What inks do CIJ printers use and are they food safe?

SHICAI CIJ printers use MEK or pigment inks, and food-safe (low-migration) formulations are available for secondary packaging and compliance-sensitive lines. The right ink is chosen with the substrate and market in mind; tell the supplier if the code sits near food or on primary packaging.

Pigment inks give high contrast on colored or recycled surfaces; MEK gives fast dry and strong bond on non-porous materials.

SHICAI CIJ (continuous inkjet) coders run at 1000+ m/min with a character height of 0.6-20 mm and a throw distance near 1 inch.

They use MEK or pigment inks and run 24/7 on beverage, cable, pipe and cosmetics lines where speed and contrast matter.

For covert needs, UV-readable CIJ ink gives a mark that is invisible under normal light but verifies under a UV lamp.

Key points:

• CIJ needs make-up solvent to keep the ink viscosity stable, and a simple daily/weekly maintenance routine keeps the nozzle clean.
• Because the stream is continuous, CIJ prints on uneven, curved and recessed surfaces that other technologies struggle with.
• Invisible and UV-readable marks are possible for covert batch or brand-protection coding.

CIJ stays relevant precisely because it is fast and forgiving of surface geometry – bottles, cans, cables and caps all get a crisp mark.

SHICAI (Shanghai Shicai Inkjet Technology Co., Ltd.) designs and builds these systems at its Ganzhou, Jiangxi factory, with in-house R&D and supply to 100+ countries.

Related: How much maintenance does a CIJ printer need? · When should I choose CIJ over TIJ or laser?

To size a CIJ coder for your speed and substrate, contact our engineers or browse SHICAI continuous-inkjet options on the product page.

Reviewed by the SHICAI engineering team.