Perspective of Kodak Newspaper No-Flush Technology (Part 2)
"This makes the process more environmentally friendly, because it uses less water and has a lower pH. But the glue solution after use still needs to be replaced. The user also needs to maintain and clean the rinse unit-because there is no pre-rinsing process, the Polyvinyl alcohol and polymers may trigger biological growth. "
Knadjian also questioned whether the chemical-free purple laser process is as stable as it claims.
"Although two processing steps are omitted in the processing machine, the processing does not cause instability. The instability is caused by the changing factors in the Gaussian laser, preheating and development process. All these processes are chemical-free It is still used in the production of purple laser printing plates. "
Tomorrow's star is undeniable that Knadjian, of course, Kodak, does "have a brush" in platemaking technology. For example, Knadjian explained: "In this simple process, because the thermal laser provides higher energy, it can allow the photosensitizer to release enough 'free radicals' to complete the monomer polymerization and form a printable image. Therefore This technology does not require preheating, we can directly enter from exposure to processing. In the processing, only a mild processing solution is needed, and its pH value is basically neutral, which can quickly wash off the top layer of PVA and unexposed photosensitive The resin layer. After the printing plate is glued and dried, it can be printed on the machine. Therefore, in this technology, we only need two steps-development and glue.
"However, we consciously skipped this intermediate processing stage and went directly to the 'free processing' newspaper plate. In other words, this plate does not require a separate processing machine and can be developed after a few rotations on the printing machine '.'
In fact, as a sub-product of Kodak ThermalDirect's commercial plates, Kodak's PF-N plates have been used in about 15 newspapers in the United States.
(Thermal computer direct plate-making system has made great progress. Kodak Generation News direct plate-making machine is one of the fastest plate-making machines on the market, and it is proud of all thermal and purple laser direct plate-making machines. This is achieved by reducing the idle time of the equipment , Such as reducing the time for loading, loading and unloading, and reducing the size of the drum)
So we had to remove a lot of coating. We want to reduce the coating, but the reduction in coating will cause a decrease in print volume. Therefore, we designed the printing plate to be more wear-resistant to make up for this defect. "
McCullough added: "We are very sensitive to pollution on the press, and because of this, we have abandoned a previously developed technology that may cause pollution, so ThermalDirect and PF-N plates eliminate this problem. Currently ThermalDirect printing The plate has been used in more than 500 commercial printing houses, and the PF-N plate has been used in 15 newspaper printing houses. "
So do you need to use special inks? Once the ink manufacturer changes the ink composition, what will be the impact?
"Our printing press does not require special inks, and we have not seen any problems." McCullough replied, "The only problem we see is that if you over-clean the blanket, it may cause damage. But this Other printing plates will not cause any impact.
"What really surprised us is that the printing plate can also be printed directly on the newspaper side, and the image will not be taken away. So we decided to launch the newspaper version of the processing-free printing plate.
"The current maximum yield is about 100,000 copies, which can fully meet the needs of small newspaper printing. If the printing conditions on the user's cold-set rotary machine are good, I think the volume can reach 300,000 copies."
McCullough added: “We have some customers who say that the advantages of no-flush technology can not only reduce costs, but also actually reduce plate-making time, because no-flush has no processing time. Some of our customers also apply PF-N printing. As a backup for the ThermalNews Gold printing plate, they can quickly install the PF-N printing plate on the printing press if a certain version goes wrong. The printing press uses this printing plate just like other printing plates. Ink settings, water-ink balance, etc., and the pre-printing time is also very short.
Kodak does not produce violet laser "chemical-free" plates, although they also offer VioletNews CTP system and violet laser plates. This system is mainly provided for the low-end newspaper market-compared with the manual plate-making thermal direct win newspaper SA direct plate-making machine, this system has less capital investment and higher production capacity. Secondly, and more importantly, Kodak focuses on thermal technology, which is their magic weapon in the newspaper market.
The most impressive part of the visit was the discussion about the future potential of thermal technology.
"We have always been able to produce heat-sensitive printing plates corresponding to the violet laser chemical-free printing plates." Knadjian said.
This Kodak technology called "Simple Process" was demonstrated when we visited the Windsor R & D Center. This technology also eliminates the need for pre-heat treatment, which is a process that is required when producing a violet laser chemical-free printing plate.
"The working principle is that the fountain solution will soften the photosensitive resin layer, and the softened resin layer can be taken away by the ink." Knadjian explained, "The ink takes away the unexposed coating like glue and leaves it in On paper. "
McCullough added, "If you look closely at the current thermal technology, some substances in the developer will swell, and then the user can use the brush on the processor to clean it. In the development of the printing plate on the printing machine, we used The plate fluid acts as our swelling agent, and then uses the viscosity and pressure of the ink and wetting roller to bring the physical components to the first few printed sheets. "
Both McCullough and Knadjian believe that such a system is impossible for the purple laser technology. McCullough pointed out: "There are huge obstacles to the development of the purple laser printing plate on the printing press. For example, thermal technology allows us to work in daylight environments, and because the laser laser diode releases little energy, the purple laser chemical will be very active In order to prevent changes, yellow light illumination is often required, which makes it difficult to install the unwashed violet laser plate on the printing press. "
McCullough also pointed out that the purple laser plate needs to be warmed up. He also admits that the energy of the purple laser diode is getting higher and higher, which may overcome this problem in the future, but because the exposure energy of the thermal laser has exceeded 1,000 times the current purple laser diode, he is very doubtful whether the two can achieve the same effect . In terms of price, due to the low market demand for purple laser printing plates, large-scale production is not feasible and the price is relatively high.
It is worth noting that, as Knadjian admits, the PF-N newspaper plates developed on existing presses are not suitable for everyone. At present, this printing plate is mainly aimed at the low-end market with an annual printing plate consumption of about 10,000 square meters. One of the reasons is that this printing plate is currently not fast enough to meet the needs of mainstream newspapers. But Knadjian believes this situation will soon change. McCullough agreed.
"The current challenge is production capacity, which is why we set the target market as a small newspaper. At present, for newspapers such as the Gauss Press Group, the number of plates produced per hour is 27 full-open plates."
Another disadvantage of PF-N newspaper plates is that the images created are relatively shallow. According to reports, such images can be read by some machines, such as optical punch benders, but they cannot be read by spectrophotometers at present. The reason is that engineers hope to avoid contamination of the printing press. Rundle explained: "The developing technology on the printing press is nothing new. However, early printing plates did not contaminate the printing press. There are two reasons for this. First, the toner was put in the coating to allow the image More obvious. These toners are the same as those used in standard processing machines, but once this toner reaches the printing press, it will contaminate the lighter ink. Now by reducing the toner, we have solved this problem well "" The second cause of printer contamination is the thicker coating applied to the aluminum base. "
"It has something to do with the viscosity and shear force of the ink, and it has little to do with the ink composition. We can't give the viscosity value suitable for our printing plate at present, but what we can tell you is that we haven't been asked by any customers. The problem of printing press contamination. "
"Compared to sheet-fed presses, the newspaper industry has the advantage of fast color catch, which means that newspaper presses disperse polymers faster than standard sheet-fed presses."
In addition, Kodak has made some amazing progress in the newspaper market. According to Rundle: "In the beginning, we took the ThermalDirect plate to some thermoset rotary presses for testing. The unexpected thing is that we found that the print volume is basically the same as that of the sheet-fed printing press, which is more than 100,000 sheets. Media Group has obtained 600,000 copies of this printing plate. We feel that if this printing plate can obtain such a high printing volume on a thermosetting press, then a slight change can get the same on a cold setting newspaper press Volume. Therefore, we took the PF-N plate to some small and medium-sized community newspapers in North America for testing, and the final result was indeed the case.
In some cases, the performance of the PF-N printing plate is better, but overall it is already as good. "
McCullough concluded: "We do not think that the current PF-N printing plate is suitable for everyone. However, we have developed no-flush technology for commercial printing, and we will continue to develop corresponding technologies for newspaper printing. If You really hope to save processing costs, then this technology is very suitable for you, we can help you. Thermal technology, no matter which manufacturer provides, is the only technology that can completely omit the processor. "
So have we achieved a staged victory on the journey of no-print newspaper plates? In fact, no-rinse is just a word. From a technical point of view, it is impossible to rinse the printing plate because no matter which technique is used, the unexposed layer needs to be removed. On the other hand, we already have a printing plate developed on a more mature printing machine. This is a no-rinse printing plate, but it is not completely free of rinsing.
(The 37 employees employed by the R & D center in Windsor, whose core competence is "no-flush" technology. In addition, Kodak Graphic Imaging Group also has R & D laboratories in Germany, Israel and Japan, each laboratory has its core Competitiveness)
U.S. begins platemaking on printing press
As part of the CTP transformation of MOUNT Vernon News newspaper company, the company installed Kodak Quansheng Newspaper 50 direct plate-making machine and used it to develop Kodak PF-N printing plate on imaging printing machine. In addition to printing daily newspapers with a circulation of 9,300, the company is also responsible for printing weekly publications with a circulation of 27,000 and various other commercial prints.
"The main reason we chose Kodak PF-N processing-free plates is to save money. Of course, we also hope to save time. Kodak plates can cancel our processing and improve our pre-press processing." Liz Lutwick, deputy publisher of the newspaper Explained, "Kodak no-processing plates performed very well in our tests, and the Kodak sales team is a great partner for cooperation, providing intimate service and help throughout our transformation process."
Other US newspapers using this printing plate include Osteen Publishing Company in Santer.
The indoor hanging fireplace is a modern, fashionable and practical ornament with many advantages. First, it has a unique design and can be hung on the wall, saving space and providing more flexibility. Secondly, the indoor hanging fireplace can add warmth and comfort to the interior space, in addition, it can also act as a unique focal point, adding to the visual appeal of the room.
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Hanging & Suspended FAQS
1:What are the benefits of a suspended fireplace?
First of all, it can become the focal point of interior decoration, adding beauty and modernity to the room. Its unique design and position hanging in the air make it a striking artwork that can be a highlight of a room. Second, hanging fireplaces can save space. Compared with traditional fireplaces, it does not need to take up floor space and can be installed on the wall or ceiling, making the room more spacious and tidy. In addition, hanging fireplaces burn more efficiently and can provide more heat, making the room more warm and comfortable. Finally, the hanging fireplace can provide 360-degree views, allowing people to enjoy the beauty of the flames from different angles, enhancing the viewing.
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Yes, your floating fireplace can be wood-fired. You may choose to install a wood-burning fireplace so that wood is burned in the fireplace to generate fire and heat.
3:Can a central suspended fireplace be gas-fuelled?
Central hanging fireplaces can use natural gas as fuel. This type of fireplace usually has a modern design and can be hung in the center of the room. The use of natural gas fuel can easily control the size and temperature of the flame, and does not produce smoke and dust. At the same time, natural gas fuel is more environmentally friendly, does not produce carbon dioxide and other harmful gas emissions.
4:What is a ceiling suspended fireplace?
A hanging fireplace is a type of fireplace that is mounted on the ceiling. Unlike traditional fireplaces, hanging fireplaces do not need to be placed on the ground or fixed to the wall, but are suspended through a suspended ceiling. This design allows the fireplace to be more flexible in any location, whether in indoor or outdoor Spaces.
5:What is a wall-hanging fireplace?
A wall fireplace is a type of furnace mounted on a wall. It is usually made of metal and can be hung on the wall without the need for floor space. Wall mounted fireplaces use electricity or gas as fuel to generate warm air through heaters and fans. They usually have adjustable flame effects and temperature control functions that can be adjusted according to personal preferences and needs.
6:Why is carbon steel used for hanging fireplace?
Carbon steel is often used in the production of hanging fireplaces, mainly for the following reasons. First of all, carbon steel has good strength and durability, and can withstand the weight of the fireplace and the pressure of long-term use. Secondly, carbon steel has good thermal conductivity and can quickly conduct the heat in the furnace, so that the fireplace can quickly heat and provide a warm environment. In addition, carbon steel also has the characteristics of high temperature resistance, can withstand the heat and flame generated by high temperature combustion inside the fireplace, to ensure the safe operation of the fireplace. Finally, carbon steel has a lower cost and is relatively economical, making the production cost of hanging fireplaces more manageable.
7:Can I customise my suspended fireplace?
Of course you can customize your hanging fireplace! Custom fireplaces can be designed according to your preferences and home style. You can choose the size, shape, material and color of the fireplace to ensure that it blends perfectly with your room. In addition, you can also choose accessories for the fireplace, such as charcoal fire effects, temperature regulators and remote controls, etc., to increase the function and convenience of the fireplace. Custom fireplaces can meet your individual needs and bring warmth and comfort to your home.
8:How much does it cost to install a suspended fireplace?
The cost of installing a hanging fireplace varies depending on a number of factors, including the make, model, and material of the fireplace, the location and requirements of the installation, and the labor costs of the location. In general, hanging fireplaces usually cost between $1,000 and $5,000, not including installation costs. Installation costs are usually on a case-by-case basis and additional labor costs may be required. Therefore, it is best to consult a professional fireplace installation service provider to get an accurate quote.
9:How do I maintain a hanging fireplace?
A wall-mounted fireplace is a unique heating device that requires regular maintenance to ensure its proper operation and safety. Here are some tips for maintaining a wall-mounted fireplace:
1. Clean the casing: Clean the fireplace casing regularly to remove dust and dirt. You can use a soft cloth or vacuum cleaner to clean, avoid the use of chemical cleaners, so as not to damage the fireplace surface.
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3. Check the combustion chamber: Check the combustion chamber of the fireplace regularly to ensure that no excessive ash or debris has accumulated. If you find a buildup, you can use a small brush or vacuum cleaner to clean up.
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