What Is Dry-Bond Laminating?
Dry-bond laminating is a process used in the printing industry --- often in rotary or "web" presses, where a continuous sheet of paper or other substrate is fed by rollers through a printing machine or "web press." Variations of dry-bond laminating exist, as well as "wet" methods of lamination with both web and other types of presses. The process results in two substrates, or stock, laminated together.
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Gravure Application
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The dry-bond process starts in the web-press with a gravure roller. Gravure's are most often etched cylinders that pick up ink in their etchings. For dry-bonding, gravures are only used to pick up adhesive from a liquid adhesive tray or bath and apply it to one side of the first substrate or printing stock. The gravure roll sits, half-immersed in the adhesive bath, providing a continuous, even distribution of adhesive as the substrate is rolled over the gravure.
Drying Adhesive
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The continuous feed of substrate then moves into a drying tunnel or oven on rollers, very similar to a conveyor belt. As the substrate moves through the oven, the liquid adhesive dries evenly. The roll of substrate continues to a hot nip where it will be laminated with a second substrate.
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Hot Nip
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The hot nip apparatus is similar to old laundry wringers where wet clothes are passed between two rollers to squeeze moisture out of the clothing. Only the purpose here isn't to remove moisture. The purposes are to apply heat to reactivate the adhesive and apply with pressure from the second roller the second substrate.
Second Substrate Feed
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Imagine the old laundry wringer. Imagine feeding two towels through them simultaneously, one with adhesive on one side. The second substrate feed provides the "towel," in this analogy, with no adhesive. The two rollers are sprung tight to apply pressure. The nip roller applies heat. The two substrates are laminated.
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