Finishing & Screen Printing
AUTOBOND BREAKS NEW GROUND AT IPEX 2010
Tuesday 23. February 2010 - UK manufacturer Autobond is planning a technology demonstration at Ipex 2010 that could have implications far beyond the laminating process, an area in which it is now a world leader. Autobond hopes to show a Mini sheet-fed laminator with the ability to inkjet print a spot UV, LED curable varnish in-line on top of matt film, as managing director John Gilmore explains.
Stands 19 D780 and 19 D790
“The worldwide market for UV spot varnish over matt film is significant and around 95 per cent of all spot UV varnish that is applied in the industry goes on top of matt film. However, this is normally carried out on traditional screen printing presses, which means it is generally too expensive and slow for short run jobs.
“The new Mini 36 TPM-SUV will provide, for the first time, the ability to apply variable spot UV varnish over matt film cost effectively, on jobs as low as two or three copies. All the operator has to do is upload a single bit TIFF file into the machine. Make-ready between jobs will be virtually eliminated and the running speed will be up to 30 metres a minute. The LED curable lamps, which do not produce ozone, use around 20 per cent of the power required by equivalent UV lamps, and last about twelve times as long. They also run cold, so there is a reduced risk of fire.”
The new Mini 36 TPM-SUV will handle sheets up to 360 x 570 mm but Autobond says that in future it could incorporate inkjet printed LED curable spot UV varnish within any of its standard models – 52 cm, 76 cm, and 105 cm – and the system is designed to retrofit behind existing laminators. The Mini 36 TPM-SUV will be able to apply thermal film one or both sides of the sheet and magnet lamination, as well as spot varnish, in one pass.
“At Ipex we will be showing a new range of Mini laminators that have a much reduced footprint and the new Mini 36 TPM-SUV will only be two metres in length, making it extremely compact,” says John Gilmore. “Autobond laminators can laminate successfully digital print, and so digitally printed book covers, for example, can have spot UV varnish applied to the matt film in one pass. The Mini 36 TPM-SUV represents a huge revolution in terms of what an ordinary sheet-fed printer or finishing house could achieve in terms of post press, added value, processes.”
Autobond will have three other new models on its Ipex stand, including a completely redesigned entry level laminator that will enable companies to bring high quality laminating in-house at a level of investment that has not been available before. The Mini 52 MF offers all of the industry-leading quality of standard Autobond laminators but with reduced automation. The manual-fed laminator will have a top speed of 10 metres per minute.
The other two new laminators will be the Mini 76 TPH – a thermal perfector equipped with a Heidelberg Speedmaster feed head – and a Mini 76 TP thermal perfector. Both models will have several new features to improve efficiency and make operation even easier.
During the last three years Autobond has pioneered the concept of incorporating other finishing processes within its laminators, and options now range from encapsulation and embossing to the application of a magnetic material, used in the creation of printed material such as fridge magnets.