Labelexpo Americas news in brief

A round up of some of the products on display at Labelexpo Americas 2010, being held in Chicago on September 14-16. Click here for more stories about the show on L&L.com.  

This page will be updated as new product information is announced.

acpo, a manufacturer of self-wound overlaminate films, will introduce several new products at Labelexpo Americas, along with its polyester and polypropylene PSA roll label films. The company presents a self-wound overlaminate specifically designed for digital print technology. Also on show will be polyester with removable adhesive, suitable for labeling and flexible packaging applications. acpo will also show its existing range of overlaminates, including matte, easy release, FDA, thermal transfer, UL and UV. 

AirTrim will introduce its AirPactor for continuous waste removal systems.

Allen Datagraph Systems will show its iTech Axxis digital label system, which allows the printing and finishing of labels in any shape. The system is comprised of a printer that has a wide range of substrate flexibility, high productivity, variable data capability and a low cost per label, with a finisher that has the ability to laminate and cut any shape designed in Adobe Illustrator or Corel Draw, and strip, slit and re-wind to finished rolls of labels. 

Bunting Magnetics will show on stand 1629 its recently launched magnetic printing cylinder which features a new spiral formation. The design, which has curved magnetic rows, is claimed to provide superior holding power and makes the installation and removal of dies very smooth. The spiral design allows the cylinder to be used on both die-cutting and printing applications.

Cartes will present on stand 3008 updated versions of its laser converting systems for self-adhesive labels and its combination machines with silkscreen, hot stamping, flat die-cutting and laser converting units.

CTC International, a manufacturer of roll changing equipment, will demonstrate a new, fully automated offline glueless turret rewinder on stand 455. Also on display will be the company’s ‘Value’ turret rewinder, while with its European partner Emis, CTC will show a new servo-driven slitter rewinder. 

EFI Jetrion will show its 4000 and 4830 UV inkjet systems at Labelexpo Americas. The Jetrion 4000 was one of the first narrow web digital press suited to economically run lengths of 50,000 labels and beyond. The Jetrion 4830 is a wider version with throughput increased by more than two times. The Jetrion 4000 prints on 6.5 inch (165mm) web widths, with a printable width of 5.5 inches (139mm) and can interface with a wide range of converting equipment. The Jetrion 4830 is a wider version that can handle web widths of up to 9 inches (229mm) and prints up to 8.3 inches (210mm) wide. It allows print speeds of up to 120fpm.

Danish manufacturer ESS Technologies, alongside North American distributor Matik, will highlight its web finishing and decorating lines in the ‘Opportunities Beyond Labels’ arena. ESS offers customized converting equipment for a variety of substrates including film, carton, IML and aluminum up to a web width of 32 inches. On stand 3542, ESS also features the SW Sheeter, which is a servo driven sheeter with a star wheel delivery for difficult-to-handle products and shapes that are typically produced on a flexo press. The sheeter is also utilized for cut and stack PS labels and filmic products as well as sticky note type products. All the units can be built into one converting line, or integrated into an existing platform.

On stand 1311, Flexcon will show latest additions to its Reflexite line of microprismatic retroreflective products for fleet vehicle safety applications. Also on display will be the company’s Jetrion-qualified products for prime label applications, offering single-pass opacity and durable graphics that require no varnish or overlaminate.

Heights UK will show its 2530 Compact, a processing system designed specifically for the demands of high quality digital flexo plates. The washout system uses self-cleaning rotary brushes while the exposure system maximizes UV output and incorporates a cooled bed for plate stabilization. The drier has four drawers and uses new tangential fan airflow. The light finisher is optimized for both UVa and UVc platemaking requirements. Functionality is controlled by a touch screen PLC to display the main program settings and simplify operation. 

On stand 1040, Keene Technology will demonstrate a complete die system designed to run blank, die-cut labels. The system combines a single position unwind stand, two station die unit, matrix turret rewinder and turret rewinder.    

Kodak will promote its portfolio of pre-press products on stand 5319, including the Flexcel NX digital flexographic system, workflow software and color proofing equipment.

Label Vision Systems will be displaying a number of new products on stand 6445, including the CartonSpec system along with Roberts PolyPro, which inspects print quality and barcodes on carton blanks in-line at speeds up to 1,000 feet per minute. Also on display is the printing workflow process involving the LVS 7000 print quality inspection system and the Roll Inspection Mapping Software (RIMS). Also look for the in-line printing and inspection of variable 2D codes by LVS and Digital Print for the HarvestMark, mass serialization, e-Pedigree and similar high volume needs. 

Leibinger will show for the first time in the US its new integrated inkjet and vision system to verify printed codes. The Jet Visio is a new smart camera that is integrated into and operated from the company’s Jet 3 line of inkjet printers. The Jet Visio vision system can inspect up to 42,000 products per hour. Designed to read codes printed with inkjet technology, the system can verify fixed or variable text, barcodes and graphics. Print information, including database records that change on each product, is sent from the printer to the camera and each code is read and verified. 

On stand 3124, Magnum Magnetics will show its line of flexible magnetic sheeting with a selection of laminates and adhesives to provide options for a wide variety of labeling machines, printers and presses. Quality control measures ensure that magnets are easily adaptable to and will run efficiently on most automatic labeling machinery, including Kirk-Rudy and Label-Aire. Magnum material is plain or with a selection of surfaces such as adhesives, vinyl, and paper. The company offers printable laminate options for multiple printers, and can provide pieces, sheets and rolls to cut, slit, score, die-cut or punch.

Mühlbauer will demonstrate its RFID inlay insertion line IL 15000 on stand 6409. The flexible insertion system can upgrade existing standard labels into self-adhesive RFID labels, and can also process multi-layered products. The IL 15000 can handle labels with all frequencies, HF and UHF, as well as single or multi row application. The system runs at up to 60 m/min and has an integrated testing unit with marking station for quality control. The IL 15000 is also available as a fully equipped RFID baggage tag line, ready to enter markets in the aviation and logistics sector. With this optional module the machine is able to perform all process steps from punching over slitting to perforation fully automatically.

Multi-Plastics will show its paper and film-faced pouch materials in addition to its mono-web flexible packaging product line. The stocked C1S paper-faced structure, under product code 29PP, has a LDPE sealant layer and is available in two basis weights. The product mimics most PPFPs that are traditionally seen in the market. The 4WCP (white) and 4SCP (silver) are film-faced structures with strong printability. The company will introduce DiversaSeal sealant technology, which enables the converter to use one structure for multiple applications. 

On stand 3123, Italian press manufacturer Omet will run demonstrations on an X-Flex press. The company reports numerous installations of the machine in Europe, Asia, North and South America.

Ox Paper Tube and Core will display a wide variety of paper tubes and cores for the tape and label industry, aimed at applications of custom logo-printed liners, ID marking or color-coding, parchment, seamless or release covers.

PC Industries will showcase the Guardian PQV print defect detection system and the Guardian OLP off-line PDF proofing system. The combination of the Guardian technologies provides complete print quality process control from artwork creation to shipped product. The Graphic-Vision RX series of web viewers will also be on display and now include ultra high-resolution digital cameras and flat panel LCD monitors as standard. Other equipment on stand 1411 will include ANSI/ISO 1D and 2D barcode verification, register controls, repeat length monitors and strobe lights.  

Primera Technology will show its CX1200 digital label press and the new FX1200 digital finishing system. CX1200 delivers short-run, full-color digital label printing, while the FX1200 offers laminating, cutting, waste removal and slitting.  

Plate mounting equipment manufacturer Print Products will show its entire line of supplies and equipment for the flexo pressroom on stand 509. In partnership with tesa Tape (on stand 5801), the company says it will introduce a tool designed to lower the direct manufacturing costs associated with printing. 

Spartanics will demonstrate its Finecut 350mm combination sheet/roll-fed laser die-cutting machine on stand 6413 and the Finecut narrow web laser die-cutting machine on stand 6423. Visitors are invited to bring materials to the show to obtain a free on-site analysis of their suitability for finishing, marking and other detailing using laser die-cutting.

Squid Ink Manufacturing will introduce its new VDP In-Line variable data printing system for narrow web flexo presses. The VDP In-Line allows the user to mount on an existing web press or rewind station with Squid Ink’s Platform Unit. The Platform Unit locks into pre-existing hole patterns between print stations. VDP In-Line allows users to print static and any variable data like sequential numbers, sequential barcodes, traceability codes, or game codes on tickets, tags and labels. Users have the ability to print on porous surfaces such as uncoated paper, or on non-porous surfaces such as films, foils, or coated stocks.

On stand 1421, Teknek, a Scotland-headquartered company with operations in Charlotte, North Carolina, will show the latest developments to its proprietary roller and adhesive technology used in its range of contact cleaners. The contact cleaning system can be viewed in action on various OEM printing machines throughout the show. Teknek will also introduce a new range of compact, clean room compatible products, that offer the end user safe access to the Teknek ‘cleaning core’ during production.

Telstar Engineering has developed equipment to allow the digital print head system from DPST (Digital Printing Solutions & Technology) to be installed on virtually any press. By using Telstar’s customer engineering service, printers get a DPST print head retrofit that can be mounted between any station or used offline. This new digital capability will be demonstrated on stand 1317.

On stand 1457, Unilux will present its original xenon lights as well as its patent-pending line of LED stroboscopes that are best suited for the inspection of highly reflective coatings, foils and metalized substrates with even illumination. Unilux is a manufacturer of xenon and LED stroboscopic inspection lights ranging from handheld units for spot or narrow web inspection to fixed units capable of inspecting surfaces up to 12m wide.