Power concentration advancements enhance Domino’s laser coding options

Domino Printing recently made advancements in power concentration laser printing allowing customers more flexibility and efficiency for their coding needs. The new power concentration technology delivers more power to the substrate, simulating performance of a higher-powered laser but with lower cost, a smaller footprint and less energy than a lower-powered laser. This technology also provides more power directly to the substrate without working as hard, offering greater reliability, according to the company. Check out the video below to see the technology in action.

Fundamentally different from traditional coding methods that apply a substance to create contrast, laser coding uses optical power on the substrate to have a material interaction to create contrast. With power concentration, manufacturers can increase line speed, coding quality, or the size of the code by simply increasing the level of power delivered to the substrate. Domino is now achieving two and a half times the power concentration delivered to the substrate, enhancing capability and performance.

Jon Hall, laser product manager for Domino North America, has been working with lasers for over 30 years and explains the value of power concentration.

“There are a couple ways we can increase power at the substrate. One, we could increase the power of the laser source, such as going from a 10 watt to a 30 watt laser, but we’d have to pay for a more expensive laser because we’d have a larger footprint and it uses more energy,” Hall explained. “There’s a more efficient way to do that. With power concentration, we’re taking the focus spot of the laser and reducing such that it increases the intensity.”

The need for the flexibility delivered through power concentration is increasing as packaging requirements become more strict and demanding, especially in pharmaceutical, food and beverage sectors.

“Regardless, of your application, you’re going to see benefits from advanced power concentration,” Hall explains. “Whether you’re putting machine-readable codes on a pharmaceutical container, or an expiration date on food containers, or simply a date code on a PET bottle … As your coding requirements evolve, your laser has the ability to keep up due to advanced power concentration.”