Decorating Equipment

Printing via the pad method in now possible at 2000 cycles/hr under most conditions for one color and typically 1700 cycle/hr in the two-color mode as a consequence of the latest advancements at Pad Print Machinery of Vermont (East Dorset, VT).

Trumpf (Farmington, CT) describes its new TruMark 5020 fiber laser marker as fast and flexible, and ideal for applications in plastics requiring high speed and excellent edge quality, thanks to high-pulse frequencies and its superior pulse-to-pulse stability. Trumpf paid particular attention to laser safety in the design of the new fiber laser marker. In addition to an especially tough fiber protection hose, the TruMark 5020 has a mechanical lock that prevents the laser beam from discharging between two marking procedures.

Advanced coating and surface engineering solutions provider Plasmatech (Erlanger KY) has added to its line of low-pressure gas plasma systems with the AL2200-D, designed for treatment of powders and pellets. A specially designed 5-liter rotating chamber ensures treatment consistency, even when processing very fine materials. Production systems with larger chambers are also available to accommodate higher volume requirements.

Inmold labeling (IML) has been slow to catch on in the United States, and several factors contribute to this. One is the long supply chain for the labels, which still primarily come from Europe, with one of the largest suppliers to North America in Belgium. The goal of companies adopting IML is to shorten the supply chain, particularly with respect to the labels, and gain greater availability in the United States.

Moss Srl (Reggio Emilia, Italy; ) has introduced the latest version of its MO 2062 dry-offset rotary printer, which is suitable for decoration of up to four colors on the top flat side of plastic caps for water bottles and carbonated beverages. A new feeding system developed by Moss enables a production rate of up to 300,000 caps/hour for the complete line. The same printer can be configured for half production of up to 150,000 caps/hour.

Officials at printing machine supplier The Sabreen Group (Plano, TX) say demand for the Vector Jet Laser Marking Technology introduced last year has surpassed all projections, with injection molded parts’ printing one significant reason.

The KP-08 pad printer from Pad Print Machinery of Vermont (East Dorset, VT) prints between one and five colors with 90-mm ink cups, or can be configured as a one- or two-color machine with 130-mm cups. “It offers customers improved base stability, a more efficient cup-drive system, and a simpler automatic pad cleaner,” says CEO and founder Julian Joffe.

ITW Trans Tech (Carol Stream, IL) has debuted the InDecs SPM high-speed, single-pass inkjet product decoration module featuring cutting-edge, variable-drop, piezoelectric printheads, online UV ink curing, and a custom user interface. InDecs SPM is capable of printing at speeds that can reach 10 in/sec or greater. The flexible InDecs offers single or multiple color capabilities, as well as customized print widths to meet individual application requirements.

The CD70S feeder from Colortronic (Chesterfield, UK) is ideally suited for dosing of granules, free-flowing regrind, and flake material in both continuous and batching applications. The feeder features bottom discharge of material via a slide gate, tool-free removal of the feedscrew from the rear, maintenance-free gears, and a large screw intake area, giving a more consistent feed. The feeder can be supplied in gravimetric or volumetric versions.