During production when a tablet, capsule, or softgel is being printed, the main part in direct contact with the product is the “rubber roll”. The rubber roll is an aluminum core with a rubber coating around the surface. The rubber is ground down smooth, with no imperfections, ensuring a flawless printing surface. In operation, the design roll transfers the inked logo onto the rubber roll which then transfers the inked logo onto the product. In this case, the client was worried that the amount of pressure emitted by the rubber roll would affect the print and possibly even do damage to the tablets, capsules, or softgels. Our customer required an exact measurement of the amount of pressure to ensure each print would be flawless and consistent.

The Solution

After careful development and some trial and error, the team of engineers at R.W. Hartnett came up with a rubber roll pressure system. Calibrated to measure the precise amount of pressure the roll applied to the product, our engineers were then able to link the data to the printer’s recipe and set it as a fixed parameter. Each specific product that went through the machine would now have the appropriate amount of pressure applied each time. Assuaging our customer’s concerns proved yet again that the innovative engineering team at R.W. Hartnett is highly capable of addressing pain points with sound, user-friendly solutions.