Flexo and ceramic anilox
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First, the basic principles and basic knowledge of flexo printing.
The basic principle and flexo printing are also indirect printing. as the picture shows:
A: rubber roller B: anilox roller C: plate roller D: pressure roller E: resin plate F: cell on the anilox roller G: ink H: substrate
The ink is wiped by the rotation of the rubber roller, and the ink is stored in F, and is kept in the hole by the tension. When it is in contact with E on the C roller, the ink is transferred to the resin plate (ie, the convex dot). Partially, the C roller and the D roller are rotated and pressed onto the substrate H to complete a monochrome printing.
The core parts are B and E. It is B is the anilox roller: it is called the heart of the flexo printing machine. The depth of the cell (the amount of ink stored) and the shape directly affect the quality of the printed product.
E is the direct contact with the substrate, and its quality is of course understandable. The photosensitive resin version currently in use was invented by Miss Chen, a Chinese company from DuPont, USA; now the resolution is up to 175 lines, and some more beautiful printing can be done.
B Flexo is increasingly valued by the world due to its environmental friendliness. Regardless of the water-based or alcohol-based inks used, it is actually environmentally friendly for printing inks such as offset printing. The development of flexo printing in the world has greatly exceeded other printing in recent years.
Flexo printing was first used in carton packaging. Today, carton packaging is still the largest user in the flexo market. It will not be changed in the future. In addition: shopping bags, handbag printing; envelopes, letterhead, notebook inside page printing; paper cups, paper food bags; napkins; trademark printing and other aspects are used. The McDonald's, KFC and other cups and food paper products that everyone often eats are flexo, and the national McDonald's paper products are printed in the development zone of Guangzhou.
China's flexographic printing equipment and water-based inks are still at a low level. After joining the WTO, their market potential will be immeasurable. It is playing an increasingly important role in China's global economic integration. Of course, the anilox roller that is matched with it must be a great article.
Second, the development and classification of anilox roller
The development of ceramic anilox in flexo printing was first developed in the United States in 1938. The netting on the roll was embossed and made very rough, mainly used in carton packaging (also known as industrial packaging). Iron roller used. However, in use, it was found that the wear of the roller was large, which made printing quality and printing cost difficult to ensure.
In 1939, the anilox roll was electroplated and a harder metal (such as chromium) was applied to the outer surface, but it was still difficult to meet the requirements.
In 1970, it was proposed to use hard ceramics to make anilox rolls. However, it is extremely difficult to perform the engraving on the ceramic. Until 1984, the development of laser technology and the wide application of various industries. The laser anilox roller was officially adopted. In 1989, this technology was introduced by Taiwan Yiming Company.
Laser engraved ceramic anilox roller
Early anilox engraving forms, chrome-plated, mechanically engraved, applied to slightly thicker carton or plastic printing and coating. When the chrome-plated anilox roller is used at the beginning, the printing effect is not bad, but since the metal surface is easily worn, the service life of the anilox roller is short. In addition, the limitation of the shape of the mechanical engraving mold makes it impossible to increase the number of lines, and it is even difficult to meet the needs of the mid-range flexographic printing. It is believed that the ceramic roller will be gradually replaced with the passage of time.
02 type laser engraved ceramic anilox roller
At present, most laser anilox roller engraving manufacturers use traditional C02 laser engraving technology. This type of effective cable is about 80-400 LPI, which can meet the basic non-principles of carton printing, and can print full-tone and thick text. The invention of the laser ceramic anilox roller has greatly improved the printing quality of the flexo printing. However, since the mesh point of the conventional C02 laser is not clear enough, the mesh is not wide enough, and the network cable is difficult to be improved.
Co2 multiple engraving ceramic anilox roller
The most advanced CO2 laser engraving system removes the grid and repeats the dot-punching method, which can change the shortcomings of the traditional CO2 laser engraving, so that the mesh is very wide, the mesh formation is more even, and the network cable is expanded to 50-1000 LPI.
YAG laser engraved ceramic anilox roller
Flexographic printing is characterized by “high speed, environmental protection and economy”, so it was widely used in the 1990s. The emergence of YAG laser technology has improved the number of screens and the clarity of the mesh, and can be used with flexographic printing with a slightly higher definition. However, the engraved network cable ranges from 600 to 1500 lpi; it is not suitable for carton printing. The disadvantage is that the YAG laser is difficult to maintain stable during engraving, making it difficult to control the uniformity of the mesh shape of the entire anilox roller, which may cause unevenness in the amount of ink in different parts.
Third, the mesh roll of the anilox roll
As the "heart" part, it is remembered that the same size and uniform position and uniform depth of the depression, we call the important part of the network is the network of the above. The cells have the following shape specifications.
Honeycomb type 60°
Diamond type 45°
Honeycomb type 30° slash type (1°-89°)
60° (Hexagon) Cells 45° (Diamond) Cells 30° (Hexagon) Cells Tri-helical (from1° to 89° Line Range Available:
40-1200 lines/inch (LPI) 16-400 lines/cm (L/cm)
Roller Size Available:
Face length Engravng lenght: up to 4,000mm (max.)
Total length Totel length: up to 4,300mm (max.)
Diameter: Maximum 400mm (max.)
At present, the most used and deepest is the 60° honeycomb type cell. According to the calculation, the cell size reached by the honeycomb cell in the case of the same area and the same network cable is 1.155 times that of the diamond type, so it reaches The resolution is higher.
Fourth, the application of anilox roller in other aspects, the anilox roller is used in gravure coating in addition to flexo printing.
The anilox roller is immersed in the ink, and more ink is scraped off by F (scraper) and directly printed onto the substrate. Its resistance to printing and printing are different, up to 1500-10000
Fifth, Other content:
1. Ceramic anilox roller cleaning and maintenance is very important. At present, wire brush and cleaning agent should be used on the market for general maintenance.
2, the world famous ink is BASF's domestically produced high color.
3. The best flexible printing machine at present is “Guantai” in Taiwan.
4, the accuracy ratio of ceramic anilox roller and resin plate is: generally at least: 4:1, Taiwan has now achieved 6:1, now up to 7:1