In May 2016, Steve Harpold of Brown Manufacturing demoed the company's new combination dryer at the Nazdar Ink Technologies lab. The machine features the Vega UV LED curing unit as well as the patented FireFly system, which modulates curing heat based on thermal imaging of IR activity.
The Vega curing unit has been in beta testing for about six months and been shown to cure a wide range of UV inks (including non-LED specific inks), broadening the possible applications for the unit. In conjunction with the FireFly thermal unit, printers can choose to have a UV cure and then heat bump, switch the belt and have a heat bump then UV cure, or move the Vega unit out of the way entirely for solely thermal baking.
The FireFly unit has been out for 2 years, receiving very positive results. The dryer is completely off until needed, and then runs on idle until the product enters the chamber on the belt, thus drawing zero energy when not in use. Upon entering the chamber, the unit begins a thermal imaging session 3 times per second, using the minimum amount of energy necessary to bring the product to the designated temperature. Upon reaching that temperature, the unit tapers off the heat to protect the product, preventing burning, warping, etc.
Because of the system's ability to use only the energy necessary to cure each individual product, the FireFly unit offers incredible energy savings and versatility, able to switch between drying solvent, textile, surface coatings, adhesives, wood, etc. Although only 1/3 the size of competitive units, FireFly offers incredible curing results, in extreme cases reducing a 48 hour cure time to 10 minutes, or a 4 hour cure time to 1 minute.
The electronic control system allows for complete control over the entire dryer, able to change and store settings for the belt (which can allow for curing at belt speeds between 60-120 ft/min for the UV unit, or even faster when adding the thermal system), the Vega unit, and the Firefly unit. The dryer even features a scanner for product barcodes, allowing the printer to recall saved parameters for the dryer based on which product is being cured.
For more information on FireFly by Brown Manufacturing, visit their website.