IML and decoration | Innovation
putting it well into double-digits. Particularly active areas include projects in large pails and the dairy sector.
In-mould labelling for injection moulded packaging in North America is estimated to have grown by 15% from 2012 to 2013 with a number of new applications hitting store shelves and refrigerators, according to Ron Schultz, executive director of IMDA, a trade association for in-mould decoration headquartered in Scottsdale, in Arizona in the US. “This is a significant improvement in growth which has lagged behind expectations over the past decade,” Schultz says. “Some of the factors inhibiting IML-I (IML for injection moulding) growth include lack of adequate high cavitation IML-capable stack mould capacity to handle large volume applications and undue reliance on imported IML-I labels. The latter, however, is improving with the majority of those labels now produced by domestic printers,” he says. “Materials suppliers are convinced that this growth is sustainable; witness the
IML gets technical
The demonstration of cleanroom produc- tion of a PMMA touchscreen smartphone front panel using IML and IMD technology on the Sumitomo (SHI) Demag stand at the K show last year may not have matched the cycle times of the fastest IML packag- ing cells but it was an impressive example of process integration. The complete cycle, which used
variotherm mould temperature control to provide consistently high product quality despite the long and narrow flow paths inside the mould, took a total of 40 s but that involved multiple process steps, including UV curing of the IML film, laser trimming and delicate removal of trim from the IMD film. The IML process for creating the
touchscreen of the panel was developed by PolyIC, a Kurz Group company. The frame section of the moulding was decorated using IMD to give it a sleek black finish. PolyIC has optimised its conductive
IML (PolyTC) films for injection moulding applications. The products comprise PET substrates covered with thin metallic conductor structures. According to Sumitomo (SHI)
28 INJECTION WORLD | June 2014
A reel-fed IML film is positioned on the moving side of the mould and a pre-cut IMD film on the fixed half in this Sumitomo Demag/PolyIC
smartphone screen application (below)
Demag, they promise to be a cost-effective alternative to the indium tin oxide (ITO) films currently used for touch screens (the price of indium is high and is predicted to continue to rise). “Even with their individually customisable layout, PolyTC films from PolyIC can be manufactured cost-efficiently,” the company claims. Meanwhile, film technology specialist
Nissha Printing says IML adoption is also increasing in the automotive industry, due to its ability to provide high-quality decoration on complex 3D geometries.
Nissha concentrates on consumer durable and industrial applications for both IMD (which it terms IMD Type TR for Transcription) and IML. It categorises IML applications as IMD Type S or Type P, depending on the film thickness and the film forming method. IMD Type S uses films that are formed in the injection mould; IMD Type P uses thicker films or foils that are formed before insertion into the injection mould. Nissha claims the Type S application is unique to the company.
Click on the links for more information: ❙
www.polyic.com ❙
www.kurz.de ❙
www.sumitomo-shi-demag.eu ❙
www.nissha.com
www.injectionworld.com
acquisition of in-mould label film supplier AET Films by Taghleef Industries to compete head-to-head with market leader Treofan.”
Thin wall innovations The journey IML has made in North America over the last 10 years or so is highlighted by Canadian mould maker and systems integrator StackTeck Systems. The company was supplying around 12 IML cavities per year up until 2002, typically in three- or four-cavity moulds, and it was then probably the only company in North America working in IML, according to Jordan Robert- son, general manager for business development and marketing. A recent count showed that, in all, the company has now supplied around 300 moulds, with a total cavity count of 1,500. That is an average of around 100 cavities per year and it is a trend that continues on an upward trajectory.
Robertson sees the North American IML market developing to satisfy the continent’s requirement for
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