Rigid Plastic

Rigid Plastic

High quality printing inks for rigid plastic applications

Printed molded plastic products such as yoghurt pots, tubes, buckets etc. are a ubiquitous and indispensable part of our daily lives. The printing ink plays an important role here. The development of high-quality printing ink systems for the printing of plastic moldings is a specialty of Zeller+Gmelin. We have been the global market leader in the field of direct printing on molded parts for decades. We offer a wide range of printing ink systems for this purpose. Our UVAROLID ink series set the market standard for UV form printing in the FCM and non-food sectors. With their modern formulations, they meet all NESTLE and SWISS LIST; EUPIA and GMP requirements and are suitable for printing on all types of plastic moldings.

In form body printing, also known as dry offset, all the inks from the letterpress plates are placed one after the other wet-on-wet on a common rubber blanket on the large central cylinder. The complete print image is then transferred from the blanket to the molded body and only then is the ink cured. Because of the transfer by means of a rubber blanket, it is also referred to as indirect letterpress printing, also known colloquially as “dry offset”. The blanket is necessary because the print image is transferred from a cylinder to a conical cup. As the radius of the cup is smaller at the base than at the edge, the print image is distorted at the top and bottom. The rubber blanket compensates for the speed differences on the floor and

at the edge. Not only printers but also brand owners, packaging designers and repro agencies need to be aware of these special features of form printing (wet-on-wet printing and distortion of the printed image). By taking into account the possibilities and limitations of this printing process when designing packaging, impressive results can be achieved at competitive unit costs.

Applications

  • Plastic cup
  • Plastic tubes
  • Tablet tube
  • Painted + unpainted buckets
  • Plastic bottle caps
  • Plastic lid

Information material

Our brochure in digital form.

Learn more about Rigid Plastic

Cup printing

Printing ink systems for cup printing

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Tube pressure

Printing ink systems for plastic tube printing

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Modern FCM technology

In line with stricter legal requirements for printing on food packaging

Ever stricter legal requirements are increasing the demands for the production of legally compliant food packaging. The right choice of ink and coating systems is therefore all the more important.
Based on current developments and the latest raw materials, Zeller+Gmelin presents you with the right solution. Modern FCM ink systems contain significantly fewer migratable substances. Together with the use of special networked initiators, Zeller+Gmelin has minimized the potential for migration. The molecular weight of the cross-linked photoinitiators (approx. 1000 Daltons) is several times higher than that of conventional photoinitiators (< 400 Daltons). In addition, they contain polymerizable groups that participate in the curing process and are thus incorporated into the chemical structure of the printing ink film. be firmly integrated. These properties make the FCM systems from Zeller+Gmelin extremely safe!
Our FCM technology is more than just "low migration". It is characterized by its high-quality composition, coupled with the highest requirements and lowest migration behaviour, as well as excellent printing properties.

The advantage of conformity

  • Nestlé Standard St-80.001 (Printing Inks for Food Packaging)
  • Without bisphenol A and raw materials based on bisphenol A
  • Swiss Commodities Ordinance 817.023.21
  • GMP Regulation (EU) 2023/2006
  • EU Regulation 10/2011 in its latest version
UV standard
Zeller+Gmelin FCM Colors

LED technology

As a specialist for radiation-curing printing ink systems of the highest quality, we also offer high-quality printing ink in the field of LED UV technology.
LED technology is particularly interesting for environmentally conscious companies that not only want to conserve resources but also protect the environment. LED technology offers an economic and ecological advantage.
LED technology has developed into a real alternative solution in the field of of radiation hardening! In principle, the polymerization process of an LED ink is identical to that of a UV system. The difference is that an LED system dries with a specific wavelength. The cross-linking reaction is therefore triggered by excitation in a very narrow wavelength range. Industrial LED systems can operate in a wavelength range from 365 nm to 405 nm. The most common systems are those that emit at 385 nm or 395 nm.

Environmentally friendly + sustainable

Our printing inks are highly reactive systems which, thanks to their formulation, do not require any kind of volatile raw materials. This makes our printing inks solvent-free and emission-free! LED technology also completely eliminates the need for mercury vapor lamps. This means that you no longer have any mercury in your production process and are therefore protecting the environment. By using a specific wavelength when using LED spotlights, no ozone is produced on the machine, the heat input is reduced to a minimum and no critical UV-C radiation is emitted. This makes our LED ink solutions a user and environmentally friendly system!
  • No ozone formation
  • mercury-free technology
  • No critical UV-C radiation
  • Minimal heat input
  • Low energy requirement

Profitable + Powerful

LED lamps are ready for immediate use, eliminating standby and heat-up times. You can operate the lamps in "switch on-switch off" mode and thus clock your processes. In addition, LED units can be partially switched due to their design. This enables LEDs that are not required to be switched off outside the print area. LED lamps also have a much longer service life without any loss of power. This extends maintenance cycles many times over.
  • High efficiency
  • Long service life
  • No loss of performance
  • Zone switching
  • tactile
  • No warm-up time
  • No standby time

Analytics Center

Zeller+Gmelin has an in-house analytics center that was set up specifically for the development of low-migration inks, for raw material controls and for the internal testing of test samples.
We now also have the option of liquid chromatography with a high-resolution quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometer for even more precise and sensitive analyses. In addition, we always have our low-migration ink series tested and evaluated by independent analysis institutes. This double testing enables us to offer printers, packaging buyers and consumers the greatest possible product safety.
Numerous analyses have shown that when used properly with our low-migration ink series, the legal limit value of 10 ppb can not only be safely adhered to in migration tests with 95% ethanol, but can also be significantly undercut.
  • Liquid chromatography with high-resolution quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometer (LC-QToF-MS)
  • Gas chromatography with mass spectrogram (GC-MS)
  • Liquid chromatography with mass spectrogram (LC-MS)
  • Quality control of the raw materials we use
  • Internal evaluation of test samples

Mixing with Z-Base Colors

Based on years of positive experience with monopigmented color mixing systems, we offer a monopigmented color mixing system for all our color series.

Advantages

  • PANTONE® tones can be blended better
  • Color mixtures are more colorful and purer, as only the pigments actually required for a color mixture are used
  • the higher color intensity enables printing with low layer thicknesses
  • Reduced dot gain in halftone printing
  • Greater flexibility when setting the color intensity of spot colors
  • fewer color shifts when viewing the printed products under different light sources (metamerism)
  • Color communication between the color manufacturer and the customer is simpler and therefore faster thanks to the use of monopigmented mixing systems
  • Mixing recommendations are available for all PANTONE® shades
  • Color formulation, mixing and dosing systems are available in various expansion stages
  • Reduction of storage costs
  • Lower disposal costs for leftover paint
In our production facilities, we work with the same monopigmented color mixing systems. This ensures fast and effective color communication between the manufacturer and the print shop. Regardless of whether PANTONE® spot colors or other common mixing color systems need to be mixed, with our highly pigmented color mixing systems, the best possible result is always achieved. Even fan-independent shades can be optimally adjusted.