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Ink Jet Data Matrix
Product identification and tracking for automotive
and aircraft parts is a major thrust at the present time. Data matrix
has been selected as the preferred symbology for this application
because of its ability to be read in many directions as well as to
be printed by many different kinds of printing technologies. Some
of the parts intended to be marked by data matrix have a unfortunate
optical characteristic called specular reflectance. Unfortunately
aluminum, which is used in many of the parts for both automotive and
aircraft parts, is one of those materials. To compound the problem
of specular reflectance, sometimes aluminum's reflectance property
is in the median range. In other words it absorbs as much light as
it reflects, which makes it difficult to produce a contrasting image.
AIS was asked to take on a project of marking an aluminum casting
with a data matrix code using a low-cost ink jet printer. To make
the issue even more difficult, the intended scanning device was a
relatively low-cost handheld scanner. Because of our experience with
symbologies and reading technologies we were successful in developing
the system for marking the aluminum casting appropriately. This had
not been done before.
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