Multi-lane Thermal Transfer / Transpack Medical BACKGROUND
Transpack Medical wanted to improve two areas of their overprinting operations:
• they wanted a printer that would not limit the speed of their Tiromat Thermoforming machine
• they wanted a device that would print all required information directly onto the top web, thus eliminating the need for manually applying labels
WHAT ROTECH DID
We supplied a unit that met both these requirements – a
Bell-Mark multi-lane thermal transfer printer. It could print the full width of a 300 mm wide web well before the Tiromat needed to advance the paper. And, equipped with a 128mm wide printhead, it could print everything that had previously been on a label.
In addition, first-class print quality was achieved by using a ribbon grade that Rotech had specifically selected for its superior performance at high speeds on Tyvek and other medical papers.
OUTCOME
The Managing Director at Transpack Medical, Andrew Micklethwaite, commented:
"We are enjoying significant benefits with the new printer. We have no restriction on the speed at which we can run the Thermoformer and are able to produce a far higher quality of print than previously. Furthermore, by installing the Bell-Mark printer driver, we are able to carry-on using our existing formats and design software with no need for re-training or conversion.”
The unit that Rotech supplied can print any number of lanes of print onto almost any width of packaging material. By traversing only those parts of the printer that are needed - the printhead and ribbon transverse mechanism - weight is kept to a minimum, alowing fast print and return speeds to be achieved. This type of printer is used throughout the world by the medical, pharmaceutical and food packaging industries.