Corrugated board direct offset technical features
The main printing equipment of corrugated board direct offset printing In recent years, the development speed of packaging printing is in the forefront of the printing industry in China. The production value in 2005 accounted for 32% of the entire printing industry. It has increased by 12% over the previous year. In the packaging and printing industry. Color boxes also account for a considerable proportion. With the continuous development of economic development and consumption levels, people are increasingly demanding the packaging of goods. Colored packaging boxes must not only protect the goods and facilitate transportation. It also requires that the original appearance of the goods be truly reflected in the packaging of the goods. Play the role of displaying product quality and promoting sales. therefore. The color box is a set of product protection and merchandise advertising functions in one. Become a new type of product promotion carrier. The development of printing technology is a key influencing factor in the development of colored packaging. This article simply talks about a kind of printing method of colored packing - the direct offset printing technology of corrugated cardboard.
Market Prospect of Corrugated Board Direct Offset Printing Technology
The printing technology of corrugated cardboard has gone from simple monochrome text printing to monochromatic halftone image printing to today's color halftone tone image printing. The printing of corrugated cardboard boxes is of high quality, multi-color, strong three-dimensional effect and good visual effects. The direction of development. At present, the printing of corrugated paperboard has the most extensive gravure printing in flexographic and offset printing. It also has a certain market share in China. In the processing technology, there are generally printed first, then pre-printed and direct printed. Printing and then printing first is the first printing of paper and then compounding it onto corrugated cardboard. Then die-cutting. The method of pre-printing is to use a web flexographic printing press or web gravure printing machine for printing. After printing, Corrugated Cardboard Machine is still received in the form of a roll of paper. The printed color surface web is then used as a corrugated cardboard production line on a carton board to make a corrugated cardboard and then die-cut. Direct printing is to print corrugated board directly on the printing press. Corrugated direct flexo printing is currently mainly used for printing middle and low grade cartons due to limitations of equipment and related technologies. The print quality also needs to be further improved. The direct offset printing of corrugated cardboard is a printing method that has developed relatively rapidly in recent years. With the improvement of equipment and technology, the direct offset printing technology of corrugated board has become mature. Direct offset printing can well meet the multi-color, high-quality development requirements of corrugated board printing, and the cost is relatively low. With the development of offset printing direct corrugated board technology, it will gradually replace flexographic printing in certain areas of corrugated box printing. Corrugated board direct offset printing has the following advantages over flexo printing, offset printing and then printing.
1. Relative to flexographic printing
1 With high printing quality, it can print extremely fine text and complex halftone images, and the number of screens can reach 200 lines/inch.
2 The cost is lower, the offset printing plate making cost is low, the high standardization of the offset printing also helps to reduce the printing cost. In addition, relative to the flexographic printing equipment offset printing equipment investment is less, the flexibility of the equipment is also higher, which also reduces the production cost of the product from another aspect.
3 Relatively short print assist time is more economical for short-lived jobs.
4 The printable performance of various special information can be significantly improved. Surface finishing such as laminating and polishing can be performed, and the printing quality is relatively stable.
2. Method for processing enthalpies relative to first offset paper
A corresponding reduction in processes: eliminating the need for processing costs and materials on the processing steps will be saved. In addition, the reduction in the number of processes leads to a relatively short time for the entire printing process, which leads to a corresponding reduction in the efficiency of the process, and a corresponding reduction in labor.
2 The amount of paper added is relatively small.
At present, there are some limitations in direct offset printing on corrugated cardboard.
1 It is not possible to achieve cardboard linkage production as in flexographic printing equipment, and production efficiency is relatively low.
2 At present, offset printing direct printing paperboard mainly prints micro-corrugated paperboard, and for thicker heavy paperboard, it cannot print directly on the offset printing press.
3 The offset printing format is relatively limited, and the type of web that can be printed is relatively small.
However, with the renewal of offset printing technology and equipment and the invention of corresponding new materials, the above limitations can be alleviated or even eliminated to some extent.
From the above analysis, we can see that in the color box printing, direct offset printing will become the main printing method for miniature corrugated boxes. For paperboards and cardboards, which are relatively simple in shape and pattern and large in volume, they are still mainly printed in flexographic printing. For the top printing quality of the color box is used first offset printing and then processing methods.
Corrugated board direct offset technical features
The structural characteristics of the corrugated board determine its technical characteristics in direct offset printing. Corrugated board printing is performed on uneven surfaces formed by corrugation peaks and wave troughs. The printing pressure during printing must be higher than the printing pressure required for the surface smoothing material and the printing pressure must not damage the corrugated paperboard grooves and backs. . For such difficult requirements, it is impossible to achieve simple operation control of ordinary printing presses, but the development of corresponding technologies solves the above problems. These related technologies mainly include the following points:
1 The new type of blanket adopts a super-compressed sponge layer. Good elasticity can compensate corrugated board peaks and troughs. Printing pressure difference is improved when direct offset printing is performed.
2 The successful development of new types of corrugated board also creates conditions for direct offset printing of corrugated board. Changes in the structure of the corrugated board increase the strength of the corrugated board and weaken the surface irregularities formed by corrugations and troughs of the corrugated board.
3 The successful development of new inks has improved the printing quality of direct offset printing on corrugated board. A good elastic blanket can reduce the pressure difference between corrugations and troughs of corrugated cardboard, but the pressure difference cannot be completely eliminated. This also creates a difference in printing pressure. This printing pressure difference leads to the expansion of ridges and recesses in different degrees. The overprinting of the ink thus creates a quality problem in the printing of corrugated paper - the production of a printed "cooking board" effect. The new ink further reduces print quality problems due to unevenness in the surface of the corrugated board. For example, the Well-Perfect-EV1010-w ink developed by the German GS Ink Factory is designed for direct offset printing on corrugated paper.
4 The continuous development of printing press structure provides necessary conditions for direct offset printing of corrugated board. Now offset printing equipment suppliers have noticed the development of offset printing in packaging printing, and have developed different types of printing equipment exclusively for packaging printing.
The direct offset printing of corrugated board due to the printing pressure, the cardboard strength will also have different degrees of decline, in the printing process under the premise of guaranteeing the printing quality, the printing pressure needs to be reduced as much as possible. Therefore, the direct offset pressure control of corrugated board is the most important issue that we should pay attention to. It has a direct impact on the printing quality and the board structure and is the key influencing factor of the final product quality.
Corrugated board direct offset printing main printing equipment
The rapid development of color carton in recent years is the industry's obvious corrugated board direct offset printing. With the successful development of various technologies, it has become increasingly mature. For this potential market, famous domestic and overseas offset press manufacturers have developed suitable corrugated paper directly. Offset equipment. Here are just a few of the more interesting devices on the market:
1 KBA offset printing machine: At the ChmaPrint2005 exhibition, KBA's operators performed the exquisite product printing on 157 g copper plate paper on the KBA 105 press first, and then changed the substrate to cardboard from the paper to different specifications. Cardboard printing conversion, the final direct printing quality of G-type corrugated cardboard (1ml-f1 in thickness) can be described as perfect. The perfect printing quality of corrugated board is a strong proof of the mature offset technology of corrugated board. At the 2005 Chicago Printing Show, KBA once again demonstrated the printing capabilities of KBA 105 on 1.2mm thick corrugated cardboard. KBA's large-format offset printing machine - Rapide 130 ~ 162a printed substrate thickness range: 0.04 ~ 1.2ram. Rapida 185, 205 printed substrate range: 0.1 ~ 1.6ram. These large-format offset presses can directly print G, E, and F corrugated cardboard. The KBA large-format printers currently purchased in China are mainly used for packaging and printing. For example, the KBA Rapida 162a purchased by Shenzhen Huali Packaging Trade Co., Ltd. is designed to provide customers with high-end, large-size, large-size color crates and corrugated boxes.
2 Roland printing press: Roland printing press has always been in the leading position in the field of packaging and printing. The existing models can directly print corrugated cardboard from medium to small format to super large format. Roland 500,700 can print directly to a thickness of 1. Omm's corrugated board, while the Roland 900 Series can directly print F-type corrugated board with a thickness of 1.2mm. In the first half of this year, Suzhou Dongyi Packaging & Printing Co., Ltd. introduced Asia's first super-large-format offset printing equipment, the Man Roland 900XL (the largest printing format is 1300mm2x1850ram). The device can print directly on G-type and F-type corrugated paper.
3 Heidelberg presses: Heidelberg CD series offset presses are tailor-made for package printing. The CD74 can directly print corrugated cardboard with a maximum thickness of 0.8 mm, while the CD102 can directly print 1.0 mm corrugated cardboard. The XL105 debuted at the Drupa 2004 exhibition provided a new choice for packaging and printing plants, the thickest of which can be printed directly. Omm corrugated paper.
4 Offset Printing Machines in Japan: In Japanese offset presses, Mitsubishi's thick cardboard has a relatively strong print capability. Designed for cardboard EFJ. The model designed by @J - DIAM0ND3000Lc can be directly printed on corrugated cardboard with a thickness of 0.8mm. DIAMOND3000LXEp~J thickness can also reach 1.0mm. Akiyama printing machine also has a certain thick cardboard printing capacity. Its BT series offset printing machine is equipped with a thick paper printing accessories to print 0.8mm corrugated cardboard.
5 Beiren Offset Press: Beiren has also developed some printing equipment suitable for packaging products in the last two years, and has also done timely follow-up on large-format areas. Beiren 800 uses a double-diameter cylinder, which is more suitable for printing on thick cardboard and can also be directly printed on micro-corrugated cardboard with a thickness of 0.6 mm.
The color printing of corrugated boxes is an inevitable development trend. The characteristics of offset printing itself and excellent printing quality cater to the quality requirements of corrugated box printing and development. Offset direct printing corrugated board now has a certain market share, with the improvement of the carton printing quality requirements. Offset direct printing corrugated board has a growing trend. However, this does not mean that offset printing of corrugated board directly will dominate the future market for color printing of corrugated boxes. The rise and development of new processes will coexist with traditional processes for a long period of time. Learn from each other.
Rong Huayang
Reprinted from: Printed Today
