How Date Coding Machine from Linx Works

What Is a Date Coding Machine?

A date coding machine is a specialised printer that marks production dates onto manufactured products, various types of packaging primary, secondary, tertiary and product labels.

The coding of date in particular is required by local regulation around the world for beverages, food, and medicine or pharmaceutical products. This is to make sure that the products are safe for consumption. These codes are also essential for batch tracking, product recalls, and maintaining transparency in supply chains.

Types of Date Coding Machines You Should Know

You may have heard of various date coding machines, but how many do you really know? How old is the technology? And more importantly, which date coder best fits your manufacturing needs?

Let’s explore the most common types of date coding technologies used in today’s packaging industries.

Here are some date coders that you should know.

Handheld stampers

With a target surface that is not easily printed on, handheld stampers certainly can do its job. It pressed against the target to transfer ink directly; making sure the date code is printed on the target. The common problem, however, is that the ink can bleed. Bleeding ink wouldn’t dry properly.

Handheld labelers

Commonly used in supermarkets and retail stores, handheld labels are easy to use coders. The user holds the grip then glides on the target surface.

Roller stampers

This type of date coding machine is generally used for printing on cardboards. This machine works by pressing the head of the printer and transferring the ink through rotation movement.

Label printing machines

Label printing machines are used for batch printing for food and beverage products. Thus, the labels must be water resistant. 

Hot printers

On older packaging machines, this type of printer can be installed. Ink from an ink ribbon is transferred at high temperature to the packaging. 

Thermal printers

Unlike its predecessor, thermal printers do not use type for pressing the target surface. Instead, the printing head is heated electrically, and then the ribbon transfers the content onto the target. The content of the label for thermal printers is easy to change.

Inkjet printers

Inkjet printers offer a wider range of target surfaces to print on. With a non-contact printing method, an inkjet printer ensures that it can print on a lot of surfaces.

Inkjet printer works by spraying ink onto the target surface. With this, inkjet printers are capable of printing on moving targets at high speeds. Inkjet printers from Linx are highly reliable for industries like cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and FMCG, offering excellent print quality even on high-speed production lines.

See Also: Is an Inkjet Printer The Best Choice for My Cosmetics Company’s Bottle Code Marking?

How LINX Date Coding Machines Work

LINX offers a wide range of date coding machines, from thermal printers to continuous inkjet, designed for both semi-automatic and fully automatic production lines. LINX products are robust with high IP ratings and it has a simple UI for its kind. Their intuitive touchscreen interface and remote-control capabilities make Linx printers ideal for both small-scale and large-scale packaging operations.

1. Continuous Inkjet Printer

Continuous inkjet printers are used to print diverse information from dates, batch or barcodes, and other labeling onto individual products. It doesn’t matter the sizes, shape or the texture of the surface. 

CIJ works by spraying ink through a non-contact method. This will enable the printer to print even the curviest product you have. This means it can print on the bottle neck, the curvy edges of the under bottle, or on an uneven, bulging food product. These printers are ideal for dynamic production environments, such as food and beverage lines, where consistent quality and speed are essential.

2. Thermal transfer over printer

Thermal transfer over printers from LINX helps you with printing onto plastics, film packaging, gloss cards, labels, and other flexible material for your product. Especially for products that need a consistent best before dates or barcodes. Thermal transfer printers are especially valuable for packaging films in snack food, frozen goods, and pharmaceutical sectors.

3. Laser coders

Laser coders vary in terms of ink—or to put it more clearly, it has no ink. The laser, however, contains two main materials to print onto the surface: fiber or CO2. Based on the substrate of your product, this can be safe or harmful. It is advisable that you should accept run sample marking, just so you know you don’t do anything wrong.

4. Large character printer

Large characters are commonly used in large shipment packages of certain products. Being able to print text, logos, and graphics even to a porous surface, this is a good choice for your big products. Putting dates onto cardboard packages won’t be a problem with this.

5. Thermal inkjet printers

Thermal inkjet printers from Linx have quite a wide range of inks available. This made printing onto large choices of material. This particular printer can print onto boxes, trays, sleeves, and plastic packaging materials. They are perfect for environments that require clean, high-resolution prints without frequent maintenance interruptions.

Depending on the kind of printer and material you choose for your manufacturing products, your printer may deliver different ways of printing. Of all Linx products, however, there is a similarity that is you can operate it away from the machine itself.

Linx also has a cloud server for which you can change the date data and other information for your printer. Linx printer is also water resistant and robust. It can survive from almost every manufacturing environment.

See Also: Linx Inkjet Batch Code Printer is Best Compared to China Brand, Here’s Why!

With a complete range of date coding machine from handheld devices to high-speed inkjet printers LINX ensures your business can meet industry demands with ease. Whether your priority is speed, durability, or printing on diverse surfaces, LINX has a solution tailored to your needs.

Ready to choose the perfect Linx date coding solution for your business? Browse our full range of industrial coding and marking machines here, or contact us to get expert guidance tailored to your production line.