GRAPH EXPO 2006: Consumables And Substrates — Tools for the Trade
AWAY FROM the churning of offset presses and clicking of bindery machinery, a buzz was emanating from the comparably quiet booths containing consumable product vendors at Graph Expo—a buzz caused by new product announcements, enhancements and other newsworthy scuttlebutt.
Toyo Ink America, for instance, showcased a comprehensive lineup of inks for sheetfed and web printing applications. Ink products that debuted at the show included: Kaleido four-color process ink; edible inks; heatset web inks; the Scuff Tuff SG process series; and the Aqualess Ultra process series.
New non-ink products from Toyo included the TOYO 1050 Color Finder system, with color matches for 1,050 colors that are compatible with offset inks, gravure inks and plastic colorants; TOYO KING printing blankets for sheetfed, web and UV printing or carton applications; and Urushina artificial lacquer resin for lower-cost coating applications.
Flint Group’s North American sheetfed division now offers the K+E line of sheetfed inks. The merger between XSYS Print Solutions and Flint Ink is said to have enabled Flint Group to build on its market positioning and offer a wider range of products and services.
Additionally, the company reports the merger allowed Flint Group to expand upon an established North American distributor network, providing enhanced sales and service capabilities to respond to the needs of printers.
Meanwhile, Sun Chemical made several product announcements. Since misting problems and high volumes of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are topics of concern for heatset web printers, Sun Chemical developed Triton, a new set of four-color process inks. Triton inks are formulated to meet the needs of retail and magazine printers utilizing heatset web offset technology.
The company also featured its Liberty sheetfed inks. The environmentally friendly Liberty inks were recently named recipients of the 2006 PIA/GATF InterTech Technology Award.
In a related move, SunJet, the ink-jet ink division of Sun Chemical, announced the launch of its PerSona brand of inks for commercial printing and finishing applications. Several manufacturers of digital printing equipment used PerSona inks at their exhibits.
Designed specifically for use in ink-jet printing equipment using both continuous ink-jet (CIJ) and drop-on-demand (DOD) thermal and piezo technology, the PerSona brand uses focused ink technology to address the specific application needs for mailing, billing and statement printing, as well as personalization of plastic cards used for security and identification in smart applications.
INX International Ink displayed its full lineup of product offerings at the show. Base systems are designed for packaging and commercial applications. Inks and coatings are said to be engineered for quality and reduced applied cost. Automated on-site blending and ink delivery systems are available, as well as proprietary ink management and inventory software systems and digital ink matching systems.
Van Son Holland Ink featured its Quickson line of offset printing inks: Quickson PRO, Vs3 and Vs5 series. Quickson PRO works on any size press and application, and provides excellent rub resistance. Vs3 reduces ink consumption and offers consistent color and sharp dot retention. The resin in Vs5 series inks allows for very low water pickup, resulting in super gloss and scuff resistance. Van Son continues to demonstrate that its ink products are suited for a wide range of press sizes and applications.
Hostmann-Steinberg’s ink offerings were put on display, including products for sheetfed offset, web offset (heatset and coldset) and flexographic press users. A line of fountain solutions and coatings are also available.
Operating out of the xpedx booth, SpeedyDry demonstrated its ink additive that helps conventional oil-based inks dry faster and with more rub resistance on substrates from matte stocks and coated papers to synthetics. SpeedyDry’s chemistry also solves problems associated with using reflex blue, purple and violet inks.
xpedx has a national network of graphics, paper, packaging, finishing and logistics specialists. The company reports it has fulfilled more than 3.5 million online customer orders in the past 12 months.
GBC’s Digital Lay-Flat laminating film was running on a Canon imagePRESS digital press. Digital Lay-Flat film provides adhesion and flat output for dry toner-based, electrophotographic output. It is engineered to enable lamination immediately after printing within on-demand printing environments.
Harris & Bruno is distributing HALS film, a micro-array lens sheet manufactured by GRAPAC Japan. By printing minute dotted patterns on a HALS sheet, utilizing fine lenses in a square array, perception of depth can be altered, achieving a 3D effect. HALS does not use any special 3D photo-graphy or 3D graphics software and can be achieved with conventional printing techniques.
MacDermid Printing Solutions delivered offset blankets for the commercial, sheetfed, web, packaging and newspaper printing markets. The company displayed its complete line of blankets used for applying coatings. It has a range of products including Polycell, Graffity, Timer, Contrast, Metro, Timer NP, Synchro, Hebdo, Star, Aquablue, Astral, Elastostrip and Polystrip.
Day International offered its full line of pressroom products, including Supreme Fount 7086, a one-step fountain solution concentrate that allows operators to run presses at lower water speeds and keep ink densities stable. It also offers faster cleanups and restarts with no sensitivity issues.
Filling Pressroom Needs
Attendees stopping by the Printing Research Inc. (PRI) booth were able to view a number of products, including Dupont Sontara PrintMaster automatic blanket wash replacement cloth rolls, Sontara multi-purpose shop towels and cloth wipes, Super Blue 2 anti-static, anti-marking systems, Everclean automatic impression cylinder jacket/blanket cleaning materials and Blue Glass anti-marking films.
Mitsubishi Lithographic Presses chose YUPO FPR 200 synthetic paper to demonstrate the versatility of its new Diamond 3000LX press. The synthetic grade was specified for this project due to its compatibility with UV printing, ease of handling, durability and aesthetic quality. MLP used the new press to print poster-sized images of the Mars Rover landing and Hubble Space Telescope with UV inks.
New from Mohawk Fine Papers, DigitalMark uses digital technology to embed a private mark or logo in 14 different Strathmore Writing and Script papers. DigitalMark offers an alternative to traditional watermarking.
The company also relaunched its Via text and cover papers segment with a new look, new swatchbook, new packaging, and a newly consolidated and streamlined product line. Mohawk’s new Website, mohawkpaper.com, integrates all Mohawk products and services as a customer resource area. PI
For more information on Graph Expo products, go to www.piworld.com and click on the Graph Expo roundup link.
