Analyst Viewpoint : FLAAR Report - Gerber Solara ion
"Gerber engineers have cleverly made an intelligent completely dual-use UV printer: a dedicated flatbed with a dedicated roll-fed adjacent. Genial. What more can I say, it’s an excellent design concept." Dr. Nicholas Hellmuth, FLAAR Report
Gerber Cold Fire Cure
Innovative UV curing
The unique Cold Fire Cure™ UV curing process uses low energy and low temperatures to cure the proprietary GerberCAT™ UV inks, which expands the range of materials that can be printed. Heat sensitive plastic, vinyl, fabric, and paper based materials can be printed using Cold Fire Cure™ and GerberCAT™ inks without concern for ink adhesion or material damage.
Specialized UV lamps
Cold Fire Cure™ employs specialized UV lamps that run the full length of the gantry (approximately 165cm) to provide a very specific wavelength of UV light which cures the GerberCAT inks. The UV lamps do not require a burn-in period which means that there are no striking delays and its low operating temperature results in short warm-up cycles.
Versatility
The combination of Cold Fire Cure™ and GerberCAT™ opens the door to a huge set of applications such as real estate signage, POP, vehicle applications, backlit, traffic signage, exhibit display, banners and textiles all through one printing system.
Gerber’s patent-pending Cold Fire Cure™ system provides features in ink jet curing that are nothing less than revolutionary. Cold Fire Cure™ offers a vast array of benefits over any competitive curing process in the areas of material compatibility, cost of operation, and environmental, health and safety.
- low-energy curing for a wide range of heat sensitive media (papers, plastics, textiles...)
- material friendly - no heat or aggressive chemicals
- 100% ozone & solvent free & no VOC's
Cold Fire Cure compared to solvent technologies
The pigment of solvent-based inks is suspended in a volatile solvent. When solvent-based inks are printed they erode the surface of the material to create a chemical bond between the ink and the substrate. During the curing process, the solvent evaporates, leaving the pigment behind. It is the solvent evaporating that produces the unpleasant and potentially harmful fumes during printing and post-curing. In addition, the waste solvent must be collected and disposed of properly.
The GerberCAT vibrant cationic inks are 100% solid-curing with no waste. Cold Fire Curing of these inks produces no unpleasant odors and creates a strong mechanical bond that is extremely flexible and immediately usable.
Performance Properties Traditional Mercury Vapor New Cold Fire Cure™ Generates environmental ozone Yes No Lamp cost High Low Lamp life Very Low Very High Material compatibility Moderate Very High Generates heat on material surface Yes No