FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 3, 2003
Tough New Gerber StrikeGuard™ Overlaminate Provides Outstanding Impact Protection- Film is Ideal for Safety Helmets, Heavy Equipment & Sports Vehicles
LAS VEGAS Graphics professionals seeking to achieve outstanding performance in outdoor surface applications subjected to extreme impact now have a new design tool at their disposal: Gerber StrikeGuard Overlaminate.
Developed primarily to protect EDGE®-printed decals applied to various types of safety helmets from severe impact damage, the PVC film offers a unique combination of thick construction, pliability and polycarbonate-friendly adhesive.
“StrikeGuard’s heavy-duty 8-mil construction provides printed graphics with impact protection that thinner overlaminates just can’t match,” explained Gary Soltoff, marketing product manager, Gerber Scientific Products. “In addition, its innate flexibility allows it to conform exceptionally well to curved surfaces such as hardhats, helmets and motorcycle fairings.”
Other possible applications include graphics and emblems for heavy equipment, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), motocross, personal watercraft, snowmobiles, and off-road vehicles.
He continued, “When StrikeGuard is used in conjunction with Gerber’s QUANTUM™ 2000 film, their adhesive systems do not degrade polycarbonate… an important consideration, since many styles of protective headgear are fabricated from this polymer.”
Another attribute cited by Soltoff: StrikeGuard/QUANTUM 2000 graphics remove cleanly from polycarbonate surfaces, making it easy to refurbish sports helmets after the close of the season.
“This feature was requested by EDGE owners when StrikeGuard was under development,” he advised, adding, “With the advent of StrikeGuard Overlaminate, Gerber Scientific Products has given EDGE owners an exciting opportunity to pursue new sources of revenue with impact-resistance graphics for extreme sports applications. Creating the ultimate in
colorful, outdoor durable specialty graphics has never been easier.”
StrikeGuard is compatible with many of Gerber’s EDGE READY™ materials, including QUANTUM 2000, QUANTUM 4000, Gerber ImageCal™ “P,” and ImageCal “R,” White and Clear, and is available in 13x10 and 13x50 yard rolls. Its 13-inch width allows it to be placed over an EDGE-printed graphic, then cut on a Gerber 15-inch plotter… thereby saving time and labor compared to hand or die cutting methods.
StrikeGuard Overlaminate was introduced at International Sign Expo, The Mandalay Bay Hotel and Convention Center, Las Vegas, April 3-5, 2003, and will be available to the industry effective late April 2003.
Gerber Scientific Products Inc. is the world leader in the development and manufacture of computerized sign making and specialty graphics systems, software, materials, and accessories among them the revolutionary GERBER EDGE thermal transfer color imaging system. The company’s start-to-finish digital design, printing and production products are carefully integrated via its unique Matched Technology System™ to provide customers with comprehensive engineered solutions for every color printing and dimensional signage need.
Based in South Windsor, Conn., Gerber Scientific Products is a wholly owned subsidiary of Gerber Scientific Inc., the world’s leading supplier of sophisticated automated manufacturing systems for sign making and specialty graphics, apparel and flexible goods, and optical lens processing. Also headquartered in South Windsor, the company operates through four wholly owned subsidiaries: Gerber Scientific Products, Spandex PLC, Gerber Technology, and Gerber Coburn.
GERBER EDGE and EDGE are registered trademarks of Gerber Scientific Products Inc.
Gerber StrikeGuard, QUANTUM, EDGE READY, ImageCal and Matched Technology System are trademarks of Gerber Scientific Products Inc.
Gerber Scientific Products, Inc.
April Peghiny
83 Gerber Road
South Windsor, CT 06074
Phone: 860-643-1515
Fax: 860-648-8595
Website URL: www.gspinc.com
