Degraf unveils its new Concept 505 DW

Degraf SpA, worldwide leader in the development and design of equipment for the production of flexographic plates, announced the launch of a new wash-out unit, the Concept 505 DW, meant for the production of analogue and digital plates using a single piece of equipment, but with the maximum result in terms of quality and processing speed.

Concept 505 DW (digital washer) is capable of processing large format digital or analogue flexographic plates (132 x 203 cm). The processor is equipped with a prewashing section, which removes the carbon layer from the digital plates. The solvent used to remove this layer is collected in a tank, which is separate from the rest of the circuit. This innovative approach warrants that the washing solvent is always free of contamination, so that the user can be certain to operate a unit, which functions at optimum efficiency.

As for all of Degraf washing units, Concept 505DW is equipped with oscillating cylindrical brushes rotating in opposite directions. This system reduces the washing time and completely eliminates any kind of lateral movement of the plate, thus ensuring that the entire surface of the plate is spotless. When the unit is not operating, an automatic mechanism raises the brushes completely above the washing surface, in order to prevent any deformation of the bristles. Afterwards, and prior to each production cycle, the brushes are sprayed with fresh solvent, in order to ensure an effective washing process.

An integrated solvent densitometer inside the unit’s hydraulic circuit measures the percentage of polymer in the washing solvent, topping it up with fresh solvent when the values exceed those programmed or saved during the machine’s set-up phase. In this way, the unit is always kept in the highest efficiency for the best possible plate wash-out.

The first Concept 505 DW was installed in January of this year at NuMaber, a trade shop based near Treviso, Italy, which operates a prominent flexographic plate production service. After experiencing directly the great benefits of this new unit, NuMaber decided to install a second Concept 505 DW, which was delivered in May 2006 and immediately brought it on-line.

Riccardo De Caria, president of Degraf S.p.A., commented: ‘We designed the new Concept 505 DW with the aim to providing further proof of our company’s commitment to innovation by developing concrete solutions to solve true production problems. We feel that we have succeeded in doing this and now we are working together with our business partners (OEM clients and local resellers) at a new solution for every company that requires a single unit to process both digital and analogue plates.’

Like all other solutions developed by Degraf, Concept 505 DW will be launched on the international markets through Degraf network of resellers and OEM who typically sell Degraf solutions.