Norwood Marking Systems

Jan. 18, 2007
Thermal Transfer Coders Maximize Production Flexibility

Norwood Marking Systems / Allen Coding Systems will present its NGT series of large-format thermal transfer coding systems in Booth 1776 at Interphex 2007, Apr. 24-26 in New York.

Norwood claims its NGT series can produce the largest print area of any intermittent motion thermal transfer coder in the world, making them ideal for pharmaceutical blister packaging applications. Featuring a print engine that can be turned in the frame, the NGT series coders maximize production flexibility and increase print cycle speeds, while reducing the cost of spare parts and consumables for large format coding applications.

Within the NGT series, there are four intermittent motion (IM) coders and one model – the NGT 6 CM – that operates in either intermittent motion or continuous motion mode with quick conversion. The various offerings in the series can produce larger print areas at faster speeds than competitive thermal transfer coders, according to Norwood. The design of the NGT series coders allows for rotation of the print engine within the print module’s frame, enabling configuration of the coder to produce the shortest stroke for any given application, thereby increasing print speeds, minimizing foil consumption, and increasing the life of the thermal print head, thereby reducing the cost of consumables and spare parts.

With full clock and calendar functions and serialization, the NGT series coders can print fixed and/or variable data on a variety of flexible packaging materials and label substrates. Text and graphics, including a wide array of two-dimensional or RSS barcodes, can be printed with a resolution of 300 dpi (12 dots per mm) both horizontally and vertically. An unlimited choice of TrueType font styles and a wide range of sizes are available; six fonts come standard and there is space for 44 more.

The new series features an integrated Ethernet card that allows access to a PC or network, enabling remote operation, monitoring and diagnostics of the print operation. They can also be equipped with an optional touch-screen user interface on the control box, providing operators the ability to recall images from memory and handle simple editing functions at print time. A pivoting frame provides operators easy access for maintenance and adjustments.