CoolUV LED curing comes to South Africa

The latest news from Litho Sales & Label is the addition of Chinese manufactured
CoolUV LED curing systems to its growing list of leading edge products, reports Gill Loubser.

FIVE years ago, building on his in-depth expertise gained over many years in the lithographic business – covering both sales and technical support of litho presses – Wayne van Zyl took a giant leap of faith and established Litho Sales & Label, based in Milnerton, Cape Town.

Wayne’s initial business model was to specialise in sales and service of new and pre-owned litho presses – for commercial printing, and for packaging and label printing. With a strong emphasis on offering quality products and service, he partnered with reputable machinery suppliers around the world, all offering full back-up service and related technical support.

The next chapter started after Wayne’s first year of operation, when he was joined by Durban-based flexographic specialist, Ian Howroyd, who became a 50% shareholder in the business.

‘This partnership has been a blessing,’ remarks Wayne. ‘We have complementary knowledge and between us offer comprehensive skills in both litho and flexo technologies. It has also allowed us to establish a strong foothold in KwaZulu-Natal – in addition to our Cape Town and Johannesburg offices,’ he adds.

‘We can meet all engineering requirements such as reconditioning, repairs, servicing and installation, and our engineers have in-depth knowledge of every type of press and ancillary equipment on the market.’

Just a few examples of leading names among Litho Sales & Label’s list of overseas principals are Impression Technology Europe – a global provider of digital selfadhesive label printing and finishing machines; Labelmen, Taiwan – a leading manufacturer of equipment for packaging and label printing; Koten Machinery – a supplier of new printing and packaging machinery; and Bengraphic Flexo Printing Equipment – a supplier of flexo presses in 330mm, 430mm and 650mm widths.

And now the latest development from this go-ahead business is local representation of China’s CoolUV Technology, a company recognised as an industry leader when it comes to UV LED, offering innovative, leading-edge technology that greatly enhances the peak strength of UV LED curing systems and reduces production costs. Its products are widely used in printing, coating, adhesion and many other fields.

Cost, energy savings With the agency for southern Africa under their belts, Wayne and Ian took advantage of Propak Africa to promote these CoolUV products to local printers. As is well documented, conventional mercury UV lamps have long been the industry standard. They’re widely used and their characteristics are well known.

The advantages of more recently-developed UV LED lamps are also becoming increasingly recognised – such as cost and energy savings, environmental benefits, and longer lamp life compared to mercury.

Wayne focuses particularly on the reduced electricity costs that come with the use of UV LED lamps. ‘At least 70% savings on curing costs can be achieved,’ he reckons.

‘In addition, as there are no light sources or other components requiring frequent replacement, maintenance costs are reduced,’ he asserts. In addition, thanks to their modular construction, CoolUV lamps are easily integrated into any length of curing lamp, producing various radiation intensities according to precise requirements. Another plus is the minimising of replacement costs, as only the module needs to be replaced.

Among other advantages cited by Wayne, are the precise control of irradiation time and intensity that greatly simplifies quality control measures and improves production workflow. In addition, an instantaneous ‘on’ switch makes CoolUV lamps more efficient per unit time compared to traditional equipment.

And yet another benefit of the LED cold light source is the possibility of using heat-sensitive materials that can’t be processed using traditional equipment.

Design features

CoolUV’s design uses a specially-developed vertical chip made of metal/silicon that offers better heat conduction than a sapphire substrate. It also features a large light-emitting area and low voltage to prolong product life and enhance lighting effect. Compared with most domestic lamp-package arrays, CoolUV has adopted world-leading chip-on-board technology. This means the chip and the substrate are directly combined to transfer heat directly to the substrate.

The core optical design scheme effectively increases peak intensity of the spectrum to at least 120-200% of the 365nm band of the mercury lamp. At the same time, the light output can be effectively formed into a uniform continuous spot strip.

CoolUV products also offer exceptional temperature control and efficient heat dissipation, greatly improving light efficiency, chip life and product reliability.

Each CoolUV product undergoes simulated thermal, optical and hydrodynamic quality tests before shipping.