Print 05: Analysis of Hybrid/UV Ink New Product (4)

We still need to continue research

Although hybrid UV inks have been available for a long time, there are still some problems and challenges to be solved. Bonallo suggested that vendors should make some prior assessment of the purpose of using the system and the types of products that will be manufactured. It is necessary to comprehensively consider the printing materials, the UV lamp system, the coverage rate of the ink, the printing speed, and the expected value of the quality of the print (glossiness, friction resistance, etc.). It is also necessary to reconsider the single cost of the UV process (especially the cost of the ink and the glazing part).

The system we need should be able to have maximum flexibility in both the application area and the substrate area.

A fast drying traditional ink without VOC

Some printing manufacturers believe that the advantages of such rapid curing of hybrid or UV inks are also possible with conventional ink technologies. Kohl & Madden, a member of Sun Chemical Group, one of the world's leading ink manufacturers, launched a new leaflet called Liberty VOC-free VOC at PRINT 05. Offset printing ink. The product was jointly developed by Sun and VOC Free Inc., a professional technology research and development company. It is said that Liberty ink can be dried in a few minutes, but the crust will not dry on the press. The cobalt-free desiccant is contained in the ink, and the coloring speed is fast, which greatly reduces the waste generated during the printing startup and printing process. According to reports, the use of this ink can reduce the amount of powder sprayed by 50%. This new type of ink can give users the hope of increasing the bonus. If the ink drying time can be reduced from a few hours to several minutes, then the user can see a considerable return on investment.

Liberty inks beta testing at OSP

During the PRINT 05 exhibition, Mark Deffenbaugh, Vice President of Original Smith Printing (OSP), detailed the company's personal experience as a Liberty ink tester at a press conference initiated by Sun Chemicals.

OSP Corporation is a comprehensive commercial printing house with 190 employees and is one of the largest printing companies in Illinois (USA). The company owns two Didde web presses, several small web presses; Heidelberg's full-open and split-sheet presses, including a split-two-sided press (with waterborne light Eight-color 4/4 double-sided printing press for oil coating equipment and three 40-inch double-sided printing presses (a six-color 2/4 lacquer coating machine and two 10-color 5/5 printers).

OSP's presses do not have UV process equipment, and all use Kohl & Madden's 725 series of conventional inks. From July 2005, the company began testing Liberty inks on 10- and 6-color presses.

The quick version impressed me!

Deffenbaugh acknowledged that he initially doubted whether Liberty ink could reach the manufacturer's stated effect. According to him, his attitude toward the ink was changed at a time when the junior high school baseball team produced and printed. At that time, the order required the conversion time of India and India to be fast, and it was printed on coated paper. Folding and stapling are performed 15 minutes after the printed sheets are printed on the printing press. In the past, they had to wait two to four hours for folding and binding, and they had to wait in line on the cutting machine, the folding machine and the binding machine. He praised that this ink is really good!

Although Liberty inks have demonstrated the advantage of fast drying on OSP's copperplate paper and cover sheets, Deffenbaugh reminds colleagues that the length of drying time will vary from substrate to substrate.

OSP did not make any adjustments to fountain solution, blankets, or other consumable parameters on the press except when it was slightly more water. Even so, Deffenbaugh said: "OSP will not stay on this new type of ink all the time. We will continue to look for products that are more suitable for ourselves, constantly looking for and comparing, and finding winners!"

Deffenbaugh believes that Liberty inks are more likely to attract printing companies that do long prints and require shorter live print conversion times. He believes that the India-Turkish conversion time is very important. "We need all the help we can get!"

Source: China Ink Network