Nip Impression Paper & Alternatives

Obtain a uniform nip impression for roll setup, maintenance, consistency, and longevity

The "nip" is the total contact area where two manufacturing rolls come together.

A nip impression is the full pressure profile of those two interfacing rolls as they touch.

Ensuring uniform nip pressure across the entire surface area of those rolls is crucial to producing a reliably consistent product, maintaining productivity, minimizing machine down time, reducing waste, and more. Regularly obtaining and validating uniformity in nip pressure measurements is therefore an important part of making sure a process is working efficiently and effectively.

Taking routine nip impressions can help identify:

Nip pressure and uniformity
Roller alignment
Proper machine setup
Crowning (under- or over-crowning)
Diameter variations
Deflections
Blanket & surface wear

Nip Pressure Measurement Options

There is no "one-product-fits-all" approach but depending on your application needs Tekscan offers three solutions:

Fujifilm Prescale™ Film

single-use nip impression paper

Primary Use: Maintenance Tool

Also known as nip impression paper or a Fuji impression, Prescale film is used to measure pressure between nip rolls and calender rolls.

Snapshot pressure measurements
Visual pattern of peak pressure
One-time use

I-Scan™

multi-use nip pressure measurement system

Primary Use: Instrumentation Setup

A powerful, versatile tool that accurately measures and analyzes dynamic contact pressure between rolls.

Used to understand full surface area of the nip
Over 200 sensors to choose from in different shapes and pressure ranges
Real-time display of pressure sensor data

NPAT™

advanced nip pressure alignment tool

Primary Use: Maintenance & Setup Tool

The NPAT™ captures nip footprints and relative pressure distribution between nip rolls.

Used to measure pressure distribtion, nip width, and cross width across rolls
Clear visual representation of rolls using static snapshots
Ideal for large nip roller areas

Comparison of Nip Impression Options

FujiFilm Prescale ("Nip Impression Paper" / "Fuji Impression")

Nip impression paper is used to measure contact pressures and is as easy as passing the film through the nip rollers.

The film structure consists of micro-encapsulated color forming and developing material. When pressure is applied to the film, a red color impression is formed in varying density according to the amount of pressure and pressure distribution.

Main features

Film is available in rolls and can be cut to size
7 available pressure ranges up to 30,000+ psi
Peak pressure snapshot
Optional digital analysis software

Buy nip impression paper

Example pressure profile from nip impression paper

I-Scan

I-Scan™ is a versatile solution for optimizing a process or manufacturing parameters. The I-Scan nip impression sensor is placed in the nip for real-time roller pressure measurement.

With a wide range of sensor form factors and data analysis tools in the software, I-Scan is a powerful tool for a research and development team to improve yield.

Main features

Ideal for engineering team analysis
Recording & playback of dynamic pressure images
Fast (100 Hz) sensor scanning
Supports high temp sensors

More details about I-Scan

Data returned from a square I-Scan sensor

Nip Pressure Alignment Tool™ (NPAT)

The Nip Pressure Alignment Tool™ (NPAT) is an advanced, easy-to-use tool used to capture nip footprints and relative pressure distribution between nip rollers. The system utilizes a sensor made up of an array of thin and flexible pressure sensitive bands, which can be configured to match the size of an application.

Main features

Helps prevent equipment and product damage
Provides quantifiable and credible data
Easily maintained in-field
Allows for proper machine set-up, machine comparison, and preventative maintenance

More details about NPAT

Sample software output from Tekscan's NPAT

Quick Comparison Chart

	Nip Impression Paper	I-Scan	NPAT
Primary Use	Maintenance tool	Instrumentation setup. Used by R&D engineers to optimize processes.	Maintenance & setup tool
Data Captured	Static display of pressure that captures peak load only; No timing data	Real-time, dynamic display of contact area of the nip	Relative nip uniformity and pressure distribution
Ideal Nip Roll Size	Cut to size	> 450 mm (18 in)	450 mm (18 in) to 10,973 mm (432 in)
Analysis Capabilities	Digital scanner; software only displays degree of pressure	Featured packed, robust software with in-depth analysis tools and features	Robust software with analysis tools and features
Efficiency & Productivity	Single-use product with a cumbersome setup process	Reusable, mix and match sensors capturing in-depth analysis of nip contact area	Reusable sensors that capture changes in pressure distribution in real-time