Printing Screens, Anilox Rolls & Ink Hardware
Challenge
A flexible-packaging print room cleaned stainless/polyester screens, small anilox rollers, doctor blades, ink pans and nozzle hardware. Dried UV, solvent and water-based ink clogged mesh openings and anilox cell mouths; manual scrubbing abraded mesh and changed cell volume, causing stripe and tone deviations. Solvent soaking left cell-bottom residues and created fume and disposal load. Heated wash was unnecessary for daily screen turnover and added chemical evaporation risk.
Solution
The print room adopted ACMESONIC Ultrasonic Cleaner units without heating: SUS304 tanks, 40 kHz for screens and small hardware, 68 kHz for fine anilox cups, adjustable power and degas mode to stabilize cavitation in fresh ink-compatible aqueous cleaner. Screens were framed in baskets; anilox sections and blades were separated to avoid contact marks. Ambient cycles lifted ink from mesh intersections and cell mouths by implosion only.
Outcome
Mesh openings and anilox cell mouths de-clogged without abrasive brushing. UV and solvent ink residues were removed more consistently than manual pan-soak. The ambient process reduced solvent volume and fume exposure, while preserving screen tension and anilox cell geometry across repeat jobs.
