Printed decorating processe

Although decoration of paper and board is well covered by the literature, general understanding of the wider issues involved with other materials has frequently been poor. This particularly applies when artwork is produced which although reproducible on paper or board, is unsatisfactory in terms of the printing/decoration processes available for another material. 

Paper printing and coating Metal decorating and printing Food processing Food frying Animal rendering... 

Make ready time (printing machine). The make ready time is the time and labour required to set up a process ready for a print/decoration run. Since make ready times must be costed as part of a printing run, those costing the most to set up are usually associated with long runs and large quantities (e.g. gravure). 

The mold is then closed again, and the curing cycle is completed. The overlay consists of a cellulose sheet having printed decoration and covered with a thin layer of partially cured clear melamine resin. During the molding cycle the overlay is fused to the product and becomes a part of the molding. The process is relatively inexpensive, especially when a multicolor decoration is required. 

Currently, multiple-component, internal gas-assisted and decorative processes are being used more and more frequently in combination with thin-wall techniques. A good example of this is the trend to highly individualized cell phone designs. Decorative processes such as inmold decoration or insertion of preformed, printed foils makes variable coloration of even small run volumes possible. The internal gas-assisted method is used for example to reduce the mass of thick-walled parts and to avoid sink marks minimization of warpage is thus a primary requirement for thin-walled parts. A wide variety of functions can be realized by means of the multiple-component technique, including seals, napped surfaces, improved antishp properties and functional elements, some of which are now still being mounted in complex and expensive additional steps. 

Several decorating processes use heat to transfer a decoration or a printed image to the plastic part surface. These techniques usually use a carrier element, the decorative media, and an adhesive. In certain... 

Offset Printing. A process of decoration as applied, for example, in the murray-... 

The decorative plastic laminates widely used for countertops and cabinets are based on melamine—formaldehyde resin (see Laminates). Several layers of phenohc-saturated kraft paper are placed in a press and a sheet of a-ceUulose paper printed with the desired design and impregnated with melamine—formaldehyde resin is placed over them. Then a clear a-ceUulose sheet, similarly impregnated with the resin, is placed on top to form a clear, protective surface over the decorative sheet. The assembly is cured under heat and pressure up to 138°C and 10 MPa (1450 psi). A similar process is used to make wall paneling, but because the surfaces need not be as resistant to abrasion and wear, laminates for wall panels are cured under lower pressure, about 2 MPa (290 psi). 

Sublimation (diffusion) printing is a textile process in which color patterns in dry die crystals are transferred from a release film to the fabric under high heat and pressure. The process has been adapted to plastics. The equipment used is very similar to that used for hot stamping. Under heat and pressure, the dye crystals sublime (go directly to the vapor phase from the solid phase without melting) and the vapor penetrates the plastic product. As a result, the decoration is very durable and wear resistant. It is also cost competitive against other processes such as two-step injection molding or silk screening. 

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