About tobacco packaging and its printing equipment applications

Cigarette packs are the packaging products with the highest precision requirements and the most comprehensive printing technology content. The technologies and processes required for printing are comparable to the printing of banknotes and securities.

Tobacco packaging is different from the packaging of general products. Tobacco products must not be marketed in the form of advertisements. Therefore, the novel and unique packaging will serve as the best advertising product for tobacco products, making it uniquely popular among soaring crowds of cigarettes and making them stand out. Therefore, the tobacco industry has given the packaging printing industry a flourishing development momentum and attractive market prospects. In summary, tobacco packaging has the following characteristics.

First, highlight the design

The design of cigarette packets must be personalized and innovative. Such as layout bright and bright bright, round-shaped opening, small box portable packaging, front and back printing, warning picture applications, visual clean appearance, etc. At the same time, with high-grade white cardboard bright color hard box packaging will gradually replace the high-grade copperplate paper Dark soft box packaging.

Second, a variety of combinations of anti-counterfeiting technology

Tobacco packaging has very high requirements for anti-counterfeiting technology. A single anti-counterfeit technology has only a short-term anti-counterfeiting effect, and a combination of multiple anti-counterfeiting technologies can play a real role.

The current anti-counterfeiting technologies used on cigarette packs are as follows:

1. Laser holographic anti-counterfeiting: Integrate complex three-dimensional holographic imaging technology with two-dimensional printing technology for packaging, so that anti-counterfeit signs can show different patterns, texts or backgrounds from different angles, which is intuitive and convenient. The colorful flash effect is also quite popular with consumers and it is a common anti-counterfeiting technology.

2. Anti-counterfeiting of ink: Adding special materials into the connecting materials of ordinary inks, and processing through special processes to become special ink technologies. Such as UV anti-counterfeiting ink, pressure-sensitive anti-counterfeiting ink, fluorescent anti-counterfeiting ink, magnetic anti-counterfeiting ink, infrared anti-counterfeiting ink and so on.

3. Paper anti-counterfeiting: Using a special process to change the fiber density of pulp at a certain point in the papermaking process, the desired logo or pattern is incorporated into the paper, and under strong light irradiation, the anti-counterfeiting mark can be clearly presented.

4. Press convex anti-counterfeit: Through the fine-grained, rich-level engraving template, the anti-counterfeit logo is printed on the cigarette pack by the embossing process, and the appearance of the cigarette pack is improved.

5. BOPP laser holographic shrink film anti-counterfeit: In the production of BOPP film, the use of wide holographic packaging machine 'target = _blank> transparent film technology will be printed on the special anti-counterfeit BOPP film, and then wrapped by heat sealing the cigarette box, Anti-counterfeiting at the source. This is the most powerful and sophisticated tobacco packet anti-counterfeiting technology currently used by foreign cigarette factories.

Third, a variety of combinations of technology

The requirements for the surface decoration and decoration of cigarette packs are extremely high, and a variety of decorative techniques are integrated into one, not only the fine and elegant printing graphics, but also ordinary hot stamping or holographic hot stamping, embossing, overall glazing or partial glazing. , film, gold and silver printing, pearl effect, die cutting, creasing, anti-counterfeit printing, etc., each process requires high precision, good effect, solid packaging, fold lines are not easy to be distorted, tight lid, ink resistance Abrasive does not change color, light no smell and so on.

Fourth, gravure printing will become the mainstream

Cigarette printing is not only the reproduction and reproduction of the tone level, but also involves a large number of spot color printing, such as large-area field, gold and silver, pearlescent effects, etc., and the spot color, especially the spot color, requires the density of the printing ink. Very high, requiring large color saturation and high brightness. At the same time, cigarette pack printing is usually a large-volume long version. The color of the entire batch must be uniform, and no color, spot, or variegated colors are required. Therefore, the printing speed is high, the variable factors in the printing process are small, and the operation adjustment is relatively simple. , The printing speed of the printing plate should be high, the color change of the medium printing medium is less, and the ink is resistant to wear, heat, light and so on. Gravure printing has the following unique advantages:

1. Rely on the network structure, express the shade of ink through different thicknesses of ink layers. The saturation of ink is very high, the color is bright and bright, and the layers are rich and clear.

2. It can be widely used non-toxic environmental protection water-based ink and UV ink, in line with the requirements of green and environmental protection package printing.

3. No film, digital electron beam or laser-engraving plate making, printing plate quality is good, the printing rate is up to several million, and the printing operation is simple, the quality is stable, the ink color is uniform, there is no ink and ink balance and ink emulsion and other faults, whether it is Hierarchical or field editions can all be ideally reproduced.

4. High-speed web rotary gravure printing machine with online coating, die-cutting, indentation, embossing, hot stamping and other post-processing stations, high efficiency, high precision, comprehensive processing ability.

At present, 30% of cigarette pack printing is done with gravure printing, but with the development of cigarette packs towards high-end quality products, gravure printing will occupy more and more market share with its unique advantages. Offset printing due to its ink and water balance, ink emulsification, and long ink path characteristics will not be able to focus on spot printing of cigarette packs; flexo printing will suddenly take off some of the market, but the current domestic use of flexo printing high quality fine network cable products Still lack of confidence; silk screen will show its talent in the surface decoration of cigarette packs, such as local glazing, matte, refraction, ice, wrinkles and other effects, so that the cigarette package decoration icing on the cake.

Of course, the precipitation of decades of printing technology will always be reflected in China's cigarette packs, and the world's most advanced and advanced printing technology will surely be seen on cigarette packs in China.
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Five, gravure printing equipment configuration points applicable to cigarette pack printing

According to incomplete statistics, there are currently more than 500 sets of cigarette package gravure printing lines introduced by cigarette pack printing companies in China. There are single-type production lines for “gravure printing—drawing large sheets”, and “gravure printing—inline dies. Cutting hot stamping machine production line. The use of equipment in various companies is also uneven. Many companies have excess production capacity and idle equipment, which results in too many corporate liabilities. There are also many companies that thrive in the market competition and have entered the growth path of scale expansion and equipment transformation. Therefore, the correct selection of a gravure printing line suitable for the development of the enterprise is a key decision. This article chooses eight aspects to briefly explain.

1. Maximum format specification (printed paper width): A narrow gravure printing machine with 660mm or less, a medium web gravure printing machine with an area of ​​850mm or less, and a wide gravure printing machine with a width of 1,000mm to 1500mm. Nowadays, it has produced over 2500mm in foreign countries. Gravure printing machine. Relative to the domestic market, I believe that the 830mm width of the width of the gravure machine is more appropriate cost-effective, 830mm is the most suitable cigarette package layout width, the strip box can be two, the box can be ranked three; 650mm width is suitable for The current cigarette pack business volume is not yet a big company.

2. Printing color number: 80% are configured with six to eight color groups, and currently eight color groups are dominant. The eighth color group is generally used for the glazing unit, and a color group is used for the reverse printing. Four of the remaining six color groups are regular colors and two are spot colors. The reverse printing color group can be in the seventh color group, or in the first color group, adding a paper roll to change the paper path can be reversed. The author thinks that it is better to use the first color as the reverse printing color group, which can ensure that the front two to seven color groups can be directly coated after printing, without influencing the polishing accuracy twice.

3. Non-shaft drive and shaft drive: At present, the non-shaft drive technology of various brands of gravure printing machines has matured. The feeding unit, each printing unit, the cutting unit, and the hot stamping and embossing unit are each driven by an independent motor to achieve independent adjustment of the tension in each section, correcting the misalignment error, significantly reducing the preparation time and improving the working accuracy. However, the gravure printing machine adopting the non-shaft transmission technology is about 10% more expensive than the gravure printing machine with the shaft drive technology, and it also increases the complexity of the electronic control system and increases the testing and installation adjustment requirements for the electrical system. Therefore, the author It is considered that if the economical model with a printing speed of 200 m/min or less can be configured according to the cost performance.

4. Paper pretreatment device: The paper must be dehumidified, dust-removed, and anti-static treated before it enters the printing unit. Therefore, a drying tunnel should be added before the first printing color group, and the paper should be moistened with hot air, and on the paper. Each side of the belt is equipped with a set of electrostatic dust-absorbing roller brushes to ensure that the paper entering the printing unit meets the high-quality printing requirements.

5. Drying method: The commonly used ink drying methods include infrared drying, hot steam drying, hot oil drying and natural gas blowing hot air drying. At present, the most commonly used infrared drying, but the drying efficiency is not high, the cost is relatively large, if the venue allows, but also consider natural gas blowing hot air drying, relatively cost-effective. This should be decided before the equipment is configured, because there are differences between various drying devices. Of course, printing and glossing with UV inks should be configured with UV light drying. In general, one-to-seven-color groups use a single drying oven to dry the ink, and the last color group uses a reinforced double drying oven to dry the ink. If the pretreatment drying tunnel is not provided before printing, the enhanced dual drying tunnel must be used after the printing of the first color to dry both the first color ink and the moisture on the paper.

6. Electrostatic ink-absorbing device: Since the gravure printing is to store the ink through the net, the ink transfer of the fine dot of the high-line wire is relatively difficult. Therefore, the author believes that four electrostatic ink-absorbing devices should be configured on the four conventional printing color groups, consisting of high-voltage generators, electrodes, cables, etc., so that the ink can be fully transferred and the fine levels on the cigarette packets can be reproduced well. Of course, this device cannot be used for the printing of metal inks or the printing of paper containing metal layers.

7. Register detection device: In addition to the first color group, the other two to eight color groups have an online register detection device that detects each different color register color block mark on the paper through an optical filter sensor head. Some gravure printing machines register detection device is the previous color as a benchmark, each color in turn register; some gravure printing machine to the first color for overprinting reference, and other colors are compared with the first color. In contrast, the author believes that the registration of color registration errors will occur, affecting the accuracy of the following color registration.

8. Configuration of Finishing Machine: At present, there are two types of cigarette bag gravure production lines.

(1) Unwinding - printing - cutting large sheets.

(2) Unwinding - Printing - Hot Stamping, Embossing, and Indentation - Round Dies

Cut - carton transfer and scrap side.

Both production lines have their own characteristics. Inline cutting is a common configuration, which can make full use of the existing die-cutting stamping embossing and other equipment in the factory; and the hot stamping, round-pressure die-cutting configuration, high degree of automation, high precision, and Can optimize production management, but the equipment is expensive.

It is worth considering that the increase in on-line processing equipment will come at the cost of reducing the machine's operating speed and reducing the machine's working accuracy. In general, the machine speed will decrease by about 10% to 20% for each additional post-processing station. The processing accuracy is also the same. The printing accuracy can reach ±0.10mm. The precision after cutting large sheets or stamping can only reach ±0.15 mm, and the precision after die cutting is only ±0.20mm.

In summary, when selecting a gravure production line and configuring each device, the company must comprehensively weigh and rationally configure it in accordance with the conditions of the business, technology, existing equipment, and funds in the factory in order to obtain the optimal price/performance ratio.


Source: Seal

Non-woven Cleaning Cloth

Jiangmen Pengjiang Guanqi Trading Co., Ltd. , https://www.rikeryclean.com