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AMS Unveils C-LED UV Coating System

Called C-LED, the company claims the system’s shorter UV wavelengths allows its users to employ low-energy curing at previously unattainable production speeds. Compared to traditional mercury vapour lamps and IR driers, C-LED uses roughly one third the energy. The C-LED process is also compatible with existing UV coating formulations already in the market.

“Because of their narrower wavelengths, prior generation Hw-UV and LED curing systems have had difficulty drying coatings and varnishes at production speeds without compromising on the coating price, optical quality or surface cure” said Steve Metcalf, President and CEO of AMS. “And traditional UV and IR/Hot Air coating systems generate damaging heat and consume excessive amounts of energy. With C-LED, the process moves to UV LED, and the results are simply amazing.”

C-LED technology can be used on high speed offset, narrow and wide web flex as well as inkjet UV applications. AMS says C-LED can replicate water-based aqueous varnishes from a litho print unit without the need of a dedicated coating tower.

“Any reason to ignore LED UV for high speed commercial production is officially over” said Hans Ulland, VP of Sales at AMS. “With C-LED, we can now expand the benefits of UV LED printing – such as increased speed, quality, color vibrancy, flexibility and safety, and greatly reduced operating costs – to a much wider group of printers and converters where heavy finishing effect requirements are the norm.”