04 January 2018

Screen launches new inkjet models

At Labelexpo Europe, Screen added two new digital label presses to its Truepress Jet L350UV series. This represents the first significant upgrade of the company’s UV inkjet label press since its introduction in 2013. The Screen Truepress Jet L350UV+LM is designed to print on substrates susceptible to UV ink migration and odor. It matches newly developed low migration (or ‘low permeability’) inks with a nitrogen purge mechanism for accelerating the cross-linking of UV inks. Screen says the new unit is compliant with European regulations including the Swiss Ordinance and Nestle guidelines.

The Truepress L350UV+LM press shares a number of features with the new L350UV+ (‘Plus’) press. This includes a new top speed of 60m/min compared to 50m/min for the original.

Both presses add a special orange ink to the existing CMYK+white ink set. The 600 x 600 DPI resolution and 3 picoliter drop size remain unchanged.

Carlo Sammarco, EMEA sales director for labels and packaging at Screen, claims Screen’s unique screening technology added to the 3 picoliter droplet size gives the company’s Vivid Color inkset the widest 4-color gamut available, and the new orange adds 16 percent to the Pantone color coverage in orange and reds. The press’ workflow includes LAB spot color matching with a built-in spectrophotometer.

A further addition is an optional chill roller which can be added to the press’ transfer section for cooling thin, heat sensitive substrates. For example, this means the wrappers used on PET bottles can now be printed on the Truepress Jet L350UV+LM press.

New applications

Carlo Sammarco said that up to now UV inkjet has mainly been applicable to industrial products where screen-like appearance and chemical resistance have been important. ‘But now we can print onto a wider array of unsupported material. At the same time working through Avery Dennison and Michelman we are bringing to market new higher value applications like wine label paperstocks. So this is now a machine which enables a label converter to provide a wide variety of applications.’

Rob Beaux, application engineer for printing and packaging at Michelman, explained why specialist primers are necessary: ‘For print quality – better visual resolution, higher optical density, to control bleeding and drying. Primers seal the surface, keep the ink vibrant and provide a good anchor to the surface. Our latest primers have been tested successfully with both wine label papers and direct thermal papers.’

All L350UV-series presses are available in either stand-alone (near line) or in-line configuration, with an AB Graphic Jet converter on demonstration at the Amsterdam HQ launch event.

Looking at the wider workflow, Screen’s established Equios system now integrates seamlessly with Cerm’s MIS. And at the launch event, German company One Vision was demonstrating a stripped-down, labels-specific version of its industry-leading newspaper workflow system, Digilabel, a fully automated label production system which integrates with Equios.

Concluding, Bui Burke, senior vice president of sales at Screen, said the company ‘will continue its development of systems designed to meet the needs of the label printing industry. We’re fully committed to the stable, long-term growth of the sector.’ As part of the company’s enhanced commitment to the European labels sector, Screen has relocated Yukiyoshi Tanaka, global business director for labels and packaging, to the company’s European HQ and demo center in the Netherlands.