Autocol for labelling insulin ampoules

Labelling pharmaceutical containers demands highly specialised know-how when it comes to putting the specified dating and identification on the label. It was back in the year 2000 that the pharmaceutical company sanofi-aventis first discovered Krones’ capabilities for high-performance labelling. In the meantime, they have commissioned the fourth Autocol for applying pressure-sensitive labels at a speed of 60,000 containers an hour, for labelling insulin ampoules with a diameter of just 10 mm, and insulin pens.
On the Autocol labeller the cylindrical ampoules are dressed in reel-fed adhesive labels. The cylindrical ampoules are placed on the labeller’s infeed conveyor, where they are spaced. At the transport starwheel, a sensor checks that a cylindrical ampoule is actually present, after which a camera verifies the ampoule’s coloured cap. Each product is assigned a specific colour, so as to prevent any possibility of confusion.
The activated label applicator dresses the cylindrical ampoules in pressure-sensitive labels. A camera first checks the barcode on the label, after which the downstream hot-foil stamping unit stamps the use-by date and the batch number on the body label. These variable data are checked by another camera. The applicator rail then applies the 45 x 50 mm wrap-around label to each cylindrical ampoule. Downstream of the labeller is a luminescence sensor, which checks that a label is actually present. Cylindrical ampoules not detected as “good” will be rejected. On the Autocol rated at 60,000 containers an hour, two labelling stations operate in parallel. Each station labels every other ampoule on the 60-valve carousel.
In mid-2005, Aventis Pharma Germany in Frankfurt Höchst commissioned two more Autocol machines, rated at 33,000 and 30,00 containers an hour respectively. A third one additionally provides a dedicated infeed function with centred gripping, supplying the automated packer without any actual labelling.