A new type of ink: mixed ink
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The development history of mixed ink
Hybrid Ink is a new type of ink prepared by mixing ordinary ink components with UV curable materials. It combines general ink and UV curing technology to install one or more UV curing lamps on the printing press to enable inks. Printed on a traditional sheetfed press, UV varnish can be quickly printed on the blended ink and cured to achieve a consistent high gloss finish.
The use of mixed inks was originally intended to achieve UV glazing without reducing gloss. These inks have been found to have many good properties of UV inks, but do not require a lot of UV light when dry and fixed, and some have used UV in the past. Ink companies have instead switched to mixed inks.
Mixed inks have a lower overall performance than standard UV inks, but mixed inks are a good choice for print manufacturers who want to make a profit with less investment. As early as the last century, UV varnish has become the first choice for glazing because of its high gloss, instant drying and good abrasion resistance. However, the chemical composition and chemical properties of UV varnish and common ink are quite different. The incompatibility between the two leads to poor adhesion between ordinary ink and varnish. In addition, the initial high gloss of the printed glazing product is not retained for a long time after printing, and the glossback phenomenon occurs, resulting in uneven gloss of the printed product, and the darkness of the dark region with large ink coverage area is the greatest. The area with small or no printing ink is still very bright.
If the normal ink is thoroughly dried before glazing, the UV glazing effect is good. Ordinary inks are used to prevent the back surface from being smeared during the drying stage. Therefore, it is necessary to spray powder. The powdering will cause a sand-like appearance on the surface of the printed sheet which should be bright and smooth, which affects the appearance of the printed matter after glazing.
Later, the water glazing oil was used for glazing and the powder was reduced as much as possible, and the effect was better. However, if the sheet is to be fed twice in the printing press, the cost is increased and the efficiency is lowered. To overcome this shortcoming, printing machinery manufacturers have developed printing machines with dual coating units. When the paper is fed once in the printing press, two coaters print two layers of varnish on the common ink. First, a layer of water-based varnish is applied to cover the common ink layer, and then UV varnish is applied to make it have high gloss. Since aqueous varnish is difficult to dry sufficiently, the true drying of the aqueous varnish requires the agglomeration of the acrylic emulsion in the varnish. To speed up its drying on the press will inevitably cause other problems. Although some prints use this glazing effect very well, it is difficult to face a wide variety of prints.
In recent years, some ink manufacturers have developed a mixture of ordinary ink materials and curing materials. UV lamps are placed in front of the UV coating unit to dry and fix the mixed ink. After UV glazing, high gloss is formed on the surface of the printed matter, thus creating a new type of mixing. Ink.
For example, Hy Chemical's Hy-Bryte Max is a hybrid ink that combines common materials with UV-curable materials. When used, the UV ink is placed at the end of the printing unit and the UV coating unit to completely cure the mixed ink. The specific glazing effect depends on the type of UV varnish, substrate and glazing used, but when the mixed ink is combined with UV varnish and cured well, a print with uniform gloss and very bright gloss will be obtained.
Mixed ink characteristics
Compared with ordinary inks, mixed inks have many advantages.
Mixed ink printing combines the characteristics of UV light curing and traditional offset printing materials to maximize the UV ink characteristics of the ink after UV light curing. The key to this process is UV-curing, a high-energy UV lamp that instantly cures and dries the mixed ink between the press and the glazing unit. This instant curing greatly reduces energy consumption, reduces production, storage and handling costs, and increases production efficiency.
Mixed inks do not require special ink rollers, blankets, and fountain solutions for UV inks. In this way, the printing plant uses mixed ink when it is necessary to glaze on-line, and prints with ordinary ink when it is not required to be glazed. Mixed inks are the same as when printing with common inks. Different ink rolls and blankets may have different effects when used with mixed inks.
Printed with a mixed ink, the gloss after UV glazing does not fade, it is especially suitable for printing with high ink hiding power.
The printing performance of the mixed ink on the printing machine is also like ordinary ink. The ink balance of UV inks is generally difficult to control, but mixed inks are similar to ordinary inks, and it is not difficult to control 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, since the UV curable material in the mixed ink does not dry before the UV lamp is irradiated, the mixed ink always flows on the printing machine, so that it does not cause skinning on the ink roller like ordinary ink, causing printing failure.
Printing with mixed inks allows for instant drying, so UV glazing can be applied to the press without the need for water-based varnishing, and the printing quality is no worse than ordinary offset inks.
Mixed inks have a wide range of adaptations and low investment. For printers that already have UV technology, they only need to buy mixed inks. For printers that have not used UV technology, in addition to purchasing mixed inks, they only need to invest in UV curing equipment and UV lamps.
Mixed ink application
In addition to being mainly used for paper printing, mixed inks can also be used for non-absorbent substrates such as plastics, aluminum foils, and metal papers. It has good adhesion to plastics. UV drying technology solves the problem of ink drying of non-absorbent substrates. The mixed ink prints clear dots and improves the quality of the offset.
In addition to being used in sheetfed presses, mixed inks can also be used in narrow web presses. Nowadays more and more mixed inks are used to print products that require good gloss, such as photo albums, posters, cards, folding cartons, pharmaceutical and cosmetic packaging boxes.
Precautions for using mixed inks
Use a mixed ink to print, at least after the last printing unit, in front of the UV coating unit, a UV lamp. Depending on 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 out completely. A glazing device is required, and a certain number of UV lamps are installed at the rear of the printing machine to ensure a certain amount. The UV varnish is fully cured at the printing speed.
There are many possibilities for the configuration of the press, most typically a UV lamp is placed in front of and behind the coater. Although lamps are generally not required between printing units, some manufacturers have found that it is advantageous to install UV lamps between printing units.
Mixed inks can also be glazed with aqueous varnish. Some printers have found that such a process improves the gloss of printed surfaces. Although the glazing effect is not as good as the UV varnish, it is better than the use of water-based glazing on ordinary inks.
To use mixed ink printing, first determine whether the mixed ink is suitable for the specific printing business of the printing manufacturer; secondly, to fully understand the characteristics of all aspects of the mixed ink, it is best to consult the ink factory, glazing equipment factory and UV lamp factory. Also consider whether the ink roller and blanket of the press are ideal, and whether consumables such as fountain solution are compatible with the mixed ink. In addition, it is preferable to use the same manufacturer's products for the mixed ink and the varnish.
Disadvantages of mixed ink
The biggest shortcoming of the current mixed ink is that the price is more expensive than ordinary offset printing ink. However, printing with mixed inks can be instantaneously dried, 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 immediately after printing, which increases productivity and reduces dusting and related maintenance costs.
Another area for improvement in mixed inks is that when printing high-gloss products with multi-color mixed inks, the technology has not yet reached a perfect state.
Prospects for the development of mixed inks
The future market potential of hybrid inks is staggering, it will be a new direction for ink technology and will create a new future. The future of mixed inks will mainly develop in several directions: the development of high-efficiency UV curing technology for mixed ink printing; the color mixed ink with low cost and high gloss effect and no decrease in gloss is also an important development direction.