Omet launches Varyflex V4 Offset

At an open house at its Lecco, Italy headquarters, Omet has launched the Varyflex V4 Offset press, a sleeve-based combination machine integrating electron beam drying.

Visitors to Omet's open house examine sleeves for the new Varyflex Offset V4 press

The Varyflex V4 Offset press is available in 670mm (26in) and 850mm (33in) widths and operates at speeds up to 400m/min (1,312ft/min) with a variable print repeat between 16-32in. It will print materials as thin as 12 microns.

Rapid job changes across different repeat sizes are enabled by Omet’s Easy Sleeve format change system with automatic pressure adjustment. The blanket and impression rolls automatically compensate for plate gap bounce.

The open house press uses Rossini’s lightweight plate mounting sleeves constructed from a fiberglass core coupled with aluminum outer with polyurethane/honeycomb intermediate layers to give high levels of dimensional stability. A protective steel ring integrates the register notch.

The sleeves incorporate RFID tags for automatic identification of the print repeat, helping avoid the wrong job being put on the press. It also allows a check on blanket wear.

A special trolley, the Revolver cart, allows sleeves to be rapidly removed and replaced. Each Revolver cart carries up to eight sleeves and services three printing units.

The Varyflex V4 Offset incorporates automatic adjustment of cross- and machine-direction print register using a multi-camera scanning system. In Offset mode automatic register control balances incorrect plate mounting or compensates for substrate stretch.

The press allows considerable flexibility, printing either wet-on-dry, mounting UV lamps between printing stations, or wet-om-wet with either UV drying or electron beam curing at the end of the press.

For a full report, see the next edition of Labels & Labeling magazine 

Andy Thomas

  • Strategic director