With the development of the economy and the improvement of people’s living standards, each circulating commodity needs to indicate the production date, shelf life, ingredient list, and other relevant information. Packaging is the carrier of information, and labeling is a way to achieve it. A labeling machine is a machine that labels packages or products. It has a beauty function, but even more important is it can track product sales. Especially in the medicine and food industries, in case of abnormalities, can accurately and timely start the product recall mechanism. Labeling machine is an indispensable part of modern packaging.
Labeling machine type
According to the degree of automation, it has semi-automatic labeling machines and full-automatic labeling machines.
According to the types of labels, it has self-adhesive labeling machines, hot melt glue labeling machines, sleeving&shrink labeling machines, and paste labeling machines.
According to the running direction of the container, it has linear labeling machines and rotary labeling machines.
According to the shape of the labeling container, it has round bottle labeling machines, square bottle labeling machines, flat bottle labeling machines, special-shaped bottle labeling machines, and hose labeling machines.
According to the position of the label, it has single-side labeling machines, double-side labeling machines, three-side labeling machines, and multi-side labeling machines.
Next, we mainly introduce the three most popular labeling machines in the beverage industry: self-adhesive labeling machine, hot melt glue labeling machine, and sleeving&shrink labeling machines.
The self-adhesive labeling machine
The self-adhesive labeling machine is an automatic packaging machine that uses self-adhesive roll labeling paper. During operation, tear off the roll label paper continuously and paste it on the bottle body. This machine has the advantages of a clean and sanitary label, no mildew, beautiful and firm label, no self-falling off, and high production efficiency.
Classification
According to the speed, it has low-speed linear self-adhesive labeling machines and high-speed rotary self-adhesive labeling machines.
Main principle
The back of the self-adhesive label is coated with adhesive, but it is protected by the base paper. Before labeling, the label is separated from the base paper through a separator and pasted on the container surface under the action of traction.
Self-adhesive labels requirements
1) Label firmness, poor firmness label will lead to no label out when labeling or the label will be rewound with the base paper, failing automatic labeling. Label firmness is related to the thickness of the material and the area of the label, soft film materials, the material thickness should be more than 100 μm. Thin label materials, such as 60~70g/m2 labels are only suitable for processing into small labels, such as the price label used on the price tag.
2) Release force, also known as peeling force, is the force when the label is separated from the base paper. The release force is related to the adhesives type, the silicon coating on the base paper, and the ambient temperature. Poor release force, the label is easy to fall off (away from the base paper), large release force, labels can not separate from the base paper.
3) Base paper, The base paper surface is coated with silicon evenly, with uniform thickness and good tensile strength to ensure no fracture during labeling; Good light transmittance can guarantee the sensor correctly identifies the label position. The high-quality base paper is usually glassine base paper.
4) Processing quality, after label cutting, the base paper on both sides shall be flat, to avoid the base paper breaking when the tension changes. When die-cutting, avoid cutting through the base paper or damaging the silicon coating, otherwise it is easy to break the base paper or the adhesive in the label seep into the base paper, resulting in no label out and the base paper tear. Besides, before labeling, eliminate the static electricity in the roll labels, because the static electricity will cause no labeling or inaccurate labeling.
Applicable bottle type
The bottle shape can be round bottles, square bottles, flat bottles, etc.(bottle material can be glass, plastic, and so on).
Linho adhesive labeling machine advantages
- Linho self-adhesive labeling machine adopts PLC control and touch screen, easy to adjust parameters, suitable for various specifications bottle labeling.
- The sensitivity of the label electric eye is adjustable, which can identify and compare the label base paper with different light transmittance.
- The measuring electric eye is not affected by external light or ultrasonic noise interference, accurate detection to ensure no error in labeling.
- Label-smoothing devices guarantee the label will not wrinkle after labeling.
Linho can provide different speed single-side labeling machines, double-side labeling machines, three-side labeling machines, and multi-side labeling machines according to customer needs.
Linho also provides special-shaped positioning labeling machines.
Hot melt glue labeling machine
The hot melt glue labeling machine applies to the circumferential labeling of plastic bottles, glass bottles, metal cans, and other objects in various industries. The applicable labels mainly include OPP label, pearlite label, paper-plastic composite label, and paper label. The hot melt glue labeling machine adopts the non-shrinkage process to ensure that the label pattern is without deforming. Hot melt glue labeling machine is popular because of their fast speed and low label cost.
Classification
According to the speed, it has linear(for low-speed) and rotary (high-speed).
Main principle
OPP hot melt label stick machine sticks the label head part and the end part together by glue. Heating the glue in solid state at room temperature melted into liquid, coated the glue onto the head part and the end part of the label, then stick them together, pressed and cooled, which is a whole process of labeling.
Hot melt labels requirements
BOPP label, PP label, PE label, pearlite label, paper-plastic composite label, and paper label.
Hot-melt glues
Hot melt glue is a plastic adhesive whose physical state changes with temperature within the temperature range, and chemical characteristics are non-toxic and tasteless, with high bonding strength and fast bonding speed (operation time is about 15seconds).
The hot melt glue is not as strict as other adhesives on the surface of the container, but the dust and oil stain on the surface of the container should also be treated so that the hot melt glue can play a better role in bonding.
Hot melt glue is sensitive to temperature. When the temperature reaches a certain level, the hot melt glue turn soften. When the temperature is lower than a certain level, the hot melt glue turns brittle. Therefore, we need to consider the storage temperature change when selecting the hot melt glue.
Applicable bottle type
The bottle shape can be round bottles, square bottles, flat bottles, etc.(bottle material can be glass, plastic, metal can, and so on).
Linho hot-melt glue labeling machine advantages
- Linho hot melt glue labeling machine adopts advanced hot melt glue spraying technology to achieve perfect gluing and labeling effect.
- The label is free of phenomena like damage, wrinkling, bubbles, edge curling, glue stripping, glue overflow, etc.
- With the automatic alarm system, the machine will alarm or shut down in case no labels and bottles.
The sleeving&shrink labeling machine
The sleeving&shrink labeling machine, also known as heat shrinkable sleeve labeling machine, is a “sleeve” label made of various materials, such as OPS, pet, PVC, and other materials. As shown in the picture, auto put the cut annular label on the bottle, and shrink the label by thermal shrink channel.
The equipment is more and more popular because of the following technical characteristics
1) High-speed and stability, long service life, their closed design prolong the equipment service life.
2) Low operation cost. One set machine can use for multiple bottles. The cutter is the only worn part on the equipment, easy to obtain, convenient replacement, and low cost.
3) It’s easy to change the container, adopt the modular design for mold change, one mold for one bottle, change mold without using any tool, just manual adjustment.
Classification
According to the speed, it has low-speed sleeving&shrink labeling machines and high-speed sleeving&shrink labeling machines.
Main principle
The sleeve&shrink label machine includes two parts, the label sleeving part and the label shrinking part. The label sleeving machine sleeves the circular label onto the container, cuts off the label, enters the shrinking machine, and perfectly shrinks the label through steam shrinkage. The machine has high labeling accuracy and can improve bottle shape after shrinkage.
Sleeving labels requirements
When we buy heat-shrinkable labels, besides confirming the size and printing color, we also need to pay attention to the shrinkage ratio and thickness of the label, to ensure that the product is exquisite after shrinkage, the pattern is not deformed and decolorized. Generally, the transverse shrinkage ratio is 50-60%, the longitudinal shrinkage ratio is 3-20%, and the thickness is 0.03mm, 0.035mm, 0.04mm, 0.045mm and 0.05mm.
Each roll of labels shall be covered with plastic bags to prevent dust, pollution, and moisture. Due to the heat-shrinkable of the label, the outer packaging must indicate the transportation conditions and storage conditions, or else, it is easy to cause changes in the quality and size of the label and affect the use.
Applicable bottle type
Within the effective folding diameter range, whether the container is round, square, or other special-shaped shapes( the material can be glass and plastic).
Linho sleeve&shrink labeling machine advantages
- Linho sleeve&shrink labeling machine adopts top-level parts and electrical control system, which fundamentally ensures the quality and performance of the equipment.
- In addition to bottle body labels, Linho can also provide bottle body and bottle mouth labeling together unit.
When we choose label machine, we need consider speed, bottle shape, label shape and label cost. Linho will recommend the right labeling machine according to the customer’s budget, product details, and production line size. Contact us for your exclusive solution!
