Rigging_Board_Specification_PB-RB_Revision 11_May 2024.docx

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY BUREAU OF ENGRAVING AND PRINTING WASHINGTON, D.C. 20228

BEP SPECIFICATION FOR

PAPERBOARD: RIGGING BOARD (ROTARY CURRENCY PRESS)

1.0 SCOPE AND CLASSIFICATION

1.1 Scope. This specification establishes acceptance and performance requirements for paperboard material suitable for use as an impression material in high- speed sheet-fed rotary intaglio presses at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, hereinafter referred to as the BEP. The rigging boards shall be suitable for use as an inner covering on impression cylinders of high-speed, sheet-fed rotary I-10 and Super Orlof Intaglio (SOI) presses. The rigging boards will be used to print United States currency and other secure documents.

1.2 Classification. This specification covers one grade and three types of rigging board for use on the I-10 and Super Orlof Intaglio (SOI) presses. Types I, II, and V (1L001958, 1L001959, and 1L002026) rigging boards are no longer in use.

1.2.1 Type III. Type III rigging board used on I-10 presses for printing 32- subject currency paper shall be identified as BEP stock item number 1L002002.

1.2.2 Type IV. Type IV rigging board used on Super Orlof Intaglio (SOI) presses for printing 50-subject currency paper shall be identified as BEP stock item number 1L002017.

1.2.3 Type VI. Type VI rigging board used on Super Orlof Intaglio (SOI) presses for printing 50-subject currency paper shall be identified as BEP stock item number 1L002039. (Currently in BEP stock).

1.2.4 Additional Rigging Boards. Additional grades or types of rigging boards other than those listed above may be identified for future use. BEP stock item numbers will be assigned to these rigging boards. Additional requirements will be added to the specification if necessary.

2.0 APPLICABLE DOCUMENTS

2.1 Government Documents.

2.1.1 Specifications, Standards, and Handbooks. The following specifications, standards, or handbook form a part of this specification to the extent specified herein.

PB: RB, REVISION 11 30 May 2024 Supersedes PB: RB-10, Revision 10 30 June 2020

Bureau of Engraving and Printing Documents:

B: ECF-7 BEP Specification for Blanket: Elastomeric-Coated Fabric

75D-07.0-05 Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) Requirements for Purchased Materials

L: VAB-1 BEP Specification for Vendor Affixed Barcode Labels for Bureau of Engraving and Printing Materials.

(Single copies of BEP documents are available from the Contracting Officer, BEP, 14th and C Streets, SW; Washington, DC 20228)

2.2 Non-Government Publications. The following documents form a part of this specification to the extent specified herein.

Test Methods and Recommended Practices of the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry (TAPPI/ANSI) Methods:

(Request for copies should be addressed to the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry; 15 Technology Parkway South, Suite 115, Peachtree Corners, GA 30092, https://www.tappi.org/)

National Motor Freight Classification Rules

(Request for copies should be addressed to the American Trucking Association, Inc., 950 North Glebe Road, Suite 210, Arlington, VA 22203-4181, https://www.trucking.org/) (Non-Government standards and publications are available from the organizations that prepare or distribute the documents. These documents also may be available in, or through, libraries or other information services.)

2.3 Order of Precedence. In the event of a conflict between the text of this document and the references cited herein, the text of this document takes precedence. Nothing in this document, however, supersedes applicable laws and regulations unless a specific exemption has been obtained.

2.4 Internal References. All paragraph and section references will be to paragraphs and sections of this specification, unless stated otherwise.

3.0 REQUIREMENTS

3.1 Material. The rigging board shall be manufactured from either cellulosic fibers, synthetic fibers, or a combination of these types of fibers. Other materials such as filler, binder, dye, adhesive, biocide, etc. may be added provided that all requirements of the specification are fully met.

3.1.1 Recovered Materials. In accordance with the requirements of 42 United States Code 6901, et. Seq., and 6962, the BEP encourages the use of the highest percentage of recovered materials practicable in the manufacture and delivery of the finished materials as specified herein, as long as all specification requirements are fulfilled.

3.2 Performance. The rigging board shall perform as a component of each section of the impression cylinder in the rigging system used in the sheet-fed rotary intaglio currency presses. The press rigging may consist of two layers of rigging boards placed under an elastomeric-coated fabric press blanket known as a “drawsheet”. The I-10 face and back presses use two (2) Type III (1L002002) rigging boards. The Super Orlof Intaglio (SOI) face and back presses use two (2) Type IV (1L002017) rigging boards or one (1) Type VI (1L002039) rigging board. Each rigging board shall have mounting holes punched along the edge as shown in Figures 1 and 2 of the specification. The boards are mounted on the impression cylinder using mounting pins. The rigging boards shall conform to the curvature of the impression cylinder (see Section 6.1).

The minimum service life of rigging boards shall be 250,000 press impressions (e.g., 250,000 printed sheets of currency paper). The rigging boards shall perform under the printing pressures and temperatures (see Section 6.1). The rigging boards shall not contain or develop any one of the following: creases, tears, indentures, holes, lumps, and any other condition that might damage the press and/or printing plate and/or produce an unacceptable print quality. The rigging boards shall not delaminate during use. The print quality of United States currency produced using the rigging boards as a component of the press rigging system shall equal or exceed that of the BEP print quality standards.

3.3 Physical Requirements. The rigging board shall comply with the requirements listed in TABLE I of this specification.

TABLE I

Physical Properties and Dimensions

Grain Direction

Thickness (caliper), millimeters (mils)

1.25 ± 0.06 (50 ± 2.5)

1.0 ± 0.05 (40 ± 2.0)

1.5 ± 0.08 (60 ± 3.0)

Maximum Thickness Variation Tolerance Edge to Edge, millimeters

0.08

0.06

0.10

3.3.1 Structure. The rigging board shall be resistant to cracking or tearing at the edges. The plies of the rigging board shall be well adhered to each other. The rigging shall accept a sharp 90o angle bend in either direction of the grain without fracturing, cracking, and/or delaminating.

3.3.2 Defects. The rigging board shall have a surface, formation, and texture that will ensure acceptable printing impression. It shall be free from high and low areas, lumps, creases, tears, holes, blisters, irregularities, and the presence of dirt or foreign matter.

3.3.3 Trim. The rigging board shall be well trimmed on all four sides with clean and smooth edges. The edges of the rigging board shall not cut into the drawsheet. The corners of the rigging boards shall be square. The corner of the rigging board shall be considered square if the edges of the sheet forming that corner, measured at the points on the edges most distant from the corner, are no more than 1.3 millimeters (0.05 inch) from the position that the edges would occupy if the corner had an angle of exactly 90o. Square rigging boards are necessary to ensure proper fit on the impression cylinder.

3.3.4 Mounting Holes. Holes for mounting the rigging boards on the press impression cylinder shall be punched as shown in Figures 1 and 2 of the specification. Holes shall be punched cleanly having no frayed edges or hangers.

3.3.5 Grain Direction. The grain direction of the rigging board shall be determined as specified in Section 4.3.2.

3.3.6 Grammage. The grammage of the rigging board shall be determined as specified in Section 4.3.3. Report the average, minimum, and maximum grammage for each lot.

3.3.7 Thickness (Caliper). The thickness of the rigging board shall be determined as specified in Section 4.3.4. Report the average, minimum, and maximum thickness for each lot.

3.3.8 Thickness Variation. The thickness variation of the rigging board shall be determined as specified in Section 4.3.5. Report the average, minimum, and maximum thickness variation for each lot.

3.4 Environmental, Health, and Safety Requirements in Manufacture, Handling, Printing, and Processing. The contractor shall comply with the requirements of BEP Document 75D-07.0-05, BEP Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) Requirements for Purchased Materials.

4.0 QUALITY ASSURANCE PROVISIONS

4.1 Contractor Quality Assurance Plan. The BEP shall rely on the contractor’s existing quality assurance system or plan prior to delivery of the material. However, the BEP reserves the right to perform any inspections and tests that the BEP deems necessary upon receipt of the material to assure conformance to requirements. The BEP may conduct periodic site visits and quality audits of the facilities of the manufacturer or major first tier subcontractor in cases where the contractor is a “broker” or “regular dealer”. Upon the request of the BEP, the contractor shall provide a copy of their current quality assurance system document, e.g., quality assurance plan and its associated quality system documents to the BEP. The BEP may conduct periodic site visits or quality management system audits of the facilities where the paperboard is manufactured. Upon request, the contractor shall provide a copy of the quality assurance plan of the paperboard manufacturer. If the contractor is a “broker” or a “regular dealer” and not the manufacturer of supplies to be delivered under the terms of the contract, the BEP may request that the contractor provide a copy of the current quality assurance system document, i.e., quality assurance plan and its associated quality system documents of its major first-tier subcontractors. The quality assurance system document will be used by the BEP as the basis for conducting the quality audit.

4.2 Inspection and Testing

4.2.1 Responsibility for Inspection and Testing. Unless otherwise specified in the contract or in the purchase order, the contractor is responsible for the performance of all inspection and testing specified. Except as otherwise specified, the contractor may utilize its own facilities or other commercial laboratory acceptable to the BEP. The BEP reserves the right to perform any inspection and tests set forth in the specification. This may include site visits and periodic quality audits at the facilities of the contractor and sub-contractor.

4.2.2 Sampling. Lot sampling shall be conducted in accordance with TAPPI method T-400. The lot size shall be determined by the contractor, based on the contractor’s knowledge of the manufacturing process. The lots shall be expressed in units of boards and shall consist of single manufacturer’s batch or run, and must have uniform properties. Sub-lots shall be established whenever conditions indicate a significant difference in raw materials and/or manufacture.

4.3 Testing. Testing shall be conducted in accordance with the following methods. Reference to specific instruments is for information only. Use of a company and/or product name in this document does not imply approval or recommendation of the product in preference to others that may also be suitable. The BEP will work with the contractor to establish correlations between various instruments when required.

4.3.1 Test Conditions. The rigging board samples shall be conditioned and tested under environmental conditions that meet the requirements of TAPPI method T 402.

4.3.2 Grain Direction. The BEP follows the TAPPI/ANSI Test Method T 409 Machine Direction of Paper and Paperboard for determining grain direction.

4.3.3 Grammage. The BEP follows the TAPPI/ANSI Test Method T-410 Grammage procedure for the measurement of the grammage (mass per unit area) of paperboard. Grammage is calculated from the ratio of the mass to the area of a paperboard sample.

4.3.4 Thickness (Caliper). The BEP follows the TAPPI/ANSI Test Method T-411 Thickness (caliper) procedure for the measurement of single-sheet thickness of paper, paperboard, and combined board.

4.3.5 Thickness (Caliper) Variation. Thickness variation is determined by measuring the thickness of each sample board at five equally spaced points across the width of the board. The difference between the minimum and maximum thickness measurements obtained shall be the thickness variation of the board.

4.4 Inspection. Inspections shall be conducted for the requirements listed in TABLE ll, in accordance with the method given:

TABLE II INSPECTION

4.5 Certifications and Reports. The contractor shall certify in writing that the rigging boards supplied in each delivery are in compliance with all the requirements including density, density variation, thickness, thickness variation, dimensions, environmental, health, and safety as set forth in this specification. The signed and dated certification shall include a statement of the recovered material content if applicable. This certification of compliance shall accompany the report of inspections and tests. The contractor shall furnish copies of the result of inspections and tests performed for each batch or lot of rigging boards within the shipment to the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) in electronic form by electronic mail (email).

4.6 Outturn Samples. The Contractor shall provide the BEP with six (6) representative samples (outturns) from every production lot. Each set of six samples shall be packaged separately. Each set of outturn samples shall be plainly marked with the appropriate BEP stock item number, the production lot number, the date of manufacture, and the BEP purchase order number. Sets of packaged outturn samples may be packaged together provided each set of six boards are clearly identified. See Section 5.0 PREPARATION FOR DELIVERY for guidance. All packaged outturn sample boards for both BEP facilities shall be delivered to the BEP Washington, DC facility. The package shall be labeled with the BEP purchase order number and the name of the BEP Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR).

5.0 PREPARATION FOR DELIVERY

5.1 Packaging. The packaging shall conform with the Department of Transportation Rules and Regulations and to applicable requirements of the National Motor Freight Classification Rules and Container Specifications.

5.1.1 Packing. The rigging board shall be delivered in a corrugated fiberboard container of suitable strength to provide protection during shipping and handling. Each container shall contain 100 boards. The packing shall keep the boards flat (no curl) and provide protection for the edges of the boards. The packing shall include a waterproof liner to keep the boards from absorbing moisture.

5.1.2 Palletization. The container shall be delivered on sturdy wooden pallets, which allow four-way entry for forklift truck. The pallets may be slatted, and if slatted, the space between adjacent slats shall not exceed 12.5 centimeters (1/2 inch.). Each pallet shall contain a maximum of 1,000 boards. Pallet loads shall be shrink wrapped and/or strapped with plastic bands to prevent shifting of the containers during shipping and handling. No other packaging arrangements can be made unless a written approval is first obtained from the Contracting Officer.

5.2 Marking

5.2.1 Container Marking. Each container shall be plainly marked with the appropriate BEP stock item number, the contractor’s name, the batch or lot number, the date of manufacture, the net weight, and the BEP purchase order number.

5.3 Marking Size and Color. The markings used on each container shall be legible and of a color contrasting to that of the container. The item name and BEP stock number shall be 25 mm (one inch) high.

5.2.3 Hazard Warning Labels. Each container shall be labeled in accordance with the provisions of the Hazard Communication Standard, 29 CFR 1910.1200 (f). This label shall include the name and address of the manufacturer, the identity of the hazardous materials, and the appropriate hazard warnings.

5.2.4 Barcode Label. Each container shall be marked in accordance with the barcoded information listed in TABLE III of this specification. The Barcode labels shall conform to the “Specification for Vendor Affixed Barcode labels for Bureau of Engraving and Printing Materials” and shall be affixed on the packaging of each container.

TABLE III BARCODE INFORMATION

6.0 NOTES. This section contains information of a general or explanatory nature that may be helpful, but not mandatory.

6.1 Rigging System and Press Conditions. The press rigging system consists of rigging boards and drawsheets. For the I-10 and Super Orlof presses, the rigging boards are installed on the impression cylinder using mounting pins. The trailing end of the rigging board is then placed in a clamp and put under tension to bend the rigging board to conform to the curvature of the impression cylinder. The drawsheet is installed to the top rigging board with a strip of double-sided adhesive. TABLE IV provides dimensions of the intaglio press components associated with drawsheet installation.

TABLE IV

INTAGLIO PRESS COMPONENT DIMENSIONS

Press Type

Impression Cylinder Radius

480 mm

420 mm

Tensioning Bar Diameter

50 mm

50 mm

Note: The tensioning bar is the mechanism on the impression cylinder for tensioning the drawsheet.

Once installed on the impression cylinder, the rigging system (comprised of the rigging boards and drawsheet) may be subjected to printing pressures of up to 2.5 tons per linear inch as often as 2,500 times per hour for the I-10 presses; and 3,334 times per hour for the Super Orlof presses. The rigging system may be subjected to temperatures of up to 93o C (199.4° F) during printing.

ATTACHMENTS

FIGURE 1 –Mounting Holes for Type III Rigging Boards FIGURE 2 –Mounting Holes for Types IV and VI Rigging Boards

16 October 2018

1.2, 3.3, 4.6 Removal of Types I, II, V, and VI boards; addition of grammage and outturn sample requirements

1, 3.3, 4.3 Restoration of Type VI rigging board and addition of grammage variation requirement.

15 November 2019

Table I, Figure 2 Adjustment of some target values and target value ranges for consistency. Added Type VI rigging boards to Figure 2.

17 December 2019 Table I, Paragraphs 2.2, 3.3.6, 3.3.7, 4.3.3, 4.3.5

Replacement of grammage requirement with density requirement.

1 September 2020 Table I, Paragraphs 3.3.6, 3.3.7, 3.3.8, 4.3.4 Removed density requirement and replaced with grammage requirement. Removed grammage variation requirement.

30 May 2024

[END]

266.7 mm

266.7 mm

23.81 mm

133.35 mm

133.35 mm

133.35 mm

133.35 mm

197.5 mm

197.5 mm C L

All dimensions are in millimeters 7 Holes

6.35 mm diameter Tolerance for mounting holes and hole diameter is ± 1.0 mm Tolerances are not cumulative

DRAWING MAY NOT BE TO SCALE

FIGURE 1

Mounting Holes for Rigging Board – 1I002002 (Type III)

43.0 mm 160.0 160.0 80.0 80.0 160.0 160.0 C L 6 Holes

4.5 mm All dimensions are in millimeters

Tolerance for mounting holes and hole diameter is ± 0.5 mm Tolerances are not cumulative

DRAWING MAY NOT BE TO SCALE

FIGURE 2

Mounting Holes for Rigging Board – 1L002017 (Type IV) and 1L002039 (Type VI) image1.png image2.png image3.png image4.png image5.png image6.png image7.png image8.png image9.png image10.png image11.png image12.png image13.png image14.png