Continuous inkjet (CIJ) is a non-contact printing technology that ejects a constant flow of electrically charged ink droplets from a printhead. A magnetic field deflects the required drops onto the passing material to form characters, while unused drops are caught and recycled back into the ink system. It is widely used for high-speed industrial coding, such as printing expiration dates on curved bottles or moving packaging lines.
Heard on the job
We need to flush the CIJ printhead on line four before the ink dries in the nozzle.
Insider tip
CIJ printers require specific solvent-based inks and regular maintenance to prevent the continuous return lines from clogging.
Do not mix it up with
- TIJ: CIJ runs a constant stream of ink and recycles the excess, while TIJ (thermal inkjet) only fires drops when needed.