How to Choose Thermal Inkjet Inks for Glass Coding?

Glass is a widely used packaging material in various industries, leading to a growing demand for inkjet printing on glass surfaces. However, inkjet printing on glass containers or glass building materials poses several challenges. For industries requiring glass inkjet printing solutions, Uniplus ink experts will analyze the difficulties of glass printing and provide convenient, cost-effective solutions in this article.

Unveiling the Factors Behind the Modern Industry Preference for Glass Applications

Clear, transparent, and reliable, glass is a common material recognized for light transmittance, allowing users to see contents clearly. Additionally, glass surfaces are non-porous, making it difficult for odors, colors or bacteria to remain, providing additional protection for safety and hygiene. Due to these properties, glass finds applications in a variety of goods, including liquids, viscous, solids, powders, fresh and dry products, as well as products intended for long-term storage. As consumers' demand for safe and healthy packaging continues to increase, the use of glass in factories such as pharmaceuticals, food, alcoholic beverages and soft drinks, and beauty products has gradually expanded.

Inkjet Case Studies: Glass Products with TIJ 2.5 Technology

What kind of glass products are suitable for thermal inkjet (TIJ 2.5) printing? Here are some examples:

1. Glass Bottles and Glassware:

Industries such as food manufacturing, beverage manufacturing, wineries, cosmetic industry, and chemical manufacturing utilize glass' properties, that is, glass is a better choice for preserving contents compared to plastic bottles. High-resolution inkjet printers are used to print traceable production information on glass bottles, glass jars, glass tableware and other glass products, such as: expiration date (EXP), manufacture date (MFG) , batch numbers (batch codes).

2. Architectural Glass:

Glass building materials are also common applications. Whether at construction sites or in a factory that manufactures building materials, handheld inkjet printers are used to code serial numbers or other text(model, specification) on bulky, immovable glass, facilitating subsequent glass processing.

3. Pharmaceutical Glass Containers:

For the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries that attach great importance to safety and hygiene, injection preparations and high-purity chemicals are contained in glass vials, ampoules (ampules), and glass test tubes. In order to facilitate identification, many businesses will add labels for easy identification through TIJ label printers.

Challenges and Advantages Coexist: Three Technical Challenges in Glass Thermal Inkjet Printing

However, the advantages of glass are also the challenges of inkjet printing. The first challenge is that most glass applications are curved, and the curvature increases the difficulty of printing on non-planar objects (such as glass jars and glass containers); The second challenge stems from the fact that glass has a non-porous surface. In contrast, paper with a porous surface is more capable of absorbing ink. So high quality inks are required to print on glass; The third challenge, glass is commonly chosen for storing items that require long-term preservation. As a result, glass containers mostly have high durability requirements, and the content printed with inkjet printers needs to be scratch-resistant and friction-resistance to ensure text, numbers, and barcodes remain readable in the future.

What Are the Reasons to Choose Thermal Inkjet Technology for Glass Coding?

Considering maintenance costs and time, thermal inkjet printing technology is a trustworthy solution that is easy to use. TIJ inkjet is a high-resolution printing system that doesn't require additional printer maintenance costs. This makes it well-suited for various industries that require coding on transparent glass products. Thermal inkjet printers can print a wide range of content and the size of the printed content depends on the ink cartridge (half-inch and one-inch cartridges) and print head modules. Take a single-head coding machine for example, the size of printed content can reach 12.7 mm height (a 1-inch cartridge can achieve a print size of 25.4mm height). If there are requirements for different character heights, this can be achieved through a multi-head inkjet printer; depending on the model, there are high-resolution inkjet printers or TIJ label machines that support high-speed printing, are equipped with conveyor belts, or a portable handheld printer, Uniplus TIJ ink cartridges can be easily installed and used for industrial printers.

What Kind of Ink Should I Choose to Print on the Glass Surface if Using A Thermal Inkjet Printer?

For glass printing, we recommend Uniplus Solvent Ink Cartridges designed with TIJ 2.5 inkjet technology.

Advantages of Uniplus solvent inks for glass inkjet printing include:

1. Strong Ink Adhesion - allowing precise printing even on curved glass bottles.

2. Fast Dry - ink dries quickly after printing on glass surfaces, improving production efficiency without the need for downtime.

3. Long Decap Time - minimizes the chance of nozzle drying when the cartridge is unclipped.

4. Rub Resistance - Text, barcodes, and numbers printed on glass are resistant to friction and will not blur even if splashed with water (see the demonstration video below for details).

5. Excellent Sharpness - Supports high-resolution barcode printing up to 600 dpi to ensure clear and immediate reading of barcodes

6. 100% Brand New -  Uniplus compatible TIJ ink cartridges are 100% brand new, which is rare among compatible TIJ ink consumables. And Uniplus provides good-value pricing for high-quality printing that gives customers the best possible value for their purchase.

7. 100% Compatible - 100% compatibility with non-encrypted inkjet printers ensures seamless functionality. For users with encrypted printers, explore Uniplus support in the relevant articles below.

Regarding encryption, we provide explanations from two perspectives. Please click on the most relevant link based on your situation:

How Uniplus Ink Cartridge Supports TIJ Handheld Printer of Small Business?

Can Uniplus TIJ 2.5 Ink Cartridges Work with TIJ Inkjet Printer Manufacturers' Machines?

If you want consumers to not be able to see the mark on the glass, we recommend using solvent invisible ink cartridges. This ink is invisible under normal light and only visible under UV light, allowing to hide markings easily. In addition to the seven advantages mentioned above that are suitable for glass inkjet printing, solvent invisible inks can print confidential information on the surface without damaging the appearance of glass products, making it suitable for anti-counterfeiting and other purposes.

Click to view the ink colors and detailed introduction of Uniplus TIJ solvent ink cartridges

Click to view the ink colors and detailed introduction of Uniplus TIJ Solvent Invisible Ink Cartridge (visible under UV light)

Choose the Glass Printing Ink that Best Fits Your Needs

Are you seeking glass printing solutions? With over 20 years of experiences in manufacturing ink cartridges, Uniplus provides professional industrial marking solutions to overseas businesses and factories of various scales. Regardless of the color, shape or size of your company's glass products, Uniplus, with its R&D and manufacturing teams, will be the most ideal ink supplier for inkjet coding.

If you need personalized assistance with coding on glass, please feel free to contact us anytime.