Companies that are planning on investing in new printing technology may see themselves faced with a dilemma. Should they go for the conventional UV units, they can rely on the security provided by a long established technology. However, they may well miss their chance to make the most out of LED UV. Users who focus on this new technology too soon run the risk of paying dearly as they wait for the rest of the market to catch up, finally making the investment economically worthwile.
However, it is already clear today that both UV lamp technology as well as UV LED technology offer individual advantages, which must be taken into account when choosing a UV System.
UV lamp systems are mainly used for print jobs with very high and versatile requirements. This involves highly finished products such as packaging in the luxury segment or print jobs that place high safety requirements for production, such as food packaging. This is a technology that has been established and proven over decades and for which a wide range of photoinitiators, inks and varnishes are available on the market today. There is also a wide range of differently doped UV lamps available, enabling optimisation for the respective application. The systems are particularly easy to maintain, for example the UV lamp and reflector can be replaced in a few simple steps.
LED UV technology currently accounts for the largest share in the area of adhesive curing and inkjet printing. Experts expect a significant increase in the market share of LED UV systems in the coming years. LED UV units are ready for use as soon as they are switched on and emit only minimal heat to the substrate. The compact systems have a particularly long service life. Depending on where light is required on the substrate, the LEDs can also be controlled in zones.
The Hotswap concept for UV lamp and LED UV systems from IST METZ allows users to interchange between both technologies at any time. LED UV technology will become an established way of printing sooner or later. With the Hot Swap concept, users will be in the position to change over from the established UV technology to the LED technology or the other way round at short notice at any time. The UV units can be integrated into all models of well-known machine manufacturers.
