A starwheel dispenser makes it possible to achieve high output and high precision.
Method:
The starwheel makes the triple-roller system continuous.
The products are indexed in a stroke-based or continuously operating starwheel; the products are rotated in front of the dispenser and the labels are dispensed and applied.
The starwheel rotates the products around three points, thus achieving the same high precision achieved by a triple-roller module. The starwheel solution has far greater capacity, however, because the products are indexed in the starwheel and don’t have to wait to be caught and released, as with the triple-roller module.
Control:
The whole process is controlled by a lightning-speed motion controller, whose settings are entered on an HMI touchscreen. The settings for the respective products are saved as recipes, which enables you to manage several types of items on the same line.
The dispenser can be controlled by selecting from external recipes and it can be included in the general line controls for sharing start and stop signals, for instance.
Dispenser advantages:
- Stable and reliable, even in harsh manufacturing environments (IP66 rating)
- Touchscreen for which all user settings are set and saved as recipes
- Two servomotors can be mounted for electronically adjustable web tension for plastic labels. This maintains constant tension on the label roll while taking account of the fact that the backing paper can give way during rapid acceleration
- Simple to operate during format changeover and it manages 99 recipes
- Maximises uptime
- Guarantees high capacity and unparalleled precision
- The equipment handles semi-automatic and fully automatic labelling feed-in so regardless of whether your products are manually placed (such as on a rotary table) or fed onto the belt from a filling machine, the equipment receives the starting signals it needs
Options:
In addition, we advise you to consider whether to supplement your new system with:
- A format set that enables you to change between item types and label dimensions quickly and easily
- Tip-over protection, which stops the line if a product tips over
- A rejecting unit that rejects items deemed faulty, e.g. if a lid is not correctly attached or if a product is below the minimum weight
Master/backup:
If you need to be able to replace a label roll while the line keeps running, you can choose a master/backup solution fitted with two identical dispensers. While the roller is being replaced on one dispenser, the other takes over the labelling process.
There are other benefits of having a backup dispenser, because it can ensure that labels are applied to all products, if it detects a label is missing on the label web, for instance. By having fluorescent material in the labels and a luminescence sensor mounted on the machine, the secondary dispenser will apply labels to any items that might have been skipped by the master dispenser.
Combinations:
The machine can combine different solutions so it comprises multiple dispensers to label products from different sides.
- Top
- Bottom
- Side
- Wrap-around
Printing solution:
Another popular solution is to mount a printing solution on the dispenser for printing a date, batch no., list of ingredients, logo or other data on the labels.
Hot-stamp coders
Thermal transfer printers
Inkjet printers
Be inspired:
The solutions seen below depict the principles of starwheel labelling.
The dispensers are configured for customers’ specific labelling tasks.
We will gladly supply a custom solution for you.
