December’s machine of the month is a system which applies wrap labels to plastic tube vials, designed to be inserted into the filling line of an important French pharmaceutical company. The drum feeder receives vials from the filler in a horizontal position and places each vial onto a roller conveyor to be labelled. The machine meets the demands of the pharmaceutical industry in regards to construction materials, cleaning and inspection and rejection of a defective product. The production speed of the unit is 200 ppm.
The machine is based on our ALline Horizontal labeller that includes a servo-synchronized drum feeder which inserts the product in phase onto the roller conveyor. The roller conveyor is mounted on an incline which allows product to fall out if the vial or cap has been damaged. The label applicator, an ALritma X label head, is equipped with a thermal transfer printer for adding variable information to the labels. The product is checked for both print quality and missing labels and any defective product is ejected off the line. The system is controlled by a Siemen’s plc (CS20) with touch screen HMI, to provide compliance with FDA, CFR21, part 11.
