MapleJet unveils latest printer with automated bulk ink supply (US Patent Pending) and high-throw distance cartridge

Hx Ultro Thermal Inkjet (TIJ) printer uses a fully automatic active bulk ink system designed to reduce operational costs and minimize operator interventions

MapleJet, the leading brand and supplier of high-quality coding and marking inkjet printers, introduced its newest addition of inkjet printer technology that uses a fully automated active bulk ink system designed to lower operational cost, perfectly matched for high-volume production applications.

The Hx Ultro Thermal Inkjet (TIJ) printer revolutionizes the printing process allowing millions of messages to print with only one bulk TIJ cartridge in an uninterrupted printing cycle. The printer has two models. Hx Ultro-HR is a high-resolution model with a standard throw distance designed for printing codes onto flexible packaging. It prints high-resolution codes, similar to TTO printers, and machine-readable and scannable 2D barcodes.

Hx Ultro-HT model has an extended throw distance with standard resolution targeted for production lines currently using CIJ printers requiring higher throw distance operating at high speed in continuous mode. This model can print at a higher throw distance from the substrate of up to a 10 mm gap, perfect for angled or recessed surfaces such as the bottom of cans and the shoulder of the bottle.

The bulk ink delivery system (US Patent Pending) of Hx Ultro is the industry’s most compact active ink system, which comes with various volumes of ink reservoir packed inside a cassette customized for easy ink changeover, minimizing line interruption. This reduces the cost per print of TIJ, opening the path of using this printer for high-volume productions. Further, Hx Ultro’s unique ink delivery, consisting of precision ink pressure regulation and accurate pump ink feed, has improved the reliability needed for these applications compared to all other bulk systems in the market.

“In the past years, TIJs have been very successful in replacing many applications served by CIJ and TTO printers, mainly in the small manufacturing sector due to their small size, easy operation, and low maintenance. However, medium and larger production sectors did not find TIJ a good fit due to small ink reservoir making the price per print expensive compared to CIJ and TTO,” commented Haroon Naveed, Sales Manager at MapleJet.

“However, MapleJet research and development team put together the unique features of CIJ printers such as the bulk ink supply system and its high-throw distance combined with a TTO feature such as the high-resolution print into these two models of thermal inkjet printer. Thus, we are proud to launch ‘Hx Ultro,’ which we can essentially consider as the ‘hybrid category’ of printers in the market,” he added.

Hx Ultro’s state-of-art technology is enclosed into a small industrial aluminum case, easing printer installation into production lines. The smart onboard wifi simplifies the daily operation of the printer, helping operators reduce human errors. All printer operations such as designing messages, setting line parameters, and monitoring real-time production are managed using any smart device via a web-based application called Hx Manager. This feature is particularly beneficial for large manufacturing sites with multiple printers allowing them to control all Hx printers from a single wifi-enabled console.

Homayoun Shahrestani, CEO at MapleJet said: “We are now witnessing the evolution of Industry 4.0 with advances in technology making a digital transformation in factory floors a reality. This, in turn, has made it possible to monitor and control production and packaging machinery in real-time to collect data and use the data to optimize production processes on the factory floor, leading to the production of higher quality products while lowering the production cost,”

“Hx family of printers has been designed in line with industry 4.0 standards, specifically for the coding and marking industry, to keep up with the future market demands. That is why Hx Ultro provides an array of benefits to our customers aligned to their evolving needs, which lies in the progression of factories into smart factories,” He concluded.