In recent years, flexographic printing has made great progress in China due to its unique advantages in the field of packaging and printing, and has been accepted by more and more people in the packaging and printing industry in China.
The difference between flexographic printing and other printing methods lies in its unique characteristics
The use of soft polymer resin plate materials (such as the Cyrel version produced by DuPont in the United States) not only reduces the plate-making cost and shortens the plate-making cycle compared to gravure printing, but due to the improvement in plate manufacturing level and plate-making technology, the screen version has reached The level of 175 lines is enough to meet the needs of general packaging and printing.
The anilox roller is used to transfer ink. Because the anilox roller is both an ink transfer roller and an ink metering roller, it achieves the same short ink path as gravure printing, and can accurately supply ink according to the process requirements. Currently, laser engraved cermets are used The anilox roller has reached the level of 1600 lines, which provides favorable conditions for precise control of ink color and ink layer thickness.
Zero-pressure printing not only reduces the vibration and abrasion of the machine, reduces the abrasion of the plate, but also expands the scope of the printing medium, especially for the printing of flexible materials. The narrow-format flexographic printing machine also expands the functions of the printing machine. In addition to printing, it can also complete a large number of post-press processes, making the flexographic printing machine a production line that integrates printing and post-press processing.
The specialty of flexographic printing is mainly manifested in the field of packaging printing
The ink layer is thick and the ink color is consistent. Although the ink layer of flexo printing is thinner than gravure printing, it is definitely thicker than offset printing, which is very beneficial for the large-area color blocks commonly used in printing and packaging products. No change, the ink color between the same batch of products or different batches of products can be consistent, which is the most basic requirement of packaging printing, and this is also not easy to do by offset printing.
Widely used non-toxic water-based ink printing. Flexo ink is the only non-toxic ink approved by the American Food and Drug Association among all printing methods. Therefore, flexographic printing is also known as green printing, and is widely used in food and pharmaceutical packaging, which is beyond the reach of other printing methods.
Wide range of printable media. Flexo printing machine can print all kinds of paper, and can also print aluminum foil, plastic film, self-adhesive paper, self-adhesive film, cellophane, metal platinum and textiles.
Other products have a wide range of applications. Almost all paper and plastic packaging products can be printed by flexographic printing. The printing effect on plastic film is comparable to gravure printing. Because the printing plate is soft and the printing pressure is small, it is especially suitable for corrugated paper and cannot withstand excessive pressure. Printing of media used for printing; and in addition to packaging products, newspapers, books, magazines and other book products can also be printed.
The equipment has comprehensive processing ability. Almost all narrow-frame flexo printing machines can perform post-printing processing on the same equipment, such as reverse printing, glazing, peritoneum, die cutting, cross-cutting, slitting, punching, fan folding, automatic waste discharge, etc. , You can even add numbering, bronzing or screen printing units to the printing unit. Therefore, it is not unreasonable to call a flexographic printing machine a printing processing production line.
Low production cost and high economic benefit. Compared with gravure printing, the plate making cycle is shorter and the plate making cost is 30% lower; the ink consumption is 30% less than gravure printing; the power consumption is saved by 40%; the printing speed is fast, and the maximum printing speed of the unit-type narrow-width flexo printing machine can reach 150 per minute Feet, the maximum printing speed of the satellite wide-format flexo printing machine can reach 250 meters per minute; the scrap rate is lower than that of gravure printing and offset printing; it occupies less production space; and the comprehensive processing ability is strong. It avoids the waste of turnover between processes; therefore, the overall production cost is low.
Production investment is small. Due to the relatively simple structure of flexographic printing presses, equipment investment is lower than offset or gravure presses of the same scale, generally saving 30% to 40%. In addition, as for the narrow-format flexo printing machine, since it has almost most of its post-press processing functions, users who purchase a flexographic printing machine do not need to add additional post-press processing equipment such as die cutting and glazing. It saves this part of investment. At the same time, it also saves the occupied space and labor of this part of equipment, which can save a production investment. [next]
Comparison between flexographic printing and other printing methods
If flexo printing is compared with gravure printing, all products that can be printed by gravure printing can be flexo printed, and can reach or approach the quality level of gravure printing, while flexo printing materials that can be printed by flexo printing machines are It cannot be replaced by gravure printing; in addition, in terms of equipment investment and use cost, the flexographic printing method is much lower than the gravure printing method. Undoubtedly, packaging printing production using flexo printing is a wise choice with low input and high output.
Although flexo printing can achieve a higher accuracy, due to the relief printing method and the anilox roller ink transfer, its high-precision screen image quality can not be compared with offset printing. In the field of high-end picture albums and book printing, offset printing is undoubtedly superior to flexo printing, but in the field of packaging printing, flexographic printing has an incomparable advantage in offset printing.
First of all, consistent ink color is the most basic requirement for packaging printing, and offset printing has problems of water-ink balance and ink emulsification. Therefore, consistent ink color has become a major problem for offset printing, and this is the strength of flexo printing;
Secondly, the packaging design has a large number of color blocks and icons. In addition to the problem of ghosting, the ink layer is not thick enough. When encountering a large area of ​​spot color, it has to be printed twice or even three times. The layer thickness is far beyond offset printing.
Thirdly, there are few positive openings for packaging products. With offset or four-offset offset printing presses, each printing requires more or less waste edges, and the flexographic printing method can be used to print the knife edge and cut. Accurately reserved to calculate in millimeters, thereby saving a lot of paper.
In addition, printing packaging products by offset printing requires post-print processing such as glazing and die-cutting after printing, which requires equipment and labor, and a flexo printing machine that integrates printing and post-press processing can complete all at once Process, the paper roll on one end of the machine, and the product on the other end, not only save equipment investment, but also reduce the consumption caused by the turnover between processes, shorten the production cycle. Its efficiency is unmatched by offset printing.
In addition, the flexographic printing plate can usually reach 1 million to 3 million times, and the offset printing plate can only print hundreds of thousands of prints after processing. Therefore, although the cost of flexographic printing plate making is higher, However, the plate printing durability is also high. For long-run jobs, the average plate-making cost of a single product is also flat.
Finally, except for paper, other printing media cannot use offset printing, and even paper has a certain thickness range. On the flexo printing machine, plastic film and metal film can be printed, and the thickness range of paper printing is also large.
Development status of flexographic printing
At present, the flexographic printing method has been widely used in various packaging and printing products. In the United States, due to the use of automatic labeling machines and the large number of stickers, coupled with the rotary printing method of flexographic printing machines and the characteristics of one-time printing and post-press processing, sticker labels have become the main products of flexographic printing machines. Flexo printing can complete almost all label printing processes, such as die cutting, embossing, waste removal, glazing, laminating, peeling and then flip printing and mounting. In addition, the printing of packaging cartons is another major business source of flexographic printing presses, but that is another special equipment, from plate making to printing, which is different from label printing equipment. At the same time, products suitable for narrow-width flexographic printing machines include paper packaging for various products, folding cartons (for cigarettes, alcohol, medical supplies, cosmetics, health care products, etc.), stationery (letter paper, forms, accounts Books, etc.), paper bags, paper cups, paper cutlery, wallpaper, etc. Products suitable for wide-format flexographic printing machines include various types of plastic films, vacuum aluminized films, and pure aluminum foil packaging products, such as liquid packaging, baby paper diapers, feminine sanitary napkins, daily chemical cleaning supplies, and medical packaging.
In China, flexographic printing started late and developed slowly. The simple laminated flexo printing machine was introduced in the mid-1980s. In recent years, with the improvement of the world's flexographic printing technology, especially in the rapid development of Europe and the United States, Chinese industry insiders have a new understanding of the flexographic printing process and technology, and began to introduce high-level flexographic printing machine. Any kind of new technology will encounter more or less difficulties and problems, and flexographic printing is no exception. [next]
The first is the procurement of various supporting materials. Flexographic printing requires more supporting materials than other printing methods. Plate materials, tapes, plate rollers, anilox rollers, squeegees, ink, etc. were imported several years ago. In recent years, the rapid development of flexographic printing has led to the development of related materials industry. Some related materials have begun to be produced in China and can be replaced by imports. For example, ink and ink, manufacturers have spread all over the country; anilox rollers and die-cutting rollers have been Produced in Shanghai. Although some still need to be imported, such as plates and tapes, purchasing has become as simple as buying plate-making film. Therefore, at present, the related supporting tool materials are no longer a factor restricting the development of flexo. The second is the live source problem. For flexo printing, the work piece can be flexible and diversified in terms of the business volume that is suitable for gravure printing. However, due to its high printing efficiency, a large source of live work is required for normal startup. A 16-inch flexographic printing machine needs at least one hundred thousand boxes of business a year to be full. Thirdly, flexographic printing has its unique process characteristics, from pattern design to color selection should highlight the advantages of flexo printing, to avoid the weaknesses of flexo printing. At present, there is still a lack of packaging designers in China who understand the flexographic process. Many products are transferred directly from offset printing to flexo printing, which can not achieve strengths and avoid shortcomings, reducing the satisfaction of end customers with flexo products, thus affecting people's understanding and understanding of flexo. In addition, the problem of concept also restricts the development of flexo. In the past few years, there were two very extreme views. One is that flexo is too good. In the future, it will replace gravure and even offset printing. The other is that flexo is too bad and can only print very poor products. These claims are all biased, and the correct positioning of flexo should be said to be a low-input, high-output applicable technology in the field of packaging and printing. Only by locating the positioning of the flexo plate can we find the positioning of the market.
Many flexographic printing machines of many brands have been introduced in China, most of them are successful. However, some factories are more or less blind because they know less about the flexographic version. They have taken a detour and either chose the wrong size or the wrong configuration. The only way to avoid it is to learn more and fully understand the technical characteristics of flexographic printing. Never use the old experience of offset printing or gravure printing to explain the problems of flexographic printing. For example, in terms of size, from the point of view of offset printing, the larger the number of openings, the better, because the same number of printings can produce more products, but flexo is not. That is, the small size means low use cost. Imagine that the small size is small from the plate roller to the die-cutting drum, and the cost of plate material, tape, and plate making is naturally saved; the small size also means the accumulation during the operation The smaller the error, the easier the quality control. Of course, it can't be generalized. It is better to choose the satellite wide format for printing plastic film, because the tension change is easy to control. There are also configuration issues, do n’t blindly pursue redundant functions that are not used temporarily, because in fact the flexo machine itself is a combination of multiple functions, these combinations can be completed before leaving the factory, or can be added during use, when not needed Let's get all the functions together, and it's not too late to configure them later when needed.
The application of flexographic printing in the field of packaging and printing can be summarized as follows: flexographic printing has grown into a strong year abroad, but is still a baby in China. China's flexographic printing is still in its infancy, but she has already shown her tenacious vitality, and believes that flexographic printing will be of great use in the field of packaging printing.
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