Plate capabilities
With several imaging configurations, the machine is capable of producing from eight to 40 B1 press plates an hour (pph) and is able to image most of the conventional plates on the market. The Luxel has an integrated lead-edge plate punch and an external drum with automatic drum balancing and plate clamping. The thermal laser diodes are reliable and relatively inexpensive to replace, according to Leeson.

Once a plate is loaded into the platesetter it is automatically punched and located on the imaging drum, using punch pins to ensure extremely precise press registration. The plate is then held to the drum surface under a vacuum with the lead and tail edges clamped. The drum is automatically balanced for the appropriate plate size and it then rotates at up to 1,000rpm.

The Luxel T-9000 range has evolved since the launch of the original model. There are now three different Luxel T-9000 types: the 9300, 9500 and 9800. They have the same plate handling capabilities and imaging resolutions but they differ in their use of thermal imaging technology. The 9300 employs up to 32 thermal laser diodes in close proximity to the drum surface, the 9500 has up to 64 thermal laser diodes remote from the drum with a fibre optic laser path.

“With the 9800, there is the advantage of GLV, which was added in 2004,” explains Leeson. “We introduced the fibre optic path to the model back in 2001.” The fibre optics and GLV are not retrofittable on earlier machines, however, some models can have the number of diodes increased to improve plate productivity.

GLV stands for ‘grating light valve’ and is a system of transmissions and sensors developed by Silicon Light Machines in the US. At its heart are light sources that utilise semiconductor technology and light interference methods that are used in biotechnology. When used in the imaging heads, the system creates a high level of precision and imaging speed without any reduction in rotational speed.

Optional extras for the T-9000 range include a choice of punch plate and a 0.4mm plate gauge. The level of automation also varies. Starting from a completely manual option you can move up to single cassette autoloading, which can hold up to 100 plates of any one size at a time. There is also a completely automated multi cassette option that can hold 100 plates each of up to five different sizes – the plates can be selected with a touchscreen LCD panel.

Special requests
With a manual configuration, a current Luxel T-9300CTP S starts at around £80,000. Fujifilm also sells used models through its regular channels, but only new models are listed on its website so a special request would need to be made.

A used manual Luxel 9000CTP II, with punch imaging at 13pph, starts at around £50,000. Fuji also has a part exchange policy and service contracts are available to suit customers’ requirements. There are 15 engineers across the UK who are fully trained on this model.