Linx inkjet system for ice cream production line

Mister Cookie Face is an ice cream sandwich maker headquartered in Lakewood, New Jersey. The reliability of the machine is a major factor for the company when it comes to purchasing packaging machines. The company decided to purchase 7 new inkjet coding systems to replace old machines that are not working properly in a wet environment. If the inkjet encoders in any of the 7 lines are broken, the entire production line must be shut down accordingly. Therefore, the engineers decided to replace the original labeling system with a gas-filled padding device with a Linx ink-jet system in a workshop with a temperature of zero degrees. The old-fashioned gravure jet system is very unreliable and costly to maintain. The new system saves labor, spare parts and ink usage.

“Our production is very busy and no problems can be tolerated,” said Mahesh Khemaraj, Production Manager of Mister Cookie Face. “In seven production lines, we are constantly producing from one product to another. Our The production environment and conditions are very bad, for example, the workshop is full of water and the temperature is very low.We are constantly under pressure to make the tight production plan run smoothly. The machine runs at full capacity 20 hours a day, so any labeling system is broken. We can't afford it.” The company chose the Linx system because the system is simple to operate, fast and reliable,” Khemraj said. “The operators only need to open them in the morning and leave the office. Close it on time. And it may only need to clean the machine head once a month. ”

In May 2002, the first Linx system was installed and commissioned. After a one-year trial period, they purchased the remaining six sets. “Our unsatisfactory experience with the specific gravity inkjet system made us more cautious, so we overtime tested the first Linx4800 system,” Kjemraj said. “However, after a full year of continuous operation, we are convinced that the Linx system is reliable under the tight and high-capacity production conditions. Under such circumstances, we made the decision to fully equip the production line with the Linx system. Easy, he said.

Five Linx 4800 small-character ink jet printers are installed on the company's dry product line for date coding in ice cream cups, ice cream sandwich packaging, and packaging of their cardboard boxes. Linx4800 system marking speeds up to 140 Product/minute. A LA1000 ready-to-use drawing labeler is used to mark the top and bottom of the product packaging with the brand name. After the logo is printed, the Linx system prints the inkjet logo on the top logo. The products were then transferred to a Kalfass Servo Jet shrink wrapper, packaged and passed through a heated passage and finally through a Lock metal detector. After packaging, the product is manually loaded into a corrugated carton and then stored in a warehouse or shipped away.

Mister Cookie Face also installed two Linx6800 small-character inkjet printing systems with stainless steel IP-65 packers on two wet product lines. The wet product line is mainly used to produce ice cream cups, pints and half gallons of ice cream. A Norse Dairy Filler dispenses the containers and fills them with ice cream. After filling, the printing system removes the containers and signs at a labeling speed of 190/minute. The wrapped parcel was transferred to another Lock metal detector and entered a freezing tunnel. The frozen containers are numbered by a drawing printer and then manually loaded into shipping containers.

The 7 small character inkjet printers are used to mark all original packages with production date, line number and time code. "The whole process recalls that the product will be produced and packed for 3 minutes each," Khemraj said. In order to allow the print head to move downwards, the print heads of all Linx printers are installed above the production line. According to Khemraj, “In this way, the operation is even more effective because it requires only a minimum number of cables and brackets, and the print head is on top of it.” In addition, the company also installed an IV/ The 700-character inkjet plotting system labels all corrugated boxes with date and time codes.

As for ink, according to Khemraj, ink drying time is very important for Mister cookie faces. They need no more than two seconds of drying time. "The ink from the Linx system does dry faster than this." "We like the high water resistance of the Linx 6800 stainless steel machine," he continued. “The Linx system withstands the scouring of our wet production line over and over again. The cool production environment makes the thermal sensor on the print head work well, constantly checking and correcting the viscosity of the ink.”

Source: Industry Packaging Solutions