Curious about the ITB. You can help.

[Erik Nikkanen]

Calling all PrintPlaneteers,

As many of you already know, I have been looking for a small printer in the Toronto area to demonstrate my ITB (Ink Transfer Blade) technology and make the results public. Not too much luck yet with any printers.

The ITB technology is very inexpensive but fundamentally changes the process by making the ink feed independent of numerous variables such as water, temperature and press speed. The result is consistent print density and no ink/water balancing.

Interestingly, a Chinese press manufacturer, Hans-Gronhi, has recently located its North American sales office in Toronto. The General Manager of Hans-Gronhi in Toronto is Grace Gao. I emailed Grace to inform her of the ITB and she replied that there might be some interest.

Grace probably thinks I am crazy and that is probably true, but a very low cost technology to correct the density variation problem in an offset press could have a perfect fit for a press manufacturer that is aiming to provide low cost technology to North America and other markets.

Grace probably thinks there would be no interest in solving this problem. This is where your help comes in.

If you are curious in knowing if the ITB actually works, then maybe sending an email to Grace would help.

Just some short comment like,

“I too would like to see the ITB tested and its results.” or some other comment.

Grace Gao’s email is: grace@hans-gronhi.com

Maybe if she gets a few emails, she will also become more curious.

Thanks for you help.

Erik

P.S. If Heidelberg, Manroland or KBA want to email Grace to suggest that she does not have the ITB tested, that’s OK too. :-)


Erik Nikkanen

[CoryKomori]

Could you please give me a brief, somewhat detailed description of exactly how ITB works
Thank you

[Erik Nikkanen]

Originally Posted by CoryKomori

Could you please give me a brief, somewhat detailed description of exactly how ITB works
Thank you

Hi CoryKomori,

I shall try. First one should discuss the fundamental cause of ink water balance and density variation on offset presses. One general view is that it is a chemical problem or an emulsification problem. This is not true. The truth is that the ink feed of all modern offset presses is not consistent in delivering ink into the press. Changes in water, press speed or roller train temperature with affect the ink transfer from the ink fountain roller to the roller train. This then results in variations in ink storage on the rollers and then variation in print density.

The ITB corrects the inconsistent ink transfer problem at the ductor by forcing the ink transfer in a consistent way that is independent of the changes in the above variables. Move the water setting up or down and it will not affect the print density. Turn the water way up and you can not wash the print out. This can be easily demonstrated and proven if there is an interest.

With the resulting consistent ink feed comes the potential of accurate presetting. Added to that, more predictable zero setting obtainable due to the setting of the ink key to a fixed zero transfer point. A predictable and consistent zero set point, which is the Datum for any ink key presetting data, provides for more accurate presetting capability. This is something that can not be done with the traditional ductor.

The capability of the ITB has been successfully tested on presses. The ITB fundamentally changes the way the offset lithographic process works and it does this at low cost.

I have attached a short description and also the US patent for your view.

I hope it gives you an idea of the concept.

[Cornishpastythighs]

Erik, Would the ITB work for either conventional ink and UV ink? Does the blade easily move out of the way for wash ups/colour changes
Thanks

[Erik Nikkanen]

Originally Posted by Cornishpastythighs

Erik, Would the ITB work for either conventional ink and UV ink? Does the blade easily move out of the way for wash ups/colour changes
Thanks

Cornish,

The first prototype ITB was tested on a 40" Chambon web press running EB inks. The second time it was tested was on a small Multi press with conventional ink. The last time it was tested was on a test press at Drent Goebel in Holland. That press was about 30" wide and the ink used was UV ink.

At that time I gave them a seminar on press design and analysis related to density control. They had built an ITB prototype and we then successfully tested the ITB on coated, uncoated and plastic coated substrate. Drent Goebel kept the ITB on their test press and used it for over three years. They never got around to developing it as a product due to other priorities. Unfortunately they went bankrupt last Fall.

All the ITB units tested were prototypes and not meant for production. A production version would have the functions designed into it to lift when no printing was being done (off impression etc.) and to lift higher for easy cleaning. All that is needed to be cleaned is a small area along the tip of the blade.

Normal positive ink feed systems which are used in newspaper presses (Goss DigiRail) are totally enclosed pump concepts that can not pump high viscosity inks and if they could, they would be harder to clean unless very strong solvents are used.

The ITB makes a conventional open ink fountain a positive ink feed device. The ink keys meter the ink and the ITB positively transfers that ink to the roller train. Since it is totally open, it is easy to clean and it is easy to use the higher viscosity inks now used on presses.

Another added benefit of the ITB concept is that the ink feed into the roller train is more or less continuous. There is no intermittent ink feed or mechanical shock that ones has with the conventional ductor.

Hope that answers your question.

[Lukew]

Interesting concept Erik,
One area I can't get my head around is the - fact you say the print will no longer wash out no matter where your water dials are.

I still would of thought with this system you still need to form a stable ink / fount emulsion

You say that the ITB gives a very accurate ink feed. Surley this needs to be backed up with the correctly set fount feed ?

If you turn your fount dials up to high 1) too much fount goes to the plate 2) too much travels up into the ink train causing emulsification.

IPA and normal IPA replacment founts act as a solvent, this solvency alone would lighten the density

Maybee I have read it wrong and you mean to say, no matter how water logged your inkers are the ITB will still transfer the accurate amount to the inkers, as no fount can make it to the ink duct?

[Erik Nikkanen]

Originally Posted by Lukew

Interesting concept Erik,
One area I can't get my head around is the - fact you say the print will no longer wash out no matter where your water dials are.

I still would of thought with this system you still need to form a stable ink / fount emulsion

You say that the ITB gives a very accurate ink feed. Surley this needs to be backed up with the correctly set fount feed ?

If you turn your fount dials up to high 1) too much fount goes to the plate 2) too much travels up into the ink train causing emulsification.

IPA and normal IPA replacment founts act as a solvent, this solvency alone would lighten the density

Maybee I have read it wrong and you mean to say, no matter how water logged your inkers are the ITB will still transfer the accurate amount to the inkers, as no fount can make it to the ink duct?

Lukew,

I can see you are having a hard time visualizing this. I can understand why but it is still true that the density will not drop or wash out when you increase the fount settings.

I am not suggesting that your should run jobs with lots of water. It just means that you have a very large operating window. It also means that adjusting the water for quality will not affect the ink feed and therefore the print density. No more balancing.

It is true that there is much less chance of the emulsified ink going back to the ink fountain but the important point is that the highly emulsified ink does not affect the ink transfer rate into the roller train when using the ITB.

Think in terms of adjusting the ink to get the right density and adjusting the water to get the right quality of print at that density.

Other advantages of positive ink feed.
If you stop the press and let it sit for a long time, it will quickly converge back to the previous densities after restarting the press.
The ITB has been shown to be linear with press speed. Run slow and then run fast and the density will be consistent. Some advantage can be obtained with setting up at slow speed then going to a faster speed without the density dropping off.
Many web presses now require a non linear speed adjustment to the ink fountain roller speed to compensate for the lack of linearity of the ink feed on conventional presses. This is not needed with the ITB.

As I have said before, the ITB changes the way the process works. It will be easy to run but it will require a rethinking of your views on how the process works. But that is good news. It will be much more rational and easier to understand. It will lead to more predictable results.