KAMA is further expanding the capabilities of its folder-gluer, the FlexFold 52i. The folder-gluer, which has been manufactured specifically for short runs, can now also efficiently and cleanly glue sealed, smooth surfaces such as UV-coated, metalized or laminated board through the use of plasma treatment.
“The use of UV coating in packaging is increasing, especially with digitally printed folding cartons and high-quality special editions,” notes CEO, Marcus Tralau. The German machine manufacturer developed the FlexFold 52i especially for such short runs, as the only folder-gluer with an almost fully automated setup to carry out the numerous job changeovers highly efficiently in a few short minutes. “To this advantage, we are now adding the plasma treatment as an elegant and efficient solution when gluing UV-coated folding cartons,” says Mr Tralau. The plasma treatment system consists of a plasma generator and a plasma nozzle with a transformer; crash-lock-bottom boxes with three-point gluing require three nozzles. The first FlexFold 52i featuring the new option has already been sold.
The challenge when using UV-coated material: the smooth surface offers no hold for the glue. This means that for UV and similar kinds of coating the glue flaps have to be left out. This, in turn, means an extra flexo plate for the coating process and extra set-up time. The corresponding costs can be quite significant when working with short runs. The savings potential when finishing on the FlexFold 52i with the plasma system is correspondingly large as the printed sheets can be flood coated – without any additional costs for flexo plates and setup.
A further advantage: the plasma treatment changes the surface only temporarily. Surfaces without glue applied to them return to their original state and look the same as they did before being treated. This makes the plasma solution optimal for straight-line boxes (often used for pharmaceuticals), but also for crash-lock bottom boxes that have several bonding surfaces and which are popular for healthcare and beauty products. www.kama.info
