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Kriti Sharma DFT - V

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printing Roller printing Screen printing Flat bed Rotary Heat transfer
Kriti Sharma

Roller printing ,also called cylinder printing or machine printing, on fabrics is a textile printing process patented by Thomas Bell in 1783 in an attempt to reduce the cost of the earlier copperplate printing. It is used to reproduce small monochrome patterns characterized by striped motifs and tiny dotted patterns called "machine grounds".

Kriti Sharma

Roller printing is the most economical and fastest way of printing. It can print over 6000 yards of fabric in an hour.

The outputs of this machine cannot be surpassed by any other method of printing. Designs with upto 16 colors present no problem in roller printing. This method is also known as machine printing
Kriti Sharma

Kriti Sharma

Central pressure bowl wrapped with lappings Endless wollen blanket A back grey Cloth to be printed Engrave copper roller Color box color doctor Lint doctor

Kriti Sharma

Kriti Sharma

The engraved roller is first supplied with the printing paste by the furnishing roller( it is so called because it supplies the paste to the engraved roller).
The paste is applied in the engraving as well as the non-engraved portions. When this engraved roller comes in contact with the color doctor, it scrapes out the excess paste from the non-engraved portion.
Kriti Sharma

During further rotation it meets the lint doctor which is placed at an angle against the rotation of the rollers.

The engraved roller continues the rotation, picks up the paste and the cycle repeats. A number of engraved rollers provided with separate furnishers , color boxes and color and lint doctors are placed around the central pressure bowl , so that by a single passage of the cloth through the machine all the colors required in the design are printed, each roller supplying a part of the design.
Kriti Sharma

In order to get an accurate impression on the cloth, it is important that the engraved roller is capable of lateral and up and down adjustment thus it should be capable of independent motion.
The pressure of the printing roller on the printing bowl is obtained by a spring. Screws allow the independent movement of the printing rollers.
Kriti Sharma

The color doctor is made up of steel. It consists of a sharp steel blade 1/32 to 1/16 thick and has a razor like edge, which rests on an engraved roller. The other edge is clamped tightly between two brass plates and screwed together.

It is provided at each end with a supporting pivot.

The lint doctor differs from the color doctor in the way that
It is made up of brass. No transverse motion is imparted to it.

Its purpose is to pick up loose cotton fibres attached to the engraved roller. Which if not cleared would pollute the printing paste in the color box. The lint doctor edge should be sharp enough to remove this fibre but it is less sharp than that of the doctor blade.
Kriti Sharma

Its inclination against the roller should be proper otherwise it can damage the engraving.

The lint doctor also scrapes away the printing paste that may be present on the nonengraved portion of the roller so that it does not contaminate the printing paste of the next roller printing the subsequent design in case where a multicolored design is being printed.
Kriti Sharma

Kriti Sharma

This is a covering of the central pressure bowl and is made up of special fabric of linen wrap and worsted weft. It resists the pressure to which it is subjected during actual printing. 8-12 layers of fabric are wound on the bowl free from creases.

Kriti Sharma

It consists of 30-50 yards of thick woollen cloth tightly woven and then felted. It is of even thickness ,texture and elasticity. It increases the effect of elasticity of the lapping and it circulates continuously round the pressure bowl between the lapping and the cloth to be printed.

Its ends are sewn together with strong silk thread to make it endless travelling blanket.
After continuous use, the blanket becomes hard and soiled by the paste penetrating into it and thus should be replaced or turned.
Kriti Sharma

Another blanket (washable) takes the form of endless rubber covered cloth and serves to carry away the paste passing through the cloth being printed. On leaving the printing machine the blanket runs over steel rollers into a washer provided with three brushes arranged round a stainless steel cylinder.
The first brush scrubs the surface of the blanket, removing most of the contaminating paste, which is then removed by warm water spray. The second completes the cleaning process. Third prepares the blanket for drying.
Kriti Sharma

When the woollen blanket is used, unbleached cotton cloth is run between the blanket and the cloth to be printed to protect the blanket from the paste passing through the cloth.

When the washing blanket is employed the back grey is not necessary.
Back grey is wound on a roller at the back of the printing machine and after printing, it leaves the machine and is again wound on another roller, again at the back.

After use it is taken for bleaching and may be used for printing ( this time as bleached cloth to be printed.)
Kriti Sharma

A furnisher partly dips into the printing paste and works in contact with the engraved roller to which it furnishes the printing paste and hence the name.

A furnisher roller may be provided with bristles. Which in addition to supplying the paste also work as a scrub to scrape out any solid material deposited in the engravings.
Color boxes are long, narrow and shallow troughs carried on a check of iron attached to the adjustable bearing of the printing rollers and moving backwards and forward with them.
Kriti Sharma

Solid and shell engraved rollers are available, both varying in length from 32-80.

Solid rollers have a diameter of 5-12 while shells have outer diameter of 5-30.
The hollow cylinder of copper(1/2 to 1-1/4 thick walls) has a tab extending throughout the entire length on the inside of the shell, which fits into a slot cut into its mandrel. When the copper engraved rollers are chromium or nickel plated their lives can be considerably lengthened.
Kriti Sharma

Kriti Sharma

These are long steel shafts serving as axels for the engraved rollers when the latter are placed in the printing machine. These are about a yard longer than the printing roller and project at about 18 at each end of the roller. These projecting portions are cylindrical for a distance of 6-8 to work smoothly in the brass steps of adjustable bearings in which they turn. Then it tapers off to facilitate the slipping of the rollers. The middle part of the mandrel upon which the engraved roller is forced, corresponds to the inner diameter of the engraved roller.
Kriti Sharma

The design on the roller is stamped by using a suitable mill. One repeat of the design is first transferred to a small roller called die of soft steel with polished surface.

The dimensions of the die should be such that the circumference of the printing roller is an exact multiple of that of the die so that an exact number of whole repeats can be transferred on the printing rollers.
Kriti Sharma

The die with the polished surface is dipped in a solution of copper sulphate till an even deposit of copper is formed in the die. Fe + CuSO4 = Cu + FeSO4

In the meantime a design is drawn on a paper with sodium sulphide solution. The paper is then draped around the moistened surface of the copper die A thick canvas piece is tied around it tightly for 1-2 hrs and the design is transferred to the die in lines of copper sulphide. It is then engraved with hand.

Kriti Sharma

When the die is fully engraved it is hardened by dipping in bone ash and a little charcoal.
It is then heated to cherry red, plunged into cold water for tempering to required hardness.

The design thus obtained is called INTAGLIO The hardened die is now placed in a machine in close contact with another roller of mild steel and is set in motion. The die and the mill are constantly revolved at increasing pressure wherein the design of the intaglio is transferred in relief. The mill is then hardened and is used to emboss the design on the printing rollers using sufficient pressure to achieve the appropriate depth.
Kriti Sharma

The mill then is moved by a distance equal to the width of the repeat design and the rotation is started again. This is repeated several times in order to transfer the design to the entire length of the roller. In order to print a multicolored design, separate separate dies are prepared for each color.

Kriti Sharma

Kriti Sharma

Kriti Sharma

Kriti Sharma

Kriti Sharma

Kriti Sharma

Kriti Sharma

Kriti Sharma

Kriti Sharma

Sharp and fine vertical lines can be printed very easily.

Uniform texture is produced.

Number of colors that can be used are limited. Embossing new rollers for new designs is time consuming. The purity of color is not maintained. A limited width of cloth can be printed. The size of the repeat design is limited due to the circumference and the length of the roller. Damage due to back grey like stitch impressions, back grey creases etc. is more.

Handling heavy engraved roller makes change of design more time consuming.
Kriti Sharma

Kriti Sharma