Adhesive coating and curing in the labeller, a new innovative patented technology that allows pressure sensitive-like OPP labels to be applied with modified cut and stack labelling equipment will, it is claimed, dramatically expand the decor-ative possibilities of this style of labelling machinery. It is expec-ted to be commercially available at the end of August.
TOppCure technology, a development of AET Films, was seen on the Krones stand at Interpack. A complete labelling line, comprising a case unpacker, conveyers, a modified Topmatic labeller and repackaging equip-ment, enables AET to demon-strate its proprietary technology at production speeds.
Packaging Today Internation-al saw effectively labelled and pasteurisable glass bottle samples (even over the mould line). AET director of label market development Rob Carter said that the technology will run equally well on plastics containers.
A formulated adhesive is applied through an accurate metering system to label pallets that individually remove labels from a modified magazine. The adhesive is almost printed onto the label. As the pallets transmit the labels to a transfer wheel, the label adhesive passes through an irradiation zone where it is UV cured.
Next the label is located precisely on the container where it adheres strongly, resulting in a final labelled product with the appearance similar to a typical pressure-sensitive label. Com-mercial speeds of 550-600 labels/min are forecast.
It is also understood to be significantly cheaper than pressure sensitive clear labelling. And flow out time is said to be less than three days, as opposed to four with pressure sensitive technology.