NPE2009:  MATTHEWS DEMONSTRATES NEW AFFORDABLE CONTINUOUS INK-JET PRINTER, CO₂ LASER, THERMAL TRANSFER PRINTERS AND OTHER PLASTIC MARKING & CODING EQUIPMENT

Pittsburgh, PA, June 22, 2009 – Matthews Marking Products is demonstrating several new product technologies for marking and coding onto plastics in the automotive, medical, electronics, building products and packaging industries in booth #S8037 at The International Plastics Showcase in Chicago, June 22-26. 

The NEW CX16 small character continuous ink-jet printer from Matthews Marking Products is designed for simple coding applications in an extremely affordable, easy to use printer.  Also on display are two innovative, direct digital thermal transfer printers, Coditherm and Swing, which can apply high-resolution permanent marks directly onto plastic parts (Coditherm) or plastic film (Swing), providing a more cost-effective, flexible solution than applying pre-printed labels.  Matthews’ CO₂ laser marking system, the e-SolarMark, is on display for addressing applications that require high-speed, high resolution, permanent marking.  Matthews Marking Products features an array of marking and coding technologies to suit the plastics industry.

NEW CX16 ink-jet printhead controller – best value continuous ink-jet printer
Brand NEW to the NPE show is Matthews’ CX16 continuous ink-jet printer capable of printing up to two lines of small characters on surfaces like wax-coated cartons, plastics or metals.  The printer is ideally suited for producing simple date coding on food and beverage packages or lot coding for pharmaceutical and cosmetics packaging on high speed production lines.

e-SolarMark CO₂ Laser – low operation cost, no maintenance, no consumables
The e-SolarMark CO₂ laser is one in a series of high-speed, high resolution, permanent marking lasers offered by Matthews Marking Products that are simple to install, easy to use and maintenance-free, for thousands of operational hours.  The e-SolarMark is ideally suited for marking on a wide variety of materials including:  paper, cardboard foils, coated metals, plastics and glass.  The laser marking system creates permanent and flexible coding of alpha-numeric texts/dates/timers, serial numbers, bar codes, 2D codes and graphics onto plastics.

I-Mark SX32 ink-jet printhead controller – simple, reliable, affordable, expandable
The SX32 controller is the first in the industry to combine the low-maintenance reliability of Matthews’ Drop-on-Demand® (DOD) printheads, capable of operating in harsh industrial environments, with affordability and a user-friendly interface.  The controller may be used with a wide range of enhanced valve or traditional DOD printheads to produce high-quality graphics, logos, and date codes from 0.2” to 5” high on porous and non-porous substrates.  Matthews offers a variety of proprietary pigmented inks for use on dark or light surfaces.  The company recently introduced several VOC-free inks, to help manufacturers reduce overall VOC emissions.

Coditherm™ – up to 600 dpi marking on curved/uneven surfaces, touchscreen controller
Until now, high-resolution (up to 600 dpi) thermal transfer printing (bar codes, lot codes, other variable information) on uneven / rigid surfaces, such as less-than-perfectly-milled plastic, has not been possible because direct contact with such materials quickly wears out a printhead.  Using a patented double-ribbon design, the Coditherm’s printhead never contacts the surface being marked.  The mark is created electronically onto a ribbon and then transferred to the product using a silicone heated pad or roller.  The mark is instantly dry.  Coditherm can print directly on flat, rigid, round or curved plastic parts.  The touchscreen controller permits messages for marking to be sent via an RS232, USB, Ethernet or wireless connection.

Swing thermal transfer printers–high-resolution marking on plastic film
The Swing family of thermal transfer printers create up to 300 dpi marks (bar codes, lot codes, ingredients, contents) on plastic film, bags or other flat plastic surfaces in continuous production processes or intermittent processes (such as form/fill/seal machines).  Swing prints across a wider area – 128 x 520 mm – than other thermal transfer printers, making it ideal for multi-lane marking.  (Swing printers are also available with a narrower printing width.)  With Swing printers, the mark is instantly dry.

Matthews is also demonstrating rugged offset printers, for marking pipe and plastic profile extrusions with 1/16”-3” high characters.  Economical offset printers can operate in harsh environments and, with highly pigmented inks, produce bright contrasting coding on dark substrates.

Fast drying, no-VOC inks
In addition to its marking and coding technologies, Matthews also manufactures inks, including the SCP-900 series, created for standard and enhanced-valve marking devices and ideal for marking on plastics, vinyl and metal.  Available in black, red, green and blue, these inks feature long open time, while drying very quickly on the substrate without emitting any VOCs.

For more information on Matthews Marking Products’ exhibit at NPE2009, contact Stephanie Zahringer, Matthews Marking Products, 6515 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15206.  Telephone (412) 665-2500, fax (412) 365-2042, www.matthewsmarking.com .