Introducing a new type of ink: mixed ink

Author brief introduction: Wang Liying, senior engineer, graduated from Beijing Printing Institute in 1991, has been engaged in the technology and management of printing enterprises, and is currently mainly engaged in technological transformation and application of new technologies in enterprises.

The development of mixed ink

Hybrid ink (Hybrid Ink) is a new type of ink formed by mixing common ink components and UV curing materials. It combines general ink and UV curing technology. One or more UV curing lamps are installed on the printing machine to make the ink Printing on a traditional sheet-fed printing machine allows UV varnish to be quickly printed on the mixed ink and cured to obtain a uniform and high-gloss glazing effect.

People originally used mixed inks to achieve UV glazing without reducing the gloss. In use, they found that these inks have many good properties of UV inks, but they do not need a lot of UV light when dried and fixed. Some used UV in the past Ink companies therefore switched to mixed inks.

The overall performance of mixed inks is slightly inferior to standard UV inks, but for printing manufacturers who want to profit with less investment, mixed inks are a good choice. As early as the last century, UV varnish has become the first choice for varnish due to its high gloss, instant drying and good friction resistance. However, due to the large difference in chemical composition and chemical properties between UV varnish and ordinary ink , The incompatibility of the two results in poor adhesion between ordinary ink and varnish. In addition, the initial high gloss of the printed glazed finished product does not last long after printing, and the gloss loss phenomenon occurs, resulting in uneven gloss of the printed finished product. , And the area with small coverage or no printing ink is still very bright.

If the ordinary ink is completely dried before glazing, then the UV glazing effect is very good. Ordinary inks need to be dusted in order to prevent the back side from rubbing during the drying stage, and dusting will make the surface of the printed sheet that should be bright and smooth appear sand-like, which affects the appearance of the printed product after glazing.

Later, the water-based glazing oil is used for glazing online and the dusting is reduced as much as possible, the effect is better. However, if the printed sheet needs to be fed twice in the printing press, the cost will increase and the efficiency will decrease. In order to overcome this shortcoming, printing machinery manufacturers have developed printing machines with double glazing units. When the paper is fed in the printing machine once, two glazing units print two layers of varnish on the common ink. First print a layer of water-based varnish to cover the common ink layer, and then print UV varnish to make it have high gloss. Since water-based varnishes are difficult to fully dry, the true drying of water-based varnishes requires coalescence of the acrylic emulsion in the varnishes. To speed up its drying on the printing press will inevitably cause other problems. Although some prints use this kind of glazing effect very well, it is still difficult to face a wide variety of prints.

In recent years, some ink manufacturers have developed a mix of common ink materials and cured materials. Put a UV lamp in front of the UV coating unit to dry and fix the mixed ink. After UV coating, a high gloss is formed on the surface of the printed product. Ink.

For example, Hy-Bryte Max of Sun Chemical Co., Ltd. is a kind of mixed ink combining common materials and UV curing materials. When using it, put a UV lamp at the end of the printing unit and in front of the UV glazing unit to completely cure the mixed ink. The specific varnishing effect depends on the type of UV varnish, printing material and varnishing device used, but when the mixed ink is combined with the UV varnish and cures well, it will result in a uniform and bright gloss print.

Characteristics of mixed ink

Compared with ordinary ink, mixed ink has many advantages.

Mixed ink printing combines the characteristics of UV light curing and traditional offset materials, so that the ink can maximize the characteristics of UV ink after UV light curing. The key to this process is the UV light curing technology. The high-energy UV lamp instantly cures and mixes the mixed ink between the printing press and the glazing device. This instant curing greatly reduces energy consumption, reduces production, storage and processing costs, and improves production efficiency.

Mixed inks do not require the use of special ink rollers, blankets and fountain solutions for UV inks. In this way, the printing factory uses mixed ink when it needs online glazing, and prints with ordinary ink when it does not need glazing. Mixed inks are printed in the same way as normal inks. Different rollers and blankets may have different effects when used with mixed inks.

Printed with mixed ink, the gloss will not fade after UV glazing, it is especially suitable for printing with high ink hiding power.

The printing performance of the mixed ink on the printing press is also like ordinary ink. The ink-water balance of UV inks is generally difficult to control, but mixed inks are similar to ordinary inks, and it is not difficult to control the water-ink balance. The printing characteristics of UV inks, such as dot gain, overprinting and printing contrast, are not as good as ordinary inks, and mixed inks are similar to ordinary inks. In addition, because the UV curing material in the mixed ink is not dried before the UV lamp is irradiated, the mixed ink is always flowing on the printing press, so it will not cause skin failure on the ink roller like ordinary ink and cause printing failure.

Printing with mixed inks achieves instant drying, so it can be UV glazed on the press without the use of water-based glazing oil. The printing quality is no less than that of ordinary offset inks.

The mixed ink has a wide application range and low investment. For printing plants that already have UV technology, they only need to buy mixed inks; for printing companies that have not yet used UV technology, in addition to buying mixed inks, they only need to invest in UV curing equipment and UV lamps.

Application of mixed ink

In addition to being mainly used for paper printing, mixed ink can also be used for non-absorbent printing materials such as plastic, aluminum foil, and metal paper. It has good adhesion to plastics. Using UV curing technology, the ink drying problem of non-absorbent printing materials is solved. The mixed ink prints out clear dots, which improves the quality of offset printing.

The mixed ink can be used not only for sheet-fed printing presses but also for narrow-web printing presses. Mixed inks are now more and more used to print products that require good gloss, such as photo albums, posters, cards, folding cartons, pharmaceutical and cosmetic packaging boxes, etc.

Notes on using mixed inks

For printing with mixed inks, at least one UV lamp must be installed after the last printing unit and before the UV coating unit. According to the speed of the printing press and the hiding power of the ink, a UV lamp can be added to prevent the ink from drying completely. A glazing device is also required, and a certain number of UV lamps are installed on the rear of the printing press to ensure At printing speed, UV varnish can fully cure.

There are many possibilities for the configuration of the printing press. The most typical one is to install a UV lamp before and after the glazing unit. Although it is generally not required to use lamps between printing units, some manufacturers have found that installing UV lamps between printing units has certain advantages.

Mixed inks can also be glazed with water-based glazing oils. Some printing houses have found that this process has improved the gloss of the printed surface. Although the glazing effect is not as good as UV varnish, it is better than using water-based varnish on ordinary inks.

When printing with mixed inks, the first step is to determine whether the mixed ink is suitable for the specific printing business of the printing company; the second is to fully understand the characteristics of the mixed ink in all aspects, it is best to consult the ink factory, glazing equipment factory and UV lamp factory. At the same time, it is also necessary to consider whether the ink roller and blanket of the printing machine are ideal, and whether the consumables such as fountain solution are compatible with the mixed ink. In addition, it is best to use products from the same manufacturer for mixed inks and varnishes.

Disadvantages of mixed ink

At present, the biggest disadvantage of mixed ink is that it is more expensive than ordinary offset ink. However, printing with mixed inks can dry instantly, saving labor, reducing waste, and speeding up print preparation time, so the overall cost has not increased. At the same time, it can be transported and shipped out immediately after printing, which improves productivity and reduces powder spraying and related maintenance costs.

Another area that needs to be improved for mixed inks is that when printing high-gloss products with multi-color mixed inks, the technology has not yet reached the perfect level.

Prospect of mixed ink development

The future market potential of mixed ink is amazing, it will be a new development direction of ink technology, and will create a new future. The future mixed inks will mainly develop in several directions: the development of efficient UV curing technology for mixed ink printing; the inexpensive and high-brightness color mixing inks that do not lose gloss are also an important development direction.

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