New system claims 90 per cent less cleaning time

Integrity Engineering, Princeton, MN, a design and manufacturing company serving the flexographic printing market, is beta testing a new automated hand proofer cleaning system brand labeled ‘The Clean Machine.’ This new cleaning system claims to dramatically reduce hand proofer cleaning time, improve drawdown consistency and increase the useful life of hand proofers and anilox rolls.   

‘The Clean Machine is a by-product of the customer feedback we have received from ink room managers and technicians from coast to coast,’ said Ron Westby, president of Integrity Engineering. ‘It’s a time consuming job that nobody wants to do. Yet the cleaning process is absolutely crucial to a good draw down. If the anilox cells are not totally clean, or if there is any ink residue or cleaning solution left on the proofer, the next draw down is compromised.’   

The company said in a statement: ‘The Clean Machine reduces the time spent cleaning hand proofers from two or three minutes, to ten seconds, plus another ten seconds to dry the hand proofer with the integrated drying system. It has a universal adapter that accepts all known brands of hand proofers. There is no awkward disassembly and reassembly of the hand proofer required during the cleaning process. Just load the hand proofer into the machine, push a button, and ten seconds later, it’s clean.’

According to Westby, ‘The Clean Machine’s unique hydronic cleaning action deep cleans the anilox cells without damaging the anilox roll. This system actually reduces operating costs by shortening cleaning time and providing a level of cleaning consistency that improves draw down quality and repeatability. It also extends the useful life of the anilox roll and hand proofer.’

The Clean Machine is expected to be released for production in January 2006. The company plans to offer attractive introductory promotional pricing to customers buying the Perfect Proofer and The Clean Machine as one package.