IST (UK) is starting a new generation UV retro fit service to equip existing sheetfed litho presses with the latest tuned lamp or LED UV technology.
Chris Schofield, joint managing director of IST (UV), says: “The retrofit option will be attractive to companies who can’t currently budget for a new press or who would like to trial LE-UV or LED UV for a relatively low capital cost before buying a dedicated new press using the latest energy efficient technology.”
It is not the first to offer a retrofit system, but is the first to provide a choice. Companies like Benford can fit a tuned mercury vapour lamp solution, as it has on a Komori at Selsey Press, while AMS can retrofit an LED UV system. IST’s move is also significant because of existing close ties with Heidelberg and its leadership position in UV curing.
IST has a long history with standard UV technology and has developed LED and hybrid curing systems for narrow web label presses. It is bringing this approach to commercial printing where it has dubbed the LED offering, comprising control cabinet, chiller system and the bar of laser diodes to generate the narrow spectrum of UV energy that matches the photo initiators in a matched ink.
IST is worked with a number of ink suppliers on optimising the ink for LED curing. Ink agitators are recommended for a retrofit system.
The LUV option is, however, more expensive than the LE-UV system where the UV energy is generated by a doped mercury vapour lamp. IST anticipates this being attractive to smaller printers handling high volumes of uncoated stock. Schofield cites the advantages as dry sheets in the delivery.
New generation UV is also “efficient and cut the amount of ink used as well as eliminating spray powered and reducing the energy bill, compared to other drying options. They also provide high gloss levels and resistance to abrasion, sidelining the need for a dedicated coating or sealing unit.”
The mercury lamp option is less expensive, though lamps need to be changed with relative frequency. each is guaranteed for 2,500 hours and often last for 4,000 hours. The life of a diode in contrast is at least 20,000 hours.
The new generation UV technology was first introduced by Komori, which continues to lead with more than 500 installations worldwide for its single lamp H-UV technology. KBA and Heidelberg now have their own systems for new presses, covering both single lamp and LED technologies. And as interest in new presses is rising, so too is interest in the potential of retro fitting a UV system.
In Germany IST has added LUV to presses at a number of companies, including Heidelberg user Häuser KG which is a leading online printer handling 1,000 or more jobs a day. It plans to add the technology to offer presses in the Cologne factory.
The system is position in the delivery unit and can be mounted as much as 80mm from the sheet. There is little heat generated, and none reaches the sheet.
IST (UK) is introducing a service to retro fit commercial printing presses with new generation UV technology, either single lamp or LED systems, to bring benefits of instantly dry sheets.
