Leibinger launches air dryer feature

Leibinger, a developer of coding and marking technology, has introduced a unique air dryer feature to counteract high humidity and extreme temperatures and ensure the best printing results in challenging production environments.

According to the company, high humidity and high temperatures are not only found in tropical and subtropical climate zones, such as Southeast Asia, but are also often encountered in many production environments in the beverage, food and packaging sectors.

The company has developed an ink portfolio that efficiently deals with these challenging production environments. However, there are applications and production processes where the ambient conditions impact the inks’ processing and adhesion properties.

Examples include pre-cooked food filled during production or printing cables in areas with high humidity and temperatures.

Continuous inkjet printers (CIJ) use a continuous ink jet to print best-before dates, texts, codes or other markings. The company said conventional printers can cause condensation on the print head with high humidity. Humidity can also affect both the inks’ viscosity and drying time.

A solution developed by Leibinger with an integrated air dryer prevents this and guarantees the inks’ adhesion and rapid drying – along with seamless, smooth operation. 

The Leibinger air dryer draws in humid ambient air, removes moisture, and directs the resulting dry air into the print head, ensuring a dry environment.

‘As a leading international coding and marking specialist, we listen closely to our customers and develop solutions to support their day-to-day operations. This is exactly how the air dryer feature originated,’ said Alexander Deuchert, head of product management at Leibinger. ‘Under extreme ambient conditions, it ensures that CIJ printers can reliably deliver the best possible print results at all times, including high print adhesion.

‘Our service technicians advise customers on all continents. Together with the production manager, they determine on-site which printer specifications, options and features are best suited to the customer’s application – including whether the integration of an air dryer is recommended for successful operation. This option can also be retrofitted to existing printers.’