Printing International has an extensive and varied range of inks. These inks can be classified in various groups: solvent-inks, UV-inks and thermoplastic inks.
Our R&D-team will help you to find the right colour and type of ink. Depending on the type of material, colour of the surface of the material, printing process and your requirements, our team will define the right ink and colour for you, meeting your adhesion requirements.
Among our standard inks we have about 12 mixing colours thanks to which we can develop the RAL, Pantone and HKS colours. The CMYK-colours for photoprint are also available.
Below please find summary of the 3 ink types:
1. Solvent inks:
This range includes both inks containing 1 component and inks containing 2 components. Inks containing 2 components are particularly used for printing on plastics, such as PE, metals and coated surfaces. For printing on glass and ceramics a special glass hardener is used.
Some of these inks comply to USP class VI, making them suitable for medical applications.
These inks can be used both in conventional pad printing and roatary pad printing.
All these inks do not contain heavy metals and comply to EN 71, part 3.
2. UV-inks:
Actually, the UV-inks that are used for conventional pad printing are hybride inks, as they still partially contain solvent. Due to the evaporation of the solvents, the rheological properties of the ink change, as a result of which the ink becomes more tacky and is being taken up by the pad.
UV-ink dries very quickly. Following exposure to UV-radiation the photoinitiators are being activated and will react with the monomers and the prepolymers. This reaction causes the binding agent to change from fluid to solid state.
The UV-inks have a stabler viscosity and addition of a harder is not needed, resulting in a more constant production process and gain of time. After drying, the products can be immediately further processed, implying gaining time and storage space. These UV-inks have a better chemical resistance and are more glossy when compared to solvent inks.
These inks contain more fixed substance, as a result of which their covering capacity is better. This also entails a considerably nicer and finer quadri photoprint.
The UV-inks developed by Printing International can be used to print on a wide variety of materials, including PVC, polyamide, polycarbonate, polystyrene, pretreated polyethylene, pretreated polypropylene, ABS, SAN coated surfaces and different types of metals.
If necessary, on the printed object a varnish layer (lacquer) may be applied by means of pad printing.
Both the UV-ink and the UV-varnish are available at Printing International.
Recently Printing International also comercialises a UV-ink to be applied for adhesion on glass.
UV-inks find their applications not only in linear, but also in rotary pad printing. For printing on profiles and planchettes by rotary pad printing, a purer UV-ink is used, i.e. without solvent.
All these inks do not contain heavy metals and comply to EN 71, part 3.
3. Thermoplastic inks:
These inks are delivered in solid form. The inks are prepared for printing, become fluid by heating them. For this application a GPC-pad printing machine is used, equipped with a preheated plate holder. During printing the ink touches a cold printing surface, as a result of which the ink hardens and dries immediately.
These inks are particularly used to print on glass, porcelain and ceramics. After printing the printed objects are being baked in.
The thermoplastic inks for ceramics and porcelain can be classified in three groups:
Inks for underglaze decoration: are applied for printing prior to glazing and firing the ceramic articles (‘biscuit’). The inks are fired at a very high temperature, at more than 1000°C.
Inks for in-glaze decoration: are applied for printing on the glaze. The ink is fired at a temperature higher than 1000°C, as a result of which the ink fuses with the glaze. These inks are very dishwasher-resistant.
Inks for on-glaze decoration: are applied for printing following glazing of the ceramic articles. The ink is fired at a lower temperature, at about 800°C. The ink does not fuse completely into the glaze and remains tangible on the glaze. As a result of the lower firing temperature, a more varied palette of colours is available.
