The advantage and application analysis of preprinting of gravure printing carton (I)

Gravure printing carton preprinting means that in the manufacture of corrugated cartons, gravure printing technology is used to print the desired fine patterns on wide webs (carton paper) in advance, and then the printed roll of paper rolls is corrugated. The cardboard production line is made of corrugated boxboard, which is then die-cut by a die-cutting machine into a box type.

At present, in some developed countries in Europe and the United States, 30% of the total output of corrugated boxes is preprinted. With the rapid development of China's paper product packaging industry, many users in recent years, such as Mengniu, Budweiser, and Tsingtao Brewery, have turned their attention to preprinting technology. With beverages, beer, household appliances and food industries increasingly demanding the design and use of corrugated boxes, the use of web pre-printing methods to produce high-grade colored corrugated boxes will become the trend for the development of the carton packaging industry in the future.

For domestic carton companies, preprinting is a very new process, so many companies want to understand this technology. What are the advantages of preprinting?

Why do you need gravure preprinting?

Preprinting has become a trend in corrugated board printing, especially in the printing of high-end cartons (including large and shaped cartons). Why do you need gravure preprinting? There are two main reasons: one is that gravure printing can easily provide high-quality color prints; the other is that electronic engraving technology enables the production cycle and cost of metal plate rolls to drop substantially, which is close to or even lower than that of flexographic plates.

At present, Shaanxi Beiren Printing Machinery Co., Ltd. has produced a high-speed wide-format paper concave machine, the price is only one-third of imported flexographic printing presses, the use of gravure pre-printing may be more suitable for the actual situation of packaging companies in China.

What are the advantages of printing the commonly used printing process known as "post-printing" pre-printing versus post-printing?

1. Better print quality, more adaptability

Pre-printing uses a gravure or flexo printing machine to print on a smooth paper surface. Compared with the later printing using a printing slotting machine to print on uneven paperboard surfaces, it can perform fine color printing with richer layers and brighter colors. , And the printing quality is more stable and reliable.

2. Makes corrugated board higher strength

Since the use of pre-printing does not require embossing of the cardboard after it has been formed, it is possible to avoid deformation of the corrugations and weakening of the strength of the cardboard. After printing with corrugated cardboard printing slotting machine, each color printing will cause more or less deformation of corrugated cardboard, and the more color number, the greater the effect on the deformation of corrugated cardboard.

3. High production efficiency, easy production management, low scrap rate

What are the advantages of gravure printing carton preprinting compared to traditional color offset printing?

1. high productivity

Gravure printing web printing speeds of up to 150 to 200 meters per minute are basically compatible with many domestic corrugated cardboard production lines. Compared with the traditional sheet-fed offset printing and veneer lapping, the process is short, the labor cost is low, and the efficiency is high.

2. Gravure preprinted color carton produces high quality printing results

The gravure printing overlay has high precision (less than 0.2mm). It can also finish printing and varnishing once, and the printing network cable can reach 300 lines. Gravure ink is larger than other printing methods, up to 4.5g/m2 ~ 6g/m2, ink ink full, soft, bright, solid, and gravure printing after each color has a full drying system, Therefore, when the paper with high surface smoothness is selected for printing, high printing quality can be obtained.

3. Large-format, multi-color printing

The maximum size of traditional color offset printing is generally 1.2m×0.9m (panasonic), and most of them are four-color printing. Carton pre-printing unit gravure printing machine with a maximum printing material width of 2.5 meters, printing color number of 4 to 10 color group, at the same time can also be gold ink, silver ink and other special ink printing.

4. More suitable for long-run printing

The preprinted version is made of steel chrome-plated electrogravure, and the number of imprints is from 300 to 4 million impressions, which shortens the time for changing the edition and is particularly suitable for the long-lived printing of large quantities.

5. The corrugated box produced has a higher strength

Because the production of corrugated boxes by preprinting is completed on the production line, there is a certain time of heat forming during the production, and the final production of corrugated boxes is high in strength, and the uneven glue applied in the production of the noodle machine can be avoided. Ribs, cardboard warping and so on.

(to be continued)