HarperScientific Coating Test Results
CHARLOTTE, N.C.—HarperScientific, the printing and coating supplies division of global anilox supplier Harper Corporation of America, announced the results of a qualification test conducted on the new PEC (Performance Enhancing Coating) for plate cylinders, available through HarperScientific.
PEC is an innovative patent-pending plate cylinder coating for narrow-web presses that absorbs and displaces energy. The unique PEC material can be applied to existing plate cylinders or supplied on new cylinders and is guaranteed to improve print quality by reducing or removing gear marks or banding, and improving tonal range.
“The print trial demonstrated dramatic results,” according to Tony Donato, technical sales solutions manager at HarperScientific. “We confirmed that the PEC coating reduced plate bounce and increased tonal quality significantly. We also saw an increase in color density by 14 percent, as compared to the same plate run on a conventional plate cylinder with the same anilox, ink, and substrate.”
The test took place in the flexo facility at Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC) in Charlotte, N.C., conducted by students from CPCC’s Flexo 4 class, assisted by their instructor.
“We wanted students to conduct this trial, to demonstrate how the PEC coated cylinders can help level the playing field of varying operator experience,” said Jim Wyman, vice president of Nu-Tech Coatings, developer of the PEC product. “The outstanding quality results these kids got on the print trial illustrate how easy the PEC is to use.”
The students set up the 10˝ Mark Andy Scout press for the trial, installing a 1,000-line anilox roll with a volume of 1.5 billion cubic microns (BCM). The roll was properly cleaned prior to the trial and new doctor blades were installed. Cyan ink was used throughout the trial.
To establish a benchmark for comparison, the students mounted the trial plate conventionally on a standard 96-tooth plate cylinder using .015˝ stickyback. After the students set the impression, they ran the job. As expected, the result included plate bounce and tonal lines. Andy Parks, CPCC flexo instructor and president of Parks Printing, rechecked the impression and the subsequent run yielded the same results.
Then the students mounted a plate using 3M 2205 .005˝ mounting tape on a 96-tooth cylinder coated with the PEC coating, and installed it in the same deck as the original conventionally mounted plate. The print quality results were dramatic. For example, dots in the 50 percent range, which were slurred in the first test, became round dots.
Then the trial participants made further changes. The initial test was conducted with a low durometer plate. Not completely happy with the clarity of the dots, the group remounted the job using a medium durometer plate. To push the PEC’s performance, the medium plate was mounted short, so it did not take up the full repeat. This mounting tested the PEC coating even further, because it introduced a load-and-reload situation with each revolution.
Even with the added obstacle of loading and unloading, the medium-durometer plate printed a more complete dot than the softer plate and showed a 14-percent increase in color density, with the same lack of tonal lines and bounces demonstrated earlier with the PEC.
- Companies:
- HarperScientific
- Mark Andy