High Speed Steel Belts
Image: Cherryleen Garcia-Lindgren, Global Product Manager at IPCO. IPCO steel belts for high speed and high precision digital printing. IPCO, the world’s largest manufacturer of steel belts, will use InPrint 2022 to highlight research showing that steel conveyor belts offer up to 6x better stability on a digital press than plastic belts, and to showcase the benefits of its new High Precision Tracking (HPT) system.
Posted On
17th Feb 2022
Categories
Company, 2022 Q1
Independent tests carried out by contract research company Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology IPT have shown that belt vibration can be up to six times lower with a steel belt than it is with a plastic belt. Laser-based sensors measured the vibration in steel and plastic belts at speeds from 30-300 m/min. Vibration levels were 3 to 6x lower on the steel belt, depending on speed and tension levels.
“Our steel belts are characterised by their flatness, straightness, stability and durability,” says Cherryleen Garcia-Lindgren, Global Product Manager at IPCO. “Together, these qualities deliver improved print accuracy and enable high precision digital printing at greater speeds than any other belt type.”
IPCO’s new High Precision Tracking (HPT) solution was specifically developed to meet the challenges of digital printing. Offering belt tracking accurate to +/- 0.1 mm, the HPT is suitable for use on presses with belt speeds up to 300m/min. The system combines electric actuation cylinders with contact free optical sensors to deliver rapid system reaction times and correct belt positioning. The compact unit also serves as a powerful and effective tensioning system.
IPCO’s steel belts are precision engineered at the company’s factory in Sweden, and can be manufactured in solid form or punched with perforations for use with vacuum systems.
Applications for steel belt-based digital printing range from large format corrugated packaging to high quality, full colour branded materials – even furniture board, film wrap and ceramic tiles.
IPCO
IPCO is an independent company within the Wallenberg group, and a global business with 600 employees, more than 35 sales and service offices and annual sales in excess of $200 million.
Based in Sweden, the company has production facilities in the Americas, Asia and Europe and is a world leader in the manufacturer of high precision steel belts and associated steel belt-based process systems. IPCO supports its customers through world-leading technical support and a global sales and service network.
IPCO steel belts are used across industries as diverse as high speed digital printing, paper / pulp manufacturing, film casting, rubber curing and the production of wood-based board materials such as MDF. They are also used extensively by the chemical, petrochemical and pharmaceutical industries.