Industrial Inkjet Printers

When daily/frozen food products are shipped from refrigerators, freezers, and water tanks, condensation, frosting, freezing, water droplets, water film, etc., occur on the surface in applications involving marking of dates, etc.

Notes

• Condensation, frost, freezing, water droplets, and water film may hinder ink adhesion or cause smudging.

Preventive measures

• Apply hot air just before marking.
• Blow air just before marking.
• Add a water droplet wiping device.

Printing conditions vary depending on the material and surface conditions. Prior confirmation with samples is required.

Notes

• Ink smudging and adhesion may change if the workpiece material, surface treatment, or surface condition changes over time.
• Samples used for verification should be the same as those actually run on the line. It is also necessary to check with new items as much as possible.
• Actual line testing may be required for materials and surfaces that change rapidly depending on the situation.

With plastic resin (such as vinyl) hoses and thin metal sheets that are wound under strong tension, transfer may occur depending on the ambient conditions not only while the ink is not completely dry but even after it has dried.

Notes

• It is necessary to make sure that transfer will not be a problem.

Preventive measures

• Provision of forced ink drying equipment (cold air, hot air, etc.) or lamination is required.

When electronic components are mounted on printed circuit boards, solder flux adheres, which necessitates them to undergo a cleaning process and they may come into contact with solvents at this time. General-purpose IJ printer inks (JP-K67 and JP-K27) are not solvent-resistant.

Notes

• It is necessary to check the possibility that workpieces come in contact with solvents.
• Solvent composition needs to be checked.

Preventive measures

• Selection of UV cured ink is required. (UV curing equipment must be installed.)

Use of an IJ printer in a dusty area may cause various problems with the printer.

Notes

• Be aware of poor contact and short-circuit problems in the electrical system.
• They may result in reduced ink life and reduced life of circulation system components.

Preventive measures

• Perform an air purge in an amount that does not affect ink jetting.
• Air-purge the inside of the enclosure.

This occurs when marking the underside of the object to be printed and in applications where the ink nozzle of the printhead faces upward.

Notes

• This occurs in cases of use where foreign objects fall on the printhead.

Preventive measures

• Design the line structure so that foreign matter does not fall on the printheads.
• The structure should be such that the top and bottom of the workpiece are exchanged in the line and the printhead can be turned downward to jet ink for marking.

In principle, the frame ground cannot be separated from signal ground with IJ printers.

Notes

• The IJ printer (main unit to printhead) must be electrically isolated.
• Noise from transfer conveyors, IJ printer moving equipment (robots, etc.), sensors, and other peripheral devices may cause malfunction or failure.
• Pay close attention to inverter motors, servo motors, and other high-frequency generating devices.
• If the object to be printed is static-prone, design the system structure to prevent generation of discharge noise.

Be careful when supporting the flexible hose that contains and protects the tubes and wires used to feed ink and electrical signals from the main unit of the IJ printer to the printhead.

Notes

• Note that connection with an extremely small curvature radius or a movement with the support subjected to excessive force may result in damage.
• When vibration is transmitted to the flexible hose, pressure fluctuations in the circulation system may cause erratic characters.

Vibration of the printhead may cause erratic characters. If the energy of the vibration is high, the IJ printer may go down.

Notes

• Install anti-vibration equipment to prevent vibration from being applied to the IJ printer.
• Vibration generated by peripheral equipment (conveyors, robots, etc.) must be minimized and measures taken to insulate against vibration.

• Anti-vibration specification on the IJ printer side is 0.2 G or less.

The distance between the tip of the printhead and the marking surface of the IJ printer cannot be made extremely long.
(Approx. 30-50 mm for 100 μm nozzle, 10-20 mm for 65 μm nozzle, and 5 mm for 40 μm nozzle)

Notes

• When marking irregularly shaped objects, consideration must be given so that the convex part does not collide with the printhead.

Preventive measures

• Introduce roller equipment in the upstream section to shape the convexity into a flat surface.
• Provide a stopper or other means in the upstream process to prevent collisions.
• Provide a sensing means for convexity to stop the line.

When marking the inner surface of a cylindrical object smaller than the printhead length, a long marking distance must be set to avoid interference between the printhead and the object to be marked.

Notes

• A safe distance must be maintained based on the workpiece geometry, structure, marking method, etc.
• Due to the need to set a long marking distance, marking of small sizes is generally difficult and marking speeds must also be made slow.

When using the printer in an environment where the inside of the printhead is subject to condensation, air-purge the inside of the printhead.

Notes

• Supply clean dry air to the IJ printer through the [Air purge air connection port] on the back of the main unit.
• After adjusting the air purge volume, check the printing condition by a print test.