Henkel offers PurMelt adhesives at Drupa

The company said its focus at Drupa was sustainable and environmentally compatible adhesives and technologies.

On display at the Henkel stand is a camera monitoring system, Smart Control that can be retrofitted to existing perfect binding machines. It consists of a thermal camera which transmits images of the gluing process to a computer. The function includes computer analysis of each single copy to check the quality of the glue layer.

According to the company, the early customer feedback on the Smart Control system, which is already installed on around six bookbinders, indicates reduced reject rates, better bind quality, and lower adhesive usage.

Purmelt MicroEmission Cool 3400 is the latest development from the Henkel stable of hotmelt adhesives with an application temperature “much lower” than that of standard products.

The company claims that its latest development contains 0.1 percent monomeric isocynates as against up to five percent in conventional hotmelts and as a result is exempted from hazard labeling and negates the need for expensive extraction systems and separate storing.

Some adhesives from the Purmelt MicroEmission range have been developed for side-gluing and end-papering.

Pur hotmelt application has matured the world-over, with faster curing adhesives and simpler application systems. Henkel in India has rolled out Pur in India.

Anil Krishna of Henkel India has stated the advantages of Pur including superior strength, highest longevity, resistance to severe heat as well as cold, resistance to solvents and lay-flat binding. He said, "In educational publishing the biggest advantages are stronger and durable books, flexibility that enhances readability and quicker turnaround in comparison to thread sewing."

In India, thread sewing is a bottleneck in book production.

Even the fastest of sewing machines take four hours to produce 2,000 books of 20 signatures - that will be cover drawn on a six clamp perfect binder in one hour. Krishna said, "Pur will de-bottleneck the workflow, thereby increasing productivity drastically.

Krishna added, "the current generation PUR bound books can be in-line trimmed. The variable cost of thread sewing plus cover drawing, using a EVA hot melt adhesive will match the cost of perfect binding using Pur."