Direct Digital Laser Engraving Flexible Plate High Quality Printing Plate

In recent years, flexo printing technology has developed rapidly in developed countries, especially in the United States, Japan, and Germany. Flexible printing has become more widely used and popularized. Now let's briefly introduce the laser-engraved flexographic technology that has caused major changes.

First, the traditional flexible plate making process

The traditional five-step method of producing a flexographic plate, due to the use of photographic Materials and chemicals, poses an obvious and immediate threat to the environment. For example, in the film production process, used developer and fixer are discharged into the sewer after the silver is extracted. Even the low concentration of silver in the rinsing water exceeds the index of the water protection method, and the extraction of silver is very Special work is difficult for the average manufacturer to implement, and it is expensive.

In the course of printing plate processing, the traditionally used solvents and tetrachloroethylene are harmful air pollutants and carcinogens. In many countries, regulations to limit the release of such substances have been introduced, prompting many plate producers to use alternative methods. However, these alternatives are rarely well-suited and inevitably use volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that can irritate the eyes and respiratory system. Therefore, all suitable ventilation conditions in the workplace are required. Operators must wear protective clothing. Special re-distillation equipment and chemical processing capabilities are required. Disposal of used solvents is required. Even so, the final waste still needs to be tested and harmfully treated. The waste is discharged.

Washable plates solve some solvent-related problems, but the cleaned water must still be treated before being discharged into public sewers. The requirements of laws in various countries and regions are not the same. Liquid photopolymer resins (LPRs) are a step forward in environmental protection. They are developed in completely aqueous media, so unexposed areas can be easily cleaned and reused. In addition, the water in the liquid photopolymer resin is not usually classified as hazardous or toxic, but it is still necessary to take care when handling it. It must be ensured that the requirements of local regulations are met.

The use of digital photopolymer plates can cause problems with the handling of the film, the discharge of fixer and developer, and the reduction of silver. The image was ablated from the mask using an infrared laser without affecting the underlying photopolymer and then processed using conventional methods. So far, most digital plates still use solvent cleaning technology, which is undoubtedly harmful to operators and does not meet the requirements of environmental protection.

Second, the solvent-free treatment can protect the degree of ring

Laws and regulations that limit the discharge of hazardous wastes (such as garbage and waste water) are constantly increasing and improving. The cost required in the wastewater treatment process has been paid more attention by companies and governments, and environmental protection is no longer just a slogan. The flexo version using direct digital laser engraving technology is an environmentally friendly and safe alternative to the traditional production process, and it can be competitive with the currently-developed printing plate and sleeve materials and software. High quality prints.

Direct digital laser-engraved flexographic plates are completely free of film and any solvents during plate preparation, and rubber plates or pre-exposed photopolymer materials can be used for plates and seamless sleeve plates.

The image is lasered directly onto a pre-vulcanized plate or stencil. The only remaining remains are the ash produced during the engraving process. The ash can be collected by a closed exhaust system and sent to an incinerator or Dispose of in a garbage way. The only process that requires post-treatment is water washing and a brief drying process to remove residual ash, which can be discharged into a public sewer.

Direct digital laser engraving thus eliminates all issues related to environmental-related wastewater discharge. The process can also save the energy used, not only the energy required for chemical reprocessing, but also the energy to operate the process, as well as the energy required by the machine.

Third, high-quality printing plate cover

Direct digital laser engraving not only has the obvious advantages of being environmentally friendly due to the elimination of the need for films and solvents, but also the quality achieved by this process can be compared to that of plates or sleeves made using any other flexographic manufacturing process. The quality of the edition is comparable or exceeds.

At present, direct digital laser engraving technology has been able to reach the following specifications:

The smallest dot on the plate: 1% dot of 1501pi (60lpCm).
The minimum line width: 0.004 inches (0.010 cm).
The smallest 2-character size word for yang or yin, 0.028 inches (0.071 cm).

In addition, this process can also perform precise and controlled tone correction to get the best dark adjustment area without affecting the highlight area.

Laser-engraved rubber plates and pre-vulcanized photopolymer plates do not require photographic processing, which means longer storage times, more stable dimensions, and more uniform thickness. All of these can make the Printing Machine easy to set up, reduce the waste of materials, reduce several sets of spare printing plates in the long-run, reduce the waste of printed products, and indirectly reduce the impact on the environment.

Fourth, the transition from gravure to flexo

In many cases, direct laser engraving not only replaces the platemaking process of traditional flexographic plates, but also extends the use of plates to new areas.

The high-quality plates obtained with direct digital laser-engraved flexographic plates can in many cases be used for high-quality, seamless printing. This solves the problems associated with copper in environmental protection. Copper needs to be corroded, and there are discharge problems. High-solvent inks, especially gravure inks, are used for printing. The benefits of direct digital laser-engraved flexographic printing have been recognized by many printers. At present, some gravure printing plants have begun to replace gravure printing with a flexographic printing that uses digital direct engraving of photopolymer materials.

Direct digital laser-engraving flexographic plates and sleeves have considerable benefits in environmental protection, coupled with high-quality plates and print quality, causing more and more people to turn to flexographic printing. In Japan, after the introduction of environmental legislation, the transition from gravure printing to flexographic printing has started on a large scale.

Direct digital laser engraving and flexographic printing has already begun to be applied in China. Zhejiang Ruian City Boye Laser Application Technology Co., Ltd. has successfully introduced the digital laser engraving technology into the traditional hand-printed platemaking field of carton enterprises and introduced the LEC1206 type. Laser engraving machine. This device does not require special fixtures, can adapt to a variety of hardness of the rubber, the production of rubber plates from the tedious manual operation to liberate. At the same time, because the laser engraving is fine and accurate, the effect comparable to that of the flexible polyester version can be printed on the carton through a conventional rubber plate. At present, this kind of laser engraving and cutting machine has been adopted by nearly 100 carton factories in China. LEC series laser engraving and cutting system integrates high-tech laser, automatic control, precision machinery, computer CAM control and other high technologies. It uses computer graphics to create a variety of text and graphics, rich fonts, standard fonts, fast graphics generation, and arbitrary scaling. . In plate making, the computer controls the operation of the machine to make the reproduction of the picture more accurate and reliable.