Omet launches presses for PS labels and flexibles

Omet took the opportunity of an open house during the Converflex show to introduce two new press lines, both with very different end uses in mind.

The iFlex is an ‘entry-level’ narrow web UV flexo press dedicated to efficient PS label production. It is a gear-driven machine with a new way of pre-registering the plate using a laser beam.

The VaryFlex V2 Offset, by contrast, is a mid web offset-flexo combination press targeted at flexible packaging and shrink sleeve labels.

Dedicated to labels

The iFlex is a 370mm-wide UV flexo press incorporating a unique manual pre-register system along with Omet’s established Vision-1 automatic register control.

It is a shaft driven press with a directly driven impression cylinder. The only gear on each print unit is on the plate cylinder – a configuration claimed to eliminate gear backlash and improve print stability. The unwind is motor driven (no brake) as is the infeed.

What Omet calls the ‘iLight’ pre-register system consists of laser pointers located on each print unit and lining up with the top of the plate. The light beam shows the exact mounting position for th e plate. Once the operator has correctly aligned the plate, it is manually locked in place.

Dual iLight laser pointers are positioned on the die station – one perpendicular to the die for accurate longitudinal register and one aligned on the web for cut-to-print accuracy.