Rotary Printing

The basic operations of rotary and flat printing machines are very similar. Both use the same type of infeed device, glue trough, rotating blanket or print table, dryer, and fixation equipment.

The first step in rotary printing is feeding the fabric onto a rubber blanket. The fabric then travels under the rotary screens one screen for every color in the design. The screens rotate as the fabric passes underneath. Print paste is continuously fed to the interior of the screen through a color bar or pipe. As the screen rotates, the squeegee device pushes print paste through the design areas of the screen onto the fabric.

Rotary screen machines are more compact than flat screen machines, therefore they use less plant floor space. The size of the design repeat is dependent upon the circumference of the rotary screen. This was initially seen as a disadvantage because the first rotary screens were small in diameter. Today’s screens are available in a wide range of sizes.

Modern rotary screen machines are highly productive. They have few design limitations and can be used for both continuous and discontinuous patterns. It is estimated that approximately 65% of the worldwide printed fabric market utilizes the rotary screen technique.

The principal disadvantage of rotary screen printing is the high cost of the equipment. Rotary screen printing is generally not profitable for printing small orders because of the time required to change screens and perform the necessary cleaning operations.