April’s machine of the month is a low cost solution for labelling pails, designed for Sun Chemical and based on ALTech’s ALbelt E labelling system. Having already purchased a fully automatic ALline machine which operates inline, the customer also required a lower cost, more simplistic application solution for a single head manual filling line.
On the customer’s fully automatic system the handle is automatically found and lifted, but here because the operator is manually loading the machine, the handle is simply placed between a set of upper guides. This also registers the labels to the handle to ensure a consistent and professional appearance.
The pail itself is a tapered product and Sun Chemical required a label to be applied on the front and back; one of which was a booklet label containing multiple region language information. To accommodate the taper of the container, the machine uses a pendulous peeler application solution, moving the pail through the label whilst allowing it to move as it’s applied. It also includes a gravity roller return conveyor system to aid efficiency, allowing a single person to fill, label and restack the products.
This case study is an excellent example of a lower cost, yet extremely robust solution built by ALTech’s UK team.