Carestream Tollcoating, a premier provider of toll coating services specializing in aqueous and solvent coatings on flexible substrates, expanded its
technical capabilities and expertise in 2012 to better meet the needs of its advanced technology customers.
In 2012, Carestream Tollcoating:
· Delivered new membrane products to customers;
· Introduced completely integrated toll coating services for inkjet products;
· Announced new, improved polyester (PET) films to meet the demanding requirements of high-tech markets such as electronic displays;
· Formed a new Core Laboratory, a starting point for testing and analysis of customer materials as well as engineering and modeling of product
formulations prior to moving to pilot or manufacturing scale coating trials;
· Expanded laboratory testing and pilot scale capabilities;
· Grew its product and process development workforce with new engineering hires in both (Medford, Oregon and Windsor, Colorado) locations; and
· Entered into an agreement for the global manufacture and distribution of UniPixel’s Diamond Guard™ protective cover films.
“Carestream Tollcoating continues to increase investing in key strategic resources through additions of highly experienced, technical personnel and new,
cutting-edge equipment. This continues to sharpen and expand our offerings in 2013 and beyond,” said Rick Daniels, General Manager of
Carestream Tollcoating. “We are committed to offering our customers advanced capabilities and the sustainable growth these investments facilitate.”
Carestream Tollcoating introduced completely integrated, toll coating services for your inkjet products, enabling inkjet customers to optimize coating
cost efficiency, quality control and time-to-market. Capabilities include solution making and production coating, drying, quality testing, slitting,
sheeting, packaging and distribution of finished products to deliver one-stop shopping for formulation, coating and commercialization of premium inkjet
paper and film media.
To control costs of inkjet coating, Carestream Tollcoating has installed capacity to produce coating solutions (including polyvinyl alcohol-based materials)
on site. The company also has established relationships with rawmaterial and substrate suppliers to keep costs down and assure quality.
As a specialist in high-precision roll-to-roll coating, Carestream Tollcoating can provide its toll coating service for inkjet media on any scale, at high speeds
and at a competitive cost. The company’s coating and drying capabilities enable the coating of a wide range of paper substrates, from thin calendared
and clay-coated bases to heavy, resin-coated photo papers.
The Colorado facility boasts several features for production of premium inkjet papers, including machines that can put down heavy and/or multiple layers
with its ultra-high-precision curtain coater, and a four thousand-foot dryer that can dry very thick coatings efficiently. Multi-zone temperature and humidity
control also prevents drying defects, such as mud cracking, associated withcertain formulations and heavy coating weights. “As a mud surface dries in
the sun, the surface shrinks while the layer beneath remains moist, causing cracks to form. The exact same thing can happen on a smaller scale with
heavily coated inkjet papers. If the drying rate and conditions are not properly controlled, if it dries too fast, ‘mud cracking’ can occur, and it will show
up in a printed image as a mottled or cracked appearance,” explained Todd Arndorfer, Carestream Tollcoating’s Account Manager, Manufacturing
Business Development. Multi-zone controls for temperature and humidity along the drying cycle ensure defect-free final product. This drying
capability can also be leveraged to create products with lower binder–to-solids ratios, reducing product cost.
“Carestream Tollcoating provides comprehensive toll coating services for inkjet products. A customer needing coated inkjet product can come to us
with a finished formula or a concept in process. Our engineers will work with them to bring about a successful, high quality product at a scale that
allows for profitable commercialization by the customer,“ said Rick Daniels, Carestream Advanced Materials’ and Carestream Tollcoating General Manager.
“The combination of our product development, testing, and commercialization expertise, with technology and equipment that’s designed to run at high
speeds with optimal quality control, makes it possible for us to do this on any scale, at minimal cost and time-to-market.”
