Looking for Ink Printers that mark Lot,and Barcode Info with ControlLogix

Good Afternoon ,

I am looking for Industrial Ink Jet Printers that mark cases of product with Bar Codes , Lot Numbers , etc. I'm looking to be able to easily interface with CompactLogix or ControlLogix , so I can keep track of cases per pallet , which shift product was produced , etc. When I see this information , then I would like to tell the printer what shift , and Lot number to put on the case.

Do you guys know of any that can be setup to talk with Rockwell Automation PLC's ?

Thanks for you help ,

As far as I'm aware, there is no real support between industrial printers and PLCs. We have used a number of Domino printers over the years and the only way I've gotten between the printer and PLC is either RS232 serial or socket comms over ethernet.

Perhaps someone else has had a better experience, and can suggest something, because I'd love a better solution that constantly having to write cumbersome routines that send and receive ASCII strings.

Does it have to be an Ink Jet printer?

We use have used the Zebra Label printers a LOT for applications like yours.

https://www.zebra.com/us/en/products/printers/industrial/zt400-series.html

Here is the setup guide:

https://www.zebra.com/content/dam/z...r-automation-developer-guide-P1096306-001.pdf


Here is Labelary you will use to generate the images that they example:

http://labelary.com/viewer.html

Domino is the only one that comes to mind.

Their printers do have variables you can set up so it would print what shift based on time. A lot of other things can be set up in the same way. If you have less than 255 different messages, there is a plug of 8 discrete inputs that can be setup to load messages.
00000001 = Load Msg #1
00010111 = Load Msg #23

I have a project coming up with a Domino printer, and will be using AdvancedHMI to handshake between the PLC and the printer. Easier than setting up sockets on the plc IMO. I googled vb.net and tcpclient/server and found tons of info. If you got a PC in the mix, then that would be another option.

As Jeev points out, there is no easy way to integrate any PLC with Continuous Ink Jet (CIJ) printers.

I made several applications where the message need to change in real time, fast and in right order or sequence. I started out with preset messages with variables as seth350 suggests. The problem with this (parallell) bit-patterns is that you don't really know when the changed signals are stable and when the printer is ready to print the new message. To get this feedback, I have found no better way than using the serial protocol for that particular printer.

If you don't have real-time demands, then I definitely recommend some kind of PC solution. Setting up or even editing messages with variables, and putting them in the right addressable order, using a tiny printer user interface, is rarely a job for a common operator.

We have Matthews MPERIA controllers with VIAjet print heads on several of our lines and so far they have been great. They developed a plug-in for us that pulls messages directly from our ERP software, if that is an option for you instead of directly from the PLC.

If you need to print labels from within a PLC, I am using a Zebra ZT410, this printer has Ethennet/IP interface and a print QR codes in my case directly from a Compact Logix PLC. No need to use sockets.