New Print Cylinder Aims to Eliminate Flaws

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New print cylinder aims to eliminate flaws

very press operator knows what gear marking is, and it's the last thing he or she wants to see on a print job.

Operators who know their machines well learn how to compensate for vibration when setting impression and while running a job, even if it means giving the old press a whack or two.

Along comes Nu Tech Coatings, of Atlanta, GA, USA, which says it has a solution to the gear marking and banding problem. Its Performance Enhancing Cylinders (PEC) "provide a mounting platform for plates that allows for impression and absorbs vibrations." According to VP Jim Wyman, Nu Tech uses a proprietary polymer to coat cylinders.

"We eliminate impression as a variable as the operators go to print," Wyman says. "Our product is an energy absorbing coating. As as result of eliminating impression as a variable, it can increase press speeds, and can mean a lot less downtime for re-registration."

The product, he says, takes an impression set. "We ask operators to adjust the impression as they normally would,

and once they find the kiss impression to left and right, then they should start coming in on the impression until they achieve the results they are looking for. And this cylinder prints a solid dot, not a typical flexo donut dot."

The cylinders are available in two ways. Nu Tech has an arrangement whereby customers get a discount ifthey order a premachined cylinder from RotoMetrics. Or a customer can send a print cylinder to Nu Tech to have the coating applied. The company machines the roller down to the proper diameter and adds about three-eighths of an inch of coating. (A third way is for the converter to machine the roll himself) This process can eliminate the cushion-backed tape common in flexo shops. The tape that is used to mount the plate on the PEC is 0.005".

"I think they're onto something," says Jim Pec, VP of production at Marathon Label, Wausau, WI, USA. "We had two rolls covered as a trial, and we tried some problematic plates on them using various substrates. I was impressed. It did a very good job, especially on screen areas. I expect to pick up a few more to round out the set."

Nu Tech's Performance Enhancing Cylinders are distributed in the USA by Print Products, Fernandina Beach, FL, and by Harper Corporation of America, Charlotte, NC.

24 LABEL NARROW WEB

SEPTEMBER 2006

SEPTE

HarperScientific announces PEe test results

Production trials conducted by HarperScientific with the unique PEe plate cylinder coating show reduced plate bounce and better tonal quality. Andy Thomas reports

H arperScientific, the printing and coating supplies division of global anilox supplier Harper Corporation of America, has revealed the results of a qualification test conducted on the new PEC (Perfonnance Enhancing Coating) for plate cylinders. The PEC is available through HarperScientific.

PEC is an innovative patent-pending plate cylinder coating for narrow web presses that absorbs and displaces energy (see L&L5, 2006, Labelexpo Review). PEC is claimed to improve print quality by reducing or removing gear marks or banding, and improving tonal range. The unique PEC material can be applied to existing plate cylinders or be supplied on new cylinders.

'The print trial demonstrated dramatic results,' said Tony Donato, technical sales solutions manager at HarperScientific. 'We confinned that the PEC coating reduced plate bounce and increased tonal quality significantly. We also saw an increase in color density by 14 per cent, as compared to the same plate run on a conventional plate cylinder with the same anilox, ink and substrate.'

The test took place in the flexo facility at Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC) in Charlotte, North Carolina, conducted by students from CPCC' s Flexo 4 class, assisted by their instructor.

'We wanted students to conduct this trial, to demonstrate how the PEC coated cylinders can help level the playing field of varying operator experience,' said Jim WYman, vice president of Nu-Tech Coatings, developer ofthe PEC product. 'The outstanding quality results these kids got on the print trial illustrate how easy the PEC is to use.'

The students set up the 10' Mark Andy Scout press for the trial, installing a lOOO-line anilox roll with a volume of 1.5 billion cubic microns (BCM). The roll was properly cleaned prior to the trial and new doctor blades were installed. Cyan ink was used throughout the trial.

To establish a benchmark for comparison, the students mounted the trial plate conventionally on a standard 96-tooth plate cylinder using. 0 15' stickyback. After the students set the impression, they ran the job. As expected, the result included plate bounce and tonal lines. Andy Parks, CPCC flexo instructor and president of Parks Printing, rechecked the impression, and the subsequent run yielded the same results.

CPCC student Angela Morales, instructor Andy Parks and student Natalie Harper take a break during the PEC print trial

Then the students mounted a plate using 3M 2205 .005' mounting tape on a 96-tooth cylinder coated with the PEC coating, and installed it in the same deck as the original conventionally mounted plate. The print quality results were dramatic. For example, dots in the 50 per cent range, which were slurred in the first test, became round dots.

Then the trial participants made further changes. The initial test was conducted with a low durometer plate. Not completely happy with the clarity of the dots, the group remounted the job using a medium durofheterplate. To push the PEC's perfonnance, the medium plate was mounted short, so it did not take up the full repeat. This mounting tested the PEC coating even further, because it introduced a load-and-reload situation with each revolution.

Even with the added obstacle ofloading and unloading, the medium-durometer plate printed a more complete dot than the softer plate and showed a 14 per cent increase in color density, with the same lack of tonal lines and bounces demonstrated earlier with the PEC.

Parks commented: 'It was very surprising that adding additional impression to the plate cylinder loading, nonnally a no-no, kicked in the PEC to remove the typical defects and print such a clean image. It looked sharp.'.

HarperScientific announces PEe test results

Production trials conducted by HarperScientific with the unique PEe plate cylinder coating show reduced plate bounce and better tonal quality. Andy Thomas reports

'The print trial demonstrated dramatic results,' said Tony Donato, technical sales solutions manager at HarperScientific. 'We continned that the PEC coating reduced plate bounce and increased tonal quality significantly. We also saw an increase in color density by 14 per cent, as compared to the same plate run on a conventional plate cylinder with the same anilox, ink and substrate.'

The test took place in the flexo facility at Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC) in Charlotte, North Carolina, conducted by students from CPCC' s Flexo 4 class, assisted by their instructor.

'We wanted students to conduct this trial, to demonstrate how the PEC coated cylinders can help level the playing field of varying operator experience,' said Jim ~an, vice president of Nu-Tech Coatings, developer ofthe PEC product. 'The outstanding quality results these kids got on the print trial illustrate how easy the PEC is to use.'

The students set up the 10' Mark Andy Scout press for the trial, installing a lOOO-line aniloxroll with a volume of 1.5 billion cubic microns (BCM). The roll was properly cleaned prior to the trial and new doctor blades were installed. Cyan ink was used throughout the trial.

CPCC student Angela Morales, instructor Andy Parks and student Natalie Harper take a break during the PEC print trial

Then the trial participants made further changes. The initial test was conducted with a lowdurometer plate. Not completely happy with the clarity of the dots, the group remounted the job using a medium durotheter plate. To push the PEC's perfonnance, the medium plate was mounted short, so it did not take up the full repeat. This mounting tested the PEC coating even further, because it introduced a load-and-reload situation with each revolution.

HarperScientific announces PEe test results

Production trials conducted by HarperScientific with the unique PEe plate cylinder coating show reduced plate bounce and better tonal quality. Andy Thomas reports

H arperScientific, the printing and coating supplies division of global anilox supplier Harper Corporation of America, has revealed the results of a qualification test conducted on the new PEC (Performance Enhancing Coating) for plate cylinders. The PEC is available through HarperScientific.

'The print trial demonstrated dramatic results,' said Tony Donato, technical sales solutions manager at HarperScientific. 'We confirmed that the PEC coating reduced plate bounce and increased tonal quality significantly. We also saw an increase in color density by 14 per cent, as compared to the same plate run on a conventional plate cylinder with the same anilox, ink and substrate.'

The test took place in the flexo facility at Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC) in Charlotte, North Carolina, conducted by students from CPCC' s Flexo 4 class, assisted by their instructor.

'We wanted students to conduct this trial, to demonstrate how the PEC coated cylinders can help level the playing field of varying operator experience,' said Jim wyman, vice president of Nu-Tech Coatings, developer ofthe PEC product. 'The outstanding quality results these kids got on the print trial illustrate how easy the PEC is to use.'

The students set up the 10' Mark Andy Scout press for the trial, installing a lOOO-line aniloxroll with a volume of 1.5 billion cubic microns (BCM). The roll was properly cleaned prior to the trial and new doctor blades were installed. Cyan ink was used throughout the trial.

To establish a benchmark for comparison, the students mounted the trial plate conventionally on a standard 96-tooth plate cylinder using. 0 15' stickyback. After the students set the impression, they ran the job. AB expected, the result included plate bounce and tonal lines. Andy Parks, CPCC flexo instructor and president of Parks Printing, rechecked the impression, and the subsequent run yielded the same results.

CPCC student Angela Morales, instructor Andy Parks and student Natalie Harper take a break during the PEC print trial

Then the trial participants made further changes. The initial test was conducted with a low durometer plate. Not completely happy with the clarity of the dots, the group remounted the job using a medium duroftleter plate. To push the PEC's performance, the medium plate was mounted short, so it did not take up the full repeat. This mounting tested the PEC coating even further, because it introduced a load-and-reload situation with each revolution.

Parks commented: 'It was very surprising that adding additional impression to the plate cylinder loading, normally a no-no, kicked in the PEC to remove the typical defects and print such a clean image. It looked sharp.'.