Ultraviolet ink process boosts label printing speed
production speeds in label printing, saving time and money during
the packaging process, according to Sun Chemical.
The UV process meets the demand for faster production times and printing quality being demanded by the food industry in packing their products. According to Screen Web, technology breakthroughs in UV-curable screen-printing inks are continuing to set new performance standards and are raising the bar for speed and versatility during thelabelling process. Such printing processes are also more environmentally less damaging. Sun Chemical said its Solarcat product raises the bar even higher, describing the system as the most advanced cationic UV flexo ink system of its kind in the world and at least two times fastercuring than other products in the marketplace. The label system uses a cationic or positively charged ultraviolet beam (UV) radiation to cure ink. The ultra violet inks are used on presses, rather than with dryers between each press unit,allowing ink to dry quickly with more opacity and less absorption into the paper. The higher printing quality being introduced by new UV printing techniques and inks now means many label jobs do not have to be run through the press twice. "It has the outstanding technical properties as a cured ink film recognised in cationic systems, while delivering significantly improvements over existing technologies," thecompany stated in an announcement. "These include higher cure speed, lower humidity sensitivity, low press room odour and without the creation of hazardous photoinitiator by-products in thecuring process." The product was formally launched in Europe at Labelexpo Europe, in Brussels, last week. Solarcat inks are undergoing trials at specialty packaging, label and shrink sleeve companies. The inks wereused to print labels on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic shrink film at Labelexpo as part of a demonstration. The company's UV curing technology includes the ability to print the new generation of cationic inks. In addition to the higher speed of curing, the inks adhere to almost all film and metallisedmaterials used in narrow-web printing. "The Solercat inks display exceptional technical performance combined with ground-breaking productivity and solve many of the drawbacks of existing cationic technologies," statedJonathan Sexton, Sun Chemical's European product manager of narrow-web labels. External links to companies or organisations mentioned in this story: Sun Chemical
