UV inks are gaining more and more importance in nearly all printing techniques. Nevertheless, reliable and easy determination of the required UV dosage for proper curing is still a concern. In the past, commercially available UV dosage detection devices were either too large for inaccessible areas or failed due to their imprecision. In cooperation with UV machine manufacturer Hoenle AG, tesa AG offers a complete new approach for a simple, reliable and process efficient determination of UV Dosages: tesa® UV strips.

tesa UV strips are improving processes at RAKO

tesa® UV strips are self adhering, flexible and paper thin. They are the ideal tool where using a radiometer is not possible: web printing, sheet fed printing, liquid cup / 3D printing. In contrast to conventional detection strips, the colour change of the new tesa® UV strips is measured with a digital reading device - the “Hoenle UV Scan”. Simply insert the tesa® UV strip into the UV Scan device and the exact UV dosage is immediately shown on the display.

Selected lead customers, such as Rako (Witzhave, Germany) and print ink manufacturer XSYS, already optimise their UV processes with tesa® UV strips. For Rako the advantages are clear: “The new tesa solution provides impressively precise data and easy handling at the same time. This gives us greater control of the whole process.”

Rako Etiketten GmbH continually aims to optimize, control and improve processes, in order to meet the quality requirements of its customers. In particular, the drying process of printing inks plays a very important role in this. For optimal use, a comprehensive knowledge of UV technology in general, as well as of the connections between the corresponding parameters is necessary. Using the tesa® UV strips and the corresponding digital reading unit, Rako carried out different test series on a UV-module with commercially available mercury-vapour lamps (160 W/cm) and dichroitic reflectors, at a speed of 35 m/min. The tests showed the repeatability of the measured values under the same conditions and the UV strips clearly showed the influence of the UV lamps and reflectors on the UV dose.

Therefore this new tesa® technology supports Rako in the evaluation of UV units and aids decisions concerning any actions to be taken. In the particular case of problems drying UV inks, Rako is now able to avoid cost-intensive downtimes by having the possibility of making quick decisions based on reference values registered earlier, in comparison to the present UV dose.