Print Process - Markem Imaje SmartDate X40 Instruction Booklet

Operation

Print Process

With the Intermittent printers, the step rate of the printhead carriage motor is in direct
relationship with the linear motion of the carriage.
The length of time that the dots are energised for is determined by the linear speed of
the printhead carriage.
With the Continuous motion versions of the printer, the length of time that the dots are
energised is determined by the speed of the ribbon, which in turn is controlled by data
from a speed encoder.
The print control processor determines which dots to energise and when to activate
them.
In both cases the length of each dot should end up at 1/12 mm to maintain the aspect
ratio of the character being printed.
An example of how this works is shown below:
If an Intermittent printer were to print the following sequence:
- Dots 1 to 12 are energised three times relative to the linear speed of the print carriage.
- Dots 4 to 8 are energised eighteen times relative to the linear speed of the print
carriage.
- Dots 1 to 12 are again energised three times relative to the linear speed of the print
carriage.
If a Continuous printer were to energise the dots in this sequence it would be relative
to the ribbon speed.
In both cases the printed image would then look as follows:
The resulting character may then be part of the design text or a part of a Graphic or a
Logo. This process happens extremely fast and the printed character may only take a
fraction of a second to print.
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