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FOUR-WAY TENSIONING FOR SM STENCILS
Tecan, the Dorset based stencil specialist, has developed ‘Genesis’ a new system for re-mountable surface-mount stencils – with consistent accuracy and without the need for complicated loading jigs, air connections or subsequent adjustment.
Some companies still struggle on with stencils which are physically bonded to an aluminium frame, says Tecan. Due to the action of today’s increasingly effective solvents and cleaning solutions, the bonds between the stencil/mesh and mesh/frame can be degraded – other companies use bi-directional (BDT) re-mountable systems with ‘less-than ideal’ results. Genesis is the cost-effective way forward, says the company, There is no need for bonding, no need for cumbersome and complicated frame systems – and because stencils can be readily interchanged, there is a great deal of space saving in the work area.
Industry experts at Tecan developed Genesis through a series of evolutionary steps, and as a natural progression from BDT systems, where stencils are secured on a frame with two fixed and two moveable sides – a technique which industry feedback suggests has limitations in producing a consistently flat overall printing surface. Keen to provide the market place with what it was asking for, the company developed Genesis – a re-mountable frame system allowing stencils to be quickly interchanged, being held in position and tensioned on all four sides to ensure consistently accurate results.
“We approached the problem by addressing the key issues,” said TSL product manager Tony Weldon. “We started with a clean sheet, determined to produce the ideal printing solution for our customers – this meant the stencil must load readily and be held flat with equal and maintainable planar tension across the whole stencil. A single-handle solution had been seen as the ‘holy grail’ in the race to achieve the perfect system – we believe this still presents inconsistency problems, often because such attempts still only use two moving frame sides. Genesis is the true optimum solution giving consistent accuracy and is easy to use – in fact it has two handles, each operating independently, in a frame with four-directional tensioning through cams on all sides.
Industry professionals are welcoming the new system which offers other advantages. These include a design with no operator intervention or adjustment whatsoever because over-tensioning is impossible, says the company, the image will not distort in production with either low or high use – the tension is constant all the time. Furthermore, it does not matter which handle is locked in position first. The system is so fast, a typical load or unload sequence can be performed in a matter of seconds.
As remountable stencil systems have become more popular in the last few years the reduction in storage space, which is always at a premium, is an added benefit together with immediate access to stencils in the production area. In fact one hundred Genesis stencils may be stored in a space of just one cubic metre.
Offering the largest available print area on the market today, the Genesis frame can be supplied in two sizes – 23”x 23” (584.2mm x 584.2mm) for the 58 Genesis 4DT and
29”x 29” (736.6mm x 736.6mm) for the 73 Genesis 4DT. The frames are currently available for MPM, DEK, SMTech, Speedprint and Ekra printing machines and accept precision-etch, electroformed and laser-cut stencils.
Industry experts at Tecan developed Genesis through a series of evolutionary steps, and as a natural progression from BDT systems, where stencils are secured on a frame with two fixed and two moveable sides – a technique which industry feedback suggests has limitations in producing a consistently flat overall printing surface. Keen to provide the market place with what it was asking for, the company developed Genesis – a re-mountable frame system allowing stencils to be quickly interchanged, being held in position and tensioned on all four sides to ensure consistently accurate results.
“We approached the problem by addressing the key issues,” said TSL product manager Tony Weldon. “We started with a clean sheet, determined to produce the ideal printing solution for our customers – this meant the stencil must load readily and be held flat with equal and maintainable planar tension across the whole stencil. A single-handle solution had been seen as the ‘holy grail’ in the race to achieve the perfect system – we believe this still presents inconsistency problems, often because such attempts still only use two moving frame sides. Genesis is the true optimum solution giving consistent accuracy and is easy to use – in fact it has two handles, each operating independently, in a frame with four-directional tensioning through cams on all sides.
Industry professionals are welcoming the new system which offers other advantages. These include a design with no operator intervention or adjustment whatsoever because over-tensioning is impossible, says the company, the image will not distort in production with either low or high use – the tension is constant all the time. Furthermore, it does not matter which handle is locked in position first. The system is so fast, a typical load or unload sequence can be performed in a matter of seconds.
As remountable stencil systems have become more popular in the last few years the reduction in storage space, which is always at a premium, is an added benefit together with immediate access to stencils in the production area. In fact one hundred Genesis stencils may be stored in a space of just one cubic metre.
Offering the largest available print area on the market today, the Genesis frame can be supplied in two sizes – 23”x 23” (584.2mm x 584.2mm) for the 58 Genesis 4DT and
29”x 29” (736.6mm x 736.6mm) for the 73 Genesis 4DT. The frames are currently available for MPM, DEK, SMTech, Speedprint and Ekra printing machines and accept precision-etch, electroformed and laser-cut stencils.
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