Neck Banders is the most common term for machines that place safety or security seals, shrink bands and/or shrink labels around the opening and in some cases the whole container.

Safety or tamper proof bands have been in use for some time and are a well established in industry. The use of shrink sleeves to replace glue on labels is increasing in popularity.

Most machines designed for safety seals can also place sleeves. However, these are usually of limited length. Where a safety seal dispenser can handle a band 1 in to 4 in long, a sleeve dispenser can handle from 2 in to 9 in long or more. The diameter of the sleeve that a machine can handle comes in ranges, such as, from 3/8 to 3.5 inches. The shrink material comes flat on a roll.

Most neck and sleeve banding is for continuous operations. The feeding of the band or sleeve is over intricate sets of rollers with a mechanism to quickly connect a new roll of material so that the product flow sees no interruption. The shrink material is pulled along unopened until just before it reaches the product. A mandrel or vacuum fingers open the flat sheet and slides it over the product. At the same time, a high speed knife cuts the sleeve to the proper length.

The high speed movement of the plastic band through the machine creates static. It is important that the machine is equipped with an anti-static system.

Most applications are for round products such as bottles, cans and jars. Some machines can handle square or oblong shapes of 6 or 7 inches. For any shape beyond this size, stretch banders should be considered.

Since the containers are usually tall and narrow, shrink tunnels specifically designed for seal and sleeve shrinking should be considered.