Direct engrave polymer plates introduced by BASF

BASF is to introduce is a new technology for manufacturing seamless sleeves and processing those into seamless flexographic printing forms by direct laser engraving. The nyloflex infinity ITR process allows seamless sleeves to be made in less than 60 minutes employing only three processing steps, says BASF. These sleeves can be either directly engraved or digitally imaged after first being coated with a laser ablative mask. At the heart of the nyloflex infinity technology are different grades of polymer plates that have been developed especially for this process. nyloflex LD is a plate designed for flexographic printing with UV inks on labels and narrow-web materials, while nyloflex LD2 is a hard plate for printing on flexible packaging film and paper, beverage packaging, and labels with alcohol- and water-based inks.

A special formulation prevents the material from melting during laser engraving, which allows polymer to be used for this technology for the first time. ‘Compared with traditional laser engraving of rubber rollers, directly engraved polymer plates lead to a much higher printing quality,’ says BASF. Laser engraving will be shown live by BASF at their stand at drupa.