Reducing alcohol - Influence of the surface covering material of the rubber roller in the offset ink inking device and the dampening device

In recent years, there are few other issues that can cause offset printers to be more concerned than reducing alcohol use. Today, the amount of alcohol has been significantly reduced. Undoubtedly, people are so concerned about this issue because it directly or indirectly affects our living environment.
Since environmental issues become a focus of attention in the industry, alcohol has become an unwelcome material in the printing industry. Because alcohol is a volatile organic compound (VOC), it volatilizes into the atmosphere, promoting the production of ozone and creating a greenhouse effect. The legislation issued by the legislature and stringent testing measures put pressure on the printer. To achieve new regulatory standards, we must try to reduce the amount of alcohol.
From the perspective of reducing costs, limited use of alcohol has attracted the attention of managers.
Printers' practitioners should establish awareness of reducing alcohol use. After printing without alcohol, there may be some problems during printing, which require the printer to deal with it with rich experience. Therefore, the printer should be willing to spend time and energy to change the habits that had been formed when using alcohol.
Before discussing the issue of reducing alcohol use or limiting the use of alcohol, let us first look at the role of IPA in printing.
1, IPA can reduce the surface tension of fountain solution, enhance the wetting effect (see Figure 1 omitted)
2, can increase the dynamic viscosity of fountain solution, so that the amount of water transferred to the printing plate more, to meet the printing requirements (see Table 1 omitted).
3, support for the ink emulsification, can accelerate the ink balance in the printing process.
4. After IPA is used, the phenomenon of stacking ink is significantly reduced, and the situation of the ink flowing back into the water bucket and contaminating the fountain solution is reduced.
5, IPA evaporation also has a cooling effect, can reduce the energy required to control the printing unit temperature.
6, IPA also has the role of insecticides and bactericides, which can inhibit the breeding of algae and bacteria in dampening devices.
In short, IPA gives the press a stronger “resistance”, and even if the roller pressure is slightly inappropriate, it will not affect the print quality too much, especially when printing some prints with lower ink coverage. Very valuable. With IPA, the offset process becomes easier to control and the press's performance is more stable.
In the offset printing process, reducing the amount of alcohol or using no alcohol at all causes some new problems for the operator of the printing press and the printing press, and puts forward new requirements.
1. The ink roller and water roller must have good performance and accurate pressure adjustment. Always check whether the roll setting is reasonable and timely adjust.
2, in the printing process, we must carefully observe and control the amount of ink and water, and grasp the ink balance.
3. Routine maintenance and repair are very important and the entire printing unit must be kept clean.
4. The most critical point is that high-level decision makers must have the determination not to use alcohol, and the operators of printing machines should also fully cooperate with each other and make up their minds to overcome difficulties and overcome difficulties. Otherwise, alcohol-free printing will be difficult to achieve.
What is the role of rubber rollers in reducing alcohol consumption? The focus of this article is to discuss the role of rubber rollers in reducing alcohol consumption. Although fountain solution additives, inks, and water components all have a role in reducing alcohol consumption, fountain solution additives and some alcohol substitutes can damage the rollers and lower the pH. Sometimes the "orange peel effect" of the rubber roller can be observed with the naked eye. Some of our customers in countries other than the United States not only use special compounds for rubber rollers but also fountain solution additives or fountain solutions.
In order to support the practice of reducing alcohol consumption, efforts have been made to develop suitable roller surface covering materials. This type of material is broadly divided into two categories. One is the hard roller material used for the water roller and the water roller, and the other is the elastic roller material.
In the development of hard roller materials, the focus is on the use of new surface covering materials such as ceramics or changes in the surface properties of conventional covering materials. For example, the surface of a matt chrome roller is covered with many tiny “cracks” that roughen its surface and deliver more water.
In addition to the use of flexible roller compounds reported by the authorities, chemists also embed fibers in rubber to increase the surface roughness of the rollers and improve their water transfer performance. However, there are also deficiencies in this type of rubberized roller. Ultimately, these fibers lose their effect due to the mechanical wear of the rollers. Sometimes the individual fibers on the surface of the rollers can also cause...
BOTTCHER'S CONCEPT - BALANCE OF FEATURES BOTTCHER'S ALL THE WAYS ARE FOCUSED ON AN IDEA - BALANCE OF FEATURES, THAT THE ENTIRE PRINT PROCESS OF THE PRINTING PRESS IS BECOMING A RESPECTIVE INTERIOR OVERALL AND THE COMPATIBILITY OF THE PARTS IS STRONG The more stable the printing process, the easier it is to control. When designing, try to align the materials used in each part to make it an open system, so that the users are less and less restricted in choosing the corresponding equipment for their offset presses.
Just as the bucket roller has both the traditional chrome roll and the new ceramic roll, the compound of the roll is also varied and challenging. Roller compounds must be compatible with chrome-plated rolls of different performance treatments, and must be compatible with various fountain solution additives and commercially available alcohol substitutes.
BOTTER's development team has consciously advised users to use expensive ceramic rollers to make chrome rollers. It does not have to be the same type of rubber roller used by the printer, even though the compound itself has a significant reduction in alcohol or even no alcohol. .