Vivid VeloTaper
Vivid has hit the target with the VeloTaper, an award-winning piece of technology that increases the efficiency of placing adhesive tape on packaging and stationery. Brian Sims finds out more...
Principal consultant, Metis Print Consultancy
Friday, 12 May 2023 11:39 GMT
The VeloTaper is able to lay double-sided tape in both X and Y direction in one pass
No room for error
There are a number of tasks that can fill post-press operatives with dread, one of these can be the application of double-sided tape or adhesives to the finished product. Hours have been spent in most occasions producing the most elaborate printed, varnished, cut and creased product, only to be scrapped when the tape to hold the product together gets applied 5mm to the wrong side of the crease line.
Quite often the phrase “you only had one job” can be heard being shouted across the finishing room when the error is found in the final assembly of the product. Things are likely to get quite tense, the product is not reclaimable, and the client is on the phone.
It might seem like a simple enough task, however from experience it is anything but. It can be quite easy to misinterpret the score line on the 50th carton of the day. Don’t realise your mistake and you have the next 20 cartons with the tape in the wrong place.
Well, the innovative people at Vivid Laminating Technologies have come to the rescue with an award-winning piece of revolutionary technology called the VeloTaper. It is such an interesting piece of equipment that it recently won the Pinnacle InterTech Award for Best Technology in 2022 which is no mean feat and Vivid is quite understandably very proud of the award.
The PRINTING United Alliance set up these awards to cover a number of sectors and the Pinnacle Awards are the industry’s largest, and one of the most respected awards for print-related technology and products. The Pinnacle InterTech Awards acknowledge innovative, industry-changing technology and the Pinnacle Product Awards recognise product excellence and quality.
For a smaller piece of equipment, the receipt of this award must mean there is something about it that is drawing industry experts and users to recognise Vivid as a winner in the VeloTaper.
Putting the Tape Down
So what actually is the VeloTaper? Having discussed trials and tribulations of the application of adhesive tape on a product, clearly the device is designed to do just that, and it does so, both very effectively and efficiently.
The design of the VeloTaper is such that is intended to fit directly onto one of the VeloBlade Volta+ models of cutting and creasing machines. The intention is that it automates the application of the required adhesive but it can do it directly from the ZipCore software meaning the likelihood of it being in the wrong place is virtually zero.
Vivid’s VeloTaper is fully compatible with the VeloBlade Volta+ models
The second upside of it being integrated into one of the VeloBlade Volta+ models is you can overlay the double-sided tape across the cut line and then cut the board meaning the adhesive line goes right up to the edge. This means the folded finished product is likely to be far more consistent and more reliably rigid.
Automation is Key
As previously discussed, the application of the tape is quite an art and with each artisan task or process, there are bound to be variations between each product. Again with any type of task, the time taken can be quite consuming.
The VeloTaper cuts the time taken to apply tape significantly by the use of the X- and Y-axis drives used for the cutting and creasing operation of the flatbed VeloBlade Volta+ model selected. This means not only are the cut and crease lines in the correct place, the double-sided tape can be applied with the same level of accuracy.
Statistics
- Tape width: Up to 22mm
- Software integration: Zip Core
- Tape direction: X and Y axis
Tapes up to 22mm in width can be used on the VeloTaper and any changes to the profile of the laying down of the tape are easily editable. Overall you get almost 100% accuracy for the application of the adhesive tape which saves time and money.
The VeloTaper can be used with tapes up to 22mm in width
Added to the accuracy is the speed in which this process is carried out on the VeloTaper. The device can be driven at virtually the same speed as the other processes, pausing just at the correct place to dab an amount of pressure to break the tape. Once done the device spins off to the next position and starts again to apply the next line of adhesive.
What is not so obvious when you look at the device is its ability to rotate through 90 degrees meaning the VeloTaper can lay double-sided tape in both the X and Y directions in the same pass.
Watching the device fly around a blank sheet of board is very impressive. The ZipCore software would have calculated where the tape should be placed and it is not only precisely placed but as the machine moves to the next position it keeps the tape with the prerequisite tension meaning the adhesive is laid down as thin as practicably possible.
As the machine moves to the next position, it keeps the tape with the prerequisite tensions meaning the adhesive is laid down as thin as practically possible”
The VeloTaper will make a significant difference to the production of point of sale, carton, or stationary making the volume of run much more cost effective. Where you would have previously discounted the use of double-sided adhesive due to the labour-intensive nature of the application, by embedding it into the cut and crease process the whole manufacturing of the carton from the flat printed sheet is seamless.
As with most automated processes, there is a double upside. Not only is the product produced with greater accuracy, you can free up the manpower needed for this task for other work or production. Less time to do more, that has to be top of anyone’s list.
Brian Sims Principal Consultant, Metis Print Consultancy, www.metis-uk.eu
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