Belgian flexographic photopolymer plate development firm Asahi Photoproducts has unveiled AFP-TSP, a plate with pinning top dot technology (PTD), capable of catering to requirements, such as, carton and corrugated board applications.
The company, also an arm of Asahi Kasei Corporation, claimed that the PTD technology leads to clean ink transfer and prevents it from accumulating on surface and shoulders on screen.
As a result, few stoppages are noted for plate cleaning, cutting down press downtime and improved machine overall equipment effectiveness (OEE).
Asahi Photoproducts Europe technical marketing manager Dr. Dieter Niederstadt said: "The new plate perfectly complements the harder AFP-TOP plate for high quality screen work within one job.
"AFP-TSP and the harder AFP-TOP provide the perfect solution that can encourage brand owners and retail chains to transfer their work from other printing technologies to flexography".
The technology offered by AFP-TSP, which also finds its application in flexible packaging such as aluminium or film substrates, deploys a kiss-touch pressure setting stated to improve plate life. It has been customized for paper and higher quality corrugated board applications.
The hard plate flaunts a range of four thicknesses with Shore A hardness between 48 and 69. A low plate surface tension arrests the ink to a globule, thanks to polymer chemistry pressed into action by the company.
Image: The AFP-TSP features a PTD technology that leads to clean ink transfer. Photo: courtesy of Asahi Photoproducts.
