With the ability to print directly to both flexible and rigid materials, including glass, wood, foam based and composite materials, vinyl, fabric, aluminium and other unconventional substrates, UV ink enables print businesses to enter new and niche markets and to experiment with novel industrial applications, as well as eliminating the material, labour and equipment costs of mounting and lamination.
UV inks are cured with UV light from either UV lamps or LED’s, the up-and- coming revolutionary step of this technology. When the ink drops onto the printing material, a layer containing the colourant sticks to the surface of the substrate and is instantly hardened by intense UV/LED light polymerisation (curing). This process leaves a durable film covering the material. Because UV ink cures rapidly, printers can work quickly and economically.
The curing process of UV inks requires less than a second of exposure to the UV or LED light source, enabling printers to save on production times and reduce energy consumption. Due to the low viscosity of UV inks and the absence of penetration into the media, less ink is usually required, which can result in significant cost savings for the printer’s business. Furthermore, UV inks don’t require exhaustive extraction systems as they don’t emit harmful fumes.
FUJIFILM SPECIALITY INK SYSTEMS
UV-curing inks have been central to the recent growth of inkjet in the wide format, packaging and industrial markets. The technology was pioneered by Fujifilm Speciality Ink Systems (FSIS), based in Broadstairs in the UK. FSIS developed and commercialised the UV cured inkjet inks that fuelled the world’s first UV flatbed inkjet printers, a market that grew so rapidly that the company won a Queen’s Award for Enterprise.
One of Fujifilm’s core skills is ink design, with an unmatched understanding of ink chemistry, print applications, media, printheads and UV curing. Fujilm’s capability in Broadstairs encompasses R&D resources, a legacy of ink formula stemming from its origins in screen printing, and vast manufacturing experience, with the company winning the ‘Best Process Plant’ in the UK Best Factory Awards in both 2011 and 2013.
Fujifilm remains at the forefront of the rapid advances in inkjet technology, which continue to change the way print is produced. Inkjet has become a highly viable alternative to traditional processes in many wide format, packaging and industrial applications.
THE FORMULA FOR HIGH QUALITY INK
With particle sizes smaller than the width of a human hair, there’s a lot of science that goes into creating and manufacturing a reliable UV curing ink.
As inkjet is a true digital process, there is no opportunity for a printer to make any adjustment to the ink. This means that inks have to work perfectly every time, even after months in storage, and so formulations must meet precise performance specifications. Since the launch of UV inks, and through continuous R&D investment, Fujifilm chemists have learned a huge amount about UV ink design.
Combining print head and performance specifications with in-depth application expertise, they create inks that are tailored to a specific application and optimised to work perfectly with a particular print head. They consider properties like printed finish, adhesion to the printed material, flexibility and finishing, while controlling particle size, viscosity and surface tension to produce inks that jet reliably. Inks are rigorously tested in the laboratory and in production environments where prints are tested for jetting reliability, print quality, production performance and weathering to ensure they meet Fujifilm’s stringent performance and quality assurance standards.
EVERY DROP MATTERS
In theory, inkjet technology is simple. A series of ink drops are jetted from a piezoelectric print head onto the substrate beneath, without any direct contact. Tiny dots of different coloured ink make up near-photographic quality images. However, the most powerful wide format inkjet printers in the world today use full-width, metres-wide arrays containing hundreds of print heads. They jet billions of drops per second, each directed to a precise location, producing hundreds of square metres of high-resolution print per hour. The demands on print heads and ink performance are very high, but to jet well and reliably, they must be designed for each other.
Fujifilm Speciality Ink Systems partners with print head manufacturers, including its sister company, Fujifilm Dimatix, to develop optimum ink chemistry for specific print heads. As part of the design process, the print head jetting patterns are tailored to the ink to achieve the best performance and reliability.
FUJIFILM MICRO-V DISPERSION TECHNOLOGY
Micro-V is a unique Fujifilm technology that breaks down ink pigment particles and ensures they are held in stable dispersion in the ink. It enables high concentrations of colour pigment to be effectively dispersed and stabilised, resulting in an ink with high colour intensity that resists both agglomeration and gravitational settling, so the ink has high colour strength as well as being stable and reliable.
The benefits of Micro-V dispersion:
• Improved and standardised colour management.
• High impact prints with vibrant colours.
• Easier to achieve difficult spot colours.
• Perfect colour consistency between each container of ink.
• High pigment strength enables printing of a thinner ink film, using less ink and saving money.
• Inks have a longer shelf-life.
• High quality pigments provide outdoor durability.
QUALITY ASSURED MANUFACTURING
Fujifilm uses a sophisticated manufacturing process where the need for consistent high quality permeates the entire production process. The fundamental aim of this process is to make sure that the product is right first time, every time. Raw material selection and consistency are key parts of the process and Fujifilm has established close business partnerships with its suppliers.
LOOKING AHEAD
Like the technology that uses it, inkjet ink will develop at an ever-increasing pace. Whatever the challenges, though, Fujifilm is uniquely capable of meeting them head on. Print heads will continue to evolve with smaller drops jetted at higher frequency to address the trade-off between higher speed and increased print resolution. Technology must keep pace to meet these demands and will require close cooperation between ink companies and head manufacturers.
Fujifilm is uniquely positioned to develop tomorrow’s inkjet technology with head, ink and fundamental technology development available in-house. Fujifilm Dimatix is a leading inkjet head supplier that offers class leading heads, all of which incorporate Fujifilm technology. Fujifilm Speciality Ink Systems produces some of the world’s best inkjet inks. These businesses are supported by fundamental technology development groups including the Advanced Marking Research Laboratory in Tokyo, Japan and the Fujifilm Cambridge Engineering Facility in the UK. Fujifilm’s ability to combine the skills, experience and technology expertise within these immensely powerful print head and ink technology groups means it is ideally placed to develop the inkjet printing systems of the future.
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