Flexo Concepts

Several factors contribute to long doctor blade life. Coatings, proper setting of the blade, and properly selecting a blade for your application/press will go a long way toward prolonging the life of the blade, as well as other press components such as anilox rolls. Considering the plethora of coatings and materials available to printers, blade selection today goes far beyond simply considering price. According to Perry Lichon, president of Retroflex, “While blade materials should be judged by their ability to doctor, they should also be judged for ease of handling, blade life, impact on roll wear, and overall cost.” According to Anthony Foley, vice

Every package printer strives to produce packaging of the highest quality for its customers. Aiding in that effort is today’s higher anilox roll line counts. Line counts upwards of 1,000 have given printers the ability to reach realms of quality impossible with older, lower cell count aniloxes. The only drawback to these higher counts is the delicate nature of the anilox cells, which can be easily damaged during cleaning. This is a conundrum printers need to consider and take seriously if they plan on reaping the full rewards attainable through these newer rolls. “Higher count anilox rolls, in response to the need for higher

Much research and development has gone into the design of modern doctor blades and systems, and knowing what is needed is the most important factor in choosing the correct blade. AUTOMATION. SIMPLICITY. PARTNERSHIP. These three elements are important to the converter involved in any aspect of the printing process, and doctor blades are no exception. "Fundamentally, the job of the printing doctor blade has not changed over the years. A doctor blade must remove excess ink from the ink transfer process without causing other problems," said Paul Sharkey, president, FLXON Inc. "What has changed is that more and more printers realize the doctor blade