Vegetable capsules are the outer covering that holds the drug, designed to make it easier to take and to achieve optimal efficacy.

In practical applications of vegetable capsules, pharmaceutical companies generally print markings on the capsule surface — such as trademark letters, brand names, or drug names — to facilitate product identification, protect their own brand, and prevent counterfeiting. The traditional method for marking capsules is inkjet printing, which uses compliant food‑grade inks. This approach has obvious limitations: high consumable usage, markings that can be easily erased, and expensive food‑grade inks that inevitably generate waste during printing, thereby increasing pharmaceutical costs.

During its R&D process, Unicornshell discovered that laser marking technology can be applied to mark vegetable capsules. Laser marking is a non‑contact marking technique that can produce high‑precision, high‑definition marks on various material surfaces.

Vegetable capsules belong to the pharmaceutical field, which requires clear, wear‑resistant markings and places high demands on the precision of the marking machine. Capsules are small in size — there are six internationally common sizes — posing challenges in positioning and hygienic handling. To overcome these difficulties, experts and technicians repeatedly tested different laser marking processes and made targeted modifications to the equipment, finally achieving a breakthrough not long ago.

The fully automatic capsule laser marking machine can mark over 60,000 capsules per hour, producing clear, wear‑resistant marks that are not easy to remove. Compared with traditional inkjet printing, laser marking requires no consumables, making it not only environmentally friendly but also cost‑reducing. Its working principle relies on laser energy to break atomic and molecular bonds, causing the material to gasify or evaporate into small molecules — a process known as “photo‑ablation.” In addition, this process has a very small focused spot, results in minimal thermal impact on the workpiece, and generates no smoke or pollution.

Technological innovation is the cornerstone of long‑term development for technology enterprises. Unicornshell will continue to increase its investment in scientific and technological innovation, master core industry technologies, strengthen its core competitiveness, and build momentum for the company’s future development.