Converting’s coolest show

From 10 -12 March 2015, the international converting community will gather in Munich, at ICE Europe 2015, the 9th International Exhibition for the Conversion of Paper, Film, Foil and Nonwovens. With a net exhibition space of more than 10,000 m2 and more than 400 exhibiting companies, ICE Europe is the world's biggest trade fair for the converting industry. A total of 6,600 visitors from 64 countries attended the previous record event.

In addition to the many new products and developments making their debut, a key feature of ICE Europe is the large number of live demonstration of machinery on the show stands. The exhibition focuses exclusively on converting of web based materials and includes the following categories: materials, coating and laminating, drying/curing, treatment, flexo and gravure printing, control and measurement, accessories, slitting and rewinding, finishing, factory equipment, retrofits, toll coating, converting and slitting, as well as specialist software.

Completing the exhibition programme is a three-day conference organised by AIMCAL (Association of International Metallisers, Coaters and Laminators) in co-operation with Fraunhofer Institut IVV. Its main topics this year are web processing, web coating/drying, and web coating - metrology and inspection. The conference is held in English. Detailed information about the conference programme is available on the exhibition website www.ice-x.com.

What's on show
Among the exhibitors participating in ICE this year will be AER Humidifiers (stand 642), showing its Fluidpac rotor spray system for use in the paper, foil and textile industries. The Fluidpac features counter-rotating rotors which spray the web in three levels to achieve an even, streak-free, fine, and contact free application. A new product feeding system provides an opportunity to apply liquids that have various viscosities.

Atlas Converting Equipment (stand 245) will demonstrate the very latest technology in Titan slitter rewinders. The company will also present the latest developments in its range of Atlas slitter rewinders covering web widths from 2.5 to 10.4 metres. Atlas & Titan provide solutions for slitting & rewinding a wide range of flexible materials including plain, printed and coated plastic films, flexible packaging, laminates, label materials and paper. New features include reduced power consumption, faster set-up time and improved sustainability showing respect for the environment. A unique Linear Tracking Slitter section (LTS) ensures a short and constant web length between the knives and rewind shafts to deliver the highest quality rewind reels at speeds of up to 1,000m/min.In addition to the Atlas CW3600 & CW1040 Series slitter rewinders launched in 2012, the company has also recently introduced the CW5400 Series available in widths from 3.6 to 5.4 metres

Visitors to the Bobst stand 237 will find two key innovations in vacuum metallising - the General Hawkeye pinhole detector and the AlOx process. The Hawkeye is a monitoring system which detects defects at full metalliser speed. The AlOx process produces clear film with good water and oxygen barrier levels and can be used for products including baked goods and microwaveable food where product visibility is required.

On stand 716, Collano is featuring rubber based and radiation curable hotmelts, water based adhesives and adhesive films for label, tape, packaging, graphics and security applications. Within the radiation curable hotmelts, printable UV adhesives are available, for flexo or screen printing. Among the novelties to be shown are new developments for bio-based adhesives, hotmelts for resealable food packaging and concepts for security applications.

Delpro designs and manufactures equipment for the converting, packaging, printing and composites industries. On show will be the Ecoflex carbon fibre chamber doctor blade, whose benefits to press or gravure coater performance are said to include cleaner, cheaper and faster running, reduced wastage and, with better control of ink delivery, a safer working environment. Delpro's high precision knife over roll coater will also be on show. Typical applications for this versatile machine include pre-impregnated composite fibres, embossed and plain flooring, reinforced plastics and medical dressings. Stand 961.

Stand 925 is where Diplacon Industry will exhibit new innovative corona stations as the distribution partner of Gradert Maschinenbau. These discharge stations, manufactured by Gradert under the name ScanaCorona, are said to offer longer operation times, less maintenance and greater efficiency. Temperature controlled atmospheric pressure plasma systems in any width from Tigres will also be presented.

Innovative, communicative and compact are the claims Eltex makes for its latest discharging system, which features integrated 24 VDC supply voltage and visualisation via CANopen. Every component is integrated in the electrode, and communication is provided with machine/operator networks and mobile end devices. Stand 853.

On stand 484, Euromac will introduce a new semi-compact turret slitter rewinder, the TB3.T2FP, and highlight continued development of its P-series. The duplex TB3P, P-series first introduced at ICE 2013, is billed as a high quality machine designed for reduced web path, low downtime, productivity and operator friendliness.

Fasnacht (stand 1148) is a system supplier offering a broad range for flexo and gravure printing for the flexible packaging industry. The company's new generation of measuring and control systems is said to enable optimised solutions for fluid management, particularly for viscosity control.

Exhibiting on stand 172, Flexo Concepts will feature its new TruPoint Orange doctor blade with a MicroTip edge as a direct replacement for steel on line screens up to 590 l/cm (1,500 lpi). The Orange is said to last longer than steel, is safer to handle, and eliminates anilox scoring in a full range of tag and label, and flexible packaging applications.

"The world's first truly intelligent, reactive static control device" will be launched by Fraser Anti-Static Techniques. The Neos is billed as an advanced method of static neutralisation which is up to three times more powerful than existing equipment. It works by sampling the electric field of the static charge and then increasing the supply of ions of the opposite polarity until the charge is neutralised. The sampling can be many times a second, so the response is very fast. Neos has been tested at process speeds of 2,000m/min to ensure that it can cope with the increasing speeds in the converting and paper making industries. Available in lengths up to 5m, all Neos bars are powered by 24VDC. All the ionising and sensing electronics are enclosed in the bar. Tungsten emitters guarantee many years of high performance. Stand 560.

Kraiburg produces sleeves, rollers and roller coatings for all kinds of applications, using all natural rubber types and polyurethane coatings in all hardness ranges. Silicon coatings are a speciality. At ICE Europe 2015, the company is to introduce new "absolutely smooth" roller coatings to meet the highest quality and cleanness demands. Stand 646.

Visitors to stand 824 will see Mocon's new generation of oxygen and water vapour transmission rate systems. Operator convenience, shorter test times, higher quality results and lower cost of ownership are said to be the most important improvements. Many others features increase the effectiveness of the modules and of the laboratory.

On stand 481, Montalvo will debut its new Z4 range of tension controllers for unwind, nip, and rewind processes that utilise loadcells or dancers, or even both. Featuring a wide range of features and functions and a high definition 7 display screen, the new controllers are said to be "built so you can achieve more".

Adolf Müller (stand 446) will exhibit a new slitter in ZSR3-series, said to be a very compact and space saving machine with integrated shaftless unwind and generator brake. The company will also emphasise its "green design philosophy" in order to reduce the customers' CO² footprint.

Proton is presenting the new mini inteliSENS non-contact speed and length sensors - "the smallest in the world at the lowest cost", on stand 138.

On stand 126, RotoMetrics will introduce the RD300 solid die, said to be superior for cutting disposable medical substrates, dust-sensitive labels and tags, in-mould labels, and gasket materials. The RD300's strength and durability comes from its "superior" high chromium D2 steel grade body, together with a specialised heat treating process that provides full depth hardness of 58-60 Rockwell.

SML's FlexPack extrusion coating and laminating line is now equipped with a new energy efficient primer station with closed a chamber doctor blade system. Both unwinders and rewinder operate shaftless and enable splicing at full speed, the company says. Stand 554.

ICE Europe 2013 saw the debut of contactless web turning provided by the Spooner Air Turn. Visitors to the Spooner Industries stand 365 at this year's event will be able to view this non-contact air flotation technology at close quarters, demonstrated by a reduced scale model. The Air Turn is a fully automatic system requiring no operator involvement; any changes in the web operating tension are accommodated within the unit's closed loop control system, resulting in consistent contact-free operation. Spooner also offers industrial dryers, ovens and air pollution controls, and provides coolers, oxidisers and solvent recovery systems.

A visit to stand 152 will introduce the new Prosis IR process analysis thickness sensor from Thermo Scientific. The instrument uses full spectrum IR light to measure single and multi-layer materials on the line. It supports applications from the food packaging industry to nonwovens in healthcare and personal hygiene markets, optical films in electronics, and coating applications.

3F, exhibiting on stand 986, will display a new environmentally friendly, high performance acrylic pressure sensitive adhesive said to expand the possibilities for applications in cool and moist conditions. The lowest application temperature is only -5degC. One of the major end-use applications is self-adhesive PE foam converted to bobbins, such as for the production of extruded window profiles.

On stand 632, manufacturer and supplier of rollers and sleeve coverings Trelleborg Coated Systems plans to introduce the Rollin PressPlast Gold, which it describes as the perfect solution when both elasticity and hardness are needed on counterpart rollers. As a result, the counterpart's resistance to effects and wraps is doubled, delivering an "outstanding lifespan".

On stand 585, Wandres Micro-cleaning, provider of systems to clean web surfaces doubling within production processes, will show the new Web Sword Brush WSB with a compact design for easy integration into printing, finishing or cutting lines. Even electrically charged plastics films can be cleaned before printing with the patented Ingromat micro-moistening system. ?

www.ice-x.com/europe
www.aerhumi.ch
www.atlasconverting.com
www.bobst.com
www.collano.com
www.delpro.co.uk
www.diplacon.de
www.eltex.com
www.euromacslitters.com
www.fasnacht.biz
www.flexoconcepts.com
www.fraser-antistatic.co.uk
www.kraiburg-walzen.at
www.mocon.eu
www.montalvo.com
www.mueller-machines.com
www.protonproducts.com
www.rotometrics.com
www.sml.at
www.spooner.co.uk
www.thermoscientific.com
www.3f-.de
www.trelleborg.com/printing
» www.wandres.com