Print on Sealed Blister

Metapack produces Digital Blister Printer (DBLP) for in-line and off-line Blister Printing and Inspecting.

Digital Blister Printer range of machines have been conceived and realised for processing filled and sealed blisters, by printing on the full aluminium surface of each single blister, with no belts limiting the available printing area. The system allows to print the sealed blister surface with SPOT COLORS DOD-UV printing system, 600 DPI, BLACK and RED ink.

The printing process relies on the industry-proven DOD-UV digital printing system, widely used in many sectors for digital high-quality printing. Digital Blister Printers (DBLP) machines can be equipped with one or more printing heads, each one providing one single colour print and with print width of 54 or 108  mm. The final curing is provided by the UV lamp which activates the ink polymerisation (curing) in a fraction of a second, i.e. immediately compared to the travel speed.

Digital Blister Printer DBLP-15

CONFIGURED WITH SPOT-COLORS DOD-UV, BLACK AND RED INK

The machine works with blisters feeder magazine, adjustable in size, releasing the blister on a transport system that is based on a single shuttle for transporting the blister, kept flat, under the print head and then under the curing lamp.The printed blister is picked up and deposed on the discharge conveying system. After the each printing process, the blister is picked up and the shuttle travels back again.

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Digital Blister Printer DBLP-40

DBLP-40 model can print wit limited deformations thanks to a vacuum based transport system that keeps the blister flat under the printing head. The full blister surface is exposed to the print-head: no belts that limit the available printing area. One system with one HMI for printing, inspection and management of the entire automatic process. The machine includes a vision system which can provide two main types of inspection:

  • OCR/OCV of variable data and ID control of barcodes (1D and 2D)
  • Full print quality inspection (option)
  • Additional check options are configurable

Because Blister print and Inspect is on an aluminium surface, the camera system works with a linear camera associated to an illumination system which assures for no reflections are generated by the aluminium, for guaranteeing a correct image acquisition of the printed layout. The good blisters are delivered out of the machine into an output conveyor that is conceived for allowing them to accumulate gentlyand for being easily collected by the machine. If the inspection is not successful, the blister is rejected in the dedicated rejection box.

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The Camera inspection system is integrated in the machine HMI and operates with pre-recorded recipes, integrated in the overall recipes of the machine. The inspection technology is based on Cognex technology. In  case  print  full  quality  inspection  is  required,  the  inspection  software  relies  on  a  different  application.

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METAPACK APPLICATIONS

GENERAL FEATURES

  • 100% blister surface printing 
  • DOD UV printing technology
  • Resolution up to 600 DPI
  • simple and flexible format change
  • Flattening of deformed blister
  • Unique HMI for production and machine monitoring

DBLP 15

KEY FEATURES

  • For late stage customization of filled blister
  • Stand-alone
  • Single shuttle transport
  • Excellent for small batches
  • Print on 100% blister surface
  • Optional reject system

DBLP 40

KEY FEATURES

  • Late stage customization or in line solution
  • In-Line and Off-Line configuration 
  • Transport on belth with defined pitch
  • Integrated vision system
  • Integrated rejection station
Blister Single Inspection Metapack
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Digiline Blister

The machine provides for complete encoder-based position tracking of the blisters from the moment they are  discharged  onto  the  inner  conveyor.  The  print  and  inspection  sequence  is  under  the  continuous surveillance  of  the  PLC.  If  the  blister  does  not  pass  the  camera  inspection,  it  is  rejected  by  an  air  jet immediately  after  the camera  station.  The machine  includes  the  reject control:  if  a  failed  product  is  detected  at  the  exit  of  the machine,  a  dedicated  alarm  is  generated  (wrong  sequence).  The  same  alarm  is  generated  if  a  blister reaches the exit check-point at the wrong position (e.g a blister slipped on the conveyor).

The  encoder-tracking  position  and  sequence  management  is  a  proven  solution  which  works  on  every mark& verify systems.

The  Digiline  Blister  Single  machine  is  equipped  with  a  specific  system  that  guarantees  that  the  blister  is conveyed  flat  under  the  printing  head.  It  is  normal to  have  curved  blisters,  especially  if  they  have  been produced hours or days in advance. Because the plastic support stabilises after a certain time, the blisters are slightly concave on the plastic side. The ink is ejected along a nozzle row orientated across the conveying direction; it is important to have a fairly constant distance between the jet and the surface in order to have a good printing process. That is why  the blister have to be conveyed flat when they travel underneath the printing head.

For this purpose the machine conveyor is composed by two belts running parallel and at a distance which is adjustable according to the blister dimension. Of course they run exactly at the same speed and they can be  opened  or  closed  symmetrically  with  reference to the  machine  centre  line,  which  is  fixed.  When  the blisters approach the printing head the space between the two belts is equipped with a central vacuum belt with sucking holes acting on the central part of the blister. This belt is precisely adjustable in height: in case of blisters with a central row of pockets, the belts positioned at the same conveying height and therefore the belt maintains the blister flat by the suction of the central pockets.

Digiline Blister single machine has been conceived and realised for the late stage customization of filled and sealed blisters, i.e. by printing on the aluminium surface of each single blister  with the industry proven DOD UV technology. The machine can be used as a stand-alone unit or in line, feeding the cartoner or being fed by the blister machine.

The printing process relies on the industry-proven DOD UV digital printing system, widely used in many sectors for digital high-quality printing. Digiline Blister machine can be equipped with one or more heads, each one providing one single colour print and with print width of 36, 72  or 144 mm.

The final curing is provided by the “SMARTCURE” unit, a UV lamp which activates the ink polymerisation (curing) in a fraction of a second, i.e. immediately compared to the travel speed.

After being printed, the blisters travel under the Inspection camera which can provide two main types of inspections:

  • OCR/OCV of variable data and ID control of barcodes (1D and 2D) –
  • Full print quality inspection (option)

Because the print is on an aluminium surface, the camera system works with a linear camera associated to an illumination system which assures for no reflections are generated by the aluminium, for guaranteeing a correct image acquisition of the printed layout