An Overview of Options and their Application

The doctor blade appears to be a simple component of the flexographic printing process but, as often is the case, appearances can be deceiving. The casual user might wonder what is there to think about, a blade is only a piece of steel or plastic. To better understand the need for all of the doctor blade options, consider the role of the doctor blade.

Flexographic printing requires the Dr blade to provide a constant wipe throughout the pressrun, so that the ink volume carried by the anilox roll to the plate is determined only by the anilox volume. If the doctor blade is not working correctly, the ink volume carried to the plate will include the anilox roll volume, plus some amount of surface ink Any sur-face ink remaining on the anilox roll will be variable and lead to variation in the printed product. To achieve constant wipe, different materials and edge profiles are available so that you can better match a doctor blade to the application.

Years ago, there were only a few choices for doctor blade materials and profiles. Today, the offering of materials, edge profiles, and added coatings has become so extensive that the converter often needs help from a doctor blade supplier to determine the best blade for the application. This article will take some of the mystery out of choosing a doctor blade by providing an overview of the features of the various doctor blade materials and configurations along with generalized application guidance.Steel brush also is versatile, with many different configurations available to meet the requirements of each application. For example, brushes with long filaments are conformable and able to follow contoured surfaces, and short trim brushes are fast-acting and suited for severe applications. Another variable is the fill density: Low-density brushes offer good flexibility for surface cleaning operations on irregular surfaces, and high-density brushes produce a fast brushing action and long brush life.This year, facilities are using automatic floor scrubbers 24% more than they were last year1 to meet a higher demand for cleaning. As facilities continue to invest in robotic cleaning machine, and more new technology arrives on the market, safety is top of mind. It will continue to be important to maintain the strictest safety measures in the way buildings are cleaned as well as how autonomous cleaning machines are programmed, operated and maintained. This toolkit will address safety issues introduced by the adoption of robotic cleaning machines and some of the standard operating procedures, protocol and features that can help improve safety.

The risk assessment process will help determine the appropriate type of functional safety controls needed to reduce risk to an acceptable level. All findings brought about by your risk assessment should be written in a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) that will be incorporated into your facility plan and training programs and should be accessible to anyone who may interact with the machine.

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