EB FLEXO TECHNOLOGY
WHAT IS ELECTRON BEAM (EB) CURING?
EB technology is widely used in the pharmaceutical industry to dry
medicines and in the sterilization of milk and medical instruments. EB is a
perfectly safe technology already used by the litho printing industry since
the 1960s.
In EB curing, a curtain of accelerated electrons is emitted towards the web
in an evacuated chamber (Fig. 4). When the energized electrons hit ink or
coating, the curing process happens instantaneously, without the need for
a photoinitiator (PI).
The effectively instantaneous cure gives the printer the ability to
post-process or ship immediately as the stock comes off the press,
shortening the time to market. This ability to respond quickly and NOT
have lag time and inventory problems are additional financial and process
management advantages of EB curing.
EB inks do not have the disadvantage of requiring any photoinitiator, such as
those needed in UV printing which also requires several degrees of post curing.
The EB process is conducted under an inert nitrogen blanket. The air that
we breathe contains 78% nitrogen (Fig. 5), but is not pure enough as the
oxygen in the air inhibits the curing process and results in the generation of
ozone (Fig. 6).
ADVANTAGES OF EB CURING:
-
Very sharp, high-quality print
-
Sustainable green process
-
EB curing is on or off – fully cured or not at all, vs. UV where degrees of
curing are seen
-
Unlike UV curing, EB ink colour or ink film thickness does not affect the
process
-
Can be used wide variety of paper, board and film & foil substrates
-
Because they are cured into a polymeric film, EB inks have excellent
abrasion and chemical resistance properties
- The curing process is at ambient temperatures and will not damage temperature-sensitive stocks
-
No migration potential for photoinitiator
-
Solvent free, non-explosive industrial environment, with corresponding
savings in insurance costs and risk
-
Absence of fan blowers results in low noise pressure in the workshop
-
Several options to replace lamination-steps with EB varnishes applied in
line
-
Lower cost
-
Print quality matches UV Flexo with high lineatures and clean plates
- Competitive market opportunities towards traditional gravure and offset markets