In a recent post, we discussed the main benefits label printers can experience when manufacturing their own specialty label stock. Now, let's dive into how to incorporate hot melt coating capabilities into your production lines.
There are two main hot melt coating equipment alternatives to analyze: hot melt coating lines and in-line hot melt coating stations.
Hot melt coating lines offer the advantage of allowing multiple printing lines to be fed, simplifying processes by keeping the gluing and printing as independent production processes. These coating lines also enable printers to manufacture linerless labels.
LP350 Hot Melt Coating Lines
At Valco Melton use the LP Series Hot Melt Coating Lines, to coat and laminate multiple types of materials in coating widths ranging from 350mm to 1600mm.
Alternatively, Akura Hot Melt Coating Stations seamlessly integrate into any new or existing label printing line, either as a permanent fixture or as a fully mobile wheel-in cart.
Both options incorporate Akura Hot Melt Application Technology, to achieve homogeneous and streak-free coating. The Akura applicators feature a number of independent hydraulic zones, each fed by a separate gear pump, to ensure an even distribution of the adhesive across the full web width. This innovation features interchangeable nozzles – a quick-change nozzle mechanism means effortless changes between rotating bar and slot coating nozzles
Akura Hot Melt Coating Station
Accessories include UV lamps, for working with UV-curable hot melts, which are particularly beneficial for manufacturing specialty labels. This is the case of beer and water bottle labels, where transparency is crucial, or the case of wet wipes, where removability is important to maintain product properties.
Quality assurance is highly important for Valco Melton. As specialists in hot melt coating processes, our quality inspection brand Lumitio has developed vision inspection and grammage control solutions tailored to the specific needs of the coating and converting industries.
Weight Inspekt grammage control systems measure the adhesive coat weight independently from the substrate thickness. This in-line system controls product grammage in close-loop with the gear pumps feeding each hydraulic zone on the applicator without stopping the line.
Coat Inspekt vision inspection systems combine real-time error detection with AI defect categorization for immediate production oversight and defect analysis, including roll map indications on defect positioning for elimination in the following process step.
Lumitio by Valco Melton provides quality inspection solutions for hot melt coating processes
Conclusion: If you are working with or are planning to expand into non-standard label formats, adopting hot melt coating capabilities in your label printing line is key to developing unparalleled efficiency, versatility, and profitability. At Valco Melton, we are eager to support label printers with cutting-edge hot melt coating solutions that inspire confidence and drive success.
Categorized in: Coating & Converting