PETpla.net Insider 05 / 2010

BOTTLING / FILLING 41 PET planet insider Vol. 11 No. 05/10 www.petpla.net Operational details The wide range of products means that the filling line at Gerolstein often has to be switched from one product to another. With the Solarjet HD only a few manual adjustments are needed - the machine operator simply calls up the product code on the control box and all of the required laser settings are auto- matically installed for operation. For every laser application the right focus is important, i.e. aiming the laser correctly onto the product surface. To make this easy for the operators at Gerolsteiner the Bluhm engineers have installed a special laser stand on the production line, which thanks to the small size of the laser marking head was no problem. Using a fine screw adjuster the laser beam can be exactly and correctly positioned in the x and y axes, ensuring that the required sharp focus is quickly achieved. On another line at Gerolsteiner Brunnen the marking is carried out not on the bottle conveyor line but before labelling, directly onto the PE film label roll. This has the advantage that any changes in the bottle diam- 3URGXFW 'HYHORSPHQW ] VOLGHV 70 &ORVXUH 0RXOG 7HFKQRORJ\ 7KH SDWHQWHG FORVXUH PRXOG WHFKQRORJ\ EUHDNV WKH VRXQG EDUULHUV RI FRQYHQWLRQDO F\FOH WLPHV DQG SXWV DV D PRGXODU V\VWHP QHZ VFDOHV LQ HDVH RI PDLQWHQDQFH DQG RSHUDWLRQ RI PRXOGV +LJK &DYLW\ 0RXOGV IRU WKH 3DFNDJLQJ ,QGXVWU\ )RU VLQJOH RU PXOWL FRPSRQHQW SDUWV 0RXOG 7HFKQRORJ\ 7HVW &HQWUH 3URGXFWLRQ 6XSSRUW ] PRXOGV D EUDQG RI ] ZHUN]HXJEDX JPEK &RPSHWHQW ± SURIHVVLRQDO ± LQVSLULQJ +RHFKVWHU 6WUDVVH ā 'RUQELUQ $XVWULD ā 7 ā ZZZ ] PRXOGV FRP 3ODVWSRO 6HH XV DW ERRWK $ eter do not affect the coding. In order to set the various positions for correct laser coding of the label a laser stand is used with push-button setting of the correct height by an electric motor. Wrap around labels for multi-packs To make handling of the Gerolsteiner PET bottles more convenient for the consumer the company has developed a new type of retail pack - a so-called “bottle clip” for six Gerolsteiner bottles. For maximum stability there is a wrap- around sleeve on the lower part of the six-pack. The newly developed retail pack of course also needs an EAN 13 bar code. This code is applied by way of a label on the side and on the end face of the pack using a special six-pack printer-dis- penser from Bluhm. For this job a Legi- Air series printer/labeller with a Zebra Pax printing module is used. Of course each different product requires its own EAN 13 barcode label. Here again, to simplify the work of the operator all of the product parameters are stored in an industrial PC integrated into the Legi-Air printer. Access to the control software is via a simple touch- screen interface where the operator simply calls up the required product code. All of the appropriate EAN settings are then automatically uploaded. Up to 50 barcode labels per minute are applied to the sides of the six-pack, with no direct contact, using the so- called “tamp-blow” process. On the production line the six-packs are then rotated in order for a second barcode label to be applied on the end face. This means that at the supermarket checkout the price can be scanned without having to manhandle a large six-pack * Bluhm Systems is part of the inter- national BluhmWeber group www.bluhmsysteme.com The required product code can easily be called up on the touch screen of the integrated PC. Label with EAN 13 barcode. The laser beam thermally alters the outer surface of the product.