Profil Title	On-demand high quality laser coding without slowing down the production line
Reference Nr.	12 GB 4103 3OXV
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Profil Type	Offer
Entry/Update	2012-04-20 / 2013-04-10

Abstract	A UK company has redesigned laser coding equipment by using an array of miniature continuous lasers. The resulting device is first to print high quality grade A level barcodes and graphics so that it is insensitive to speed. No interruptions or slowing down is needed on production lines going at up to 4 m/s. Accompanying software supports on-demand changes for short runs. Additional advantage is lower energy consumption and longer maintenance-free lifetime. Licensees are sought in laser coding.
Details	Marking and coding of packages is often the bottleneck in any manufacturing process. The printing technologies are simply newer than the production and packaging themselves. Coding is becoming ever more important as firstly the expectation on the quality and volume of data, barcodes and graphics is growing. If a pharmaceutical package does not carry a Grade A code, a retailer may impose a heavy fine on the supplier. Secondly, with modern lean manufacturing and the complexity of marketing and advertising, more tailored runs need to be printed for customers without slowing down the factory.Laser marking and coding has become increasingly popular compared to inkjet printing (no consumables). The steered-beam sealed CO2 laser is the most common amongst these. More recently, fibre lasers instead of gas lasers have been introduced. Mirrors are used to scan the beam at high speed, allowing for ablating the top layer of a substrate in complex high resolution patterns.Although the suppliers keep launching faster scanning mechanisms and finer focussed beams, there is still space for improvement. The image quality is still highly dependent on the right positioning of the product. Although non-interrupting, the printing step needs to slow the product down. Most complex barcodes bring the speed down as well. Secondly, not all substrates give a good result or crispness with laser coding.A UK company has now developed and lab tested (first commercial installation starting shortly) an industrial laser printer that addresses both issues. Instead of using a steered-beam laser, they use an array of miniature high power fibre lasers.Picture 1 depicts a print made with an array of 7 lasers at 2 mm line height, the current limit is 32.Omitting bulky optomechanics improves the quality of the beam and makes it insensitive to the speed of the product. There are no moving parts. A smaller printer also means it can be retrofitted into existing production lines.Importantly, the beam is continuous. There is plenty of competition boasting line speed of several meters per second. However, these are based on impulse lasers shooting a limited number of impulses. As the speed goes up, the height of the characters will decrease and the spacing between characters increase.The flexibility of the offered driving software allows for last-minute tailored changes relating to the addressee, marketing campaign etc.It remains to be proven but the new technology should have a much longer maintenance-free lifetime than state of the art.The first installations will be used on secondary packaging travelling at 1 m/s.Importantly, the company has partnered with the supplier of a thermo-chromic colour changing ink. This already allows printing on almost any substrate (after applying a patch for the coded area) in primary packaging. Also, the improved crispness allows for the line speed to be taken up to 4 m/s.Innovative Aspects:The innovation lies in omitting the optomechanics in the path of the laser(s).The advantages include:•Speed-insensitive printing technology with no moving parts (up to 4 m/s inline speed)•Can easily be retrofitted into an existing production line•Grade A barcode quality, potentially photo quality•On-demand printing without disrupting the production line•Longer no-maintenance lifetime
Technology sector	- Packaging / Handling - Process Plant Engineering - Printing
Market application	- Packing products and systems - Printing and binding
Stage of development	Available for demonstration - field tested
Patent Rights (IPR)	Patent(s) applied for but not yet granted
	UK patent application filed.
Cooperation type	- License Agreement - Assembly - Technical consultancy # Type of partner sought industry # Specific area of activity of the partner laser coding and marking # Task to be performed by the partner sought The UK company is interested in both licensing the technology to industrial printer and coding equipment manufacturers but also finding value-added resellers in the business of marking and coding. The partners will need to know the specific technical requirements in their area.
Organisation type	Industry     Org. Size: < 10
Status	update