T-Trade launches linerless print and apply system

A new linerless print and apply system is now available from Transfer Trade, a division of the Italian T-Trade Group. Transfer Trade is a manufacturer of thermal transfer ribbons, producing over 40 million square meters a year. The group also produces self-adhesive labels, thermal transfer printers and readers for the industrial market.

Faced with demands from end users to reduce the environmental impact of PS rolls in the industrial sector, and to increase productivity, the T-Trade engineering division began a project in 2009 to bring a linerless print & apply system to market.

Enrico Friziero, chairman of T-Trade Group, said: ‘We wanted dramatically to contribute to reducing deforestation and to eliminate the need to dispose of the backing silicone paper.’

The result was the TT-PA EVO 150, which is now being made commercially available by T-Trade.

The machine can work with label reels with a diameter up to 400 mm (1,550 linear meters), dispensing three times as many labels as a similar size reel of PS labels. Fewer roll changes are necessary, reducing machine downtime, and reel storage requirements are significantly reduced.

The TT-PA EVO 150 machine was developed by T-Trade Engineering and incorporates a number of innovative features –­ the subject of four patents. Firstly, there is no need to stop the machine to change label length. With the TT-PA EVO 150 this is achieved simply by changing the settings on the machine, without stopping it. The working width can likewise be changed from 50 mm minimum up to a maximum 150 mm. Loading label rolls has been made simple and fast, says T-Trade.

The TT-PA EVO 150 is able to print on any receptive material/media, either plastic film or paper reels. It is a modular machine, assembled from standard components including the user’s choice of printer. Application speed is 40 labels/minute, with labels cut on the machine.

The TT-PA EVO 150 is provided with interchangeable application heads – for pallet print & apply, for example ­– and these can be fitted without modification to the machine.