18th March 2015 Newsletter ISSN 1868-9779 • 24. Jahrgang TRESU‘s new light-weight carbon fibre chamber doctor blade system Light-weight carbon fibre chamber TRESU Group has launched a programme of lightweight carbon fibre chamber doctor blades, offering improved chemical resistance, optimised flow and safe, easy handling in all flexo printing situations. The carbon fibre composition gives the chamber high-strength qualities, enabling a relatively low weight of between 2.4kg and 4.1kg per linear metre, and thus easing chamber exchange. Inside the chamber, a top-coated ink-repellent surface offers extra protection against ink and detergents with high and low pH-values and ensures efficient, thorough cleaning after job completion. Furthermore, curved inner surfaces maximise volume and facilitate controlled discharge. The chamber’s design also enables ink and coating circulation in relatively low volumes. The units offer pressure-controlled ink and coating circulation with manual or closed-loop control sys- Index Light-weight carbon fibre chambre...1 KBA very pleased with Hunkeler Innovationdays ...2 Printed Electronics for the Label Printer ...2 Xeikon cuts Gem of an agreement with Sapphire ...3 Drewsen Spezialpapiere enters the market for greaseproof barrier papers ...3 TRESU launches Carbon Fibre Chamber Doctor Blade tems, like the TRESU F10 iCon Ink Control System. They feature TRESU’s patented seal system, preventing leakage, and stainless steel blades whose clamping system enables one of the fastest possible changeovers in the industry, of within two minutes. The enclosed environment, resulting from the seal and precise blade positioning ensures pressure and flow rate are maintained at desired levels without manual intervention. This stops air contaminating the chamber and results in foam free transfer of ink / coating directly to the anilox cells, also at fast speeds. This in turn ensures a clean, blister-free printed image with fast drying characteristics, better reflection and higher gloss values, whether on paper or film. The enclosed chamber also prevents solvents from escaping and protects the ink from degradation due to exposure to the atmosphere. Because of its simplicity and high level of automation, the TRESU carbon fibre chamber can be cleaned and prepared without being removed from the press, shortening makeready times. Henrik Kristensen, vice president, TRESU Ancillary, comments: “Thanks to its time-saving advantages, optimized fluid control and resilience, the TRESU carbon fibre chamber offers a long-term solution for high productivity, low ownership costs and uniform quality.” The carbon fibre programme comprises variants, with pneumatic (P-Line) or eccentric (E-Line) clamping systems that allow changeover of stainless steel or plastic blades within two minutes. The CFC P-Line, for water-based corrugated, tissue, flexible packaging and specialist applications up to 6000 mm wide, is at 2.4kg / linear metres the lightest of the three chambered doctor blades. The CFC E-Line is suited for prepress - world of print EXPRESS water, UV and solvent digital primer coating, napkin, tissue and flexible packaging applications up to 2000 mm wide. The Ceraflex E-Line, P-Line or S-Line features a plasma electrolytic oxidation and ceramic topcoat for optimum corrosion-resistance and is suited for all flexo applications up to 3500 mm wide. All units are retrofittable with all TRESU’s currently available chamber doctor blade systems. KBA very pleased with Hunkeler Innovationdays Even though KBA was unable to show a RotaJET press live in operation at the Hunkeler Innovationdays in Lucerne due to the space available, the company was extremely pleased with the amount of visitors and talks at its stand during the four-day digital printing fair. The stand featured 89 and 168cm-tall paper reels printed on the new KBA RotaJET L and RotaJET VL that symbolised the inkjet presses’ enormous range of applications in classic market segments, such as book, advertising and publications printing as well as further industrial application fields, like decorative and packaging printing. Interest in the application-specific solutions for various priorities in new markets within the high-volume inkjet printing segment was therefore great. As an experienced press manufacturer with an extensive product portfolio KBA is also trusted in the digital printing sector with mastering large web widths and challenging substrates. This is reflected in the partnership with Hewlett Packard for the development of the HP T1100 Simplex Color inkjet web press that has a maximum web width of 2.8m (9.18ft) designed for the corrugated packaging market and the delivery of a KBA RotaJET VL with a web width of 1.68m (5.5ft) to a leading German printing firm. Potential new digital printing users in particular value the level of flexibility offered by the modular RotaJET L (web widths from 895 to 1,300mm/35 to 51in) which can also be upgraded after the initial installation. Printed Electronics for the Label Printer Packaging has been a prime driver in the development of printed electronics, from RFID to QR codes and other digitally ‘readable’ data. The printing expertise, specialist materials, and conductive inks required to reliably create these ‘intelligent’ functions have long been a specialty of the label production chain - an extended value chain which is supported by a single umbrella organisation in Europe, FINAT, the international association for the self-adhesive label industry. Proactive participation in educating and supporting its member companies as well as the industry in general in newly-developing territories such as the printed electronics arena is an ongoing focus for FINAT, as innovation continues apace. A recent members-only expert webinar on printed electronics provided a valuable update on existing applications and potential opportunities for printers in the narrow-web flexo market - not just in packaging or labels. Presented by Chris Jones of Novalia, a conductive print and capacitive touch specialists based in the UK, the webinar encouraged label industry delegates to think ‘out of the box’. “By combining extant mainstream equipment, consumables, and expertise, they can create state-of-the-art printed electronics that, in addition to scannability, bring the dimensions of touch, sound and vision into play to add real additional functionality or even ‘must have’ desirability to a product or its packaging,” explains Mr. Jones. “Today, as well as printed circuit boards and transistors, print can deliver a variety of other mainstream applications - including lighting, LEDs, photovoltaics, and even skincare patches, and features strongly in automotive, aviation, architectural and military applications and in pharmaceuticals and healthcare, toys, music, and of course brand protection and anti-counterfeiting.” In a world where the majority of the population has a smartphone, the 2 opportunities to link up such instruments to interact, via printed electronics, with what would appear to be simple printed posters or other items is now attracting more and more interest internationally. Outdoor advertising and displays are good examples. As part of the launch for their new Flavour Shots herbs and spices range, Schwartz used a ‘sonic poster’ featuring Novalia’s capacitive touch technology. The paper poster, when touched, plays music wirelessly through a Bluetooth-enabled smartphone or tablet. Touching the artwork on different spots triggers musical chords that are meant to add an extra level of engagement with the new Schwartz products. It is conductive inks that turn the surface area of the paper into an interactive interface. Adding new dimensions such as sound or movement to display print is certainly an innovative way to enhance a consumer’s perception of, and interest in, a product. There are also creative examples from the extended world of packaging Mr. Jones illustrates: “For example, a box of tissues that featured a playable piano keyboard on the side of the packaging, and multiple-pack secondary packaging for beers and cigarettes that also carried special printed ‘touch’ and ‘connectivity’ features. What consumer could resist the added value of such packaging?” On a more serious note, pharmaceutical and healthcare applications add user-friendliness to alert a patient to the need to take his blister-packed medication - and enable the pharmacist/dispenser to check, thanks to a microprocessor in the pack, that the drugs were in fact taken at the right time in the right quantities. The winning features of flexo print For volume production of printed electronics, narrow-web label printers are particularly well positioned as providers. “While screen and gravure have their place in certain application areas,” Mr. Jones explains, “flexo has proved itself the most attractive print process for the job. Its combination of good print speeds and ease of repeatability; the high, consistent application weight of wet ink that flexo achieves; and the good range prepress - world of print EXPRESS of available flexible, inexpensive substrates (paper, PP, PET), constitute an ideal combination. The conductive pigments themselves represent an additional consideration for the flexo printer - both in practical and cost terms - and, additionally, drying the ink is a key factor. Currently, evaporative solvent and water-based drying provide the desired characteristics. UV ink curing remains a challenge, because at this time it does not pack the ink particles together sufficiently. The process of printing conductive inks embraces, in summation, anilox specification, production speed, drying, and press consumables - all of which can affect the ‘sheet resistance’ of the conductive inks - the characteristic which is at the heart of a good result.” “There is certainly a considerable and growing interest from narrow-web label printers in extending the range of specialist capabilities they can offer to brand owners. Their skills base and pressroom equipment can enable them to deliver printed items incorporating printed electronics in a variety of creative forms that go well beyond traditional functional/industrial applications and conventional label print,” Mr. Jones concludes. Xeikon cuts Gem of an agreement with Sapphire Xeikon, an innovator in digital color printing technology has signed an agreement with Sapphire, the leading Indian supplier of digital print solutions to support its expansion in the Indian document printing market. The agreement, signed at the brand new Xeikon Asia Technology Center, will focus on the commercial printing and publishing sectors as well as the photo, wall décor and creative markets. The portfolio Sapphire represents includes Xeikon’s 8000 Series digital color presses. They feature high precision LED-array imaging technology, which combines true 1200 dpi resolution and 4-bit per spot color depth, to deliver the finest commercial print quality available on the market today. In addition, the Xeikon 8000 Series presses offer unmatched format flexibility, with a media width of 512mm (20.2 inches) and unlimited print length. The presses print on both sides of the substrate simultaneously and can handle monthly duty cycles of up to 10 million pages. The 8000 Series presses are a fundamental element in Xeikon’s Document Production Suite, a fully integrated solution for the production of direct marketing material of virtually any size or format, ready for mailing or short-run high-quality transactional printing. Sapphire will also offer Xeikon’s Wall Decoration Suite. It allows cost-efficient production of high-quality wall decorations for commercial, retail and residential purposes. This shortrun friendly ‘all-in-one’ solution addresses the increasing demand for more customized and personalized print jobs and enables the production of a small roll of finished wallpaper from a large roll of paper. It integrates four major components a Xeikon digital press printing on the widest media range available, with dedicated workflows and software, application-specific toners and process optimization tools plus preand post-press equipment. “We pride ourselves on our customer centric approach, whether it is providing a trained operator with the machine or supporting the initial installation for the first couple of weeks,” states Sapphire’s Vikram Saxena, Chief Operating Officer at Sapphire Graphic Solutions. “It is this approach to customer support that has resulted in the success of our business from its inception. We are delighted to be able to work with Xeikon and share with our customers how the large portfolio of Xeikon’s digital printing solutions can help them grow their business and stay ahead of the competition.” Bent Serritslev, who was recently appointed Managing Director Xeikon Asia Pacific (ASPAC) to help support its fast-paced growth in this dynamic region comments: “Sapphire has earned an unrivalled reputation for its service, support and sales of digital printing solutions and we are delighted to be working together in such an exciting and vibrant region. We are looking forward to presenting solutions that can help Indian 3 We know everything about Apple MAC Pro The ultimate power for your Adobe CS6 production! from € 2.999,Please call us for more details Kaiserswerther Str. 72, 40882 Ratingen SYSTEMCONNECT TEL 02102 - 8804-0 • FAX 02102 - 880430 print production operations improve their production capabilities and enhance their service offering.” Drewsen Spezialpapiere enters the market for greaseproof barrier papers The current range encompasses grades with a high (Kit 7-9), medium (Kit 4-6) or low (Kit 1- 3) grease resistance, as well as bespoke customer-specific products. Probarrier is currently available in a range of substances from 40 - 160 g/m2. Drewsen’s product range of high-quality security papers, technical base papers and graphical papers has now expanded into packaging papers. MASTHEAD published by: Blömer Medien GmbH Freiligrathring 18, 40878 Ratingen, Telephone 0 21 02/1 470 870 Online: http://www.worldofprint.com Publisher: Dipl.-Kfm. Andreas Blömer Editor: Daniela Blömer Advertising Manager: Oliver Göpfert Production: Blömer Medien GmbH Copyright by Blömer Medien GmbH
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