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The printing world is continually evolving, and so too are wide-format printing systems relying on UV-curable inks. Among the latest technological developments in a field known for swift technological change is the use of LED lamps to cure prints.
How do these LED systems differ from the hot-light solutions currently used? What efficiencies will they bring to wide-format imaging professionals? And are they all essentially the same, or do the LED solutions differ from one manufacturer to another?
We put those questions to a trio of experts in the field, first among them Eric Custer, the technical manager for Summit UV in Columbia City, IN. Summit UV is a newer company that began as an offset, screen, and flexo house that experienced problems with the heat generated by the lamps used to cure UV inks, Custer says.
About five years ago, Summit UV began experimenting on solutions to the problem, and a couple of years later filed its first patent on its high-intensity UV LED curing system. Today, Summit UV sells to printer manufacturers and users internationally.
At the most recent SGIA show, the company unveiled its Black Diamond, a 5-by-8-foot flatbed inkjet printer using Summit UV's own curing technology, Custer says.
In general, UV LED printers provide a number of advantages, he adds. Those benefits include the fact these printers do not subject substrates to infrared heat, so much thinner film substrates can be used. They also offer long light life, translating to savings of $1,500 every 500 hours on the replacement of mercury arc lamps.
What's more, they consume less power, requiring just a standard 110-volt household system rather than the 220-volt power and large power supplies consumed by mercury arc lamps. Finally, some mercury arc lamps create ozone, Custer reports. "That means you have to have better ventilation for the work area, and exhaust some of the heat off the lamps," he says. "With LED, you have no ozone production, so you don't need that ventilation. And the atmospheric heat generation is very small."
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