ID Marking of Ceramic Parts

I have done a few machine to almost do what you need and mostly out of scrap parts.

What you need is a XY plotter and a manual engraving machine and a very small program to manage your numbering for you.

The hardware required are redundant and the owners gladly let go of them.

I haven't engraved om the side yet but that should also be possible.

I will find a photo and post it. (actually I have posted it already but cannot remember the key words.)

Keyence has a 3-axis laser marking system that can put most anything you want on a curved surface. The literature states that it will mark ceramics too. I did not look into any capabilities regarding incremental marking, but if the unit is not capable, I am sure you could utilize a PLC to control that portion.

It is probably on the higher end regarding cost. To help with justification, you should be able to use something like this to mark other products.

I have no experience with it, I just happened to actually browse one of their technical bulletins they emailed to me. This one caught my eye.

I agree with AA M.E. right now Keyence has the best "bang for the buck" etchers, we have 2 in operation that are marking dietary supplements at about 20/second, 5 wide. up to 3 characters at a time. thats fast enough for us. the unit is mounted over a conveyor that is connected to an high resolution encoder. Keyence also offers a YAG laser that you do not want to put your hand in front of. Both these lasers are small, 24"long by 6"HX6"L(gas-less)(internal tank) and they are connected to lap top, with the supplied software you can change these on the fly and build a full library of characters. They can be programed to etch identical or to number or letter incremental. hope this helps!!

It's good to hear some positive feedback about that product. It sounds like good, versitle equipment for marking, and it's probably something I'll invest in for some future projects. We have quite a spectrum of materials here, and we too have to adhere to FDA standards.

How about ink jet? You would need a fixture to hold the part but it would be a lot cheaper to install that a laser system.

Thank you for the suggestion and the link. I think that you are correct that with a proper fixture, maybe a rotating stage, I might be able to use ink jet rather directly. I appreciate the input of the previous commenters. Setting up an x-y plotter to print is a simple and ingenious solution, but would require more time and effort that I am in a position to expend. And the laser system suggestion is probably more appropriate and justifiable for higher quantities. The ink jet approach seems the most appropriate suggestion for the quantities and stage of development that I am at right now. If anyone else has knowledge of ink jet printing on a curved surface, please speak up.

You Can find a used Videojet look @ their OEM site. You can probably do the work w/a Excell #1000. these machines are very common. The fixture would be fairly simple stand the seals on edge & roll them past the printhead. The trigger could be a retroreflective photo beam, which you could purchase OEM. A new machine is around $32k, used $10k.

There's also old fully mechanical coders from old bottling/canning lines around.

Videojet & Domino make comparable systems, I've had quotes from both recently at about £8000 for new systems or £5500 from Domino for a used system. Of course, there is always Ebay!!!

We have a samll eauipment Please contact us us henryzhang1@hotmail.com