Sojet Elfin 1 Thermal Inkjet Printer
Sojet Elfin 1
Designed as a stand-alone solution, the Elfin 1 is a high-resolution inkjet printer that can meet the demands of most coding and marking projects. Printing on both porous and non-porous substrates, the printer is an excellent cost-effective choice for most sectors and industries.
The small and light-weight unibody design, which includes a controller, printhead and 5” colour touchscreen display, can integrate into your production line with minimum effort. What’s more, the print head can be mounted in an upright, sideways or inclined position for additional marking options.
Thermal InkJet Printers
Often referred to as TIJ, these coders use a non-contact form for applying ink and our range can be used to print onto almost any surface.
The Elfin 1 can print a variety of barcodes, dates and graphics up to a max height of 0.5”, with a printing speed of up to 60m/min (600 DPI). Using the template design software, you can create and store up to 500 messages in advance for quick and efficient marking.
External devices and software can be integrated into the printer using either Ethernet, USB 2.0 or DB15 connections.
The Elfin 1 is a powerful high-res printer that has plenty to offer in any production environment.
What is a TIJ Printer?
Unlike CIJ Printers, TIJ printers use ink cartridges in the system meaning there is no need for bottles of inks or solvents. For this reason, TIJ printers are often a cost-effective and clean solution for printing. The use of ink cartridges in thermal inkjet printers means that changing the colour of ink for the printer is a straightforward process.
TIJ or CIJ?
TIJ printers are modular systems unlike CIJ printers, thermal inkjet printers have a controller and a print head that is connected via a cable. Once you replace the cartridge in a TIJ printer it is essentially a new print head.
CIJ printers are much more complex systems that incorporate solvents and inks with ink pumps, pressure regulators, filters and sensitive print heads.
How a TIJ Printer Works
When the ink chamber receives a command to eject an ink droplet, a current is passed through the heating element. The heating element is simply a coil positioned right above the nozzle of the ink chamber. The current heats up the coil, resulting in rapid vaporization of the ink positioned right below it.
The increase in pressure results in the ejection of a droplet of ink through the nozzle and into the substrate. Consequently, the bubble caused by the vaporization collapses and creates a vacuum, which pulls in more ink towards the chamber.
Print Quality
TIJ printers have rapidly evolved in the past few years and have now come ahead in the contest for print resolution. While CIJ printers can still reliably produce clean dot patterns, TIJ printers are capable of a print resolution of up to 600 x 600 dpi.
You’ve probably seen how capable TIJ printers are even with your desktop inkjet printer. This same level of quality and resolution can now be achieved in an industrial setting.
Footprint
If you plan to integrate continuous printers into your production line, then you’re probably concerned about how much space they are going to take. The simple answer is that TIJ printers take less space than their CIJ counterpart.
TIJ printers are designed for industrial use, they basically look like a print head connected to a control panel. Thanks to their smaller footprint, TIJ printers can also be portable – something that is more difficult to do with a CIJ printer.