Launch of own-brand range of continuous inkjet printers

In a move to help meet an ambitious growth strategy, Needham Coding UK, part of The Needham Group, has launched an own-brand range of high performance continuous inkjet (CIJ) printers.

The next generation, non-contact ‘N’ series represents a first for the company that has built a reputation as a leading distributor of coding and marking equipment.

Needham Coding’s new user-friendly, low maintenance ‘N’ series of CIJ inkjet printers offer small and large character printing from 0.6mm up to 19mm. Providing major cost, performance and environmental benefits, the ‘N’ series boasts a mean time before failure (MTBF) of 40,000 operating hours and is designed for harsh wet and dry applications across a wide range of industries, including food & beverage, chemical, pharmaceutical, DIY and personal care/ cosmetics.

Ideal for global coding and marking applications, the compact ‘N’ series uses multi-national character sets, featuring multiple languages and Unicode character printing. The printers accurately and reliably reproduce a wide range of fonts such as bar codes, batch numbers and best before, sell-by and expiration dates, as well as other logos and graphics, directly onto uneven or flexible substrates like glass, plastics, paper, metal and rubber.

The ‘N’ series offers a range of exciting features including Trupoint which provides superior CIJ print quality. Through high speed processing and CIJ specific electronic hardware, millions of drop patterns are spontaneously adjusted as quickly as possible to achieve best in class print quality. The printers also incorporate Needham Coding’s proprietary CleanStart technology which automatically cleans the system, eliminating the need for daily and weekly manual cleaning.

All models in the ‘N’ series provide a true non-contact print operation with the ink thrown from the printhead a minimum ink throw distance of 12mm and up to a maximum distance of 50mm.

Depending on the model, the ‘N’ series can print a single line of text at speeds exceeding 600m/minute, two lines over 200m/minute and three or four lines of print at 100m/minute. The controls are housed in an ergonomically designed stainless steel cabinet sealed to IP55 or IP65 standards.

A large 10.4 inch touch screen is available as standard with full colour display making set up and reprogramming both simple and intuitive. The printers’ CodeConnect function boasts integrated USB, RS232, multiple programmable inputs and outputs and optional Ethernet communications enabling network connectivity allowing integration into any applications.

External fill fluid addition allows On-The-Fly Ink and Makeup Filling without needing to open the enclosure. Ink and makeup bottles drain completely so every drop is used with no wastage. An Ecotec fluid management system, which comprises a proprietary ink tank, SmartFilter pump and twin trap vapour condensing unit, reduces solvent consumption and lowers overall cost of ownership while extending the time between solvent additions and filter replacements.

There are four models in the ‘N’ series – the N16, N16 Plus, N25 and N32. The N16 ink jet printer is designed for basic, entry level applications printing one or two lines of text, barcodes and graphics, while the advanced N32 is aimed at high speed applications printing up to five lines of text, barcode and graphics and offering 10,000 hour operation between service intervals.