Daco Solutions awarded patent for its turret rewinder

Daco has used its engineering expertise and experience to develop innovative features to eliminate issues in the finishing process that can severely affect profitability. Following its successful introduction in 2017, the invention has now been recognized by the UK Intellectual Property Office, which granted Daco Solutions a patent for its unique gluing method that sees the web attached to the roll cores with double-sided tape.

‘The Daco SVT turret really shines through how easy and safe it is to use, and how quick it is to set up. Most importantly, it solves many problems with globules of hotmelt adhesive flying off and transferring to the top side of the web, and if labels are being used in thermal transfer printers damaging the printhead,’ said Mark Laurence, Daco Solutions sales manager. ‘This messy and quite costly operation can also lead to operator burns and other potential health hazards from fumes etc.’

Daco Solutions offers the newly patented technology on its range of modular offline finishing equipment, including the Daco TD plain-label converting machine and the SVT350 label finisher, which can run in-line with a UV inkjet printing module from Inkjet Solutions.

The new method of attaching the lead-in edge of the web to the core does away with liquid adhesives, which carry the risk of the hotmelt glue inadvertently attaching itself to the web elsewhere. Instead, the SVT turret module uses a double-sided adhesive strip of tape to secure the edge onto each roll. Once the roll is finished, the tail end of the web is held in place by a label with the relevant job information that has been printed by an integrated thermal transfer printer and then automatically applied.

Featuring a 700mm (27.5in) or optional 1-meter (40in) unwind module, the servo-driven SVT turret has four spindles and includes a high level of automation operated through a touch screen HMI interface. It can be combined with a flexo print station, die-cutting and slitting to produce finished label rolls in a single pass. A host of other options for achieving even higher efficiencies is also available.

With this glue-less automatic system, the only intervention the operator needs to do is to load the new cores onto the spindle and then apply the strip of tape using a hand held applicator. The exact positioning of the tape is automatically indicated by a laser to ensure accurate application. This fast and efficient action is performed while the machine is running, enabling continued production at speed.

‘We went through the lengthy patent application process because we believe that our British designed and built technology is unique in the market, and we are happy to report that the UK Intellectual Property Office agreed. We are very proud to have been granted this patent, as we continue to develop the best possible solutions that won’t break the bank but will help our customers increase profitability,’ added David Beynon, managing director and owner of Daco Solutions, who invented the new gluing technology.