Drent Goebel, together with its most important partners, held an Open House at its Montreal facility from June 22 till 27 to raise the profile of sleeve-based offset printing technology for packaging.

Over four hundred packaging printers (about 100 companies) from all over the USA, Canada and further away came to see a seven-unit Variable Sleeve Offset press (VSOP) equipped with an electron-beam curing unit. On the open house various partners in the project had the possibility to demonstrate their latest developments ranging from inks, plate making and finishing to curing and web cleaning. ``We chose this approach to also demonstrate that we are not just a machine supplier but more a full system supplier offering a total solution to our customers``, says Rob Schellekens, director of marketing & sales at Drent Goebel.

The press shown can run up to 400 m/minute (1,200 feet/minute) and comes in three web widths: 520mm (20.5 inches), 850mm (33.5 inches) and 1,250mm (49.5 inches). The biggest advantage of sleeves is that they allow users to change sizes easily without completely changing the unit. Only two sleeves are changed when switching repeat lengths, which on the VSOP 850 demonstrated at the Open House are variable between 15-30 inches.

The demonstration press included a Martin Automatic unwinder and non-stop rewinder, Teknek web cleaner, seven offset units and a Tresu downstream flexo coater. The wet-trapped inks and coatings were cured instantaneously using an EZCure-1 electron-beam unit supplied by Energy Sciences Inc. The Eltromat Offcon III system gave fully automatic and integrated camera-based control over print and die cut register and video web inspection. It also automatically presets the ink fountain keys, either singularly or in groups, based on CIP3 data conversion files.

Developed from the earlier shaftless Vision concept, the VSOP uses  centrally-controlled servo drives for all the printing, coating and ancillary functions. DG showed how the technology allows fast changeovers and minimum wastage across a range of substrates; in this case rolls ranging from 12-micron PET film up to 320-micron board. It also highlighted the  ease and speed with which operators can change the lightweight Rotek sleeve cylinders.

Further information:
Mr. Gerben van Wijk
public relations manager
T +31 (0) 313 671 911  
F +31 (0) 313 671 717
E Gerben.vanwijk@drent-goebel.com     
www.drent-goebel.com