Flexible labeller: Simply switch over and start labelling!
At drinktec 2025, the fully modular HEUFT TORNADO II switch will usher in a new era of flexibility, availability and efficiency in precise high-speed labelling.
HEUFT's fully modular all-in-one labelling machine will be on public display for the first time at the world's leading trade fair for the international beverage and liquid food industry. Like the semi-modular HEUFT TORNADO II dynamic, the new HEUFT TORNADO II switch can be equipped with up to four electrically coupled labelling stations, enabling simultaneous wet glue labelling of the shoulder, neck and back areas of up to 60,000 bottles per hour, – or a clever combination of wet glue, self-adhesive and wrap-around labelling in a single operation.
The ergonomic new premium labeller makes it significantly faster, more flexible and more efficient to replace each of these stations. Not permanently mounted, they can be easily docked and detached via plug & play. And with millimetre-precise repeat accuracy. No special prior knowledge or tools are required. A smart vehicle for precise omnidirectional manoeuvres, which HEUFT already presented two years ago as a preliminary study at BrauBeviale 2023, transports the compact units almost completely automatically to and from the machine.
Easy brand and programme changes
This shortens brand changes, changeovers and the associated downtimes, and increases the efficiency and availability of entire beverage filling lines in the long term! This is also helped by the fact that the height and position of the machine head adjusts automatically to the changed container format, as do the alignment cameras and recognition modules. Programmable depending on the type and therefore reproducible at any time, the servo-controlled rotating cam puts an end to the time-consuming mechanical changeover of individual cam segments. The number of format parts is significantly reduced. They can also be replaced easily without tools. The brand change assistant in the audiovisual HEUFT NaVi user guidance provides step-by-step support.
The design of the high-performance labeller in the hygiene-optimised HEUFT CleanDesign itself is open, tabletop-free and therefore optimally accessible. In any case, it offers sufficient space for flexible expansion and conversion. Whether for precise wet glue, self-adhesive or wrap-around labelling, for combining different labelling methods in one and the same machine, or even for automatic magazine loading for a significantly increased label supply and non-stop labelling operation: The flexible and interchangeable stations of the new HEUFT TORNADO II switch offer a new dimension of flexibility and ergonomics to the big players in the beverage industry, but also to other bottlers such as spirits manufacturers with a high variety of stock keeping units, types and equipment variants. The housing with the camera, which uses the seam in the glass as an orientation line for the servo-controlled fine alignment of each individual bottle, can also be swivelled out completely to ensure optimum accessibility.
Integrated detection technologies
The open design of the fully modular labelling machine also provides sufficient space for the integration of various error detection technologies to ensure the necessary product quality: In addition to the four units and the alignment optics mentioned above, further intelligent HEUFT reflexx A.I. colour sensor cameras can be integrated. Immediately after the labels are applied, they check, among other things, their presence, position and sort. Incorrectly labelled containers are thus detected immediately and rejected in good time. In addition, the HEUFT TORNADO II switch can be equipped with various modules for bottle burst detection, container internal pressure measurement, fill level check, closure inspection, logo, best-before date and code verification, or even for automatic clean-in-place (CIP).
For remote maintenance via the HEUFT TeleService and for production data acquisition, the new all-in-one labeller has a hermetically sealed network connection. Its high degree of modularity and automation, as well as its ergonomic design without a machine table, ensure full flexibility and efficiency during label application at high speeds.