There has been increasing interest from the steel industry in Taiwan-based company Anser’s portable thermal inkjet (TIJ) printer since the marketing of the product in April by identification and traceability company Traceability Solutions.

The TIJ printer, which is capable of printing alphanumeric characters, barcodes, logos, dates and expiry dates at a speed of up to 76 m/min at 300 dots per inch, when using in-line configurations, requires less mainte-nance compared with competing technologies.

Traceability Solutions sales executive Gary Chilton states that the TIJ printer has all the functionality of traditional continuous inkjet printers, but that it has improved performance and has fewer consumables. The printing solution, which includes a significant number of features, offers high-quality packaging performance at low prices.

He points out that industries could benefit from the TIJ printer, as it does not require much maintenance work, which, in turn, is cost effective for companies, noting that the company is also considering supplying the food and pharmaceuticals industries.

“The maintenance of the printer is reduced by its plug-and-print capability, which provides ease of use, as the TIJ print cartridges can be cleaned by simply wiping the printhead as recommended by the manufacturer. Empty or damaged printer cartridges can be replaced quickly – no skill or technical knowledge is required.

“Other systems may require a skilled maintenance technician to align or replace printheads, however, as the TIJ’s printhead is the cartridge, the printhead is automatically replaced when the cartridge is replaced,” Chilton highlights.

Traceability Solutions notes that another factor to consider when comparing maintenance costs is the downtime required for service. The TIJ printer requires the client to replace only the print cartridge, after which printing can resume. This eliminates the time needed for start-up had maintenance work been done. There will, therefore, be no delays in start-up after maintenance, which will also contribute to the overall cost of ownership.

Chilton says the printer has a full-colour 71 mm liquid-crystal display screen and a digital menu selection, which enables clients to use the printer, available in either hand-held or in-line configurations, effectively and with speed.

“TIJ technology uses tiny resistors that rapidly heat a thin layer of liquid ink. The heated ink causes a bubble to form, expelling the ink through a nozzle. As the bubble collapses, it creates a vacuum that pulls in fresh ink. This process is repeated thousands of times per second. TIJ technology allows many nozzles per printhead, which provides small drop sizes, fast speeds, outstanding system reliability and highly controlled ink placement,” says Chilton.

Traceability Solutions states that the TIJ printer uses Hewlett-Packard (HP) printer cartridges, enabling the user to replace a new cartridge quicker and without making a mess on the production line. The printer weighs less than 1 kg and, being completely stand- alone, integrates easily into existing produc-tion lines.

The HP Inkfinity range provides ink solu- tions for porous, semi-porous and nonporous surfaces and these cartridges are available in black, red, blue, green and yellow. HP will also introduce new additional ink devel- opments in July this year, says Traceability Solutions.