Advances in Electron Beam Curing in Wide Web Flexible Package Printing

Electron beam curing for wide web flexible package printing continues to evolve. Flexographic ink systems have been optimized to allow wet trapping of ink colors cured with a single electron beam (EB) unit after the last station in a centralimpression press configuration. Long runs with stable printing performance are enabled by new press technology that includes temperature controlled print stations. Web offset flexible package printing is also attractive given advances in variable repeat press technology. This includes the development of presses with offset print stations arranged in a central-impression configuration. A comparison of EB flexographic and EB offset printing technology will be presented Both technologies allow for flexible package printing with near zero VOCs and low migration inks that are well suited for food packaging applications.