Volume 2 · Issue 4 (2025)
Design and Application of Lottery Box Number Inkjet System for Packaging Based on PLC Technology—A Study on Thermal Tickets of China Sports Lottery
Shaolei Shen
Beijing Institute of Graphic Communication, Beijing 102600, China
Abstract: Thermal tickets for sports lottery feature a single specification. After roll-to-roll printing, they proceed to subsequent processing and packaging procedures. In line with production capacity matching, the post-printing process is a fully automated assembly line integrated with 4 slitting machines, 1 plastic sealing machine, 1 cartoning machine, an inkjet system, and other associated equipment. Recently, traceable serial numbers have been added to the surface of thermal tickets, roll numbers to small rolls post-slitting, and box numbers to the final packaging boxes. Given that the printing machine and slitting machines operate relatively independently, a one-to-one correspondence between roll numbers and ticket numbers can be easily achieved. However, in the post-printing process, 4 slitting machines are connected to a single cartoning line, which creates challenges in matching the slit small rolls with the cartoning inkjet system. Through research on the box number inkjet system developed by Japan’s KGK Company, it was identified that it’s I/O interface [1] possesses a multi-channel information selection function for inkjetting. Combined with the existing belt conveyor system of the slitting machines, PLC programming can be implemented to control the cartoning inkjet system—enabling the system to call the corresponding box number for inkjet printing when small rolls are conveyed from a specific slitting machine. In other words, the 4 slitting machines can independently produce products with different number segments or even products designated for 4 different provinces, all of which can be integrated with the subsequent plastic sealing machine, cartoning machine, and inkjet system [2] to form a fully automated continuous production process.
Keywords: PLC; Lottery; Packaging; Inkjetting; Thermal Ticket; Full Automation; Assembly Line
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