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28/07/2006 |
Hybrid and high-speed printing
Eelco Venema introduces a hybrid screenprinter and a high speed bottle printer.
For a lot of applications, printing with UV inks has become a very good alternative to conventional enamel or ceramic screenprinting onto glass. UV curable inks do not contain heavy metals, colours can be made according to PMS standards, they stay bright after a large number of dish washes, and they require only low temperature firing – or even, with some technologies, no firing at all.
However, it is not always an easy step to change to UV printing, especially as screenprinting companies also want to be able to serve their customers with ceramic printing.
A hybrid printer
Rosario's Decormec MC Hybrid printer has been developed to enable both ceramic and UV printing on the same screenprinting machine. It is equipped with screen heating for thermoplastic ceramics, and with UV lamps in case UV inks have to be applied. To change from ceramics to UV or vice versa is a matter of changing the screens to the one with the correct mesh material: stainless steel for ceramics and polyester for UV inks. Touch-screen operation chooses between screen heating or UV lamps.
The MC Hybrid is a modular machine, which means that it can be bought as a single, double or multi-colour printer, and separate modules can be added later when more colours are required. Options for oval printing and a device to print on the neck of the bottles can also be added at a later date.
High speed printing
Rosario recently introduced a new product for the screenprinting market. The PLS prints bottles at speeds of 120 or 150 bottles per minute with a tight registration of four colours on the neck and four colours on the body of the bottle. This high speed and good colour registration keep the cost of screenprinting low.
With the PLS, job change times can be shortened to less than an hour. Many of the mechanical parts of the machine have been replaced by electronically controlled servo drive units, or have mechanical parts that require a minimum of maintenance or adjustment.
To minimise machine stops during production the PLS is equipped with a fully automatic paint dispensing system (APDS) which features a quick change of paint pots to enable the changing of colours in minutes. The temperatures of the pots and tubes and paint distribution are controlled by the PLC and all parameter settings are done through the touch-screen on the main control panel.
About the author:
Eelco Venema is the Managing Director of Rosario
Further information:
Rosario Productie bv, Dongen, The Netherlands
tel: +31 13504 66 55
fax: +31 13504 66 50
email: info@rosarioproductie.com
website: www.rosarioproductie.com
Worldwide contacts:
For a complete list of contacts worldwide, see the website
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