Xeikon extends folding carton suite with Alpine fuser drum

Xeikon has extended its folding carton suite with the new Alpine fuser drum.

 

The Alpine fuser drum has a flexible outer layer to help to produce smooth and consistent print on uneven and textured media, especially recycled board stocks.

 

The digital printing specialist said the new drum permits high-quality digital carton printing on a variety of materials.

 

From June 2013 it will be offered as an option for the two 508mm-wide printing presses in the Xeikon 3000 Series, the entry level Xeikon 3050 and high-speed Xeikon 3500.

These presses can print B2 and longer formats on board for folding carton.

 

The Alpine 516 fuser drum can be ordered with new machines or retrofitted to existing installations. Print speeds are unchanged with the new drum, which can be used with conventional smooth surfaced card substrates and papers as well as with the rougher textured surfaces.

 

Jeroen Van Bauwel, director of product management at Xeikon, said: ‘The standard fuser drum has a hard surface, so if you have a structured substrate, there is a chance that it only contacts the raised areas, which may result in an uneven gloss level.

 

'The Alpine fuser drum has a softer, rubber-like coating, which can adapt to the form of the surface and create a uniform look and feel on challenging substrates.’

 

Van Bauwel added: ‘The Alpine fuser drum really widens the range of carton materials that can be printed within the Xeikon Folding Carton Suite. Deliveries of the first drums will start in June 2013.

 

‘This follows a Beta test period with print sites, including C&M Packing in Timisoara, Romania, which specializes in printing labels and short-run folding carton applications for food retailers and beauty industry.’

 

Dorel Negru, general manager of C&M Packing, said: ‘We have been testing the new Alpine 516 fuser drum for several months now. It has really enabled us to widen the application range of our Xeikon 3500 digital press, which will help us to grow our business.

 

‘We are quite impressed with the range of extra substrates that we can print with very good quality, such as Fedrigoni papers and boards, Id Paper, Arconvert materials, together with the well-known label materials from producers such as UPM Raflatac and Avery Dennison.’

 

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