Edited by Lara Copeland, contributing editor, PostPress
Sakurai, a global leader in sheet-fed screen printing technology located in Schaumburg, Illinois, has launched the ScreenFoil™ LQM Evolution series, a cost-effective solution for inline hot foil stamping. Now available in two sizes, the new LQM 105 accepts sheet sizes up to 41 ½ x 30″, and the new LQM 76 accepts sheet sizes up to 23 ½ x 21 ½”.
“Sakurai is very pleased to introduce the new ScreenFoil™ hot foil stamper series to the North American market,” said David Rose, vice president, Sakurai USA, Inc. “The redesigned, full-featured LQM series offers our customers the ability to increase profits with an in-house solution for hot foil finishing.”
The new LQM 105 Evolution series was introduced at the Sakurai Graphic Systems Corporation Factory Open House in Gifu, Japan, last April and was scheduled to make its North American debut, running live, inline with a Maestro MS-102AX screen press, Natgraph dryer and stacker – at Sakurai USA’s exhibit at Printing United in Atlanta in October. Sakurai’s screen press line, as described, allows the operator to screen print, dry, screen foil and stack in a single pass.
The LQM Evolution is able to precisely apply foil in a variety of area sizes – as small as 10 mm or as large as the whole substrate length and in narrow bands or across the whole width of the substrate. The precision provided by these two functions ensures the minimum of foil waste.
The ScreenFoil™ LQM 105 brings a new level of flexibility, quality and performance when combined with any size or vintage Sakurai screen press. It is perfect for PSP, folders, leaflets, business cards, loyalty cards, magazines, book covers, packaging, promotional items, labels, roll-to-roll, greeting card, automotive, appliance and plastic card applications.
The LQM series has many new features to increase productivity. An alignment conveyor transports sheets. After the UV varnish is cured, the sheet is transferred to the foil unit via infeed rollers and automatically is registered by a lateral side registration bar. The machine automatically locates the front edge of the sheet and begins applying foil based on the job parameters. When the job does not require foil, a bypass function allows the sheet to pass through at the same speed as the press, acting as a transport mechanism. Additionally, the job-setting parameters for foiling easily are entered, edited and stored via a user-friendly touchscreen panel. It can be retrieved by the operator at any time, allowing repeat jobs to be set up instantly.
“The use of the screen printing press to deposit the image in registration allows the heated foil to be applied in any size or image configuration. No dies – just print the image you want foiled, UV cure and then pass through the foil applicator. Fine line, 3D coverage foil now is controlled by the screen press,” Rose added. “If you are looking for greater use of your Sakurai or other existing screen press, add foil to your list of services to the graphic arts industry.”
Sakurai new and used presses, LQM hot foil stampers and Natgraph dryers are distributed in the US, Canada, Mexico and Central and South America by Sakurai USA, backed by responsive customer support, service, replacement parts and training.
Technical details
Both the LQM 76 and LQM 105 have a maximum speed of 30m/pm during the foil application process. The bypass speed with no foil is 55m/pm for the LQM 76 and 65m/pm for the LQM 105. The internal core diameter is 3″ for both sizes.
