Recommended technological solutions
Cables regulate electrical goods and electronics, telecommunication services, industrial and home technology. Handwritten notes have long since ceased to meet the highest standards. Regulations require, for example, data readable by machines, encoding, resistances and protection from manipulation. Cables and wires can be marked in many ways, depending on the application – amongst others, by labels indicating types or performance, flagging or shrink tubing, CIJ printing or laser marking. The specificities of the individual industries must also be taken into account. In particular in the automotive sector, but also in chemical and pharmaceutical industries, liquids, solvents or chemicals are in use. Mechanical wear is also a factor. Outdoors, markings are exposed to weather conditions, in technical or cryogenic applications to extreme temperatures. Therefore, it is important to choose markings that will stay in place for a long time and preserve the information. Below we will introduce you to the advantages of each technology:
Thermal transfer method
Good readability and resistance allow the use of thermal transfer printing in applications where the results from laser or inkjet printers are not satisfactory. This type of printing is the better choice in cases where cable customization is required.
Our company is the Official representative and Service center of the German manufacturer CAB for Bulgaria. We offer a wide range of labeling equipment, including label printers, print&apply systems and label dispensers. cab thermal transfer printers enable maximum printable resolutions of 600 dpi, high contrast and sharp-edge print images even in marginal areas. So, even tiny fonts can be verified with the eye and micro barcodes be verified perfectly by scanners. Provided that proper label and ribbon materials have been in use, thermal print images remain legible during processing, testing, storage and transport.
- Label flags: If space to apply a label is limited, low-tolerance systems are required. Devices of the HERMES Q2 are capable of this with labels as small as 3 x 4 mm. Serial numbers or barcodes can be printed on labels and these labels be fold around cables.
- Wrap-around labels: Such self-laminating labels are wound single-lane on rolls. They can be removed by hand on the peel-off plate of a printer or applied by a wrap-around applicator automatically on cylindric objects (diameters 2 to 16 mm) such as single wires, strands, cables, cable bundles, hoses, tubes or round rods. Transparent laminate wrapped around the marking areas of labels permanently protects from environmental influences. EOS, MACH 4S and SQUIX printers are suitable for printing on this type of labels.
- Shrink tubes: Shrink tubes contract under heat. Objects which are covered by shrink tubes are electrically insulated. Labeling enables reliable identification and classification. cab provides printers designed for shrink tube labeling with centered material guidance. These are the models MACH 4S and SQUIX. The XD4T printer model has been designed for printing two-sided.
Inkjet printing
Inkjet printing is the most popular and commonly used method due to its versatility. LINX 8900 series inkjet printers are very suitable in this case. They provide fast, precise and contactless coding. They are suitable for hot, humid and dusty environments. A wide range of inks is available to use with CIJ printers, including pigmented inks of different colours which offer superlative contrast and durability to ensure codes stand out on any colour substrate.
Laser coding
Laser coding is a fast and cost-effective way to place permanent codes on plastics. We recommend LINX laser printers. As there is no ink involved in the coding process and therefore no drying time, the risk of smudging is removed, for example during high-speed cable winding after coding.
Do not hesitate to contact our team of specialists for any additional information.
