Future Links April 13th 2015
Today our news roundup from the printing industry covers a 3D printed body armor, a digital specialist’s opinion on the value of print, multicolor 3D printing, a step toward printed batteries, an expert’s insights into radiation curable coatings, wine tasting strips and a specialized packaging solution for e-commerce.
MIT researchers develop 3D printed body armor
Body armors are notoriously difficult to produce. There is always a tradeoff between weight, robustness, and flexibility. Using fish scales as a model, MIT researchers have developed a new metric for the armor’s value: protecto-flexibility. This metric guided their design of a new flexible body armor.
More at Popular Science
Digital media specialist touts the value of print
An endorsement of the benefits of print in the Huffington Post comes from an unlikely source: Lee Traupel, Founder & Digital Strategist with Linked Media Group, a digital agency specializing in building revenue platforms in the cloud and providing tech solutions for early stage companies. Troupel says that print as an au contraire marketing strategy can be cool.
More at Huffington Post
Multicolor 3D printing with 3 filaments
Entrepreneurs in Denmark have taken another step towards improving the general usability of 3D printers with the Diamond Hotend, a single 3D extruder unit that can mix and melt three filaments together and produce items in a rainbow of colors. The Diamond Hotend is designed as a modification kit for existing 3D printers.
More at Gizmag
Conductive paper is honored with prestigious award
Printed batteries off the roll – that could be a future scenario for paper manufacturers. The German Felix Schoeller Group together with expert project partners has developed conductive paper that exhibits dimensional stability even at high temperatures. At LOPEC, the International Exhibition and Conference for Printed Electronics in Munich, the EU-funded research project A3ple received a best demonstrator award in the projects funded by the public sector category.
More at What They Think
Expert shares insights into radiation curable coatings
In an interview with Ink World Magazine, SUNY-ESF professor Mike Idacavage shares his knowledge about UV and EV curable coatings. In radiation curable coatings, UV energy, visible light, or low energy electrons (EB) are used to form a coating, film or ink as opposed to thermal, evaporative, or oxidative (air-dry) cure. In these processes, light is used instead of heat.
More at Ink World Magazine
Thinking outside the bottle
Wine bottles have proven their worth as an accepted packaging solution through the ages but they aren’t necessarily ideal for in-store tastings. That’s why Napa Valley wine maker Beringer has developed self-serve displays that dispense wine-flavored strips wrapped individually in flexible packaging. Beringer’s flavor strips dissolve on the tongue, releasing the wine’s flavor. The strips contain no alcohol and are currently available for Beringer’s Chardonnay, White Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon.
More at Packaging Digest
Sealed Air launches specialized packaging for e-commerce
Cosmetics and electronics are popular in many online shops. Yet the packaging can be a challenge that is currently often solved by using vast amounts of Styrofoam peanuts. As an alternative that requires less packaging material, Sealed Air launched Korruv Lok, a packaging solution utilizing compression technology and high performance film.
More at Packaging Europe