Consumables
Trelleborgs New Blanket Solution for Newspaper Sector Offers Exciting Productivity and Quality Benefits
Thursday 11. September 2008 - Newspaper printers visiting the Trelleborg Printing Blankets IFRA stand (8475) in Amsterdam, October 27-30, will be able to hear about Vulcan Metal News Active - a major new development in press blanket technology, which offers the potential for significantly improved productivity and print quality.
Trelleborgs metal-backed Vulcan blankets are already extremely popular with newspaper printers and the companys research and development team, along with its Italian distributor Printgraph, has developed a unique metal-backed version with a new film backing. Printgraph has been the exclusive Italian distributor for Vulcan for 30 years and its managing director, Roberto Levi, is the inventor of the Finito series of films. Trelleborgs R&D team has been working closely with Roberto Levi to develop this new Finito product and has perfected a method of adhering this film to the blankets steel backing.
Conventional adhesive is attacked by a wide range of commonly used press blanket washing agents. Regardless of whether blanket washing is carried out by hand or automatically the cleaning agent will, over a period of time, dissolve the adhesive, with the usual result being that the film separates from the blankets steel backing. This means the press often has to be stopped and the blanket replaced, with subsequent loss of production.
“Vulcan Metal News Active is an important breakthrough in improving the print quality that can be obtained on newspaper presses and reducing stoppages and lost production,” says Dario Porta, President, Trelleborg Printing Blankets. “European trials of Vulcan Metal News Active on satellite and tower newspaper presses have shown a notable increase in print quality. Weve been working closely for quite some time with Printgraph, which will manufacture the new film for the exclusive use within the Vulcan Metal News Active solution.
“Although the new blanket will not be available until January 2009, IFRA is perfectly timed for us to discuss with our newspaper customers how Vulcan Metal News Active can best be utilised in their particular press configuration. We anticipate a significant level of interest in the new blanket solution and look forward to meeting customers on our IFRA stand to discuss the opportunities it raises in more depth,” says Dario Porta.