Use anilox roller GTT technology to solve the unification of field printing and dot printing in flexographic printing

    The anilox roller has always played a vital role as the heart of flexographic printing, and it is also under increasing pressure. As the printing industry, especially the label printing industry, improves its printing quality requirements, people have higher and higher requirements for anilox rollers. At present, the line number of anilox rollers has exceeded 1300lpi. At the same time, the line count of flexographic plates is getting higher and higher, and dot requirements, background color requirements, layer requirements, etc. continue to become challenges for manufacturers. However, the most basic problem that plagues the development of flexographic printing, the unification of the color of solid printing and the level of dot printing, still cannot be effectively solved.

 

Regarding this problem, our usual approach under existing conditions is:

    1. Separate plate making and then color printing. The danger of this approach is that the rejection rate increases due to overprinting deviations. Production efficiency is low.

    2. Find a rough balance between the two. The dangers of this are that the actual color is not enough or too high, and the dot layering is not enough. It is easy to block the plate during the printing process, often causing shutdown adjustments.

    3. Increase the color density of the ink, which means an increase in cost.

    Faced with these problems, printing plants are equipped with more and more anilox rollers. Generally, an 8-color equipment needs to be equipped with 2,435 anilox rollers to meet the needs of different printing processes; at the same time, the inventory of spot color inks is also increasing. The standardization of printing is becoming more and more complex, all of which virtually increase the cost of manufacturers! In an increasingly competitive market, what does cost mean? What does quality mean? Flexo printing needs a breakthrough!

Common cell engraving shapes of anilox rollers

    It turns out that to make a perfect flexo print, we need to control all the variables!

    Now we need to eliminate all the variables to make a perfect flexo print!

 

    As an important global anilox roller manufacturer, APEX has proposed such a brand-new concept, made a new reform of anilox roller technology, and launched GeneticTransferTechnology (GTT technology), which completely broke the traditional concept. Anilox rollers in the future no longer need the concepts of line number and ink load! One piece of equipment only needs up to 4 specifications of anilox rollers such as S-M-L-XL to complete all printing orders! After about three years of market testing, it has been proven that GTT technology will have a positive impact on the development of flexographic printing!

    So what changes will this technology bring to flexographic printing?

    1. GTT technology solves the problem of uniformity of field and outlet printing. The biggest feature of GTT technology is the use of a trench-type mesh structure, which replaces the original pit-type mesh structure. It can not only meet the demand for on-site ink volume, but also meet the clean dot printing requirements. Because of the open ink transfer and the engraving method of the cells, the ink can be transferred to the printing plate very evenly. In printing, a very smooth ink effect is obtained, and the solid surface is effectively covered, thereby obtaining a perfect solid effect. The design of the ink storage tank can ensure that the fine dots are most effectively supported. At the same time, because the ink transferred to the printing plate is very uniform, the printing plate will not bring excess ink. As a result, the printing of the dots is very clean and is not suitable for blockage.

    2. Because of the open ink storage structure, the air bubble effect of traditional anilox rollers can be avoided, making printing stable, and there will be no color difference due to the speed of the printing press.

    3. Using the XL model anilox roller can bring you a very satisfactory background color. The effect can be achieved with one white background printing. If you need a thicker background color, you can also customize the XXL model for customers.

    4. Since the flatness of the ink is greatly improved, the effect of the entire printing pattern is more layered.

    5. Because of the open groove design, the pressure of the scraper can be appropriately lowered. Light pressure can achieve a good scraping effect and extend the life of the scraper and anilox roller.

    6. Make it easier to establish standards for flexographic printing. Four-color printing can be used extensively in printing, reducing the use of spot color inks and making client color management more convenient.

    7. No need to stop the machine for printing for a long time. Text printing is clear, and burrs and ghosting are greatly reduced.

    8. The anilox roller has a self-cleaning function. Because of its open structure, every ink transfer is fresh ink. The ink transfer is very sufficient, and maintenance is also easy, and it is not suitable for clogging.

    9. For manufacturers, the inventory quantity of anilox rollers can be greatly reduced. Generally, 8-color flexo printing equipment only needs to be equipped with 8 to 10 anilox rollers to meet production needs.

    10. Plate making costs can be greatly reduced. Basically, it can meet the unification of dot printing and field printing. Printing can be completed on one plate without separate plate making and overprinting.

    11. Ink consumption will also decrease. Some people here may question why the amount of ink used is reduced when the color density is high? There are two reasons for this: First, because compared with traditional anilox rollers, GTT transfers more ink with the same ink, so there will be a deeper color, so when it reaches the same hue as traditional anilox rollers, When it comes to effects, GTT can use inks that are lighter in concentration than traditional anilox roller color pastes. Secondly, since the flatness of the ink is greatly improved and the coverage of the ink is improved, the increase in hue is not achieved simply by increasing the thickness of the ink. According to customer feedback, approximately 18% of ink can be saved.

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