Consumables
New Metal Printing Blankets from CONTI-AIR
Thursday 15. May 2008 - Patented curved printing blanket allows higher printing speeds in heatset.
“Print to Perfection” – the new metal printing blankets from ContiTech mark an important step in further development in this direction with impressive color rendition and precision. ContiTech is launching two highly versatile blankets: the CONTI-AIR STEEL HF 10 for heatset printing and the CONTI-AIR STEEL CE 11 for coldset.
With the CONTI-AIR STEEL HF 10, ContiTech has developed the worlds only curved printing blanket. The patented process offers users a number of advantages. Thanks to the blankets curved shape, the residual gap on the plate cylinder is reduced to 0.5 mm. As a result the machine operates with minimal vibration. What is more, since the minimized gap on the plate cylinder allows for use of the full printing length, the amount of paper scrap is reduced considerably. “At the same time, the narrower clamping groove almost completely eliminates gear marks due to the design of the cylinder gap,” explains Stefan Füllgraf, head of the Metal Printing Blanket segment at ContiTech Elastomer Coatings. “So higher printing speeds are possible.” Metal printing blankets have proven themselves especially in waterless offset.
The CONTI-AIR STEEL CE 11 has been designed specifically for coldset printing. It provides excellent color rendition and exhibits neutral paper transport behavior. Its clamping grooves are much narrower than for fabric printing blankets. This limits oscillations when the blanket rolls over the paper. A new feature of this product is that a thermofoil is melded to the backside of the printing blanket. (The foil was just stuck on to the backside of the predecessor model, the STEEL CE 11.) The foil provides for a high degree of stability throughout the printing process. The neutral way the printing blanket transports the paper is the reason why paper travel is so extremely smooth and why the individual layers are able to adhere so superbly. Paper jams less and, as a result, there are fewer crease marks. Buildup of paper dust is also reduced to a minimum. STEEL CE 11 is ideal for four-high units and satellite designs.
As only one fabric layer is required in the case of metal printing blankets, they have a correspondingly larger, compressible rubber layer that guarantees optimum printing results. The rubber layer itself is permanently vulcanized onto the metal. Having only one fabric layer, CONTI-AIR metal printing blankets exhibit only minimal sinking. The printer can thus count on a consistent thickness and good impression behavior throughout the service life of the blanket.