A new type of CTP system has been developed for flexo platemaking. This article describes its development status and the improvement of the plate making system. It also relates to flexographic plates, plate processing equipment and accessories, and introduces new anilox rollers and plate sets. Tube processing technology.
At the booths of DuPont (Cyrel-FAST platemaking system) and BASF (Laser Direct Engraving and Patterning Systems), people saw new plates and latest developments in the true sense of the flexographic plates. At the same time, other well-known suppliers of photosensitive resins, such as Asahi and MacDermid (formerly known as Polyfibron), have also launched interesting new versions of flexographic plates.
DuPont's solvent-free flexo platemaking system The Cyrel-FAST-System exhibited by DuPont at Drupa is the world's first solvent-free flexographic plate processing system. If you do not consider the laser direct engraving system, this complete plate processing system includes a Cyrel FAST 1000 TD processor and a Cyrel FAST FD1 flexographic plate. The plate is available in three sizes (maximum size 76.2 x 120cm), thickness from 1.14mm to 2.84mm, and feature specifications can be achieved with dot reproduction from 2% to 95% at 48 lines/cm resolution, using water, solvent And UV-curable inks for image reduction are suitable for applications in aluminum foil, folding cartons and beverage packaging printing. This type of plate requires very little plate-making time.
Converting the image to a Cyrel FAST FD1 flexographic printing plate is typically done using a conventional stencil. However, in the near future, people will see a new member of the plate product line, the Cyrel-FAST plate that has been coated with a laser-sensitive coating on the surface and can be imaged using a Laser Imager digital laser device. Cyrel FAST FD1 plates were developed using solvent-free heating after exposure. The development process was performed in a Cyrel FAST 1000 TD development processor by applying light pressure and temperature control to the plate, and the non-hardened polymer on the non-image portion of the plate was washed with a cotton roller. After the plate has been processed, the used part of the cotton roll is automatically reeled for automatic update. After the printing plate is processed in the thermal development processor, it can be immediately put into printing use without additional drying process. This type of flexographic printing with flexographic development has the following advantages:
Processing can be three times faster;
Shorter preparation time is especially beneficial for heavy copy editions;
No chemicals, no solvent treatment process;
Lower investment costs. The use of thermal processing equipment has a low investment cost, no need for drying devices and post-processing devices;
Can achieve the same printing quality as the traditional printing plate;
Excellent ink transferability in full-plate printing.
Cyrel-FAST System has been successfully applied in several major printing manufacturers in the United States. After the Drupa 2000 show, DuPont will invest in the European and Asian markets.
BASF Plates and Plate Making Systems Directly Engraved with Digital Lasers In an effort to reduce the complexity of the flexographic platemaking process, BASF focused its research on the flexographic laser direct engraving system exhibited at Drupa. For the first time, BASF exhibited a direct laser engraving photopolymer plate, nyloflex LD, in Dusseldorf. Nyloflex LD Plates In the platemaking process, lasers are used to transfer images from a PC directly to a plate in a digital form, and the non-image portion of the plate is ablated by a CO2 laser. This eliminates the original pre-exposure and the time-consuming process of hardening the image on the plate during laser exposure, drying and post-processing. Combining this platemaking process with the excellent performance of laser imaging devices will greatly reduce the flexo platemaking time, such as the ALE Meridiane Finesse laser imaging device used by BASF.
According to the introduction of BASF, the four-color plate of A4 size 1270dpi resolution requires 70 minutes of plate making time. The newly developed nyloflex plate material has dimensions of 61×76.2mm and 1.14mm thickness, and is only suitable for UV printing inks. The nyloflex LD system is particularly suitable for label printing due to the good resolution of this material (reproducible image reproduction of 2% to 95% at 60 lines/cm resolution).
The two different plate-making systems (DuPont's FAST system and BASF's Laser Direct Engraving System) exhibited at Drupa 2000 only marked the beginning of the research and development of the new plate-making system. People are turning their research and development focus on how to reduce plate-making time and reduce investment in processing equipment.
The research and development of flexographic printing plate processing equipment in coating photopolymer seamless sleeve printing plates is not as outstanding as Dropa 2000 has been expected to be. In fact, none of the large photopolymer manufacturers have actually exhibited perfect plates. As we all know, DuPont and BASF are working hard to come up with a complete solution for photopolymer seamless sleeve printing, and have experimented in some major printing plants. However, the current photopolymer sleeve printing plates are still in the process of testing, and commercially viable product solutions are still out of reach. One of the most troubling problems is that due to the need to use laser direct engraving engraving technology, how to develop a plate processing system, but there are still other market competitors, although not a seamless sleeve plate, but also known as For "cylindrical platemaking", that is, the traditional photosensitive resin plate is pre-mounted on the sleeve, and then through the entire plate making system, from the setting of the digital laser to the completion of the flexographic plate making of the photosensitive resin.
This reduces at least the manual labor and the time consumed in the middle process of the plate making process, avoids the complicated imposition work by the printing manufacturer in the subsequent plate processing, and eliminates the “printing†process in the printing process (especially for small-size sleeves. The cylinder or impression cylinder) improves the print registration accuracy of the print. So far, there have been some new system solutions in this area.
The four major photosensitive resin suppliers have launched their own proprietary plate-making equipment in this area. The production of these devices is limited to the actual manufacturers including Global Graphics, AV Flexologic and DuPont. DuPont has taken a leading position in the field of plate processing. As early as the beginning of 1999, DuPont has established its first processing plant. Its processing system consists of the following parts.
Cyrel ITR Microllex PreMounter: The Cyrel PreMounter is a pre-installed device developed from the Microllex family of equipment to mount an unexposed plate on a sleeve.
Cyrel ITR Modular Setter: Cyrel Positioning Device It is a high-quality positioning device for photosensitive resin sleeve plates. The device is controlled by a computer and can automatically change the distance of the UV lamp from the surface of the sleeve.
Cyrel ITR Modular Wash off unit: It can automatically adjust the pressure of cleaning brush and replenish the solvent according to the size of the sleeve plate.
Cyrel ITR Modular Dryer: Celery Idry Modular Dryer It automatically adjusts the drying time by computer according to the preset type and thickness of photosensitive resin coating. The device can accommodate simultaneous processing of six sleeves.
Cyrel ITR Modular Finisher: The Celeron version of the post-processing device can independently change the plate post-processing time and post-exposure time.
The Celery ITR (In the Round) line can process seamless photosensitive sleeves and sleeve type plates up to 1780mm in length. The complete set of equipment lines including plate cleaning, drying, post-processing and post-exposure are in production. The first set will soon be put into use. BASF has also launched a sleeve printing plate processing line integrating production of traditional and digital sleeves in Dueseldorf, which confirms the combination of sleeve printing plate processing equipment and cylinder processing equipment, and is promising in the field of flexographic plate making. , its processing advantages are showing an increasing trend of development.
The above three types of cylindrical processing equipment can be used for the production of photosensitive resin printing plates, whether seamed or seamless printing, digital or traditional photosensitive resin plate. As long as the sleeve positioning device and the post-processing device are combined into one, a set of processing equipment can be used to process various plate materials.
Electronically controlled sleeve cleaning and drying device It is a sleeve cleaning and drying device that can accommodate three sleeves arranged vertically. In the above nyloflex sleeve printing plate processing line, a sleeve having a length of 400 to 1650 mm and a sleeve plate having an outer diameter of 70 to 420 mm can be processed. The production line can also add digitally controlled sleeve installations to ensure that no pre-installation process occurs for unexposed photosensitive resin plates. The first prototype of this type is being tested in Germany by Nogele using a laser imaging device.
Asahi's Seamless Photoreceptor Sleeve As expected, Asahi launched its sleeve plate processing solution at Drupa. In collaboration with the prepress company Deckmyn & Co NV of Belgium, the seamless photosensitive sleeve processing system using AV Flexologic BV has been put into practical production in the past few years. Its main task is to coat the photosensitive resin material onto a standard uncoated sleeve, and apply a black mask that reacts to Barco Graphics' CDI laser imaging laser to the photosensitive resin. Stapler sleeve printing plates are not new technology and were used by the Seamex process several years ago. Together with the laser positioning device, this system constitutes an entire plate processing line consisting of up to 11 devices. The required investment is approximately 2.5 million DM (depending on the equipment used for the laser imaging device and the processing size). The equipment required for a seamless photosensitive sleeve processing line is:
1. A cutting table for precise cutting of unexposed plates on sleeves or rollers;
2. The stable and error-free installation device of the plate that has been cut and unexposed can make the plate head and plate tail of the printing plate tightly fit together;
3. Furnaces for baking or welding both ends of a polymer resin;
4, to ensure that after the coating of photopolymer sleeve concentric precision grinding machine;
5, coating the coating device for laser reaction black cover layer;
6. The vertical drying device that will dry the cover layer;
7, seamless digital image conversion plate making device (laser imaging device);
8. Post-curing device of laser exposure area (exposure of masking layer);
9. Remove the non-hardened polymer cleaning device in the non-printing area;
10, can accommodate 6 sleeve cleaning and drying cleaning and drying device;
11. Sleeve plate post-processing and post-exposure devices.
Of course, the equipment in the above production line can also increase or decrease if it is not for seamless sleeve plate processing.
Sleeve-Inliner from MacDermid Graphics: Sleeve plate inline processing device Cylindrical plate processing is also available from Sleeve-Inliner from MacDermid Graphics. The device model is Flexlight 60 ASL, which includes cleaning, drying, post-processing and post-processing. Exposure line processing device.
The device is controlled by a computer and accommodates 11 photosensitive resin sleeves in a controlled processing cycle. However, the drying capacity of the drying device can only reach 8 sleeves. The 60ASL machine can process sleeve plates up to 1560mm in length with a maximum outside diameter of 350mm. The prototype exhibited at Drupa has been sold to Imaginex in Canada. It is the first of a new generation of such devices.
This Sleeve-Inliner processing unit will be equipped with an Optisleeve plate assembly to ensure simple and accurate installation of unexposed plates on standard-compliant sleeves.
Printing Assist Devices and Accessories When it comes to packaging flexographic printing, printing aids and accessories cannot be ignored. Sleeves, plate liners and anilox rollers play an important role in the quality assurance of flexographic printing. Even if we apply the new technologies we expect, they are still an important part of the entire workflow.
Rotec's Sleeve Plate Technology In the field of sleeve plates, Rotec has developed a very interesting new system. Its Laser light system implied simplicity and clarity based on optical and interchangeable surfaces.
At the booths of DuPont (Cyrel-FAST platemaking system) and BASF (Laser Direct Engraving and Patterning Systems), people saw new plates and latest developments in the true sense of the flexographic plates. At the same time, other well-known suppliers of photosensitive resins, such as Asahi and MacDermid (formerly known as Polyfibron), have also launched interesting new versions of flexographic plates.
DuPont's solvent-free flexo platemaking system The Cyrel-FAST-System exhibited by DuPont at Drupa is the world's first solvent-free flexographic plate processing system. If you do not consider the laser direct engraving system, this complete plate processing system includes a Cyrel FAST 1000 TD processor and a Cyrel FAST FD1 flexographic plate. The plate is available in three sizes (maximum size 76.2 x 120cm), thickness from 1.14mm to 2.84mm, and feature specifications can be achieved with dot reproduction from 2% to 95% at 48 lines/cm resolution, using water, solvent And UV-curable inks for image reduction are suitable for applications in aluminum foil, folding cartons and beverage packaging printing. This type of plate requires very little plate-making time.
Converting the image to a Cyrel FAST FD1 flexographic printing plate is typically done using a conventional stencil. However, in the near future, people will see a new member of the plate product line, the Cyrel-FAST plate that has been coated with a laser-sensitive coating on the surface and can be imaged using a Laser Imager digital laser device. Cyrel FAST FD1 plates were developed using solvent-free heating after exposure. The development process was performed in a Cyrel FAST 1000 TD development processor by applying light pressure and temperature control to the plate, and the non-hardened polymer on the non-image portion of the plate was washed with a cotton roller. After the plate has been processed, the used part of the cotton roll is automatically reeled for automatic update. After the printing plate is processed in the thermal development processor, it can be immediately put into printing use without additional drying process. This type of flexographic printing with flexographic development has the following advantages:
Processing can be three times faster;
Shorter preparation time is especially beneficial for heavy copy editions;
No chemicals, no solvent treatment process;
Lower investment costs. The use of thermal processing equipment has a low investment cost, no need for drying devices and post-processing devices;
Can achieve the same printing quality as the traditional printing plate;
Excellent ink transferability in full-plate printing.
Cyrel-FAST System has been successfully applied in several major printing manufacturers in the United States. After the Drupa 2000 show, DuPont will invest in the European and Asian markets.
BASF Plates and Plate Making Systems Directly Engraved with Digital Lasers In an effort to reduce the complexity of the flexographic platemaking process, BASF focused its research on the flexographic laser direct engraving system exhibited at Drupa. For the first time, BASF exhibited a direct laser engraving photopolymer plate, nyloflex LD, in Dusseldorf. Nyloflex LD Plates In the platemaking process, lasers are used to transfer images from a PC directly to a plate in a digital form, and the non-image portion of the plate is ablated by a CO2 laser. This eliminates the original pre-exposure and the time-consuming process of hardening the image on the plate during laser exposure, drying and post-processing. Combining this platemaking process with the excellent performance of laser imaging devices will greatly reduce the flexo platemaking time, such as the ALE Meridiane Finesse laser imaging device used by BASF.
According to the introduction of BASF, the four-color plate of A4 size 1270dpi resolution requires 70 minutes of plate making time. The newly developed nyloflex plate material has dimensions of 61×76.2mm and 1.14mm thickness, and is only suitable for UV printing inks. The nyloflex LD system is particularly suitable for label printing due to the good resolution of this material (reproducible image reproduction of 2% to 95% at 60 lines/cm resolution).
The two different plate-making systems (DuPont's FAST system and BASF's Laser Direct Engraving System) exhibited at Drupa 2000 only marked the beginning of the research and development of the new plate-making system. People are turning their research and development focus on how to reduce plate-making time and reduce investment in processing equipment.
The research and development of flexographic printing plate processing equipment in coating photopolymer seamless sleeve printing plates is not as outstanding as Dropa 2000 has been expected to be. In fact, none of the large photopolymer manufacturers have actually exhibited perfect plates. As we all know, DuPont and BASF are working hard to come up with a complete solution for photopolymer seamless sleeve printing, and have experimented in some major printing plants. However, the current photopolymer sleeve printing plates are still in the process of testing, and commercially viable product solutions are still out of reach. One of the most troubling problems is that due to the need to use laser direct engraving engraving technology, how to develop a plate processing system, but there are still other market competitors, although not a seamless sleeve plate, but also known as For "cylindrical platemaking", that is, the traditional photosensitive resin plate is pre-mounted on the sleeve, and then through the entire plate making system, from the setting of the digital laser to the completion of the flexographic plate making of the photosensitive resin.
This reduces at least the manual labor and the time consumed in the middle process of the plate making process, avoids the complicated imposition work by the printing manufacturer in the subsequent plate processing, and eliminates the “printing†process in the printing process (especially for small-size sleeves. The cylinder or impression cylinder) improves the print registration accuracy of the print. So far, there have been some new system solutions in this area.
The four major photosensitive resin suppliers have launched their own proprietary plate-making equipment in this area. The production of these devices is limited to the actual manufacturers including Global Graphics, AV Flexologic and DuPont. DuPont has taken a leading position in the field of plate processing. As early as the beginning of 1999, DuPont has established its first processing plant. Its processing system consists of the following parts.
Cyrel ITR Microllex PreMounter: The Cyrel PreMounter is a pre-installed device developed from the Microllex family of equipment to mount an unexposed plate on a sleeve.
Cyrel ITR Modular Setter: Cyrel Positioning Device It is a high-quality positioning device for photosensitive resin sleeve plates. The device is controlled by a computer and can automatically change the distance of the UV lamp from the surface of the sleeve.
Cyrel ITR Modular Wash off unit: It can automatically adjust the pressure of cleaning brush and replenish the solvent according to the size of the sleeve plate.
Cyrel ITR Modular Dryer: Celery Idry Modular Dryer It automatically adjusts the drying time by computer according to the preset type and thickness of photosensitive resin coating. The device can accommodate simultaneous processing of six sleeves.
Cyrel ITR Modular Finisher: The Celeron version of the post-processing device can independently change the plate post-processing time and post-exposure time.
The Celery ITR (In the Round) line can process seamless photosensitive sleeves and sleeve type plates up to 1780mm in length. The complete set of equipment lines including plate cleaning, drying, post-processing and post-exposure are in production. The first set will soon be put into use. BASF has also launched a sleeve printing plate processing line integrating production of traditional and digital sleeves in Dueseldorf, which confirms the combination of sleeve printing plate processing equipment and cylinder processing equipment, and is promising in the field of flexographic plate making. , its processing advantages are showing an increasing trend of development.
The above three types of cylindrical processing equipment can be used for the production of photosensitive resin printing plates, whether seamed or seamless printing, digital or traditional photosensitive resin plate. As long as the sleeve positioning device and the post-processing device are combined into one, a set of processing equipment can be used to process various plate materials.
Electronically controlled sleeve cleaning and drying device It is a sleeve cleaning and drying device that can accommodate three sleeves arranged vertically. In the above nyloflex sleeve printing plate processing line, a sleeve having a length of 400 to 1650 mm and a sleeve plate having an outer diameter of 70 to 420 mm can be processed. The production line can also add digitally controlled sleeve installations to ensure that no pre-installation process occurs for unexposed photosensitive resin plates. The first prototype of this type is being tested in Germany by Nogele using a laser imaging device.
Asahi's Seamless Photoreceptor Sleeve As expected, Asahi launched its sleeve plate processing solution at Drupa. In collaboration with the prepress company Deckmyn & Co NV of Belgium, the seamless photosensitive sleeve processing system using AV Flexologic BV has been put into practical production in the past few years. Its main task is to coat the photosensitive resin material onto a standard uncoated sleeve, and apply a black mask that reacts to Barco Graphics' CDI laser imaging laser to the photosensitive resin. Stapler sleeve printing plates are not new technology and were used by the Seamex process several years ago. Together with the laser positioning device, this system constitutes an entire plate processing line consisting of up to 11 devices. The required investment is approximately 2.5 million DM (depending on the equipment used for the laser imaging device and the processing size). The equipment required for a seamless photosensitive sleeve processing line is:
1. A cutting table for precise cutting of unexposed plates on sleeves or rollers;
2. The stable and error-free installation device of the plate that has been cut and unexposed can make the plate head and plate tail of the printing plate tightly fit together;
3. Furnaces for baking or welding both ends of a polymer resin;
4, to ensure that after the coating of photopolymer sleeve concentric precision grinding machine;
5, coating the coating device for laser reaction black cover layer;
6. The vertical drying device that will dry the cover layer;
7, seamless digital image conversion plate making device (laser imaging device);
8. Post-curing device of laser exposure area (exposure of masking layer);
9. Remove the non-hardened polymer cleaning device in the non-printing area;
10, can accommodate 6 sleeve cleaning and drying cleaning and drying device;
11. Sleeve plate post-processing and post-exposure devices.
Of course, the equipment in the above production line can also increase or decrease if it is not for seamless sleeve plate processing.
Sleeve-Inliner from MacDermid Graphics: Sleeve plate inline processing device Cylindrical plate processing is also available from Sleeve-Inliner from MacDermid Graphics. The device model is Flexlight 60 ASL, which includes cleaning, drying, post-processing and post-processing. Exposure line processing device.
The device is controlled by a computer and accommodates 11 photosensitive resin sleeves in a controlled processing cycle. However, the drying capacity of the drying device can only reach 8 sleeves. The 60ASL machine can process sleeve plates up to 1560mm in length with a maximum outside diameter of 350mm. The prototype exhibited at Drupa has been sold to Imaginex in Canada. It is the first of a new generation of such devices.
This Sleeve-Inliner processing unit will be equipped with an Optisleeve plate assembly to ensure simple and accurate installation of unexposed plates on standard-compliant sleeves.
Printing Assist Devices and Accessories When it comes to packaging flexographic printing, printing aids and accessories cannot be ignored. Sleeves, plate liners and anilox rollers play an important role in the quality assurance of flexographic printing. Even if we apply the new technologies we expect, they are still an important part of the entire workflow.
Rotec's Sleeve Plate Technology In the field of sleeve plates, Rotec has developed a very interesting new system. Its Laser light system implied simplicity and clarity based on optical and interchangeable surfaces.
Thermal CTP Plate,Positive PS Plate,CTCP Plate Co., Ltd. , http://www.thermalctpplate.com