Intermittent loss of a TTO date or batch code should be investigated as a sequence of events: the packaging machine presents film, a print request reaches the coder, the coder accepts it, and an image transfers in the intended location. A missing code can originate before ribbon transfer begins. Preserve the line conditions and distinguish a missing print cycle from a failed image.
Contain the affected production
Follow the site's quality procedure to identify and hold potentially uncoded or incorrectly coded packs. Record the last confirmed acceptable check, the first failed sample, the job in use, and the production interval. Do not assume that restarting the coder establishes which earlier packs are acceptable.
Sort the failed samples before adjusting the coder:
- Completely blank pack: check for a code elsewhere, then correlate the print request and completed-cycle evidence
- Displaced code: compare the registration and film-motion record
- Partial code: compare the available print interval, image dimensions, and contact area
- Weak image in the correct place: investigate transfer conditions and the film surface
These branches prioritize checks; none proves a root cause. An image outside the expected inspection window can appear missing to an operator or detector.
Keep line speed, packaging-machine state, film-roll identity, ribbon lot, and stop–start events in the same record. The timing often matters more than a photograph of one blank pack.
Did the coder receive and accept a print request?
Read the coder status and event log before clearing alarms. Confirm the correct job is loaded and printing is enabled. Compare the packaging machine's print request with the coder's observed input and completed-print indications using the approved diagnostic tools.
The Videojet 6230 manual provides input status, event logging, timing information, and encoder-profile diagnostics. It distinguishes a running, ready state from an offline state. These facilities support checking the request and readiness path before attributing a blank pack to the ribbon. Videojet 6230 diagnostics
Have qualified controls personnel investigate missing triggers, inhibit conditions, or a request arriving while the coder is unavailable. Do not bridge an interlock, force an output, or defeat a reject system as a production workaround.
Motion mode changes the timing question
Confirm the installed intermittent or continuous configuration and the packaging-machine motion profile. In an intermittent installation, examine the available stationary printing interval. In a continuous installation, examine motion information and the relationship between the print request, registration, and film travel.
Use the model's actual print area and operating limits. Markem-Imaje's SmartDate X45 specification, for example, lists a 75 mm print length in intermittent mode and 250 mm in continuous mode, with 32 mm or 53 mm print widths. Those dimensions belong to that configuration and do not qualify another coder or every operating condition. SmartDate X45 specifications
A recently enlarged message deserves a fresh timing check. Keep the previous job as a controlled comparison if site data rules allow it, without sending obsolete dates or product information into released production.
A recorded print cycle with no usable image
If the coder records the expected print activity but no acceptable image appears, inspect the transfer path during a safely stopped condition. Check cassette seating, correct ribbon route, take-up behavior, the film's presented face, and the contact area.
Compare the used ribbon with the corresponding failed code. Record whether there is image-shaped ink removal, damage, a fold, or an unusual gap between images. Avoid interpreting that observation alone as proof of transfer to the correct pack.
Inspect whether the symptom follows a film splice, a printed coating boundary, a film-lot change, or a particular machine movement. Compare one known-good ribbon or film input at a time where possible. Preserve the coder recipe so that the trial does not accidentally mix a materials change with an energy change.
Confirm recovery through the event that caused failure
Run the approved job through its normal speed changes, pauses, restarts, and changeover conditions. Correlate the relevant counts and samples while accounting for intentional waste and test cycles. Do not expect independent counters to match until their definitions are understood.
Where a code-presence system is fitted, challenge its detection and reject function through the site's approved procedure. Markem-Imaje lists Detect-Plus as an optional X45 capability; do not assume an installed machine has it. SmartDate X45 options
Release the process only when correct content, location, image quality, and the required detection controls have been checked. Keep the recorded fault sequence and successful correction so that a future intermittent loss can be diagnosed from evidence rather than repeated restarts.
Sources
- Videojet DataFlex 6230 Operator Manual — Videojet Technologies
- SmartDate X45 Specifications — Markem-Imaje