Luxembourg-headquartered Flint Group, a global print consumables manufacturer, has announced the early success of its UV LED ink range, EkoCure Ancora F2 with dual curing capability, following its launch in Europe at the end of 2022.
The company’s UV LED Dual Cure ink range builds on the original winning formula of its EkoCure Ancorarange, specifically designed for food packaging and labeling. The Flint Group’s Dual Cure inks and coatings are uniquely designed to cure using a traditional UV lamp or low-energy UV LED. These products are compatible with any curing system on any narrow or mid-web press, enabling printers still using traditional mercury-based UV lamps to smoothly transition to more sustainable UV curing processes at their own pace, the company says.
With optimized curing speed, improved rheology, and lower viscosity, the EkoCure Ancora F2 delivers better press performance for long runs in chambered doctor blade systems. Furthermore, these inks provide enhanced adhesion to a wide range of substrates such as coated & uncoated papers, PE (polyethylene), top-coated PE, PP, BOPP, and other films. Importantly, the EkoCure Ancora F2 offers reduced energy consumption, reducing the total cost to print, the company says.
“EkoCure Ancora F2 is ideal for food labeling & packaging applications and is designed for today’s print and packaging industry. More importantly, it’s the perfect solution to future-proof our customers’ presses,” said Niklas Olsson, global director, Product & Commercial Excellence, Narrow Web at Flint Group. “We formulated this range to deliver the best print quality and dot sharpness obtainable while offering excellent adhesion to synthetic substrates. It provides the performance, efficiency, and versatility benefits that printers seek.”
“EkoCure Ancora F2 is a product that helps printers who have not yet switched to LED curing to prepare for the future,” Olsson continued. “UV LED technology uses far less power than traditional mercury lamps and has a longer lifespan. Many customers are switching to LED for precisely these reasons. We’re delighted with the strong response from customers using UV LED lamps and that customers using mercury lamps can print using the same high-performance solution.”
Available in a full range of Pantone colors, plus opaque whites, EkoCure Ancora F2 can be used in various food labels and packaging applications – unsupported films, self-adhesive and in-mold labels, and cold foiling. These inks are a complete, high-performance, low-migration solution that meets the stringent requirements of paper and film labels and shrink sleeves for food packaging.
The rollout of this ink has met a positive response across Europe and builds upon more than 10 years of success in UV LED ink and coating developments. With a market-leading portfolio of products, including its Flexocure series of inks, Flint Group is proud to be the UV and LED ink pioneer.
The Flint Group serves the needs of the global flexible packaging, paper & board, narrow web, and publication industries, both conventional and digitally printed. The company develops, manufactures, and markets a portfolio of printing consumables and equipment, including conventional and energy-curable inks, coatings, and additives for flexographic, gravure & offset applications; pressroom chemicals and printing blankets. It also designs and manufactures digital printing presses for labels, corrugated packaging, document, and commercial applications.
