A UV (Ultra Violet) lamp or Wood’s Lamp (after the American scientist Robert Williams Wood) is a light source that emits electromagnetic radiation, mainly in the ultraviolet wavelengths and, in a negligible manner, in the visible light range.
A UV lamp produces light that is not immediately visible to the human eye; however, this light can be used to light materials that react to ultra violet wavelengths with fluorescence and phosphorescence phenomena. Among the possible applications of this effect are the fight against counterfeit money, or the search for cracks in metal structures coated with a UV-reactive material.
In the case of profile-wrapping, the UV lamp highlights the primer components that are highly sensitive to these wavelengths, promoting the monitoring of the uniform distribution of the primer all over the profile surface.
As primer coating is an important phase of the film wrapping process, this check is essential, especially given the fact that an imperfect primer distribution means non compliant or non guaranteed glueing. In practice, the UV lamp helps the operator identify the correct application of the primer in a fast and reliable way.
Using a UV lamp is quite easy: this system consists of a bridge made of three lamps, one on top and two at the sides, that are turned on automatically when the profile-wrapping system is started, so that, when the primed profile passes under the UV light, the primer coating is visible to the naked eye, thus improving the quality of the entire process.
In this way, one of the key activities that lead to an excellent product can be described by a single phrase: see everything in a completely different light!