Packaging Solutions
GSE has introduced automation and safety enhancements to its Colorsat ink dispensing programme. These include conveyor blenders that reduce manual input when supplying dispensed inks to the press, and a vapour extraction unit for solvent inks.
The Colormix conveyors enable safe, easy transport of dispensed water based and solvent based inks or coatings, in buckets, between the point of dispensing and blending. They are suitable for the Colorsat Compact dispenser, a system for high volume package printing, and the Colorsat Slim, for small and medium volume flexible packaging and carton applications.
The Colormix blender can be semi or fully automatic, depending on the dispenser it is installed with. The semi-automatic blender, suitable for both the Colorsat Slim and Compact dispensers, is delivered with a gravity roller conveyor. The 25 litre dispense bucket is transported to the blending position, activated by releasing a bar with a pedal. The blending process is activated by pushing a button. On completion of the process, the blending arm automatically withdraws from the bucket and turns to an adjacent container for cleaning of the shaft and blades before blending the next batch.
The fully automatic system can be integrated with Colorsat Compact dispensers. Empty buckets can be placed on an infeed conveyor. After dispensing, the bucket is automatically transported to the blending position and blended without manual intervention. For assurance of a safe, explosion free environment for handling solvent inks, the bucket is automatically grounded.
GSE’s new vapour extraction unit sucks emissions from solvent inks as they evaporate when the ink is dispensed on the Colorsat Slim and Compact dispensers. On the Slim, vapour is extracted through holes in the dispense head. On the Compact, vapour is extracted from the back plate of the dispense position.
GSE’s Colorsat modular dispensing systems mix and dispense flexo, gravure and screen inks to precise quality and quantity specifications in minutes. Benefits are reduced setup times, ink yield improvements of over 30% thanks to easy reuse of press return inks, a cleaner colour mixing environment and better stock management. Tailored systems are available for the complete range of package printing situations, for water based, UV and solvent based ink sets, from label printing dispensers that provide colours in 1 kg to 10 kg volumes, to high volume dispensers for corrugated board and flexible packaging, with up to 34 components.
