B&H Labelling Systems released its Endura product this week at PackExpo, being held here in the US.
The company said its Endura product is designed for applying and shrinking full body sleeve labels on a variety of container types, sizes and shapes.
"Designed for durability and dependability, the system's simple elegance also eases operation and speeds changeover," the company stated.
The Endura system is made up of a sleever applicator and up to two shrink tunnel modules. The integrated parts handle round, square, rectangular and oval containers, with and without contours, at speeds of up to 400 items per minute.
The containers can be from 2ins to 4.8ins in diameter and from 2ins to 12ins in height.
The system features a cutter assembly to improve cut accuracy, while reducing the need for maintenance, the company claimed.
The specially designed cutter assembly differs from the traditional rotary or guillotine mechanisms used on other sleeve systems. Instead the B&H assembly uses a ring that is activated by a series of low voltage solenoids that compress the cutter holders. These in turn drive the blades through the sleeve label material.
The asembly, together with and anodised mandrel and servo-driven label feed system can achieve a cut accuracy of within 0.5mm of specified parameters, the company claimed.
The system reduces leeve label material scap to only 0.5 per cent, it said.
The shrink tunnel module uses controlled steam, distributed through a series of adjustable, perforated stainless steel tubes. The tubes are contained in an insulated enclosure and are served by a steam exhaust extraction system.
"This design assures even shrinking of the sleeve label material and eliminates container distortion," the company claimed. "Coaxial tubes, in which each steam tube is encased within an insulating tube, reduce energy consumption and produce a dryer steam with less condensation."
The company said it is targeting the machine at food, beverage, dairy and retail products packed in glass, plastic and metail containers that are shrink labelled with PVC, PET, OPS or OPP materials.