Explore our comprehensive FAQ section designed to address common questions and concerns about our marking and coding solutions. Whether you’re looking for information on product features, troubleshooting tips, or best practices for maintenance, our FAQs provide clear and concise answers to help you get the most out of your Videojet equipment. Find the information you need to ensure smooth and efficient operations on your production line.
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Customer Care
You can purchase products on-line at shop.videojet.com.
Videojet Technologies Inc
12113 Collection Center Dr.
Chicago, IL 60693
Phone: 1.800.843.3610
Fax: 1.800.582.1343
Email: vti.domesticcs@videojet.com
7:00AM -5:30PM CST Monday thru Friday
You locate/contact a Videojet sales person or Distributor in your area using the Sales and Distributor Locator.
Videojet Technologies Inc
1500 N. Mittel Blvd
Wood Dale, IL 60191-1073
Please email: vti.domesticcs@videojet.com or call 1-(833) 760-0609 option 5.
Please email: vti.domesticcs@videojet.com or call 1-(833) 760-0609.
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Laser Marking Systems
Laser marking is a non-contact printing method that marks or engraves high-quality 1D and 2D bar barcodes, multiple lines of text, batch number, lot codes, logos, etc., on various products for identification, tracking, and tracing purposes.
Laser marking systems offer reduced downtime, the elimination of most consumables (both for cost and environmental reasons), permanent marks, and reduced preventive maintenance costs associated with ink-based printers.
Laser marking systems produce permanent marks on materials such as glass, metal, plastic, rubber, and wood. The process alters precisely targeted areas of a product or package to create permanently marked barcodes, including DataMatrix codes, dates, lot and batch codes, logos and other marks. Marks cannot be removed other than by destroying the product’s surface.
Laser marking systems can slightly engrave a metal surface to produce highly legible codes and other marks. The marking process takes a few milliseconds; the more characters that must be formed, the more time it takes. The power density emitted by the laser on the product determines the marking quality. Videojet offers both fiber and CO2 lasers with metal marking capabilities.
Videojet lasers marking systems using CO2, fiber, and UV technologies are available to suit a range of production and budget requirements. Contact Videojet for help in identifying the right technology and model for your operation.
The different types of laser systems mainly vary based on the wavelength of the lasers that they emit, and the different power levels. The most important factor in choosing the right laser coder is the wavelength. The wavelength determines whether the laser will react with a material or not. Subsequently, the power and laser optics can be determined based on the speed required and the code size. Videojet offers laser marking systems with wavelengths of 10,600nm, 10,200 nm, 9,300 nm (CO2 lasers), 1064 nm (fiber lasers) and 355 nm (UV laser) along with power options ranging from 2W to 100W. Videojet laser experts can help you determine the right laser configuration best suited to your needs.
Factors to be included in evaluating the correct system consist of line speed, pitch (spacing) between products, substrate (material) to be marked, code content (amount and field size), environmental conditions, and integration needs.
Videojet laser marking systems are available with the option of Videojet Touch Control Software (TCS+) with the TU440or a CLARiTY controller, an external touch screen operator interface, or a PC (with Videojet TCS+ or Smartgraph software). For connection to PLCs, there are optional Ethernet / IP™ and PROFINET industrial protocols.
Videojet steered beam lasers can mark products in motion as they travel on a production line. They can also mark in a stationary or static mode where the product does not move.
Basic preventive maintenance is minimal: filters in the fume extractor must be changed periodically and front optics should also be checked and cleaned as needed. Depending on the operating conditions and usage, a more detailed PM is recommended on a yearly basis.
All Videojet lasers are considered Class IV and are recommended to be operated as Class I systems to ensure operator safety. This can be done by installing a beam shield around the point where the laser marks on the material. The design, dimensions, and material used to fabricate the beam shield are determined by the type of laser being used. Interlocks are normally included to stop operation if all the elements of the beam shield are not in proper position. Guarding is the responsibility of the buyer, but Videojet laser experts are happy to provide guidance on beam shields and, if necessary, provide a complete solution along with Class I certification from third-party providers.
In addition to the beam shield, Videojet also recommends the use of fume extractors to ensure operator safety. Fume extractors not only prevent the operators from inhaling fumes as a result of laser marking, but also help keep the laser optics clean and ensure code quality.
Laser marking systems are known to be reliable, and depending on the laser type, the expected laser source life is between 20,000 hours to 100,000 hours.
Laser markers can withstand varying degrees of dust and water ingress depending on the IP ratings of the machines. Videojet offers laser markers with ratings up to IP69 with suitability for washdown and resistance to dust particles.
Continuous Inkjet Printers
Continuous inkjet, or CIJ, is a small character inkjet printing technology that is ideal for marking on both flat and curved surfaces. It is a non-contact printing method that can utilize a range of continuous inkjet inks to print on almost any substrate. CIJ printers are used throughout the world to print dates, lot and batch numbers, codes, ingredients and other product information and messaging directly on products and packaging.
Continuous inkjet printers create a continuous stream of ink that “jets” from the main tank, through a nozzle into a gutter which, with the aid of vacuum pressure, returns the unused ink back into the main tank. This stream is continually broken up (modulated) into individual drops in a very precise and controlled way. To print, the printer then charges single drops within that stream with varying charges, one drop at a time, in a pattern that when flown through a high voltage field inside the printhead, deflects it from the gutter and creates a vertical line of drops (stroke). The greater the charge, the more deflection in the vertical direction. The stroke is a single line of drops which creates one vertical slice of the character(s) or image to be printed. As the product moves past the printer, it creates subsequent strokes with the proper pattern to make up the dots within the dot matrix for each character. The most common “fonts” are made up of seven drops in the vertical direction and five in the direction of travel (stroke). It is also possible to print more than one line at a time, with the lines stacked on top of each other. Single line, dual line, and tri-line codes are most common.
Continuous inkjet printers can print on plastic, metal, glass, paper, cardboard, corrugate, wood, and more. Typical applications include beverage cartons, cans, and pouches, pharmaceuticals, small cardboard boxes, cabling, and small components. Almost any product or packaging that moves on a conveyor or extruder is a good candidate for continuous inkjet printing.
Continuous inkjet printers never touch the product. The typical optimal distance from the printer’s printhead to the product is 3/16th of an inch, although readable print can be achieved with much longer distances. This gives continuous inkjet printers the advantage to print on more curved and irregular surfaces, like bottles and bags, compared to contact coders.
With continuous inkjet (CIJ) printing, the ink is continuously circulated throughout the printer from the fluids system to the printhead, and back to the fluids system. In DOD technology, the ink is only dispersed when the printer is printing. The continuous cycling of the fluid allows CIJ printers to use inks with faster dry times, where DOD printers would suffer with the ink drying on the printhead.
LCM or “large character marking” uses DOD inkjet technology for print-on-demand case coding. Both high and low-resolution LCM printers are typically used for secondary packing where a larger font is required. While continuous inkjet (CIJ) fonts usually range from 1/8th of an inch to ½ of an inch in height, LCM characters can be over two inches tall. Like other DOD printers, the code dries more from absorption than from evaporation, which can be quite slow on non-absorbent materials. This makes LCM most suited for corrugate and other porous materials and not glass, metal, or plastic.
For the majority of Videojet continuous inkjet (CIJ) printers, the recommended distance from the end of the CIJ printhead to the product is 3/16” or about 4mm. When the printhead is closer to the product, the code gets smaller and the printed drops are closer together. When the printhead is further than 3/16”, the print height becomes taller, the printed drops are farther apart, and the drops land with less accuracy.
MSDS for Videojet fluids are available for download by clicking here.
Videojet offers a variety of product detectors. Most commonly used are photo-eye type product detectors that employ infrared beams to detect when a product is coming down the line. We also offer metal detectors for metallic product detection and small fiber optic beam detectors for detecting registry marks within a product. Call Videojet Customer Service for more information regarding product detectors at: 1 (833) 760-0609.
Call 1(833) 760-0609 and follow the automated phone system to speak with customer service.
Industrial Inkjet Inks
We have a team of Application Support chemists experienced in determining the best match of customer application requirements to our best inks. These professionals work with your product samples, gain an understanding of your and your customer’s code and production environment, then simulate those variables in our Application Labs to test and validate the best ink.
Videojet has a market leading portfolio of inks. These inks span all relevant small and large character industrial inkjet technologies. They include a wide range of performance capabilities across the range of color, code durability, environmental conditions and printer types, and include environmentally benign alternatives.
Videojet has over 40 years of ink and fluid technology experience developing inks that solve tough application challenges, with aerospace, automotive, beverage, building materials, dairy, fresh and frozen food, pharmaceutical, personal care and wire and cable industry-specific ink formulations.
Inks are designed to penetrate surface contamination such as moisture on beverage bottles, mold release compounds on blow molded plastic bottles and oil on metal stampings and extrusions. Specialized inks have been designed to be resistant to solvents encountered in electronic component or mil-spec applications, or to resist product contents spillage that may occur in product manufacturing or during everyday consumer use. Some inks are designed to dry quickly and be compatible with high speed web or film packaging production lines. Some inks are formulated and manufactured in our food grade production plant for direct imaging on food items. Other inks have been developed to suit product decoration, and optimized for linear and 2-D bar coding. Some inks have been designed to provide good light fastness to withstand prolonged exposure to direct sunlight, and others to change color to show evidence of a cooking retort process.
This is just a small sample of how our inks are used. Videojet has provided solutions to many thousands of customers in hundreds of different industries around the world.
Engaging our Application Support chemists is one of the best ways to find the right ink that meets the needs of your specific application and those of your customers. For this reason, choosing the best ink starts with us asking you a few questions such as:
– What is the material composition of your product? Is it glass, metal, plastic, etc.? If plastic, what type of plastic? HDPE, LDPE, PE, PP, etc.?
– How fast does this ink need to dry? More specifically, what first touches the code and under how much pressure and heat?
– In what condition is your product just prior to coding? Is it wet, oily, hot, cold, clean, etc.?
– What must the ink code withstand once printed onto your product? What type of product liquids or solvents are involved in your or your customer’s process (water, caustic, oil, alcohol, heat, sunlight, steam, etc.)?
– What adhesion properties do you need or, in other words, how well and for how long do you need the code to stick to your product through the required lifecycle of the code? Do you need the code to be removable, etc.?
Depending on the printer family selected, some of our color range includes black and high contrast white, yellow, blue and red. Also orange, green, brown, purple, pink, gray and magenta are available. We also offer invisible inks that can be seen with UV light and inks that change color when subjected to cooking processes. Not all colors are available for every printer model. Please see your Videojet representative for more information.
Safety Data Sheets for Videojet fluids are conveniently available for you to download in Adobe® Acrobat® Reader™ format by clicking here.
Excel Series Errors
If the printer is running normally but no display is visible, adjust the contrast. Please call the hotline.
“No air for warmup Fault”
• Check input pressure on pressure gauge (approx. 6 bar).
• Check quality of compressed air. It must be free of oil and water.
• Check the fluid level (make-up, ink).
• If the level is OK, please call the hotline.
• Is the head dirty? Turn the printer off, clean with make-up solution, dry the printhead and re-start.
• Check ink expiration date and replace with fresh ink, if expired
• Is there a jet? If not, the nozzle is blocked.
• The catcher may be overflowing and the return suction line blocked. It should be cleaned.
• The module has been cleaned too often or for too long, too much fluid in the module.
• Drain some fluid (approx. 20ml) from the module. Call the hotline.
• High Voltage plates in the printhead are dirty. They should be cleaned.
• There is a short circuit caused by ink. Clean head thoroughly
• Check ink pressure (left-hand pressure gauge). If necessary, call the hotline.
• Check ink expiration date. Ink viscosity may be too low
• Replace ink with fresh supply.
• Check ink system for leaks.
• Replenish ink.
Postal Bar Coding
Videojet’s postal printers are integrated into mail sorting systems to apply images at high speeds without touching or interfering with the media. Postal authorities around the world apply many various bar code formats and other variable images using visible or invisible ink.
Beyond the many postal-specific bar codes such Intelligent Mail® Bar Code (IMB), Bar / No Bar, and Royal Mail Bar Code, Videojet’s postal printer – the 37pc – can also print time, date, alphanumeric characters and custom images for stamp cancellation.
Videojet has a number of water and solvent-based inks formulated for postal applications. Ink types include red/orange fluorescent, black, and invisible fluorescent. Videojet possesses the capability to develop inks specific to customer’s security and application requirements.
Print speeds of over 4.0 meters per second are possible with most bar codes. The exact print speed depends on the bar code pitch (bar spacing). Maximum bar print rate is 4,230 bars per second. Maximum character print rate is 1,388 characters per second.
Printers are available with either parallel or serial (RS232) interfaces. RS232 interface operates at 115.2 Kbaud.
