A new digital printing solution for the decoration of PE plastic caps for bottles and wide mouth containers has been announced.
Released by a division of Italy's Sacmi Group, the Colora Cap on-cap solution pre-treats the cap's surface with a plasma and corona treatment to ensure ink adhesion.
The innovation gives companies the opportunity to brand their caps and lids for targeted promotional campaigns with short runs.
Manufacturers can use high-definition digital images and import them directly into the printing system in a few minutes before starting a new production batch, without any format changeover costs such as expensive colour printing plates. Colora Cap also has the ability to print consecutive images to mix the designs throughout batches.
CMYK colour technology is used to transfer ink to the print heads with 1000 nozzles in two rows, printing with a resolution of 360dpi x 360dpi at a speed of up to 600cpm (for a 29mm dia cap).
Drying is inline using a UV curing station, and an integrated CVS Vision inspection system ensures in-line quality checking and rejection of defective parts. Cap size range is from 20mm dia up to 70mm dia, with size and image changeover achieved in minutes.
The Sacmi group is represented in Oceania by HBM Packaging Technologies.
