Development Trend of Direct Plate Printing Press (I)

- Report from Drupa 2000 Exhibition
During the Drupa exhibition held in Dusseldorf, Germany from May 18th to 31st, the largest number of direct plate-making printers was exhibited, and some were called CTP (Computer-to-press) printers. This is called a DI (Direct Imaging) press. The United States Presstek Corporation has registered the trademark with DI. Presstek’s "We Are DI" billboards are displayed on the booth and throughout the show.
In 1991, Presstek collaborated with Heidelberger Printing Machinery to develop the world's first GTO-DI direct plate printing press (with a web size of 520mm). In May 1995, Presstek's DI technology was adopted, Heidelberg introduced Quickmaster (Quickmaster). ) DI46-4 eight-color four-color printing press (format 460mm), in this DI printing machine is installed inside the drum automatic plate device, automatic ink control device and plate, rubber, automatic cleaning cylinder imprinting device.
In March 1996, the Adast press company in the Czech Republic applied Presstek's DI technology to launch the 745CDI four-color four-color printing press with a 660mm format. In 1997, the Karat Digital Press Company, a joint venture between KBA and Scitex, applied Presstek's DI technology to launch the 74 Karat four-color printing machine ( The width is 740mm).
From 1991 to 1997, the DI printers developed from the eight- to four-port presses based on Presstek's technology all use waterless offset printing plates. They not only use special waterless offset inks and waterless offset printing plates (Pearldry), but also The cooling system of the offset printing ink system is also increased, making the cost of equipment and consumables high, affecting the promotion of DI printing presses.
In May 1998, Cero (now CeroScitex, a joint venture company with Scitex) cooperated with Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG to develop the world's first water offset press - SM 74 DI. Offset printing ink, and can choose to use Kodak Poly light or Agfa and other manufacturers of CTP plates, greatly reducing the cost of use.
At this Drupa exhibition, Komori Press Co., Ltd. applied CeroScitex technology and showed for the first time the world's first DI diverted four-color offset press Project D (1020mm format). Offset printing machine.
At the exhibition, the German Mann Roland Offset Printing Machine Company also adopted CeroScitex technology and exhibited a DI four-color multicolor web offset press—DICOweb (web size: 520mm).
At the same time, Presstek developed the offset printing version of Pearlgold for DI offset presses and developed the ProFireR on-machine scanning module. At this exhibition, it was installed at Japan Ryobi (3404DI), Japan's Sakurai. (OL-47EIIDI) and Czech Adast (557DI) offset presses, greatly reducing the cost.
Dainippon Screen Group also exhibited at the exhibition a water-based DI offset press developed based on its own DI technology and Sakurai Japan-True press 544 (format 540mm) and 744 (format 740mm) in Japan. In the competition with offset press manufacturing in Germany, a winning vote was made.
From 1991 to now, after nearly a decade of hard work, prepress equipment manufacturers (Presstek, CeroScitex, Screen) and printer manufacturers (Heidelberg, KBA, Mann Gloria, Komori, Sakurai, Ryobi, Ada (Stacey) cooperated and completed the process from the 8th to the DI printing machine. After going through the process from the waterless DI offset press to the DI water offset press, it also walked from the dedicated DI scanning device to the standard DI scanning device. The process. From the perspective of experts and audiences at the exhibition, the DI printer has basically gone through the process from development to marketization. The future of the offset printing press belongs to the DI printer. This is an irresistible trend.
1. Presstek
Presstek's technology and components can be used for various types of DI printers. The Presstek imaging module is the most installed thermal imaging technology in the industry and currently uses an integrated imaging system called ProFire. This compact design includes lasers, electronics and moving parts that can be easily scaled to the required size (below AO to A4) and the resolution of the desired imaging device. ProFire requires only 3 inputs: image data, laser coolant and power. This device allows DI printers, computer-to-plate and computer direct proofing systems to easily adopt this new technology. In the past five years, Presstek has produced 115,000 laser diodes. The failure rate is far below 1%, and the price is below $1,000. Imaging takes only 5 minutes. Currently Presstek has installed more than 6,000 thermal imaging devices worldwide. The heat-sensitive device is fairly fast and stable, easy to maintain, and does not have to be checked daily/weekly like other thermal lasers, and replaced every year.
The ProFire imaging system consists of three main components: the FirePower multibeam laser system, the FireStation digital controller and data server, and the integrated motion system.
(1) The FirePower laser system consists of Presstek's unique laser diode and extremely fast laser driver. The laser driver is located next to the laser diode, reducing the time for the laser to operate, thus reducing imaging time. Each of my high-energy lasers emits four laser beams from a single lens in the module bag, which allows faster imaging and higher resolution. (To be continued)