GraphBury Anilox Laser Cleaning

SMART INDUSTRIAL SOLUTIONS FOR THE FLEXIBLE PACKAGING & PRINTING INDUSTRY

ANILOX LASER CLEANING

TECHNOLOGY

THE FUTURE HAS ARRIVED

Are You Keeping Your Anilox Clean?Converters are demanding higher printing quality with increased color gamut, and more importantly, density variations of better than 3ΔE. To meet these requirements, maintaining your anilox clean is a huge part of the process that will enable you to achieve these targets consistently, while remaining profitable and competitive. It has been proven that any difference greater than 0.25bcm will display a visible difference in print density of approximately 3ΔE; especially when high quality process jobs are at play.

Nowadays, with extremely low volumes needed to print with HD, for instance, any volume loss can be disastrous, can affect printing consistency and repeatability, and can become very costly. For those reasons, maintaining your anilox at peak performance is a must.

610 Baeten Road, Suite 3 – Green Bay, WI 54304 www.graphbury.com 2

610 Baeten Road, Suite 3 – Green Bay, WI 54304 www.graphbury.com

With so many ink components such as acrylics, surfactants, binders, catalysts and various other additives transparent to the naked eye, there is a huge amount of work to be done to eliminate them from the plugged cells. As they dry deeper, it makes cleaning even more difficult, if not impossible. Not surprising, most anilox rolls require resurfacing due to plugged cells rather than worn or damaged surfaces.

Care and Preventative Maintenance

This is usually a result of poor cleaning and maintenance. Taking the time to define cleaning procedures and implement them, can lead to better quality printing and longer lasting rolls. Today, laser cleaning is the most efficient, cheaper and faster than any other method in the market. And it is good for the environment.

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Plugged cells “before” laser cleaning with volume of 3.23bcm.Pay close attention to the dried ink on the edges of the walls.

Clean cells “after” laser cleaning with volume of 4.96bcm.Bottom and opening of cells completely clean.

The example above was done at laser cleaning intensity 10 for deep cleaning.Our laser unit has 10 cleaning intensity levels. From a fast preventative maintenance to deep cleaning. It all depends on how dirty the roll is and how much time available you have (laser speed can vary from 1 to 2.5 linear inches per minute depending on intensity and roll/sleeve diameter).

We recommend the intensities as follows:Light – For maintenance, just to keep the anilox at its peak performance. Can be done daily.Moderate – This is the normal intensity for anilox that is within the 3ΔE tolerance.Vigorous – For anilox that are on the edge of losing color density and achieving 3ΔE tolerance.Deep – For those anilox which are completely plugged and can no longer hold the 3ΔE tolerance.

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It is essential for printers to know their anilox are within an agreed and workable specification; whether new or old. Ideally, the minimum tolerance should be “-0.0”. The anilox should never be less than the required volume. Therefore, it is important to discuss with your anilox manufacturer what their stated engraving tolerances are.

Anilox Cell Volume Tolerances

Anilox Tolerances

As a rule of thumb, below are some examples (in percentages):

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The ROI on the Laser Cleaning Unit varies from customer to customer but, on average, the system pays for itself within 10-12 months of usage. This is taking into consideration anilox reconditioning, press downtime, maintenance costs, energy costs, consumables, printing quality and consistency. And we are not even talking about how green the technology is. No more chemicals, media, compressed air, high temperature or mess.

One specific customer used to send 94 anilox per year to its supplier. This year they sent only 8. They also saved on energy bill since the power consumption was 20 times lower than his old cleaning method. Furthermore, by maintaining his ΔE under 3, his production rejection was under 2% and the printing quality improved dramatically.


Return on Investment

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Interesting Facts

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Remarkable and Achievable Cost SavingsThe costs of poor press setups are obvious: A production improvement by just 1 hour per press per day (it’s usually much more) mostly leads to a typical annual saving of: NARROW WEBCost per hour per press = U$350Saving 1 hour per day, 7 hours per week per press = 7 x 52 weeks per year = 364 hours per year per press = 364 hours x U$350 = U$127,400 per year per press in Savings! WIDE WEBCost per hour per press = U$500Saving 1 hour per day, 7 hours per week per press = 7 x 52 weeks per year = 364 hours per year per press = 364 hours x U$500 = U$182,000 per year per press in Savings! CORRUGATEDCost per hour per press = U$200Saving 1 hour per day, 7 hours per week per press = 7 x 52 weeks per year = 364 hours per year per press = 364 hours x U$200 = U$72,800 per year per press in Savings!

More Interesting Facts


Cleaning methods which use media (baking soda, plastic bead, etc.), depending on the size of the particles, can plug the cell and/or can cause damage due to impact. Usually, it can only clean up to 75% of the cell since it cannot reach the deep corners of the cells.

Laser beam can clean 100% of the ink on the cell since it pulverizes the ink leaving only dried ink dust that is collected by the vacuum system and it is ready for disposal. This makes the laser technology not only environmentally friendly but also energy efficient (less than 1.5kwh).

Impact versus Light

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Cleaning Methods Comparison Chart

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Other important points to take into consideration about our laser technology: It is a dry cleaning method which eliminates the risk of corrosion No need to remove bearings and journals No use of compressed air, harmful chemicals and heat making it not only environmentally friendly but also energy efficient Can clean any type of surface (ceramic, chrome, aluminum, steel, stainless steel, etc.) Can clean any type of engraving, line screen and volume Runs on a normal power outlet 110V/220V


Paying attention to cleaning will prolong the life of anilox rolls and therefore, prevent unnecessary expenses related to resurfacing. The actual answer to this question is that “Cleanliness is in the eye of the beholder.” What this means is that the printer must define his or her own cleanliness standards. This can be related to visual microscopic techniques, but must be related to performance criteria. If the printer plans on resurfacing anilox rolls every so often, cleaning becomes less important. Where print quality and the additional cost of resurfacing are important, then good cleaning is critical. But you don’t have to worry about that. GraphBury represents AniCAM and can provide you sales, training and technical support.

Quality Control

Quality is paramount in the printing industry nowadays so, when purchasing any of our laser cleaning units, GraphBury will give you U$1,000 credit towards the purchase of your own AniCAM. That will give you the peace of mind to improve consistency and repeatability for a high quality printing process.

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GraphBury has introduced its mobile laser cleaning unit dubbed the GraphMobile. It can actually come to your plant and prove to you the amazing capabilities of our unique, state-of-the-art, hybrid laser technology. With the GraphMobile, customers can take advantage of the “one stop shop solution”.

The GraphMobile

Every GraphMobile comes equipped with an AniCAM, an universal bracket that can fit any press in the market for on-press cleaning and also a rotating table for off-press cleaning. No roll is too big or too small. GraphBury now offers contract agreements to customers who rather use their time focusing on the production than in cleaning anilox. Our technician will not only audit the rolls but also keep track of the roll status. We can also provide preventative maintenance training and press assessment. You can try it before you buy it.Please feel free to contact us at (754) 779-4285 or email us at [email protected] for more detailed information. You will be glad you did.

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Anilox Laser Mobile Unit

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GraphMobile Cleaning Inside the Van

Cleaning Outside the Van Cleaning On-Press


Storage Systems & Protection Covers

Vertical Sleeve Cart

Horizontal Roll Cart

Protection Covers

Semi AutomaticSleeve Storage

System

Automatic Sleeve Storage System

Manual Sleeve Storage System




Sales Office:10300 W. Mc Nab Road

Tamarac, FL 33321(754)581-8286 – Sales

(754)779-4285 – Cleaning Services


GraphBury Anilox Laser Cleaning

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