UV inks - properly cured!?

 
Due to the low temperatures needed, the nearly instant high speed of the curing process, rapid processability and the lack of classical solvents, UV inks are gaining more and more popularity. Applications are raining from magazines, over food packaging, to the luxury segment such as perfume and alcohol packaging. Nowadays, the printer is expected to not only be able to print and process fast but also guarantee the high quality of the printed UV ink products. Up until now, quality control is based on subjective method such as wiping and scratching tests without a guarantee for properly cured ink films by the ink manufacturer. Here, we present a new method for the printer to determine whether an ink film using hubergroup UV inks is properly cured including a guarantee whether further processing can occur.