Screen printing, one of the four modern printing methods, is also being recognized by more and more audiences and widely used in the printing industry with its advantages of large batch, low price, bright color, long shelf life, fast delivery, etc. UV ink is a kind of environment-friendly ink that has developed rapidly in recent years. It is loved by people in the printing industry for its instant curing, drying, no volatile solvent, simple and convenient application, etc.
Screen printing application: UV ink has a wide range and great potential
What happens when UV ink meets screen printing? In fact, UV ink has long been widely used in screen printing, and the printing materials are more diverse, including circuit boards, textiles, paper, synthetic paper, wood products, plastics, coated metal, glass, ceramics, etc.
Screen printing has thick ink layer, bright color, simple process, less investment and quick effect, so it has been widely used in light industry, electronics, machinery, automobile, textile, chemical industry, commerce, art, advertising, decoration, packaging and many other industries, especially in decoration, beautifying people's lives, commercial advertising, and electronic industry printing circuits, playing a role that can not be replaced by other printing methods. In the modern printing industry, without screen printing, we cannot call it a complete printing enterprise, which is not too much. In addition, it is believed that with the rise of the consumer market, Flowserve's demand for silk screen products will be growing. The expansion of the silk screen printing industry and technological upgrading are imperative.
However, with the continuous development of screen printing technology, screen printing equipment will also develop from manual and monochrome to full-automatic and multi-color with a higher degree of automation. The quality and grade of printing will be significantly improved, which puts forward higher requirements for screen printing ink. In the future, more environmental protection and more technical content will become the double standard of silk screen printing and silk screen UV ink.
Features determine the application of UV ink screen printing
Some people say that it is inevitable that UV ink will be used in screen printing. The reason mainly depends on the characteristics of UV ink itself. What are the characteristics of UV ink for screen printing?
(1) Fast curing speed, small UV equipment and high production efficiency.
UV ink is very suitable for multi-color, fully automatic flow process. In the past, solvent based ink drying needs a long drying line, and even some monochrome printing materials need a drying device of about 10m. After UV ink is used for screen printing, only one UV light source is needed to solve the problem, which saves the cost of purchasing equipment, saves space and greatly improves the production efficiency.
(2) The ink will not block the screen, the concentration is stable, and it is suitable for high-quality printing.
Some people say that 90% of the problems in screen printing are related to solvents. Solvents are an important part of screen printing inks. However, due to different regions, temperatures and humidity, the performance of inks is also very different. Therefore, UV ink, which does not contain volatile substances, has little change in ink viscosity and is easy to operate, can solve these problems and greatly improve the printing quality. In addition, due to the fast curing speed of the ink, the residence time of the printed matter in the drying process is shortened, and the possibility of being polluted by dust is reduced.
(3) It contains no volatile solvent and has no negative impact on human body and environment.
At present, screen printing commonly used ink, from the output and variety, volatile dry solvent ink is the mainstream. Because of its slow drying time, 60% of the solvent will volatilize during the drying process, so it will cause great environmental pollution. It has become the common goal of the printing industry to seek UV inks with low pollution, fast drying and low energy consumption.
(4) The ink layer is thick, the substrate is wide, and the operation is simple and flexible.
For general solvent inks, the solid content of the ink is about 40%, while the solid content of UV ink after curing is close to 100%, which is 2-5 times that of general inks. If the thick film screen printing UV ink is better, it is more suitable for screen printing.
(5) Good wear resistance, solvent resistance and weather resistance.
The chemical substances in the UV ink form a polymer three-dimensional network polymer through crosslinking reaction. The ink surface has strong chemical resistance and friction resistance, which can reduce the loss of printed materials due to harsh environment during transportation and extend the time for some printed materials to be displayed outdoors.
