What are the classifications of printing machinery?

Printing machinery refers to the machinery and equipment used to produce printed matter. Including plate-making machinery, printing machinery and post-press processing machinery. The main function of plate-making machinery is to transmit the graphic information on the manuscript through the intermediate medium, so as to obtain the graphic information on the printing plate, that is, to make the printing plate. Commonly used plate-making machinery includes: plate-making camera, electronic color separator, imagesetter, developing processor, copier, printer, proofing machine, etc.

A printing machine is a machine that uses machinery to print. Its main function is to apply ink to the graphic part of the printing plate continuously. After being pressurized, the ink layer on the printing plate is transferred to the substrate, that is, the printed matter is obtained. Commonly used printing machines are relief printing machine, lithographic printing machine, gravure printing machine, hole printing machine and so on. Post-press processing machinery is the general name of machines and equipment used for post-press processing. According to the function, it can be divided into paper cutter, folding machine, collating machine, stapler, laminating machine, packer and laminating machine, glazing machine, calender, etc.

Classification of printing machinery:

1, classified according to the stamping method of printing equipment.

The stamping mode of printing machinery can be classified according to the stamping type of printing equipment. Generally speaking, a printing machine consists of a printing plate and an embossing device. According to the types of printing plates and embossing devices, printing machinery can be divided into flat pressing (both printing plates and embossing devices are flat plates), circular pressing (printing plates are flat plates and embossing devices are rollers) and circular pressing (both printing plates and embossing devices are rollers). Flat presses and circular presses are usually called platform presses, while circular presses are usually called rotary presses.

Because of the large printing contact area of the platform machine, the printing machine is required to exert a large pressure on the printing device, which leads to small printing width, complex printing device, slow printing speed and low production efficiency. So it is less and less used as a printing press. However, it is often modified and used in post-press processing and finishing equipment, such as die cutting, bronzing, indentation and embossing.

Rotary embossing is the most commonly used printing embossing form at present, which has outstanding characteristics such as high printing speed, high production efficiency, large printing format and flexible printing device, and is widely used in printing devices of various printing machinery.

2. Classification by printing plate type

The printing plate type used by printing machinery is usually used as the basis for the classification of printing machinery types. Usually, different types of printing plates are printed by printing machinery to produce different types of printed products. Generally, printing plates used for printing can be divided into relief printing plates (the graphic part on the printing plate is higher than the non-graphic part), lithographic printing plates (the graphic part and the non-graphic part on the printing plate are almost on the same plane), intaglio printing plates (the graphic part on the printing plate is lower than the non-graphic part), perforated printing plates (using screen as the printing plate) and so on.

Different printing plates of printing machinery largely determine the application scope of printing machinery. At present, flexographic printing machine is the most commonly used one, which has the characteristics of flexible printing plate, light impression, water-based ink and short ink path ink delivery. Lithographic printing machine uses intermediate transfer rubber roller, wetting device and long ink path printing, which has the characteristics of bright printing color and clear hierarchical reproduction. Gravure printing machine adopts concave plate cylinder and short ink path, which has the characteristics of high printing pressure, good image fidelity, high printing resistance and good printing quality.

3, according to the number of printing color classification

A monochrome printer is called a monochrome printer, and a two-color printer or a multi-color printer is called a two-color printer. Therefore, according to the number of printing colors, printing machinery can be divided into monochrome printers, two-color printers and multi-color printers.

The cost of monochrome printing machine is relatively low, which can be applied to monochrome printing or multi-color double-sided printing with multiple paper feeds; Two-color, four-color, multi-color and other unit printers are the most commonly used printing machinery at present, which can meet various printing needs.

4, according to the number of printing surface classification

Printed matter has only two sides. If a printing machine can only complete monochrome or multicolor printing on one side of the substrate at a time, it is called a single-sided printing machine. If the printing machine can print both sides of the substrate at one time, it is called a double-sided printing brush machine; If the printing on one side of the paper is completed by feeding the paper at one time, the paper can be turned over by a special paper turning mechanism and printed on the other side of the paper. This printing machine is called a reversible printing machine.

Old-fashioned sheet-fed printers are generally single-sided printers. In order to complete double-sided printing, new multi-color unit sheet-fed printing machines generally have a turnover mechanism, which can complete both single-sided and double-sided multi-color printing. Web printing machines can generally print on both sides through unit arrangement and paper tape guidance system.

5, according to the classification of paper specifications

According to paper specifications, printing machinery can be divided into sheet-fed printing machinery and web printing machinery.

Sheet-fed paper and web are two different printing materials. Sheet paper describes the size of paper by its length × width, while web paper is measured by the width of paper roll. A printing machine that can print sheets of paper is called a sheet-fed printing machine, and a printing machine that meets the requirements of web printing is called a web printing machine.

Sheet-fed printing machine is usually used for printed matter with high printing quality or small printing quantity due to its low printing speed and high printing quality. It can be used for post-press treatment and finishing through online post-press treatment, such as numbering, laminating and die cutting. Web printing machine has the characteristics of fast printing speed and high printing efficiency, and can be applied to the printing of extended materials. Therefore, it is often used for printed matter with large printing volume and high timeliness, such as newspapers and magazines, and can also be used for printed matter with special materials, large printing volume and high printing quality, such as food packaging bags, cigarette packs and wine labels.

It can be seen that according to different classification methods, we can describe the characteristics of printing machinery from different angles and aspects, and combine them to form a more comprehensive understanding of a certain printing machinery, such as: single-sided two-color offset press, double-sided multi-color web gravure press and so on.