Before humankind found a large-scale alternative to clean energy, the consumption of global energy led to a continuous decrease in total energy. In some regions, there may be even a shortage of energy supply. The consumption of certain energy sources and some non-environmental production methods directly lead to environmental pollution. According to statistics, the energy consumption of China’s production unit products far exceeds that of developed countries. In the field of carton production, how to continuously search for low-energy and environmentally-friendly production means is a new topic for our carton carton workers, including business decision-makers, because this is not only a commitment of outstanding enterprises to the society's energy-saving and environmental protection requirements. The observance of relevant laws and regulations has a direct bearing on the cost and profit targets of carton carton manufacturers, which in turn has a major impact on the image, survival and development of the company. Taking a carton factory with an annual output value of 100 million yuan as an example, as long as it is scrap or if the cost rises or falls by one percentage point, there will be a profit margin of nearly one million yuan. In the current carton industry, where competition is fierce and generally meager, this key point cannot be ignored.

Waste rate control is the key to energy saving
When it comes to energy efficiency, people first think of such indicators as “how much ink and other energy consumption is consumed for every 1000 sheets of paper”. However, if you avoid actual production, it is not practical to discuss only these rigid indicators of machinery. "The most energy-saving" when machinery is stopped is not what we need to save energy. Although printing presses can be printed and processed in an energy-saving state, they fail to meet the required yield, or fail to meet the required product quality, and they lose their significance in energy saving. What we need is energy saving and environmental protection under the premise that the machinery satisfies normal production, especially in providing high-quality printing and processing. The criterion for energy conservation is the actual energy consumption of the qualified products of the production unit.

We may not have noticed that in the production of high-quality cartons, the increase in energy consumption first comes from the increase in waste products. If the waste rate can be effectively controlled, the energy consumption will be directly reduced. What are the main causes of waste in carton printing and processing and how can it be overcome?

The poor flatness of the cardboard leads to the increase of printing waste
Non-flat paperboard will directly affect the ability of the corrugated paper printer to feed the paper platform and the ability of the color group to smoothly transport the paperboard. The common problem is that it causes paper jams, uneven printing pressure, uneven printing ink layers, and even partial image leaks, which may lead to overprint tolerances and often require shutting down. Therefore, firstly controlling the quality of the cardboard on the tile line is the prerequisite for controlling the printing waste. In addition, if the press can do some remedial measures to the non-flat cardboard, it can also help control and reduce waste. For example, Diniton’s “Blue Wizard” press (above) has its unique paper feed platform and a strong cardboard transport system that can make up for the defects on the board. Plates with poor smoothness will be precisely corrected in the printing press, and printing and processing will be completed in a very straightforward state, reducing or avoiding the production of waste in this process.

Overprinting error in printing presses leads to increase in printing waste
Corrugated cardboard multicolor printing has been a problem for many carton manufacturers. The general printing press failed to fundamentally solve this problem. In overprinting of more than four colors, with the accumulation of transmission errors, the precision of multi-color overprinting becomes difficult to guarantee, or it is difficult to guarantee a long-lasting and stable precision overprint, and the adjustment and correction processes performed by the operator for registration become more and more. Complex, various kinds of printing waste products appear naturally. The inaccuracy of the printing position will also affect the precision of subsequent processes such as grooving, die cutting, folding, and paste boxes, which will increase the amount of post-processing waste. To solve this problem fundamentally, a truly long-lasting precision printing unit is needed.

For example, in order to compensate for the shortcomings of corrugated cardboard and heavy-duty cardboard, Diniton presses have stricter standards in mechanical design and manufacturing than offset printing and pre-printing methods, which overcomes the vibration of corrugated cardboard during the transportation process. Unacceptable factors such as undulation, shifting, etc., 8-color overprint accuracy up to ± 0.1mm. Its unique mechanical properties, in addition to corrugated printing, can also accurately print 0.5mm to 2.5mm thick cardboard, filling the market gap of “single heavy cardboard ink flexographic printing”. This through a high-precision overprint, fundamentally solved the carton carton production plant has been facing the "overprinting problem", will minimize the printing waste. The precision of this overprinting is not like the other machinery must adjust the compensation error by means of the servo motor, but is automatically guaranteed by the mechanical structure itself. It is a “fool” operation mode, and the user does not need to perform complex adjustments. . The high-precision machinery cooperates with the automatic control system that memorizes 10,000 kinds of carton parameters. When the order is repeated, it can be almost “one-off printing”, one delivery, the reject rate is almost reduced to zero, and the energy consumption per unit product is reduced to lowest. The overprint accuracy of this type of printing press is not only achieved within the first year or two of the mechanical use. Its permanent precision design of the "Rolls-Royce" class allows the precision of the machinery to last for decades, as long as it is a day in the long-term. The use of the process saves a lot of energy for the user.

Inadequate configuration and condition of the ink system leads to increased waste
Inappropriate viscosity of the ink, the number of screen lines of the anilox roller and the number of printing plate lines are unreasonable, the ink supply amount of the anilox roller is not matched with the printed product, and the flatness of the ink is poor, and the like can directly lead to the generation of printing waste products. If the viscosity is too high, ink buildup or whitening will occur, and the number of anilox rollers will be too low. When printing a grading screen, “burning” stops will be frequent. The ink volume of the anilox roller is too high or too low, and the uneven ink squeegee often causes the field. There are different shades of color in the print.

When selecting the number of printing plate lines and anilox roller lines, in addition to considering the user's requirements and the characteristics of the product itself, it is also necessary to fully consider the service life of the consumables and pursue the most reasonable cost-effectiveness. For example, when printing high-line carton, the print batch of 133 lines/inch or more will be much lower than 100 lines/inch. The reason is that when the number of screen lines is too high, the high-light spot becomes extremely small. It is more easily damaged during printing and cleaning. The life of the high-mesh anilox roller with the high-line number plate material will also be greatly reduced, because the high-mesh anilox roller network hole is more easy to be clogged and more wearable. Thought that "as long as the use of high-line number of plates, can achieve high-definition printing on any press" by practice has proved to be a misunderstanding. If the number of lines is high, but the printer's ability to control the cardboard is not good, the dots will be subjected to excessive vibration and deformation, so that the pattern cannot be truly restored and the effect is even worse.

According to actual observations, high-definition printing can be achieved on a high-precision printer without requiring a high number of screen lines. For example, although the “Blue Wizard” printer can achieve various precision printing in the range of 50 lines to 150 lines/inch, users of the printing press only need 85 lines to 100 lines/inch in the actual production process. The material can achieve a photo-clear effect and can meet the requirements of most carton boxes on the market. It can be seen that the root cause is not how high the number of lines is, but rather the extremely precise printing pressure control and the stability of the cardboard conveying. In addition, sales-type cartons are usually placed on the shelves of supermarkets or shopping malls, and are about 1m to 2m away from the eyes of consumers. Within this distance, the eyeballs that can attract buyers actually realize the main purpose of sales-type cartons. One of the features. If you increase the number of plate lines in a carton like printed books and magazines, it will cause waste of material, increase of costs, and increase of waste. In addition to satisfying individual special requirements, it is generally not appropriate.

The increase in waste caused by problems in the ink road is not entirely controlled by the machine itself. For example, improper selection of ink, anilox roller, and plate material has little to do with the performance of the machine itself. However, as a machinery manufacturer, it should be able to add some configurations for the carton companies that can avoid the problem of the ink road from the mechanical design and manufacturing. For example, Diniton's electronic ink supply system is very unique. Its ink is always supplied to the anilox roller ink chamber with a constant amount and a smooth speed; the design of the scraping ink system is very precise and unique, and it can meet the high light level network. Printing, but also to achieve a large field, thick and heavy color printing, so the actual printing ink uniform and delicate, full and realistic reproduction of dots, the flexographic printing can produce a strong sense of three-dimensional and layered. According to production requirements, ink viscosity control system and pH monitoring system can also be used to reduce the waste products that may be produced by the change of printing ink properties by automation.
               
Precise downstream processes reduce energy consumption
Precise "paper feed", "printing", "slotting", "drum-die cutting" and "folding paste boxes" are actually related to each other. If the error of paper feeding and overprinting is too large, it will inevitably affect the precision tolerance of grooving or die cutting. If the accuracy of die cutting or grooving is not enough, then the precise folding and sticking can not be completed at the back, resulting in the common phenomenon of "fish tail", or the phenomenon of "up and down and left and right folding is not neat".

The truly precise printing linkage line, from paper feeding to printing, post-processing and tying and stacking, should be conducted through every step in the “precision” feature to reduce or avoid various types of waste products; the mechanical design precision will produce extremely smooth machinery. Sports characteristics, mechanical service, long service life, mechanical wear and power loss to a minimum. The actual life of some of the finely-crafted machines is very long. For example, the machine manufactured by Dyneton in 1924 is still working.

Local drying and partial coating reduce energy consumption
Depending on the user's order situation, according to the needs of the production speed, in order to increase the drying speed of the ink, an infrared dryer can be added between the color groups. Infrared dryer installed