Printer Enclosure
Allows using commercially available ink jet and laser printers in clean environments

As in every production environment, prints are also required in clean production environments. Commercially available printers, however, emit copious quantities of particles into the environment during operation. In a cleanroom, this can have negative effects on the product or process and its quality, which is why printers so far have been positioned far away from the process chain. If you want to use a printout, you must leave the cleanroom and waste valuable time for undressing and dressing.
For this case, COLANDIS has developed a printer enclosure allowing the use of commercially available printers in cleanrooms. Effective extraction and subsequent filtering of the air surrounding the printer through a HEPA filter prevents the risk of contamination due to the operation of the device.
Advantages
Any commercially available printer can be used quickly and easily in a clean environment without emitting airborne particles. The system is robust and designed to work in a cleanroom regardless of the installation location.
Functionality
During the printing process, airborne particles are emitted into the immediate surroundings of the printer both through relative movements of the components as well as through the application of the colour pigments on the paper. A customised enclosure made of PMMA limits this contaminated volume first of all spatially. The integrated filter unit with an H14 particulate air filter (optionally also finer) on the rear wall continuously extracts the particle-laden air from the enclosure and returns it filtered to the surrounding cleanroom. The air supply is always carried out through the open front of the enclosure.
Applications
The printer enclosure has been designed for use in cleanrooms which can be assigned to class 3 air purity according to DIN EN ISO 14644. However, special designs for higher cleanliness requirements are generally possible.