1 1 Direct Engraving of Flexo Printing Forms ERA International Packaging Conference St. Petersburg Oct. 2009 Dr. Hartmut Sandig Consultant/ Hell Gravure Direct Engraving of Flexo Printing Forms Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the presentation „ Direct Engraving of Flexo Printing Forms“, a complete new technology of processing Flexo forms.On behalf of Hell Gravure I thank the ERA commitee for the possibility to give this presentation. The intention is to inform you about the activities of Flexo which tries to reach the cost and quality range of Gravure especially in the field of flexible packaging.
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Direct Engravingof Flexo Printing FormsERA International Packaging Conference
St. Petersburg Oct. 2009
Dr. Hartmut Sandig Consultant/ Hell Gravure
Direct Engraving of Flexo Printing Forms
Ladies and Gentlemen,welcome to the presentation „ DirectEngraving of Flexo Printing Forms“, a complete new technology of processingFlexo forms.On behalf of Hell Gravure I thankthe ERA commitee for the possibility to givethis presentation. The intention is to inform you about theactivities of Flexo which tries to reach thecost and quality range of Gravure especiallyin the field of flexible packaging.
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Statement conc. Flexible Packaging :
Gravure and Flexo Printing are competitors in Europe
The market shares are equivalent
But these printing systems are also complementary
Offset attacks Gravure and Flexo
Hell Gravure offers equipments for processing printing formsfor both systems Gravure and Flexo on a high innovative level
Dr. Sandig
Exclusive characteristic:
Direct Engraving of Flexo Printing Forms
With this statement conc. flexible packaging I will emphazise that inspite of the hardcompetition between Flexo and Gravur bothsystems are complementary and eachprinting technology has its own specificapplication justification . And both systemsmust pay attention to the increasingactivities of Offset especially in the field of narrow up to middle web.
And as an exclusive characteristic: Hell isinvolved in Flexo since a long time too.
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Dr. Sandig
Changes + answers of the packaging printing market:
GravureGravure Printing approaches the cost range of Flexo, especially forflexible packaging of high qualityHigh reproducibility, top quality and improved availalibity areadditional arguments
OffsetHigh printing qualityStandardizationLow processing costs for printing forms
FlexoThe more coloursThe less the mileageThe more changes of sujets up to screen width ≤ 150 lpiHigh availability by in-house production of printing forms
Beneficialfor short runs asmore and moreusual
Direct Engraving of Flexo Printing Forms
By this rough overview about thechanges and answers of the up-to-date situation of application for thethree main printing systems in thefield of flexible packaging and labelsyou can conclude that Flexo must beaware about the stronger part of Gravure due to the shorter supplyingtimes of Gravure cylinders and theircost reduction. Flexo should provideprinting forms in-the-round to become competitive.
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Printing form: 1000 mm width, 600 mm printing length
Production times ( h )2,5Form costs ( € )
950
Laser engraved
Mounting effort for Flexo cylinder:15-20 min/colour
Chromating effort for grav.cylinder: 0,5 h / colour
In-the-Round-Sleev. *
Flexo plates
In-the-Round-Sleeves (depends on available mandrels)
Cu convent. engraved
Cu conventional engraved
* At excellent logistics
Flexo
Gravure
Flexo plates
Printing Quality, Reproducibility, Mileage
Laser engraved
Costs and processing times for forms Gravure •/• Flexo
50 200 350 500 650 800 950
0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3
Dr. Sandig
Direct Engraving of Flexo Printing Forms
A questionary in the market ( tradehouses, form suppliers, customers, printers) resultsin the up- to-date situation conc. printingquality, runlength and reproducibility. Themore money you would spend for theprocessing of Flexo forms, espec. in-the-round , the more you come into the range of Gravure, but at a very high cost level and without meeting the standards of Gravure. The processing times are comparible.Therefore the additional requirements to Flexo are:
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Printing forms: -- In-the-Round, if possible without seam
-- Reduction of the production costs , digital
-- High availability
-- Simplified, enviromental-friendly production
-- Improvement of automation
Reduction of make-ready and change-over times
Improvement of printing quality( higher resolution, higher register accuracy,
excellent ink transfer)
Higher printing speeds
Reproducibility of printing results
Dr. Sandig
The strength of Flexo will depend on the realization of some additional requirements
Direct Engraving of Flexo Printing Forms
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+PremiumSetter Printing Form
High resolution laser
2540 dpi resolution
High power laser
Modern elastomer
Excellent ink application
Long runlength
+
The answer:
PremiumFlexo , an innovation of Hell Gravure
Components
PremiumProfiler
3D-Shaping
Digital dot profiling
Dr. Sandig
Direct Engraving of Flexo Printing Forms
Starting with YAG laser for the ablation for digital photopolymer plates Hell has soon recognized that thefuture of processing forms should be simplified by fewsteps, by the direct engraving of elastomer forms. The core of the system is the YAG laser , thePremiumSetter, demands black layers, substrates, dueto the absorption characteristic. Therefore the material of the forms should be black.
The new technology is based on the three pillars:•The YAG laser PremiumSetter•A special prepress software, the PremiumProfiler•The elastomers black coloured
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Comparison to digital Photopolymer Plates - Processing Steps
Processing time only 60 minutes Processing time 180 minutes
Dr. Sandig
New Standard
Direct Engraving of Flexo Printing Forms
PremiumFlexo is nearly a one-stepprocess consisting of directlasering and a more cleaning stepwashing off the melted but notsticky redeposits of particles as a result of the lasering. And look to the processing times!In comparison to the conventionelplate or form processing theheadline is a simplifyingprocessing . The less steps the lessthe mistakes and influences bymanuell handling and processing.
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PremiumSetter S1600
Dr. Sandig
Direct Engraving of Flexo Printing Forms
Simple, pioneeringoperation
High-performance,high-resolution laser Elastomer sleeve Cylinder mounting as in gravure
Direct engraving of elastomerPlates and sleevesHigh resolution fibre laserSimple, pioneering operationOption: Automation
The core of the system is the PremiumSetter.This laser has two mobile bearing blocksequipped with inverse cones for clamping theair cylinder axies. This concept hasalready been tried and successfully testedin automated gravure form processing.
Resolution: typically 2540 dpiScreen ruling: up to 80 l/cm screen continuousTonal range: 1 –99%Relief depth: typically 420 µm, max. 800µmInput data: 1-Bit TIFF Data ( PremiumProfiler)
8-Bit TIFF Data (Laser)
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Comparision to CO 2 – Laser Direct Engraving
Wave length
Spot size
Material
PremiumSetter
1.110 nm
black
10.600 nm
any
CO2-Laser
~ 10µm~ 40µm
Dr. Sandig
Direct Engraving of Flexo Printing Forms
And you know: The smaller the wavelength of a laser beam the smaller the spotsize you can get and the higherthe resolution.You can reach line width up to 5 µ ( 0.2 mils)
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PremiumSetter S1600
Increase of engraving speed by FastForward function(25% by mechanical processing of non-printing areas + skip function for solid areas)
Keyway Alignment: Right positioning of the engravedsleeve to the keyway (punched holes) of the air cylinderto get an absolute register accuracy
Dr. Sandig
Direct Engraving of Flexo Printing Forms
By a steady further development it isnow possible to increase theengraving speed by the mechanicalcutting of non printing areassimultaneously with the lasering.And the laser starts for each colour on the same spot due the keywayalignment , that means the laser isautomatically verifying the punchedholes of the sleeves.
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PremiumProfiler
Definition of dot profiles :- shoulder and first step- digital makeready (Undercut)- graduaded to tonal value areas
Processing of 1-bit TIFF-data from standard RIPs
Generation of 3-dimensional data for laser operation (shaping)
Optional offline- or online-shapingDr. Sandig
α
Direct Engraving of Flexo Printing Forms
The PremiumProfiler builds 3-dimensional data from the 1-bit Tifffile for each colour, that means 3-dimensional profiling and controllingof the tonal values, the relief depthand the shoulder characteristic, thestructure of the elements.
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Traditional processing
Digitalprocessing Direct laser engraved
3dimensional profiling
highlights highlights
Polymer/elastomer
undercutting
Smaller dots+ steeper shoulders
>>Higher resolution + greater contrast
Dr. Sandig
Advantages of Direct Laser Engraved Plates
GFK layer
Direct Engraving of Flexo Printing Forms
In comparison to photopolymer plates, you can influence and regulatethe angle of the shoulders of theelements and their printing level , theso called undercutting.
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Dr. Sandig
Undercut of fine dots ( 1 % tonal value) at 70 L/cm
Undercut
Direct Engraving of Flexo Printing Forms
This undercutting of highlights and fine lines
- assists the good covering of the solids- prevents the squeezing of fine dots and lines- results in an improved homogeous printing out- leads to less dot gain- improves the printing length
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PremiumProfiler – Online Engine
Layout/ RIP 1-Bit 8-Bit
PremiumProfiler
Profil PremiumSetterOnline-Engine
on-the-fly
• Processing of 1-bit TIFF-data• Application of stored profiles• Online-shaping for the current laser engraving
Dr. Sandig
Direct Engraving of Flexo Printing Forms
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Solvent-, UV- and Water based inks possibleDifferent hardnesses availableConductibleExcellent ink transfer, less logistic of different materialand a great variety of substratesOptional as multi-layerSeamless continuous or Plate-on-Sleeve*Reusable by grinding
* Under development
Modern Elastomer
Dr. Sandig
Direct Engraving of Flexo Printing Forms
The modern elastomers help to save money due the factthat they are allrounder with regard to their application withthe different inks and chemical resistance.The sleeves fulfill the strong regularities and laws of preventing selfignition as a consequence of their electricalconductivity.
According to the high requirements of quality theelastomers have to fulfill special properties.This properties are fixed in material data sheets.
As a result of the undercutting:Very sharp contours in solids as it isfavorised for barcodes and guilloches of security printing.
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excellent reproduction
Results
Dr. Sandig
Direct Engraving of Flexo Printing Forms
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Dr. Sandig
Direct Engraving of Flexo Printing Forms
Very high register accuracydue to the electronicmounting of the jobs by thelaser direct on the in-the-round sleeves (keywayaligment)
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PremiumSetter
CO2 Laser
80 l/cm 80 l/cm60 l/cm
Comparision to CO 2 – Laser Direct Engraving
Dr. Sandig
Direct Engraving of Flexo Printing Forms
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Seamless printing sujets
Highlights and solids in one sleeve,
saving of ink stations
Short change-over-times
Extended runlength + high printing speed
+ smooth printing without rattling
Digital, one-step process (less manual
faults) + less waste
Benefits of seamless sleeve:
Dr. Sandig
Direct Engraving of Flexo Printing Forms
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High screen ruling
Well increased contrast
latitude
Less dot gain
High register accuracy
Excellent ink transfer of
the elastomer sleeves
Additional benefits of direct engraved sleeves:
Dr. Sandig
Direct Engraving of Flexo Printing Forms
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Minimal preparation times with Jobticket WorkflowMinimal manual handling – only mounting of sleeves Minimal change-over times for sleeves with automated loading and unloadingFully automated line controlMulti-shift processing by one person handling
Automation with PremiumLine
Dr. Sandig
Direct Engraving of Flexo Printing Forms
And, that is absolutely new, Hell has realized the automation of processingFlexo forms nearly without anymanpower copying the owntechnology of Gravure together withits partners Kasper Walter and Johannes Bauer.The main station is the job ticket, where the data are prepared conc. thewhole processing incl. the datatransfer by prepress from 1- to 8- Bit workflow.All sleeves are automatically loadedand unloaded by a bridge cran.
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Jobticket
1-bit TIFF-Daten
1-bit TIFF-Daten
ProfilProfil
JobTicket
Job Informationname, format, number of colours
Cylinder Parameterssizes, keyway alignment, active skip function up to theedges
Engraving ParametersJob sizes, mirroring
Washer Parameters
Status Information
Production Datapriority, date and time of production
Job Informationname, format, number of colours
Cylinder Parameterssizes, keyway alignment, active skip function up to theedges
Engraving ParametersJob sizes, mirroring
Washer Parameters
Status Information
Production Datapriority, date and time of production
Automation with PremiumLine
Dr. Sandig
Direct Engraving of Flexo Printing Forms
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Modular concept:Jobticket Station - digital job preparation Control - systematic line controlPremiumSetter - variable number high-quality direct engraversWasher - fully automatic cleaningBuffer - intermediate storage for sleevesPrepare - air cylinder preparation
Automation with PremiumLine
Dr. Sandig
Direct Engraving of Flexo Printing Forms
Fom the job ticket station the data aretransferred to the control station forall equipments as PremiunSetter, washer, crane, buffer and prepare , all in-line arranged.By this way you have an overviewabout the whole processing and theposition of the sleeves at everymoment. And you can estimate and destinatethe processing time in advance.And you have a production report forevery completed job.
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Automation with PremiumLine
Dr. Sandig
Direct Engraving of Flexo Printing Forms
Here a short video clip about theautomated line for betterunderstanding
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Production times2,5Form costs (€)
950
Laser engraved
In-the-Round-Sleev. *
Flexo plates
In-the-Round-Sleeves (depends on available mandrels)
Cu convent. engraved
Laser engraved
Costs and processing times for forms Gravure •/• Flexo
Flexo
Gravure
Flexo plates
Printing Quality, Reproducibility, Mileage
PremiumFlexo
PremiumFlexoPrinting form: 1000 mm width,
600 mm printing length
Laser engraved
Mounting effort for Flexo cylinder:15-20 min/colour
Chromating effort for grav.cylinder: 0,5 h & colour
Cu convent. engraved
Cu conventional engraved
* At excellent logisticsDr. Sandig
50 200 350 500 650 800 950
0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3
Direct Engraving of Flexo Printing Forms
And this is the result of the automated linewith the PremiumSetter conc. quality, reproducibility, run length and processingcosts.Now by this way Flexo is in the range of Gravure.And this PremiumLine is successfullyworking in practice since than 2 years.
And the most important advantage:The added value is not distributed to
several stations as sleeve supplier and tradehouse, you can run the jobs inhouse.
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