Making CtP Work For You

Cobra 8 is a manual load-unload CtP engine designed specifically for the B1/8-up commercial print market. It exposes violet metal plates at high resolution, using high precision internal drum imaging optics and a 120mW laser diode. The plate is placed directly into the drum by the operator and is located in the registration system. Vacuum is then applied to hold the plate in perfect register while it is imaged at a resolution of 2540 dpi (100 dpmm) or 1270 dpi (50 dpmm) at speeds of 6mm and 12mm per second respectively.  At 2540dpi an B1/8-up plate takes only three minutes to image, regardless of content.

The Cobra CtP solution includes a high-spec workstation running HighWater’s innovative output console providing all the tools needed to manage your plate imaging. Supplied with the advanced Navigator Harlequin RIP as standard, Cobra 8 is an open system that can accept 1-bit TIFF files from any source. Software options available include full PDF workflow, imposition, In-RIP trapping and proofing.

A new simple Java-based user interface for ‘point and click’ plate production has been specifically designed for the Cobra 8. With ‘at a glance’ multiple views, a home view showing previews and status of current jobs, overviews of all queues and completed plates, it is a powerful and highly effective tool in the plate production process.

The benefits of using Cobra 8 in your workflow are compelling. Its quality and speed of output let you produce plates to meet the ever increasing demands of today’s printer. Cobra’s simple and effective design, with remote diagnostics, ensures an extremely high level of reliability with minimum downtime. This will put you ahead of your competition in the quest to satisfy your customers’ high expectations.

Combining all these benefits with low cost of ownership, Cobra 8 provides affordable metal plate production with an excellent price/performance figure. HighWater’s Barcode Plate Requeue is included as standard, a unique identification mark is applied to every plate, users can then easily remake plates by simply scanning the barcode. Additional options such as workflow, CIP3/4 ink-key setting and ROOM proofing help to ensure an investment geared for long-term success.

Specification:

• Laser type Violet 120 mW laser diode (405 nm)
• Drum Internal aluminium alloy with hard anodised finish
• Max plate 1080 (register edge) x 850 mm, 0.3 mm thick (42.5” x 33.4” x 0.012”)
• Min plate 510 (register edge) x 400 mm, 0.15 mm thick (20.1” x 15.75” x 0.006”)
• Grip edge 15 mm (0.6”) minimum at front edge of plate
• Image area 1080 x 835 mm (42.5” x 32.8”) maximum
• Spot size 10 microns
• Resolution 2540 or 1270 dpi
• Repeatability ± 5 microns image to image; ± 25 microns plate to plate
• Imaging speed 6 mm per second, using 36,000 rpm single-facet spinner
• Throughput Up to 16 B1, 20 B2, and 28 B3 plates per hour
• Plate handling Manual load and unload
• Plate types Violet sensitive aluminium plates - Silver and Photopolymer including low chemistry
• Yellow safe light required for plate handling
• Registration Various combinations of the following are available:
  • 830mm ‘Komori’ press notch registration
  • 780mm ‘Bacher’ press notch registration
  • 425mm ‘Bacher’ press notch registration
  • 3-pin Corner registration
• Approvals CE certification: EN61000 EMC including FCC CFR47, EN60950 LVD, EN60825 Laser
• Dimensions 1725 x 1600 x 900 mm (w x h x d) - 68” x 63” x 35.5”
• Weight 400 kg (engine and front-end PC), 520 kg (in single crate)
• Operating Environment +15oC to +25oC, 20% to 60% relative humidity (non-condensing)
• Platform High spec external Windows PC
• File formats Images 1-bit TIFF bitmap files, compressed formats CCITT Group 4, LZW and PackBits.
• Engine control and plate management software
• Remote diagnostics as standard
• Job Archival Writeable CD ROM