a first embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to fig1 and 2 . the label applying machine 2 according to the present invention holds a label rolling cassette 1 for rolling up a composite label web 4 which has been printed with indicia , such as bar codes , by the action of a printer ( not shown ). the label applying machine 2 , to which that label rolling cassette 1 is removably attached , can be manually operated to feed the composite label web 4 and to delaminate labels 6 , shown in detail in fig1 , one by one from a web of their backing paper 5 , thereby to bring those labels 6 into an appliable state . in the center portion of the frame 7 of the label rolling cassette 1 , a rolling core 8 having a cylindrical shape is rotatably fitted . at each of four equidistantly spaced portions of the outer circumference of the rolling core 8 , there are a recess 9 and a clamping spring 10 which clamp the leading end of the composite label web 4 when the web is being rolled . a rotary bail 12 is hinged to a pair of annular lands ( not shown ) which are formed on the facing inner walls of the frame 7 outside of the roling core 8 . the rotary bail 12 is formed at the rear portions of both its side walls with a pair of sideways label web looseness preventing plates 12a , which are provided to prevent the composite label web 4 rolled on the core 8 from being loosened sideways . the front end of the bail 12 has a semi - circular label holding portion 13 which merges into both side plates thereof . the label rolling cassette 1 is gently curved up from its bottom side at the left or front in fig2 to its right or rear end to form a curved guide plate 14 with a lower side that is formed wth a backing paper guide groove 15 extending from the front end to the rear end . the guide plate 14 has a turning pin 16 at its front end for turning the backing paper web 5 from the composite label web 4 . midway along the guide plate 14 , a subroller 17 is rotatably attached . its outer circumference protrudes slightly for feeding the backing paper web 5 in cooperation with the feed roller 42 of the label applier 2 , as described below . a pair of backing paper holding plates 18 protrude from the frame 7 into the backing paper guide groove 15 . a hook member 19 is slidably received in the rear end of the frame 7 . the hook member 19 is formed with a pair of right and left protruding hooks 20 at its rear portion and with a pair of knobs 21 at both of its right and left ends . the hook member 19 is continuously biased rearwardly by a torsion spring 22 so that the hooks 20 usually protrude from the rear side of the frame 7 . the frame 7 is formed in the upper side of its rear portion with a recess 24 for receiving an indication plate 23 . an elastic member 25 is disposed below the rolling core 8 for preventing the rolled up composite label web 4 from becoming slack . the label rolling cassette 1 is slightly recessed at the outer sides of its lower portion between the sides of the frame 7 to form an attachment portion 26 , at which the cassette is attached to the label applying machine 2 . the frame is formed with round engaging lands 27 at both sides of the front end of the attachment portion 26 . the label applying machine 2 includes a frame 28 which is recessed at its upper portion to form a receptacle 29 in which the attachment portion 26 of the label rolling cassette 1 is to be placed and received . the front end of the receptacle 29 is formed in both its sides with recesses 30 which engage with the engaging lands 27 of the label rolling cassette 1 . a label applying roller 31 is rotatably pivoted to the front end of the frame 28 . below the roller 31 , a label exit 32 is opened . the bottom of the receptacle 29 is defined by a curved guide plate 33 which corresponds in shape to the guide plate 14 of the label rolling cassette 1 . that guide plate 33 has a rear portion which at its upper end carries a backing paper cutter 34 . below the backing paper cutter 34 , the guide plate includes a pair of hook holes 35 for receiving the hooks 20 of the label rolling cassette 1 . the lower portion of the frame 28 extends obliquely backward to provide a grip 36 . below the grip 36 , a hand lever 37 is swingably disposed . the leading end of the hand lever is attached to the frame 28 by a pivot pin 38 . a return spring 39 is disposed in the hand lever 37 . the upper end of the spring 39 abuts against a portion of the frame 28 so that the hand lever 37 is always biased clockwise ( i . e . downward ). an actuating lever 40 has a lower end that is fixed to the hand lever 37 and has an upper end formed with a rack 41 . the rack 41 is positioned and sized to mesh with the pinion 43 of the feed roller 42 which is fitted in the frame 28 . the feed roller 42 is equipped with a built - in one - way clutch mechanism ( not shown ), so that it is adapted to rotate only in the clockwise direction in fig2 . as a result , only the pinion 43 is rotated when the hand lever 37 is squeezed to lift the actuating lever 40 . when the hand lever 37 is released , on the contrary , the feed roller 42 is rotated clockwise together with the pinion 43 . the outer circumferential portion of the feed roller 42 is made of an elastic material , such as rubber , and the portion then at the guide plate 33 is exposed to the outside at the opening formed in the plate 33 . the feed roller engages the backing paper web and pulls it to the rear . the operation of the foregoing embodiment is now described with reference to fig1 and 3 . the cassette 1 is first set in the label applying machine 2 . the cut off , leading end of the composite label web 4 is extracted , pulled forward to , and turned rearward around the front of the turning pin 16 at the front end of the cassette 1 and is then guided to extend along the guide groove 15 of the bottom guide plate 14 and then upward between the backing paper holding plates 18 , shown in fig2 . then , the rotary bail 12 is rotated counterclockwise to its solid line position in fig2 so that the label holding portion 13 thereof abuts the composite label web 4 . this guides the web to move straight forward to the pin 16 , making the rearward turn around the pin 16 a sharp turn for facilitating label separation . next , the attachment portion 26 of the cassette 1 , is attached to the receptacle 29 of the label applying machine 2 , while the engaging lands 27 at the front end of that cassette 1 engage with the recesses 30 of the receptacle 29 , until the hooks 20 come into engagement with the hook holes 35 ( as shown in fig3 ). by this setting step , a backing paper passage at the guide groove 15 is formed between the guide plate 14 of the cassette 1 and the guide plate 33 of the label applying machine 2 , and the sub - roller 17 is moved to abut against the feed roller 42 to clamp the backing paper web 5 between them . if the hand lever 37 is squeezed at this stage , the actuating lever 40 is moved upward so that its rack 41 rotates the pinion 43 . however , the feed roller 42 cannot be rotated due to the one - way clutch mechanism . if the hand lever 37 is now released , the actuating lever 40 is moved down together with the hand lever 37 by the return spring 39 so that the feed roller 42 is rotated a predetermined angle in the clockwise direction together with the pinion 43 . the backing paper web 5 is fed upward in accordance with the rotation of the feed roller 42 because it is clamped between the feed roller 42 and the sub - roller 17 . only the backing paper web 5 is turned back around the pin 16 at an acute angle while the composite label web 4 at the turning pin 16 is held at a horizontal orientation by the label holding portion 13 . as a result , the labels 6 are advanced to the left in fig3 while being delaminated from their backing paper web 5 , until the labels are fed to a position below their applying roller 31 through the label exit 32 . the labels 6 are applied to articles by the label applying roller 31 when the underside ( i . e . the adhesive side ) of the label 6 then below the applying roller 31 is applied to and rubbed against an article , similarly to what is done with the usual hand labeler . the feed means for feeding the backing paper web 5 need not be limited to the combination of the feed roller 42 and the sub - roller 17 . it can be a combination of perforations formed in a backing paper web and feed pins on the feed roller engaging with the perforations . referring now to fig4 - 13 , an alternative embodiment of the portable label applying machine of the present invention will be described in detail . the same reference numerals are used for equivalent parts found in the first embodiment , above . the label printing machine comprises a label cassette 1 and an applying device 2 as in the first embodiment . the label cassette 1 supports a roller label strip 3 , as shown in fig8 a . the cassette 1 can be detachably mounted on the applying device 2 . the applying device 2 advances the tape - like label strip 3 by manual operation and peels labels 6 , shown in fig1 , from a backing paper 5 , thereby bringing the label 6 into a condition and a position to be applied . a supporting cylinder winding core 8 is provided to support the rolled label strip 3 and is rotatably attached to a machine frame 7 on one side of the label cassette 1 . the label strip 3 may be secured to the winding core 8 in any suitable manner . as shown in fig1 , one side of the supporting cylinder or core 8 is provided with a toothed wheel 11 of small diameter which is located outside the machine frame 7 . a bail or turning member 12 is pivotally supported by a circular projection 80 which is formed on the inside of the machine frame 7 . its rear side wall serves as a supporting plate 12a which prevents the rolled label strip 3 on the cylinder 8 from loosening and moving or spilling to one side . when desired , a pair of circular plates 12a may be used further to control the coiled strip 3 . in the front portion of the turning member 12 , there is provided a label pressing or holding member 13 . a closing plate 90 is attached to one side of the machine frame 7 by a pin 81 and can be opened and closed . an indication card holder 92 is formed in the outside wall of the closing plate 90 . on the inside wall of the closing plate 90 , there is provided a circular push plate 82 in the middle portion , as shown in fig1 . as shown in fig5 a backing paper guide groove 15 is formed from the front end to the rear end of the bottom face of the label cassette 1 . as shown in fig5 a pair of pawl guides 75 are formed extending longitudinally in the bottom guide plate 14 . a bending pin 16 for bending the backing paper 5 is attached in front of the bottom guide plate 14 . a backing paper pressing mechanism 18 is formed in the rear portion of the bottom guide plate 14 . the backing paper pressing mechanism 84 , shown in fig8 a , comprises a pressing member and a counter plate 87 which is attached to the rear end of the backing paper guide groove 15 . the pressing member 86 is vertically slidably fit in a recess 85 which is formed in the frame 7 . as shown in fig1 , pressing porton 88 is formed on the bottom face of the pressing member 86 . a needle 89 protrudes from the center of the underside of the pressing portion 88 . the pressing member 86 is integrally provided on both sides thereof with a pair of finger plates . the lower end of each finger plate is provided with a semi - circular tongue piece 93 . the pressing member 86 is biased downward by a spring 94 which is held within the recess 85 . as a result , the tongue pieces 93 normally protrude from the bottom face of the label cassette 1 and the pressing portion 88 is brought into contact with the upper face of the counter plate 87 . the counter plate 87 is so attached that a space 95 sufficient to pass the backing paper 5 therethrough is left between the counter plate 87 and the bottom plate 14 . an aperture 98 to receive the needle 89 of the pressing member 86 is defined at the center of the counter plate 87 . on the rear edge of the counter plate 87 , a cutter 99 for cutting the backing paper 5 is provided as shown in fig5 . semicircular engaging projections 96 are formed on both side front ends of the label cassette 1 , as shown in fig1 b . the lower parts on both sides of the label cassette 1 form slightly retreated mounting portions 97 which are serviceable when the label cassette 1 is attached to a printing device ( not shown ). the applying machine 2 will be described with reference to fig4 and 7 . the upper part of the inside of the machine frame 28 is a receiving section 29 to receive therein the label cassette 1 . the upper horizontal edges of the machine frame 28 constitute a supporting section 76 which protrudes a little inward . in the rear side of each front wall 78 of the machine frame 28 , a semicircular engaging recess 30 is formed . further , an applying roller 31 is rotatably secured to the front end of the machine frame 28 and a label exit 32 is opened under the roller 31 . the rear portion of the machine frame 28 is elongated to form a hand grip 36 . a hand lever 37 is pivotally secured to a pivot shaft 38 and under the hand grip 36 . between the hand grip 36 and the hand lever 37 is fitted a return spring 39 , thereby urging the hand lever 41 in the clockwise direction . a feeding mechanism 44 for advancing the backing paper 5 is formed in the lower portion within the machine frame 28 . the feeding mechanism 44 comprises a pawl member 46 having a pair of feeding pawl 45 on its upper side , a supporting frame 47 to support the pawl member 46 , and first , second and third links 48 , 49 and 50 which move the supporting frame back and forth . one end of the first link 48 is fixed to the hand lever 41 and the other end of the link 48 is provided with a roller 51 which is fitted into a slot 52 that is formed in the second link 49 . the lower end of the second link 49 is pivotally secured to a pin 53 which is horizontally disposed between the side walls of the machine frame 28 . the upper end of the second link 49 is pivotally linked to a pivot pin 54 which is disposed in one end portion of the third link 50 and the other end of the third link 50 is fixed to the supporting frame 47 . the supporting frame 47 is u - shaped as shown in fig7 and is provided on both sides with a pair of rollers 55 and 56 . rollers 55 , 56 are fitted into guide grooves 57 which are formed in the inside walls of the machine frame 28 , as shown in fig9 . the pawl member 46 is pivotally supported by pin 58 which is horizontally disposed in the supporting frame 47 . the pawl member 46 is normally urged by springs 59 in a counterclockwise direction with respect to fig6 . a push - up plate 60 is pivotally supported by a pin 61 which is horizontally disposed in the rear portion of the supporting frame 47 and a supporting member 62 is pivotally supported by a pin 63 which is horizontally disposed between the side walls of the machine frame 33 . the former push - up plate 60 is urged counterclockwise by a spring 64 and the latter supporting member 62 is urged clockwise by a spring 65 as viewed in fig6 . a tapered portion 66 is formed in the upper rear portion of the push - up plate 60 . in the rest condition shown in fig8 a , the undersurface at the rear of the push - up plate 60 is supported by the top face of the supporting member 62 . as shown in fig6 a locking mechanism 67 is disposed in the rear portion of the machine frame 28 , which mechanism 67 locks the label cassette 1 when it is attached to the machine frame 28 . the locking mechanism 67 is comprised of a locking member 69 and a release button 70 . the locking member 69 is pivotally secured to the machine frame 28 and is normally urged clockwise by a spring 68 . the release button 70 is reciprocally slidable at the upper rear end of the machine frame 28 and a portion of the button 70 is in contact with the locking member 69 . when the label cassette 1 is mounted on the applying device 2 , the lower edge portion 71 of the locking member 69 comes into engagement with the engaging portion 73 at the loer end of the opening 72 formed in the rear side of the label cassette 1 , as shown in fig7 and 8a . a backing paper pressing plate 74 which is made of a leaf spring is attached to the machine frame 28 in front of the aforesaid pawl member 46 . the operation of the label applying machine of the present invention will be described in the following . there are two methods of operation in which the label applying machine of the present invention may be used . in one method of operation , a previously printed rolled label strip or an unprinted rolled label strip is attached to the label cassette 1 . in another method of operation , the label cassette 1 is detachably mounted on a printing device ( not shown ) and a label strip is printed and automatically wound on the supporting cylinder 8 to be used . in the first method of operation , the closing plate 90 in the side face of the label cassette 1 is opened , the rolled label strip 3 is attached to the supporting cylinder 8 and the closing plate 90 is closed . then , the turning member 12 is stood upright with its label pressing portion 3 located at the top . the free end portion of the label strip 4 is pulled out to a desired length and several labels 6 are peeled off . the remainder of the backing paper 5 is bent rearward over the front face of the bending pin 16 and the free end of the backing paper 5 is inserted into the space between the pressing portion 88 and the counter plate 87 . more particularly , when the finger plates are slid up with the fingers , the whole of the pressing member 86 moves upward . the backing paper 5 is then inserted into the space between the pressing portion 88 and the counter plate 87 and , when the fingers are released , the pressing member 86 is moved down by the force of the spring 94 . thus , the backing paper 5 is pinched between the pressing portion 88 and the counter plate 87 . in addition , the needle 89 enters the backing paper 5 to secure the backing pper 5 . next , the upright turning member 12 is turned back to the original position and the label pressing portion 13 is brought into contact with the label strip 4 . in the next step , the engaging projection 96 of the label cassette 1 is brought into engagement with the engaging recess 30 of the applying device 2 and the mounting portion 97 of the label cassette 1 is fitted into the receiving section 29 of the applying device 2 . as a result , the raised portion 77 formed on both sides of the cassette 1 is held by the supporting section 76 of the applying device 2 and the label cassette 1 is automatically secured by the locking mechanism 67 . at one side , the portion 77 is the underside face of the closing plate 90 . when the label cassette 1 is mounted , the engaging portion 73 moves downward upon the turning of the locking member 69 counterclockwise against the force of the spring 68 . when the engaging portion 73 passes over the lower edge portion 71 of the locking member 69 , the locking member 69 is returned to its original position , to lock by the engagement between the lower edge portion 71 and the engaging portion 73 , as shown in fig8 a and 8b . when the hand lever 37 is then squeezed , the supporting frame 47 is horizontally moved backward along the guide groove 57 by the linkage comprising the first , second and third links 48 , 49 and 50 ( fig9 ). the feeding pawls 45 of the pawl member 46 are in engagement with the feeding slits 78 ( fig1 ) which are formed at regular intervals in the backing paper 5 , so that , in this operation , the backing paper 5 is also moved rearward . at the same time , the push - up plate 60 pushes up the engaging tongue piece 93 of the pressing member 86 . as a result , the holding functions being performed by the pressing portion 88 of the pressing member 86 and the needle 89 are released . the backing paper 5 is thus smoothly shifted rearward and paid out from the machine body . when the hand lever 37 is further squeezed as shown in fig1 a and 12b , the push - up plate 60 is moved rearward and the engagement between the underface of the push - up plate 60 and the supporting member 62 is released . therefore , the pressing member 86 is moved down to its original position by the force of the spring 94 . this pushes down the push - up plate 60 clockwise and the backing paper 5 is again fixed by the pressing portion 88 and the needle 89 . in this shifting of the backing paper 5 , only the backing paper 5 of the label strip 4 is bent backward at a sharp bend as the label strip 4 is horizontally depressed by the label pressing portion 13 at the turning pin 16 in the front portion of the machine body . in this bending of the backing paper 5 , the label 6 is advanced and is peeled off the backing paper 5 to be delivered to the underside of the applying roller 31 through the label exit 32 . the manner of application of a label 6 to an article is the same as that in a conventional portable label printing and applying machine . that is , the adhesive carrying undersurface of the label 6 which is then held under the applying roller 31 is brought into contact with the surface of an article and the label is rubbed and applied by the applying roller 31 . when the hand lever 37 is released , it is returned to its original position by the force of the return spring 39 . at the same time , the supporting frame 47 is moved forward to the position shown in fig8 a and 8b , by the first to third links 48 to 50 . in this forward movement of the supporting frame 47 , as shown in fig1 a , the underside edge 79 of the push - up plate 60 comes into contact with the supporting member 62 . however , the supporting member 62 is turned counterclockwise , because the force of the spring 94 exerted in pushing down the push - up plate 60 is greater than the resultant force of the springs 64 and 65 . accordingly , the push - up plate 60 is slid forward on the undersurface of the engaging tongue piece 93 without pushing up the tongue piece 93 . the backing paper 5 is fixedly held by the pressing member 86 so that it is not returned forward by the pawl member 46 . thus , the feeding pawl 45 of the pawl member 46 comes out of the slit 78 of the backing paper 5 and , at the same time , it is turned clockwise against the force of the spring 59 . the feeding pawl 45 slides forward under the backing paper 5 and it returns to the original position of fig8 a , wherein the feeding pawl 45 again comes into engagement with a feeding slit 78 in the backing paper 5 . to remove the label cassette 1 from the applying device 2 , the release button 70 is pushed forward as shown in fig1 . the locking member 69 is turned counterclockwise and the lower edge portion 71 thereof comes off the engaging portion 73 of the label cassette 1 . at the same time , the rear side of the label cassette 1 is lifted up to some extent by the spring action of he backing paper pressing plate 74 which pushes up the undersurface of the backing paper 5 in the front portion of the backing paper guide groove 15 . therefore , the label cassette 1 can be detached without difficulty in a single operation . in the operation of the invention , the backing paper 5 is bent rearwardly , as described above , and the label cassette 1 is attached to the label applying device 2 so as to perform the label applying operation . in the practical use of the label applying machine according to the present invention , the rolled label strip 3 is attached to the label cassette 1 or a label strip 4 is wound as described above . however , a plurality of label cassettes 1 having different kinds of rolled label strips 3 , are prepared n advance and a suitable label cassette 1 is selected and it is attached to the applying device 2 in each use . in this way , since the label cassettes 1 can be interchanged by a single operation without difficulty , then only one applying device 2 is sufficient . this is quite economical . the portable label applying machine of the present invention comprises an applying device which detachably holds a label cassette carrying a rolled label strip and peels the printed labels from the backing paper by a manually controlled operation and pays out the peeled labels in such manner that they may be readily applied to surfaces of articles . when the label applying machine of the present invention having the above - described structure is used , the following advantages are obtained : ( 1 ) as the printing on labels is carried out by means of a separate printing device , the printed images are clear and accurate as compared with the ordinary label printing and applying machines and , when bar codes are used , check digits can be automatically calculated and printed by the printing device . ( 2 ) since the printing head is not necessary for the label applying machine , the machine can be made small in size and weight , which improves the work efficiency , accelerates label applying work and reduces the fatigue of operators . ( 3 ) as compared with manual applying of labels , the applying speed can be increased without smudging , blurring or soiling the printed surfaces of labels . ( 4 ) since the replacement of the label cassette carrying a label strip can be performed by a single operation , changing of label strips can be done rapidly and easily . ( 5 ) only one applying machine is sufficient for various kinds of labels , thereby providing substantial economic advantage . although the present invention hs been described in connection with a number of preferred embodiments thereof , many variations and modifications will now become apparent to those skilled in the art . it is preferred , therefore , that the present invention be limited not by the specific disclosure herein , but only by the appended claims .