TECNOLOGIA DEI FILM A UV COME ALTERNATIVA ALL'APPLICAZIONE DEI P.V. CONVENZIONALI

Traditionally, the application of radiation curable formulations is done by roller coating, spray coating, curtain coating, etc. directly onto the substrate to be coated. We will present a technology where a radiation curable coating is applied on different substrates as a dry-paint film. The key to the success of this film technology is the use of UV curable formulations as top clear coat, which are applied as a solid thermoplastic film, then moulded into the desired shape, and afterwards cured by UV to a highly crosslinked coating, exhibiting the desired performance requirements, like high scratch and chemical resistance. The advantages of this technology open up new manufacturing processes offering enormous economic and ecological advantages. This concept can be used to apply a one layer clear coat, but also for multilayer coatings containing primer and/or coloured base coat layers as well as the clear top coat. The UV curable films on the one hand can substitute the traditional thermoplastic furniture foils and on the other hand open up new opportunities in the fabrication of OEM and supply attachment parts. The film technology can offer the advantages of a supply of colour matched modules to the assembly line, a high degree of automation, the avoidance or reduction of manual finishing and an increased flexibility as the coated foil can be applied to any substrate. Apart from economic facts there is also an ecological incentive by reduction of solvent emissions. These advantages can be summarized in reduction of complexity in the OEM process resulting in a cost saving concept.