The DualUV, which is commercially available now, comes with a spare eco UV lamp cassette alongside the standard UV lamps. Operators must change one standard UV lamp to one of Benford’s specially developed eco UV lamps to cure low energy UV inks.
The Buckinghamshire company claimed that lamp cassettes can be switched manually in two minutes and the system lowers energy consumption by up to 75% compared to standard machines. Benford UV managing director Marc Boden claimed that operators of B1 machines could save more than £20,000 in electricity bills each year using the system.
The eco UV lamp cassettes have been anodised green as opposed to Benford’s trademark gold colour to aid identification and ensure correct application.
Boden said he had noticed some printers were apprehensive working with the relatively new low energy UV inks which led to the development of the machine as a staggered entry into the market.
Benford managing director Mark Boden said: "The DualUV system offers a printer the flexibility to run all their normal work with the option to dramatically reduce consumption on jobs. It gives printers the capacity to carry on printing with standard UV inks and slowly go to low energy inks and make a decision on whether they want to use them more from there."
He added that prices for the unit’s replacement lamps and reflectors are "completely compatible" to standard UV.
Benford has grown its business dramatically in the past year, expanding its premises to accomodate extra capacity in May and appointing both Indian and Arab distributors.
