Die-cutting indentation is a special process in post-press processing, mainly considering whether to apply according to the design requirements. This article mainly introduces the overall process flow of die-cutting indentation from the aspects of definition of die-cutting indentation, printing plate of die-cutting indentation and the manufacturing process of die-cutting indentation.
What is die-cutting indentation?
The die-cutting and creasing process is to make the edge of the color printed matter into various shapes according to the requirements of the design, or to add a special artistic effect on the printed matter and achieve a certain use function. The process of arranging the steel knife into a die (or carving it into a die with a steel plate), and punching the substrate into a certain shape on a die-cutting machine is called the die-cutting process. The process of leaving groove marks that are favorable for bending is called the indentation process.
What is a die-cut indentation plate?
The printing plate used for die-cutting is actually a steel wire with a cutting edge, and its height is about 23.8mm. The steel wire is bent into various required shapes on the jig, and then grouped into "printing plates". After embossing, the substrate is cut into the required shape. The printing plate used for indentation is also a steel wire, the height is slightly lower (about 0.8mm lower) than the knife line used for die-cutting, and there is no front product. The rows are formed into "printing plates" and then used for imprinting, which causes marks on the surface of the substrate. The seamless cutter with special requirements is made of a single piece of steel. The cost of this kind of cutter is higher, but it is durable.
What are the base plates of die-cut and indented printing plates?
To make a die-cutting and indentation printing plate, you must first make a base plate, and then bend the network cable according to the required knife shape and discharge it in the base plate. There are two types of metal plate and wood plate.
â‘ Metal bottom plate. There are many types of metal base plates, such as lead-space typesetting, lead-casting type, steel type engraving, and steel plate engraving. Lead space typesetting is to arrange the lead space groups of different sizes into layouts. The lead-casting plate is cast into a master plate with molten lead alloy liquid. This method is to bend the steel wire into the required shape first, leaving a 10mm edge around, and the outer periphery is fixed with wooden strips. Then the molten lead alloy liquid is poured into it, and after cooling, it becomes a die-cutting knife plate. The steel engraving is to bend the steel belt into a curved closed frame similar to the die cut, the joint is welded firmly, and the two sides are ground to a height of about 30mm. Then accurately cut the frame line of the cut graphics, file the knife edge according to the line, and finally heat treat it to make a die-cut plate. This die-cutting production is difficult and the process is relatively complicated. The steel plate engraving generally selects a steel plate with a thickness of 25mm that is slightly larger than the printed image and text. The side to be processed is precisely ground, and then the photosensitive liquid is coated and re-tapped. Mill the parts other than the knife line required by the graphic, and then carve the knife edge, and finally heat treat. Although this kind of die-cutting knife plate has high cost, it can be used repeatedly for a long time, and is generally suitable for small and complex shaped products. At present, lead-space typesetting is widely used.
â‘¡ Wooden bottom plate. There are several types of wood base plates, such as plywood, wood, and zinc wood pegboard. Plywood is generally 9 to 13 layers, with a thickness of 18 to 20mm. It transfers the design pattern to the plywood, drills holes in the lines, and then inserts the die cutter line and the indentation line into the die-cut and indentation plate. The quality of die cutting in this method is high, and the weight of the die cutting plate is light, which is shorter than that of the empty lead plate making plate. The wood base plate is the hard board directly formed by sawing as the base plate. Zinc wood nailing board is to make the die cutting pattern on the zinc board to make a negative picture. The zinc board is nailed to the wooden board, after trimming, a steel knife is inserted and it can be installed on the die cutting machine. Plywood is commonly used for wood base plates.
What is the manufacturing process of the die-cut and indented version?
The production of die-cut and indented version, commonly known as row knife. The so-called row knife refers to the process operation of assembling the steel knife, steel wire, and lining material into the die-cutting indentation version. At present, the domestic row knife operation basically uses two types of lining materials: metal air lead and plywood.
The plywood is used as the template for the lining material, first to make the bottom plate, and the other operations are basically the same.
â‘ Making the bottom plate. According to the design requirements of the product, it adopts a certain way to draw or draw the outline of the die on the bottom plate, and then through different processes, saw the narrow groove according to the outline line. In the production of the master plate, the drawing of the outline of the die and the advantages and disadvantages of the sawing are the keys to the quality of the printing plate. The production of the bottom plate was originally completed manually. The accuracy of the die depends entirely on the individual's technical level. You must first draw the die pattern on the board by hand and then use a wire saw to manually sew along the line of the figure; lasers have now appeared Plate-making system, in this system, the automatic operation till the last process, as long as the external dimensions, paper thickness and other parameters of the product to be die-cut are input into the electronic computer during the operation, the electronic computer can control the bottom plate making system to make the bottom plate follow the die pattern It moves automatically under the laser beam.
â‘¡Blade cutting and forming processing of steel knife (line). Steel knife (wire) guillotine cutting and forming processing refers to the process of cutting the die cutting steel knife and steel wire guillotine into the largest forming line segment according to the designed specifications and requirements, and then processing it into the required geometric shape . When the knife shape is formed, the selection of the steel knife and steel wire should be very careful. The hard steel knife has high mechanical strength and poor elasticity. It should be used as a straight line knife, and it should not be bent too much. The soft steel knife has good elasticity and should be used for bending. Large arc-shaped knife. In the selection of steel knife and steel wire, the thickness of the material to be die-cut and the width of the indentation line should also be considered. The general rule is: the thickness of the die-cut product material is different, and the height and thickness of the steel wire should be different. As the thickness of the paper decreases, the height of the steel wire increases and the thickness decreases.
③ Row knife. According to the product design specifications and shape, after drawing the specifications and checking with the printed graphics, you can start the knife arrangement operation. According to different lining materials used, the operation of arranging the knife is slightly different. The technical requirements and technical difficulty of metal vacant lead arranging knife are generally slightly higher than the plywood lining material arranging knife. When using the metal empty lead arranging knife, the knife is directly fixed to the designated position of the embossed plate with the empty lead according to certain process requirements, and the knife arranging operation is completed, which is very similar to the typesetting operation in movable type printing. In the metal empty lead row knife, the operator is required to be able to flexibly and correctly use various specifications of the lining material, and the discharged embossed plate cannot be loose or stringed during the die cutting process. Especially when arranging various types of geometric figures, it is necessary to ensure both the specification of the figure and the proper tightness. When there are multiple pictures in one version, they must be consistent with each other, and no difference can be caused by the different magnification of the added empty lead. In addition, the vertical lines of the points on the opposite sides of the printing plate should be equidistant after the knives are arranged to facilitate clamping and firming when the knives are fixed. In the operation of using the plywood lining material to arrange the knife, after the steel knife and the steel wire are inserted into the bottom plate, they should be perpendicular to the bottom plate plane, the gap should be appropriate, and there should be no deformation or twisting during embedding or processing. If the layout is composed of multiple bottom plates, the single bottom plate should be lined up and formed, and then arranged and shaped one by one, and finally clamped and fixed uniformly. After the arrangement of the plates, the vertical and horizontal lines should be at an angle of 90 ° to each other, and the side lines should be parallel to each other, so that the entire layout can be smooth. In addition, the steel knife and steel wire interface should be placed in a suitable position, and the interface gap should be appropriate, and there should be no overlap or excessive gap due to pressure.
â‘£Checking and fixing the knife. Some fixed knives are also called pattern-making or card-making, which is to install the arranged printing plates in the plate frame. After the row of knives is completed, a comprehensive inspection is performed again, and the knife can be officially fixed only after verification. The plate fixing knife with empty lead as the lining material should be directly fixed with a fixed plate lock after adding wooden strips around the frame; the die-cutting plate with plywood as the lining material should be based on the specific conditions of the entire layout. After adding the wooden strip, it is fastened by the fixed plate clamp.
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