MIAMISBURG, OH—Cyber Graphics LLC, a leading premedia and media provider to the flexographic industry, has invested in Esko “in the round” and CDI flexo plate imagers. With HD Flexo technology—and a roadmap to Full HD Flexo—it hopes to create better sleeves and plates for customers, while increasing productivity.
Rick Parker, Cyber Graphics director of operations and technology, proclaims, “We can now image plates and sleeves up to 4000 ppi resolution, which provides us more options to utilize our advanced screening techniques.”
Cyber Graphics installed an Esko CDI Advance Cantilever 1750, a full-sized flexo imager able to image sleeves up to 69 in. and plates as large as 50 in. x 80 in. Loading and unloading of large, thick plates is assisted by an air supported loading table that makes it easy to move plates in place. Within a few months, it positioned a CDI unit dedicated exclusively to plates.
The CDI Advance Cantilever, in operation for some nine months, can be also equipped or retrofitted with Inline UV main exposure, an integrated, digitally controlled, ultraviolet diode array that prevents main exposure from being an analog process on a light table. It is now a highly precise and digitally controlled inline process, performed within the equipment right after the imaging of the flexo plate, without any operator intervention. Through the integration of the image carrier, a digital flexo plate also has sharper image definition and steeper relief shoulders than conventional plates produced with film. Image deterioration by UV light absorption and scattering in the traditional contacting through vacuum sheet and film is totally eliminated.
Edwin Woods, manufacturing site director, reports, “We pushed the high resolution with specialized flat top and round top dot technology, and have started to migrate all of our projects to the new imager. “We still do some ‘plate on sleeve’ work, which is a gateway to full sleeves. At the moment, full seamless work is required on about 15-20 percent of our packaging work. But, we feel that those companies who invest and prepare for in the round will be ready when demand increases.”
“With the Esko CDI, highlights are more defined–there is more stability. Part of that is because the higher resolution invests more pixels to describe each dot. We can physically see a difference in details and surface texture,” says David Smith, manufacturing project manager. “Even at the standard 2540 dpi resolution, we feel that quality has improved and is more consistent. We have better focal depth control of each plate media, during imaging. Our printer customers still control the line screens that they prefer. They usually run at 133 lpi. Some run slightly higher.”
We are using Full HD Flexo on the newer plate imager, and we are considering retrofitting the same capability onto the CDI Advance dedicated to in the round,” remarks Woods. “While plate imagers typically do not have loading units, we like the loading unit on the CDI Advance so much that we’re going to have it retrofitted to our new CDI. Before, we taped every plate onto the cylinder. We were using 1800 rolls of tape per year. We no longer use tape. We push a button and the CDI does everything. All we do is check the vacuum on the cylinder,” adds Steve Dearing, project lead, manufacturing.
The CDI is also faster than previous imagers. At 2400/2540 ppi, the platesetter was producing plates in 35 minutes. At 2400/2540 ppi, the CDI is producing plates in 19 minutes.