Mitsubishi Paper Mills has used Drupa to preview a number of new products including an as yet unnamed reduced-chemistry plate processor and a silver offset plate for exposure using blue laser diodes.
The plate processor, for use with silver plates, brushes on the chemistry rather than using a bath. The plate is then passed, under pressure, over a specially treated paper reel which lifts off the treated emulsion. Once a reel is used up it can simply be burnt to recover the silver residue.
This configuration not only uses less chemistry than conventional plate processors, it also enables cheaper silver recovery. According to a Mitsubishi spokesman, this approach is more environmentally friendly and cheaper because of its reduced chemistry consumption. It also speeds up plate processing, he said. No output statistics are available as the machine currently only exists as a prototype and Mitsubishi is hopeful that the production model will be even faster.
Mitsubishi has also previewed its Silver Digiplate Alpha Blue. The plate, which can be handled under yellow safety light, is still in development but the company says it will be ready for launch sometime near the beginning of next year.