October 2009. GEW has announced the supply of 15 UV lamp heads to Impresora Silvaform, SA De CV, Mexico, for a UV upgrade to four of its web offset forms presses. The UV upgrades on a Didde, Hunkeler and two Harris presses enable the company to print UV curable inks on unsupported films as a result of a growing demand for customised security forms, labels and documents.
Brian Wenger, President of GEW’s USA operation comments, “Printing films on a web offset press has to be carried out with UV technology in order to avoid tracking and smearing of the ink. All the machines received a UV upgrade with our HCP system with water chill rollers to keep the unsupported film cool. In all four cases, we had to modify the machine framework to install the UV lamp head and chill rollers. On the Didde press, we also had to fully remove the compensator/ registration roller and make one to our own design that was subsequently mounted just after the UV lamp head.”
Founded in 1967 Silvaforms now has five printing plants located at key locations throughout Mexico. The company prints a wide range of products including labels, direct mail, holograms, cards, scratch off and security documents. Ms. Emiko Silva, Director, commented, “The UV upgrade enables us to provide what we call ‘INTELLIGENT FORMS’ that combine and integrate different elements from our larger product range into one form. This means we can offer customers solutions tailored to their needs and simplify the end use application of the product. The GEW systems are reliable and easy to use and our operators appreciate the fact that very little maintenance is required.”
Adds Wenger, “The HCP water-cooled UV lamp head is designed for presses from 254mm (10”) to 559mm (22”) and its compact design permits it to be fitted to a wide range of presses. The system is capable of running the majority of print jobs with only 140W/cm, due to its efficient reflector design with considerable energy savings for printers. The UV lamp heads were supplied with GEW’s Award winning, energy efficient, e-brick power supplies that reduce energy consumption and take up very little space in the printing plant.”
GEW has been manufacturing UV curing systems since 1991 and has built a strong reputation for the high performance and energy-efficiency of their products. All GEW products are made at their factory near London, England, and are available along with spare parts and after-sales service in every continent through satellite offices and distribution networks worldwide.