Primera Technology, Inc. has announced the availability of its new DL500e Durable Label Printer.

According to the company, the DL500e allows fast and easy in-house production of highly durable labels for a wide range of rough-service applications, including the US Department of Defense’s IUID program labels, UDI labels for medical devices and healthcare equipment, automobile VIN and under-hood part number, warning and instruction labels, aerospace and solar panel labels, serial tags for outdoor equipment, automobile parts, building materials and much more.

Text, graphics and linear or 2D bar codes can be laser ablated onto a range of adhesive-backed label materials. Finished labels are extremely robust and do not require lamination to withstand extended exposure to UV light, chemicals, liquids and temperatures of up to 300C. As such, they also meet the requirements for UL and CSA rating and serial number plates.

Instead of ink, the printer utilizes a specially-designed laser diode along with high-precision, matched optics. The company says this type of laser and optics combination has never before been used in a roll-fed, desktop laser label imager. Labels produced with this method are typically used to replace metal plates or labels produced by resin thermal transfer that are laminated in a secondary process but are still not durable enough for many applications.

Compared to Yag, fiber and CO2 lasers, DL500e’s laser diode and matched optics marking method has a number of advantages for producing highly durable labels, including:

• Lower cost. Typical systems will be priced between € 18,000 and € 22,000 (MSRP) – about half the price of competing systems.

• Simple mechanics. Instead of a more traditional but far more complex and expensive computer-controlled galvanometer with beam steering mirrors, DL500e was designed more like a standard industrial label printer such as Primera’s LX900e Color Label Printer. This approach results in a machine that is far less complicated with no special maintenance or on-going calibration required.

• Ease of operation. DL500e installs on a PC as a standard Windows printer. It can be driven by virtually any popular label creation software. No special operator training or certification is required.

Both “smoke” and “smokeless” label substrates are available. Each substrate has its own advantages for certain applications. For substrates that generate smoke, Primera’s DF-30e Smoke and Fume Filter is available. DF-30e has five stages of filtration which allows the DL500e printer to be used indoors without the need for an outside exhaust.

“We are excited to introduce this ground-breaking new laser-based label printer,” says Mark D. Strobel, Primera’s vice president of sales and marketing. “For companies who need to make laser-imaged labels for use in harsh and severe-service environments, DL500e is the most affordable and easiest to use laser-marking label printer available.”

Printer drivers are included for Windows XP, Vista, 7 and 8. Also included is easy to use label design and printing software from Seagull Scientific called BarTender® Primera SE UltraLite for Windows.

Depending upon configuration, the company says the DL500e systems will be priced between € 18,000 and € 22,000 (MSRP) in Europe. The printer is available from Primera’s Authorized Resellers and Distributors in more than 179 countries.