Drum Screen Printing & Pattern Making (1)

First, the principle of steel drum screen printing

The basic principle of steel drum screen printing is: part of the mesh of the screen printing plate can penetrate the ink and leak onto the surface of the steel drum; the mesh of the rest of the printing plate is blocked, and the ink cannot be transmitted through the steel drum. Blanks form on the surface.

The plate-making method that is now more commonly used is the photochemical platemaking method. The plate making method uses a wire mesh as a support body to tightly stretch the wire mesh on the frame, and then coats the photo resist on the web to form a photosensitive plate. The positive plate is then tightly sealed on the plate and exposed. Developing, the part of the printing plate that does not need to pass the ink receives the light to form the cured edition film, seals the mesh hole, does not penetrate the ink when printing; The part of the mesh that needs to pass the ink on the printing plate does not block, the ink passes during the printing, Ink is formed on the surface of the drum.

When printing, ink is poured into one end of the screen plate. The ink will not leak through the mesh hole on the surface of the steel drum without external force. When the ink is scraped with a squeegee blade at a certain inclination angle and pressure, the ink is transferred to the steel drum under the screen plate through the screen plate, so that the pattern is reproduced. Stencil printing and letterpress printing, gravure printing, lithography and modern printing are called four major printing techniques. Screen printing is a major printing method in stencil printing.

Second, the drum screen printing process summary

The initial process for the drum screen printing is the full manuscript. At this point, the size, shape, position, number of prints, etc. of the steel drum to be printed should be clearly defined. According to these requirements, the accuracy of the printed pattern, the precision of the pattern, and the quality of the image are determined. For steel drums, due to the fact that they are used outdoors, special attention should be paid to their weather resistance when choosing inks. Screen printing process shown in Figure 1.

Screen printing is based on manuscripts, selecting a plate making method, a printing process, and determining what printing materials should be used. In the case of silk screens, its materials nowadays use nylon nets with ideal elasticity and restorability, as well as the ability to print on uneven surfaces. In the printing with high precision, stainless steel screens are often used. The methods of plate making can be roughly divided into two methods: manual excavation and platemaking and photolithography. The former is suitable for patterns with less precision and capable of depicting; for patterns requiring higher precision and with emphasis on tone levels, photolithography must be used. In the photolithography method, a direct method can be used when manufacturing a printing plate with strong print resistance. This method results in poor image quality because the positive master plate clings to the photosensitive film of the screen during printing. When high-quality images are required, indirect platemaking is preferred.