CleanFlow® Test Summary

Videojet hired a third party to conduct a test of the Videojet 1520 CIJ printer with the CleanFlow™ Printhead against CIJ printers sold by other companies at the time of the test, which took place in 2011. The test was designed to compare the printer performance in terms of the rate of ink residue build-up on the nozzle plate and its effect on print quality. The test consisted of 2 main phases, 80 hours long each. Each printer’s jet was aimed at a substrate located a set distance from the nozzle plate. Electric charges were used to accelerate the splash back process. This method was used to approximate the buildup of ink residue over time if the printheads were not cleaned. Test criteria were defined before the start of the test, including that the test would be stopped for a particular printer if the thickness of ink residues build up on the nozzle plate reaches 2/3 of the gap between the nozzle plate and target plate.

All printers were set to print the same message, at the same resolution and at the same print speed. At regular intervals, the printing process was stopped and a front view photograph of each print head was taken. This captured the effect of the splash-back of ink building up on the print head.

At regular intervals a print quality test was conducted. During this test each printer was set to print a comparable message so that any decrease in print quality as a result of this ink build-up could be examined.

The Videojet CleanFlow™ Printhead does not require plant air. The test against competitor machines was performed twice, one time using competitor machines without plant air (standard configuration) and the second time using competitor machines with plant air hookups, in order to assess the results in both situations. As described in the video, pictures are shown from both tests. Test One in the video shows Videojet’s 1520 against competitors without plant air. Test Two shows Videojet’s 1520 versus competitor printers with plant air.

Actual results in a customer environment may vary.