Coding and Marking weren’t the one areas of curiosity at PACK EXPO. Click on the hyperlinks that comply with to learn extra about improvements in: Cartoning | Case and Tray Packing | Conveyors and Materials Dealing with | Inspection and Detection | Labeling | Type/Fill/Seal | Meals Processing & Packaging | Sustainable Packaging | Robotics | Pharma | Controls
Leibinger
Hello-speed industrial ink-jet printer producer Leibinger took benefit of PACK EXPO Las Vegas to unveil IQJET. Described as a complete new platform, Leibinger on its Website succinctly blasts out its basic worth proposition this fashion: “Plug & Print. 5 years no upkeep. The primary clever coding and marking system.”
In keeping with Volker Teufel, head of product growth at Leibinger, this new platform relies on new expertise that leverages extra clever techniques. One instance is the brand new HMI, which may be operated loads like a wise cellphone. It makes it straightforward to see what your duties are, what you might be at the moment printing, the standing of the printer, the standing of the ink reservoir, and so forth.
The no-maintenance-for-five-years a part of the platform means a rise in productive time by means of elimination of standard care measures, printhead cleansing routines, and unplanned downtime. Plus the brand new XXL cartridges utilized in the IQJET empty right down to the final drop and don’t require separate disposal. The system even gives video help on cartridge elimination and substitute proper on the HMI.
“The printer has an built-in solvent restoration system to scale back the consumption of the solvent,” says Teufel. “So it’s the printer with the bottom solvent consumption within the market as a result of the evaporated solvent is condensed and returned again into the system.”
A novel nozzle-sealing system referred to as Sealtronic makes a key contribution to the five-year no-maintenance assure. When extra typical ink-jet nozzles are used, any pause in manufacturing may end up in dried ink and blocked nozzles. This isn’t the case with Sealtronic nozzles. When manufacturing stops, the nozzle retracts, closing the ink loop and stopping it from drying out. To begin once more, the nozzle extends out once more and carries on printing—with out the necessity for cleansing or rinsing cycles. And since no cleansing cycle is required, there’s no want for further cleansing solvent, which is sweet for the surroundings and the underside line. Neither is there any adversarial impression on the viscosity of the ink or the high quality of the primary few prints, both. Watch an informative video describing Sealtronic expertise.
Watch a video of Teufel demonstrating the system at PACK EXPO Las Vegas.
Bell-Mark
Designed to fulfill the demanding necessities of at present’s pharmaceutical and medical machine packaging industries, the HD 3A delivers 600-dpi print high quality on versatile internet supplies, cartons, and different substrates and may attain speeds to 100 cycles/min plus on an intermittent-motion packaging machine. The system can accommodate internet widths as much as 630 mm with accessible choices for single-, two-, and full-color CMYK print capabilities.
Additionally featured on the HD 3A is a brand new buffering system that works independently of the packaging machine’s internet pull. This built-in internet pressure management, which Bell-Mark explains is necessary for printing functions the place exact print registration is crucial equivalent to printing UDI barcodes and different variable information, isolates the printing course of from the packaging machine’s internet advance, permitting for constant internet pressure through the printing course of.
As well as, the HD 3A has new built-in automation processes for upkeep duties, equivalent to a brand new computerized purge and wipe function and an computerized capping function. With the push of a button, the InteliJet HD 3A mechanically cleans the print heads by forcing ink by means of the nozzles, which helps take away any particles or dried ink which may be clogging the nozzles. The course of then wipes the print heads, so that they’re prepared to start printing. The computerized capping function covers the nozzles of the print heads after they’re not in use, defending them and guaranteeing dependable print high quality.
“Purging, wiping, and capping the print heads is a vital course of to make sure most lifetime of the print heads and the very best high quality of print succesful,” says Bell-Mark. “The automation of those processes is a beneficial function that reduces human intervention and downtime.”
Decrease price CIJ
BestCode
In keeping with BestCode Enterprise Improvement Supervisor Andy Fox, BestCode has taken some price out of the unit to drop the worth down. “For instance, the Quantum has a black painted management cupboard that isn’t IP-rated as in contrast with our chrome steel IP-rated system,” he says. “So as a result of we’ve taken the price out of producing, we’re capable of provide it at a a lot lower cost for these low-end, low-cost functions.”
Designed to print best-by, lot, sell-by, and expiration codes and different figuring out marks on non-porous substrates, together with plastic, steel, and glass, in actual time, the Quantum can print one to 5 strains of textual content, barcodes, and graphics at 1,500 ft/min (for one line). Options of the Quantum embrace an AutoClean setting that mechanically cleans the non-contact print head, OneTouch single-step operator features that cut back operator steps, and on-the-fly exterior ink filling, for ink filling in lower than a minute with no waste.
In keeping with Fox, one other function, which different suppliers typically eradicate in lower-cost printers, is a ten.4-in. touchscreen. The contact display screen is all the time on and affords a vivid show with giant, intuitive buttons and standing indicators. “It gives ease of use and eliminates errors throughout programming,” Fox explains.
Domino
Simplicity and ease of use are the watchwords for the Ax130i, says Domino. When it comes to ease of use, the corporate says that operation of the printer and label modifying are as straightforward as utilizing a smartphone, with only some touches on the built-in touchscreen utilizing Domino’s QuickStep person interface wanted. The person interface may be password protected to make sure labels are protected and appropriate.
The system can also be straightforward to take care of. In keeping with Domino, exchanging the ITM (built-in expertise module) service module is straightforward—a less-than-10-minute activity carried out yearly by an operator. A key function of the Domino printer system, the ITM minimizes the necessity for typical upkeep, equivalent to guide filter substitute, which might help cut back labor prices and downtime. Fluid adjustments are additionally straightforward and stated to be “mistake-free,” by means of auto-identification of consumables, and they are often finished with out stopping the printer.
The fluid system itself options correct management techniques that allow optimum printer efficiency and code high quality in various ambient temperatures. As well as, fluid ranges are frequently monitored, alerting operators when it’s time to replenish them.
Like the opposite Ax-Collection printers, the Ax130i is constructed with a Domino-made print head expertise referred to as i-Pulse, designed to create codes with a nine-drop decision versus the seven-drop decision historically utilized in CIJ printing. In keeping with the corporate, due to this larger drop decision, the Ax-Collection printers can create extremely readable codes, ship prolonged intervals of uptime, and save customers as much as 24% in ink utilization.
Tremendous piezo
From Markem-Imaje, the brand new Tremendous Piezo Inkjet (SPI) printer—first launched at interpack in spring 2023 and making its U.S. debut at PACK EXPO Las Vegas—combines piezo electrical printing expertise and small-character inkjet expertise to allow customers to print high-resolution, serialized 2D barcodes with variable information on a spread of substrates and shapes, together with curved surfaces. With these capabilities, the printer is GS1 Digital Hyperlink appropriate, which means it’s geared up to fulfill the proposed GS1 Digital Hyperlink commonplace, whereby manufacturers are inspired to part out present UPC barcode expertise in favor of a dynamic 2D barcode.
As Josh Heugel, senior account supervisor for Markem-Imaje, explains, by utilizing the 2D barcode, manufacturers will have the ability to embed info for his or her shoppers—equivalent to promotions and incentives—into the digital hyperlink, which may be scanned by way of a smartphone. It might additionally advise shoppers at level of sale on recollects, allergens, expiration dates, and extra. The GS1 Digital Hyperlink may also enable the product to be tracked all through the logistics provide chain route for serialization, verification, and traceability wants.
In an article on Markem-Imaje’s web site, writer and world strategic account supervisor for the corporate, Erik Lagarde, writes, “Central to this revolution [the GS1 Digital Link] is the premise of ‘scorching information,’ a step change from conventional static information to dynamic info extracted utilizing a 2D barcode that acts as a web-based URL. This connects producers and model homeowners to the digital world, giving them the agility to react far more shortly and effectively to traits throughout your complete worth chain—from distributor to retailers and shoppers.”
What units the SPI aside and qualifies it for GS1 Digital Hyperlink compatibility is its high-quality—it has a local decision of 100 dpi as much as 200 to 250 dpi—its capability to print dynamic, graphical information, and its ability at printing on curved surfaces, all at speeds to 400 ft/min. For extrusion functions, equivalent to pipes, tubes, wires, and many others., Markem-Imaje cites a velocity of practically 10,000 ft/min.
What makes these capabilities attainable is the machine’s mixture of piezo electrical, or drop-on-demand, and small-character inkjet printing applied sciences. Explains Heugel, “Drop-on-demand provides you with high-speed printing, and it offers you a bigger print space, but it surely isn’t notably good at quick drying occasions. And it’s restricted in its vary of inks, simply because of the expertise inside the printhead. If you take a look at small-character inkjet expertise, you’re restricted on print top, you’re restricted on decision, and you might be considerably restricted in velocity. So by marrying these two applied sciences, we’re capable of take the very best of each worlds—the excessive decision of the drop-on-demand printhead, the quick dry time with the small-character printing ink, and the print velocity of the small-character inkjet printer–and construct off these to make the Tremendous Piezo Inkjet, the SPI, in brief.”
The SPI additionally meets one other rising want for manufacturers: late-stage customization. “Manufacturers need to reconcile the quantity of main packaging materials SKUs due to sustainability initiatives. They spend an terrible lot on packaging,” Heugel says. “To be extra resourceful, they’re on the lookout for expertise that may allow them to go along with a extra generic outer bundle after which customise the packaging by printing on-the-fly on the level of manufacturing, quite than at a converter.”
Laser expertise
Videojet Applied sciences
Amongst the options of the brand new laser marking techniques, the 3350’s versatile marking head contains 32 commonplace beam supply choices, whereas the 3350 Sensible Focus laser’s marking head gives zero to 90-deg rotation with out the necessity for extra components. As well as, the 3350 Sensible Focus is supplied with computerized focusing and marking capabilities for straightforward product changeovers with out shifting the laser. The Sensible Focus possibility allows multi-level marking with the advantage of an auto-adjustable focal distance, uniform flat area correction, a pilot beam focus finder, and a versatile vary/measurement mode. In keeping with Videojet, these options assist cut back operator touches, enhance mark high quality, and enhance uptime.
Each new lasers print textual content, barcodes, graphics, and different info at quickens to 2,000 characters/sec to assist product traceability and anti-counterfeiting. The techniques can print on a spread of substrates, together with PET, glass, high-density polyethylene, versatile movie, foils, and labels, rubber, and wooden and lumber.
In accordance to Videojet, the laser techniques have been engineered to assist customers meet their Trade 4.0 objectives with built-in Wi-Fi and mobile connections that assist to reduce IT workload and cut back the price of connecting tools to a community. Advises the corporate, “Housed in an entry field, these Wi-Fi and mobile connections allow straightforward software program updates and fewer service interactions whereas bettering general tools effectivity with the supply of extra manufacturing info.”
Exhibiting what Paul Barton, Americas Area, gross sales supervisor for HP Specialty Printing Options, says is the “solely form of product on the market like this,” HP launched its new Thermal Inkjet 108-mm bulk printing answer to the North American market at PACK EXPO Las Vegas. The answer includes a stitched print head with 5 heads with twin channels. Stitching happens when a pair of overlapping print heads print a pair of adjoining picture segments that meet in a sewing area; printing at every location within the stitching area is completed by each print heads with a weighting that is dependent upon the placement being printed inside the stitching area.
“What this lets you do is print on labels or proper onto a field a really high-resolution barcode with info that’s simply readable and scannable,” explains Barton.
HP’s TIJ 108-mm bulk printing answer for coding and marking on secondary packaging permits corporations to shift away from advanced and costly label software processes by enabling direct printing onto the skin of packing containers, bettering recyclability by avoiding glues and different adhesives required with conventional labeling processes. Says HP, “As clients look to interchange advanced and costly label software by direct printing on packaging, clients love the simplicity and ease of use of this answer, given the challenges find and coaching labor in manufacturing and logistics environments.”
In keeping with Barton, the print head wants no servicing. HP’s proprietary micro-recirculation expertise ensures the ink is stored in print-ready situation inside the print head previous to printing and in between jobs to make sure the pigments don’t settle. Different options embrace a 10-mm throw distance, a print decision of 600 x 600 dpi, and speeds to 800 ft/min. The ink supply system is made up of 775-mL cartridges which are hot-swappable with water-based inks.
Huge information on the Squid Ink sales space at PACK EXPO Las Vegas was the introduction of the Co-Pilot Gemini UV system. It prints as much as 5.6 in. excessive at 360 dpi vertically and 300 dpi horizontally. New water-cooled UV system requires as much as 6 liters of water to maintain the system chilly. The primary concept right here is to have the ability to print non-porous substrates which are usually troublesome to print as a result of solvent inks sometimes used want drying time. With these UV-cured inks, the printed picture is totally dry and smudge-free.
Watch a video of the Squid Ink system.
Increasing the attain of digital print
R.R. Donnelley & Sons (RRD) introduced at PACK EXPO Las Vegas its expanded partnership with EFI, marking not solely prolonged capabilities for RRD but in addition an extension of digital printing functions into corrugated packaging. At its packaging facility in Milwaukee, RRD has put in an EFI Nozomi C18000 Plus single-pass digital inkjet printer. Anticipated to be operational by this fall, the press allows the packaging and print powerhouse to scale back time-to-market by 25%, maximize colour and design choices, and prioritize sustainability on large-format runs of a number of totally different sized substrates whereas delivering constant print high quality.
The Nozomi C18000 Plus press will drive high-volume manufacturing at speeds three to 5 occasions quicker than scanning superwide-format printers. The single-pass expertise can print as much as 1,000 distinctive boards an hour, aligning properly with business calls for round sustainability, e-commerce, and on-box adverting, in keeping with Ken Hanulec, vp of promoting for EFI.
In keeping with RRD’s 2023 (Un)Packaging Actuality Report, the huge majority (90%) of packaging and label resolution makers proceed to agree that sustainability is a key consideration in packaging and label selections. RRD is targeted on supporting its shoppers’ sustainability efforts by means of decreased vitality, emissions, and waste. Its set up of the Nozomi C18000 Plus press permits an general discount of carbon footprint because of sustainable UV LED inks, extra dependable printing, much less waste, and a 4X discount in vitality utilization in contrast to different digital presses.
“Our expertise leverages UV inks and UV LED curing, which makes use of about 25% much less vitality than any of the standard curing applied sciences that exist on the market,” Hanulec says. “Most different applied sciences leverage warmth, and there’s a number of vitality required to make a warmth supply.”
There’s additionally little or no water concerned within the strategy of digitally printed corrugated packaging, Hanulec notes. “There’s zero water waste related to our expertise,” he says.
Although RRD will use the press for a wide range of retail signage and shows, Hanulec emphasizes the corporate’s expanded software into corrugated packaging, pushed by different market influences round e-commerce—specifically, on-box promoting and Amazon’s SIOC (ships in personal container) packaging pointers.
This press additionally expedites new job setup (in as little as seven minutes), prints as much as six colours, and runs constantly with out having to pause printing to reload. The brand new addition helps RRD’s capability to supply high-quality ends in retail signage and shows produced from boards and corrugated to poly-based substrates.
“Our dedication to offering distinctive service to our shoppers contains investing in new expertise that delivers worth and exceeds expectations,” says Lisa Pruett, president of packaging and labels options at RRD. “As we proceed to guage the evolving market, we’re leveraging innovation to broaden our capabilities within the areas that matter most to our shoppers: growing speed-to-market, offering sustainable printing options, and creating price financial savings.”
By leveraging superior print expertise, the brand new press permits for inks that won’t crack when bent or folded, a wide variety of media, and quick processes which are correct and repeatable. The UV LED inks used within the Nozomi C18000 Plus press maximize colour and design choices accessible to RRD’s shoppers.
Tetra Pak
Put in and examined in Tetra Pak’s Denton, Tex., changing facility over the previous yr or so is a full-width Koenig & Bauer RotaJET 168 digital printer. The Roll-fed ink-jet system has an internet velocity of 240 m/min (787 ft/min) and internet width of 840 to 1680 mm/min (2756 to 5512 ft/min). It makes use of piezo-electrically modulated DOD inkjet printing heads and RotaColor water-based polymer pigment inks.
Tetra Pak sees all types of recent enterprise and advertising alternatives rising due to the elevated flexibility and the flexibility to customise that comes with this digital printing expertise. Tetra Pak Customized Printing is described as the primary and solely premium ink jet-based carton bundle printing answer to supply manufacturers an revolutionary, price efficient, and customizable system whereas offering all of the environmental advantages of paper-based beverage cartons. Advantages like the flexibility to print dynamic on-pack QR codes or to incorporate a wide range of designs inside the identical order deliver new potentialities to meals and beverage manufacturers. Digital printing additionally permits for smaller, extra custom-made batch sizes and facilitates related packaging functions by way of distinctive codes and designs.
Circulate Beverage Corp. has a sizeable presence in retail shops in Canada and a few within the U.S. One channel the place the agency plans to make good use of custom-made packaging is in its partnership with Dwell Nation Leisure, which promotes, operates, and manages ticket gross sales for dwell leisure within the U.S. and internationally.
What about pouch printing?
PouchMark
Making its PACK EXPO debut on the Las Vegas sales space was Edge, the latest addition to the PouchMark household of machines. A high-volume pouch feeding and printing innovation, it has a loading capability of as much as 250 pouches at a time.
Additionally making its debut on the sales space was FLEXtij, a groundbreaking inkjet expertise the place the speeds and the ink sturdiness when it comes to what it can adhere to and how briskly it might probably accomplish that are all very new. The Premium model affords speeds to 200 fpm and 600 dpi decision. However the FLEXtij Extremely–which FlexPackPRO claims will outperform CIJ, laser, TTO, and different thermal ink-jet choices in most applications–offers print speeds to 656 fpm and print density as much as 1,200 dpi. A key to this new breed of inkjet expertise is the polymer-based inks that ship sturdy print on porous or non-porous surfaces. “It’s not like conventional TIJ the place you may often scratch off the printed picture together with your fingernail,” says Walter. “It’s like nothing else on the market.” The proprietary inks are made by off-shore suppliers to specs set by FlexPackPRO.
As soon as once more a key marketplace for this new expertise was hashish. Not solely do the pouches on this area have gussets and zipper reclosure options that make ink laydown difficult, additionally they have particular double child-resistant zippers that additional complicate issues. FLEXtij can deal with it, says Walter, who’s clearly excited in regards to the alternatives this opens up.
AT Info Merchandise
The rise in the usage of versatile packaging supplies is prompting the business to seek for adaptable, environment friendly, and economical coding strategies. Challenges come up when coding on-line, particularly on pre-made pouches or crammed packs. AT INFO’s RF Lite Pouch serves as an off-line various.
The RF Lite Pouch System is a compact, bench-top system that employs vacuum choosing system and belt drive for clean motion. It is designed with a top-loading hopper to maintain throughput. The system additionally options an outfeed catcher tray for coded pouches. It accepts packaging substrates of assorted sizes and supplies, too– appropriate supplies embody plastic, mylar, and paper. The system’s feeder can deal with sizes starting from 3-in. by 3-in. to 10-in. by 6-in. Suitable with each Thermal Inkjet and Piezo Inkjet, the printer can produce alphanumeric textual content, GS1 identifiers, and regulatory compliant graphics.
In keeping with the corporate, typical feeders deploy friction rollers to maneuver substrate from a hopper to a belt, which proves environment friendly for uniformly thick pouches. Nevertheless, versatile supplies or these with resealable options pose challenges in accuracy. By using vacuum expertise, the RF Lite Pouch ensures constant and dependable feeding.