Ice Cream Cone Sleeve Printing Machine – FMS-Nice-P-320 8 Colour With Hot Air Dryer

A cone sleeve printing machine is a roll-fed press that prints the sleeve artwork on paper or board, dries it, and cuts each sleeve to its final shape in one pass. The FMS-Nice-P-320-8 does this with a full servo flexo platform: every printing unit runs on its own servo drive under touch screen control.

Two things make this version different from RK's standard 8 colour flexo machine. First, it carries a ninth station – a rotogravure printing unit – for the heavy solid coverage and rich colour that cone sleeve artwork usually needs. Second, the dryers are hot air rather than UV, because cone sleeves run on water-based, food-safe ink systems.

8 Flexo Units Plus 1 Rotogravure Unit

Eight flexo stations handle process colours, spot colours and text. The rotogravure unit lays down the solid backgrounds and heavy coverage areas that flexo alone struggles with on cone sleeves. The two processes work together on one web in one pass.

Hot Air Dryer on Every Printing Unit

Water-based inks need heat and airflow to dry. Each unit has its own hot air dryer, so every colour is dry before the next one prints and before the sleeve is cut.

Full Servo Drive With Automatic Plate Registration

Each station has its own servo motor, and the automatic plate registration system positions the plates electronically at the start of every job. Registration stays steady from the first sleeve to the last, and job changeover takes less material.

Ultrasonic Web Guide and Load-Cell Tension Control

The unwinding unit uses an imported ultrasonic electronic web guide and an auto electronic tension controller (powder brake) with load cell feedback. The rewinding unit has an auto tension controller with powder clutch. Steady tension is what keeps a curved die-cut sleeve shape accurate at speed.

Rotary Full Cutting With Conveyor or Roll-to-Roll

The rotary die-cutting unit cuts each sleeve fully out of the web and delivers it onto a conveyor belt for collection. If a job needs to be delivered as a printed roll instead, the same unit supports roll-to-roll rewinding.

Quick Job Change

Quick change printing cylinders, one-time pressure setting and an individual motorized anilox roll system on each unit keep changeover short when the artwork changes between flavours and brands.

The paper roll is loaded on the unwinding unit with the pneumatic loading system and passes through the web guide and tension controller. It then travels through the eight flexo stations and the rotogravure station. At each flexo station a ceramic anilox roller meters ink onto the plate and the plate prints the image; the rotogravure unit prints its solid areas from an engraved cylinder. After every unit, the web passes through a hot air dryer.

Once printing is complete, the web enters the rotary die-cutting unit. The die cuts each sleeve fully out of the web and the conveyor belt carries the cut sleeves out for stacking and packing. Alternatively, the printed web can be rewound roll-to-roll for cutting later. The operator sets up and runs the whole line from the touch screen.

Ice cream cone sleeves

the primary application: multi-colour branding on food-grade paper, fully cut to shape.

Paper packaging blanks

other full-cut paper products that need water-based ink and hot air drying.

Printed paper wraps and sleeves

food and confectionery wraps delivered as cut pieces or as printed rolls.

Roll-to-roll paper printing

when the die-cutting unit is run in roll-to-roll mode.

The machine is set up for the paper and paperboard stocks used in cone sleeves and similar food packaging, printed with water-based ink and dried by hot air. Anilox rollers and printing cylinders are supplied to your requirement, so share your actual sleeve material, GSM and artwork with the RK team before the configuration is fixed.

• FMS-Nice-P-320 8 Colour With All UV Dryerthe UV-drying version of the same 8 colour platform for self-adhesive and film labels.
• Paper Cup Printing MachineRK's vertical tower machine for paper cup blank printing.
• FMS-3S Seriesthree servos per station for the tightest registration.
• Horizontal Narrow InlineRK's inline flexo range.

RK Label Printing Machinery Pvt. Ltd. has manufactured printing and converting machinery in Ahmedabad, Gujarat since 1995, runs three manufacturing units and supplies customers in 23+ countries. RK does not sell a fixed catalogue model; the number of units, the drying system, the cutting arrangement and the delivery method are decided against the customer's actual product. For a specialised machine like a cone sleeve press, that matching process is the difference between a machine that runs your job and one that only nearly does.

• Your sleeve artwork: heavy solid backgrounds favour the rotogravure unit; mostly line work and text can run on flexo alone.
• Your paper: confirm the GSM and coating with RK so the anilox and drying are matched to it.
• Delivery: decide whether you need fully cut sleeves on a conveyor, or printed rolls for cutting elsewhere. The machine supports both.
• Output: the published speed is 60 m/min on water-based ink. Work out sleeves per hour from your repeat size and confirm it covers your peak season.
• Options: video monitor, turn bar, cold foil / lamination, delam-relam and sheeter stacker are available – add only what your jobs use.
• Floor space: confirm the layout drawing RK provides before installation.

The price depends on the configuration: number of flexo units, the rotogravure unit, web width, die-cutting and delivery arrangement, anilox rollers, cylinder sets and options. Prices are quoted ex-works Ahmedabad with GST at 18% applicable; engineer transport and stay for installation and training at your site are borne by the customer. Send RK your sleeve size, paper specification, colour count and production target and the team will recommend a configuration and quote against it.