INOMETA is ready to take the next step in digital printing
The pressure is increasing. Faster production processes, larger web widths and high-volume production requirements are taking their toll. Digital printing has reached a turning point of its relatively short existence. It is already becoming clearly evident, that in the near future high-precision lightweight design technologies and modern materials will have to be incorporated in this industry, in order to meet the exceptional requirements. Even though existing machine concepts can still do without, fiber composites will elevate the machine performance to a completely new level in the near future.
INOMETA, the lightweight design specialist from Herford, is already offering its customers innovative solutions for the areas of rotogravure, offset as well as flexographic printing, and was also able to position itself successfully in the digital printing sector. At this year’s INPRINT 2015, INOMETA will showcase a part of its innovative product portfolio, and present solutions for rotating and non-rotating light-weight components for the digital printing sector. “Steel and aluminum are excellent materials, and perfectly suited to meet your requirements to a certain extent. They are sturdy, but can still be utilized flexibly. “However, we have already reached a point where the limits of conventional material concepts have become clearly evident”, says Christian Göhner, Head of Development at INOMETA. “We have already successfully helped other printing processes to overcome these limitations, and thereby demonstrated our profound expertise in the field of lightweight design using carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP). When the print width, quality requirements and production speeds increase significantly in the digital printing field, it will be difficult to avoid the utilization of CFRP”. Especially in dynamic applications, where components are exposed to ever increasing acceleration and braking cycles, where web speeds reach extreme levels, or high production widths are desired, is where CFRP components are able to achieve a much greater performance than machine components made of conventional materials such as aluminum or steel.
The typical material characteristics such as high thermal stability, significantly lower mass inertia, the adjustable component stiffness as well as the CFRP-typical extremely low vibration levels, are important parameters for the process optimization and improvement of the production performance in the digital printing field.
Today, INOMETA is able to look back on more than 30 years of experience in the development and production of high-precision lightweight design products, and has attained a unique expertise in the lightweight design field. “We are actively engaged within an international group of companies, with a key focus on lightweight components made of aluminum, CFRP and GRP. Thanks to the vast experience of our colleagues in the aerospace and automotive segments, we are able to utilize the powerful synergy effects which will have a positive impact on the development of new machine concepts in the digital printing field.”, says Christian Göhner in a concluding statement.
