Wagering on CIJ, renewing the same

Paradigm shift in inkjet technology. With the Ax-Series Domino Printing Sciences is setting new standards in the coding and marking of goods.

The Domino's objective is to meet the needs of today - and prepare for those of tomorrow - in terms of codes, traceability and trademark protection, the fight against counterfeiting, achieving variable data printing, while offering superior quality and durability.

Due to some intrinsic features (first of all the ability to eject ink droplets at a remarkable speed, at a distance, on a moving support and on almost all types of surfaces) CIJ continues to be crucial to printing product ID codes without compromising production speeds.

On top of that, today more than ever encoding and industrial marking system builders are called upon to fulfil a highly demanding task in terms of traceability, contributing in the first instance to ensuring consumer safety by printing clear, unambiguous, readable information that lasts in time.

Domino Printing Sciences’ process of rethinking CIJ technology started from these very assumptions. In early November the company announced the results of their extensive R&D phase, that has resulted in the almost complete redesign of its continuous inkjet printers.

To emphasize a well-established synergy with academic and scientific research, the new Ax Series was premiered during an international event organized by Domino, on October 17, in the prestigious Cambridge University Maxwell Center, a center of excellence for physics and technological applied research studies, with which the company worked to develop the project.

Reaffirming with conviction its focus on CIJ technology, the top management of the British company described the features that make the new Ax -Series unique and innovative.

A system different in almost everything
«To define and optimize the performance of the Ax-Series - explained Rachel Hurst (Group Operations Director at Domino for ten years, in charge of research and development, product marketing and management information systems) - we launched a direct dialogue with our customers, active in all industry sectors, as well as leveraging on our traditional skills in inkjet printing. The result is a system that today responds to the most stringent market demands in terms of quality, productivity and operating costs».

In practice Ax-Series can be called a turning point for Domino: Starting from the holistic approach to the design of the entire product (to maximize productivity, usability and reliability even in harsh environments), innovations involve the head and inks as well as the software platform and that of the electronic components.

«Looking back on the fundamentals of this technology - David Croft (Global Product Marketing Manager) declared - we wanted to give customers tangible benefits, changing the perception of inkjet printing, that has remained unchanged for all to long and that continues to show great potential».

I-Pulse: perfect integration of head and inks
Domino has developed a new print head which, thanks to a unique frequency-matched drop generator, controls individual ink drop formation.
The I-Pulse delivers significant advances in droplet accuracy, placement and ink usage for reliable, high-speed and consistent code quality.

Multiple lines of data can be generated at the fastest print speeds, without compromising overall equipment efficiency. The highest-quality codes are optimized for MRC (Machine Readable Codes) and OCR (Optical Character Recognition) systems.

The robust nozzle-sealed print head design allows its use in the toughest production environments, eliminating unplanned stops, significantly cutting downtime and minimising cleaning, even when using pigmented inks.

The ability to reduce ink build-up minimises the need for wash solvents, increasing the system’s environmental sustainability as well as cost effectiveness.

A new range of reliable, high-performance inks, intended for a wide range of CIJ applications, has been specifically designed for the i-Pulse print head. For more complex applications, such as the retort processes (in which the inks applied on the flexible packaging must ensure resistance to extreme temperatures even if subjected to heat treatment for hygienic purposes), the printing on frozen foods packaging or on returnable glass bottle processes, dedicated inks have been devised, notably fast-drying, ketone free inks for flexible food packaging applications.
The i-Pulse inks have been designed and manufactured in compliance with international GMP standards as well as for FCM (food contact material) applications.

I-Techx: the new electronics and software platform
Flexible, easy to use and high performance, the new platform, integrated on all new Domino machines, is designed to optimize customers’ return on investment, while taking ergonomics and usability to new levels.

Designed from the ground up to be Industry 4.0 ready, the Ax-Series not only integrates into existing production lines but supports a variety of standard factory automation communication protocols such as PACK-ML and OPC-UA. Meanwhile, the high-speed electronics enable serialisation and other unique item coding applications on the fastest production lines.

Using the most modern expertise in User Experience (UX), many of the design efforts were focused on the development of a new accessible and intuitive user interface, which achieves a degree of usability comparable to that of the most popular mobile devices, tablets and smartphones.

Through use of the latest user experience (UX) development techniques the redesigned user interfaces are intuitive to use and include language and character options that enable operators to customise the touchscreen format and ensure easy operation is maintained, achieving System Usability Scores that are comparable to tablets and smartphones.

The touchscreen interface includes various easily-selectable options to customize the display format and simplify its use according to required specifications (including language).

A new feature available is the connection to the Domino Cloud, launched together with Ax-Series, which provides customers with a powerful remote diagnostic monitoring and reporting capability.
The system monitoring is automated thanks to a series of integrated sensors, enabling a proactive and predictive diagnostics as well as remote service support via the Internet of Things (IoT) and the connection to the cloud.