Rotary - screen

printing

By Wolfgang Heitkamp
Printing Training

1&2
 Rotary – Screen Printing
Automatic flat-screen machines
cannot be described as continuous
because of their intermittent
printing action.

Continuous movement of the fabric

has been achieved by moving the
screens along with the fabric while
printing.

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
In rotary-screen printing, continuous
rotation of a cylindrical screen while in
contact with the fabric ensures
continuous printing.

Print paste is fed into the inside of the

screen and during printing is forced out
through the design areas with the help
of a stationary squeegee.

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 Rotary – Screen Printing

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
In the case of blade squeegees, the
the rotation of the screen in contact
with the stationary blade provides
the pressure to force the colour paste
through the screen.

This is the converse of flat-screen printing

Where the screen remains stationary while
The squeegee moves.

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
The design of most rotary screen
printing machines follows the pattern
established for plat-screen machines
with an endless driven blanket washing
and drying underneath during the
return passage.

Liq. glue as well as thermoplastic adhesive is commonly

used on rotary machines.

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 Rotary – Screen Printing

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
Buser Rotary Printing Machine

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
The cylindrical screens can be much
closer together than it is possible with
flat screens and so the blanket is shorter
for a given number of colours.
The fabric dryer, however, must be longer
to enable the dryer to dry the printed fabric
at a much higher running speed.

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
Speeds up to 30-50 m/min are used
depending on the design and the fabric
quality.

The print paste is pumped, from a

container at the side of the machine
into the screen trough a flexible pipe.

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
Inside the screen the pipe is rigid as
it also acts as a support for the squeegee.
Holes in the pipe allow the paste to run
down into the bottom of the screen.

A level control actuates the pump

when the past level falls below a
pre-set height

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
Squeegee Systems

Blade squeegee
(conventional)

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
Blade squeegee
The curvature of the blade, and therefore
the angle of the contact between the
blade and the screen, changes according
to the applied pressure, which can be
readily altered by adjusting the bearings
at both ends of the squeegee assembly.

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
Squeegee Systems

Airflow squeegee

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
Airflow squeegee

The airflow squeegee is similar to the

conventional type, but has an adjustable
tip angle and pressure, offering a wide
control range for application rate and
penetration while the machine is actually
running.

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
Squeegee Systems

Magnet roller
squeegee

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
Magnet roller squeegee
The magnet roller squeegee is exceptional
ease to operate with relatively few control
functions.
The diameter of the roller and the viscosity
of the paste mainly determine the amount of
print paste applied.

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
Squeegee Systems
When printed light-weight fabric a
metal blade is often preferred to a
rod.

In modern printing mills very often

both systems can be found.

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 Rotary – Screen Printing

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
Rotary screen
Although the seamless nickel
screens are only about 0.1 mm
thick, they are strong enough
provided they are put under
lengthways tension.

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
Rotary screen
Light aluminum alloy end-rings are
fitted to the ends of the screen, care
being taken that the plane of the ring
is at right angles to the axis of rotation
of the screen.

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
Rotary screen

Notches in the end-ring fit into the

mountings (heads) on both sides of the
blanket and a turn of the screen locks it
firmly in position.

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
Closed Bearing System
Stork Rotary

Buser Rotary

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
Open bearing system Buser
StorkRotary
Rotary

Zimmer Rotary

Buser Rotary

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
Blanket and screen drives Stork Rotary

Some rotary screens are driven

fromBuser
bothRotary
sides to avoid the danger
of twisting and buckling.

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
Stork RD4 Stork Rotary

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
Stork Rotary
Stork RD4

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
Stork Rotary
Stork RD4

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
Blanket washer
Stork Rotary
Stork RD4

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
Stork Rotary Wet Gluing
Stork RD4 System

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
Stork Rotary Large
Stork RD4 repeats

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
The duplex printing
Stork Rotary unit

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
Transfer paper
printing
Stork Rotary

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
Stork Rotary

Stork PEGASUS rotary

printing machine
Buser Rotary

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
Stork Pegasus
Stork Rotary

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
Stork Pegasus
Stork Rotary

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
Stork Pegasus
Stork Rotary

Open bearing Closed bearing Closed bearing

system with magnet system with blade system with magnet
roller squeegee squeegee

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 Rotary – Screen Printing

Stork Pegasus Stork Rotary

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
Stork Rotary
Stork Print – Change System

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
Pegasus
Stork Rotary
Stork Print – Change System
The system consist of a number of
mobile shutters (one for each print
position) that can be inserted between
the screen and the printing blanket.

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
Pegasus
Stork Rotary
Stork Print – Change System
Once a printing position has been
raised, the shutter can be positioned
at the touch of a button.
It makes a complete seal, so that screens and
squeegees can be removed without any risk.

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
Stork Print – Change System
Stork Rotary

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
Stork Print – Change System
Stork Rotary

Leaking paste will drop onto the

shatter, not the fabric.
The shutters can be opened again
once a new design has been
installed.

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
Stork Print – Change System
Stork Rotary
They slide into a cassette at the bottom
of the printing machine; any paste
leaks are scraped off during this
process.
The shatters can be operated on a
position by position bases.

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
Stork Print – Change System
Stork Rotary

Improving efficiency and safes time

and money.
As print runs become shorter and
shorter, change-over times are playing
an increasing important role in
determining the efficiency of print
machines.

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
Stork Print – Change System
Stork Rotary

Often these machines have more down

time than actual printing time.
This is a very undesirable and wasteful
situation.

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
Stork Print – Change System
Stork Rotary
Print + Change can put an end to this
screens and squeegees of previous
designs can be dismantled during the
printing process without any problem.
Printing can continue at full speed;
there is no risk of cloth contamination
and the screens for the new design
can be installed at the same time.

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
Stork Print – Change System
Stork Rotary

Once the print run is complete, the

shutters beneath the used screens are
closed and the ones beneath the new
ones opened.
Printing can recommence immediately.
when the repeat is completed, the used
screen can be removed at your leisure.

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
Stork Print – Wash System
Stork Rotary
The Stork Print@ Wash system is used
to clean screens and squeegees after
printing, without removing them from
the machine.
The system is an extension of Print@
Change shutters, where the printing
machine continues to print specific
positions while other positions are
cleaned.
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 Rotary – Screen Printing
Stork Print – Wash System
Stork Rotary

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 Rotary – Screen Printing

Buser Rotamac 5 Stork Rotary

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
Buser Rotamac 5
Stork Rotary

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
Buser Rotamac 5
Stork Rotary

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
Reggiani
Stork Rotary
UNICA

Rotary printing

machine

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
Reggiani
Stork Rotary
UNICA

Rotary printing

machine

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
Stork Rotary

Print paste and water

feeding pipes and
squeegee holder

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
Stork Rotary

Washing in progress

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
Zimmer Rotascreen Stork Rotary Closed
screen bearing
system

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
Stork Rotary Closed
Zimmer Rotascreen
screen bearing
system

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
Stork Rotary
Open screen
Zimmer Rotascreen bearing system

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 Rotary – Screen Printing

Zimmer Rotascreen Open screen

bearing system

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 Rotary – Screen Printing

Open screen
bearing system

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
ICHINOSE SAMURAI

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 Rotary – Screen Printing

Ichinose SAMURAI
Rotary screen printing

Printing units and printing blanket

are horizontal during the preparation
phase.
All preparatory and maintenance work is
carried out in this position.

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 Rotary – Screen Printing

Ichinose SAMURAI
Rotary screen printing

Once ready to print, and at the push

of a button, the printing units are raised around
the longitudinal machine axis into an inclined
position
Automatic registration and automatic colour
feeding starts up.

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
SAMURAI

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
Colour circulation
The colour paste is pumped from
above into the screen, the volume
is controlled via pump speed.

The colour past in the screen is

supplied by a way of a gravity-driven,
pressure-less flow.

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
Colour circulation

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Colour circulation
As claimed by Ichinose this
supply system provides outstanding
uniformity; the colour flows conti-
nuously in a closed circulation.
The rheological properties remain
extremely constant.

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
Magnet squeegee

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 Rotary – Screen Printing

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
On – machine washing Stork Rotary

The Samurai provides on-machine

washing of screens and squeegees
in a time-saving, simultaneous and
automatic procedure.

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
On – machine washing
Stork Rotary
Once printing has been completed,
the colour residue is extracted at
the same time from screens and
pipes.
This process is highly effective, as
the colour remaining in the screen
will follow the law of gravity and
flows of its own accord to the point
of extraction
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 Rotary – Screen Printing
On – machine washing

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
On – machine washing
After the colour residue has been
extracted, service water is fed into
the system.
This water flows through the screen
and is conveyed – together with the
water flowing out of the screen – into
the service water tank.
Final rinsing is effected using a small
amount of fresh water.
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 Rotary – Screen Printing
On – machine washing
Stork Rotary

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On – machine washing
Compressed air is fed into the screen
together with the washing water.

This air first enhances the washing

process, then finally expels the
remaining water droplets.

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 Rotary – Screen Printing
SAMURAI
Colour changes are effected
without removal and re-
installation of the screen.
They remain on the machine, safe
from damage.
The result is less misprints, no re-
registration is required, fitting is
perfect, right from the first meter.

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