New breakthroughs in flexo technology

In the four major printing processes, today, the letterpress printing has basically faded out. As a flexographic printing derived from letterpress printing, after a hundred years of twists and turns, it has finally dawned. The flexo printing market has grown from small to large, and has gone from weak to strong. Caused widespread concern in the market. Experts predict that by the year 2000, flexo printing will account for 18 to 19% of the global printing market. In 2005, it will be expected to rank second in all printing formats. More data shows that during the past three years, flexo printing has grown at an alarming rate of 70% per year (Japan Print Intelligence Magazine, March 99/March P.42). At the same time, the growth of global gravure has increased. It was flat, while offset printing showed a slight decline. The progress of flexo printing has benefited from the breakthrough of key technologies and the continuous improvement of the overall technology. Today, a good flexo printing product can be comparable to offset printing. It is no longer yesterday. The quality of flexo printing can be significantly improved. Improve, mark the beginning of a new milestone in flexo printing.

Flexo Digital Platemaking and Plates
Flexo platemaking is the last printing method to transition to non-film platemaking in various formats. This is because the flexographic plate has a certain thickness. It is difficult to obtain a three-dimensional dot by digital high-speed laser directly on the plate material. It can be imagined that it is much higher than the lithographic version. However, all the constraints of the traditional platemaking methods, such as the use of multi-channel image processing with film processing, are not only poor in stability, but also have high costs. In addition, the temperature and humidity have more or less influence on the film, and sometimes it is necessary to beware of the film. Scratches, scratches, etc.; when the film and the plate are exposed, the image quality may be impaired due to light diffusion or poor adhesion, and the subtle tones cannot be reproduced. Since the smaller dots are not easily printed, they can only be used. Print the number of coarse screen lines. Therefore, flexographic printing can only be found in the production of low quality products.

The introduction of a flexographic platesetter directly exposes the image to the flexographic plate, overcoming the above-mentioned disadvantages caused by the use of the film. The flexographic plate used for direct plate making is different from the ordinary plate, and its surface Re-applied a layer of etched layer - synthetic carbon film, this synthetic carbon film can also avoid dust particles. When the laser scans, the patch at the spot is melted to evaporate without leaving any traces, which is equivalent to leaving an extremely clear picture on the surface, and then the back of the flexo is still exposed as usual. , (The exposure time determines the thickness of the plate). The main exposure (the light source passes through the opening of the synthetic film that has been eroded and direct exposure of the underlying photopolymer, so that there is no scattering or diffuse reflection, so the edges of the dots are sharper and sharper. Moreover, the digital version Even if the material is exposed for a long period of time, it will not cause the dot shape to blur. Finally, the etching process is performed.

The laser direct plate-making machines currently available on the market include the YAG laser-based gravure and flexo dual-purpose direct plate-making system jointly launched by the Ohio and the United States and the well-known German and US companies, the DIGILAS and Misomex International. Imaging dual-use offset printing, flexo printing dual-use 揙mnisetter 斚 斚  啥 啥 啥 啥 啥                 氚 氚 氚     low-correction DI. The CDI uses an argon ion laser, with an onset of 25μ, and a conventional process dot of 35μ. The system was successfully demonstrated at the Chicago CMM show in April this year. At present, there are about 100 sets of CDI in use in the world.

At the CMM exhibition, DuPont also disclosed for the first time a dry thermal-sensitive plate for flexo printing. Its plate-making time can be reduced by 75%. No liquid is needed, which saves time and time, and is beneficial to environmental protection. . Durability is the same as the existing standard type plate. Although this kind of plate-making system is not yet ready to be put on the market for the time being, according to the feedback information of the practicability experiment that has been carried out, everything is similar to the expected effect. This achievement not only shows that DuPont has made new developments in the field of flexible printing, but also indicates that other companies will also have new materials to be launched, so that the quality and effectiveness of flexographic platemaking and flexographic printing will take a new level.