Use advanced ink technology to print on glass

Although glass is brittle, it is still a very versatile material. It has many excellent properties such as mechanical resistance, transparency, durability, etc. And most importantly it can be recycled many times and still produce high quality products.

In recent years, some companies, such as Coates Wiederhold in the United Kingdom, have succeeded in screen printing on glass, and the ink technology has been perfected. In the 1980s, the company used Z/GL screen printing inks to print on glass, and the ease of operation and safety of use exceeded that of any other time, and made breakthrough progress.

Z/GL ink is a two-component screen printing ink system that can be dried at room temperature or in a 140°C oven for 20 minutes (minutes). Printing on glass with Z/GL ink has good adhesion and water resistance. For example, glass cups printed using this method remain after 30 times of dishwasher cleaning. In fact, this has reached the level of performance that only ceramic inks can achieve. Ceramic inks need to be in the oven at 600-800°C. Baking can be achieved. Another advantage of Coates Wiederhold's inks is that, using the company's C-Mix2000 series, adding their standard color inks, it is easy to match any color, suitable for multi-color printing of advertising products. With embossing and transparent shades, various surface effects can be produced.

Constantly seeking excellent products

Z/GL ink is a two-component system, which has caused great repercussions in the printing industry due to its good performance and versatility. However, their drying time is really long, at least 8-12 hours (hours) at room temperature and about 20 minutes (minutes) in the oven. With increasing pressure to require press workers to shorten production cycles, it is clear that a new type of ink system must be developed. Since then, a UV screen printing ink that can be dried in a few seconds and used for small-scale UV drying equipment has come out. In addition, due to the rapid drying time, the production volume has greatly increased. Currently, it has reached the production capacity of 5-color or 6-color printing. This UV/GL ink system has all the excellent properties of UV inks, such as fast drying time and less contamination of the working environment due to the absence of solvents. And at present, the company has a variety of color C-Mix series, can match any kind of color according to user needs. The UV/GL ink series can be used for multicolor printing of various glass surfaces.

Another breakthrough in glass printing technology is the company's development of the Crystal GLS ink system. The ink was recently exhibited at the Glasstec International Glass Fair in Düsseldorf. Crystal GLS is a very versatile glass and ceramic printing ink that can be printed as a one-component ink or as a two-component ink after the addition of a GLS hardener. One of the major advantages of two-component inks is that they produce products that are more washable.

With the increase in the demand for glass and ceramic advertising products, Coates Wiederhold has developed the TP218/GL ink system, which is extremely versatile, has high printing quality and good durability, and is suitable for glass cups, ashtrays, and sales points. Advertising, commercials, printing of ceramics and hard plastic products.

The window to the future

In the field of screen printing and pad printing inks, Coates Wiederhold Company is at the forefront of the industry, and often more advanced than the user's ideas, they have the vision to open up new areas of science and technology. Coates Wiederhold has a well-equipped laboratory in Nuremberg, Germany. It can conduct tests on new materials under very strict conditions, solving the technical problems in screen printing and pad printing for many users.

Source: China Silk Screen Professional Network