THE DATA FRONT

Labels&Labeling |61
Omet now offers a UV offset option
for its Varyflex press series
Omet launches
offset press
L&L editor Andy Thomas was the first journalist to see Omet’s new UV offset press – an important development
from a company so strongly associated with high quality flexography
At an open house during the recent
Converflex show in Milan, Omet unveiled the
offset version of its Varyflex F1 combination
press. The UV offset units are also now
available for integration into the Varyflex
carton press (VF-C).
The demonstration press was 430mm
wide, with both 340mm and 520mm variants
under development. Print repeat is in the
range 12- 25ins.
‘This completes our technology range and
follows trends in the market,’ comments
Marco Calcagni, international sales and
marketing manager at Omet. ‘The UV offset
units enable roll converters to compete with
sheetfed printers and also makes it an easier
decision for sheetfed converters to move to
roll products – including self-adhesive labels,
shrink sleeve labels and flexible packaging.
These printers can then use combinations
of other processes, including flexo. This is
the key to our proposition and allows our
customers to offer something new to the
market.’
The UV offset units can be freely combined
with the gravure, flexo, screen and hot/
cold foiling heads already available for
the Varyflex flexo press platform. The
configuration of the open house press was
UV flexo applying a metallic, followed by
CMYK UV offset stations, UV flexo varnish
and die cutting.
The press uses interchangeable 2-cylinder
cassettes for repeat size changes. The
cassettes are slid into the print unit on rails
from a motorized cassette rack, which runs
behind and parallel to the press. Repeat size
cassettes can be selected for all print units
simultaneously. This arrangement makes
efficient use of space and takes away the
need for carts or trolleys. The press services
are located on the far side of the cassette
rack.
The cassettes locate in the print units
without the need for tools and without
breaking the web. The ‘bridge’ between the
storage rack and print units provides an area
where plates can be cleaned and changed.
The screws for adjusting pressure on the
inking rolls are located on the cassette and
not on the fixed print unit. This means that
pressure does not have to be re-adjusted
each time a cassette is exchanged, so long
as the rolls are not changed. ‘The constant
pressure of the inking rollers means it takes
less time to adjust pressure when changing
More to see
At its open house Omet also
demonstrated a 7-minute changeover
on an X-Flex 430 flexo combination
press from 12 micron PET to a PS
label material, with sleeve change and
coupling of screen, cold foil and die
cut. The screen and foil units were
then disengaged and the machine
accelerated to 200 m/min with no
adjustment of register.
Also shown were the Varyflex 530
F1 Holofoil King registered hologram
system operating off-line on a preprinted
web, and a Varyflex 670 F1
solvent lamination unit.
Omet’s Marco Calcagni also spoke
to L&L about the Varyflex press
now being installed at the Sonoco
Packaging Center at Clemson
University in California. ‘We are very
excited by this. The press will be
used to trial new technologies such
as RFID printing and even printing of
solar panels. The press has a highly
technical specification, and customers
will be shown how to print completely
new types of packaging.’
may 2009 | L&L