Advanced hand-held labelling gun ink is made of

There are a wide range of uses that label guns can be used for. Considering how cheap they are, the little label gun can go toe-to-toe with a great number of varied demands. There are numerous possible business and laboratory procedure applications. Managed quality control is necessary in food production so labelling guns can be utilised to indicate sell by dates, production run or technician or variety information.

The data printed on the label is only an element of the story. The labelling gun ink can also be used to convey extra data at a glance. A simple example of this could be the colour of the label or ink indicating the week an item was processed or produced. Both label and label ink can indicate such information. A further quality of the ink is that it can be heat sensitive. Using a heat sensitive ink, it is possible to indicate that a certain heat level has been achieved. This could show if food has been heated to the correct temperature to sell or if dental equipment has been sterilised at the appropriate temperature.

Dental equipment are labelled prior to being subjected to the sterilizing autoclave. The label includes a date printed in 'heat immune' pigment to signal the sterilization date and a date to indicate the day the sterilization becomes overdue, also in 'heat-resistant' dye. Thermo-chromatic ink that changes colour at the designated temperature is marked on the label between the two sterilization and expiry dates. This shows that the desired temperature has been reached.

The ink suppliers that the likes of labelling and hand-held labelling gun suppliers like Positive ID use, are able to produce heat-sensitive dyes that will change colour at many specific temperature. Label paper and label glue restrict the temperatures at which the thermo-chromatic ink works.