Neon sign thief busted

By Stacia Glenn, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 08/21/2008 03:48:15 PM PDT

ADELANTO - Several neon signs found in a man's house Wednesday are believed to have been stolen from his employer before he left the beverage store, authorities said.

Daniel Lucy, 49, of Apple Valley was taken into custody at his home on suspicion of embezzlement after San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies served a search warrant there.

He was suspected of taking a handful of neon signs and display posters from R&R Beverage on Adelanto Road when he left his job earlier this month, deputies said.

Items estimated to be $15,000 were recovered from Lucy's house and returned to the store. Lucy was booked at the Victor Valley jail.

Ventex Announces Advantage Ballast Ready to Ship

JUPITER, FLORIDA -- Ventex Technology, the leading manufacturer of electronic neon power supplies for the illuminated sign industry, is proud to announce the Advantage HO electronic fluorescent sign ballast is now in stock and available for shipment. The Advantage Ballast was a great success at the International Sign Association's International Sign Expo 2008. This revolutionary, high power factor product is the result of more than three years of research and development, inspired by the industry's need for a cost effective, universally applicable, smaller, easier to install and more energy efficient sign ballast.

The engineers at Ventex Technology have designed one Advantage H.O. electronic fluorescent sign ballast to cover all applications. The Advantage ballast can drive T8, T12, or Slimline lamps, has automatic variable input voltage from 120V through 277V, and has the capability to drive up to five ten-foot long T12 lamps. The adaptability of one unit to cover all of these applications will allow sign shops and warehouses to effectively reduce the amount of inventory they need to keep on hand to meet the needs of their clients. The ease of installation afforded by the Advantage ballast's parallel wiring scheme will cut down on installation and service times, and this in combination with California Title 24 compliance makes the Advantage ballast both time and energy efficient.

VENTEX Technology has for years led the way in the illuminated sign industry with its line of reliable, energy efficient and space saving electronic neon power supplies. With the introduction of the Advantage H.O. electronic fluorescent sign ballast, they are set to take their place at the top of the electronic fluorescent sign ballast segment of the illuminated sign industry.

Mimaki launch LED-UV-Curable Inkjet Printer

Monday, 11 August 2008

Mimaki have followed the worldwide trend towards cold curing UV LED technology and launched the new 60-inch UJV-160 hybrid machine using a flexible UV ink which has been developed together with 3M.

The reduction of VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) is becoming more and more important as the world continues to place more and more emphasis on environmental awareness. UV-curable ink printers have done much to alleviate the the VOCs but hot UV lamps can still generate harmful ozone and also limits the substrates that can be used in the sign and graphics markets, mainly PVC.

The new hybrid UJV-160, a 60-inch roll-to-roll wide-format UV-curable inkjet printer, utilises UV-LED (Light Emitting Diodes) curing technology, consequently the printer can accommodate heat sensitive media, such as PVC and other heat sensitive media. In addition the newly developed flexible UV ink can stretch up to 200 percent, enabling printing on cured ink membranes such as vehicle wrapping using thin PVC and any other curved surfaces such as shutters.

The LED lamps are considerably cheaper to run and also cheaper to replace (normally) therefore the new UV LED technology. Also since the ink is cured or fixed immediately, the turnaround time from printing to further processing, such as lamination, is shortened greatly, so dramatically improving working efficiency and productivity.

3M will provide their 3M MCS (Matched Component System) that covers 3M media and the finished graphics for a stated durability period when the ink and 3M’s selected media are used and the recommended ways of installation are observed.

DGS Mimaki, local distributor say they expect their first demonstration machine in September.

DGS MImaki
www.dgsmimaki.com.au