Model poboljšanja izrade fleksotiskarskih tiskovnih formi

Thermal development process of photopolymer printing plates is one of the newest technologies in the flexographic reproduction process. It is solely based on mechanical process and thus enables the elimination of the chemical processing and drying phase from the plate making process. Taking into account that chemical processing is one of the critical problems in standardization of the plate making process, thermal development process should ensure greater quality and stability in the plate making process. This paper evaluates the specific conditions in the plate making procedure based on thermal development. Testing of the back and main exposure duration of the photopolymer plates, as well as duration of the thermal development, were the objects of this research. The thickness and hardness, as well as SEM analysis of the printing plates were performed. Characterization of the produced plates was made and new model for improving the production line of the observed flexographic plates was defined.Proces termalne obrade fotopolimernih tiskovnih formi za fleksotisak novost je u grafičkom reprodukcijskom procesu. Proces je baziran na mehaničkoj obradi tiskovnih formi čime se eliminira proces kemijskog razvijanja i sušenja iz postupaka izrade tiskovnih formi. S obzirom da je kemijsko razvijanje jedno od najnestabilnijih procesa u izradi tiskovnih formi te time otežava standardizaciju postupka izrade tiskovnih formi, proces termalne obrade bi trebao unaprijediti kvalitetu i stabilnost promatranog procesa. U ovom radu su praćene sve faze u izradi tiskovnih formi baziranih na termalnoj obradi. Mjerena je debljina i tvrdoća uzoraka, te je provedena i SEM analiza. Karakterizacija uzoraka je provedena, te je predložen model za poboljšanje uvjeta izrade fleksotiskarskih tiskovnih formi