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Call for "hybrid" UV ink standards
July 14, 2008

Bill Bonallo, new director of sheetfed sales and business development at UV curing systems manufacturer IST America, makes an interesting point:

“Since the introduction of what we now call hybrid UV technology in the mid-1990s, there has been consistent growth in the sheetfed UV market. The concept and now the reality of bridging the gap between conventional ink print quality and runability with inline UV coating has made UV or energy-curable inks the highest growth segment of the global printing ink business, exceeding 10% growth per year.

"Although the latest generation of hybrid UV inks should, in most cases, not be called hybrid at all, the on-press performance these inks consistently provide has generally proven to be outstanding. The ink manufactures that make these high-quality inks will freely admit (upon request) that what was once a blend of conventional inks and some UV components, including vehicles and photo initiators, is in fact now a highly refined set of pure UV inks with no conventional components whatsoever.

"The problem is that there are many ink companies building the old-style hybrid formulations. Some of these sets react completely differently on press than others because, to date, there are no standards that dictate or control what hybrid inks utilize as parts of the formulas. This is causing serious issues in the market. Printers expect that hybrid is hybrid, pure UV inks are pure UV and all so-called combi rollers, blankets and wash-up solutions will work in harmony together—which, unfortunately, is not always the case. Often times the problems are discovered after mysterious on-press phenomena occur, resulting in lost time, spoilage and, in many cases, destroyed rollers. This is clearly not what people expect or deserve.

"The lesson here is all hybrid UV, pure UV, combi rollers, blankets and wash-up solutions are not created equal. No one should assume anything when considering this technology. I strongly believe the ink companies should establish a standard for hybrid UV and require everyone to adhere to it. Just like when you purchase fuel for your vehicle, you know what you are putting into your tank: the octane rating, ethanol additives or not, etc. Hybrid UV basic formulation guidelines should be the same.” 

For more on the topic of coating and curing, see chief editor Bill Esler's feature story in the July issue of Graphic Arts Monthly.

Posted by Mark Vruno on July 14, 2008 | Comments (0)