Flexography and ceramic anilox roller
Flexo printing, like offset printing, is also called indirect printing, as the picture shown below:
A: rubber roller
B: anilox roller
C: plate roll
D: pressure roller
E: Resin version
F: the cell on the anilox roll
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). The part is further rotated by the C roller and the D roller to the substrate H to complete a monochrome printing.
The core parts are B and E. In particular, B is an anilox roller: it is called the heart of a flexo printing machine. The depth of the cell (the amount of ink stored) and the shape directly affect the quality of the printed product.
The body of the anilox roll is a steel cylinder, and the outer layer of the cylinder is a special ceramic coating. The coating is laser-engraved to form a small and neat cavity on the surface, and the vertical of the cell. The profile display is generally U-shaped. The fineness of the cell is defined by the number of lines of the anilox roll. The number of lines represents the number of cells per inch. The larger the number of lines, the larger the number of cells per unit size, and the smaller the cells, and vice versa. Of course. The number of lines of the anilox roll and the depth of the cell determine the amount of ink transferred by an anilox roll. This amount is defined by BCM and is defined by the amount of ink carried on a unit surface area. The larger the value, the more the amount of ink transferred. Big.
The surface of the anilox roll is observed using a magnifying glass. The cells are generally arranged in a honeycomb hexagonal shape, and the angle of the commonly used anilox roll is generally 60 degrees. In special cases, S-type cells are also used.
During the printing process, a doctor blade is required on the surface of the anilox roller. Because the cell is inside the body of the anilox roller, the function of the blade is to scrape excess ink on the surface of the anilox roller, only in the cell. The ink carried in is the ink that is needed in the printing process.
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 the Chinese DuPont company; now the resolution is up to 175 lines, and some of the more beautiful printing can be done.
Flexo printing is increasingly valued by the world due to its environmental friendliness. Regardless of the water-based or alcohol-based inks used, it is 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 was first used in carton packaging, and today carton packaging remains the largest user in the flexo market. 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. McDonald's, KFC and other paper products that people often eat are soft-printed.
