HOW TO PREVENT SLEEVE SWELLING

Sleeve swelling is a common phenomenon in the flexographic industry. The permanent deformation of the sleeve caused when the ink enters the core of the sleeve is known as sleeve swelling. This results in:

a. Poor registration:

The physical defect caused by sleeve swelling can influence the pre-press calibrations, causing registration shifts or misalignments.

b. Affected Sleeve tolerance:

The permanent deformation caused when the sleeve swells affect the tolerance of the sleeve. If the sleeve doesn’t have a tight tolerance, it could influence the printing speed and printing quality.

c. Poor print quality:

Sleeve swelling will cause irregularities in the press. This can cause distortion, skewed reproduced image, overlaps, etc. affecting the print output.

d. Decreased sleeve lifespan:

Sleeve swelling, therefore, reduces the life of the sleeve.

e. Increased costs:

Additional costs have to be incurred for replacing the sleeves frequently.

Physical strength, impact and fatigue resistance

Vinyl-ester epoxy resin has a higher MPA tensile strength, providing better physical strength, impact and fatigue resistance to Tech Sleeves and Tech Bridges.

Thermal shock resistance

The enhanced chemical properties of Vinyl ester enables the printer to use Tech Sleeves and Tech Bridges at higher temperatures and higher speeds of up to 800 m/min, or 2,624 ft/min.