Printing of individual information on labels and packages of mass-produced products
Ricoh (President and CEO: Yoshinori Yamashita) has developed a new high-powered laser marker that can print variable information while tracking the speed of high-speed production lines.
The new marker can print variable information at speeds of up to 300 meters per minute on films, labels and other packaging materials being transported at high speed on a mass production line, making it possible to print variable information on high-speed production lines for a variety of products without slowing down the line.
Generally, labels for mass-produced products are printed with the same information on a plate. On the other hand, in order to achieve traceability, which supports the efficiency of label printing on limited-time promotional products and management of product shipping and delivery, it is necessary to print individual designs, barcodes and QR codes. Conventional laser markers could print variable values of alphanumeric characters such as serial numbers, but it was not possible to print variable images of complex information such as images, barcodes and QR codes at high speed.
The newly developed high-powered laser marker combines Ricoh's long-cultivated laser beam control technology for MFPs with Ricoh's world-renowned thermal media technology to achieve high-speed, high-definition printing on thermal media.
By simultaneously irradiating 192 lasers onto Ricoh's thermal media-coated label film, it is possible to print high-definition images of 200 dpi at a maximum speed of 300 meters per minute. The 2,000-watt laser, the world's highest output laser marker, enables thermal printing, which generates a thermal reaction on the media in an ultra-short period of time (1/100,000th of a second). In addition, a proprietary laser driver has made it possible to modulate and control 192 lasers simultaneously at a maximum of 80,000 times per second. The combination of these technologies has made it possible to achieve variable printing on a mass production line without reducing the speed at which products are transported at high speed.
In the future, Ricoh will continue to contribute to solving issues by achieving variable information printing on various packaging materials such as boxes and bags, in addition to films and labels, by taking advantage of the features of high power, high speed and high definition laser markers.
- World's Fastest Variable Image Printing High Power Laser Marker: According to our research, as of August 19, 2020
- 2,000-watt laser, the world's most powerful laser marker: According to our research, as of August 19, 2020
- QR Code is a registered trademark of DENSO WAVE INCORPORATED.
www.jp.ricoh.com
