KINZEL Printing Systems GmbH from Bielefeld, which has been active in the R2R screen printing sector for more than 30 years, is launching another printing line for large formats. A roll-to-roll flatbed screen printing line for a maximum print format of 175 x 325 cm (WxL) was developed in close co-operation with the customer. The print format can be freely preselected in width and length according to requirements.
The roll-to-roll flatbed screen printing line includes a material unwinding station that can accommodate rolls weighing up to 600 kg. The material is unwound in a controlled manner and transported into a sensor-controlled vacuum box depending on the printing speed, from where it is transferred to the printing table. A screen frame adapter included in the scope of delivery enables smaller screen frames to be used.
The printing line is controlled via a touch panel and the flatbed screen printing unit can be optionally equipped with a ‘skip print’ mode. This mode allows the material to be fed forward by one or more print lengths after printing – without printing. During the subsequent print, after the material roll has been rewound, a further section of the motif can be printed in the previously unprinted free space. This means that an extra-long print image – longer than the maximum print format length – can be produced. In addition, a wet-on-wet mode is possible, with which a print motif can be printed several times on top of each other. A register hole or print mark punched during the printing process is recognised by an electronic ‘reader’ so that high print-to-print accuracies can be achieved for subsequent prints.
An intermediate material buffer station with sensor monitoring regulates the speed-dependent material transport of the printed material and serves to transport the material through the UV drying system at a uniform speed. The UV drying system with cooling plate cures the screen printing inks using UV radiation. The three UV burner systems installed each contain a 120 W/cm UV burner and are equipped with automatic power control, which ensures that the UV inks cure evenly at different printing speeds.
The material is wound up with the help of automatic web edge control, preselected winding tension and material speed. And with an ‘offline’ material rewinding station, the material roll can be rewound at a speed of up to 80 m/min for subsequent prints.
