The LED Curables Arrived At drupa

Like many people in the printing and related industries—some 391,000 of us—I spent quite a bit of time walking through the halls of this year's drupa. One exciting technology, inks cured with light-emitting diodes (LEDs), emerged on the scene just before the mega show. Curing with LED reduces energy consumption and heat, allowing printing on thin films.

On the inkjet side, Sun Chemical, INX Digital and Hexion Specialty Chemicals were among the ink companies showing these inks. Meanwhile, Toyo Ink ran its FD LED-curable sheetfed inks on Ryobi's new 525 GX press on the show floor in Dusseldorf. (Read more in July GAM, p.17.)

The green and cost advantages of FD LED Series are impressive, reports John Copeland, Toyo Ink America president and COO. “The LED curing process produces less heat, consumes 75% less electricity, only needs one unit to cure and is similar in cost to UV equipment,” he says. The ink needs to be highly engineered and is a joint effort between Ryobi, Toyo Ink and Matsushita Denko.

“We're printing at 5 meters per second currently with LED, and its energy consumption is 4 watts/cm. versus UV, which is 300 watts/cm.,” notes Ken Kisner, senior VP/CTO of Triangle Digital INX, which showed its Evolve LED inks. “We're getting full cure. LED is very green—low power consumption, no ozone generation and low heat generation, which allows us to print on thin plastic films without melting them. LED can be retrofitted onto existing equipment. LED lamps also weigh less, which will allow the carriage to move faster.”

Brad Kisner, president of Triangle Digital INX, adds that LED technology is coming very fast. “The chemistry and printhead technology are maturing at the same time,” he says. “The LED technology allows us to work on continuous web, and speeds will grow astronomically. By next drupa, LED technology will be all over the show.”

The other technologies that caught my eye were from Eckart Effect Pigments, part of Altana. In particular, Eckart showcased its new JetFluid metallic inkjet inks—and the effects are sharp.

“We began work four years ago to prove that metallics could be jetted,” says Colin Appleyard, head of digital inks for Eckart. “We can now bring a product to the marketplace, and we are working with printhead makers and integrators. We think we did a great job making JetFluid's particles so small yet reflective. We are showing what is coming, and we've certainly woken up some people.” Eckart thinks it will take off—and hopes to have solutions in the market by the end of the year.

PlatinStar, Eckart's metallic shrink-wrap sleeve ink, is also a notable achievement. “It's really new to be able to shrink-wrap a metallic,” notes Craig Reid, Eckart's global head of marketing and business development. “It usually distorts, but if you choose the right metallic pigments and resins, such as in PlatinStar, you can be successful in shrink wrap.”

Overall, ink industry officials left Germany satisfied. “Over the course of two weeks, we had consistently heavy traffic at our booth, allowing for many productive discussions with customers,” reports John McKeown, Sun's senior VP of human resources.

“Drupa was everything we expected it to be—and more,” adds Joe Bendowski, president of Van Son Holland Ink.

ONLINE: go to graphicartsonline.com/inks