Kolding, Denmark - At the FEFCO Exhibition and Technical Seminar organised by the European Federation of Corrugated Board Manufacturers, TRESU Group will showcase its ancillary solutions for automated ink logistics in wide-web flexo printing, bringing consistent colour quality at faster production speeds and reductions in material waste, setup times and labour costs (stand 104 / 105, Messe Wien, Austria, 11 to 13 October 2017). 

Together, TRESU’s programme of ink supply systems and chamber doctor blades, with corrosion-resistant carbon fibre and ceramic surfaces, provide a fully enclosed solution for regulating ink flow from bucket to printing substrate.   

The F10iCon ink supply system for automated flow regulation

TRESU’s F10iCon ink supply system regulates ink flow, pressure and viscosity from the bucket, through the chamber and to the press, maintaining constant, pre-set ink density values for complete production runs. When ink changes are required, the F10 iCon system carries out fast and thorough chamber cleaning automatically, and returns almost all unused contents to the bucket for reuse on subsequent jobs. With the F10 iCon, simultaneous ink changes on printing stations takes minutes, delivering significant time and materials savings per job. 

Chamber doctor blade systems: uniform print quality print and easy use

The TRESU chamber programme includes lightweight, corrosion-resistant carbon fibre and ceramic variants and covers all flexo printing situations, in widths from 185mm (7.3in) up to 6000mm (236in). Assisted by the company’s patented seals and constant pressure maintained by the supply system, TRESU chamber doctor blades prevent leakage and air contamination, thereby ensuring clean, blister-free print results with fast drying characteristics, better reflection and higher gloss values. When doctor blades need replacing, TRESU’s patented clamping systems enable changeovers in less than two minutes.

The enclosed chamber, created by the seal and precise blade positioning, ensures pressure and flow rate are maintained at desired levels without manual intervention. This stops air contaminating the chamber and results in foam-free transfer of ink / coating directly to the anilox cells. This in turn ensures a clean, blister-free printed image with fast drying characteristics, better reflection and higher gloss values, whether on paper or film. The enclosed chamber also prevents solvents from escaping and protects the ink from degradation due to exposure to the atmosphere. Depending on surface and material type used, printing speeds can exceed 600m/min. 

MaxiPrint Concept: optimised efficiency with integrated ink supply and cleaning

The TRESU MaxiPrint Concept combines a compact ink supply system with an integrated cleaning system, providing the benchmark for low ink loss and setup times in wide web and corrugated flexo printing. The chambers are available in widths between 1600mm (63in) and 6000mm (236in), with ceramic or carbon fibre surfaces offering protection against corrosion by substances up to pH12.

The MaxiPrint Concept chamber’s cleaning nozzles with robustly designed water-shot mechanisms provide an ink change and cleaning cycle within 3-5 minutes. It comes with a peristaltic or diaphragm ink supply system and can be adapted to any press.

With a global support network of subsidiary companies and agents, TRESU provides the resources and expertise to provide long-term application support, training, and management of retrofitting projects to raise the performance of existing presses with tailored ink logistics solutions. 

Chris Wolters, areas sales manager, TRESU Group, will present a paper on the value of automated ink logistics at the FEFCO Technical Seminar on 12th October, from 4:25pm.

Mr. Wolters comments: “TRESU ancillary solutions are forming the basis of a lean manufacturing workflow at pre- and post-print corrugated facilities worldwide, driving waste from processes and enabling compliance with demanding colour targets. At FEFCO 2017, our technical team will be on hand to show the value that TRESU’s tailored automated ink logistics can bring to your business.”

Besides ancillary solutions, TRESU also offers complete coating systems for integration with sheet-fed digital folding carton printing systems, and high-performance hybrid flexographic printing and converting lines for paperboard packaging and gamecard applications.