Esa rotogravure printing

Rotogravure (also known as gravure) is a form of printing that utilizes an engraved cylinder and an elastomer coated impression roller. The engraved image on the cylinder picks up the ink which is transferred to the web using pressure. Roller and sleeve covering play a crucial role in the rotogravure printing process as they ensure an even and maximum coverage of the ink in order to achieve the highest printing quality. Hannecard has been active and specialized in roller and sleeve coverings for gravure printing for more than 50 years now to ensure a perfect printing quality.

Electrostatic assist cannot be used for metallic inks due to the risk of short circuits or sparks. To enable dissipation of static electricity, we offer antistatic coatings. The PressoGraf range for classical rotogravure presses comes in the following variants, each with their own specific qualities. All versions are by default antistatic and so reduce fire risk as a result of sparkover. The impression roll coverings or sleeves are available for the applications of decorative printing, cardboard printing and flexible packaging.

To assure non-stick, non-crushing and non-marking for fine media (low density paper, thin film and flexible packaging) and ‘correcting’ characteristics for the contacting web, Hannecard has developed MicroGraf, a micro-cellular foam rubber for the covering of the paster rollers for the splices. MicroGraf is soft and assures the desired constant elasticity. This quality allows for planar corrections and the elimination of air pockets in the spliced web reels. As a variant, we can extend the MicroGraf paster roller covering in a double layered version called MicroGraf+. In this case, the top layer is a compact harder rubber, which can be finished helicoidally or with other special types of grooves, according to the web medium. For rougher media like Kraft paper you can rely on our low-hardness polyurethane series Splice-O-Graf, that comes in hardnesses of 22 or 30 Shore A, and which combines a high elasticity with increased mechanical and dynamical properties.

The disadvantage of traditional textile covered rollers is that they do not assure uniform inking jobs at high printing speeds. Hannecard has developed a solid alternative: DoseRight, a laser-engraved 60 Shore A rubber roll covering. Different laser engraved patterns (squared, pyramidal, honeycomb, scattered, etc.) are available, in function of inking type and application. Laser engraved inking rollers assure a uniform and correct inking of the printing roll, avoid ghost image appearance and reduce the ink spillage. The advantages of DoseRight include: Inking rollers No cell filling No lines No ghost image