Engrave Roller Printing | Working Procdure of Roller Printing |Advantages/Disadvantages of Engrave Roller Printing Machine

Engrave Roller Printing
Roller Printing also called engrave roller printing. It is a modern continuous printing technique. In this method, a heavy copper cylinder (roller) is engraved with the print design by carving the design into the copper. Copper is soft, so once the design is engraved, the roller is electroplated with chrome for durability. This printing technique developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Until the development of rotary screen printing; it was the only continuous technique. Designs with up to 16 colors present no problem in Roller Printing.

Main parts of Roller Printing

1.  Color doctor
2.  Lint doctor
3.  Blankets
4.  Back grey
5.  Furnishers
6. Color box / tray
7.  Color unit

Roller Printing Machine

Working Process of Roller Printing:

This machine has a main cylinder that is fitted with a large gear.In this printing, the print paste is supplied from reservoirs to rotating copper rollers, which are engraved with the desired design. These rollers contact a main cylinder roller that transports the fabric. By contacting the rollers and the fabric the design is transferred to the fabric. As many as 16 rollers can be available per print machine, each roller imprints one repeat of the design. As the roller spins, a doctor blade in continuous mode scrapes the excess of paste back to the colour trough. At the end of each batch the paste reservoirs are manually emptied into appropriate printing paste batch containers and squeezed out. The belt and the printing gear (roller brushes or doctor blades, squeegees and ladles) are cleaned up with water.

The Defects in the Engrave Roller Printing

1.  Scratches
2.  Snappers
3.  Lifts
4.  Streaks
5.  Scumming
6.  Lobbing

Advantages of Engrave Roller Printing Machine

1.  Higher production without rotary screen printing machine.
2.  14 colors can be used for printing.
3.  Medium design can be produced.
4.  Can be used for printing any style.
5.  Any color is used for printing without higher alkali or conc. acid.
6.  Repeats do not exist as printing is continuous.
7.  Higher production by using single color.
8.  Complex design is possible.

Disadvantages of Engrave Roller Printing Machine

1.  Large design is not possible.
2.  Generally, shedding fault is found.
3.  Higher coloring effect is not possible as like block printing.
4.  Lower production by using more than one color.
5.  Changing time is high. 
6.  Engraving the printing roller is expensive Operation

Difference between Rotary screen printing and Copper screen printing