Omso SpA, an Italian maker of machinery for dry-offset and screen printing onto plastics, has introduced what it calls the first tube printing press for high-speed, multicolor flexographic or silk-screen printing onto three-dimensional substrates.
The Servotube machine creates photo-quality graphics, up to 150 lines per inch, on cylindrical packaging, without the need for cleaning stops, Omso said. It uses gearless, servodriven mandrels, each one independently computer-controlled, allowing for half-tone decorations.
According to Omso, problems with dry-offset printing have caused some packaging makers to choose label over direct printing for tubes. But the flexographic Servotube process allows customers to keep the entire decorating process in-house.
The 24-mandrel machine can reach speeds of up to 150 pieces a minute, depending on ion diameter and length of the tube. The equipment can ensure tolerances of plus or minus 0.02 millimeter, so resolution is very accurate.
Omso is based in Reggio Emilia, Italy. Its U.S. headquarters is in Allendale, N.J.
Tel. 201-825-4641, fax 201 825-3547, e-mail [email protected]
