In the modern packaging industry, a variety of machines are used to automate different processes that ensure products are properly labeled, sealed, and protected for distribution. Labeling machines, shrink packaging machines, sealing machines, and strapping machines each serve vital functions in the packaging line, optimizing efficiency and maintaining product integrity. From applying labels to containers to shrinking films tightly around items and securing cartons for transport, these machines help in enhancing packaging quality and streamlining production. Understanding the features, types, and applications of each machine is crucial for businesses aiming to improve their packaging processes and meet industry standards.
Labeling Machine
A labeling machine is a machine that sticks labels printed with the name, ingredients, functions, usage and opening methods, trademark patterns, etc. of the food in the packaging container to a certain part of the container. Please refer to the labeling machine picture.
There are many types of labeling machines depending on the purpose of packaging, the type of packaging container used, and the type of labeling adhesive.
Commonly used labeling machines are classified as follows:
(1) According to the degree of automation of the operation, they are divided into semi-automatic labeling machines and automatic labeling machines;
(2) According to the type of container, they can be divided into tin-plated thin steel plate round can labeling machines, glass bottle and can labeling machines, etc.;
(3) According to the movement direction of the container, they can be divided into horizontal labeling machines and vertical labeling machines; (4) According to the movement form of the container, they can be divided into straight-through labeling machines and turntable labeling machines.
Commonly used labeling machines are as follows: (1) Gantry labeling machine; (2) Rotating fork labeling machine; (3) Vacuum suction labeling and pressing labeling machine; (4) Rotary labeling machine; (5) Vacuum drum labeling machine, etc.
Gantry labeling machine
As shown in the figure, the label is stored in the label box 2; it is pressed by the weight 3 and slides down along the slope. The label taking roller 1 rotates continuously, taking out the labels one by one, passing through the label pulling roller 4 and the coating roller 5 downward, coating them with glue, and then feeding them into the label dropping guide 8 and keeping them upright. When the bottle is passed through the gantry, i.e. the label dropping guide, by the conveyor belt, the label is taken away by the bottle, and then passes through the channel between the two rows of brushes 10, and is smoothed on the surface of the bottle by the brush.
This labeling machine is only suitable for pasting labels with a width roughly equal to half the circumference of the bottle body. It is not suitable for labels that are too wide or too narrow, and can only be pasted on cylindrical bottles. The production capacity is about 1500 to 1800 bottles per hour, which is suitable for small and medium-sized food factories.
Rotating fork labeling machine
As shown in the figure, the rotating fork 7 rotates intermittently. When it is in the right position shown in the figure, it is coated with glue by the glue roller 6, the roller 5, and the coating roller 3 in the glue tank 2. When the rotating fork is turned to the upper position, a label is taken out from the label basin 4. When the fork turns to the lower position, the bottle pushing mechanism 1 pushes the bottle through the fork fork, and then adheres it to the bottle body through the brush
Vacuum label suction and pressing labeling machine
See the figure, which consists of a vacuum label suction head 1, a label box 3, a glue roller 5 and a glue roller 6, a pressure pad 8 and a guide rail 11. The label suction head moves left and right along the guide rail and is limited by buffer blocks 9 and 10. When the suction probe is at the left end position, the vacuum is turned on and a label is sucked from the label box by vacuum suction. To ensure that only one label is sucked each time, a nozzle 4 and a comb 2 are provided on the upper part of the label box. After taking the label, the label suction head moves to the right, and the glue roller 6 and the glue roller 5 apply glue to the label during the movement. When it encounters the block 9, it stops moving and descends to send the label to the bottle. The vacuum is disconnected, the label is attached to the bottle, the label suction head returns, and then the pressure pad 8 descends, and the rubber-attached pressure pad presses the label onto the bottle. The labeling machine has a production capacity of 2,400 bottles per hour and is highly adaptable.
Rotary labeling machine
It consists of a bottle feeding mechanism, a vertical turntable, a gluing mechanism, a label box and an iron device, as shown in the figure. When it rotates to a certain position, it completes the gluing, labeling, and comforting work respectively, and then is sent out by the conveyor belt.
Vacuum drum labeling machine
Working process: Bottles and cans are sent by the plate conveyor belt 1, and then the bottles sent in rows are separated by a certain spacing and sent to the vacuum drum 3 by the bottle feeding screw 2. When the bottles pass through the bottle feeding screw 2, the “no bottle, no label” device is triggered, and the circuit is disconnected. At this time, the label box 6 performs a normal swing and movement compound movement for label removal. The vacuum drum 3 rotates counterclockwise, and there are six labeling sections on the cylindrical surface of the drum.
Each section has a group of vacuum holes that play the role of label removal. The vacuum connection and disconnection are realized by the movement of the slide valve in the vacuum drum. When a bottle is delivered, the label box 6 approaches the drum, and the roller on the label box bracket touches the valve of the sliding valve of the vacuum drum, so that the vacuum drum is connected to the corresponding vacuum hole at the label box position, and a label is sucked from the label box 6 attached to it. After that, the label box moves away from the drum, and the labeling section with the label passes through the code printing device 5 and the glue coating device 4, and the factory date and appropriate amount of glue are printed respectively. The drum continues to rotate, and the label coated with glue meets the bottle delivered by the bottle feeding screw 2. For this reason, the speed of the bottle feeding screw should be well matched with the rotation speed of the drum, so that the bottle and the labeling station of the drum meet accurately. At this time, the valve in the drum switches its vacuum label suction hole from the state of connecting to the vacuum to directly connecting to the atmosphere. The label loses the vacuum suction force and freely separates from the vacuum drum and adheres to the bottle. When the bottle and the label meet, the bottle wedges between the rubber section of the drum and the sponge rubber 8. Driven by the friction of the drum, the bottle begins to rotate around its own axis, and the label is rolled onto the bottle.
The labeled bottle continues to be conveyed forward by the plate conveyor belt and enters the channel formed by the rubbing conveyor belt 7 and the second sponge rubber pad. The bottle is rubbed forward and the label is rolled flat and more firmly.
Shrink Packaging Machine
The so-called heat shrink packaging (also known as shrink packaging or heat shrink packaging) is to use plastic film with heat shrinkability as packaging material to wrap items, and then quickly pass the package through a box-type heating chamber (or heat shrink tunnel) at a certain high temperature. Rapidly heat treatment, the packaging film shrinks by itself at a certain ratio and fits tightly to the packaged item for easy transportation or sales.
It can be seen that the performance of plastic film plays a decisive role in shrink packaging. General plastic film is usually made by extrusion, calendaring, and solvent casting. The heat shrink film is a sheet film (or tubular film) made in this way, which is then stretched several times in the longitudinal or transverse direction, so that the molecular chain or specific crystal plane of the film is oriented parallel to the film surface, thereby increasing the strength and transparency of the film. At the same time, if a certain temperature is given when the film is stretched, the elongation ratio of the film before solidification is increased to 1:4 to 1:7 (the elongation ratio of ordinary film is 1:2), which makes the film have the required heat shrinkage performance when packaging.
Shrink films are roughly divided into two categories according to their manufacturing methods and scope of use: one is that the elongation of the film in the longitudinal and transverse directions during processing is almost equal, which is called a biaxial stretch heat shrink film. The other is that the film is stretched in only one direction during manufacturing, which is called a uniaxial stretch heat shrink film.
The scope of application of biaxial films is very wide, and can be used to package fresh food or food tray packaging, etc. One-axis film is often used for shrink packaging and label packaging of tubular film, such as label packaging with wine containers, sealed packaging with plastic bottle and glass bottle caps, and sleeve packaging of fresh fruits and vegetables.
There are three methods of heat shrink packaging: (1) Overlap shrink packaging method; (2) Sleeve shrink packaging method; (3) Cover shrink packaging method
There are two methods for heating shrink film: heat shrink tunnel and hot air gun.
Heat shrink packaging method
(1) Overlap method. As shown in Figures (1) and (2), the packaged object is placed in a heat shrink film bag 1, sealed and shrunk through a heating channel 2, or as shown in Figure (2), a heat shrink film is covered on the packaged object, folded from the four corners to the bottom of the packaged object into a shape 1, and then shrunk on a heated conveyor belt 3.
(2) Sleeve method. Wrap cylindrical or rectangular food with tubular shrink film, roll the film in about 20mm, and leave 30-50mm margin in the length direction. First heat and tighten the two ends, and then shrink the whole, as shown in Figure (3).
(3) Covering method. It is used for packaging containers with edges. It is a method of heating and shrinking the lower edge of the container or tray. As shown in Figure (4).
Heat shrink heating method
(1) Heat shrink channel heating See the figure. It consists of a heating box 6 lined with insulation material, a conveyor belt 7, a driving wheel 9 and a cold air blower 8. There is no heating element 4 in the heating box. The hot air circulation is achieved by the fan 2 and the temperature control device 5. The package is fed in by the conveyor belt; it is heated when passing through the channel. In order to make the packaging film evenly heated, an electric fan is used to circulate the air, and the temperature in the box is stabilized by the temperature control device (the temperature difference is within ± 5 degrees). After heating and shrinking, it is cooled by the cold air blower.
(2) Manual heating with hot air gun For shrink packaging with small batches that are not suitable for building a dedicated heating channel, a hot air gun can be used for manual heating. The structure of the hot air gun is shown in the figure above.
Medium-sized four-side sealing packaging machine
For packaging with a size of 200-500 mm in width and 250-1500 mm in length, a medium-sized four-side sealing packaging machine as shown in the figure can be used.
The upper and lower rolls of film 3 and 8 are guided to the transverse sealer 4 for heat sealing by the guide roller 7. The material 2 is fed by the conveyor belt 1. After it moves against the film to a predetermined length, the transverse sealer is activated to complete the transverse sealing of the front and rear packages and cut them off (it can also only complete the transverse sealing and cut them off after the longitudinal sealing). Then, the belt-type longitudinal sealer 5 completes the two side seals and then feeds them for heating and shrinking.
External packaging machinery
In the process of food industry packaging mechanization, the mechanization of food packaging and internal packaging developed earlier, and gradually formed a complete production line with the processing machinery of the previous process. Outer packaging machinery has developed in modern times with the urgent needs of industrial production development. The mechanization of outer packaging can not only reduce labor intensity, but also greatly improve labor efficiency.
Outer packaging operations generally include four aspects: preparation of outer packaging boxes (for example, opening and forming stacked, folded flat cartons); packing containers containing food; sealing boxes; bundling and other four processes. The machines that complete these four operations are called box forming machines, cartoning machines, carton sealing machines, and bundling machines (or tying machines). In modern times, when these single machines are continuously improved and developed, fully automatic packaging lines have appeared, combining the arrangement, packing and bundling of packaged food, that is, accumulating small pieces of food into boxes, so that sealing and bundling form one step.
Because packaging containers include cans, bottles, bags, boxes, cups, etc., and their shapes and materials are different, there are many types and models of outer packaging machinery, but because outer packaging operations are no more than the above four aspects, the working principles and operating procedures of many similar machines are similar.
Case packing machine
A case packing machine generally packs cans, bottles, bags, boxes, etc. of packaged products into cartons made of corrugated paper. The method of packing into the box varies according to the shape and needs of the product. For example, bottled products are generally in an upright state, and after pushing each other, they are introduced into the channel to form the required arrangement, and are pushed into the box from top to bottom or from bottom to top in the vertical direction.
Canned products can be packed in a similar way to the above-mentioned bottled products. Canned products can also be rolled horizontally through the divider. The arrangement formed is just aligned with the position of the opening side of the box. The cans lying down and neatly arranged are pushed into the box horizontally. When using a box with an opening at one end, the cans will be pushed or grabbed into the box vertically.
The case packing machine used for cartoned milk products is also a special type of machine. This type of case packing machine uses a gripper to pack the carton vertically into the box, collects the carton in a certain arrangement in the vertical direction, and uses a machine to push the container to the required position at a fixed time.
There are many types of cartoning machines, which can be roughly divided into three categories:
(1) Corrugated box blank cartoning machine. The flat corrugated cardboard box blanks are stacked on the rack and folded. Each time a sheet is sent out, it is erected into a box shape and loaded with the packaged food, and then sealed. The food in the box is supplied manually or automatically.
(2) Box-forming corrugated cardboard box packing machine. The corrugated cardboard box is formed in the same way as the first type. During the transportation, the box feeding machine is operated simultaneously by the conveyor supplying the packaged food, and the food is loaded and then sealed.
(3) Wrapping corrugated cardboard box packing machine. This is a machine that sends out the single sheets of corrugated cardboard with fold lines stacked on the rack one by one, pushes the packaged food onto a certain part of the cardboard, and then makes the box according to the fold line of the cardboard, and performs glue sealing. After the box is sealed, it is discharged to complete the operation. This is generally called the push wrapping method.
Since the purpose of packing is to prevent food from being damaged during transportation and to deliver it to the seller intact, and to facilitate unpacking before selling, the packing technology needs to be continuously improved.
According to the action during packing, it can be divided into: folding packing machine; pressing packing machine; falling packing machine.
Sealing machine
The sealing machine is a pneumatic automatic sealing device. It is used to seal and label cartons that have been packed with canned food or other packaged food.
The structure of the machine: mainly composed of rollers, lifting sleeve cylinders, step-type conveyors, folding tongues, upper and lower paper tray racks, upper and lower water cylinders, pressure rollers, upper and lower paper cutters, pneumatic systems, etc.
The main working process of the machine is: the open carton filled with canned food, bags, boxes and other packaged foods is directly turned over by the carton support plate of the carton packing machine onto the roller of the machine, and then the operator of the carton packing machine adds a thrust, and the carton slides along the inclined roller to the front end and touches the travel switch. At this time, the lifting sleeve cylinder at the bottom of the roller begins to rise under the action of the pneumatic system, and the carton is sent to the top of the ring beam with the step-type conveyor. After the carton is in place, the signal is connected, the action command is issued, and the step-type conveyor starts to move.
The step-type conveying mechanism is driven by the cylinder to reciprocate two push rods. Each time a carton comes, it reciprocates once, and the carton is gradually pushed from this process to the next process by the push claws on the push rod. The open carton is pushed into the arched frame by the push claw of the step-type conveyor. First, the small folding tongue at the rear of the box is swung by the folding hook, and the folding tongue at the front of the carton is closed by the fixed folding device during the pushing process. After that, the large folding tongue of the box is closed by the folding tongue plates on both sides and pressed flat by the baffle at the tail. The carton is pushed under the pressure roller and pushed to the next sealing process. The paper tape used as the seal is installed on the upper paper tray. After the paper tape is led out through the bracket, it is wetted by the water coating device, and then led to the upper part of the carton (the lower part of the carton also has the same sealing device), and pressed on the box by the upper pressure roller. As the box is transported forward by the push claw of the conveyor, the paper tape is gradually pasted on the box from front to back. The push claw of the step-type conveyor then pushes the carton forward to the paper cutting part. After the box stops, the cutter moves downward (the lower cutter moves upward) to cut the paper tape. The rollers installed on both sides of the cutter then roll the paper tapes of the rear end of the previous box and the front end of the next box onto the box, so that the upper and lower seals form a “door” and U” shape to seal the box. The sealed carton is then transported to the next process by the push claw. If a self-adhesive seal is used, the water coating device can be omitted.
Automatic carton sealing machines are generally used in production to improve production efficiency.
Strapping machine
The strapping machine is a machine used to strap various cartons or packaged items of various sizes using various ropes and belts. Strapping machines have developed rapidly, with a wide variety of types and different styles. The main classification methods of the machine types are: A According to the degree of automation of the machine, it is divided into automatic strapping machines and semi-automatic strapping machines; B According to the insertion method of the strapping belt, it is divided into penetration strapping machines and winding strapping machines; C According to the material of the strapping belt, it is divided into paper strapping machines and automatic strapping machines.
Phần kết luận
The use of labeling, shrink packaging, sealing, and strapping machines in the packaging industry significantly enhances the speed, accuracy, and efficiency of packaging operations. Whether it’s applying precise labels to containers, shrinking films to fit products, sealing cartons securely, or strapping them for transportation, these machines work together to ensure that products are safely and professionally packaged. As automation continues to evolve, packaging machines will play an even greater role in optimizing production lines and meeting the growing demand for high-quality packaging solutions across industries.
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