High speed print registration and colour quality control

Changes in the consumer market have resulted in many companies allocating considerable resources to their logos and trademarks with a subsequent need for high quality product packaging. Looks at design work undertaken for a system for quality control of printing images on packaging materials. Discusses the need to integrate the print process within the box making machine and the challenge of designing print machinery that can utilise environmentally friendly recycled paper. It looks at the problems of sensing and data acquisition from high through put machines and describes the two main aspects of print quality ‐colour quality and print registration and the methods of gathering this information. Concludes that a mechatronic approach is required for quality control of print images on packaging materials with an end product comprising sensors, machine vision, microprocessors and ultimately machine control and actuation.