Decided to take it up....Making an LED Exposure unit.

[Prōdigium]

As many may know I posted (a lot) about how it should really not cost so much for a decent UV LED exposure unit. The prior conversation was informative, lively even though it struggled to stay on topic. Either way I have spent the past several months since doing my homework, testing theories and simply reading about the good traits and bad problems that all brands have now.

So I am now in the process of producing the first 2 test rigs. One will be shipped back to a friends shop in the US for "real world" testing and the other kept here to run scenarios on. It will employ some very unique technology than ones from either M&R or Anatol. I do not have any pictures to post yet, were still producing the components and the LED company will not have our custom made LED's done for another couple weeks. The design will only employ 850 LED's so as to make it a little more affordable, but with design improvements I am of the mind that performance should not be much less as for exposure times but I do believe that my design will produce a significantly better image with less undercutting.

For starters I will NOT be using those crappy flex strips. My testing revealed so many problems with them I am actually shocked to see them in those high priced models. Point blank flex strips are junk, cannot be repaired by the customer and they warp & buckle like crazy from heat. My system will use custom made aluminum backed PCB's. NO flex, no heat problems and ensures perfect LED alignment.

Secondly my testing revealed that the layout for the LED's is wrong...unless very special lenses are used to correct it, which is doubtful. But to be fair, here in China I do not have access to any of these LED exposure units, so my testing is based on what I can see and read online and running tests at my friends LED factory. He does not make UV LED's but has all the fun tools to help me with my project. Here is a composite image of square block LED layout..from this image its really easy to see the problem.



The design is meant to keep it simple. A power switch and a digital timer. No stupid apps for your phone, no easy to crack LCD touch screen panels, it will include only what you need. Just turn it on, set your time and close the lid..everything else is automatic. There will only be one base model which can burn up to a 23x31 screen.

There will be a very sweet feature in the future that I wish I could talk about, but I am currently doing the patent paperwork (pain in the rump) and I cannot give it away yet...but lets just say that it will easily double/triple production of the unit. To be honest I hope to sell the patent, as I could use the money but if there are no takers it will be offered as an upgrade option.

Lastly, and I know what everyone wants to know is pricing...well, that's still up in the air but the target price is between $1500~$1800 a unit. It will include the unit with legs, a 5 year standard warranty with a LIFETIME LED warranty. It will even ship with an extra LED strip in the off chance you need it, and it has been designed so you can replace it in mere minutes.

Once I have more details I will post some updates and pics. I would like to hear what features are missing or complaints about the ones offered on the market now as I have time to address them with my offering....in fact I may have already? But what I will offer by the end of the year is a professional performance UV LED exposure unit at entry level pricing. Like I said before, there is no reason why these things should run $5000 and I will prove that you can have a quality product without breaking the bank.

I will be looking for distributors for this unit, so if there are any distributors who are looking for a unit in that price range drop me a private message and I will keep you up to date when I get close to production. There will be generous tier based margins offered. A new website is being developed that will feature it when its ready for the market....stay tuned.

[Frog]

Sounds like the next time we see a post on this, it may be in the Industry News and Product Promotion section as it will have progressed past the user DIY stage.
I do find it interesting however that you can't get your hands on an M&R or other commercially available unit for comparisons. It does sound like their stuff sets the benchmark. Hopefully, your friend in the US has access to one.

[Prōdigium]

Sounds like the next time we see a post on this, it may be in the Industry News and Product Promotion section as it will have progressed past the user DIY stage.
I do find it interesting however that you can't get your hands on an M&R or other commercially available unit for comparisons. It does sound like their stuff sets the benchmark. Hopefully, your friend in the US has access to one.

Well, I am sure somewhere in China M&R has sold one....but its very unlikely I can just stroll in and take a look at it. I have friends that have provided detailed up close pictures, some basic information like the vacuum pump size and the like...but nothing that could even be close to "specs" on the LED's. Which is really not the problem anyway as I have access to two R&D labs for the LED companies here in China.

My design might actually suck? Who knows until the boards are done and I have mounted all the LED's. However I have built a couple scale models for making screens about the size of a piece of paper and the results are more than satisfactory. That said, access to a lot of emulsion brands here is not very good and my testing has been mostly with Autotype & Murakami brands.

My technique and research has mostly focused on the actual LED design and is why it has taken so long. There are only 3 companies that I could find to make the chip I want to use and only a handful of companies that I can find place the LED's on the chip. Even still the vacuum pump costs more than the LED's do per unit. But yes, it would be nice to see the soon to be competition units before I get into manufacturing my unit.

All that said, really its not rocket science and the hardest part was just deciding to do it or not. Finding all the stuff other than the LED's took less than a week. Having my friends R&D and access to his staff to do the tests was also huge...its saved me a huge chunk of change.

Now all I need to do is come up with a catchy name..

[Frog]

Actually, I thought that buying one for comparison tests could be considered part of the cost of research and development to aid you in your quest to build the better mousetrap.

[Denis Kolar]

Call it "PrōLightium" 
With that price, they would disappear from the shelves pretty quick.

[abchung]

Have you considered putting the lights 60 degrees apart instead of 90 degrees? This might reduce the cold spots.

[blue moon]

Have you considered putting the lights 60 degrees apart instead of 90 degrees? This might reduce the cold spots.

this is the trick!
Bulbs need to be set up in an equilateral triangle rather than a square pattern. The problem is that with the distance between corners of the square, it is different than the sides thus creating the areas with less light. . .

pierre

[Prōdigium]

Have you considered putting the lights 60 degrees apart instead of 90 degrees? This might reduce the cold spots.

this is the trick!
Bulbs need to be set up in an equilateral triangle rather than a square pattern. The problem is that with the distance between corners of the square, it is different than the sides thus creating the areas with less light. . .

pierre

You are correct on the lighting, but there is no problem with shape....LED's are square but the part that emits the light is round. Since I am not using crappy flex strips I have full control over placement and spacing. Having a lab to do the "mathematics" has been very useful. Less lights, but vastly superior distribution of light.

[blue moon]

it is going to bu crucial to have the distance to the emulsion calculated correctly. The cones of light have to overlap just right to create a uniform field distribution at the middle of the emulsion layer. You'll have to add the glass and the thickness of the average coated screen into account.

other decision will be the time it takes to expose. Some frequencies will expose faster, but not as completely. Do you go for faster exposure or better stencil?

pierre

[Prōdigium]

Call it "PrōLightium" 
With that price, they would disappear from the shelves pretty quick.

Thats actually one I had not considered, its catchy though....However my Prodigium company is not actually the one that will sell the unit, in fact my Prodigium company is a "digital logistics" business, not a printing supplier. The units will sell under the Calibrated S.P.S. company name.

I hope they can move well in that price range, which I consider to be reasonable. To keep the price lower I just had to keep the design basic, but in reality who really needs half those "features"? Job recall, presets...its called an exposure chart next to your unit. From what I watch in the promo videos it takes longer to get to the job recall screen than it would to simply turn the timer to where you need it.

[Prōdigium]

Actually, I thought that buying one for comparison tests could be considered part of the cost of research and development to aid you in your quest to build the better mousetrap.

For the cost of one M&R unit, I can build about 10 of my units. My total "investment" to date has not even been $2500. Filing a patent for an idea I ahve will end up costing me the most.

Like I said, these are not rocket science...and the last thing I wanted to do was just make a COPY. I wanted to make it better and less expensive. It may not have the same total wattage, but from what I have learned it does not need it too. Even if its 15-30 seconds slower...for the price, I do not think I will get any complaints.

[Prōdigium]

it is going to bu crucial to have the distance to the emulsion calculated correctly. The cones of light have to overlap just right to create a uniform field distribution at the middle of the emulsion layer. You'll have to add the glass and the thickness of the average coated screen into account.

other decision will be the time it takes to expose. Some frequencies will expose faster, but not as completely. Do you go for faster exposure or better stencil?

pierre

The same as Rich Hoffman says, I will not go into much detail about the actual LED design, but to suffice it to say that wavelength(s) have been worked out. I am not going after superman speeds, and a lot of thought has been placed on quality. My tests as show in my first post showed huge gaps in light and resulted in not only undercutting but bad moire patterns with halftones. Distance to the glass is actually a factor based on the LED lens angles, which are NOT 120 degrees.

[abchung]

I am just wondering. Why not do something like Saati? Wouldnt that be cheaper and easier?


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[Prōdigium]

I am just wondering. Why not do something like Saati? Wouldnt that be cheaper and easier?

The Saati unit uses the same idea as a single point light source. The bulbs in the same wattage are actually pretty expensive. 1-3 watt bulbs are fairly cheap, get over 7 watts and the price jumps quickly and they get hot! Furthermore there is added cost to build (and crate) a unit that has the light at the base versus a compact box with screw on legs. My other reason for not going that rout is that the Saati unit does not have a wide spectrum of UV light, at least according to their own specs. As mentioned, I was trying to improve not just copy.

[Prōdigium]

Steve,

Thank you for the post edit, one good turn deserves another....so my post has been edited to reflect that courtesy.