UV LED curing technology is ideally suited for the wood coatings industry for applications such as edge coating, roller coating and digital printing. UV LED technology drastically reduces energy consumption and significantly reduces work-piece surface temperature.
Edge Coating
Edge Coating lines utilize UV LED to ensure consistent, high-quality results. Machines can be made more compact due to small form factor; speed can be increased due to consistent UV output; and the diffuse nature of UV LED light can be used to more effectively cure shaped surfaces which previously required multiple mercury lamps at various angles.
Roller Coating
UV LED is a perfect match for roller coating lines, both for gelling and full-cure stations. The benefits include better factory floor utilization due to shorter, more efficient lines; increased uptime with no degradation in UV output, cheaper input stock due to lack of infrared heat; and reduced operating costs by more efficient electricity use and no need for costly airducting systems.
Digital Printing
While technically not a wood application, creating a wood-grain look on diverse materials is made possible with UV LED and ink-jet printing. By using a combination of pinning and full-cure lamps, realistic ‘look’ and more importantly ‘feel’ is enabled by creating texture to mimic the grains of natural wood. This is especially valuable in decorative and accent applications.
Post time: Jan-21-2022