Universal Stenciling & Marking Systems, Inc. was established in 1904 under
the name Universal Fountain Brush Company. The company founder, Wilfred
J. Wright, invented and patented the world’s first fountain stencil brush
in Summit, NJ. Officially named the Master Model Fountain Stencil Brush,
this product with its innovative ink supply in the handle, rapidly gained
industry recognition and Universal emerged as an industry leader in stenciling
technology.
In 1934 Wilfred and his son, Milton
B. Wright, moved the company to St. Petersburg, Florida where they continued
to produce fountain brushes and industrial felt tip marking pens.
In 1946, Milton’s son, Donald
C. Wright, joined the company and began working on the development of the
stencil roller as a means to improve the efficiency of the stencil marking.
His first product release was a triple roller unit named the Roll-A-Stencil.
This unique roller applicator contained a felt roller which served as an ink
reservoir and two foam rubber rolls which applied ink to the stencil at an
impressive speed. The popularity of roller stenciling changed the focus of
the company and Donald was
later awarded additional product patents for his Press Button Fountain Stencil
Roller.
In 1973, Donald C. Wright, Jr.
joined the company and assumed control of the operations. Requests from the
agricultural industry in Florida to supply a durable contact roll coder led
to Universal’s entry into the contact coding business. After a few tours of
these packing houses, it became obvious that the harsh environment and extremely
high production rates in these operations would destroy anything but the most
durable equipment. Nearly
a year of design research, prototyping and field testing was invested in the
development of our first production roll coder and the experience gained was
invaluable. All of Universal’s coding products are designed and manufactured
to withstand the demands of high volume production environments and rigorous
field testing is standard development protocol.
As requests for a coding system
to print on varnished cartons, plastic films, metals and other non-porous
materials increased, Universal began research on the most challenging project
in its history. Printing on these materials requires fast drying solvent based
inks which had always been very problematic for any coding system. The fast
evaporation rates of these solvent based inks at normal ambient temperature
would render the inking systems on standard roll coders inoperable after a
matter of minutes. Developing a simple, inexpensive, non-porous inking system
design took a great deal of time and creative thinking but the result was
an innovation worthy of international patents. Universal’s Non-Porous Inking
System is simplistic yet truly effective for handling inks that dry as fast
as 2 seconds at 75 degree ambient temperatures. This innovative product is
the only system of its kind on the world market and it provides unsurpassed
performance while requiring minimal maintenance.
Universal Stenciling & Marking
Systems is dedicated to the advancement of contact coding technology and through
research and innovative designs, our products have remained one of the most
efficient and cost effective methods of coding currently available. |