What is UV inkjet printing technology?
In “UV inkjet printing,” “UV” stands for ultraviolet. UV inkjet printing is a new printing process that uses ultraviolet light to cure ink. UV inkjet printing can directly print various patterns on the surfaces of various decorative material products such as wood boards, density boards, acrylic boards, and stone according to the input computer images. Compared with ordinary inkjet printing, this kind of printing can achieve instant drying and no fading. The imaging effect is more delicate and realistic, and the details are more vivid, forming a unique artistic style. However, the price is much higher than that of ordinary inkjet printing.
UV flatbed printing can achieve convenient and fast instant processing, save time, and meet the needs of personalized finishing. It not only reduces processes and costs but also increases firmness.
Process flow of UV inkjet printing
The UV inkjet printing technology mainly uses a UV flatbed inkjet printer. The basic process flow is as follows:
- Design patterns. Determine or design patterns and determine the size of the printing substrate according to the patterns. The final plan can also be determined through independent design according to customer needs.
- Process the substrate. First, different substrate treatment methods are adopted according to different materials. For example, for glass surfaces, a layer needs to be added to prevent the image from falling off. For wood, the surface needs to be flattened and dusted. Secondly, since UV inkjet printing technology has certain requirements for the flatness of the product surface, raw materials with uneven surfaces need to be properly sanded to meet the printing standards.
- Digital inkjet printing. Determine the size and position of the pattern to be printed, connect the UV flatbed printer, and print a sample image on the platform.
- Post-processing. Perform post-processing on the basis of successful printing. Different post-treatments are carried out according to different products, such as enhancing the wear resistance of the topcoat layer.
Application of UV inkjet printing in furniture
The patterns printed by UV inkjet printing technology are bright and rich in color, simple and convenient to operate, and have a fast imaging speed, greatly improving product productivity. These characteristics fully meet the industrial standards of furniture production. Applying UV printing technology to the panel furniture production line can allow customers to have their favorite pattern decorations, truly achieving personalization and customization. The application of UV inkjet printing in furniture has the following advantages.
- High printing quality. The patterns are wear-resistant, not easy to fade, and have high hardness and scratch resistance. Compared with ordinary baking paint, the colors are more gorgeous and the selectivity is greatly increased, no longer limited to the fixed colors of baking paint.
- Wide range of applications. It can be operated on various materials such as metal, glass, wood, plastic, and acrylic, enriching the infinite possibilities of furniture enterprise variety production.
- Efficient and convenient. UV inkjet printing does not require repeated spraying and sanding like traditional furniture painting. The machine can work continuously for a long time, replacing low-efficiency and low-capacity manual or semi-automatic inkjet printing, and solving the problems of high cost and high inventory in traditional production methods.
- Meet the diverse needs of customers. UV digital inkjet printing is suitable not only for small-batch and personalized production but also for mass production. Customers can choose their favorite solutions to meet various market needs.
- Environmentally friendly and safe. The ink used in UV inkjet printing is a colorless, odorless, harmless to the human body, and stable performance environmental protection coating. No harmful substances are generated during the production process, which will not affect human health and conforms to the concept of furniture green environmental protection in recent years.
In recent years, with the rapid development of science and technology, large-scale printing has been able to meet the needs of personalized customization. UV inkjet printing technology can fill the shortcomings of traditional decoration technologies such as long cycle, high cost, and low efficiency. At present, many furniture enterprises have begun to use this technology.
Although this technology still has some shortcomings at present, such as high process requirements, expensive equipment prices, few manufacturers mastering core technologies, and insufficient machine quality stability, these problems will be solved one after another. UV inkjet printing will become the next investment hotspot.
