Alphasonics to show new plate cleaning systems at Labelexpo

Alphasonics of Liverpool, UK, will show its entire product range at Labelexpo Americas. Already known for its anilox roll cleaners, a new range of cleaning systems for plates and parts washers shall be shown for the first time in the US after its successful launch at Labelexpo Europe in 2009. 

Alphasonics traditionally supplies anilox roll cleaning systems which are used across all printing sectors, but the parts washers are not necessarily a brand new development. Tailored to clean ink trays and downshafts amongst other elements of the gravure printing process, the company’s parts washers have been a common sight in gravure houses for some time. ‘We realized a number of years ago that the technology we were using for cleaning gravure parts could easily apply to flexo. We set about developing a new range of parts washers that were geared solely to the label printer that were not only effective in their application, but could save time and money,’ said managing director David Jones. ‘We also came to the realization that waste disposal in labels was something that had be neglected by many equipment manufacturers. This is when we looked into flocculation.’

Flocculation is a process that removes pigments from the wash water using a neutral chemical agent and agitation, rendering them into what are called ‘floccs’ which simply fall out of suspension. These can then be simply filtered leaving clear, reusable wash water and solid ink mass. ‘At first, we looked into the disposal of wash water that is contaminated with water-based inks and found flocculation to be a great solution to the issue,’ revealed Jones.

This lead to the development of the AS80, a manual parts washer which places this chemistry in the hands of even the smallest printer. These small, portable systems have been well received, says the company, and also lead to Alphasonics receiving local environmental awards. The next step for the Alphasonics team was to apply the flocculation process to UV parts washing, which poses trickier problems in terms of cleaning. 

After extensive tests using UV inks, Jones and his team discovered flocculation in this sense was in fact achievable. ‘UV inks do not need a high pH chemistry to break it down and when we realized this, we knew we’d found the answer’. The difficulty lay in how to apply this to a new parts washing system due to the complexity of the process and also the requirements of tightly controlled process parameters. 

However, after extensive design and testing, with the assistance of S + K Labels of the CzechRepublic, the AS1000 Trojan parts washing system was developed. Jones said: ‘This system is so unique because of its ease of use and the excellent results it achieves with UV contamination despite the complexity of its control. This system actually gives the customer a payback. Not only is there a reduced cost from not having to refill the machine, but there is also a greatly reduced cost of waste disposal. Furthermore, it’s completely compliant with environmental legislation meaning our customers can stay ahead of the game.’ For this reason, Alphasonics have entered the AS1000 system into the Green Park Environmental award at this year’s exhibition. ‘Environmental legislation is changing all the time and it’s easy for printers to fall foul of this. Through the ability to dispose of a solid ink mass and also to reuse water in the system are hugely beneficial when faced with the environmental issues that we all face,’ continued Jones. ‘We’re immensely proud of this development as we’ve given the industry the only parts washing system that faces up to environmental issues while guaranteeing payback. ’ The AS1000 Trojan’s American debut will be at Labelexpo Americas in September and is one of the nominations for the Green Park Award. 

The AS2000, the ‘little sister’ of the Trojan, will also be exhibited in Chicago. This parts washing system was based on the technology used in the AS1000 but does not utilize on-board flocculation. The wash water is returned to the tank to be re-used and the filtration system allows this wash water to remain effective for longer. This wash water will go to special waste in a similar fashion to other conventional systems. ‘We designed the AS2000 to go head-to-head with the spray wash systems that are available. Using Alphasound technology in a similar fashion to the Trojan means the cleaning effects are greatly improved and there are also reduced chemical costs as the process is reliant on the ultrasound, not the cleaning agent,’ said David Jones. The AS2000 can take up to six trays or chambers of varying sizes.

Another Alphasonics development which will be present at the show are the PC and PW series of flexo plate washers which are totally non-contact, greatly reducing damage to the plate itself. Jones commented: ‘Plates are usually cleaned with brushes and this undoubtedly can cause damage. We’ve used Alphasound technology in such a way to give the most effective cleaning available on the market that is totally non contact. This means the plates remain undamaged and totally clean and dry, ready for storage or even the next run.’ 

The PC series is fully automated which has the potential to clean up to 80 plates in an hour on a continuous cycle. Plates are placed in the loading magazine and the PC unit will continue cleaning, drying and delivering the plates to the unloading station until the magazine is empty. Jones highlighted the time put into the development of this system: ‘We have really taken the time to get this right. There were technical difficulties early in the process but we nipped these in the bud early on. We then developed a simple non contact way to support the plates which we found to be perfect.’ 

While the PC series is a sophisticated system, it means that there are potential issues with regards to space. For this reason, the Alphasonics technical team developed a smaller, compact system, the PW series, which will also be on show in Chicago. While this system is not fully automated, it is still totally non contact and has the ability to clean up to six plates at once. This system has been further developed by adding an air blade to the side of the machine which allows the operator to dry the plates. ‘This is a great system that explores avenues that usually would not be available to smaller label printers. It’s a very exciting piece of equipment and would fit nicely into most label shops,’ said Jones. 

All of the new range of Alphasonics products shall be exhibited at Labelexpo at the DonaldE.StephensConvention Center, Chicago alongside the Melanie, Mia, Miranda and Megan anilox roll cleaning systems. ‘The recession hit everyone hard especially the US and the UK,’ said Jones. ‘We rode it out by investing in our products and developing new technologies that would fit well into the industry. Overall 70 percent of our sales are from overseas so we are fully aware of how important events in the Labelexpo series are.  We are sure that visitors to our booth will appreciate the technology that will be on display and also appreciate the dedication we have shown to developing these products and their potential to impact the industry in a big way.’

The full range of Alphasonics cleaning equipment will be on display on stand 1045.

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