Lake Image Systems and Ross Manufacturing develop innovative system for De La Rue
Print Solutions
Lake Image Systems Ltd, in partnership with the UK based Ross Manufacturing Ltd, has announce that the two companies have developed a highly flexible, sheetfed inkjet printing and inspection system, incorporated onto a modular, air vacuum transport conveyor for De La Rue plc. The system automates the print production and in line inspection of secure documents, certificates, tax stamps and authentication labels.
The new inkjet printing and inspection machine consist of three key components.
Modular air vacuum transport conveyor: Ross Manufacturing has built a highly flexible, vacuum conveyor for the transport of sheets, leaflets, labels, cards and packaging from 115 x 60 mm up to 540 x 720 mm in size. A high capacity feeder utilises adjustable universal suction pads that can deal with a wide range of paper, card and plastic substrates ranging from 30 to 230 g/m2. An automated reject gate and a high capacity stacker placed at the end of the conveyor to ensure continuous operation. Together with Ross’s overall system management software, the equipment can operate at speeds up to 4000 sheets per hour. A highly modular design allows for a cost effective, flexible way to configure the line for variable widths and overall lengths to meet customer requirements.
Inkjet printheads from all major printer suppliers can be mounted on the conveyor with either black and white, spot colour or fluorescent ink for full variable data printing. Two Inkjet heads can be mounted on rails for easy operation and continuous printing.
A print inspection system from Lake Image Systems is integrated onto the transport conveyor belt incorporating high resolution linescan cameras and high intensity LED white, colour or UV lighting as required. The camera and lighting are enclosed in a metal housing for stable and safe operation. Lake Image’s Discovery Multiscan software is deployed to track, read and verify variable data and inspect every item for print quality defects. If an error is detected, the defective piece is tracked by a Multiscan zonal tracking module to the reject gate, which diverts the suspect item for subsequent inspection by the operator. The nature of the error, location and associated information is logged and a full inspection report is available at the end of the job run.
‘Our innovative design and modular construction have enabled us to offer a highly cost effective and flexible transport system to meet the needs of our client,’ said Ross Baker, owner of Ross Manufacturing. ‘By incorporating inkjet technologies from a variety of suppliers and Lake Image’s print inspection system, we believe we have a world class printing solution for the growing security document and label printing market – delivering significant flexibility and productivity.’
‘We are once again delighted to be a part of this exciting new innovation from Ross Manufacturing,’ added Martin Keats, managing director at Lake Image Systems. ‘Our reputation as a print inspection technology supplier, within the security and label industry, has seen exceptional growth. Print inspection is now seen as an essential component in reducing production costs and waste, but more importantly, for mitigating the potential risks associated with faulty documents and labels for both the security printer and the end client. We are delighted that De La Rue has chosen us for this critical part of their business.’
