What Does An Anilox Roller Do?

The anilox roller is the core component of the flexographic printing machine and is known as the "heart of the flexographic printing machine". The quality of the anilox roller directly affects the fineness and uniformity of the printing. According to the composition mechanism, the anilox roller can be divided into two types: ceramic anilox roller with nickel layer in the middle and ordinary ceramic anilox roller. Ordinary ceramic anilox rollers are mainly composed of metal roller cores and ceramic coatings on the surface, as the name suggests, the middle nickel layer ceramic anilox roller is more nickel plating than the ordinary ceramic anilox roller.

The concept of the number of anilox roller lines and the number of meshes:
(1) Number of lines
The number of lines of a anilox roller refers to the number of reticulated concave and convex lines per inch on its surface, which is usually expressed by LPI (Lines Per Inch). For example, a reticulated roller with 100 threads has 100 reticulated lines per inch on its surface.
(2) Mesh
The mesh of a anilox roll refers to the number of reticulated concave and convex lines per square inch of its surface, which is usually expressed by BCM (Cells Per Square Inch). For example, a mesh 80 anilox roller has 80 reticulated concave and convex elements per square inch of its surface.

The role of anilox roller:
(1) Uniform and stable ink transfer, using the concave carrier on its surface to transmit and control the ink, so it has the role of ink storage, ink uniformity and ink transfer.
(2) Avoid ink bars, due to the high processing accuracy of anilox rollers, even under light pressure, the ink can be transferred well, thereby reducing and avoiding the generation of ink bars and ghosting.
(3) Improve the printing speed, due to the use of anilox rollers, effectively overcome the "flying ink" phenomenon, to improve the speed of the printing machine plays a vital role.

Application of anilox roller in different industries:
(1) Printing industry: In gravure printing and flexographic printing, ceramic anilox roller is a key component to achieve accurate ink transfer. In the field of packaging printing, it is used to print exquisite food packaging bags, beverage labels, etc., which can ensure the clarity of the pattern, the bright color and the uniformity of the ink layer. In book printing, it can also improve printing quality and production efficiency, and reduce ink consumption.
(2) Coating industry: widely used in paper coating, plastic film coating, metal foil coating and other processes. For example, in paper coating, the amount of coating can be precisely controlled by ceramic anilox rollers, and coated paper with good gloss, smoothness, and printability can be produced for printing high-end albums, magazines, etc. In the coating of plastic films, it is possible to achieve uniform coating and impart special properties such as barrier properties and electrical conductivity to the film.
(3) Electronics industry: In the manufacturing process of electronic circuit boards, ceramic anilox rollers are used to accurately coat photoresist, solder mask, etc., to ensure the manufacturing accuracy and quality of circuit boards. In the production of solar cells, it is also used to coat silver paste, aluminum paste, etc., to improve the photoelectric conversion efficiency of cells.

Daily maintenance and cleaning skills of anilox rollers:
(1) Keep the equipment clean and clean, clean it with copper brush (metal anilox roller) or steel brush (ceramic anilox roller), or clean it with washing machine water or special anilox roller cleaning solution, including low-pressure jet cleaning method, ultrasonic cleaning method and chemical solvent immersion method.
(2) Use clean water-based ink
(3) Ensure that the wiping cloth is clean
(4) Pay attention to the quality of the base paper
(5) It is strictly forbidden to scrape, touch and bump the anilox roller to prevent the anilox roller from approaching the heat source.

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