Liberty

Kohl & Madden introduces Liberty™ sheetfed inks, a breakthrough technology that is certain to offer competitive advantages for its users.

Liberty inks offer productivity and quality advantages beyond any other ink products we have seen in recent years. These ultra-high performance inks should have an instant and measurable impact on a printer's ability to improve their competitiveness and profitability.

Liberty inks utilize a proprietary formula and were developed in K&M's new applications laboratory in Northlake. This cutting edge technology allows the inks to stay open on press without drying for days. Yet, at the same time, the ink will dry virtually instantaneously once printed on substrate.

"This super-fast drying allows the printed product to be sent from the press to finishing and bindery operations in a matter of minutes rather than the hours that are necessary with conventional offset inks, without fear of blocking and other printing problems," said Les Watkins, K&M director, sheetfed products. He pointed out that this can virtually eliminate extended drying periods, cutting production time and handling, while allowing faster delivery of finished goods.

Watkins also said the stay-open characteristics of Liberty inks and its ability to be used on a wide range of papers in different applications reduce the need for frequent press washes.  At the same time, good copies can be produced very quickly as the inks rapidly come up to strength and are extremely stable on press. These two factors dramatically cut start-up and running waste, Watkins said.

A major advantage of Liberty inks is that they contain extremely low amounts of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that are used in virtually all inks, except energy-curing inks. VOCs are any organic compounds that react in sunlight with nitrogen oxides to contribute to ozone formation. Federal and state agencies limit these emissions by printers, severely in some locales. In addition, Liberty inks do not employ cobalt driers commonly used in other inks. Liberty inks will help printers contribute to protection of the environment without hurting their ability to compete. Importantly, Liberty inks will not require the capital investments that are needed to take advantage of energy-curing technology.

"The beauty of the Liberty inks is that they offer outstanding print quality, using stochastic or conventional halftone screening. On the other hand, they have multiple productivity benefits that we expect will make Liberty inks a new standard for the industry," Watkins said. He added that the new technology is being introduced for commercial sheetfed and folding carton printing, but may have other applications in the future. 

Currently this product is available in North America.  For more information about Liberty inks, please visit our web site at www.kohlmadden.com.