{"id":11482,"date":"2021-04-05T00:33:59","date_gmt":"2021-04-05T04:33:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maplejet.com\/in\/?p=11482"},"modified":"2023-12-18T02:15:51","modified_gmt":"2023-12-18T07:15:51","slug":"understanding-coding-and-marking-technologies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maplejet.com\/in\/understanding-coding-and-marking-technologies\/","title":{"rendered":"Understanding Coding and Marking Technologies:"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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One of the key components in the food, beverage, personal care, and pharmaceutical manufacturing industry is the coding and marking aspect of it. Various regulations on product identification have been enacted allowing the coding and marking printer manufacturers to develop solutions and provide services that can cater to their customer\u2019s coding and marking requirements. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This field (coding and marking) has been growing rapidly over the past decade. Different technologies have been introduced and claim expertise in certain areas for product identification. However, as technology advances in this industry, the capability to print on specific applications such as coding with real-time information, printing in a fast or high-speed environment, superior adhesion, and highest print quality to certain materials is now just a matter of printer choice. Long gone are the days when a certain printer technology could claim its territory in specific applications or industries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This article provides a simple understanding of four of the most common coding and marking technologies – CIJ, TIJ, TTO and Laser Printer, and how their technology developed through time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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The continuous inkjet printer also known as CIJ, is probably one of the oldest and most known technologies since its introduction in the coding and marking industry dating back to the 1950s. The CIJ printing technology<\/a> operates by activating a high-pressure pump to push the ink through nozzles on the printhead. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Every droplet is electronically charged and passes through a magnetic field generated between the deflector plates inside the printhead. This creates a continuous stream of ink droplets. The extent of charge on every droplet determines its position on the product and creates the final print. The droplets that do not get charged are not deflected and re-circulated back into the system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The CIJ printers have always been the go-to printer when the application requirements include high throughput and the printhead can be placed farther away from the product. There was an era in coding and marking where CIJ printing technology can only achieve printing on concave surfaces such as the bottom of cola cans since other technologies cannot print on longer throw distances (Luckily now, this application can be done by TIJ printer with longer throw distance ink such as Hx Nitro and eUrex Funai Ink Cartridge)<\/p>\n\n\n\n The popular brands that manufacture CIJ printers include Domino Printing with their Ax-Series continuous inkjet printers; Videojet with their Videojet 1880 and Videojet 1620-50 series; and Leibinger\u2019s Jet3up CIJ printers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The thermal inkjet printer or TIJ printing is one of the rising stars in the coding and marking industry. The development that coils around this technology has been rapid enabling it to achieve printing territories once impossible with its technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n TIJ printer works by using an ink cartridge consisting of hundreds of nozzles which each contain a heating component. This heating component allows current to pass through it in order to warm up the ink inside the nozzles. This allows for a pressure build-up which then pushes the ink onto the final surface. <\/p>\n\n\n\n TIJ printers were only a choice to mark onto porous materials such as boxes and corrugated containers due to the limited range of available ink types. It is also confronted with limitations to print closer (lower throw distance) to the surface of the product. Unlike CIJ printers, there is no additional pressure applied to jet the droplet towards the surface of the product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nonetheless, TIJ coding printers are now increasing in demand with new ink formulation with semi-solvent, solvent-based ink with fast drying and superior adhesion have been introduced. The latest development in this technology that MapleJet has proudly pioneered was the introduction of a high throw distance TIJ printer, Hx Nitro. The printer uses a Funai-based ink cartridge and can achieve up to 10 mm throw distance<\/a> from the product substrate. It is a perfect solution to print on concave or irregular shapes such as on the bottom of cans or the shoulders of bottles that are sloped. <\/p>\n\n\n\nThermal Inkjet Printer<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n