Printing Anilox Roll Evaluation Analysis - Evaluation Subjects and Tools

If you are in the business world, you have to make money. You must use limited resources to produce products that satisfy your customers and create revenue. To ensure that you have a competitive advantage, you need to find ways to increase productivity, such as reducing prepress preparation time and costs, reducing consumption, improving print quality, reducing the replacement of anilox rolls and reducing the associated printing costs. But if you want to find a miraculous integrated solution without effort, it is impossible. So where do you go from here? Every step of the production process should be evaluated in a rational and objective manner. The most important one is the evaluation of the anilox roller.

What is the evaluation of the anilox roll? The traditional definition refers to the use of sophisticated and costly inspection equipment by experienced technicians to perform a comprehensive inspection of the number of anilox roller lines, cell volume, and cell structure and to write a test report, including photomicrographs or Digitally processed network schematics of the contours of the cells. The report includes many figures and charts, but very little practical information is available.

Although it is helpful for the operator to understand the volume of the anilox roller, are you content to check that the anilox roller has only been worn or damaged? Do you want to know the cause of the damage to the anilox roll and how to prevent it from being damaged? The anilox roller is the heart of the flexo press and is also the focus of attention. Traditional inspections cannot tell the operator why the anilox roll is damaged, and it is impossible to suggest improvements to the print quality. So you should ask yourself: what do you hope to get from the evaluation of the anilox roller.

The subject of the assessment

The evaluation of the anilox roll during the printing process is more effective than the occasional anilox roll inspection. The correct assessment includes a rigorous evaluation of the entire process of storage, cleaning, use, and working conditions of the anilox roller, and can provide a series of solutions to improve printing conditions and prevent process failures. The view that the evaluation of the anilox roller should be performed by an outsider (a technician sent by the anilox roller manufacturer) is wrong. In fact, the evaluation of the anilox roller is an important part of improving the printing quality. Obviously, technicians sent by anilox roller makers have been unreasonably evaluating the anilox roll for several weeks in the press room. The appropriately trained press operators can use the anilox roll in their daily work. Condition monitoring.

Assessment Tools

1. Specially designed inspection area

A suitable height fixed bench should be prepared for the operator if it is more ideal near the cleaning device.

2. Support frame for supporting anilox roller journal

The frame can support the anilox roller so that its surface does not come into contact with the table top surface, and it is also conducive to a comprehensive and safe inspection of the surface of the anilox roller. The seat frame should be equipped with bearings so that the anilox roller journal can rotate in it. In addition, grooved wooden brackets may also be used to support the anilox roller journal. However, when using a wooden bracket, it is best to fix it on a heavy and bulky base to prevent accidental tipping of the wooden bracket.

3. Good lighting

Good lighting is extremely important in the evaluation of anilox rolls, but it is often overlooked. In many printing shops, so-called good lighting is to install more fluorescent lamps above the inspection area. It is a good practice to draw a single area separately and use a light source that is comparable to the lighting conditions in the inspection area to illuminate the sheet for comparative inspection.

Other tools that need to be prepared include gear tweezers, a 100x optical magnifier, tape measure, marking labels (used to mark the damaged area), retractable blades (for scraping the dried surface of the anilox roller) and medium coarse teeth锉 (used to remove burrs on the keyway). One-hundredth of an inch micrometer is used to detect the wear of the journal and bearing surfaces. If the anilox roller journal has a thread stop, it is advisable to purchase a set of thread inspection tools (for checking the threaded portion of the journal).

In addition, a set of numbering dies and hammers need to be prepared to mark the anilox roll. Most anilox rolls have been serially printed by the manufacturer at the time of shipment. However, after the anilox roll has been repeatedly cleaned several times, numbers such as numbers will become blurred. In particular, if a side scraper is used, the anilox roller end surface may be excessively worn and the original number and the number of screen lines and the like may be blurred. Therefore, the anilox roll needs to be reprinted after a period of use to ensure that important information is clearly visible.

It is also important to distinguish between anilox rollers by the number of series and screen lines recorded in the logbook. Any damage or blemishes on the surface of the anilox roll should be recorded in the record book, and clearly indicate the damage location and damage degree. The contents recorded in the record book enable the operator to quickly understand the condition of the anilox roller and know which anilox roller needs to be prioritized. If the record shows that more than one mesh roll has suffered the same type of damage, it should cause the operator to be vigilant and should investigate further the cause of the damage to the anilox roll.