Dry Offset Decorator Verification

Systems

Dry Offset Decorator Control Process

Label change/setup in the dry offset decorator requires the operator to reset the the form roller pressure. For this procedure the operator merely selects the form rollers they wish to calibrate and then clicks on the calibrate button the rest of the process is automatic. This calibration procedure need only be performed once per job. Later when that job is called the calibrated setting will be recalled and the form roller pressure will return to the stored setting. This process ensures repeatability, reduces setup time, and increase color consistency and product repeatability. As displayed in the images the operator will be provided with a graph to indicate the systems performance during the calibration procedure and the operator will be notified when the sequence is complete and if there were any errors during the process.

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The Printficient monitoring system is a strain gauge based data acquisition system that measures inking roller pressure on an offset printing press. This information is used to send feedback information to roller positioning motors for automated roller adjustments. This process ensures operator safety by removing the operator from the roller adjusting process, reducing setup time and insures consistent roller pressure throughout a production cycle. The Printficient monitoring system displays real time inking roller pressures from each end of the inking rollers, calculating the average of these two end pressures an overall pressure is determined. Our EasyInk software is capable of notifying an operator if the setup is unparallel during the setup process by comparing the pressure at each end of the roller. The operator interface displays to the user a color coded graph which represents the pressure being applied on each roller. Once the desired setup has been achieved all pressure humidity information may be recorded which can then be recalled the next the time the label is run. Potential benefits include:

• Increased Operator Safety
• Reduced stress on key printing mechanisms
• Reduce setup time
• Reduce startup scrap
• Increase overall print quality

Simplified operator screens enable anyone on the plant floor to determine what part of the system is operating in the closed loop mode. Any or all of the rollers may be selected to operate in the closed loop mode. As displayed above the green traffic light icon indicates that the closed loop mode is active and the top roller on inkers 2 and 3 are turned. The yellow vertical indicator means that the printer is offline when the printer goes online the yellow vertical indicator will turn green and full automatic roller adjustment will begin. The vertical numbers indicate the operator set point pressure the horizontal number next to the yellow pointer indicate the average pressure reading from each roller in real time. Tolerances are operator selectable for each roller, the scale is configurable for min and max values as well as data gain and offset.

Attributes
Consistent (Calibrated) form roller pressure
Reduced scrap
Reduced Downtime
Reduced Form Roller Wear
Increased Machine efficiency
Reduced Machine Maintenance Costs
Reduced Frequency of machine stoppage due to ink build up on transfer surface

PrintFicient’s EasyInk software keeps track of the roller position relative to time which enables our software to track how often and how much of a roller adjustment is made. The operator may enable an alarm that shuts off roller adjustment any time the roller attempts to adjust more than the operator defined amount of movement this prevents a runaway condition that may be caused by mechanical failure. Once the alarm condition has been met the automatic control of the roller will be switched to manual mode and a message will flash until it has been reset. Once the alarm is reset the operator should correct the situation and return the roller control to automatic.

Benefits
Less reliance on operator judgment/attention
Reduced downtime for label changes
Increased print quality after shift change and operator breaks
Real time form roller pressure adjustment
Form Roller pressure adjusts “BEFORE” scrap is made
Increased Operator Output- Operator does “NOT” adjust form roller pressure
Reduced overall production cost