Sealing board games, playing cards and puzzles with sealing labels instead of wrapping them in film is definitely the more sustainable path. However, its efficient implementation is challenging as the labeling process must be performed with extreme precision and the utmost care. In this use case, a huge variety of different formats also comes into play: Ludo Fact, Europe's leading independent board game and puzzle manufacturer, makes products for almost all well-known games publishing companies – around 250,000 units per week, including many bestsellers such as Catan, Carcassonne, Halli Galli or Ticket To Ride. This is why the company, based in Jettingen-Scheppach in southern Germany, uses an individually customized tamper-evident solution from HERMA consisting of two HERMA 500 applicators. "We make products whose packaging is extremely variable, from very small for a card game to quite large for a game box measuring 50 x 25 centimeters, for example," explains Andreas Kulle, Production Manager at Ludo Fact. This means that in each shift there are several, sometimes quite extreme changes in format. As the games are packaged on a continuous production line and, after sealing, are transported on a conveyor belt, the new tamper-evident machine must be operated and reconfigured largely from one side. This saves operating personnel from having to walk long distances around the assembly and packaging system. Despite the high processing speed of 120 cycles per minute, damage to and scratches on the boxes, which are no longer wrapped in a protective film, must be avoided. "The solution from HERMA is very clever, smart and smooth," says Andreas Kulle.
The trick with the split conveyor belt
As soon as the boxes enter the system, they are met by variable guide rails with rounded edges to gently keep the products at the correct position and, in particular, to prevent damage to the extremely vulnerable edges. In addition, an adjustable top conveyor together with downholder ensures that the box lid is positioned cleanly and does not lift off. To prevent deviations in the vertical axis, the boxes are transported on a split conveyor belt, which can be quickly widened according to the format. "Only in this way it can be ensured that all packages remain steady and do not wobble on the belt if one side of the box is heavier than the other, which is often the case," Kulle adds. There is a HERMA applicator on the left and on the right of the conveyor belt. The moment the box passes through a light barrier, the system uses the speed of the product to determine when the labels need to be dispensed so that they are placed precisely at the defined positions. All label formats and their positions are stored in the control unit and can be retrieved reliably at the push of a button. All packages are given at least two labels from the side, some even receive two sets of three labels. A sensor then checks whether all labels are actually present. The particularly tricky part begins upstream of the fold-down station where the labels are also applied to the base of the box: "The gaps between the lid and base must be fully closed after the sealing process," emphasizes Andreas Kulle from Ludo Fact. "Otherwise high acceleration forces will occur during subsequent handling, for example if a picker at an online retailer lifts the game by the box lid." This could potentially tear the seal or damage the packaging. If the gap is too great, it might also form a bulge at the bottom, and the protruding seal can then quickly be damaged. "This must not happen under any circumstances, because the packaging no longer has any other means of preventing the box from opening," says Kulle. However, exerting mechanical pressure on the gap demands great care and delicacy because boxes that are scratched are virtually unsaleable. For this reason, at the point where the sealing labels are "folded down", three spring-loaded application rollers on each side gently press the lid and base walls together. A second sensor then checks whether the label has actually been folded over. An ejection station ensures that boxes that do not have the correct number of sealing labels are gently removed from the conveyor belt.
"A complex task solved while retaining optimum process stability"
"The HERMA machine is characterized by a high degree of practical know-how and suitability for everyday use," underlines the production manager from Ludo Fact. "Here, somebody has given a great deal of thought to how an extremely complex task can be solved in a simple way. This is what I call cleverness in product development. It goes beyond the pure technology involved in label dispensing. HERMA generates this added value like no other company in the industry. The solution gives us the certainty of high process stability – it is the be all and end all of efficient production." And stable processes form the basis for envisaged further automation in the manufacturing chain. Kulle already has his sights fixed firmly on the implementation of robotics, for example in the form of cobots for assembly.
