Three Cigarette Packaging Boxes printing method evaluation

Three Cigarette Packaging Boxes printing method evaluation

 

A small carton, contained in the material technology and printing technology is colorful, quite challenging. Below, Xiaobian will introduce five kinds of printing methods of corrugated boxes for you.

 

1. Post-printing corrugated box flexographic slotting machine

The printing method, introduced in the early 1980s, but slow development of the watermark machine. The main reason is that the corrugated box as transportation packaging, still in the intensive low-cost way of printing corrugated paper. The use of screen printing, thick ink layer, ink is easy to wear when handling, and pollution fingers, clothes, export packaging environmental problems after gradually caused people to pay attention to environmental protection.

 

In fact, "watermarking machine" has many advantages:

(1) With flexible printing plate, not only can copy the text, lines, solid floor, but also can copy fine network cable version, plate making speed faster than hand engraving rubber version;

 

(2) Can form linkage production line with other processes;

 

(3) Flexible printing plate can be compressed and deformed, lithographic and gravure printing requires the printing base material thickness is the same, the surface is smooth and flat, corrugated paper generally can not do, it is because flexible plate can be compressed and deformed, corrugated paper in the controlled range of thickness and flatness has a little error, the impact on quality is not great, printing plate can also print text and text;

 

(4) belongs to the high speed, high quality, efficient printing method;

 

(5) can use water-based ink, both convenient and environmental protection;

 

(6) Flexographic printing machine structure is relatively simple, suitable for large size carton requirements.

 

Corrugated box flexographic printing slotting machine, printing width up to 1.6 meters, 2 meters, 2.5 meters, 3 meters, even more than 3 meters. There are three types of this machine, which can meet the requirements of different enterprises and production:

 

(1) Flexographic printing - slotting machine: This kind of equipment is widely used at present, suitable for making flat mouth box, but also suitable for printing color pictures and die-cutting. Do special-shaped box, function box, according to the need to choose 1 ~ 5 color groups;

 

(2) flexographic printing - slotting - die cutting machine: the current application is increasing year by year, suitable for special-shaped box, function box, according to the need to choose 4 ~ 6 color groups;

 

(3) Flexographic printing - slotting - gluing - folding box - strapping production line: corrugated board in the line, carton out, directly loaded on the truck delivery, a very high degree of automation.

 

Corrugated boxes are flexographic printing, accounting for 95% (some sources say 98%) in the United States, of which post printing accounts for about 70%. Domestic printing is now estimated at 58 per cent.

 

Corrugated carton flexographic post printing technology has been widely used in China, the prospect is optimistic. The advantages of post printing are: can line production, high efficiency, plus flexographic use of water-based ink, environmental protection, light pressure, printing base material requirements, less bad pieces, low equipment price advantages, so flexographic post printing can play a leading role. Now some ideas are gradually changing, such as not excessive packaging, in line with environmental protection requirements, not too much pursuit of printing quality.

 

The key of post printing is to improve the quality of the original and flexo printing. Foreign corrugated box printing line number is not high (60 ~ 100 line/inch), and the image looks bright, visual good, three-dimensional sense is strong, color is also very rich and bright, the key is the original manuscript. There are domestic gaps.

 

There are a lot of varieties of corrugated cartons, different quality requirements, printed materials are monochrome, two-color, text, lines, field, color. Enterprises should position themselves well, do not participate in vicious competition, develop linkage production lines, pay close attention to quality, and communicate with platemaking units.

 

In principle, ceramic roller can be used to print color pictures, general printing products with 40 ~ 80 lines/inch, printing fine products with 80 ~ 110 lines/inch is enough, printing Mandarin do not "kill chicken with ox knife".

 

Recently I read a tender of a unit, the introduction of flexographic printing slotting machine is very advanced, but unfortunately there is no requirement for plate thickness. Good device plate thickness should be 2.84mm, not 3.94mm. The development trend of flexible plate is to thin thickness, hardness to high, the purpose is to plate deformation, dot reduction. Conditional unit, should use thin plate. Color picture printing, to increase competitiveness, to occupy the market.

 

2. Preprinted sheet lithography

Preprinting is characterized by good printing quality and can be printed up to 175 lines/inch if it is lithographic. There is a lot of preprinting in China using lithography, which is estimated to account for 30% of the industry now, and it will be there for quite some time, but eventually it will decline.

The reasons for the existence of domestic lithographic preprinting:

 

(1) The private economy is not developed, the accumulation of capital is not enough, resulting in less production of goods or less working capital, so the packaging products are printed in batches;

 

(2) Product promotion needs to be beautified by packaging, lithography printing quality is very good, although the cost is higher than post-printing, but for high value-added goods such as food, gifts, toys, electrical appliances and other products, the proportion of the cost is not much;

 

(3) flexible version after printing today's plate making fee is higher, the quality can not keep up. Therefore, some enterprises attach great importance to the market of sheeting lithography preprinting, and buy super-large scale (1.4 meters above) lithography presses, mounting machines, die-cutting machines.

 

Sheet paper after lithography printing and corrugated paper mounting, die cutting, box making, this way cost is high, restricting the development. If the flexographic post-printing quality is further improved, the volume of the flexographic post-printing is more suitable.

 

3. Preprinted web flexographic printing method

Web flexographic preprinting mode, printing plate line number in 120 ~ 150 lines/inch, printing quality is good. This method accounts for about 25% in the United States and is currently estimated to account for about 3% in China. In 2002, Sichuan Deyang Daily Printing Plant successfully explored and put into production the preprinting method and box making process. In 2007, Xi 'an Aerospace Huayang Printing and Packaging Equipment Co., Ltd. produced this kind of equipment -- satellite flexo press, which has been mass-produced. This has created favorable conditions for web preprinting, which is expected to develop in recent years.

 

The technology is hampered in two ways:

(1) The number of printing needs to be very large (currently mainly used for packaging printing of beer boxes and milk boxes);

 

② It requires better printing quality (otherwise it can be replaced by flexographic printing). The domestic market will have a certain demand, it is estimated that it will develop to account for 8% ~ 10% of this field.

 

4. Preprinted web flexographic printing method

The above mentioned (roll-to-roll) preprinting requirements are large order, if not large order how to do, you can use web flexo printing and then cut into a single sheet, then mount. This method has low requirements on equipment, can be printed in the unit type or laminated flexographic press, the quality is better than the post printing, suitable for making large width orders, such as 1.2 meters above the oversized carton. If the lithographic printing method is beyond the specifications of the full sheet press, the offset printing price is very high, the printing cost rises, and the flexo printing method is much lower than the relative price. The technology is on the rise.

 

5. Lithographic printing after printing

There is a need in the market, and people will always find no new way to meet it. Lithographic printing requires uniform thickness of the substrate, good flatness and smooth surface. If it is coarse corrugated, it can not be printed directly on the lithographic press. Usually, corrugated paper composed of fine corrugated (E, F, M type) and high-quality face paper with slightly higher gram weight is used to meet the requirements of high-grade commodity packaging and packaging.