If product packaging is carried out across numerous different lines, it may make sense to bundle the labelling of the folding boxes in advance in a special system. Kraus Maschinenbau GmbH from Spaichingen, a specialist in feeding and separating systems for paper and flat products, has therefore developed the FK Codingline for a Polish manufacturer of vehicle filters. The labelling and printing technology for the line comes from Bluhm Weber Group. Folding boxes can be marked at various stages of the production process: marking can take place immediately before or after filling, or in the folded ‘original state’. With the FK Codingline, the company offers a special machine concept for coding folding cartons in a wide variety of formats. Thanks to its modular design, the FK Codingline can be equipped with a wide range of marking technology and tailored precisely to customer requirements.

The challenge

• Compressed air-free application of labels
• Suitable for round-the-clock use
• High print width of 100 mm
• High-resolution print results with 600 dpi

The result

• 2 labelers & 2 large-format thermal inkjet printers
• Label printer resource-saving wipe-on process
• Coding at any point on the product
• 2 inkjet printing systems, each with up to 8 print heads

High-speed system with technology from Bluhm Weber Group

‘We developed a high-speed system with marking technology from Bluhm Weber Group for a Polish filter manufacturer,’ explains Bruno Ott, Product Manager at Kraus Maschinenbau. Two labelers and two large-format thermal inkjet printers from Bluhm Weber Group were integrated into the line. Since the folding boxes are fed onto a suction belt via a friction feeder and transported further by a vacuum system, coding is possible at any point on the products.

In the first step, the marking is carried out by two Legi-Air 4050AC label dispensers. ‘It was important to us that these systems operate without compressed air and are suitable for round-the-clock use thanks to their robust design,’ explains Bruno Ott. The proven dispenser technology comes from the Alpha series, which has been developed by Bluhm Weber Group over decades. It is used to process mostly standardised parts from large-scale production.

Depending on the model, the dispensers can label products at speeds of up to 50 metres per minute from above and below simultaneously. They can handle label sizes ranging from 14 x 20 to 148 x 210 millimetres. Depending on the format, this means that up to 600 labels can be applied per minute.

The dispensers use print module technology from leading global manufacturers. The two FK Codingline systems are equipped with Novexx print modules. These ‘print engine modules’ are particularly suitable for cardboard and plastic adhesive materials. They print using either thermal transfer or direct thermal printing at a maximum resolution of 300 dpi and reach speeds of up to 400 millimetres per second. As the dispensing speed exceeds the printing speed, the pre-printed labels run into a buffer loop, from where they can be processed further without any time constraints.

Application without compressed air

The Novexx print modules process materials with a width of 16 to 136 millimetres and a length of 5 to 1,000 millimetres. The maximum print width is four inches (106 millimetres). In the Kraus system, they print 100-millimetre-wide labels with plain text and data matrix codes. The labels are then wiped onto the folding cartons by the label printer in a wipe-on process. This technique has the advantage of being resource-saving as it does not require compressed air.

After labelling, the products are printed with plain text and barcodes. Bruno Ott recalls: ‘The end customer not only wanted a very high print width of 100 millimetres. The print results also had to be high-resolution at 600 dpi.’ Kraus Maschinenbau therefore integrated two Markoprint XB8JET thermal inkjet printing systems into the FK Codingline. Each of these systems can control up to eight print heads, which can ‘work together’ to produce a print image up to 100 millimetres wide. The print heads contain cartridges from ink manufacturer HP. These contain a solvent-based ink that allows the print to dry quickly on non-absorbent surfaces. With a resolution of 600 dpi, the XB8JETs print the desired layout with razor-sharp precision onto the lacquered folding cartons.

In addition to thermal inkjet with its high print quality, printheads using piezo inkjet technology could be used as an alternative. This slightly different technology prints at resolutions of up to 300 dpi, but achieves a height of up to 100 millimetres per printhead. With eight printheads, print images with a height of 800 millimetres could therefore be produced. In the Kraus system, the eight print heads create a joint print image. With the XB8JET, however, it would also be possible to distribute the print heads in pairs on different lines. This means that up to four different print images can be applied simultaneously from a single control unit.

The print heads are controlled by a control unit that has been integrated into the FK Codingline control cabinet. After coding, the labelled and printed codes are checked by a camera system and managed in databases. Products with unreadable codes are automatically rejected by the coding line and placed in a collection box. All other folding cartons are transferred to a discharge belt, where they can be removed manually. From here, the various packaging systems can be conveniently loaded.