Consumables
VIM Technologies introduces a processless metal plate for waterless offset litho
Wednesday 14. May 2008 - At the Drupa show in Düsseldorf VIM Technologies is unveiling its new DP-S, an aluminum plate for waterless offset printing that requires no chemical processing.
The plate material can be imaged in any standard thermal platesetter and only requires a simple wash-off stage in an aqueous soap solution before going onto the press.
VIM DP-S plates will work with any waterless offset press and will handle run lengths more than 30,000 impressions. Suitable presses include the KBA Genius 52, waterless configurations of the KBA Rapida, plus the Codimag Viva 340 Waterless label press. It can also be used with direct imaging presses that use metal waterless plates, including the KBA 74 Karat, the Heidelberg GTO-DI and the Kammann DISC 1140 waterless CD printer. It can also be used with standard presses fitted with temperature-controlled inking rolls, which can then be run waterless.
The new VIM DP-S plates and printed samples will be available for viewing on VIM Technologies stand at Drupa (Hall 7a stand 9B). The plates are currently in Beta test at commercial printers with Rapida and 74 Karat presses, and will be fully released to the market during Q3 2008. Initially it will be available up to B2 size because this is the format favoured by the installed base, but the plate line supports larger sizes if required in future.
VIM Technologies is already well established in the processless plates market with its VIM DP-R range of polyester plates for direct imaging waterless litho presses, introduced in 2005 and now sold worldwide through more than 30 dealerships. Avigdor Bieber, founder and CEO of VIM Technologies, formerly worked for Scitex Corporation, where in the mid 1990s he initiated and then headed Karat Digital Press company, a joint venture between Scitex and KBA. In 1997 he first introduced and soon after commercially launched the 74 Karat, an innovative direct imaging digital press that is still available from KBA.
“Unlike some ablative processless plates there is no dust produced by the imaging process on the DP-S coating, so there is no danger of contaminating the optics of the platesetter,” Mr Bieber explains. “The plate requires some 40% less imaging energy than some processless materials, so the laser diode power setting can be reduced to increase its lifetime.”
After imaging the plates are simply passed through a low-cost aqueous washing unit with the VIM DP-CLN cleaning solution (this is a form of soap) to clean off any residue and emerge dry and ready for mounting on the press. The VIM DP-S material has also been tested for direct imaging by the KBA 74 Karat press, which has a built-in cleaning facility.
Mr Bieber says that VIM is developing the coating for longer run lengths in future, with an initial target of 100,000 to 150,000 impressions. “Our plan is to eventually extend the run lengths to be suitable for the KBA Cortina waterless web offset press,” he says.
At Drupa VIM Technologies will also be introducing the processless JT Direct Inkjet offset Plates, the first aluminium and polyester plate range that can be imaged on standard inkjet printers with standard aqueous inks (see separate press release). It will also show the established VIM DP-R polyester plate for direct imaging presses, which is a best-seller worldwide.