Tolerance issues in the assembly of anilox roller assemblies

The processing, installation, and removal of gears on gear anilox rollers are the same as the bearings. As with bearings, when the gears are installed incorrectly, they may cause the drum to bouncing, emit noise, or a coordinated change in the entire machine, which may damage the bushings, keyways, and gears.
When a keyway is damaged by a transition, it is better to roll out a new keyway on the original bushing, 180 degrees out of phase with the old keyway. In the process of rolling a new keyway, the most noteworthy area is the center of the keyway: it must be exactly in the center of the roller. Otherwise it will not be able to fix the key. To achieve a close fit, it is also important that the keyway has the proper length and width. Changing the width of the keyway requires the use of a more precise gauge rather than a snap gauge.
Another trouble with gear stepping is that people do not pay enough attention to stepping TIR. Any stepping of the anilox roller sleeve can cause many problems if there is a transitional deviation. If the gear bottom is at its lowest point or the surface of the gear is not uniform, the gear will jitter and buzz. In severe cases, this kind of jitter will also affect the transmission mode, which will seriously affect the quality of printed materials. This condition can also prematurely damage the gear.
From the numerous scratches and gouges on gear stepping or adjoining steps, one can see that people often mishandle them. Scratches and grooving are appearance damages that do not necessarily require extensive repairs. These deficiencies may only increase the difficulty of the move or installation process by simply clicking on the burrs or the replaced metal. The problem with anilox roller suppliers is when these machines are damaged (perhaps only superficially) when they affect the determination of parameter changes.
The TIR reading of a typical gear step is approximately 0.005 inches, and drum performance is not affected. However, this reading also varies with the press manufacturer's and gear tolerances. Some machine designs are very sensitive to roll deflection, so their OEM (original equipment manufacturer) has very stringent requirements for gear stepping. In this way, the deflection of the machine should be taken into account in the tolerances so that it does not affect the performance of the roller. During the initial and final stages of the entire process, all anilox roller suppliers should check all rollers for any bending or damage and record the inspection results. Especially in the initial inspection phase of the old drum, it is helpful to solve the problem by paying attention to whether the journal is bent or damaged. It is hoped that the damage and the subsequent repair cost can be reduced by modifying the operation and procedures.
In most cases, the person who orders the anilox roller is not the person who moves or installs the anilox roller, so it is necessary to communicate clearly and clearly between the parties. Bad communication can lead to reciprocal meetings, which is why it is so important to have good communication/recording between anilox suppliers and customers.
The balancing process is based on the tolerance of the printing press and the requirements on the printing quality. The balance of the anilox roller is a crucial factor. There are two kinds of balancing processes: static and dynamic. A similar example is the balance of car tires. The old bubble balance method is a static process, and the spinning balance method is a dynamic process.
An unbalanced roller can cause coordinated changes in the machine at different speeds, causing various problems on the press. Anilox roller suppliers must check the drum balance during the initial inspection phase of the anilox roller repair and report the results to the customer. During the manufacturing process of the roller, it is often found that there is a welded balance block (counterweight) inside the pipe. In some cases, the counterweights loosen and you can hear them rattle in the roller ducts, which should cause enough alertness.
During the manufacturing process, loosened counterweights may be absorbed by other debris within the drum line and are therefore muffled. This requires a better balance of technology to extract a large amount of material from the ends of the completed drum, to make the area empty to reduce the mass, or to insert iron bars as needed to increase the weight, and then position the solder joints in the correct position. If the original drum tube is far from equilibrium, it may be necessary to use an internally welded counterweight. Dynamic balance is generally used for a special roller RPM or FPM (surface size/minute).
Generally, narrow-width drums no longer require balancing adjustments, because they are mostly made of solid materials rather than metal pipes. The size, construction composition, and dynamic nature of the narrow-web presses differ from those of presses with large drums.
When fabricating new cylinders for any wide web or corrugating press, high quality tubular materials must be used to minimize the need for mechanical balancing.
More popular is the advanced "roller pad seal" tubular material, because even the strict parameters required for this material can ensure that the pipe wall thickness is uniform, thus reducing the need for excess balance.
Advanced piping materials are also accompanied by expensive prices. The gap between the prices of high-grade pipeline materials and low-grade pipeline materials is very obvious. Anilox roll suppliers have a parameter standard for evaluating all new anilox rolls for evaluating advanced piping materials.
To reduce downtime, save costs, and maintain high print quality, it is important to understand the spatial parameters of the anilox roll and how they affect the printing press, press performance, and the maintenance of the anilox roll. (Xu Ying) ("China Packaging News & Printing Weekly")