Packaging
Impressive demonstration of TAPS system printing on PE film during ROTOMEC gravure Open House
Monday 30. November 2009 - More than 150 converters from 15 countries world-wide attended the ROTOMEC Open House, which was held in the companys Technology Center in San Giorgio Monferrato 16 to 18 November 2009, to view the performance of ROTOMECs TAPS (Total-Automatic-Pre-register-Setting) system in demonstration on a RS 4003 MP gravure press printing polyethylene (PE) film.
The focus of the Open House was the TAPS system, ROTOMECs most recent development in electronic shaft (ES) and register control integration technology which successfully reduces waste in gravure printing to unprecedented levels at press make-ready and changeovers, whether its a new or a repeat job.
To highlight the TAPS extraordinary performance under any circumstances, as well as the efficiency of the inking and drying systems of the RS 4003 MP press, ROTOMEC devised for the demonstration a job with different design complexities to be printed on 25 micron PE film.
PE film is reputedly the most difficult substrate to print in rotogravure because it is a very extensible material which also requires drying at low temperature.
TAPS is a truly unique feature – no other such system being available on the market to date – which works by a single operator touch of the dedicated push-button located on the main console. TAPS starts the press, moves all the cylinders in register position and switches the register control into automatic mode by reading a dedicated pattern printed on the web. The procedure is completed in just a few minutes, whether it is a new or repeat job.
The demonstration started with the 10-color RS 4003 MP press set-up to print a 6 colour job. As the TAPS enables any type of printing cylinders (integral, hollow or sleeve) to be inserted in the press in any angular position, a member of the audience was invited to move some of the gravure cylinders ready on the trolleys to show that indeed their random position does not affect the speed of the pre-register setting.
One of the advantages of the TAPS system is that it is unaffected by conventional pre-register issues: it does not require any pre-register devices such as laser pointer, pre-register rings, adhesive tapes or reading sensors for cylinder marks, and as such it avoid any mistakes that might occur in the setting phase of those devices.
TAPS is also unaffected by the web path configuration because it works even in case of mistakes occurring during web threading, or by the sequence of printing units. It also works with reverse printing.
After the trolley insertion and the push of the TAPS button to start the automatic pre-register setting, visitors could follow the fast sequence of the cylinder phasing and register setting on the 6 printing units in operation which took only few minutes before the machine started accelerating to quickly achieve the speed of 350 m/min.
The excellent stability of the register during acceleration and printing is due to the HDI (High-Dynamic-Interface) function which is fitted on all ROTOMEC presses. The integration between the ES and the REGISTRON register control enables the fastest corrections time, even at the critical times of speed variations.
On a second screen fitted on the machine fairing, visitors could see the amount of waste generated by the demonstration. On the three days of demonstration, which started with a web length of 64 m in the press, the substrate waste did not exceed 86 m.
At the end of the printing demonstration, visitors gathered around the rewinder to collect print samples and check the quality of printing on the PE substrate, which was excellent.
The RS 4003 MP in demonstration is a highly efficient gravure printing press suitable for medium to long production runs of high quality printed flexible materials. The machine compact design provides approximately 20% reduction of web length in the press and its operator-oriented job changeover features enable very fast operation without tools.
The RS 4003 MP inking system features inking bars which provide perfect ink distribution and prevent the formation of air bubbles forming in the cylinder cells which could affect print quality. The drying system is highly efficient as shown by the quality of printing on the PE substrate which presents some major criticalities being a material requiring drying at low temperature. The efficiency of the ventilation system and the optimized airflow ensure minimum levels of residual solvent on the substrate and provide the additional benefit of reduced power consumption.
At a time when the possibility to maximise the profitability of pressroom operation is a crucial factor to enable converters to produce superior quality packaging at best price for their customers, the availability of technical solutions and systems able to cut waste and unproductive time effectively and systematically is of exceptional relevance and interest to the gravure printing industry, as commented upon by the ROTOMEC Open House guests.
After the printing demonstration, visitors had the opportunity to also view numerous gravure printing presses in different configuration for printing flexible packaging and special product applications currently being built in ROTOMEC production plant.