Die news

Die news

L&L rounds up the new developments in dies and hot stamping

Flexible die introduced for liquid packaging

RotoMetrics is giving converters a new option for narrow to mid-web processing of liquid packaging cartons.  According to the company, its Rotary Pressure Cutting (RPC) flexible dies allow much faster job set up and deliver ‘industry-leading cost per revolution efficiencies’. 

Optimized for PolyCoated 2-side board and foil board for liquid packaging such as milk and juice cartons, the RPC dies offer significant tooling cost savings and are offered with
on-press or off-press mounting for improved work flow. 
RotoMetrics also offers dedicated RP die cutting stations with magnetic cylinder cartridge for quick and easy job changeover.

Suron launches flexible carton die

As the carton market moves towards shorter runs, Suron has introduced a ‘mount and cut’ flexible die dedicated to the folding carton market. The company says set-up and registration are as easy as mounting a standard flex die, with no cranes for lifting heavy cylinders and no long set-up of male / female solid tools. The flexible die is designed to work on standard rotary cutting units.

Suron’s carton dies are made from flexible hard steel with high magnetization, are resistant to erosion and corrosion and give full control over carton folding lines.

Anderson adds MicroPerf to GVM

The Anderson Group has developed a MicroPerf add-on for its market leading GVM Engraving Machine, developed for the production of flexible dies for the rotary printing and c
utting industry.

‘The requirements of the production of flexible dies constantly rises, and one topic is the processing of perforations and individual small undercuts on the cutting edge,’ explained Alfred Könemann, sales and development manager at Anderson Group subsidiary Anderson Europe, located in Detmold, Germany.

According to Könemann, the standard way of manufacturing these dies was limited in a number of ways: to the minimum width of the undercut, with the smallest cut 0.3 mm; by the contour of the cutting edges, so just straight lines were possible; to the height of the flexible dies, with the deepest undercut 0.5 mm; and by the contour of the undercut, known as a ‘V’ cut.

‘These overall limitations made it to a tough job for the flexible die manufacturer to support the requirements of the market,’ said Könemann.

Anderson Europe has therefore developed a specific system to produce micro-perforations and/or small undercuts on the cutting edge. By using the MicroPerf add-on on the GVM engraving machine, the user can now produce perforations and individual undercuts in one step after the engraving job.

The MicroPerf Advanced add-on version allows these perforations and undercuts to be performed both on straight lines or freeform geometries – the machine will follow the contour as specified by the CAD/CAM system.

The MicroPerf system is fully integrated into the GVM machine’s CNC system and brings a wide range of capabilities to die manufacturers. The smallest undercut is now 0.12 mm – and these are straight undercut contours, not ‘V’ cuts. The system has automatic contactless tool measuring and compensation and can use different tool sizes, while individual undercut widths can use the same tool.

RotoMetrics, Gerhardt launch die technology

RotoMetrics and Gerhardt exhibited as one global company for the first time, launching the AccuStar flexible die cutting system which combines the technologies of RotoMetrics’ Accuflex and Gerhardt’s 357 Star lines. AccuStar is a premium laser hardened die system designed to cut through thin materials down to ever thinner liner films and can be specially coated to suit the thermal transfer market. The Accustar line is currently manufactured at both the RotoMetrics flexible die facility in the US and its facility in Aldridge, UK. By the end of the year production will be undertaken in Australia and Thailand.

The new RotoMetrics/Gerhardt team also launched the AccuStrike adjustable anvil which allows operators to adjust blade clearance on press by moving the bearers independently or together to avoid liner strikes. Live demos were shown at the Mark Andy booth on its P-7 press and on Nilpeter’s FB-3300 in conjunction with the press manufacturer’s New Innovation Award-nominated SMED-based die system.  You can see a video of this combination in action here.

Also featured was the TextureFlex, a dual purpose die that allows for texturing and die cutting of pre-printed label material, adding value and reducing cost. It is available for hard de-boss and soft emboss applications.

Wink shifts die patterns

German die-cut tool manufacturer wink introduced several new products at this year’s Labelexpo in Brussels, including ProShift flexible dies and the ProMount mobile mounting tool.

The newly developed wink ProShift flexible dies have a staggered shape which minimizes the length of simultaneously cutting crosslines. ‘Shifted’ dies allow a significant reduction in die-cut pressure, which in turn results in higher production speeds and longer lifetime for all die-cut components, says wink. Further advantages are less damage to the liner for kiss-cut applications, better processing of very thin liners, easier matrix stripping and reduced noise exposure. ProShift dies can be combined with all Wink finishings like laser hardening, MC coating and non-stick coating. For shifted die-cut of printed labels the label manufacturer needs flexo printing plates with a corresponding design. Wink is currently co-operating with a market-leading supplier of pre-production software to facilitate the production process of shifted printing plates.

ProMount is a compact mobile device for mounting flexible dies, allowing label printers to position the dies accurately at the first attempt without removing the magnetic cylinder from the machine. ‘The device is automatically aligned on the surface of the magnetic cylinder, assuring perfect fitting accuracy of flexible dies and thus high-precision die-cut of labels,’ said wink. The ProMount tool works with special positioning holes, which can be applied to all flexible dies from Wink on request. ProShift dies are equipped with these holes by default. The ProMount tool is available in different sizes for all common machines.

Pictured: Rotometrics launches ‘game changing’ pressure cutting dies for liquid packaging applications

This article was published in L&L issue 6, 2011