A Comprehensive Overview of Continuous Ink Printer Technology

Due to the highly pressurized nature of the CIJ system, these printers can print on substrates at a fantastic rate, especially compared to other printers. For example, the maximum printing speed of an industrial thermal inkjet printer is around 100 meters 381′ per minute.

CIJ printers, on the other hand, can exceed 470 m 1542′ , and their average print speed is approximately 300 meters 1143′ per minute. This makes continuous ink printers perfect for high-output manufacturing operations, such as food packaging.

Continuous ink printers excel at handling variable data printing, and they are able to update serial numbers, date codes, and other info on the fly at high speeds.

Continuous ink printers are capable of the continuous printing of small but quality prints composed of between one to six lines of text, 1D and 2D barcodes, and simple logos. CIJ is limited in resolution overall, but as mentioned, it more than makes up for it with speed. This is why it is perfect for food, beverage, and other industries that require a quick expiration date or lot code.

One of the key features of industrial continuous ink printers is maintaining resolution and print quality across various substrates. CIJ printers are capable of printing on metal, plastics, glass, paper, and a variety of different materials. This is due to the nature of the industrial inks and solvents used. The quick-drying capability of these solvents allows for rapid and durable adhesion to most surfaces.

As stated above, the ink/solvents are quick drying, and this can cause clogging and other issues throughout the internal pathways and print head of continuous inkjet printers. Traditionally, this results in frequent cleaning and maintenance needed to be done by a skilled maintenance technician. In many cases, a service contract or visit is required to fix and maintain these systems.

KEYENCE recognized these issues and designed a continuous inkjet system that resists clogging, needs less cleaning, and can be maintained by anyone. This eliminates expensive service costs and downtime and frees up skilled employees to focus on other critical manufacturing requirements.

There are a few options when it comes to black ink, and the most common is the standard MEK-based ink. This ink composition is extremely versatile and can cover a wide variety of applications and substrates. For those customers who want to avoid MEK, an MEK Free ink uses an ethanol base instead. Last, strong adhesive ink is offered for specialty substrates that struggle with adhesion. This is often useful for smooth and non-porous plastics.

Reliable adhesion on bottles or film

The super-adhesive ink eliminates worries even for targets that exhibit low ink adhesion.

Generally still MEK-based, but for customers looking to print on dark substrates with contrast. White or Yellow pigment allows for easy-to-read codes on black plastic, rubber, amber bottles, and many more. The pigment ink uses solids like titanium dioxide and tends to require specialized pumps and filtration. This is because the larger solid pigment is more prone to precipitating than dye. Yellow ink is a great option when customers have a mixture of black and white parts. Yellow pigment provides surprisingly good contrast on white.