The new inks remove the need for priming corrugated boards before printing on the Engico Aqua 250 press
At InPrint in Italy this week, Sensient Imaging Technologies presented a new water-based ink developed for printing on non-porous board surfaces. Working with Italian press manufacturer Engico, this is now offered on the Aqua 250 inkjet press for corrugated board printing.
Available in CMYK, the pigmented water-based inks are marketed under the Sensijet SX platform. They have been formulated for use with piezo printheads for applications such as sign and graphics, decoration and packaging, and have achieved Nestlé compliance for food packaging.
Live production print samples from the first beta site in Italy were on show at InPrint. These demonstrated uniform ink coverage in the solid areas, high colour density and gloss levels. ‘We create a affinity between the board and the ink, without the need for priming,’ said Rudy Grosso, commercial director inks global.
He continued, ‘This increases the colour density we can achieve and also the reliability of the machine. The ink also fully retains its gloss level when printed, although this does depend on the quality of the substrate.’
On the Engico Aqua 250 corrugated press, which was first brought to market in 2013, the new inks have now removed the need for priming the substrate before printing. Sensient is working to further develop the ink for other packaging applications, including metal for food packaging, and have tested it on a wide range of other substrates.
