company news about Application of UV light-curing flatbed printing technology in metal casing

Application of UV light-curing flatbed printing technology in metal casing

  In the field of industrial design and manufacturing, metal casings have always been the core carriers of consumer electronics, automobiles, and architecture due to their high strength and corrosion resistance. However, the cold texture and single color of metal materials have long restricted their aesthetic expression. Therefore, the emergence of UV printing technology has given metal casings a new vitality through high-precision pattern printing and fast curing capabilities.

   "UV flatbed printing" is ultraviolet curing printing, which is essentially a type of piezoelectric inkjet printing. It is a printing process that uses ultraviolet light to dry and cure ink. It requires the ink containing photosensitizer to be matched with a UV curing lamp. The drying principle of UV printing is that the ultraviolet waves emitted by the LED cold light source react with the photosensitive curing agent in the UV ink, causing the pigment molecules in the UV ink to solidify on the surface of the material, thereby completing the printing action.

  The core of UV printing lies in the combination of light-curing reaction and non-contact inkjet technology. The printer precisely sprays UV ink onto the metal surface through a piezoelectric nozzle, and then ultraviolet light triggers the photoinitiator in the ink, causing the liquid ink to solidify into a film within 0.1 seconds. This process avoids the drying wait of traditional printing, while ensuring a close bond between the ink and the metal substrate.

  The working mechanism of UV printing technology is based on photochemical reactions. When the nozzle of the equipment precisely sprays the special UV ink onto the metal surface, the ultraviolet light source immediately irradiates the ink layer, triggering the photoinitiator in the ink to produce free radicals or cationic active groups. These active substances promote the chain polymerization reaction of acrylate oligomers and monomers, forming a dense cross-linked network structure within milliseconds. This instant curing characteristic completely eliminates the several hours of waiting time required for traditional ink drying, allowing the production cycle of a single product to be shortened to 1/3 of the traditional process.