Off loading

Overview

OFF LOADING, “unloading” or “taking off” is the practice of removing a printed garment from a PRESS and placing onto a dryer belt for curing (drying the ink printed onto the garment.

It is the OFF LOADERS responsibility to OFF LOAD in good time and in good order

Requirements for off-loading

1. The garment must be adhered to the pallet to ensure a good registered print. Due to this the off loader is required to break the seal between the garment and pallet before removal - the resistance of the glue may stretch the shirt causing distortion of printed areas. This can present itself in the form of bowing of straight edges or circles becoming “egg shaped”. The print will stretch towards the part of the garment that is being pulled, so the trick is to “break the seal” ensuring the print maintains its original shape.
   
   

The best method is to hold the garment approximately centred about half of its width at the bottom of the garment, lift and pull the garment away from yourself to overcome the glue

Once glue seal is completely broken, hold the garment by the shoulder seams and pull the garment towards yourself until it is clear of the printing press, then carefully place the garment on the dryer belt ensuring garment is flat and the sleeves have been folded underneath.

Under most circumstances the ink will still be wet, and if this ink comes into contact with any other parts of the garment or your hands it will leave undesirable ink marks, so care must be taken whilst handling the shirt to avoid this.

2. The entire printed area has to be exposed directly to the dying element when passing thought the dryer, as any ink that does not reach the correct temperature (cured) will potentially wash off. To ensure this is achieved the shirt must be placed onto the dryer belt flat with no creases or folds in the printed area with no undesirable material from the existing garment like a sleeve or the next garment covering any area of the print.
   

Example of Print being covered

It is also essential that the shirt is completely contained on the dryer belt, with no parts overhanging the belt. It must be kept as flat as possible, as badly placed garments on the belt can snag and can potentially become caught within the dryer.

Example of garment not contained on the belt

Neck Labels

Due to the material some inside neck labels are manufactured from, they can be heat sensitive and have a tendency to melt or shrivel leaving an undesirable crumpled lump inside the garment which could later be rejected by a client.

Most manufacturers of garments use label composition that can withstand the heat required, so if “shrivelling” is occurring the dryer may be running “too hot” and the first port of call is to reduce temperature while double checking the ink is still being cured.

Example of exposed label

During Run Checks

The OFF LOADER is the first person to view the print on every garment, it is their responsibility to check for print faults that may occur and must communicate as soon as possible to others when a problem is observed.

Comprehensive list of faults is detailed in During Run Checking Procedures

Faulty Garments

On occasion faulty garments may be detected by the loader and the print skip button has been pressed to avoid printing the faulty garment.

When this occurs, you as the off loader will be presented with a blank garment that will need to be off-loaded and placed on the dryer with communication to the dryer staff that a faulty garment is present.