Many countries in the world have used flexo printing in newspaper printing. In the United States alone, more than 40 printing plants use flexo printing; in Germany, flexo printing is mainly used for packaging printing, and flexo printing in the packaging printing market. The share has been steadily rising. In recent years, the quality of flexo printing has been greatly improved. Shaftless printing presses, high-number anilox rolls, high-performance inks, and laser-engraved flexographic plates have all contributed to improving the quality of flexo printing.
Direct Drive Flexo Printing Machine
The shaftless transmission technology was originally applied to only a small number of narrow web flexographic printing machines. In 1998, the first shaftless transmission type flexographic printing machine developed by W&H for flexible packaging flexo printing market was put on the market. Information from manufacturers shows that almost none of the newly installed flexo presses in Europe have adopted shaftless drive technology. However, due to economic reasons, some countries still use traditional shaft-driven flexographic presses.
What are the advantages of the shaftless transmission technology? The shaftless transmission technology enables all the machining processes to be completed steplessly through the so-called "electronic wave". Without the use of gears and without any vibration, the repeat printing length can be easily adjusted. Print flexible materials with large changes in elongation. Because the non-shaft transmission flexographic printer can adjust the overprint accuracy of each color group separately, so that the overprint accuracy of the printing products is higher, not only can improve the flexo printing quality of flexible packaging, but also for the direct flexo printing on corrugated cardboard. There are benefits. For example, on Bobst's flexo press, only the process color group uses the non-shaft drive, and the other parts of the press still use the traditional transmission method.
High quality anilox roller
Another continuously innovative technology for flexo printing is the anilox roll. Six years ago, the motto of the flexographic industry was: "The finer the anilox roller, the better." Now, people are no longer saying that. Manufacturers are concentrating on the development of new mesh-shaped anilox rolls or the surface properties of anilox rolls by spraying ceramic materials on their surfaces. In the field of flexible packaging printing, flexo printing is competing with the gravure printing market, and the anilox roller is a key element influencing the quality of flexo printing. Flexographic printing can win the competition with gravure printing, but also depends on the technical development of the anilox roller.
Optimized printing color
The influence of the anilox roller development on printing color cannot be ignored. The higher the number of lines of the anilox roller, the smaller the ink carrying capacity. To meet the requirements of color stability and fullness, it is necessary to increase the content of the binder in the ink and to increase the concentration of the pigment so as to achieve a low ink transfer amount. Required ink film thickness. Although Germany has reservations about printing folding cartons with UV flexo inks, companies in other countries that produce high-quality flexo products have demonstrated that UV flexo has great potential for development. In particular, UV-curing inks are odorless and free of volatile gases. The vivid colors of printed products and the advantages of good glossiness are increasingly favored by people.
The development of drying technology has made the ink film cure faster, which makes the printing effect of the flexo-printed gold ink and silver ink even surpass the offset printing. In recent years, the ink pigments can be made finer, so that an anilox roller with a higher number of lines can be used, so that the flexo printing process can also reproduce finer images.
Photosensitive resin plate digital imaging or direct engraving
Since Drupa 1995 first exhibited a digital imaging flexo and Drupa 2000 exhibited a direct-engraved polymer flexo, a fierce debate continues: Which technology is superior in quality and economy? The direct engraving and plate making technique uses lasers to sculpt picture on the surface of a flexible plate material. It has been more than 30 years since this method was used to engrave rubber plates. The flexo direct platemaking technique uses a photosensitive resin flexographic plate with a black mask (LAMS) on the surface to expose it on a flexo CTP platesetter, remove the LAMS layer of the plate graphic portion, and then perform UV exposure, rinse and dry.
In recent years, the quality of photosensitive resin flexo plates has been increasing, which not only has higher resolution but also has a shorter imaging time. The flexo CTP system uses eight Nd:YAG lasers to expose the flexographic plate, but after the exposure, the plate needs to be exposed and imaged by UV. New platemaking technologies, such as the CyrelFAST system, use special techniques to remove excess parts of the plate with high heat energy and use it immediately without having to rinse it. However, the CyrelFAST system currently has limitations on the format size of the printing plate, but it is expected that it will not solve the plate-making problem of the large-format flexo plate.
Advantages of direct engraving flexography
Although low-resolution direct-engraved rubber plates have become commonplace on the market, the direct plate-making system directly on BASF's polymer plates exhibited at Drupa 2000 has attracted attention. However, it was criticized that the CO2 laser beam used in this system was too large to reach high resolution and was not economical, but this problem has now been completely resolved. Because BASF and STK Schablonentechnik recently announced that the first such direct engraving system was installed at GRS in Germany, the diameter of the light spot can be made very small by overlapping laser spots.
In addition, the manufacturers of direct engraving systems have also improved the system. The laser beam is changed from one beam to three beams. Since the laser energy can be changed, the evaporated material can also reach different depths, thus making the dots more clear. This is because CO2 laser and Nd:YAG laser are used. The CO2 laser first forms a roughly embossed effect (mainly embossed depth), while the Nd:YAG laser can form different dots because the spot diameter is smaller. However, because the Nd:YAG laser cannot be absorbed by all materials, it is limited in use.
Thin sleeve technology
Another technology that promotes the improvement of flexo printing quality is the introduction and application of thin sleeve flexo. The thin-sleeve technology combines the advantages of a single sheet of photopolymer flexo and a non-deformable circular sleeve version. The photosensitive resin is first flexibly mounted on a thin sleeve, and then imaged and rinsed, without having to be as flexible as a single sheet. The image is finished and mounted on a circular plate roller to avoid image distortion. The price of this system is high, so the application is not yet universal.
The development of flexographic technology continues, whether it is a flexographic printing machine or an anilox roller, whether it is ink or plate material, as well as register control, closed scraper device, the development of these technologies will promote the overall level of flexographic technology .
Direct Drive Flexo Printing Machine
The shaftless transmission technology was originally applied to only a small number of narrow web flexographic printing machines. In 1998, the first shaftless transmission type flexographic printing machine developed by W&H for flexible packaging flexo printing market was put on the market. Information from manufacturers shows that almost none of the newly installed flexo presses in Europe have adopted shaftless drive technology. However, due to economic reasons, some countries still use traditional shaft-driven flexographic presses.
What are the advantages of the shaftless transmission technology? The shaftless transmission technology enables all the machining processes to be completed steplessly through the so-called "electronic wave". Without the use of gears and without any vibration, the repeat printing length can be easily adjusted. Print flexible materials with large changes in elongation. Because the non-shaft transmission flexographic printer can adjust the overprint accuracy of each color group separately, so that the overprint accuracy of the printing products is higher, not only can improve the flexo printing quality of flexible packaging, but also for the direct flexo printing on corrugated cardboard. There are benefits. For example, on Bobst's flexo press, only the process color group uses the non-shaft drive, and the other parts of the press still use the traditional transmission method.
High quality anilox roller
Another continuously innovative technology for flexo printing is the anilox roll. Six years ago, the motto of the flexographic industry was: "The finer the anilox roller, the better." Now, people are no longer saying that. Manufacturers are concentrating on the development of new mesh-shaped anilox rolls or the surface properties of anilox rolls by spraying ceramic materials on their surfaces. In the field of flexible packaging printing, flexo printing is competing with the gravure printing market, and the anilox roller is a key element influencing the quality of flexo printing. Flexographic printing can win the competition with gravure printing, but also depends on the technical development of the anilox roller.
Optimized printing color
The influence of the anilox roller development on printing color cannot be ignored. The higher the number of lines of the anilox roller, the smaller the ink carrying capacity. To meet the requirements of color stability and fullness, it is necessary to increase the content of the binder in the ink and to increase the concentration of the pigment so as to achieve a low ink transfer amount. Required ink film thickness. Although Germany has reservations about printing folding cartons with UV flexo inks, companies in other countries that produce high-quality flexo products have demonstrated that UV flexo has great potential for development. In particular, UV-curing inks are odorless and free of volatile gases. The vivid colors of printed products and the advantages of good glossiness are increasingly favored by people.
The development of drying technology has made the ink film cure faster, which makes the printing effect of the flexo-printed gold ink and silver ink even surpass the offset printing. In recent years, the ink pigments can be made finer, so that an anilox roller with a higher number of lines can be used, so that the flexo printing process can also reproduce finer images.
Photosensitive resin plate digital imaging or direct engraving
Since Drupa 1995 first exhibited a digital imaging flexo and Drupa 2000 exhibited a direct-engraved polymer flexo, a fierce debate continues: Which technology is superior in quality and economy? The direct engraving and plate making technique uses lasers to sculpt picture on the surface of a flexible plate material. It has been more than 30 years since this method was used to engrave rubber plates. The flexo direct platemaking technique uses a photosensitive resin flexographic plate with a black mask (LAMS) on the surface to expose it on a flexo CTP platesetter, remove the LAMS layer of the plate graphic portion, and then perform UV exposure, rinse and dry.
In recent years, the quality of photosensitive resin flexo plates has been increasing, which not only has higher resolution but also has a shorter imaging time. The flexo CTP system uses eight Nd:YAG lasers to expose the flexographic plate, but after the exposure, the plate needs to be exposed and imaged by UV. New platemaking technologies, such as the CyrelFAST system, use special techniques to remove excess parts of the plate with high heat energy and use it immediately without having to rinse it. However, the CyrelFAST system currently has limitations on the format size of the printing plate, but it is expected that it will not solve the plate-making problem of the large-format flexo plate.
Advantages of direct engraving flexography
Although low-resolution direct-engraved rubber plates have become commonplace on the market, the direct plate-making system directly on BASF's polymer plates exhibited at Drupa 2000 has attracted attention. However, it was criticized that the CO2 laser beam used in this system was too large to reach high resolution and was not economical, but this problem has now been completely resolved. Because BASF and STK Schablonentechnik recently announced that the first such direct engraving system was installed at GRS in Germany, the diameter of the light spot can be made very small by overlapping laser spots.
In addition, the manufacturers of direct engraving systems have also improved the system. The laser beam is changed from one beam to three beams. Since the laser energy can be changed, the evaporated material can also reach different depths, thus making the dots more clear. This is because CO2 laser and Nd:YAG laser are used. The CO2 laser first forms a roughly embossed effect (mainly embossed depth), while the Nd:YAG laser can form different dots because the spot diameter is smaller. However, because the Nd:YAG laser cannot be absorbed by all materials, it is limited in use.
Thin sleeve technology
Another technology that promotes the improvement of flexo printing quality is the introduction and application of thin sleeve flexo. The thin-sleeve technology combines the advantages of a single sheet of photopolymer flexo and a non-deformable circular sleeve version. The photosensitive resin is first flexibly mounted on a thin sleeve, and then imaged and rinsed, without having to be as flexible as a single sheet. The image is finished and mounted on a circular plate roller to avoid image distortion. The price of this system is high, so the application is not yet universal.
The development of flexographic technology continues, whether it is a flexographic printing machine or an anilox roller, whether it is ink or plate material, as well as register control, closed scraper device, the development of these technologies will promote the overall level of flexographic technology .
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