Stork Prints launches ink dispensing system

Stork Prints launches an easy-to-install, gravimetric ink dispensing system, enabling users of relatively low ink volumes to deliver spot-on color accuracy, keep waste to a minimum and reduce ink formulation times.

Colorsat Match has a dispensing range up to 10 kg and has the capacity to mix inks from at least 12, and up to 20, components. It is suitable for dispensing UV-curing and water-based flexo, screen and gravure inks with viscosity up to 2500 mPas (2500 cP).

With its proprietary Windows XP-based Ink Management Software (IMS) software, Colorsat Match makes precise formulations so the printer can deliver the most challenging of colors to brand owners’ exacting specifications, and at extremely competitive speeds. Typically, a 5 kg recipe formed out of four components is dispensed in between three and four minutes.

Furthermore, the software calculates wherever possible, surplus ink formulations from previous jobs (‘press-returns’) into new recipes – a task often too complex for those who prepare recipes manually. It also saves the need to manually update ink return-stocks.

Previous recipes for specific jobs are saved in a database and recalled when the need for a reprint comes. Thus users are assured an identical recipe is dispensed, for perfect color consistency. An optional feature is an in-built diagnostics program, providing a connection to the Stork Prints help-desk so the system’s database and status can be analyzed.

Other features include an innovative integrated design of a storage tank for base inks and an air-driven piston pump with a circulation unit. The removable plane table on the top of the system allows enough working room for barcode scanning, color formulating and paperwork as well as easy access to key components for maintenance and repair.

As standard in the new dispensing system, ten of the internal storage tanks have a capacity of 20 liters, a further two have a 40-litre capacity. They are easy to maneuver and refill, while their layout gives a space-saving small footprint.  The system can be extended with up to four low volume components (using 20-litre tanks) or eight high volume components (using external connections for buckets or drums). The connections for high volume components include a modular hose-rack stand for in-line and wall-layout options, whilst diaphragm pumps, with smooth flow-pulsation dampers, enable accurate and even ink-flow.

Colorsat Match is simple to assemble, without help from a Stork Prints technician thanks to its unique ‘plug and play’ concept. Filling and connecting the base inks takes minimum time, and the software’s set-up wizard guides the operator, step-by-step, through the configuration process. Also, the parameters of every base ink, once programmed in the set-up stage, are saved for future use.

With only a sliding weighing scale as a moving part, Match is very easy to maintain. The scale allows the easy positioning, filling and removing of the buckets, at an ergonomically working height.

Also included in the software is the IMS Logistics on-line ink-ordering platform. This eliminates much of the costly administrative burden of ink-procurement. The ink-supplier uses the system to obtain immediate data on the printer’s stock and consumption levels, and replenishes the customer’s base-inks accordingly. E-mail or modem connection makes communication possible between supplier and printer.

Anne Lourens, general manager of Stork Prints’ dispensing division, commented: ‘Good ink logistics make a vital contribution to enhancing the printer’s efficiency and flexibility of service – especially with raw material costs rising so much. These are two key components for maintaining competitiveness today. The arrival or Stork’s Colorsat Match helps the small-quantity user cut out waste, and raise quality levels in one fell swoop, for a fast return on investment.’