A common problem with code dating has to do with how the ink spray and gravity interact. If you’re printers are spraying up to interact with your product, the ink has no where to travel but down.
You likely know this as ink spray backlash. And it can really slow down code dating and lead to inaccurately or misappropriately dated product, which in turn brings lost profits.
Often, code dating inkjet and marking systems are mounted below the product in order to code date on the bottom of the container. We see this most often in the canning industry, specifically craft beer. As the ink is fired up, due to gravity it travels down time and time again onto the jets, clogging them and leading to failure.
Once they fail, you’re now seeking a solution to continue printing mandatory date codes to get your products onto shelves or into coolers.
Perhaps you’re experiencing this exact issue right now.
There’s a very simple fix.
One twist block can reduce wasted product due to missed or smudged date codes on your products.
Invert your cans upside down with a mechanical twist block. This allows you to mount your code dating process to fire down onto the cans to avoid ink backlash while also providing more adequate drying time for the date code. If you need to revert the cans, you can send them through another can inverting twist block to turn them back right-side up.
The video below highlights this product and process.
The best part is this change in process is retrofittable to almost every conveyor layout so you do not have to change upstream and downstream applications. To make it even more flexible, each twist block acts as a change part, so if you need to run different can sizes on the line, you can simply change out the block and keep running.
By establishing a simple change in the code dating process with a low-cost, mechanically-driven twist block, you have a simple solution to a complex problem.
To learn more about how these challenges and more that affect your canning or code dating process, contact us here.