Flexo Concepts and fellow flexo suppliers have banded together once again to showcase their latest product advancements at Labelexpo Europe 2017. The project has been put together in collaboration with Esko, Flexo Concepts, Harper, MacDermid, Siegwerk, Raflatac, Dirty Water Distillery and Clemson’s Sonoco Institute of Packaging.
Here at the show, Flexo Concepts is launching for the first time the MicroTip technology, which include changing the dimension slightly, doubling the stiffness, and giving the tip a polish. This is a polymer-based doctor blade with some new refinements to its predecessor.
Speaking to Packaging MEA Kevin McLaughlin, CEO of the US-based company, said, “We now have a much smoother tip. One problem that many converters may have is what is called the start-up lines.”
Besides its application in the narrow and wide web flexo markets, Flexo Concepts is also targeting the corrugation market the MEA and India with its polymer-based doctor blades, which according to McLaughlin is still using rubber-based doctor blades. “When a corrugation player is buying a seven-colour high-quality press, the quality of the print and the box has to be so much significant that it is able to attract the customer’s attraction. Rubber rolls do not give you that control over the amount of ink transferred to the plate.”
In its quest to continue providing tag and label printers with innovative doctor blade advancements, Flexo Concepts has now introduced a new refinement to its doctor blade MicroTip technology here at the Labelexpo Europe 2017.
Chambered doctor blades will replace the roller-based inking system. “Flexo Concept’s polymer-based doctor blades are soft, thick material which is safe to handle, doesn’t score the anilox rolls, and is highly resistant to stress cracks and chips.”
The modification to the revolutionary MicroTip design doubles the tip’s stiffness at the contact point to further enhance metering precision on high line screen anilox rolls. An improvement to the manufacturing process also produces a smoother contact edge, eliminating start-up lines, an issue sometimes faced by non-metallic doctor blade users.