CIJ is short for Continuous InkJet. In a CIJ printer, ink is pumped from an ink reservoir and ejected through a nozzle that creates a jet of ink. The jet of ink is then broken up into a large number of ink droplets through high frequency vibration. Once the droplets are formed, selected droplets are charged by electrodes. The stream of droplets then passes through deflector plates which create an electrostatic field. The charged drops are deflected as they move through the deflector plates, to be ejected from the print head and placed on the product to form the required message. Uncharged drops are not deflected and return into the CIJ ink system.
CIJ printers do not need to come in contact with the product when coding onto it. Ink drops are deflected from the print head and land on the product as it passes the print head. This makes CIJ printers a good choice for coding breakable products, the printer's print heads are mounted at a distance from the product. This distance is flexible, which allows for printing onto curved or uneven surfaces. If you need to code on cans, bottles, or pipes a CIJ printer can be an ideal solution.Typical applications are found in the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, healthcare, beauty, cable and wire, and industrial markets.