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Printing rolls
Portable measurement of recessed cells in the production environment
Modern printing rolls have to fulfill highest quality standards regarding the produced print products. In pre-press, the different gray values of a picture or a decor sturcture are converted into dots of different form, size and position by the Raster Image Processor (RIP) and lead into an engraving system. By laser beam or diamond graver, the recessed cells, varying in depth as well as in area, are excavated according to the gray values. The control of the beam or graver has to be very accurate: Missing dots that occure because of an unsufficient color application caused by faulty shapings of the recessed cells, have to be avoided. Process safety and the qualty of the molding are therefore depending on the precision of the engraving. To be able to ensure the quqality of the printing process, printing rolls have to be measured directly in the production Environment and without any preparation or damaging.
Applied measurement system:
Topography measurement directly on the printing roll
With the portable surface measurement system µsurf mobile by NanoFocus, you measure the roll topography directly in the production environment. The only 4,5 kg lightweight allows, in combination with a compact, mobile workstation, to work ergonomically on any given part of the car Body.
The industry-approved μsurf confocal technology is especially suited for this measurement task, because it allows the non-destructive measurement along the whole process chain. If it is a texturing roll, the raw material, the single layers of the coating or uncoated sheets – the NanoFocus µsurf mobile can be applied to any step of production directly in the production environment.
Measurement and analysis:
Automated geometry measurement and analysis of recessed cells
Recessed cells on printing rolls are inspected to evaluate length, width and depth, area and volume as well as grid spacing. The geometry as well as the raster of the recessed cells are automatically analyzed with the µsoft printmaster specialized software. The created measurement report contains all parameters as well as the graphic presentation of the measurement. The determined characteristic values offer a solid base for the optimization of the laser structuring or engraving process.
