Identifying a market need for a more accurate and efficient plate-mounting solution and one that would deal with the graphic demands, the plate properties and improve the factory plate to print workflow system. In 2003 Tectonic International substantially improved the traditional method of the plate mounting process with the invention of their significantly different “hands-free” FLEXICO V5 Plate Mounting Machine for narrow webs, the patented design of which was a unique approach to the use and performance of the mounting of flexographic printing plates and provided smarter, quicker and totally accurate plate mounting.

Gavin Jones explained: “Our designers brief was to invent a design to take the guesswork out of plate mounting and provide a user friendly, fully adjustable solution that would take the plate out of the operators hands, hold it in register and yet allow the plate to be infinitely moved in any direction and checked for accuracy throughout the mounting process to assure absolutely perfect registration for fast set up and improved profit margins.  Because using the V5 registration of the plate can be checked at every stage of mounting, the operator is in full control throughout the mounting process and so knows when the cylinders are introduced to the press and the job run, registration will be perfect.”

Tectonics’ patented FLEXICO V5 Plate Mounting Machine provides a rise and fall, rotatable, multi-adjustable table on which the plate is placed and gently held in position by a holding bar.  The two pre-set cameras are moved over the register marks and when the monitors display accurate register, fine adjustment of the position of the plate in any direction can be achieved by rotating the table for 100% accuracy of register before the plate is adhered to the cylinder or sleeve.

Once the plate is in register a magnetic position block or blocks can be set in place to record the position of the first plate.  This feature is extremely time saving because it means that only the first plate in each new job requires set up.   Every subsequent plate can be speedily mounted using the first set position to substantially save time.  This feature is a great asset particularly for a busy producer of large numbers of short run jobs where plate mounting is a time consuming, expensive and significant part of the business. If a press has a pre-register system the cylinder or sleeve can be set in line with the auto-register centre in the cylinder.

With multiple installations around the world, including several recent installations into North Africa, the cost effective FLEXICO V5 can be used by anyone not only the busy press operator and never takes the individual out of the equation but enhances the talents of the operator by providing a machine so accommodating it even displays the registration point once the plate is finally on the cylinder. This critical point providing the opportunity of one last register check before the cylinder or sleeve is placed in the press and the job run.

Also available from Tectonic is the new Flexico V50 plate mounting machine for wide web presses.  Additional features to our current narrow-web Flexico V5 machine include motorized table movement for plate alignment, motorized cylinder movement for auto focus and high definition (HD) widescreen cameras.