The anilox roller is used to transfer a measured amount of ink onto a flexographic printing plate and is essential for flexo printing machines. The anilox roller consists of a basic body made of either aluminum, steel, or plastic covered with a surface layer that contains tiny depressions to store and transfer ink. The roller’s performance directly impacts printing quality, with each industry having various requirements.
Structure and Function of the Anilox Roller
There are different anilox roller designs with various roller bodies, engraving technologies, coatings, and more. The depressions in the anilox roller surface layer vary depending on the engraving and can be either cavities, pits, or lines that are filled with ink during the printing process. The engraving and geometry of the anilox roller determine the amount of ink that is emitted during the printing process.
Anilox Roller Areas of Application
Anilox rollers can be tailor-made with rolls and sleeves adapted to meet specific industry applications and requirements.
Sticker and Label Printing
Label printing covers a broad range of applications, whether printing barcode labels, serial plates, or bottle labels on a wide range of substrates. Anilox rollers may be designed with a steel cylinder and ceramic anilox roll or lighter sleeves for quicker job changeovers.
Printing on Packaging
Packaging printing requires high-quality standards with sophisticated, refined results. Packaging is trending towards lighter weight and less expensive materials, with printers rising to the challenge. Anilox rollers can print packaging with environmentally friendly, water-based inks with excellent depuration behavior. This provides exceptional, perfectly defined ink transfer for consistent, high-quality printing.
Printing on Corrugated
High-quality, anilox rollers can be customized to meet specialized, individual requirements for printing on corrugated boards. Corrugated printing continues to evolve in recent years with fine lines and high-quality standards in addition to traditional cardboard printing jobs. Anilox rollers deliver consistent, high-quality results when customized for corrugated printing.
Offset, Large Area Printing
Ceramic, anilox rollers deliver high-quality finishing for catalogs, brochures, and packaging or any other type of large area, offset printing job.
Anilox rollers can be used in coating applications as well as flexographic printing processes. With the flexibility of surface finishes, choosing the best type of anilox roller for your application will provide benefits with high-quality printing.
Tamarack Provides Flexo Printing Solutions
Tamarack® Products provide solutions for flexo printing finishing processes as a leading manufacturer of specialized, high-quality equipment for the label-making industries. We design, engineer, and manufacture in-line and offline integrated labeling and web finishing equipment. The P500 Inline on Flexo Press Integrated Labeling Equipment produces labels, cards, forms, and affixes materials such as scratch-off patches and holograms. The P500 will also affix windows to provide comprehensive solutions for the form and label-making industries.
Tamarack® Products provides solutions to the label, forms, and packaging industries as a global manufacturer of specialized equipment. We stand apart from other equipment suppliers in our dedication and commitment to delivering scalable and flexible solutions with our in-depth technical expertise. Contact us to learn more about how to choose the best type of anilox roller for your flexible printing process.
