Influence Factors of UV Printing Quality

I. Introduction

With the improvement of living standards, the consumption habits of the Chinese people have gradually tended to refinement and high quality. Along with the shift of industries with higher demand for printing to the mainland, the domestic printing market has become more and more conspicuous, and traditional printing methods have become more common. It is no longer able to meet the requirements. The related methods of UV printing, such as flexo and gravure etc., have rekindled quite a lot of questions in the lithographic printing industry in recent years, because the lithographers have caused excessive prices due to overinvestment. The competition is even lower than the cost, so many manufacturers actively seek transformation or invest in other printing methods.

For the traditional sheet-fed printing industry, the transformation is not an easy task. Although there are ink and printed materials, the mystery of the page shows the principle of interlacing.

UV printing is most commonly used in the packaging industry. In addition to its role as a protective product, packaging can also increase the added value of products and achieve the role of promotion and communication of product information. With the improvement of people’s living standards and the ever-accelerating pace of modern life, the role of packaging in various industries will become increasingly important. Today's society has developed to the extent that every commodity must be packaged, and the packaging must be printed. With the continuous development of the social economy, people’s consumption concepts have undergone drastic changes. People pay more and more attention to the packaging of goods while paying attention to the quality, performance, and price of the goods. People's demand for commodities has gradually changed from a single, practical concept in the past to a new concept that is aesthetically pleasing, practical, and forward-thinking; fierce market competition also requires that products must have a strong visual impact on the market.

II. History of the development of UV inks

In the past, when only single-color or two-color printing was used, the dryness and time were still not so important. However, after 1955, the prominent four-color printing presses and printing speeds continuously improved the back-printing caused by printing. Problems such as sticking and waiting time for post-processing, dryness is also highlighted.

In 1960, due to the requirements of environmental protection and the requirement of productivity enhancement, inks of other drying methods were continuously produced. The drying methods were UV, EB, infrared, etc. Among them, the UV drying method became the best choice.

The patent for UV was acquired in 1964. The actual application was indeed in 1969. However, due to the lack of understanding, the use, printability, and post-processing of the UV patent were still difficult to control, resulting in frequent failures.

In the late 1980s, with the gradual detection of related detection technologies, each ink factory also actively developed better detection methods. Due to the occurrence of good detection methods, the quality of UV inks was also improved and related post-processing. As a result, its nature has gradually improved.

Since the 1990s, the development of UV inks has progressed toward high ink film thickness, but due to the technical relationship, it has been unable to overcome. With the continuous improvement of the formula, the printability of UV inks surpasses that of conventional oxidation inks.

In 2000, due to the high corrosivity of UV inks, the ink roll and related printing equipments must have good corrosion resistance. Due to the efforts of the ink factory, traditional printing presses can also be used without changing the relevant ink rollers. Under the circumstances, the dream of UV printing with the addition of UV lamps has been realized. Hy-Brite ink is the best choice for entering UV printing in a short time. Hy-Bryte is a kind of UV ink, but it is not much different from other general inks in use. Can use general lotion to clean, do not need with special ink roller, blanket, plate and so on. Because it has a wide range of water supply amplitudes to obtain clearer dots and does not cause oxidized crusting in the ink tank, it is highly stable on UV printers and does not contain volatile solvents. From the following [Table 1], the difference between traditional inks, UV inks, and Hy-Bryte can be clearly compared.

Table 1 Differences between traditional inks, UV inks, and Hy-Bryte

In addition to the above comparison table, there are [Table 2] explanations for the anti-disintegration force of the ink.

Table 2 Hybryte's Splitting Resistance Value (400rpm, 32°C.)

(to be continued)