Re-recognizing the coating process
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The laminating process is a surface processing process after printing. It is also known as post-press over-molding, post-press silicone or post-press film. It refers to the film covering the surface of the printed product with a layer of 0.012~0.020mm. Thick transparent plastic film to form a paper-plastic product processing technology. Generally speaking, according to the process used, it can be divided into two types, namely, a coating film and a pre-coating film, and is classified into two types: a bright film and a matt film depending on the film material.
As a way of protecting and decorating the surface of printed matter, the film has a large share in post-press processing. If you walk into a bookstore, you will find that most books use this method. This is because the printed film will be smoother, brighter, stain-resistant, water-resistant and wear-resistant. The color of the cover of the book will be more vivid and dazzling, and the wear resistance, folding resistance and tensile strength of the printed matter will be The moisture resistance has been greatly enhanced, which protects the appearance of various types of printed matter and improves the service life. Most notably, the film can largely compensate for the quality defects of the printed product, and many of the apparent defects that occur during the printing process can be covered after the film is coated (especially after the matte film). .
Therefore, the laminating process is widely used in various types of packaging and decoration printed matter in China, and books, magazines, calendars, maps, etc. in various binding forms are a very popular surface processing technology for printed products. The film-coating process entered China in the 1980s. Due to its many advantages, it has swept the country in a very short period of time and has gradually become the darling of the surface decoration of books and periodicals.
Nowadays, people's awareness of environmental protection is gradually increasing, relevant laws and regulations are constantly improving, and the pollution caused by the laminating process and the difficulty of reusing the laminating products are in front of people. When people cover the film, people often think of it. "White pollution". Many people in the industry have doubts about the function of the film and whether it can continue to be applied. In the 32nd order issued by the former National Economic and Trade Commission in 2002, the solvent-based film coating machine has been included in the third batch of “elimination of backward production capacity”. , catalogue of processes and products.
It is certain that in the future development process, the film coating technology will accept more and more tests. How will the film develop? Is it completely eliminated or rationally developed? These problems will become unavoidable problems in the development of the laminating process.
Worrying situation
When we visited the exhibition of books and magazines, it was difficult to see the products on the foreign booths with film coating. In some developed countries, the laws and regulations on environmental protection, health and fire insurance are relatively perfect, making it difficult to develop a film coating process. On the contrary, China's film market is showing a "prosperous" scene. To talk about the decoration of books and periodicals, we must talk about the film coating process.
1. The main problems in the laminating process
Although the regulations for disabling the solvent-based coating film process have been in place for many years, many small laminating plants are still in use in China. It is understood that this process mainly has the following problems.
(1) affecting the health of operators, there are fire hazards
The solvent-based film damages the health of the operator due to the use of a solvent containing benzene, and causes great pollution to the workshop environment. At the same time, as the concentration of the surrounding organic solvent continues to increase, it is extremely prone to sudden fire due to static electricity generated by the film material. And for the surrounding environment, the filming plant itself is a serious source of pollution, and there is a potential danger.
(2) Paper and film materials after lamination are difficult to recycle, wasting resources
It is understood that 80% of the source of papermaking fiber in China now relies on the recycling of used paper, including paper and paper. In printed matter, the amount of paper used in the cover of a book is also huge. If a large amount of film (especially a coated type of film material) is used, and the paper and the plastic film cannot be separated, the paper-covered waste paper and the paper edge Paper wool will not be recycled and cannot be degraded. This will bring an unpredictable economic loss, which is actually a waste of resources.
2. The film coating process is backward but there are still market reasons
Since solvent-based coatings are so dangerous, why are there still such a large market? The reasons for this are more or less determined for the following reasons. First, the laminating machine with solvent-based adhesive has been used for many years, the development of the equipment has been very mature, and the filming precision is guaranteed. These machines are generally not easy to be damaged, the maintenance is not complicated, and many productions have accumulated in long-term use. And maintenance experience, so many manufacturers are reluctant to eliminate this solvent-based laminating machine that can also come in handy. Second, the solvent-based laminating process has been promoted for decades, the technology is mature, and the product quality is guaranteed. Many companies and technicians are reluctant to replace a skilled craftsmanship with a technology that they are not familiar with. Third, from the cost point of view, solvent-based laminating machine is still relatively cheap, for the printing plant, cost savings is to fight for profits. Fourth, although the water-based coating process improves the environmental problems in the production process and avoids damage to the operator's body, there are still many defects compared with the solvent-based coating process, such as the product quality is difficult to satisfy.
3. The attitude of printing houses and publishing houses affects film development
In general, it is a matter of time before the solvent-based laminating process is completely eliminated. We also proved this trend through interviews. It is foreseeable that the solvent-based film has reached the moment of exiting the historical stage. However, can we completely negate the laminating technology based on this? The author believes that under the current circumstances, it is unrealistic to completely eliminate the film-coating technology. The following two aspects deserve everyone's attention.
(1) Printing factory profits are difficult to give up
For most printers, laminating is a big profit point in post-press processing. Especially nowadays, the printing industry has entered the era of low profit. For laminating processing, printing companies are difficult to give up.
The first line of operators on the front line is the first victim of harmful gases. What makes us feel comfortable is that today's printing houses (even some small-scale printing plants) generally recognize the hazards of the laminating process and are Try to minimize the possible pollution, such as the use of more environmentally friendly processes and materials, improve the ventilation facilities of the plant, etc. They welcome environmentally friendly products, such as water-based film, pre-coated film.
(2) Press, film has become a habit
In the interview, the reporter found that the laminating process is highly praised by the publishing house. When selecting the decorative method on the surface of the book, the filming is often preferred. Even in the case of partial UV glazing, the film should be coated and then glazed. It can be said that the publishing house plays a decisive role in whether or not to cover the film. Because according to the general book publishing process, the publishing house must first formulate a plan, and the printing house or the binding factory is only executing the will of the publishing house. Some science and education publishers have to cover almost all books. On the issue of environmental protection, the publisher side apparently did not have a positive performance on the printing side.
At the same time as people's living standards improve, the requirements for the printing quality and surface decoration effect of paper publications have also been greatly improved. In order to pursue the sales of book products, publishers must make a big fuss on the cover of books.
After the film processing, the graphic can be protected and the visual effect is better, especially the matt film gives a soft, high-grade and comfortable feeling.
In addition, the film can also increase the density and brightness of the color, improve the color contrast, and also be waterproof and not sticky. At the same time, the physical properties of the paper such as tension value, smoothness, anti-aging, tear resistance and puncture resistance are generally improved, which reduces the deformation and breakage caused by the influence of moisture on the paper product, and improves the rigidity and molding stability of the book. The added value of printed matter has been greatly improved. Moreover, the investment in film cost is much lower than the added value of products and the promotion rate of products. For the publishing house, since there are so many advantages in the film, why not do it?
Therefore, the publishing unit should strengthen communication with the printing factory. The printing factory should introduce the advantages and disadvantages of the laminating process to the publishing unit. The publishing unit can consider the advantages and disadvantages of various processes when formulating the book decoration plan, with a society. Responsibility to do design.
Seeking development
The printing technology continues to advance, the printing materials are constantly updated, the influence of various post-press processing conditions on the film is increasing, the printing quality standards and market demand are constantly increasing, which requires the film industry to change according to objective conditions. New quality technical standards for structural adjustment. At the same time, we should also look for other processes that can replace the film in time to reduce the pressure on the environment.
1. Can the glazing replace the film?
In fact, in addition to the film coating process, UV glazing can also play a certain role in protecting and decorating the surface of the printed matter. The two are similar in many functions. Due to the relatively low cost of UV glazing, the development is relatively rapid, and the product is very attractive, so it also has a certain market share in some post-press processing fields. Some people who are optimistic about UV glazing technology even believe that this technology can be independently developed instead of laminating technology.
In fact, this is just a wish of people. According to some printing companies that use UV glazing technology, UV glazing applications are mostly partial glazing. Local UV glazing can improve the grade of books, but in most cases, this partial UV glazing process is also This is done after the film is applied, and the previous film coating process must be a solvent-based film.
In addition, there is still a lot of deficiencies in UV glazing compared to film coating. Such as UV glazing protection, folding resistance, wear resistance, etc. are not as good as film, there are limitations in many areas, such as packaging boxes; UV glazing also needs to put into printing equipment and UV curing equipment, and the film has Off-the-shelf equipment foundation and mature technology; in addition, some UV varnish will also volatilize odor during the coating process, which will affect the operator.
Today's printing houses and publishing houses pay great attention to this process, and believe that UV glazing can replace the laminating process in book printing. But in general, UV glazing is still limited in many aspects, there are still many problems in the process, and it is impossible to completely replace the laminating process.
2. Precoating technology
The pre-coating film refers to a process in which a plastic film is sized and re-rolled before being combined with a paper printed product. It is firstly applied to the film by the pre-coated film processing factory according to the size of the specification. The glue is applied to the film for re-rolling, and then combined with the printed matter.
The pre-coated film was first used in 1989 and has been widely used in Europe and the United States. It entered Asia around 1996. At the same time as entering Asia, Europe and the United States have announced that it is forbidden to use the film as a pre-coated film. Due to the late use, all the countries in Asia except Japan have used pre-coated films, and other countries (such as China, South Korea, etc.) are in the state of pre-coating and film coating. China has only used pre-coated films since 2000, and the market share of pre-coated films in China is still small.
Precoat films have many advantages over instant coatings. If the pollution is reduced, there is no damage to the human body; the quality of the film will not be affected by the different properties of the paper or the color of the ink; the pre-coating film laminating machine is simpler to operate, and the processed image is better; the wrinkles are basically eliminated. , bubbles, shedding and other phenomena. Most notably, this is an environmentally friendly process, and the entire production process is harmless to the human body.
However, the promotion of pre-coated film in China is still relatively slow. Among them, the cost issue is a big influential factor, which determines the enthusiasm of investors for the pre-coating process. In a recent survey, more than half of the respondents believe that pre-coated products are expensive in terms of price, because pre-coated products are printing consumables, and the cost of printing is a non-negligible problem when printing houses choose consumables. . In addition, due to the lack of paper and film separation technology in China, pre-coated films cannot be completely called an environmentally friendly process in China.
In response to this situation, pre-coated products should reduce costs through mass production, so that market prices are getting closer to the needs of printers. At the same time, the development or introduction of paper membrane separation technology should also attract the attention of relevant departments, in order to achieve environmentally friendly coating and rational development of the laminating process without the need to discard the laminating process.