FAQ: Thermal Inkjet Printing

Reliable

• Works first time, every time
• No start-up time or shut down routine
• Consistently produces clear, high-resolution codes

Easy-to-use

• Direct data input is available on the printer
• Intuitive, free, format design software package
• Cartridges simply clip in and out

Cost-effective

• Low capital cost of equipment
• Ink cartridges are the only ongoing cost
• No maintenance

Essentially, anywhere where we can place the printer where the material is in motion and space allows us to present the printhead to the product. For example- Labelling / Flo-Wrapping / Vertical Form Fill and Seal (VFFS) / Horizontal Form Fill and Seal (HFFS) / Cartoners / Baggers

Thermal Inkjet (TIJ) can print on a wide range of porous and non-porous packaging types. The key is matching the right ink grade to the substrate—similar to more costly conventional CIJ and TTO systems.
Rotech offers a variety of ink grades tailored to different applications, and we provide free sample testing through our TopMarks service to ensure the best match for your needs.

Clean handling – The ink is fully enclosed within the cartridge, eliminating spills from pouring or refilling.

Maintenance-free – Each cartridge contains its own ink delivery system, so it’s replaced with every cartridge change, removing the need for ongoing maintenance.

Efficient use – TIJ uses “drop-on-demand” technology, meaning only the required amount of ink is used, with no need for recirculation.

Prints per cartridge is based upon several factors that can be controlled by the operating system of the printer. For example, larger characters  require more ink. As do formats which contain multiple lines of text, barcodes and graphics. Different font styles can also affect the cost per print.

As a rough guide, to print a batch code consisting of a single line of 3mm text containing 5 characters, you can expect to achieve 1 Million prints per cartridge. A best before date and batch number with a time code may be closer to 350-450K prints per cartridge.

Our thermal inkjet systems feature built-in software that allows the user to optimise usage per print by ‘grey scaling’. For example, when printing a simple expiry date onto a light substrate – an application that doesn’t require true black print density – the operator can adjust the settings to achieve better usage per cartridge.

Our standard systems use a single cartridge that measures 12.7mm, which is perfect for product identification, batch, best before and use by data.

You can print multiple lines of text within the printable ‘height’ of the cartridge, by dividing the character size (height) into the overall height of the cartridge aperture (12.7mm). Total print distance (in direction of material travel) is 2M although this can be extended if required.

If you require additional print height then we can use our single heads and ‘stitch’ up to eight heads with a single controller. This provides an overall print height of 101.6mm. Each head can be set to run at different parameters and include different data.

All of our systems can accept true type fonts in addition to built-in standard fonts within the printer memory. Unlike many other printing technologies we can also print variable data formats, using the font chosen as the software ‘writes’ the character set to the printer.