labeling, a not so sticky process

Labels. On bottles, cans, and jars. Walk into a supermarket and you will see thousands of them. But chances are you've never thought about how they got there. Well we have. And Aalberts surface technologies is helping one of its key customers, Krones AG, make labelling an even more efficient process.

superior technology
Krones is the world's leading manufacturer of solutions that put drinks in plastic and glass bottles or cans. And they use machines to label up to 36,000 containers per hour, or an incredible 10 containers per second. Machines capable of working precisely and reliably, that are easy to operate, and can be converted quickly to other containers or label formats.

solving a sticky problem
Achieving this requires technology that can apply a very thin film of glue, via a glue roller, and the labels which they hand over to gripper cylinders. These then put the labels on the bottles and cans. To ensure the precision of this operation, the gripper cylinders are guided by sliders on slide guides.

And this is where Aalberts surface technologies comes into play: they have developed a special coating, the HART-COAT® -PLUS (hard anodizing + PTFE), that significantly reduces the considerable stress the slide guides, which are made of a light cast aluminum alloy, are subject to as they produce 2,000 to 7,000 friction strokes per hour.

Due to the HART-COAT®-PLUS coating which has excellent wear resistance and impressive anti-friction properties, the slide guides can now also be made from a lightweight material, e.g. AlMg3 (casting alloy).

a true partner
For more than 50 years Aalberts surface technologies has been improving component properties according to the local or global requirements of their customers. And they are proud of the mission-critical technologies they continue to provide for Krone, as the company innovates.