As we all know, the anilox roller is the "heart" of the carton printer and directly determines the vividness and clarity of the printed color. As the market demands more and more for the exquisite degree of carton printing, the carton factories are continuously improving the quality of anilox rollers in accordance with market demand. However, most cartons in China have little knowledge of anilox rollers. There is still a lack of professional understanding of how the anilox roller cooperates with other elements such as plate and ink. Now this simple analysis of the performance of various types of anilox printing, as well as the specific requirements of high-quality carton printing on the anilox roller, for the majority of carton factory production technology management personnel reference.
Metal engraving Chrome-plated anilox roller Metal-engraved chrome-plated anilox roller, chrome-plated roller for short, is usually pressed on the surface of a soft (usually copper roller) roller body by a metal die, or sometimes by electronic engraving, on the surface of the roller body. Produce a more regular cell, then chrome plating the formed anilox roller. Soft metal is used as a base roll to facilitate extrusion, while chrome plating is used to increase hardness and wear resistance.
Chrome roller is widely used for carton printing in the 1940s and 80s. A chrome-plated roller has a good ink-carrying capacity and ink-transmitting performance when used on a machine, a regular network wall, and excellent anti-clogging properties. However, after 3 months to 6 months of use, the mesh wall was seriously worn and the amount of ink was lost. At this time, if a squeegee system is used, then it is impossible to apply ink at all. If the roller is used to scrape ink, some users loosen the roller to generate a layer of "floating ink" on the surface of the anilox roller. Some of the ink in the nets was higher to achieve a sufficient amount of ink, but this layer of floating ink resulted in a decrease in the sharpness of the blocking plate and printing. It can be seen that the biggest weakness of the chrome roller is that it is not durable and it takes a lot of assembly time. Another weakness is that it is difficult to engrave a higher number of lines and it is difficult to satisfy more detailed levels of carton printing.
Many users think that the chrome roll is cheap and low cost. In fact, counting the fine accounts, the service life of a high-quality ceramic roller and its saved machine time, and the resulting cost-effectiveness in terms of stable print quality, are far greater than those of a high-quality chrome roller. In other words, the chrome roller is not actually cheap. This is why the chrome roll has been replaced by ceramic rolls.
The ceramic roller is called the laser engraving ceramic anilox roller. Lasers have different ways of generating and working. There are three types of lasers currently used for ceramic roller engraving, namely CO2 laser, YAG laser, and Ultracell laser. After three kinds of laser engraving, different mesh characteristics were formed, resulting in different quality effects on flexographic printing. The following are the performance comparisons of the three laser anilox rollers:
CO2 Laser Engraving Ceramic Anilox Rollers Most current laser anilox roller engraving manufacturers use traditional CO2 laser engraving techniques. This type of effective cable is about 80-300 LPI, which can meet the basic needs of middle and low-grade carton printing, and can print thicker text or simple patterns. Because the net wall engraved by the CO2 laser is thicker and the mesh hole is deeper and not wide enough, the network cable is difficult to be effectively improved. When the number of medium and high lines is small, the effective amount of ink is low, and the ink amount is poorly released. In addition, when the CO2 laser is engraving ceramics, a magmatic surface is inevitably left on the inner wall of the mesh, which can easily cause ink or ink clogging. In addition to the ceramic surface is more wear-resistant, the printing quality is still stuck in the middle and low printing level, it is difficult to meet the high requirements of today's ever-changing flexo carton printing.
YAG Laser Engraving Ceramic Anilox Roller The emergence of YAG laser technology in the middle of 1990s compensates for some of the disadvantages of CO2 gas lasers. When 400-700 lines are used, the mesh shape and ink volume have been improved. However, the number of lines in the carton industry is heavily concentrated between 200 lines and 350 lines, and YAG lasers are difficult to engrave mesh rollers with a low number of lines (below 360 lines) due to the limitation of pulse morphology. In Europe and the United States, it is only used to sculpt 400 lines or more. A manufacturer in the south of the country is using YAG to sculpt about 200 lines. This is a valuable attempt, but after observation, the quality of the mesh is hardly satisfactory. In addition, the YAG laser is somewhat less stable, and when engraved with long rollers for carton printing, it causes unevenness in the amount of ink at different locations. Therefore, YAG laser anilox roller has not been applied to carton printing so far.
Ultracell Supercell Laser Engraving Ceramic Anilox Rolls Premium Cartons Flexographic printing requires a new type of laser anilox roll with high strength, wide mesh, solid mesh, uniform ink, and long life. At present, all technologies are more mature than the "Ultracell Supercell" launched by the APEX company in the Netherlands.
The Ultracell supercell has a very clear mesh wall, a smooth inner wall, and increased density and tension of the ceramic, making it difficult for corrosive cleaning solutions and inks to penetrate the roll base, and ink and ink are not easily blocked within the mesh. The number of engraveable screens ranges from 80 lines to 2540 lines, covering the entire number of lines needed for carton printing and wide, narrow flexo printing. Overcoming the limitations of CO2 and YAG laser on-line and ink volume. No matter if it is in the low line or the medium-high line, the effective ink-carrying capacity is much higher than CO2 and YAG. Taking the 800 line as an example, the ink volume of the CO2 roller is about 1.6 BCM, the ink volume of the YAG roller is about 2.1 BCM, and that of the Ultracell is as high as 3.8 BCM. Effectively solves the problem of insufficient definition and color density in flexographic printing.
Anilox roll common problems analysis and solutions ceramic layer off the roller base, blistering. This is related to the density of the ceramic and the way the ceramic is combined with the base roll. The high-quality anilox roller should eliminate the gap of the ceramic layer when spraying ceramics, and use the nickel layer to combine the ceramic and the base roller to form double protection. At present, many anilox roller manufacturers provide ceramics that are not satisfactory. Some manufacturers even cut corners, eliminating the need for intermediate nickel layers. In this way, the ceramic layer has a large gap rate. In the course of use, the ink and cleaning agent will be removed from the gap. Infiltration, coupled with the lack of protection of the nickel layer, the ceramics will fall off like a pot. Users in our country are accustomed to using inexpensive anilox rollers and are not very willing to understand the quality. Therefore, it is not uncommon for this phenomenon to occur after the purchase. The solution must of course be to look for a strong vendor at the time of purchase. And indeed, only one or two people in the world can really perfect the above two processes at the same time.
Insufficient print color density. Excluding the ink problem, the main task is to investigate the ink loading of the anilox roller. China's carton factory taking into account the cost, the ink used is not necessarily high intensity, then if the anilox roller ink is not large enough, it will lead to insufficient ink transfer, the color is too light. In particular, today's cartons require more and more exquisite work. In Europe and the United States, the 250-line/inch anilox roller has almost become the lowest configuration, and 300 lines/inch have also been used in large quantities. In China, most of them still use 180 to 250 lines/inch, which is a low grade. Why? One of the concerns is the lack of ink. If you reduce the number of lines to increase the ink, but it directly affects the fineness of printing. The use of CO2 laser engraving does encounter this problem. For example, 300 lines/inch, CO2 in the guarantee that the network is not too deep under the premise of the normal carving of the ink is only about 6.0BCM (many engraving manufacturers can not even reach), which is obviously low for the printing of high-quality cartons. The Ultracell super-cell laser engraving of 300 lines/inch is still up to 8.0 BCM, allowing the carton factory to use high-line count anilox rollers without any concerns.
Blocked version, paste version, printing is not clear, the level of transition is unclear. In addition to the factors related to the viscosity of the ink, the cleanliness of the flexographic plate, the surface tension of the carton, and the printing pressure, another factor that is often overlooked is that the number of plate lines is not properly matched with the number of anilox roller lines. The number of lines on the anilox roll is too low. The reason why users dare not increase the number of lines is still worried about the lack of ink. The solution is the same as above.
The network point is blocked. The most important feature of ink painting is that it is extremely difficult to clean after dry, so we must prevent this problem from two aspects. First, choose an anilox roller with a wide mesh and smooth wall surface so that the ink is not easy to remain at the bottom of the mesh. Second, within 15 minutes of shutting down, be sure to use the daily cleaning solution to wash the ink thoroughly, instead of only using water. Something. If you do not plug it, use regular cleaning agents or even a washing machine to wash it. However, this is a last resort. The cost of large washing is high, and it may not always be successful. Many users usually do not pay attention to the maintenance of anilox roller, and then think of measures after the blockage, the cost is higher. In fact, daily cleaning is more important and more economical than regular cleaning.
Metal engraving Chrome-plated anilox roller Metal-engraved chrome-plated anilox roller, chrome-plated roller for short, is usually pressed on the surface of a soft (usually copper roller) roller body by a metal die, or sometimes by electronic engraving, on the surface of the roller body. Produce a more regular cell, then chrome plating the formed anilox roller. Soft metal is used as a base roll to facilitate extrusion, while chrome plating is used to increase hardness and wear resistance.
Chrome roller is widely used for carton printing in the 1940s and 80s. A chrome-plated roller has a good ink-carrying capacity and ink-transmitting performance when used on a machine, a regular network wall, and excellent anti-clogging properties. However, after 3 months to 6 months of use, the mesh wall was seriously worn and the amount of ink was lost. At this time, if a squeegee system is used, then it is impossible to apply ink at all. If the roller is used to scrape ink, some users loosen the roller to generate a layer of "floating ink" on the surface of the anilox roller. Some of the ink in the nets was higher to achieve a sufficient amount of ink, but this layer of floating ink resulted in a decrease in the sharpness of the blocking plate and printing. It can be seen that the biggest weakness of the chrome roller is that it is not durable and it takes a lot of assembly time. Another weakness is that it is difficult to engrave a higher number of lines and it is difficult to satisfy more detailed levels of carton printing.
Many users think that the chrome roll is cheap and low cost. In fact, counting the fine accounts, the service life of a high-quality ceramic roller and its saved machine time, and the resulting cost-effectiveness in terms of stable print quality, are far greater than those of a high-quality chrome roller. In other words, the chrome roller is not actually cheap. This is why the chrome roll has been replaced by ceramic rolls.
The ceramic roller is called the laser engraving ceramic anilox roller. Lasers have different ways of generating and working. There are three types of lasers currently used for ceramic roller engraving, namely CO2 laser, YAG laser, and Ultracell laser. After three kinds of laser engraving, different mesh characteristics were formed, resulting in different quality effects on flexographic printing. The following are the performance comparisons of the three laser anilox rollers:
CO2 Laser Engraving Ceramic Anilox Rollers Most current laser anilox roller engraving manufacturers use traditional CO2 laser engraving techniques. This type of effective cable is about 80-300 LPI, which can meet the basic needs of middle and low-grade carton printing, and can print thicker text or simple patterns. Because the net wall engraved by the CO2 laser is thicker and the mesh hole is deeper and not wide enough, the network cable is difficult to be effectively improved. When the number of medium and high lines is small, the effective amount of ink is low, and the ink amount is poorly released. In addition, when the CO2 laser is engraving ceramics, a magmatic surface is inevitably left on the inner wall of the mesh, which can easily cause ink or ink clogging. In addition to the ceramic surface is more wear-resistant, the printing quality is still stuck in the middle and low printing level, it is difficult to meet the high requirements of today's ever-changing flexo carton printing.
YAG Laser Engraving Ceramic Anilox Roller The emergence of YAG laser technology in the middle of 1990s compensates for some of the disadvantages of CO2 gas lasers. When 400-700 lines are used, the mesh shape and ink volume have been improved. However, the number of lines in the carton industry is heavily concentrated between 200 lines and 350 lines, and YAG lasers are difficult to engrave mesh rollers with a low number of lines (below 360 lines) due to the limitation of pulse morphology. In Europe and the United States, it is only used to sculpt 400 lines or more. A manufacturer in the south of the country is using YAG to sculpt about 200 lines. This is a valuable attempt, but after observation, the quality of the mesh is hardly satisfactory. In addition, the YAG laser is somewhat less stable, and when engraved with long rollers for carton printing, it causes unevenness in the amount of ink at different locations. Therefore, YAG laser anilox roller has not been applied to carton printing so far.
Ultracell Supercell Laser Engraving Ceramic Anilox Rolls Premium Cartons Flexographic printing requires a new type of laser anilox roll with high strength, wide mesh, solid mesh, uniform ink, and long life. At present, all technologies are more mature than the "Ultracell Supercell" launched by the APEX company in the Netherlands.
The Ultracell supercell has a very clear mesh wall, a smooth inner wall, and increased density and tension of the ceramic, making it difficult for corrosive cleaning solutions and inks to penetrate the roll base, and ink and ink are not easily blocked within the mesh. The number of engraveable screens ranges from 80 lines to 2540 lines, covering the entire number of lines needed for carton printing and wide, narrow flexo printing. Overcoming the limitations of CO2 and YAG laser on-line and ink volume. No matter if it is in the low line or the medium-high line, the effective ink-carrying capacity is much higher than CO2 and YAG. Taking the 800 line as an example, the ink volume of the CO2 roller is about 1.6 BCM, the ink volume of the YAG roller is about 2.1 BCM, and that of the Ultracell is as high as 3.8 BCM. Effectively solves the problem of insufficient definition and color density in flexographic printing.
Anilox roll common problems analysis and solutions ceramic layer off the roller base, blistering. This is related to the density of the ceramic and the way the ceramic is combined with the base roll. The high-quality anilox roller should eliminate the gap of the ceramic layer when spraying ceramics, and use the nickel layer to combine the ceramic and the base roller to form double protection. At present, many anilox roller manufacturers provide ceramics that are not satisfactory. Some manufacturers even cut corners, eliminating the need for intermediate nickel layers. In this way, the ceramic layer has a large gap rate. In the course of use, the ink and cleaning agent will be removed from the gap. Infiltration, coupled with the lack of protection of the nickel layer, the ceramics will fall off like a pot. Users in our country are accustomed to using inexpensive anilox rollers and are not very willing to understand the quality. Therefore, it is not uncommon for this phenomenon to occur after the purchase. The solution must of course be to look for a strong vendor at the time of purchase. And indeed, only one or two people in the world can really perfect the above two processes at the same time.
Insufficient print color density. Excluding the ink problem, the main task is to investigate the ink loading of the anilox roller. China's carton factory taking into account the cost, the ink used is not necessarily high intensity, then if the anilox roller ink is not large enough, it will lead to insufficient ink transfer, the color is too light. In particular, today's cartons require more and more exquisite work. In Europe and the United States, the 250-line/inch anilox roller has almost become the lowest configuration, and 300 lines/inch have also been used in large quantities. In China, most of them still use 180 to 250 lines/inch, which is a low grade. Why? One of the concerns is the lack of ink. If you reduce the number of lines to increase the ink, but it directly affects the fineness of printing. The use of CO2 laser engraving does encounter this problem. For example, 300 lines/inch, CO2 in the guarantee that the network is not too deep under the premise of the normal carving of the ink is only about 6.0BCM (many engraving manufacturers can not even reach), which is obviously low for the printing of high-quality cartons. The Ultracell super-cell laser engraving of 300 lines/inch is still up to 8.0 BCM, allowing the carton factory to use high-line count anilox rollers without any concerns.
Blocked version, paste version, printing is not clear, the level of transition is unclear. In addition to the factors related to the viscosity of the ink, the cleanliness of the flexographic plate, the surface tension of the carton, and the printing pressure, another factor that is often overlooked is that the number of plate lines is not properly matched with the number of anilox roller lines. The number of lines on the anilox roll is too low. The reason why users dare not increase the number of lines is still worried about the lack of ink. The solution is the same as above.
The network point is blocked. The most important feature of ink painting is that it is extremely difficult to clean after dry, so we must prevent this problem from two aspects. First, choose an anilox roller with a wide mesh and smooth wall surface so that the ink is not easy to remain at the bottom of the mesh. Second, within 15 minutes of shutting down, be sure to use the daily cleaning solution to wash the ink thoroughly, instead of only using water. Something. If you do not plug it, use regular cleaning agents or even a washing machine to wash it. However, this is a last resort. The cost of large washing is high, and it may not always be successful. Many users usually do not pay attention to the maintenance of anilox roller, and then think of measures after the blockage, the cost is higher. In fact, daily cleaning is more important and more economical than regular cleaning.
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