Rheonics wins award for Flexodruck sensors

Rheonics has announced that its Rheonics InkSight has won this year’s FTA Technical Innovation Award. This multistation ink viscosity control system raises the quality of flexographic printing. According to a press release from the company based in Winterthur, it provides “unmatched color accuracy and quality” as a result of precise viscosity controls.

Joe Goodbread, Chief Technology Officer at Rheonics, states that “reliable, accurate sensors” make this possible, adding: “We see that Rheonics InkSight is producing a change in the very culture of the flexo industry by adding job-length consistency, accuracy and efficiency to an already highly sophisticated and powerful printing press.” The press release further states that the company is making operations environmentally sustainable, and that the system has been adopted particularly quickly by companies that have already used other ink viscosity control systems but have not been able to utilize them fully or have even reverted to the traditional approach of spot measurements with efflux cups.

The core group of development engineers at Rheonics has been active in sensor research at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH) since the early eighties. Since the development there of the first viscosity sensor over 35 years ago, members of this group have perfected this technology and continuously refined it according to the press release. Today, Rheonics facilitates density and viscosity measurements in a borehole at a pressure of 30,000 psi (pounds per square inch) and 200 degrees Celsius as well as making it possible to perfectly coat fried foods in breadcrumbs and providing quality controls in the formulation, testing and processing of emulsions.