KALANIKETAN POLYTECHNIC COLLEGE, JABALPUR

DEPARTMENT OF PRINTING TECHNOLOGY

PROJECT REPORT
ON
“SINGLE COLOR ROTOGRAVURE MACHINE”

SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT AND REQUIREMENT OF DI-

PLOMA IN PRINTING TECHNOLOGY
6TH SEMESTER FINAL YEAR
(2019 – 2022)

SUBMITTED TO: Mr. SANJAY SHARMA SIR

(HOD PRINTING DEPARTMENT)

SUMBITTED BY:

SIDDHARTH PANDEY JAYENDRA SINGH PARMAR

SATYAM KUSHWAHA SANDEEP NAGFULE

ARUN SAHU
SIDDHARTH MISHRA
ASHISH CHOUDHARY
DHEERAJ KUSHWAHA
KUNAL DUA
AMIT SONDHIYA
DHYANENDRA KUMAR
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

It gives us immense pleasure in presenting the Project Report on “SINGLE COLOR

ROTOGRAVURE PRINTING MACHINE”.

The academic year (2019 – 2022) has given us a memorable worthwhile experience and
exposure to the knowledge of Core Printing techniques and all concepts and theories in the area
of Printing Technology. The successful completion of this project is floored by the guidance and
support by several people, who are much esteemed for us, we would also thank to our project
team members to be coordinative and responsive.

We are indebted to our guide and mentor Mr. Sanjay Sharma Sir, Mr. Rajesh Shukla
Sir, Mr. Bhaskar Vartak Sir, Mr. Vasu Gangrade Sir, Mr. Prasoon Khare sir who provided
us their timely advice, motivation and expert counsel for the Project.

We students of Printing Technology would like to thank Dr. R.C. PANDEY SIR, Prin-
cipal, Kalaniketan Polytechnic Collage, Jabalpur and Shri. SANJAY SHARMA SIR, Head of
Printing Technology Department, for giving us this fortunate opportunity and have been a con-
stant source of inspiration and guidance.
 KALANIKETAN POLYTECHNIC COLLEGE, JABALPUR
(M.P)

CERTIFICATE

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN

It is to certify that project report entitled “SINGLE COLOR ROTOGRAVURE MACHINE”

which is being submitted by Students of Kalaniketan Polytechnic Collage, Jabalpur in partial
fulfillment for the award of Diploma in Printing Technology during the year (2019 – 2022) record
of student’s own work carried out under our guidance. It is certified that all corrections/sugges-
tions have been incorporated in the Report. The project report has been approved as it satisfies
the academic requirements in respect of Project work prescribed for the said diploma. It is further
understood that by this certificate the undersigned do not endorse or approve any statement made,
opinion expressed or conclusion drawn there in but approve the project only for the purpose for
which it is submitted.

--------------------------- ---------------------------

External Examiner’s Signature Head of Department Signature

3
CONTENTS PAGE NO.

1. Abstract. …………………………06
2. Introduction. …………………………07
3. Setback report ………………………....08
4. Purpose of project ………………………....09
5. Prevailing inventory. …………………………10
6. Literature review
6.1 Background work. …………………………11
6.2 Basics of gravure printing. …………………………13
6.3 Principle of gravure printing. ………...……………….19
6.4 Nature of gravure process. .………...……………….20
6.5 Structure of gravure cylinder. …………………………20
6.6 Gravure cylinder preparation methods. …………………………23
6.7 Purpose and types of doctor blade. …………………………25
6.8 Cylinder electroplating. …………………………26
5.9 Well formation of Gravure Cylinder. …………………………27
7. Market survey. …………………………28
8. Representations of scheduled activities …………………………29
9. Machine Block Diagram …………………………30
10. Methodology …………………………31
11. Project Work logbook …………………………32
12. Conclusion. …………………………33
13. Project Estimations …………………………34
14. Photo Gallery …………………………36
15. References …………………………40

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure (1.1) …………………………13

Figure (1.2) …………………………16

Figure (1.3) …………………………21

Figure (1.4) …………………………22

Figure (1.5) …………………………25

Figure (2.1) …………………………26

Figure (2.2) …………………………30

Figure (2.3) …………………………36

Figure (2.4) …………………………36

Figure (2.5) …………………………37

Figure (3.1) …………………………37

Figure (3.2) …………………………38

Figure (3.3) …………………………38

Figure (3.4) …………………………39

LIST OF TABLES

Table (1.1) …………………………29

Table (1.2) …………………………32

Table (1.3) …………………………34

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1.0 ABSTRACT

Gravure printing process is characterized by an excellent print quality and high printing speed.
Its further compensations are that it involves a simple printing process, accurate ink use, and
the flexibility of printing machine structures. Gravure printing, due to several technological
innovations, now have its place to innovative technologies. The market of packaging materials
is the largest segment of gravure printing, and a further increase is in forecast. In this project
report, starting from market survey to finishing up at conclusion every detail of the project is
presented chronologically. A dash of basics of gravure printing process (ink transfer, drying,
gravure cylinder, doctor blade, impression cylinder, characteristics of the prints) and the char-
acteristics of gravure printing inks are presented. The up-to-date methods of gravure cylinder
production and the characteristics of the structure of gravure printing machines are touched on.

6
2.0 INTRODUCTION

Gravure printing process also called intaglio, uses an indented area of the plate from which to
print. An excess of ink is applied to the plate, and the additional is removed. The edges of printed
areas have a serrated appearance under magnification. Web printing with the gravure process is
called rotogravure. Gravure printing is usually carried out as a web process on lightweight (below
40 lb./ream) coated or uncoated groundwood paper with minimal pressure on the plate. Therefore,
paper smoothness is very significant. Compressible paper and good ink receptivity help print
quality. The major components of a rotogravure press include the engraved cylinder, the ink foun-
tain, a doctor blade to eliminate the ink from the non-printing area, and the impression roller.
Gravure printing is a widely used processing method often used to print large volumes of maga-
zines and catalogues. Opposed to flexography, the ink in gravure printing is transferred from
carved micro cavities and not from a relief. These cavities, embedded in the printing cylinder,
form the printing pattern. A second softer impression cylinder forces the web against the primary
printing cylinder and the ink is transferred from the cavities to the web through matching surface
energies of the ink and substrate. The printing cylinder is partially immersed in an ink bath and
similar to the anilox in flexo printing a doctor blade is used to remove any additional ink from the
printing cylinder leaving ink only in the cavities. As for flexo printing it is also possible to use a
chambered doctor blade. Gravure printing is highly dependent of ink viscosity, substrate speeds
along with the pressure applied by the impression roller and great care is therefore required in the
choosing of processing conditions and ink formulation. However, the process is suitable for low-
viscosity ink and high printing rates up to 15 m/s can be achievable.

7
3.0 SETBACK REPORT
Initially after division of project teams. All teams bought their ideas and project topics, therefore
in the preliminary survey of our department and after conversing project ideas and topics with
our Teachers and Mentors we concluded that the project on “Gravure printing machine” can be
engineered courteously into a pure working prototype. So, the first challenge we faced was to
decide and finalize the project and to ensure feasibility of the project which was solved. Secondly
after execution on the project plan we faced some issues financially, as prices were high, we were
lacking the estimated cost of machine later on it was solved with the help of Teachers and alumni
association of our department. There were few issues regarding fund collection due to some stu-
dent’s personal financial issues, and with the assistance of our Head of the Department, Teachers
and support of alumni association, it helps out us from the problem. The main problem which we
faced is absence of practical knowledge with this machine, so after completion of this project this
project will literally help the current students to apply their professional knowledge and skills and
also the upcoming students to improve their academic process.

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4.0 PURPOSE OF PROJECT
The idea of this project is from a simple and well-known phenomenon related to oper-
ating principle of Gravure Printing Process. This Project involves the pure working prototype of
gravure printing process including all the sections and specifics related to it. We, students of
printing technology have studied each and every part of gravure printing process and during the
preliminary survey of our department, we found that there is an absence of practical interaction
with gravure machine for which we are creating this dominant project. It will help the current
students as well as upcoming students to get the practical exposure with machine and also it is
helpful to grasp the knowledge of gravure printing process with ease, and improve the overall
academic performance.

The following are the project work objectives which will be carried out to accomplish the above-
mentioned goal:

• This project aims to resolve all practical based quires and doubts for students of
Printing Technology.
• This project will appraise the value and professionalism of our department.
• This project is an opportunity for students to apply their professional skills and
knowledge learnt in previous semesters.
• This project will help students to work in unity and to increase the power of self-
directed learning, to find the estimate of duration of costs and application of real-
life engineering.

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5.0 PREVAILING INVENTORY

PARTS DESCRIPTION
Machine Unit Single color Rotogravure Unit
Machine Size 24”X 60”
Cylinder Rotogravure cylinder.
Control Panel It can handle maximum power of 5HP Mo-
tor.
Motor 2HP DC Motor
Substrate 10”X16”
Ink Solvent based (CMYK)
Film Poly-propylene etc.

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6.0 LITERATURE REVIEW

6.1 BACKGROUND PROCESS

Gravure printing presses are sophisticated machines that have wide range to ensure
high image quality. Technology has created rapid advances in press design and workflow. The
maximum speed achievable today with four pages around the cylinder circumference is 60,000
Cylinder revolutions per hour. This is equivalent to web speed of almost 3000 fpm so in a single
second the press can print 615 sq ft of papers with four colors on both sides. Moving towards a
basic introduction to its history and development, In the 19th century a number of developments
in photography allowed the production of photo-mechanical printing plates. W.H Fox Tal-
bot mentions in 1852 the use of a textile in the photographic process to produce half-tones in the
printing plate. A French patent in 1860 describes a reel-fed gravure press.

A collaboration between Klis and Fawcett in Lancaster resulted in the founding of the Rembrandt
Intaglio Printing Company in 1895, which company produced art prints. In 1906 they presented
the first multi-color gravure print.  In 1912 Messrs. Bruck man produced proofs for postage stamps
which went into production in 1914. Also, in 1912 newspaper supplements printed by reel-fed
gravure were on sale in London and Berlin. Irving Berlin's song "Easter Parade" specifically re-
fers to this type of supplements in the lines "the photographers will snap us, and you'll find that
you're in the rotogravure". In 1932 a George Gallup "Survey of Reader Interest in Various Seg-
ments of Sunday Newspapers to Determine the Skilled Value of Rotogravure as an Advertising
Medium" found that these special rotogravures were the most widely read sections of the paper
and that advertisements there were three times more expected to be seen by readers than in any
other section.

Gravure is one of several printing techniques being dynamically used in the new field of printed
electronics. Although the rotogravure printing process is not the most popular printing process
used in flexible-packaging manufacturing, it does have the capacity to print on thin film such as
polyester, polypropylene, nylon, and polyethylene, which come in a wide range of thicknesses,
commonly 10 to 30 microns.

11
Other appreciated features include:

• Printing cylinders that can last through large-volume runs without the image degrad-
ing.
• Good quality image reproduction.
• Low per-unit costs running high volume production.

The first step of Gravure is to produce the cylinder with the engraved images that need to be
printed, the engraving process will create on the cylinder surface the cells that will contain the
ink in order to transference it to paper. Since the amount of ink contained in the cells resembles
to different color intensities on the paper, the dimensions of the cells must be carefully set. Deeper
or larger cells will produce more intense colors whereas smaller cells will produce less intense
ones. Gravure cylinders are typically made of steel and plated with copper, though other materials
such as, ceramics can also be used. The desired pattern in the modern technology can be achieved
by engraving with a laser or a diamond tool, or by chemical etching. If the cylinder is chemically
etched, a resist (in the form of a negative image) is transferred to the cylinder before etching. The
resist protects the non-image areas of the cylinder from the etchant. After etching, the resist is
stripped off. The operation is similar to the manufacture of printed circuit boards. Resulting en-
graving, the cylinder is proofed and tested, reworked if necessary, and then chrome plated to give
the extra hardness.

12
6.2 BASICS OF GRAVURE PRINTING

Gravure also termed as intaglio printing process in which the ink is transferred from a
sunken surface. Several important characteristics makes gravure an ideal process for jobs requir-
ing high quality and extremely long press runs. Currency notes, postage stamps and stock certif-
icates are some of the products printed by this process. The gravure process requires cautious
preparation, but it produces good printing quality and color, even on less expensive paper. The
printing cylinder can be chromium-plated for robustness in long runs and even replated if desired.
Therefore, gravure is used for long runs of magazines and catalogs and color supplements for
newspapers. The process was originally developed for high-quality picture reproduction. It is
similarly used to make art prints.

FIGURE (1.1)

13
ADVANTAGES OF GRAVURE:
I. The final printed images are of excellent visual quality. Due to its intaglio character, the
closeness of the printing areas and different thickness of ink, Gravure print displays the
pleasing effect of a continuous tone image.
II. Photogravure is an exceptionally fast printing method on almost all kinds of paper and
materials. Press speed attainable‐web‐fed paper: 1,000 fpm (Feet Per Minute); Film and
foil: 300 to 600 fpm. Sheet‐fed: 3000 sheets per hour.
III. The printed sheet is usually dried, when it leaves the press, due to the volatility of the
fluid ink.
IV. Gravure cylinders yield very large number of impressions and under proper handling,
several millions. Chrome‐plated copper cylinder can print 1.5 million revolutions without
re‐chroming; and can print 12 to 20 million revolutions before making new cylinders,
depending on material printed.
V. Rotogravure ink, based on, fluid ink can be formulated for printing on a, variety of print-
ing stocks‐ paper, paperboard, plastic films, metal foils, textiles, etc.

LIMITATIONS OF GRAVURE:

I. Length of time to prepare and etch a cylinder. Generally, it required between three and
four hours from the time resist have been applied to the copper surface until the printing
form is ready to be proofed.
II. The high initial cost incurred in the cylinder preparation.
III. Type, Text matter and fine line illustrations does not reproduce as sharply in gravure as it
does in letterpress and offset chiefly because the rotogravure screen gives a “sawtooth”
edge to vertical lines and horizontal lines.
IV. Minimum economical run is said to be 50,000.
V. Once the cylinder has been prepared, very limited alterations or revisions alone can be
made without having to prepare a new cylinder

14
GRAVURE PRINTING UNIT

Gravure printing unit comprises of the printing cylinder running in a trough of ink, a rubber im-
mersed roller and a doctor blade to remove excess ink from the surface of the cylinder.

PRINTING CYLINDER: - They are generally one-piece continuous cylinder containing recessed
screened image which has been produced either by etching or engraving. The cylinders are de-
signed to easily removable for quick change over and to enable the cylinders to be proofed, prior
to printing and whenever necessary, stored for future use. At each unit the cylinder is immersed
in the ink fountain. As the cylinder turns, its tiny ink cells get filled with ink.

IMPRESSION CYLINDER: - An impression cylinder which is made up of rubber, neoprene or

other synthetic products usually applies pressure to transfer the ink to the substrate.

INK DUCT: - It is a part of complete circulating system where ink is pumped to the tray from a
bulk supply and surplus ink returned filtered and adjusted for solvent balance, then repumped to
the cylinder. The entire system should be enclosed as far as possible to ensure cleanliness of the
ink and to avoid evaporation. In olden days open ink trough was used. There is no control of
solvent evaporation and ink is not well agitated, it was unsuitable for high-speed machines. Where
there is a pump which continuously agitate the ink and pump it to the ink trough in which printing
cylinder rotates. Excess ink is returned back to the tank from ink trough. Due to this enclosed
system solvent evaporation is reduced. This enclosed system also employs viscosity control of
the ink. In this system whenever the ink is returned from ink trough, it is filtered and solvent is
added to maintain the viscosity of ink.

DOCTOR BLADE: - It is a thick blade made of stainless steel or plastic set at twenty-degree angle
with the cylinder. Doctor blade is prepared to ride on the surface of the printing cylinder and
remove surplus ink without damaging the surface of the printing image.

15
IMAGE CARRIER

Gravure Cylinder The engraved image carrier used in gravure printing. Unlike letterpress or lith-
ographic printing processes (which use raised and flat printing surfaces, respectively) gravure
prints from cells or depressions etched in a metal cylinder which are filled with ink and transferred
to the substrate. A gravure cylinder comprises a (typically) steel cylinder base, or an underlying
metal structure that supports the engraved image-carrying layer. Although steel is the most-often
used material for cylinder bases, aluminum bases are utilized occasionally, primarily for their
light weight (making shipping less costly, and handling easier), but aluminum is more difficult to
electroplate the image-carrying copper to, and is less resistant to wear than steel. The image which
is engraved on the image carrier i.e., gravure cylinder is given in above mentioned figure.

FIGURE (1.2)

16
INK AND SUBSTRATES

Gravure inks are thinner than those inks used in other printing processes. Viscosity is also much
lower than most inks. Solvent based inks are highly volatile. The ink is based on volatile solvents.
The essential ingredients are pigments, resins and volatile solvents. Pigments are organic dye-
stuffs and their lakes. Resins are Natural asphaltum and natural resins. Solvents are Benzol Tol-
uol, Xylol and petroleum spirit. The gravure ink should have the following characteristics:

1) The inks must be liquid and non‐oily

2) It should have low viscosity.

3) The ink must have sufficient cohesion to remain in the cylinders (for withstanding the centrif-
ugal action of the fast-rotating cylinder), but low adhesion, so that when it comes in to contact
with the paper, it can transfer easily.

4) The ink must have a preferential adhesion to paper compared with copper or chromium to
enable the complete removal of the ink from the cells. Substrate - Gravure printing is done on a
wide variety of substrates including inexpensive paper stocks. Packaging and special products
typically use substrates such as film, cellophane, cloth, plastic, and corrugated board. Gravure
press also runs newsprint stock and coated stocks for publication work.

17
GRAVURE PRINTING MACHINE CLASSIFICATIONS

1. PACKAGING GRAVURE PRESS: Gravure packaging and product presses are divided into two
groups according to the substrates used as light weight and heavy weight substrates. Light weight
substrates include, flexible packaging, gift wraps, paper and foil labels and decorative films:
Heavy weight substrates include folding cartons, floor covering, vinyl sheet, shower curtains,
plate mates and outdoor furniture. Some of the common in‐line operations performed on these
processes are die cutting, sheeting, punching, perforating, trimming, stripping.

2. FLEXIBLE PACKAGING PRESS: Flexible packaging presses typically have 8 or 11 printing

units. Web width range from under 12 inches to 63 inches, with variable repeat (cut‐off). These
presses are designed to print lightweight materials like film, foil, paper etc. Flexible packaging
presses require unwinding reel stand with very sophisticated tension control devices, to stabilize
light weight extensible materials prior to entering the first unit. Most flexible packaging presses
are designed for roll-to-roll operation.

3. GRAVURE PUBLICATION PRESS: Publication presses are designed for high-speed printing
of high-quality color publications. Typical products include magazines, newspaper, catalogues &
advertising printing. Publication presses have 8 or 10 printing units and web width range from 96
to 108 inches. Because of the speed and width of the presses, gravure publication plants use large
amount of paper. This requires automation in reel loading and splicing. Publication Gravure
presses often add a cloth covered pre‐wipe roller to the ink fountain to improve ink application to
the print cylinder. Modern gravure Publication presses are generally equipped with only one un‐
winder for eight printing units. Web pre‐conditioning units are used to maintain the paper tem-
perature. Publication presses are connected to wide variety of In‐line operations like folding,
stitching, auto stacking, inserting, gluing, perforating, etc.

4. NARROW WEB PRESSES: Narrow web is generally defined in the flexography rather than
gravure. As any web, less than 24" width is called web presses. Narrow presses differ from their
wide web counter parts in a variety of ways. A primary distinction, is the ability to do multiple
converting operations, along with printing in the same pass. The major of narrow‐web presses are
generally built in‐line configurations through some are C.I stack press.

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 6.3 PRINCIPLE OF GRAVURE PRINTING PROCESS

The principle of the sublimation transfer printing process is identical to paper printing
technology, and gravure printing is one of the main technologies used today. The basic principles
of gravure printing are similar to engraved copper roller printing, so the initial step is to engrave
the metal pattern cylinders. In modern printing operations, the surface of the metal cylinder is
engraved by an automatic engraving machine equipped with diamond heads for etching the metal
surface. The engraving machines are controlled by a computer system to ensure the accuracy of
the engraving processes. The printing unit consists of the pattern cylinders, color furnishing cyl-
inders, and doctor blades. In the printing operation, each cylinder catches disperse dye inks from
each color of the furnishing cylinders and all the excess inks on the surface are removed (scraped)
by the doctor blades so the inks are only retained in the etched pattern areas. After pressure is
applied to the pattern cylinders and papers, the inks are printed onto the papers. With current
technology, printing speeds of over 100 m/min. Disperse dye inks are required because of the
high speed of operation (so that the paper dries quickly) and to prevent puckering and disintegra-
tion of the mark off.

19
6.4 NATURE OF GRAVURE PRINTING PROCESS
Gravure printing process is also called as intaglio printing process and rotogravure as roto means
“round”. The ink is transferred from a sunken surface and the image carrier of this process is the
gravure cylinder itself it comprises a steel cylinder base or an underlying metal structure that
supports the engraved image carrying layer. This printing process is dominant because it offers
high quality printing even on low quality grade papers. Gravure printing unit comprises of the
printing cylinder running in a trough of ink, a rubber immersed roller and a doctor blade to remove
excess ink from the surface of the cylinder. The Ductor blade is made up of a metal called as
Swedish blue spring metal and calibrated at an angle of 40-45 Degrees. Once the cylinder has
been prepared, very limited alterations or revisions alone can be made without having to prepare
a new cylinder and virtually, there is no make ready involved while printing on a gravure press.

6.5 STRUCTURE OF GRAVURE CYLINDER

The quality of the final gravure image depends first on the construction of gravure cylinder. All
most all cylinders are made from the steel tubing. Some packaging printers prefer extruded, or
shaped, aluminum cores because they are much lighter, less expensive and easy to ship than steel.
A few companies use solid copper cylinders, but steel remains the most popular core material. A
steel cylinder is used when printing with adhesives or other corrosive materials. In most gravure
printing, however, a thin coating of copper is plated over the steel core of the cylinder to carry
the image. Copper is easier to etch than steel and can be replaced easily when the job is finished.

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CYLINDER DESIGN

There are 5 main important parts of the cylinder design: (This is literature review)

• Axis: The axis is the invisible line that passes through the center of the length of the cylinder.
• Shaft: The cylinder shaft is the bearing surface as the cylinder rotates in the press.
• Diameter: The diameter is the distance across the circle through the center of the shaft. The
diameter of the gravure cylinder is 16”.
• Circumference: The circumference is the distance around the edge of the end view the cir-
cumference limits the size of the image. The circumference of the Gravure cylinder is 16”.
• Face length: The face length is the distance from one end of the cylinder to the other along
the length of the cylinder the face length of the cylinder limits the width of the paper to be
printed. The face length of the cylinder is 10”.

FIGURE (1.3)

21
One rotation around the cylinder circumference is called one impression. Continuous images
can be etched on a cylinder without a seam so the design is repeated without a break. Wallpa-
per designs are commonly printed by the gravure cylinders are built using many different
sizes. The face length is always the same for each press to match the press sheet size but varies
in diameter and circumference to closely match the cutoff size of the specific job.

There are two basic cylinder designs:

1. The Integral shaft: In the integral shaft design the shaft is permanently mounted on the
cylinder. The cylinder is formed first, and then the shaft is either pressed or shrunk into
the place. The shaft is attached permanently by welding and remains in its place perma-
nently till the life of cylinder.
2. The Mandrel Cylinder: A mandrel sometimes called as (sleeve or cone cylinder) is de-
signed with a removable shaft. Most holes are tapered so that the shaft can be pressed into
place and then removed easily.

FIGURE (1.4)

22
6.6 GRAVURE CYLINDER PREPERATION METHODS
Gravure is so radically different in both concept and technique from other printing processes that
it is important to first review a number of key ideas. With these concepts in place, we can move
to descriptions of cylinder preparations and presswork.

METHODS OF CYLINDER PREPERATIONS:

1. DIFFUSION ETCH PROCESS: In the diffusion etch process a special mask is prepared
first by exposing it through a special gravure screen and then through a film positive of
the printing image onto a light sensitive base. The mask is then applied to a copper gravure
cylinder and is developed on the cylinder. After development the mask is thick in the non-
image areas and very thin where the image will carry ink. The cylinder and mask are then
placed in an acid bath. The acid bath penetrates the thin areas of the mask and eats or
etches away the copper of the cylinder. The final step of diffusion etch is to remove the
mask and apply a thin layer of chrome over the entire cylinder by an electroplating pro-
cess.

2. DIRECT TRANSFER PROCESS: The second method of cylinder preparation is called

direct transfer. The main difference between diffusion etches and direct transfer is the way
in which the cylinder mask is exposed. In direct transfer, a light sensitive mask is sprayed
or applied over the cylinder surface. The mask is exposed by directing light through a
halftone positive as it moves past the cylinder, which turns at the same rate that the posi-
tive as it moves. The final steps of developing, etching and chrome electroplating are the
same as the diffusion tech technique.

3. ELECTROMECHANICAL PROCESS: The direct digital process has essentially replaced

chemical engraving as the most prevalent method of cylinder engraving. In this electro-
mechanical process, a clean copper cylinder is mounted in a special engraving machine.
The artwork and copy to be engraved are scanned by an optical device that uses photodi-
odes to receive the image which is then transformed into digital data. This digitized infor-
mation is translated to the motion of an engraving head, typically a diamond stylus that

23
 cuts into the surface of the cylinder as it rotates. A diamond stylus can vibrate at approx-
imately 5,000 cells per sec.
4. LASER ENGRAVING PROCESS: The fourth technique of gravure cylinder preparation
is called laser cutting laser cutting. In this process, a series of small holes or wells it etched
chemically over the entire surface of a clean copper cylinder. The wells are then filled
with a plastic material until again the cylinder again has a smooth uniform surface. Like
the electromechanical method, the original copy is scanned by a beam of light. The laser
cutting process, however uses the narrow beam of laser to blast away or remove parts of
the plastic from individual wells rather than a diamond tool to cut away metal. In the final
step of laser cutting the cylinder can then be sprayed with a special electrolyte and elec-
troplates with chrome. Direct laser engraving is not that widely used yet, but is gaining
attention. Advancements such as copper alloy developed by the Daetwyler Corporation
has proved much successful at being digitally engraved by the laser than ordinary copper
cylinders. The Laserstar by daetwyler engraves data processes in an open TIFF format and
has dual engraving heads that allow for speeds of up to 140,000 cells per sec. As laser
engraving does not involve parts to be worn down, such as the diamond stylus used in
electromechanical engraving it eliminates certain multichannel ribbon variances that
could occur.

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6.7 PURPOSE AND TYPES OF DOCTORS BLADE:
The function of the doctor blade is to wipe ink from the surface of the plate cylinder,
leaving ink in only the recessed wells. research has been done on materials, angles, and designs
for doctor blades. Several different materials are used for blades. The goal is to minimize blade
wear and reduce heat generated by the rubbing of the blade against the turning cylinder Plastic,
stainless steel, bronze, and several other metals have been used with success. The most common
blade material, however, is Swedish blue spring steel Blades are usually between 0.006 inch and
(1007 inch thick the blades must be relatively than to reduce wear on the cylinder, but strong
enough to wipe away ink. Blade angle is another important consideration. The angle between the
blade and the cylinder is called the counter. There is much debate about the proper counter for
the best image quality. The best counter depends on the method used to prepare the cylinder for
example, with electromechanically engraved cylinders, image quality decreases as the counter
increases Most angles are set initially between 18 degrees and 20 degrees. After the blade is
placed against the cylinder and production begins, however the counter generally increases to
around 45 degrees. One way to set the blade angle is by using the reverse doctor blade principle
with this approach the doctor blade is set at a large enough angle to push the ink from the surface.

FIGURE (1.5)

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6.8 GRAVURE CYLINDER ELECTROPLATING
Electroplating is the process of transferring and bonding very small bits (called ions) of
one type of metal to another type of metal. This process takes place in a special liquid plating
bath. The ions are transferred as an electrical current pass through the bath. The longer the current
flows the newer metal that is plated to the cylinder.

The first step in the gravure electroplating process is to clean the surface of the cylinder thor-
oughly. The cylinder is cleaned by brushing or rubbing it with special cleaning compounds and
then rinsing it with a powerful stream of hot water. Some plants use special cleaning machines
for this purpose. The goal is to remove all spots of grease, rust, or dirt so that a perfect coating
can be applied over the entire cylinder surfaces. Cylinder areas that will not be plated such as the
ends, can be coated with asphaltum or other staging materials which covers and defends its clean
surface. To electroplate a cylinder the cylinder is suspended in curved tank and rotated through
the plating bath. The electrical current is allowed to flow from the copper anode (the plating
metal) through the bath to the cylinder (base metal) Zinc sulphate copper sulphate, or cyanide
solutions are common plating bath liquids. Six thousand of an inches (0.006 inch) to thirty thou-
sand of an inches (0.030 inch) is the common thickness range for the copper layer on a gravure
cylinder.

FIGURE (2.1)

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 6.9 WELL FORMATION IN GRAVURE CYLINDER
Gravure transfers ink from the small wells that are etched or cut into the surface of the cylinder.
On the press, the cylinder rotates a fountain of ink. The ink is wiped from the surface of the
cylinder by a doctor blade. The cuplike shape of each well holds ink in place as the cylinder turns
past the doctor blade. The formation of perfect wells is the main goal of the gravure engraver.
Every gravure well has four variables:
1. Depth: The depth of the well is measured from the bottom of the well to the top surface
of the cylinder.
2. Opening: The opening is the distance across the well.
3. Bridge: The bridge is the surface of the cylinder between wells.
4. Bottom: The bottom is the base surface of the cylinder.

CONVENTIONAL GRAVURE WELL DESIGN In the conventional gravure design every well on
cylinder has exactly the same opening size, The amount of ink to be transferred to the paper is
controlled only by the depth of the well. When reproducing photographic material, a continuous
tone film positive rather than a high contrast halftone is used to expose the mask.

LATERAL HARD DOT WELL DESIGN: This design is also called as halftone gravure design.
Two separate film positives are used to expose the mask with the lateral hard dot process. The
first is a continuous tone film positive as with conventional gravure. A second exposure is then
made with a halftone film positive that falls in the same position on the mask as that of the first
exposure.

DIRECT TRANSFER WELL FORMATION: The direct transfer method of cylinder preparation
produces yet another well design. A single halftone positive is used to expose the mask in this
process. The dot formation in the halftone defines the opening size of each well. The depth of
each well is same.

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7.0 MARKET SURVEY
A market survey is a technique used in market research that reveals the buying behavior and
purchasing power of consumers within a particular area Market research is any organized effort
to gather information about markets or customers.

It is a very important component of business strategy. The term is commonly interchanged with
marketing research, marketing research is concerned specifically about marketing process, while
market research is concerned specifically with markets.

Market survey is a key factor to get advantage over competitors. Market research provides im-
portant information to identify and analyze the market need, market size and competition. Market
research, which includes social and opinion research, is the systematic gathering and interpreta-
tion of information about individuals or organizations using statistical and analytical methods and
techniques of the applied social science to gain insight or support decision making.

During the market survey we found that all the Printing Technology institutions around in the
state not have Gravure machines for teaching and learning purposes. We know the cost of Gravure
units are high in the market and literally it is very expensive printing process. To unravel this
major problem, our project team has decided to make a working model to teach students virtually
with the single-color rotogravure machine and there are numerous advantages to students and
teachers.

We collected some information from the users to gain an understanding of their knowledge re-
garding the topic as well as to observe in the preferences for certain aspects to improve the project.

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8.0 REPRESENTATION OF SCHEDULING ACTIVITIES
For systematic, efficient and effective project work, this project work is planned before starting
working on the project. In project planning, project work is broken into different project activities.
Specifications of every activity is prepared. Later on, different activities are logically sequenced
and activity numbers are assigned to activities. The description of specification elements is as
below:

S.No. Description Person Responsible

1. Project Report Jayendra Singh Parmar
2. Manufacturing/Market Survey Siddharth Pandey
3. Manufacturing Siddharth Mishra
4. Market Survey Ashish Choudhary
5. Estimation/Project Report Arun Sahu
6. Manufacturing Kunal Dua
7. Manufacturing Dheeraj Kushwaha
8. Manufacturing Satyam Kushwaha
9. Market Survey Dhyanendra Kumar
10. Market Survey Sandeep Nagfule
11. Market Survey Amit Sondhiya

TABLE (1.1)

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9.0 MACHINE BLOCK DIAGRAM
The given figure above is the whole structure of flexography and gravure printing machines bi-
axially combined it consists of flexography and gravure stations in a single unit. The height of
the machine is 60” and width of the machine is 24”. It consists of winder rollers and unwinder
rollers and free rollers attached with the machine to maintain the proper web tension all along.
Unwinder section is the place consisting of unwinder roller (Unprinted substrate) this unwinder
roller with the help of free rollers connects the substrates to the printing section, after the print-
ing section with the help of free rollers the substrate goes into the drying section called drying
chamber, after which it goes into winder section where the winder roller winds the printed sub-
strates.

The green line is showing the path of substrate which has to be print in gravure and the red line
in the following diagram shows the path of flexography substrates.

FIGURE (2.2)

SINGLE COLOR ROTOGRAVURE MACHINE

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10.0 METHODOLOGY

1. MARKET SURVEY.

2. PROBLEM STATEMENT.

3. DESIGNING AND MAKING OUTLINE OF PROJECT.

4. REVIEWING IT FOR FEASEABILITY AND FINALIZING THE PROJECT.

5. MANUFACTURING OF MACHINE.

6. FINDING APPROPRIATE MATERIALS AND MACHINES FOR PROJECT AND

CHOOSING COORECT SHOP FOR COMPILING.

7. PROOFING THE MACHINE.

8. QUALITY TEST AT WORKSHOP.

9. FINISHING AND PAINTING OF MACHINE.

10. INSTALLATION OF THE MACHINE.

11. QUALITY TESTS.

12. TRAILS AND PROOFS ON THE MACHINE.

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11.0 PROJECT WORK LOGBOOK

KALANIKETAN
PROJECT WORK YEAR
COLLEGE POLYTECHNIC COLLAGE,
LOGBOOK 2019 - 2022
JABALPUR (M.P.)

PRINTING PROJECT
DEPARTMENT DATE
TECHNOLOGY GROUP NO.

PROJECT TITLE SINGLE COLOR ROTOGRAVURE

Preliminary Survey, Problem statement, Finalizing the project topic and feasibility,
Estimation of project work, Money collection, Market survey of raw materials,
ACTIVITIES FINISHED
Welding lathe shop work, Manufacturing of machine, Project report, Machine De-
livery, Purchasing Printing Raw materials, Project report, Machine delivery.

PROGRESS IN
ONGOING Assembling of machine, Cleaning the machine with chemicals.
ACTIVITIES

NEW ACTIVITIES
Proofing on machines, Photoshoot with Single color rotogravure machine.
STARTED

DELAYS OCCOURED
Finding correct and quality raw materials and tools, general issues in manufacturing
AND REASONS FOR
the machine.
DELAYS

PROBLEMS /ISSUES
General Problems only. (solved)
FACED AND SOLVED

UNSOLVED
No Problems are unsolved.
PROBLEMS

Appointing the group leaders, Distribution of task individually, Tracking the work
DECISIONS TAKEN and self-assessment, Improvements in the projects, Assembling the machine, Dis-
tribution of tasks to team for market survey, Making Estimation of project.

SIGNATURE OF SIGN - 1

STUDENTS SIGN – 2

TABLE (1.2)

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12.0 CONCLUSION

From the observations, we have concluded that this project titled “Single Color Rotogravure Ma-
chine” has numerous advantages in relation to teaching perspective to the department and stu-
dents. It has been a dream project for us which is successfully completed. Before making it happen
some legitimate questions like Why, How and Where the project is to be manufactured, kept the
constant source of inspiration and clarity. We started with market survey which made us very
clear about the market rates and to calculate estimations. From making perfect machine designs
to bringing it into reality within feasible amount of Time, Money and Workforce was the task.
This project report has been consistently updated with the day-to-day activities and tasks. This
project is successful in date because it has a very good and clear aim, as such enlightening and
absorbing knowledge in the field and helping students grasp.

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 13.0 PROJECT ESTIMATIONS

S.NO. PARTICULARS RATE AMOUNT

BASE MATERIAL
1. @70/kg 35,000/-
(IRON)
5,000/-
2. Gravure cylinder As per size and image

3. Free rollers (6) @600/- per 3,600/-

4. Impression roller As per machine size 2,000/-

Motor & control 2HP Motor and Refurbished

5. 5,000/-
panel control panel.
6. Paint @800/Litre 1,600/-
7. Doctor blade 40/meter 700/-
8. Blower Motor with 0.5HP and fan. 2000/-
9. Ink tray Metal ink Tray (Iron) 700/-
10. Solvent & ink As per the required job 1600/-
11. Wielding As per materials wield 1500/-
12. Assembly Labor charge 1300/-
Rs.
TOTAL
60,000/-

TABLE (1.3)

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 STUDENTS DECLERATION

We, final year (6th semester) students of Diploma in Printing Technology Department of Kalani-
ketan polytechnic collage, Jabalpur hereby declare that we own full responsibility for the infor-
mation, results and conclusions provided in this project work titled “GRAVURE PRINTING
MACHINE” submitted to RGPV (Diploma Wing) for the award of Diploma in Printing Technol-
ogy, To the best of our knowledge, we have completely taken care in acknowledging the contri-
bution of others in this academic work. We further declare that in case of any violation of intel-
lectual property rights and particulars declared, found at any stage, we as the candidates will be
solely responsible for the same.

S.no. Roll no. Name Signature

01. 18020P04011 Dhyanendra Kumar …………………….

02. 18020P04021 Satyam Kushwaha …………………….

03 18020P04037 Siddharth Pandey …………………….

04 19020P04005 Amit Sondhiya …………………….

05 19020P04008 Arun sahu …………………….

06 19020P04009 Ashish Choudhary …………………….

07 19020P04012 Dheeraj Kushwaha …………………….

08 19020P04015 Jayendra Singh Parmar …………………….

09 19020P04017 Kunal Dua …………………….

10 19020P04025 Sandeep Nagfule …………………….

11 19020P04029 Siddharth Mishra …………………….

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14.0 PHOTO GALLARY

FIGURE (2.3)

FIGURE (2.4)

36
FIGURE (2.5)

FIGURE (3.1)

37
FIGURE (3.2)

FIGURE (3.3)

38
FIGURE (3.4)

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15.0 REFERENCES

1. https://www.britannica.com/technology/gravure-printing#:~:text=gravure%20print-
ing%2C%20photomechanical%20intaglio%20process,the%20sur-
face%20of%20the%20plate.
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotogravure
3. Printing Technology Gravure Printing Notes.
4. Printwiki.com
5. Old project reports.
6. https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/gravure-printing
7. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCdk3lAEOf4
8. https://www.directindustry.com/industrial-manufacturer/rotogravure-printing-machine-
101925.html
9. https://www.bobst.com/usen/products/gravure-printing/gravure-printing-presses/
10. Introduction of Gravure printing by GAA.
11. https://www.britannica.com/editor/The-Editors-of-Encyclopaedia-Britannica/4419

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