Offset plate (part 2)

Offset plate (part 2)

Eastman Kodak had invented a copying process, which they named Verifax to compete with the diffusion reversal method. Addressograph Multigraph direct image plates did not accept the Verifax image which was a silver gelatin coating, but ours did. We developed a unit with the assistance of a company located at 8 ½ Orange Street in Bridgeport CT to transfer the Verifax image to our plate. I went to Kodak in Rochester several times in this regard. Kodak was not able to get the image on the plate to pick up ink on the

offset press. I invented a solution, patent # 3029727, which when applied to the imaged plate solved this problem. Kodak was very surprised how I did it. One thing I learned from the Vice-President of Kodak who was in charge of the Verifax project was to keep notes; previously I had relied on my memory. Kodak mentioned that they had an excess supply of letter size Verifax copiers but were back ordered on legal size. I told them I would expect this. Although over ninety per cent of stencil duplicating was printed on letter size paper, the only people who bought letter size stencils were companies that had letter size forms. Everyone else paid extra for the legal stencils just in case they needed to make a legal size copy. When we made the aluminum presensitized plates we coated the paper plates with the sensitizer and sold them as Polycoat.

Offset plate (part 1)

Offset plate (part 1)

Paper Offset Plates:

Mr. Halpern even in the late 1940’s realized that offset would take over the stencil market. He hired Bob Teichner, who had worked for Remington Rand, the typewriter company that had made stencils and paper offset plates. He brought the Remington Rand stencil formula which was based on cellulose acetate, not nitrocellulose. We set up a pilot coater to evaluate it. They were not as good as ours. He gave us a formula for stencil duplicating inks base on derivatives of castor oil made by Hercules, which we manufactured.

He also had a formula for paper offset plates. Addressograph-Multigraph had patented casein coated direct image offset plates. The plate Bob Teichner developed was based on starch carbonate. We installed two coating machines with gas heated drying tunnels, which were built by Pot Devin in the space where the stencil finishing operation had been. The first tunnel was used for applying a ureaformaldehyde base coat on paper bought from Crocker Burbank, a paper mill in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, which I visited several times. The second coater applied the pigmented starch carbonate coating. The time between the two coats was critical. It had to be between two and seven days for the urea formaldehyde resin to cure, but before it became hydrophobic. We started to sell the direct image offset plates in 1950. Our largest customer for these plates was a company in Massachusetts that printed telephone directories. They set type in a proof press and printed it on our plates, which were then run on an offset press.

Opticopy System

Good folks at Heidelberg saved some of the videos from Opticopy.      Opticopy was acquired during 1980's and formed the basis of Polychrome system division.    

Opticopy made its name in providing sturdy film to film step and repeat exposure machine.    This video shows it in action.

A note from Ricardo

Hi Ken,

Was reading your blog on Polychrome and it brings lots of memories.

I started with Polychrome as an Office Manager in 1972 in Miami.  Went into sales

on June 1976. That year that only had six months, I ended up number one in equipment sales in the country and again in 1977  For those efforts, the late Larry Golusinski  took me out to dinner with the rest of the sales force at that branch.  In 1979 I became Polychrome Top Salesman in the USA, beating Bert Burros of Short Hills, New Jersey becoming a member of the Millionaire's Club in only my third year in sales with the company.

This time I was invited to dinner together with my wife by Mr. Enrique Levy, who was

running Polychrome at the time.

During my time with Polychrome, I've met many great people for whom I have very good

memories like Mr. Gregory Halpern, Mr.James Graves, Mr. George Dakos, Mr. Bill Young, 

Mr. Victor Tkachenko, Mr. Nick Izzi and others, who were so much part of success.

Polychrome was a great company to work for, until changes were made and Mr. Halpern

was no longer involved

Left Polychrome in 1980 to establish the Pitman Company Miami Branch, where I work

for 5 years as their active branch manager.

                      

I'm still very active in the business, where I preside over my company with my son and we

are representing first line products for the industry.

Best regards

Ricardo 'Rick' Dieguez - President

Grafix World LLC

Manufacturer Representatives

and Printing Consultants

Promotional playing card 1960 vintage

Apparently the company distributed these cards at one of the trade shows.     See the old Polychrome logo and a few promotional extra cards.