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Send to KindleCaraustar moves to thermal ink-jet coding
Perhaps most important as Armero observes is that the print cartridge itself is just as much a consumable as the ink inside. When the cartridge is empty it snaps out and a fresh one snaps in-just like on the printer at home.
Powdered-product line
At the Caraustar plant Packaging World watched the Nutec printer in action on a line dedicated to pouching of powdered products. A prescription laxative known as Kristalose™ (a registered trademark of Bertek Pharmaceuticals) was the product being run. Manufactured by Inalco of Milan Italy and distributed by Bertek Pharmaceuticals of Research Triangle Park NC the product is packaged into foil-based packets each weighing 10 g. Operators manually load the single-dose packets into folding cartons that are preprinted with all the information and graphics that are required except the lot number and expiration date. This information is printed onto the cartons by the Nutec system mounted above a simple belt conveyor.
In assessing the cost of thermal ink-jet coding Armero figures that if total cost of ownership is compared—which takes into account not just the print cartridge versus the ink canister but also the reduction in maintenance and downtime required for routine cleaning—his costs are comparable to what they were when the continuous ink-jet printer was used on the line.
Armero also emphasizes that continuous ink-jet printing will continue to play an important role in the packaging operation at Caraustar because the thermal ink-jet printer isn’t designed to work on glossy or coated surfaces.
“On varnished cartons you need the solvent-based inks that are used in continuous ink-jet printing” says Armero. “The water-based ink deposited by these H-P cartridges won’t dry on that kind of surface.” This could change in the near future however. Business development manager Colin Cozier at H-P says new inks more suitable for glossy surfaces are now being explored.
Another limitation to its current print cartridge technology that H-P freely admits is that high speed is not one of its long suits. Although a continuous ink-jet printer is capable of 1’/min 250’/min is tops for the thermal ink-jet system running at Caraustar.
But in the Caraustar application 250’/min is perfectly adequate says Armero and the benefits gained by switching to thermal ink-jet printing are considerable. “It’s reliable clean and easy to operate and maintain” says Armero.
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