Limited resizing potential — Swings & Roundabouts. Cold Spray technology has also been explored as an option; here the high velocity of the spray creates the bond. Ceramic Cylinders are fairly new to Gravure, but are finding their niche in the industry. Types of gravure printing block –plate – cylinder Gravure printing Prof. Dr. Ulrich Moosheimer Seite 14 substrate material ink ... Gravure Printing Cylinder for Packaging Setup from steel cylinder to printing layer – steel base cylinder width up – copper base layer about 2 mm thick Advances in electromechanical engraving technology have addressed the issue of “sawtooth” edges on text, which has been used as a criticism of the gravure industry over the past forty years. Weight — a tiny fraction of the weight of the equivalent steel base. Copper has long been the preferred (and original) substrate for engraving, readily available and readily recyclable. In operation the cylinder is bathed in printing ink and wiped clean with a carbon steel doctor blade. Steel is relatively cheap, available and recyclable. Also called conventional gravure engraving, diffusion-etch is the oldest method of gravure cylinder engraving. Prior to engraving, the hardness of the copper surface needs to be determined, to ensure that the copper layer is ductile enough to allow effective image etching. Different stylus angles, which are measured at the cutting tip deliver differing cell depths for any given cell width, so a fine screen that is selected for detail can be made to deliver the cell volume required for color density by selecting a more acute engraving stylus angle. The challenge has always centered around creating a strong bond between the aluminum base and the copper required for engraving. We are facing a problem of ink lines occurred on non-engraved area of gravure cylinder. Since that time, different attempts have been made to resurrect this type of product, taking advantage of the progress made in material science. ). Click here to email the appropriate parties at your organization to avoid disruption in service. The four types are Direct Gravure, Reverse Gravure, Offset Gravure and Smooth Roll. ... copper covered cylinder. These engravings must be Chromium plated to protect the relatively soft zinc surface but cannot be refurbished by de-chrome / re-chrome, as with copper surfaced cylinders. Ceramic Cylinders are fairly new to Gravure, but are finding their niche in the industry. The Gravure Association of the Americas, Inc. As Gravure Presses have embraced technology, becoming faster, more economical and less labor intensive, the Gravure Cylinder has endeavored to keep pace. On press, it’s the same story; the nickel sleeves are mounted onto the air-mandrels and are loaded into the press as normal, or mounted onto cantilevered mandrels. The copper-plated cylinder needs to be blemish free and dimensionally correct. Along with this development came more refined techniques that improved the fidelity of the engravings. The nickel sleeve can be copper-plated and processed through the Engraver using the airmandrels and existing equipment. Chrome polishing is the final stage of gravure cylinder production. The etching process for carbon tissue depended on a series of dilutions of ferric chloride that would etch progressive tone values to differing depths. Delivery Times — Usually supplied copper plated to size, but still similar to Steel Base. A gravure press most often prints from a gravure cylinder, which comprises a steel base, which can either be a sleeve cylinderor a shaft cylinder. The future of Laser Engraved Polymer/Resin is still uncertain, and also brings the questions about using traditional bases and processing prior to coatings along with it. Delivery times — same as a new Steel base. Steel sleeves can be added to steel based cylinders, effectively utilizing the old cylinder construction to attain a new (larger) size. Although steel is the most-often used material for cylinder bases, aluminum bases are utilized occasionally, primarily for their light weight (making shipping less costly, and handling easier), but aluminum is more difficult to electroplate the image-carrying copper to, and is less resistant to wear than steel. Price — About 1.5 times the price of Steel by volume. In essence, the steel base element of the cylinder stays at the Engraver and the printer and the nickel sleeve is transported between them. After printing, the cylinder can be re-used, but not before the chrome and copper layers are removed and replated. The exception is “conventional laser,” because each cell is relatively the same size and 100% coverage at differing ink thicknesses, there is no fear of screen clash and therefore, no need for different screen angles. Polymer cylinders are dimensionally unstable, with a COE at odds with other component materials. speed. 3. Availability of raw material — as with Steel. For linework, this process is well established and accepted for the delivery of high-fidelity printing. A disadvantage is that they can only be used for a very limited range of circumferences and they are relatively heavy. Looking at the table above, one would think that the adoption of Polymer cylinders would have been an ideal candidate for success. cent of gravure printers in North America are solvent-based. Polish the cylinder well Non-image areas of the cylinder porous enough to printed substrate hold a thin film of ink. Currently used for coatings, adhesives and primers, some “product” gravure is produced from these cylinders. The engraved image carrier used in gravure printing. Faint ink appears on 1. It is for this reason, there are massive inventories of steel bases stored and shipped between Printers and Engravers. 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