The Flint Group is to launch two new plates, including Nyloflex XVH Digital, the latest addition to its Nyloflex Xpress Thermal Processing System or XTPS.
The XVH Digital is the first plate in the XPS series to offer inherently flat top dots, thanks to a unique formulation optimised to be processed on the Nyloflex Xpress Thermal Processor. It’s aimed at the flexible packaging and label market and will work with all ink types.
Friedrich von Rechteren, vice president of Flint’s Global Commercial Flexographic business, explains: “Thermal processing systems for the production of flexographic printing plates have been in the market for many years. We didn’t believe that with the technology available at that time, we could meet our customers, or our own quality expectations from thermally processed plates. However, he added: “As we shadowed the market and developments in thermal technologies, we put a focus group within our own R&D department with the aim to develop a thermal processing system, which delivers plate and print results the market has never seen before.”
Flint has said that it will announce another thermal flat top dot plate later this year.
Flint has also announced a new letter press plate, the Nyloprint WF Sharp Digital, a water washable, film-based plate for the high-end label market. It can also be used to print to aluminum and plastic laminated tubes. It’s a photopolymer plate with a polyester base. Flint claims that it can deliver up to 10,160 dpi resolution, leading to sharper images, more open reverses and finer highlights. It’s also said to be suitable for longer print runs, though Flint hasn’t specified how long those runs might be.
Von Rechteren commented: “We leveraged our vast knowledge in the letterpress segment to develop the Nyloprint WF Sharp Digital plate. This plate is specifically designed for letterpress applications in the label market, completing our offering to label producers.”
Leave a Reply