As part of its ‘Creative Freedom’ campaign, Kodak has introduced four new inkjet modules as well as food safe packaging inks and pre-coatings for folding cartons, food wraps, paper cups and plates, and ream wraps. Available from the beginning of this coming April, the new Prosper Plus printing components can expand the capabilities on the Kodak Prosper 6000S Simplex press and the Uteco Sapphire Evo webfed press.

The four new modules are based on the Prosper S-Series imprinting systems for packaging and product decoration and will include two narrow formats and two wider format models, printing at max speeds of 260m/min or 600m/min respectively.

The narrow format design is a 105mm single jetting module for printing barcodes, QR codes, promotional contest information or small format designs in either monochrome or four colours. The wider format design is 210mm dual-stitched, designed for corrugated, folding carton and label packaging applications that require full-page printing or dynamic layouts. The modules can be mounted inline with offset, flexo or gravure presses, or on finishing lines, such as folding/gluing systems. They feature new print modes with smaller drop size and higher resolution for faster drying and better quality.

Meanwhile Kodak’s water-based inks have passed US and European certifications for food safety, direct skin contact and food service products. This is complement by its water-based Digital Varnish, which has been formulated for indirect food contact compliance and is free of VOCs, mineral oils and any unreacted UV-curable components.

Additionally, the company has been working with industry manufacturers including Michelman to test compatibility of Kodak’s inks and technologies with various substrates such as PET, nylon and polypropylene. The company has worked to pre-qualify existing flexible packaging solutions from leading suppliers to ensure the compatibility with commercially available adhesives, substrates, primer, Kodak’s inkjet inks, and flexo overvarnish and overprint. The combination of these technologies will be delivered by the Uteco Sapphire Evo press using Stream inkjet technology, which will offer surface and reverse printing with lamination for short, medium or long run digital flexible packaging.

It was also announced that Uteco Group has sold the first Sapphire Evo Plus press to Nuova Erreplast, located near Naples in Italy, and that the second unit will be going to Kinyosha, in Japan. Aldo Peretti, CEO, said, ‘The adoption of this hybrid digital web press is showcasing the value of digital printing with water-based inks on flexible substrates for a wide variety of applications including food packaging and personal care items such as diapers. The combined knowledge of Uteco and Kodak has unleashed the possibilities and customers have taken notice.’

The Italian company has also agreed to expand development efforts with Kodak being among the first to integrate the Ultrastream inkjet technology.