Page 52 - Glass Machinery Plants & Accessories no. 4-2021

GLASS PRINTING
Glass printing
T
he great added value of
Inkcup’s recent glass dec-
orating solutions is clear:
new stunning graphics and eye-
catching design elements are now
possible where earlier options
only offered a one-colour image,
or etching.
Today the company’s flagship
Helix digital cylinder printing
®
machine, as well as its corre-
sponding auxiliary machines,
make multi-coloured glassware
printing possible - from small
diameter vessels such as shot
glasses and shooters to larger
items such as growlers and spirit DL INK UPGRADE
bottles. Indeed, it’s thanks to the printing on clear vessels via a The DL Series ink is a UV ink
latest updates to Inkcups’ popu- stuffing agent, or ‘foxtail’, which that’s an ideal solution for excel-
lar Helix printer that the tech- blocked UV light from penetrat- lent adhesion on glass. It can
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niques offered by the Helix® line ing transparent vessels and left either be utilized in a UV flatbed
now come as notable trendsetters print-head life compromised. inkjet printer or in a rotary inkjet
®
for the glass decorating market. Instead the TPC system allows printer like the Helix . The DL
glass vessels to remain uncontam- Series is cured using UV LED
NEW HELIX MACHINE inated and sterile while reducing light and it can be paired with
®
UPGRADES print-head wear and significantly primers for longer-lasting adhe-
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Helix printers offer printing decreasing production times. The sion. The ink works perfectly with
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upgrades with the extended range TPC feature revolutionizes clear MagiCoat Glass Primer, making
kit modification, which increases vessel printing production as well, glassware pieces more durable
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the diameter capabilities of the both on the Helix and in the and resistant to wash cycles. The
printer. Previous models of this printing industry - thereby simpli- DL ink is available in a full col-
machine were limited to printing fying the process and improving our range: Cyan, Light cyan,
on straight-walled and tapered efficiency. Not only. The TPC Magenta, Light magenta, Yellow,
cylinders with the diameter range system can also be retrofitted to Black, White and Varnish, and
®
of 2 to 5 inches. However, recent any existing Helix printer. it’s FDA 21CFR compliant too,
modifications and the addition which makes it a safe and reliable
of the Extended Range Kit now PROGRAMMABLE TILT ink to use on glass.
allow a minimum diameter of 1.5 UPGRADE
®
inches - a refreshing tooling fea- A further feature, which saves MAGICOAT PRE-TREATMENT
ture that helps companies diver- each product’s specifications SYSTEM UPGRADE
sify glass production with ease. within the system software, is Brand new for treating glass,
the programmable tilt upgrade by the MagiCoat Pre-Treatment
®
TRANSPARENT PIN-CURING which the angle of a fixture can be System utilizes a flame treatment
SYSTEM adjusted for tapers. This allows technique as well as a spray-
Another recent highlight is the for a simple, quick changeover ing system for the water-based
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transparent pin-curing system, during the printing process, such MagiCoat Primer. Boasting
or TPC, which was designed to that the vessel angle can be saved eight individually-rotating sys-
enable UV inkjet printing on clear for a subsequent return to the tems, each item is flame-treated
or ‘see-through’ products, from measurements saved. It’s as easy to eliminate debris and coatings -
plastic bottles and glassware to as setting a number to a product thus achieving a smoother, sleek-
spirit and wine bottles. Compared type, then arranging the corre- er adhesion result. It also offers a
to previous methods, this novel sponding angles. Lastly, the fix- variable mist system to uniformly
printing machine system stream- ture auto-adjusts - all of reducing spray each glassware piece with
lines the printing process for clear changeover time by as much as MagiCoat Primer, so enabling
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vessels. This is a departure from a third of the amount of time it up to 200 residential washes and
the past, which saw UV inkjet takes without the feature. up to 600 industrial washes.

50 GMP&A 4/2022