutting drum knife 11 on each of its preferably opposite sides, each of which is oriented with its cutting edge parallel or substantially parallel to the drum axis TA of the cutting drum 10 and to which a counter knife 12 is assigned, so that when the cutting drum 10 rotates, the length forming the label 3 is cut from the label material 3.1 by the interaction of the cutting drum knife 11 with the counter knife 12 and is then temporarily held on the circumferential surface 10.1 of the cutting drum 10, for example by vacuum, and transferred to the transfer drum 6.

[0033] In other words, the cutting unit 5 cuts a label 3 by guiding the rotating cutting drum knife 11 of the cutting drum 10, which is provided on a drum circumference 10.1, past the counter knife 12 provided on a switching and adjusting device 13, thus making the cut.

[0034] The counter blade 12 is pivotable via a first joint section GA1 formed on the switching and adjusting device 13 between a cutting position SP and a waiting position WP in such a way that in the cutting position SP it is in active engagement with the rotating cutting drum blade 11 - i.e. cutting labels 3 - while in the waiting position WP the counter blade 12 is out of active engagement with the cutting drum blade 11 - i.e. it does not cut any labels 3.

[0035] Furthermore, the knife gap formed in the cutting position SP between the cutting drum knife 11 and the counter knife 12 can be adjusted independently of the controlled pivoting movement of the first joint section GA1 via a second joint section GA2 formed on the switching and adjusting device 13.

[0036] The switching and positioning device 13 can be designed to pivot the first joint section GA1 between the cutting position SP and the waiting position WP in such a controlled manner that, in the event of individual gaps in the bottle flow of the labeling unit 1, no label 3 is cut for at least this one empty, unoccupied container handling position on the rotor 7 - i.e., the counter blade 12 is briefly out of engagement with the cutting drum knife 11 provided on the cutting drum.

[0037] In more detail, the cutting unit 5 has a housing 21 on which all components and assemblies are arranged or mounted. In particular, the switching and actuating device 13 is also arranged on the housing 21 via a plate-shaped holder 15, preferably detachably screwed to the housing 21. All components and assemblies of the switching and actuating device 13, which are described in more detail below, are held on the plate-shaped holder 15.

[0038] The plate-shaped holder 15 is equipped with a switching device 19 for the controlled pivoting movement of the first joint section GA1 between the cutting position SP and the waiting position WP of the counter-blade 12. The switching device 19 is preferably designed as a pneumatic cylinder device that can generate a bidirectional positioning movement, indicated by a double arrow D.

[0039] In particular, the switching and actuating device 13 can have a solid-body joint 14 by means of which the two joint sections GA1 and GA2 are realized. Thus, both the first and second joint sections GA1, GA2 can be formed with a solid-body joint 14. In other words, the solid-body joint 14 thus has the first and second joint sections GA1, GA2 in the form of a double solid-body joint. The solid-body joint 14 is therefore designed as a double solid-body joint with the first and second joint sections GA1, GA2. It can therefore be provided that the solid-body joint 14 is designed as a double solid-body joint in which the first and second joint sections GA1, GA2 are manufactured exclusively with the solid-body joint 14.

[0040] The first and second joint sections GA1, GA2 can advantageously be formed in one piece, in particular integrally with the solid joint 14. The first and / or second joint section GA1, GA2 of the solid joint 14 can be designed to save material, for example in the form of a material constriction, and / or a bend at the solid joint 14. Advantageously, the double solid joint 14 is thus designed to be elastically deformable, at least in the areas of its first and second joint sections GA1, GA2.

[0041] For example, the solid body joint 14 can be provided as an essentially U- or C-shaped solid body joint 14.

[0042] This shows Figure 4One embodiment in which a substantially U-shaped solid joint 14 is provided on the side of the holder 15 opposite the switching device 19, and the first and second joint sections GA1 and GA2 are formed on this joint. In more detail, the U-shaped solid joint 14 has a first side leg section 14.1, with which the solid joint 14 is arranged on the holder 15, in particular fixedly but detachably connected to it, for example by screws. Furthermore, a second side leg section 14.2, oriented substantially parallel to the first side leg section 14.1, is provided, wherein the two side leg sections 14.1 and 14.2 are connected to each other via a third base leg section 14.3, which preferably extends perpendicularly to the two side leg sections 14.1 and 14.2.

[0043] In more detail, the first joint section GA1 of the solid body joint 14 is formed in the transition area between the first lateral leg section 14.1 and the base leg section 14.3, and the second joint section GA2 is formed in the transition area between the second lateral leg section 14.2 and the base leg section 14.3. In particular, the solid body joint 14 is designed to be elastically deformable, at least in its respective joint sections GA1 and GA2.

[0044] Preferably, the solid body joint 14 with its first and second side leg sections 14.1, 14.2 and the base leg section 14.3 connecting the side leg sections 14.1, 14.2 is formed in one piece, in particular in one piece, and is made of a metallic material.

[0045] On the base leg section 14.3, the switching and actuating device 13 for initiating the pivoting movement between the cutting position SP and the waiting position WP on the counter blade 12 has a switching lever element 16 that extends essentially in an L-shape in plan view. The switching lever element 16 is fixedly, but detachably, arranged on the base leg section 14.3 with its first side 16.1, which is formed on a short leg, and is in particular connected to it, and interacts with the switching device 19 via a receptacle 23 with its second side 16.2, which is formed on a longer leg, such that the switching lever element 16 can pivot about the first joint section GA1 when an actuating movement is initiated via the switching device 19. The double pivoting movement is indicated by a double arrow E.

[0046] Furthermore, the shift lever element 16 has a mechanical stop 20 in the area of ​​its free end section on the second side 16.2, by means of which the deflection of the shift lever element 16, i.e., the stroke of the pivoting movement, can be adjusted between the waiting position WP and the cutting position SP. For example, the stop 20 can be formed by a threaded spindle 20.1 screwed into the holder 15, on which a stop element 20.2, 20.3, for example in the form of a nut, is provided on opposite sides of the shift lever element 16.

[0047] The stop element 20.2, located on the side of the threaded spindle 20.1 facing away from the holder 15, forms a mechanical end stop for the maximum possible deflection of the switching lever element 16. In this position, the counter blade 13 is in its cutting position SP, i.e., in active engagement with the cutting drum blade 12 for cutting labels 3. The stop element 20.3, located on the side of the threaded spindle 20.1 facing the holder 15, forms a mechanical end stop for the standby position WP, in which the counter blade 13 is out of active engagement with the cutting drum blade 12. The respective end stop can be continuously adjusted by rotating the respective stop elements 20.2 and 20.3 along the longitudinal axis of the threaded spindle 20.1.

[0048] Furthermore, the switching and adjusting device 13 has a knife holder 17 on its second side leg section 14.2, on which the counter knife 12 is interchangeably held, for example parallel to the drum axis TA. However, it is particularly preferred that the knife has a slight inclination relative to the drum axis, for example an inclination of 0.15°.

[0049] In particular, however, the knife holder 17 together with the counter knife 12 held on it is pivoted directly proportionally to the deflection of the shift lever element 16 via the solid body joint 14 during a controlled pivoting movement about the first joint axis GA1 between the cutting position SP and the waiting position WP.

[0050] Preferably the knife holder 17 is detachably but firmly arranged on the second side leg section 14.2, preferably screwed to the second side leg section 14.2 on the outside of the second side leg section 14.2 opposite the shift lever element 16.

[0051] For this purpose, the relative positioning of the knife holder 17 provided on the second side leg section 14.2 to the shift lever element 16 can be fixed in a positional manner by means of a locking plate 22. For example, the locking plate 22 can be screwed to both the shift lever element 16 and the knife holder 17 by means of screws 25.

[0052] Furthermore, the knife gap formed in the cutting position SP between the cutting drum knife 11 and the counter knife 12 can be adjusted independently of the controlled pivoting movement of the first joint section GA1 via the second joint section GA2 formed on the switching and adjusting device 13.

[0053] In more detail, the knife holder 17, including the counter-knife 12 held thereon, can be designed to pivot about the second joint section GA2 relative to the shift lever element 16 by means of an adjusting device 18 provided on the knife holder 17. The pivoting of the knife holder 17 by means of the adjusting device 18 about the second joint area GA2 formed between the second side leg section 14.2 and the base leg section 14.3 thus occurs independently of the controlled pivoting movement of the first joint section GA1.

[0054] The adjusting device 18 can absorb forces in both directions of the pivoting movement formed around the second joint section GA2. In more detail, the adjusting device 18 can thus have a threaded spindle 18.1 with a differential thread. The threaded spindle 18.1 has two thread sections along its shaft, namely a first thread section W1 and a second thread section W2, both of which have the same thread direction but different thread pitches. The first thread section W1 of the threaded spindle 18.1 engages in a mating thread 17.1 of the knife holder 17, and the second thread section W2 engages in a mating thread 16.3 of the shift lever element 16.

[0055] For example, the first thread section W1 can have a larger thread pitch than the second thread section W2 of the threaded spindle 18.1. When the threaded spindle 18.1 is tightened, the thread section W1 of the threaded spindle 18.1 with the larger thread pitch slides into the mating thread 17.1 of the knife holder 17. At the same time, however, the thread section W2 with the smaller pitch moves in the mating thread 16.3 of the shift lever element 16. Since a shorter distance is covered in each revolution of the threaded spindle 18.1 in the thread section with the smaller pitch W2, the two thread sections W1 and W2 of the threaded spindle 18.1 become preloaded against each other, i.e., in particular, against each other.

[0056] It is understood that the adjustment of the knife gap is carried out using the adjusting device 18 with the locking plate 22 unscrewed, which is screwed back on to fix the position of the knife holder 17 on the shift lever element 16 after the adjustment of the knife gap. Reference symbol list

[0057] 1 Labeling unit 2 Container 3 Label 3.1 Label material 4 Supply roll 5 Cutting unit 6 Transfer drum 7 Rotor 8 Conveyor roller 9 Conveyor roller 10 Cutting drum 10.1 Drum circumferential surface 11 Cutting drum knife 12 Counter knife 13 Switching and adjusting device 14 Solid body joint 14.1 First side leg section 14.2 Second side leg section 14.3 Base leg section 15 Holder 16 Switching lever element 16.1 First side 16.2 Second side 16.3 Counter thread 17 Knife holder 17.1 Counter thread 18 Adjusting device 18.1 Threaded spindle 19 Switching device 20 Stop 20.1 Threaded spindle 20.2 Stop element 20.3 Stop element 21 Housing 22 Locking plate 23 Mount 25 Screw A Rotation direction of rotor B Rotation direction of transfer drum C Rotation direction of cutting drum D Positioning movement of switching device E Swivel movement around the first joint section GA1 First joint section GA2 Second joint section SP Cutting position WP Waiting position W1 First thread section W2 Second thread section T A Drum axis

Claims

1. Cutting unit for a labelling device of a labelling machine, comprising a cutting drum (10) that can be driven in a revolving manner about a drum axis (TA), having at least one cutting drum knife (11) provided on a drum circumference (10.1) which can pass by a counterpart knife (12) provided on a switching and setting apparatus (13) in order to cut a label (3), wherein the counterpart knife (12) can be swivelled in a controlled manner between a cutting position (SP) and a waiting position (WP) via a first joint portion (GA1) formed on the switching and setting apparatus (13), in such a way that the counterpart knife (12) is in active engagement with the rotating cutting drum knife (11) when in the cutting position (SP) and out of active engagement when in the waiting position (WP), and wherein the knife gap formed in the cutting position (SP) between the cutting drum knife (11) and the counterpart knife (12) can be adjusted by a second joint portion (GA2) formed on the switching and setting apparatus (13), independently of the controlled swivelling motion of the first joint portion (GA1), characterised in that the switching and setting apparatus (13) has a solid-body joint (14) by means of which the first and second joint portions (GA1, GA2) are formed.

2. Cutting unit according to claim 1, characterised in that the switching and setting apparatus (13) is configured to swivel the first joint portion (GA1) between the cutting position (SP) and the waiting position (WP) in a controlled manner such that, in the event of individual gaps in the bottle flow of the labelling device (1), no label (3) is cut for at least this one empty, unoccupied container handling position on the rotor (7).

3. Cutting unit according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the solid-body joint (14) is configured as a double solid-body joint with the first and second joint portions (GA1, GA2).

4. Cutting unit according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that the first and second joint portions (GA1, GA2) are formed integrally, in particular in one piece with the solid-body joint (14).

5. Cutting unit according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that the solid-body joint (14) has a first side leg portion (14.1), a second side leg portion (14.2) oriented substantially parallel to the first leg portion (14.1) and a base leg portion (14.3) connecting the two side leg portions (14.1, 14.2) at a free end.

6. Cutting unit according to claim 5, characterised in that the first joint portion (GA1) on the solid-body joint (14) is formed in the transition region between the first side leg portion (14.1) and the base leg portion (14.3), and the second joint portion (GA2) is formed in the transition region between the second side leg portion (14.2) and the base leg portion (14.3), and that the solid-body joint (14) is configured to be elastically deformable at least in its respective joint portion (GA1, GA2).

7. Cutting unit according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that the solid-body joint (14) is formed integrally, in particular in one piece.

8. Cutting unit according to one of the preceding claims 5 or 6, characterised in that the switching and setting apparatus (13) is fixed in a fixed position on a housing (21) of the cutting unit (5) via a holder (15) attached to the first side leg portion (14.1).

9. Cutting unit according to any of the preceding claims 5, 6 or 8, characterised in that the switching and setting apparatus (13) has a substantially L-shaped switching lever element (16) which is connected by a first side (16.1) to the base leg portion (14.3) in order to initiate a swivelling motion between the cutting position (SP) and the waiting position (WP) onto the counterpart knife (12), and by a second side (16.2) directly or indirectly to a switching device (19) in such a way that, on initiating a setting movement via the switching device (19), the switching lever element (16) can be swivelled in a controlled manner about the first joint portion (GA1).

10. Cutting unit according to claim 9, characterised in that the switching lever element (16) has a mechanical stop (20) in the region of its free end portion of the second side (16.2), by means of which the deflection of the switching lever element (16) between the waiting position (WP) and the cutting position (SP) can be adjusted.

11. Cutting unit according to one of the preceding claims 9 or 10, characterised in that the switching and setting apparatus (13) has a knife holder (17) on its second side leg portion (14.2) of the solid-body joint (14), on which the counterpart knife (12) is held in such a way that the counterpart knife (12) is configured to be swivelable in direct proportion to the deflection of the switching lever element (16) during a controlled swivelling movement about the first joint region (GA1).

12. Cutting unit according to claim 11, characterised in that the positioning of the knife holder (17) provided on the second side leg portion (14.2) relative to the switching lever element (16) can be fixed in a fixed position via a locking plate (22).

13. Cutting unit according to one of the preceding claims 11 or 12, characterised in that the knife holder (17), including the counterpart knife (12) held thereon, is configured to be swivelable relative to the switching lever element (16) about the second joint portion (GA2) in order to adjust the knife gap by means of an adjusting device (18) provided on the knife holder (17).

14. Cutting unit according to claim 13, characterised in that the adjusting device (18) has a threaded spindle (18.1) with a differential thread, wherein the threaded spindle (18.1) provides along its shank at least a first threaded region (W1) and a second threaded region (W2), which both have the same thread direction with different thread pitches, and wherein the first threaded region (W1) of the threaded spindle (18.1) is received in a mating thread (17.1) of the knife holder (17) and the second threaded region (W2) is received in a mating thread (16.3) of the switching lever element (16).

15. Labelling device for a labelling machine for labelling containers (2) with a roll-fed label, at least comprising a cutting unit (5), characterised in that the cutting unit (5) is configured according to any of the preceding claims.