Chester Medical invests in digital braille printing

Chester Medical Solutions has installed the first digital carton printer for braille in the UK. 

Already in use at the company's PS9000 certified digital production suite at its carton and leaflet manufacturing facility in Deeside, Flintshire, the £150,000 investment allows the printing of braille dots onto cartons without the need for braille tooling.   

The system uses a polymer drop on demand nozzle to apply the braille, which is then UV cured. After application, a vision verification system checks each carton for dot presence, height and circumference and translates the braille into human readable text for operators to check.

The height of the dots meets all international requirements and adherence of the dots to the carton is excellent. Transit trials carried out by Smithers Pira have confirmed the robustness of the braille.

The braille font used is Marburg Medium, which is recommended by relevant European and North American standards for pharmaceutical packaging.

“This major innovation places us at the forefront of digital carton manufacture for pharmaceutical applications,” commented Chester Medical’s managing director David Patterson. “It provides the final link in the production chain and further enhances our ability to offer a fast response and flexible service in the creation of packs that meet all international standards.”