Zeller+Gmelin develops new cold foil adhesive for foil stamping in LED UV offset printing
The printing ink manufacturer Zeller+Gmelin GmbH & Co. KG has added to their range of products new adhesive systems for the finishing process by means of cold foil transfer on sheet fed and web offset printing presses. The adhesives from the Uvalux® series with the product codes LED U0850 and LED U0851 are both designed for the product sector of LED UV technology. The company from Eislingen, which has specialized in the market segment of radiation curing and has developed inks and varnishes for this application for quite some time, now also offers LED UV curing adhesives.
The two new products are an important complement to the wide range offered by the printing ink supplier from Eislingen for the adhesive sector. Altogether, the Uvalux® series is a complete programme that provides the appropriate product, including low-migration variants, for various applications in UV offset and letterpress printing on narrow-web printing presses as well as in UV sheet-fed offset printing. In addition, the entire programme includes the two series Euralux and Uvaflex®, with which Zeller+Gmelin also serves the segments of conventional sheet-fed offset printing as well as UV flexographic printing.
Thanks to the two new products, also users of the LED UV technology are able in combination with UV offset printing to realize metal effects on paper and cardboard both in packaging printing (non-food) and commercial printing. For the curing of the highly reactive cold foil adhesives, LED UV systems in the wavelength ranges of 385 and 395 nm can be used. In processing, the adhesives safeguard a good adhesion to the film and the substrate. They feature a sharp edge definition in printing and are very stable in the ink duct, even with high-volume print runs. The difference between the two systems is the colouring, which supports an exact positioning and easier control of the applied quantity. Uvalux® LED U0850 is a yellow-coloured adhesive intended for the use on gold foils and Uvalux® LED U0851 is a grey-coloured system for silver foils.
Currently, LED UV systems are increasingly moving into the market as an alternative to conventional UV curing. They offer a number of economic and environmental benefits. These include, among others, low energy consumption and a long service life as well as the elimination of warm-up time and waiting time when the lamps are switched on or off. The systems do not contain any mercury, do not release any ozone and due to the lack of infrared radiation, they are also suitable for temperature-sensitive substrates since the influence of heat on the substrate is reduced.
