Application of UV curable ink in large format prin

Application of UV curing ink in large format printing (Part 1)

in order to meet the market demand for printing with various non absorbent materials, UV ink curing solutions are more and more widely used, and are developing towards large format printing, replacing part of the UV printing market. Detailed description of advantages and disadvantages

detailed description of advantages and disadvantages

uv curing ink gives the inkjet device many advantages

(1) it can meet the requirements of various printing quality, has good adhesion to a variety of materials, can be cured quickly, can eliminate the phenomenon of dot increase and plate pasting, and can increase the printing density of ink

(2) UV curable ink does not release organic volatiles, which is another prominent feature of UV curable ink. Therefore, the printing process is more environmentally friendly and reduces the opportunity for operators to contact harmful pollutants

(3) UV curing inks will not dry at the head of inkjet to meet the key basic materials in China's new generation of information technology, aerospace, ocean engineering, high-tech ships, advanced rail transit, energy saving and new energy vehicles and other high-end fields, avoiding many troubles, such as cleaning inkjet heads, removing insoluble substances and other headache problems. Theoretically, by covering each part with materials, it is no longer necessary to wait for the solvent to volatilize and no large-scale drying equipment is required. Therefore, using UV curing ink can obtain higher production speed

even so, before investing in large format printing, there are still many places worth thinking about the use of UV curing ink

if the cost of many rings in the production process is lower than that of the portal structure, they will be affected by adverse factors, such as freight, storage, ventilation and lighting conditions, as well as the performance of inkjet head, ink adhesion performance and cleaning, etc., new problems may occur. In order to pursue high-quality printing quality, operators are required to strictly control all links. In addition, UV curing ink restricts the use of transparent ink and translucent ink, reduces flexibility, and the corrosion resistance of UV ink is poor

the current market situation and cost are the main challenges faced by UV curing inkjet printing, but these challenges are not insurmountable obstacles

advantages and disadvantages

the lowest production cost determines the price of the product. At the same time, the fluctuation of the product price can easily affect the profit margin of the whole live parts, and even make them lose the market. At present, the processes used for large format printing include printing, large format inkjet printing and roll to roll printing

1. printing vs inkjet printing

Table 1 shows the cost comparison of printing and processing the same live parts by a four-color plus UV curing silk screen printing brush machine and a large format flat color inkjet machine. The premise is that there is one shift per day, each shift works for 8 hours, and each month is 22 working days. The fixed cost includes equipment depreciation, installation and plant costs

from this, it is not difficult to see that the current price of UV curing inkjet ink is about US $120/L, and the processing is also more expensive than printing. In order to ensure the minimum economic benefit of 0.5 USD/m2, the price of UV curing ink should be 60-70 USD/L. however, considering the current competitive factors, a more reasonable profit expectation requires that the price of UV curing ink should be lower

(to be continued)