Packaging

COST SAVINGS AND NO DOWNTIME WITH SELF-CLEANING CODER

Thursday 02. December 2010 - Coding and marking solutions provider Linx Printing Technologies believes that its Linx IJ350 coder for Large Character Marking (LCM) can offer significant savings, in terms of lower consumable costs and reduced downtime, compared to other printing or labelling alternatives.

Key innovations of the Linx IJ350 LCM coder include a self-cleaning printhead with a patented recirculating system that avoids waste ink and saves time ordinarily wasted on ink purging procedures. The coder’s nozzle protection system further safeguards the printhead to reduce maintenance and the overall cost of ownership.
Ideal for outer case or secondary packaging, the Linx IJ350 also offers ease of maintenance, error-free coding, consistently perfect print quality, a simple user interface, and flexible and easy installation.
Fully featured, the Linx IJ350 is designed to meet the requirements of customers who need clear, legible and accurate coding of secondary packaging, with excellent reproduction of machine-readable barcodes. Existing solutions on the market are not as cost effective and require significant investments in time and effort to keep them running to the required standard for high throughputs.
For companies already using LCM printers, the coder’s innovative fully enclosed self-cleaning printhead represents a major advance in performance and reliability that maintains excellent print quality, minimises downtime and removes the need for manual intervention.
The self-cleaning method, known as ‘micro-purge,’ uses a small film of ink on the printhead to collect dirt and debris prior to printing each carton. This is removed with air to clean the ink from the nozzle plate; the ink is collected and recirculated, passing through a high performance filter to maintain clean ink in the system.
“Standard printhead cleaning techniques can waste enough ink in a single clean to code 2000 boxes,” confirms Paul Doody, LCM Product Manager at Linx. “In contrast, the Linx IJ350’s ink recirculation system ensures the printer uses every last drop of ink for its intended purpose – printing. Eliminating ink wastage is a hugely important means of saving money.”
The Linx IJ350 is an ideal replacement for labelling, as there is no need for expensive ribbons or labels, which are also time-consuming to change and maintain. The compact, portable size of the coder ensures hassle-free installation wherever it is required, and it can also be moved easily between lines, while message creation is also a swift, easy process, with support for leading label creation software packages.
In addition, the printer’s innovations in error-free coding ensure that there is no risk of putting the wrong information onto the box. Integrated software and intuitive printer controls can be mastered quickly and easily, with common tasks only one touch away on the simple, icon-based touch screen. Linx also offers Claricom Package Coding Management (PCM) software, which combines CLARiSOFT centralised message creation and CLARiNET production line networking for further accuracy.
In addition to the Linx IJ350, a second model – the Linx IJ370 – is available, depending on message height requirements.
“There is a growing worldwide need for legible and clear coding on secondary packaging such as outer cases, but it is obvious that quality must go hand-in-hand with cost-efficiency,” observes Paul Doody. “The Linx IJ350 has been specifically designed to meet customer needs for low cost of ownership and reduced downtime alongside high-quality, reliable printing.”