What are the common types of screen printing machines?

What are the common types of screen printing machines?

A screen printing machine is a machine that uses a screen printing plate to print and is a type of printing press. Screen printing machine is a machine for printing text and pictures. It is a general term for machines or equipment used to produce printed matter. Screen printing machines are the most representative printing equipment among stencil printing machines. In addition to real silk, the materials for making screen printing machines can also be nylon wire, copper wire, steel wire or stainless steel wire. It can be divided into flat screen printing machine, curved screen printing machine, rotary screen printing machine, etc.

 Types of screen printing machines

Screen printing can be divided into many types according to its format, type of printing machine, ink properties and type of substrate, but its printing methods can be divided into the following types.

1. Flat screen screen printing: Flat screen screen printing machine uses a flat screen plate to print on a flat substrate. During printing, the printing plate is fixed and the scraper plate moves.

2. Flat screen curved screen printing: Flat screen curved screen printing is a method of printing a flat screen printing plate on a curved surface substrate (such as a ball, cylinder, cylinder, etc.). When printing, the squeegee is fixed, the printing plate moves in the horizontal direction, and the substrate rolls with the printing plate.

3. Rotary screen printing: Rotary screen printing is a printing method in which a cylindrical screen plate is equipped with a fixed squeegee inside the cylinder, and the cylindrical printing plate and the substrate move simultaneously at an equal linear speed. Precision printing press

4. Direct screen printing: The first three methods all use the printing plate to directly print on the substrate, but they can only print some regular geometric shapes, such as planes, cylindrical surfaces, conical surfaces, etc. For complex shapes, edges and depressions, Special-shaped objects such as surfaces must be printed by direct screen printing. The process often consists of two parts: flat screen printing and transfer printing, that is, the screen printing image is not directly printed on the substrate, but is printed first. On the flat material, use a certain method to transfer it to the substrate. One method of direct printing is to first use flat screen printing to print a pattern on flat glass, then use an elastic silicone head to absorb the ink pattern from the glass plate like a stamp, and then pad print it onto the special-shaped glass. Above: Another method of direct screen printing is decal transfer, such as: screen printing decal + thermal transfer, screen printing decal + pressure-sensitive transfer, screen printing decal + solvent activated transfer print. Direct screen printing has become the primary category of the printing industry.

Press printing methods can be divided into four categories:

①Flat screen printing machine. When using a flat screen plate to print on a flat substrate, the squeegee generally moves horizontally against the printing plate, and the substrate is replaced by the lifting and lowering of the printing plate.

②Curved screen printing machine. A flat screen printing plate is used to print on a round substrate. The squeegee is usually fixed, the printing plate moves horizontally, and the substrate rolls with the linear speed of the printing plate. High precision thick film printing machine

③Rotary screen printing machine. A cylindrical screen plate is used, and a wedge-shaped squeegee or squeegee roller is installed inside the cylinder. The printing plate rolls and the substrate moves at the same linear speed.

④Electrostatic screen printing machine. Using a stainless steel screen plate with good conductivity, the static electricity between the positive and negative electrode plates drives the ink through the through hole part of the printing plate and attaches to the surface of the substrate, which is pressureless printing. The shape of the machine varies depending on the substrate, but it generally includes a substrate input part, a printing part, an ink fixing and drying part and a substrate collection part. The printing part consists of screen printing plate, electrode plate and high voltage generating equipment.

5. Electrostatic screen printing: Electrostatic screen printing is a method of using electrostatic attraction to transfer ink from the screen printing surface to the printing surface. This is a non-contact printing method that uses a conductive metal screen as the printing plate. , connected to the positive pole of the high-voltage power supply; the negative pole is a metal plate parallel to the printing plate; the substrate is between the two levels. When printing, the toner on the printing plate is positively charged when it passes through the mesh, and is attracted by the negative charge, scattered to the printing surface, and then fixed by heating to form an imprint. This method is currently mainly used for printing on high-temperature substrates, such as steel plates.

Divided into four generations according to the order of presentation period and technological level progress

①Manual screen printing machine. It generally consists of a hinge support, a printing platform and a screen plate, and all operations are performed manually. There is a multi-position manual machine. The platen and screen frame are all connected in series on a fixed central axis. The platen (or screen frame) can rotate around the central axis to facilitate multi-color overprinting. It is called rotary multi-color Manual screen printing machine.

② Semi-automatic screen printing machine. Some of the various movements during printing are completed automatically, while others are still manual screen printing machines. It is generally called a 1/4 automatic screen printing machine that has automatic ink scraping, ink distribution, and screen frame frame. It is called a 1/2 automatic screen printing machine that has automatic ink scraping, ink distribution, screen frame, and substrate adsorption. machine. In addition, substrate feed can also be automated for 3/4 automatic screen printing machines.

③Automatic screen printing machine. It is a 3/4 automatic screen printing machine with automatic print lifting, transportation, drying and collection accumulation mechanisms at the front and rear respectively. The printing speed is significantly higher than that of semi-automatic machines, and can reach more than 1500 prints/hour.

④Screen printing linkage machine. It is composed of several sets of printing, drying equipment and hot stamping, creasing, film coating, die-cutting and other equipment connected in series. The substrate is continuously fed in a roll type, with automatic unwinding, automatic rewinding and positioning control mechanisms to ensure stable speed, accurate overprinting and consistent tension. The whole machine can be controlled by computer. It is a screen printing machine with high efficiency and full functions for printing multi-color prints.