TTO Ribbons for Packaging Date and Batch Coding

Thermal transfer overprinting puts the date, the batch number and increasingly a QR code directly onto flexible packaging as it runs through a form-fill-seal or flow-wrap machine. The printer is mounted on the packaging line, not on a desk.

What Makes a TTO Ribbon Different

• Long lengths. 600 m on a 25 mm core, because every ribbon change is a line stop and a line stop is scrap at start-up.
• Narrow widths. 33 mm and 55 mm are the common print head widths on intermittent and continuous machines.
• Formulated for film. PP synthetic paper, PET, PE, PVC, aluminium foil, plastic film and paper, rather than for a self-adhesive label.
• Documented. RoHS and MSDS paperwork, because a food or pharmaceutical quality team will not approve a consumable without it.

Wax Resin or Resin

Wax resin covers most food packaging film and is the usual starting point. Move to the resin grade where the printed code faces solvent contact, sustained heat, or heavy abrasion in case packing and palletising.

Machine Compatibility

TTO ribbons are supplied for thermal transfer overprinters used on production lines, including Videojet, Markem-Imaje, Domino, Linx and Dikai machines. Ink side can be outside or inside, and the size is customisable, so give the machine model when you enquire and the roll is slit and cored to match.

Getting a Clean Code

• Match the ribbon width to the print head. A ribbon wider than the head wastes ink.
• Confirm the ink side before ordering. A TTO printer will not run a reversed ribbon.
• Keep the ribbon sealed until it is loaded. Dust on the ribbon surface shows up as voids in a date code.
• Check the printed code after case packing, not just at the printer. Abrasion downstream is where most coding complaints come from.

Colour

Black is standard, white is held for dark films, and custom colours are available. White on a dark printed film is often the difference between a code a retail goods-in team can read and one they reject.