BEDFORD, OH—Nova Films & Foils, which offers a customized coating and converting service to industries as diverse as graphic arts to electronics and industrial markets, recently selected Vetaphone for customized work.
With a need to corona treat at least 50 percent of its work, Nova Films & Foils searched the market for the most reliable technology with ease of use, and hit upon Vetaphone, the company that invented the process in the 1950s and has pioneered surface treatment techniques ever since. The installation of a new coater laminator in 2014 highlighted a need for high-quality corona treatment, and Vetaphone single- and double-sided units were installed on the 65-in wide machine that is capable of 600 ft/min.
“We chose Vetaphone because it was highly specified at a competitive price. It also looked better designed and engineered, and we are convinced we made the right choice,” said Bruce Allaben of Nova Films & Foils. In particular, the corona units drew praise for their small footprint and the ease with which they were integrated into the new coating line. “The design of the electrode cartridges allows easy access for cleaning and maintenance, and any after sales support we’ve needed has been prompt and efficient,” he added, mentioning the on-call technical back-up available from Vetaphone.
According to Rick Huskey, also of Nova Films & Foils, the consistent dyne levels achieved by the corona treaters across a range of substrates has allowed the company to develop new products and be more responsive to its customers’ demands. “It gives us greater confidence in what we’re selling—and I get a better night’s sleep, too,” he said with a smile. Critical to the work handled by Nova is tight tolerance and consistent performance so that any future commercial production quality matches that of the prototype work produced. Materials handled vary from very high surface tension of 50 dynes/sq/cm or more, such as metals, to high surface tension with a rating of 35-45 dyne such as polyester, vinyl and nylon, to ratings of 35 dyne or less, which includes PE, PP and PVA.
In the short run customized markets of metal and foil tapes and special transfer adhesive tapes, Nova is often used as a test lab and has its own R&D department to cater for customer demand. According to Huskey: “We like to get involved with the customer early in the project so technical capabilities can be fed into the equation at the feasibility stage. This is where our expertise adds value to our customer, and profit to our bottom line.” Looking ahead, he can see even more opportunity to tackle niche markets that will require a second laminator. “We like to keep our technical platforms as proprietary as possible to make life easy for commercial production. I have no doubt that we shall specify Vetaphone for any future surface treatment requirements we may have.”