The Zodiac™ thermal transfer overprinter (TTO) from ICE is now available in an Ingress Protection (IP) rated wash-down version, which provides industry leading protection against dust and water ingress, making it ideally suited to hygienic packaging applications such as those found in many food factories.
The new IP-rated Zodiac has retained the popular and intuitive 8.4-inch SVGA touch-screen graphical user interface with easy-to-learn, icon-based controls, but this is now available in an Ingress Protection (IP55) format. All of the standard RS232, Ethernet, digital I/O and USB connections are IP65-rated. This removes the need to place the printer within an additional expensive or bulky enclosure and ensures ingress protection in normal operation, ideal even in damp or dusty environments such as salad packing or frozen food factories.
The IP-rated Zodiac is provided with a special IP65-rated cassette cover. Prior to wash-down at the end of a production run or end of the day, the line operator simply replaces the standard ribbon cassette with the wash-down cassette to make the unit IP65-compliant. By performing this simple task, the printer does not have to be removed from the production line or protected with a sheet during cleaning and wash-down routines, saving time on pre-cleaning preparation and post-cleaning reinstallation and setup.
A standard feature of the Zodiac is its patented direct-drive ribbon technology with no wearable parts, thereby increasing reliability and minimising downtime and costs associated with ribbon breaks. The 1,000-meter ribbon capacity is one of the longest standard lengths on the market, so there are less frequent changes and higher production line efficiencies. Additionally, the unit features the simplest ribbon cassette in the industry, making changeovers fast, easy and virtually fail-safe. The new IP-rated unit exploits this by enabling the operator in seconds to remove the ribbon cassette and replace this with the wash-down cassette at the end of production. This minimises lost time on pre-cleaning preparation and post-cleaning reinstallation and setup, and reduces the risk of costly damage to equipment during the wash-down process.
“The fact that the Zodiac control unit is now IP55-rated enables operation in harsher environments, eliminating the need for additional costly, bulky and cumbersome IP-rated enclosures,” says Chris Gent, Director at ICE, UK. “These additional enclosures are often accidentally left open by operators, which leads to control unit damage and costly repairs; the new IP-rated Zodiac eliminates this issue. This is even more important when equipment is hosed-down at the end of production, such as in a meat processing plant.”
“The values of Thermal Transfer Overprinting are something we have understood for many years in terms of print quality, traceability and uptime,” explains David Banham, Engineering Manager at Yorkshire Fresh Salads, part of the Bakkavör Group. “The ICE Zodiac printers have given us years of trouble-free operation. However, in a wet or wash-down environment it is obviously necessary to bag or remove the printers to permit full wash-down; the new IP Zodiac wash-down printer from ICE is ideal to address this.”
All of the proven features from the standard Zodiac are also retained. The patented bi-directional ribbon drive allows unused ribbon to be recaptured following each print, maintaining a 0.5 mm gap between prints to create more prints per roll and ensuring the highest efficiency. Ribbon save options can also allow multi-use of ribbon to further reduce price-per-print. The patented ribbon drive allows printing from zero to 1,000 mm/sec in continuous applications, without degradation of print quality or printer performance. Serial, Ethernet and USB communications are standard, delivering the most comprehensive communications package in the industry.
Interactive Coding Equipment (ICE)
Tel: 01159 640144
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