SubscribeDesk-top technology on the production line.
We are all familiar with ink-jet printers in our home and offices. They offer a high resolution print with ink systems that are quick and easy to change with no fuss or mess. The system employed by Hewlett Packard printers has the notable advantage of housing the print cartridge and ink reservoir in the same cartridge so that each time the ink is changed, so is the delivery system.
This technology is now available in a package designed specifically for use on production lines where high quality print is required for applications such as date coding, bar coding, printing of logos and so on.
Online Inkjet Printing System
The Jetpack system from Rotech offers an on-line inkjet printing system than employs up to 4 print cartridges to give a total print height of up to 50mm. Perfect "stitching" of the print from adjacent cartridges means that text or bar codes can fully utilise that 50mm and print length is almost unlimited. Resolution is always 600 d.p.i vertically giving outstanding sharpness and darkness of print - particularly impressive when printing bar codes on to brown card. Such systems have successfully eliminated print/apply labelling units saving both the cost of the label and, in many cases, the thermal ribbon used to print it.
At the other end of the scale, the high resolution permits even the smallest of fonts to be perfectly legible as shown in the example of a 6pt (1.5mm) production code
With most ink-jet printers, only one colour can be handled at any time (usually black) and any change requires a complete purging and recharging of the ink system - a timely and potentially messy procedure. With the Jetpack it's as simple as changing the cartridge.
Furthermore, it is possible to use different colour inks within the same printhead, allowing the 50mm of print to be made in, potentially, four different colours. This can be particularly useful if part of the message is best printed in red for emphasis or if a particular colour gives a more corporate look.
With inks available suit a wide range of porous and semi-porous surfaces, the JetPack offers clean, clear, trouble free, ink-jet coding at a surprisingly affordable cost.