Rotogravure cylinder engraving machine works on the principle of intaglio printing in which images are engraved on the piece of paper with the help of elevation and depressions on the surface of the cylinder. It is widely used to produce cardboard, newspapers, postcards, etc. The use of cylinder in this system derives the reason for the word cylinder. Here are some of the different parts and features of this rotogravure cylinder engraving machine:
1. Parts
Gravure Cylinder
This is the main and most important of all the parts. The cylinder's circumference can vary depending upon which type of layout is being made. Steel and plated Cooper are generally used to manufacture gravure cylinders by gravure cylinder manufacturers, but it is often made up of ceramics. The first and foremost process of making the requisite cylinder is to engrave the required shape and profile on it either with the help of photoengraving or diamond cutting tools. After that, it is placed on the top of the ink fountain. In this way, the ink is transferred from the roller to the paper.
Ink Fountain
A doctor blade assembly
A dryer
An impression roller
2. Features
There are several features due to which it is still being used. This gravure can throw more ink on the paper than other conventional methods, and due to this, the color is of striking high density, making it perfect for the fine arts and photography. It is a surprising fact that the best image we currently have of Sir Charles Darwin was only due to the help of this rotogravure system. The best part of the gravure cylinders is that they use different cylinders for different colors hence each part of the paper is systematically printed, but some critics think it as a shortcoming citing expensive cylinders manufacture and wastage of colors in many folds printing process. That's why Rotogravure engraving machines with gravure cylinders are used where high print volumes are required.
One can easily see these machines working day and night in the Sunday newspaper printing presses, high volume (over one million copies) magazine production, and postcard companies. Converting Industries also uses the Rotogravure cylinder engraving machine as an asset and uses most of its potential.
3. Advantages
The advantages of gravure cylinder printing are humongous and can be described here as follows: -
- Image quality will not decrease with the increase in production quantity. This is because cylinder engraving machines work on the principle of cylinders. It is a mechanical process, so there is no software involved where there can be any errors, glitches, or bugs. The image production quality remains constant throughout the whole process, with the same striking color patterns and designs.
- Although all the business is there to earn profits and gravure cylinder printing is beneficial in that as well. They are a one-time investment that will work for decades with minimal maintenance cost and care. Also, due to their extensive use, the cost to produce one extra unit decreases by a huge margin, and the profitability increases to a huge extent.
- One of the big costs of using these machines is training the operators to use the machines. But this is not the case with gravure cylinder printing presses. They are very easy to use. There are minimal input channels so that the human intervention is least. After showing some tutorials, anyone can use these machines with brilliant efficiency.
So, these points and aspects make us believe that gravure cylinder printing is still in demand and why you deserve it.