One machine. All technologies - UV, LED UV, IR/Warm-air, FREEcure.
New inks, new coatings, new substrates and changing process requirements: label and narrow web printing are evolving – and curing technology needs to evolve with them. swap4cure decouples the printing machine from any single curing technology. Its modular platform integrates conventional UV curing, precisely controllable LED UV, IR and warm-air drying for water-based systems, as well as FREEcure as a UVC-based curing option for specifically developed formulations.
This allows the appropriate curing or drying technology to be selected according to the ink or coating system, substrate and process requirements – without changing the overall machine concept. The result: the curing technology adapts to the job – not the other way round.
At IST METZ, we do not start with a specific technology. We start with your production process. We analyse your existing curing and drying systems, current energy requirements and relevant production parameters to determine where modernisation or retrofitting can make technical sense. Depending on your production environment, this can range from a single printing machine to multiple production lines or sites.
Based on this analysis, we assess which curing and drying technologies match your inks and coatings, substrates, machine configuration and production requirements. The result is a technical and data-based foundation for your next step – and the basis for selecting the right swap4cure configuration for your production environment.
Talk to our experts about your application and identify the potential in your production process.
Choosing a curing system has traditionally meant committing to a specific technology. swap4cure takes a different approach.
Its modular architecture creates a common platform for different curing and drying technologies. Depending on the application, production requirements and ink or coating system, the appropriate technology can be used within the same machine concept.
This provides greater flexibility when requirements change – without having to rethink the entire curing infrastructure.
Technologies available on the swap4cure platform:
Requirements in label and narrow web printing are changing rapidly. New ink and coating systems, increasingly diverse substrates and evolving process requirements make it difficult to predict which curing and drying technology will be required throughout the lifetime of a printing machine.
swap4cure is designed around this uncertainty. Instead of defining the curing technology permanently when the machine is configured, the modular platform provides the technological flexibility to respond to changing production requirements.
A job may require conventional UV today, LED UV tomorrow or thermal drying for water-based inks. Future ink and coating formulations may create additional opportunities with FREEcure.
MBS C and QNX provide compact, high-performance UV curing with outputs of up to 200 W/cm. Quick-change modules combine the UV lamp, reflector and mechanical components into a precisely calibrated unit. This simplifies handling and allows the curing technology to be integrated efficiently into the production process. URS reflector technology directs the UV energy precisely onto the material web while reducing heat input. This enables high curing performance, stable production processes and reduced maintenance requirements.
Two cooling concepts are available to suit different machine configurations:
Both systems are FREEcure ready. Upgrading to FREEcure only requires replacement of the UV lamp.
FREEcure uses high-energy UVC radiation below 220 nm to directly initiate the curing reaction and reduce oxygen inhibition. The UVC component is significantly increased through the coordinated interaction of plasma technology, lamp material, reflector, filter and system control.
Combined with specifically adapted ink and coating formulations, this creates the technological basis for photoinitiator-free UV curing – an approach particularly relevant for sensitive packaging and label applications.
At the same time, existing standard UV formulations can continue to be used. This illustrates the core idea behind swap4cure: supporting today's production while providing a defined path towards future curing technologies.
LEDcure NX represents the latest generation of our LED UV curing technology. It is designed for high performance and precise process control, with output that can be adapted to the requirements of the application. UV energy is distributed evenly across the working width, supporting fast, stable and reproducible curing.
The output can be adapted to the actual application. Individual LED zones can be activated according to the required format, so energy is supplied only where it is needed. The modular architecture of LEDcure NX also provides a basis for future LED wavelengths and changing process requirements. Rather than viewing LED UV as a fixed technological endpoint, swap4cure integrates it into a platform designed to evolve with the application.
SMARTcure complements LEDcure NX with intelligent process control. Rather than using a fixed output setting for every production job, SMARTcure determines a suitable operating point based on the parameters of the respective application. This allows the UV output to be matched more precisely to the production job. The principle is simple: optimal rather than maximum output. SMARTcure therefore adds application-specific process control to the LED UV system and supports targeted adjustment of the curing parameters.
Not every application requires UV curing. Water-based inks and coatings require targeted heat input and controlled airflow to remove moisture from the process. THERMOcure combines infrared technology and warm-air drying within the swap4cure platform. Medium-wave IR emitters, carbon emitters and controlled airflow transfer heat to the wet film and remove moisture from the process.
Temperature and output can be adjusted to application parameters such as:
This extends swap4cure beyond UV and LED UV curing and allows thermal drying processes to be integrated into the same platform concept.
