Many motion control applications use a technique called ‘referencing’ and it is this technique that we use when we add a labelling capability to our machines.

This allows your machine to apply labels centrally to products that arrive randomly on the conveyor belt. Referencing is used to monitor the position of the products and to identify each label. This is done through a beam photocell for the product, and a reflective photocell for the label.

The signal from the label is used to make minor corrections to the label roller so that it indexes by exactly one label pitch for each product. This means the labels are always lined up, ready to be applied to the product.
The signal from the product is used to allow the feed rollers to synchronise to the actual position of each product. Every time a product is detected, the label feed roller is triggered so that it advances once label. The label is applied to the product in the right place and without any speed mismatch, so no slippage occurs.

This valuable capability means that product can approach the labelling feed from any angle, because both product and label are aligned by the conveyor and the label roller to deliver the label at the right time to the right place.

To find out more about labelling, or about using the referencing capability for other end-of-line applications, please call us today.