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Printing Ink, Chemicals and Pressroom Consumables
News Release from: Day International (UK) | Subject: Durazone Printing Blanket
Edited by the Printingtalk Editorial
Team on 12 April 2004
New Day Dawns For Blanket Technology
More than ever, printers must find ways to improve print quality, while at the same time, reduce cost, so for years, Day International said its R and D efforts have been driven by that pursuit.
More than ever, printers must find ways to improve print quality, while at the same time, reduce cost, so for years, Day International said its R and D efforts have been driven by that pursuit And its team has increased its efforts to develop new technologies that produce unprecedented product performance
This article was originally published on Printingtalk on 12 Apr 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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Durazone Technology is a result of that effort.
The proprietary technology, which produces a superior compressible layer in the printing blanket, is said to be the product development that could change the entire printing blanket category, according to Day.
The technology greatly increases blanket durability and longevity without compromising print quality.
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In some situations, the print quality is actually improved, said the company.
Bill Branson, Day's marketing director said: "Printers are telling us that the Durazone compressible layer is one of the most beneficial blanket innovations since Day's Textured Surface Technology.
Prior to Durazone, printers had to sacrifice quality to get durability.
Now, it's no longer the case.
We're able to give them the durability they need, plus the superior print quality they've come to expect from Day." Joe Byers, Day's director of technology explained: "When our R and D team set out to develop a new and improved printing blanket, we all agreed to abandon our traditional approach and start with a completely clean slate.
The new protocol we developed led us to examine printing blankets and performance attributes from an entirely new perspective.
In the process, the team concluded the printing blanket's compressible layer is the heart of the product.
So, that became our focal point." Once the team agreed that the compressible layer would be the primary focus of its work, the key questions were what could be done to improve the compressible layer? What innovation could be pursued that had not been pursued before? And what would improve it, not just a little bit, but dramatically? Ultimately, the team developed a set of physical properties that produce optimum performance in the compressible layer, said Day.
They developed formulation matrices and discovered a matrix that far exceeded the physical properties of any current blanket technology.
Durazone Technology was first field tested in an extremely tough printing environment.
The test site, which printed publications, ran Durazone-based printing blankets on several high-speed web presses-24 hours a day, seven days a week.
After six months of gruelling tests, the results showed that Durazone performed just as laboratory analyses predicted - durability, longevity, and no compromise on quality.
Joe Byers said: "The initial test results showed that blanket consumption was reduced 40%.
The Durazone compressible layer was more resistant to damage and smashes and gave the press operators more leeway when under-packing errors were made.
When slight under-packing errors were made, the Durazone compressible layer compensated for the error.
And press operators also reported that print quality was not compromised.
As a matter of fact, the results showed reduced dot gain, and improved print contrast; and the improvements remained consistent over millions of impressions." In the final analysis, the Durazone compressible layer was more forgiving, stood up to frequent changes in stock thickness, and didn't experience gauge loss.
Subsequent to the initial test, Durazone was further tested at other beta sites.
Results from subsequent tests confirmed that the Durazone compressible layer was indeed an extraordinary printing blanket innovation.
The Durazone compressible layer is now available in the Day 5000 Series of printing blankets - the 5000, 5010, and 5500.
The new heatset web blanket series is engineered for commercial, directory, and insert printing applications.
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