Gravure Printing Technology Status and Development Direction

Gravure Printing Technology Status and Development Direction

Thick ink layer, clear gradation, stable technology, high resistance to printing force, and wide application range are the most prominent characteristics of gravure printing. In foreign countries, gravure printing is mainly used in three areas: magazines, product catalogs and other publishing and printing industries, commodity packaging and printing industry, and special-purpose fields mainly consisting of securities and decorative materials such as banknotes and stamps. According to a study conducted by the German GFK market research institute, due to the high printing quality stability and ink gloss of gravure printing, about 80% of brand-name products have chosen the gravure printing process, and gravure printing has dominated the field of brand-name commodity packaging and printing. As James Siever, secretary-general of the European Gravure Association, puts it: Gravure, as a printing process, has always maintained its unique high quality and high quality, which is why it dominates magazines, catalogues and packaging products. The main reason for the printing process. In order to stand out in the fierce market competition, brand-name businesses in the food packaging field have set higher requirements for the design and printing of images, and gravure printing can ensure the best printing quality.

With the continuous development of the market economy, especially the rapid development of industries such as food, beverages, cigarettes, medicines, health products, cosmetics, detergents and clothing, the demand for gravure printing products is increasing, and the quality requirements are getting higher and higher. Under the trend, China's gravure printing has developed rapidly. Especially in recent years, with the application of engraving technology, CTP technology, independent drive technology, environment-friendly gravure printing ink and control technology, diversification of post-printing in-line processing, and reduction in plate-making costs, gravure printing has been provided in packaging printing. With stronger competitiveness, the gravure printing industry is the second-largest printing branch, second only to offset offset printing, and is the main printing method for packaging printing.

Application Status of Gravure Printing Equipment in China

The main technical parameters

(1) Printing width: The maximum material width of the gravure gravure printing machine is mostly 800~1100mm. In recent years, the proportion of machines ranging from 1200 to 1500mm has increased rapidly. The maximum width can reach 1700~1900mm; the width of the gravure printing machine is commonly used. For 650 and 820mm; aseptic packaging gravure printing machine width is generally 1000 ~ 1300mm; gravure gravure printing machine width is generally 1300 ~ 2100 mm; carton pre-print gravure printing machine width is generally 1600 ~ 2500mm. According to reports, the maximum width of foreign paper gravure printers is 4320mm.

(2) Printing color group: 8~13 colors are used in gravure packaging gravure printing machine, 6~8 colors are generally used for cigarette pack printing, 6~8 colors are used for aseptic packaging printing, and 4~6 are preprinted on wood grain paper and carton. color.

(3) Press speed: The speed of the domestic gravure printing machine is generally 60~300 meters/minute, the highest mechanical speed of the flexible packaging gravure printing machine can reach 250 meters/min, and the highest mechanical speed of the paper gravure printing machine can reach 350 meters/min. . The speed of foreign gravure gravure printing machines is generally 200-450 m/min, and the highest is 600 m/min. The speed of paper gravure printing machines is generally 600-800 m/min and the highest is more than 1000 m/min.

(4) The length of printing and graphic repetitions (ie, the circumference of plate cylinder): 408~942mm in China, 420~920mm in foreign countries, and the maximum length of printed graphic and text can reach 1100mm.

Basic performance and level

(1) Under normal circumstances, the tension of the web gravure press is controlled by unwinding, feeding traction, receiving traction, and winding. At present, domestic use of automatic tension control, and some of the system tension control; Most of the foreign system tension control, which uses a programmable logic controller (PLC) system for the collection of tension, processing and control, centralized compensation, fast response, short adjustment cycle. Most of the domestic gravure printers are manually adjusted horizontally, while vertical and horizontal models are automatically registered.

(2) The performance of some equipment has approached and reached the level of imported equipment. Due to the continuous function and continuous improvement of the degree of automation, the cost performance of domestic equipment is relatively high, and the competitive advantage is increasingly evident. The adoption of new technologies and systems has significantly shortened the gap with developed countries. For example, in terms of mechanical speed alone, the highest speed of domestic gravure printing machines has only reached the level of the foreign 70-80s. However, from the perspective of a new platform for electronic shaft drive technology, the gap between domestic gravure printing machines and foreign products is only a few years away. . Many manufacturers have turned from the production of a single product to the development of system solutions.

Major gaps in domestic gravure printing equipment

Although the performance of domestic gravure printing presses has been continuously improved, and some equipment performances have approached and reached the level of imported equipment, the performance and level of most domestically produced low-grade gravure printing equipment are still not high, compared with the internationally advanced gravure printing equipment. A considerable gap. For example, the manufacturing level of gravure printing presses, especially the reliability, stability, printing speed, and automatic control level of domestic machines still need to be improved. The application of electronic shaft drive technology needs to be promoted, and the multi-functional connection processing needs to be improved. Cartridge drums, enclosed ink systems, and squeegee rapid pressure devices also need to be accelerated. At the same time, as a gravure printing equipment manufacturer, we must also change the design concept and sales model. We must not only pay attention to the individualization, modularization, and intelligence of the product structure, but also pay attention to after-sales service and realize the integration of service and sales.

For example, Shaanxi Beiren Company has developed and produced gravure printing machines since the early 1970s. The model has evolved from the initial simple satellite type to today's gravure-free gravure printing machine with a maximum printing speed of 300 m/min. The tension system has been developed from manual control. Today's PLC and man-machine interface control machine closed-loop tension control system, system tension control system executive parts from the original heavy hammer, friction plate, magnetic powder, brake clutch, electromagnetic speed control motor, to today's vector variable frequency motor, Potentiometer, electronically controlled converter, precision pressure reducing valve, swing roller, servo motor and its control system. The registration system has been developed from manual adjustment and differential adjustment to the current photoelectric conversion system. The company's AZJ series gravure printing machine can be configured with 14 color groups and can be double-received and double-placed. One machine is used for two machines and the width is from 1050 to 2500mm.

The future development direction of gravure printing technology

1. Ultra-precision engraving and direct plate making are prerequisites for ensuring high-quality gravure printing

Digitization and remoteization are the development trend of gravure plate making technology. The link and management between plate making process, design production and production, and customers are the key to digital gravure plate making. Prepress plate making equipment is the prerequisite for digitalization of the plate making process. HELL's ultra-fine engraving technology uses different resolutions for text and images, enabling not only super-high-resolution text and line engraving, but also speeds of up to 16,000 Hz/sec. Laser-to-plate technology enables gravure plates to produce high-definition edge effects (especially for small text) and arbitrary depth without the need for chemically-infected and unmanageable processes. Ultra-high-speed electronic engraving technology, carving speed up to 12800Hz / second, is three times the speed of traditional sculpture, greatly shortening the cycle of engraving system, making gravure printing more competitive.

2. Independent drive technology is an important symbol to measure the level of gravure printing machine

Independent drive technology has been used for many years on gravure units such as traction, coating, compounding and crosscutting. From the last two Drupa exhibitions and the European printing industry, the use of individually driven gravure presses has become quite common. The printing unit is driven by a separate motor. The plate cylinder is driven directly by the motor, longitudinal alignment is achieved during the embossing process, and lateral movement is controlled by a stepper motor movement. The main advantages of an independent drive gravure press are the reduction of mechanical parts (no need for mechanical drive shafts and register compensating roller mechanisms, etc.), and the length of the tape is shortened, which helps to improve the printing quality and printing speed.

Gravure press independent drive technology and electronic shaft drive as a technical platform to achieve a comprehensive upgrade of the gravure press, gravure press for various uses will use electronic shaft drive. At present, the electronic axis transmission and registration systems mainly come from Japan and Europe, but they can only be used on a small number of domestic gravure printers. Therefore, the development of domestically-produced systems will be the key to the overall upgrading of domestic gravure printers.

3. Application of environment-friendly gravure ink and solvent-free compound technology is the guarantee of food hygiene and safety

With the continuous improvement of people’s living standards and the enhancement of environmental awareness, the domestic market has begun to pay attention to environmental protection and health issues. Multinational food companies such as Nestle, Danone, and Kraft have required packaging and printing plants to use benzene-free inks. Shanghai Tobacco and other companies have also set new standards for the VOC content of packaging materials. Tetra Pak uses water-based inks in China, Bao Bo The Group took the lead in the full use of benzene-free environmentally-friendly inks in its factory in Huizhou and most of its food packaging bags in Debao Sany, Beijing. Therefore, vigorously promoting the use of environmentally friendly gravure ink is the necessary way to increase the market share of gravure printing.

Due to environmental and health reasons, food, medicine, tobacco and alcohol industries are increasingly focusing on the environmental protection of packaging materials and printing processes. Gravure printing companies pay more attention to the environmental conditions of the printing shop. Water-based, UV and other environmentally friendly gravure printing inks and varnish can significantly reduce the emission of organic volatiles into the atmosphere, thereby reducing atmospheric pollution and improving the printing operation environment. Therefore, it will be more and more widely welcomed by people in the industry and customers. Sealed squeegee system and quick change device will be promoted, and gravure printing machine suitable for water-based ink printing will be more widely used.

The solvent-free compounding technology is a typical “three-nothing” process (no pollution in the whole process, no solvent residue, and no potential safety hazard in the production process). It is in full compliance with the development requirements of EHS (environmental protection, health, and safety) and has been acquired abroad. Universal application. China began to introduce solvent-free composite technology from the 1990s, but the promotion rate was very slow. According to incomplete statistics, the solvent-free laminating machine only accounts for about 2% of the total number of all types of laminating machines in China, which is far lower than the 80% to 90% level of developed countries. In recent years, as the government departments have made greater efforts to supervise food safety, people’s awareness of environmental protection, safety, and health has continued to increase, and green packaging materials and solvent-free composite processes have become popular. Guangzhou Tongze Machinery Co., Ltd. has also made new breakthroughs in the research and development of solvent-free composite equipment and related technologies, which provides favorable conditions for the promotion of solvent-free compound technology. Therefore, we should vigorously promote the development of solvent-free composite technologies and promote the use of solvent-free composite equipment and related technologies.

4. Automatic control of ink viscosity can effectively control the quality of printed products, saving production costs

The viscosity of ink is a property of the ink to hinder its own flow, which directly affects the printing quality and the printing cost.

Automatically control the gravure ink viscosity, can improve the printing quality, effectively remove the color instability caused by manual viscosity control, reduce ink consumption. According to several domestic gravure printing company representatives, the use of NORCROSS automatic control ink viscosity meter can effectively control the quality of printed products, and can save up to 30% of the amount of ink. Therefore, the automatic control of ink viscosity can effectively control the quality of printed products and save production costs.

5. In-line processing is the future direction of gravure printing equipment

The process of compounding, coating, coating, and die-cutting is completed at one time, which is the development direction of the gravure printing process. Gravure printing equipment correspondingly manages systems, and remote technical support systems will be increasingly used. At the same time, in order to meet the needs of individualization, all parts such as unwinding, printing, linking processing, and winding will be modularized. The advanced gravure production line will adopt intelligent control methods and have remote diagnostic services.

With the development of the gravure printing process and the application of advanced technologies, the advantages of gravure printing are even more pronounced. The production efficiency and the quality of printed products will become higher and higher, and the production cost will continue to decrease.

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