Summary of textile printing methods (on)

Printing method

There are several methods for textile printing. There are two types of printing methods that are of commercial importance: screen printing and cylinder printing. The third method is thermal transfer printing, which is relatively less important. Other printing methods that are rarely used in textile production include: wood form printing, wax enamel (ie, wax proof) printing, yarn tie dye printing, and dye printing. Many textile printing plants use screen printing and roller printing to print fabrics. Most of the thermal transfer printing performed by printing plants is also printed in this way.

First, screen printing

Screen printing includes the preparation of printing screens, and printing screens (screens used in the printing process were once made of fine silk, and the process is called screen printing. Although silk screens are no longer used, printing The name “screen printing” is also often used in the process.) Made of fine mesh nylon, polyester or wire fabrics that are tight on wooden or metal frames. The screen fabric is coated with an opaque, non-porous film. Where there are patterns, to remove the opaque film, leaving a fine mesh screen, this area is where the pattern will be printed. Most commercial screen fabrics are first coated with a photosensitive film, and then the pattern is revealed by removing the film of the pattern portion by a photosensitive method. Place a screen on the fabric to be printed for printing. The printing paste is poured into the printing frame and forced through the mesh of the screen through a scraper (a tool similar to a wiper on a car windshield).

Each color in the print pattern requires a screen alone to print different colors. Example 3 Chromatic printing requires 3 frames and 3 colors are printed on the fabric. In addition, the pattern of each color in the pattern must be accurately positioned on the screen so that the position of the pattern is accurate after printing, avoiding the phenomenon that the green stem of a rose is printed in the middle of the red petals. Print-to-flower refers to the industrial term for accurately printing all fabric colors on fabrics.

There are three methods for achieving screen printing, and the principle of application of each method is basically the same. The first is manual screen printing, which was common in the 1920s and is still widely used today. Until the mid-1950s, prior to modern technology giving this process automation, manual screen printing was always the only method of screen printing. The second method is called automatic screen printing (also known as flat screen printing and automatic flat screen printing). In the mid-1960s, with further development, the shape of the screens evolved from manual and automatic flat screens to rotary screens. The third method, called circular screen printing or rotary screen printing, is the most widely used screen printing method.

Second, hand screen printing

Manual screen printing is commercially produced on long benches (up to 60 yards in platen). The printed cloth roll is smoothly laid on the platen and the surface of the platen is pre-coated with a small amount of sticky material. The printing worker then continuously moves the frame by hand along the entire platen, printing one frame at a time until the fabric is completely printed. Each frame corresponds to a print suit. This method produces 50-90 yards per hour. Commercial hand screen printing is also used extensively to print tailored clothing. In the garment printing process, the garment manufacturing process and the printing process are arranged together. Before sewing the pieces together, they print the custom or unique patterns on the pieces. Because the manual screen printing can make a large-scale frame for large flowers, the printing method can also print fabrics such as beach towels, novel printed aprons, curtains, and shower curtains.

Manual screen printing is also used to print limited-edition, highly fashionable women's clothing and printed small-volume products for market exploration.

Third, automatic screen printing

Automatic screen printing (or flat screen printing) is faster than the manual screen except that the process is automated. Printed fabrics are transported through a wide rubber belt to the screen, and not (like manual screen printing) on ​​long tables. As with manual screen printing, automatic screen printing is also a batch rather than a continuous process. In this process, the fabric is moved under the screen, then stopped, and a screen scraper is used for scratching (automatic scraping). After scraping, the fabric continues to move under the next frame, and the production speed is about 500 yards per hour. . The automatic screen pad can only be used for the entire roll of fabric. Cropped garments are generally not printed in this way. As a commercial production process, production of automatic screen printing (referring to flat screen printing) is declining due to the preference for more efficient rotary screen printing.

Fourth, circular screen printing

There are several important aspects of rotary screen printing that are different from other screen printing methods. Rotary screen printing, like the roller printing described in the next section, is a continuous process in which the printed fabric is conveyed by a wide rubber belt underneath the continuously moving cylindrical flower cylinder. Screen printing, rotary screen printing the fastest production speed, greater than 3,500 yards per hour. Use a seamless perforated metal mesh or plastic net. The largest circular net circumference is greater than 40 inches, so the largest flower back size is also greater than 40 inches. More than 20 color rotary screen printing machines have also been produced. This printing method is slowly replacing roller printing.

Fifth, roller printing

Drum printing, like newspaper printing, is a high-speed process that can produce more than 6,000 yards of printed fabric per hour. This method is also called mechanical printing. In roller printing, the pattern is printed on the fabric by engraving a copper cylinder (or roller). The copper rollers can be engraved with tightly arranged fine lines that can print very detailed and soft patterns. For example, the fine, dense Pellisley vortex print is a type of pattern printed by roller printing. Necklace engraving should be exactly the same as the pattern designer's design artwork. Each design needs an engraving roller. (In the specific textile printing process, five-roll printing, six-roll printing, etc. are commonly used to indicate five sets of color or six sets of color drum printing.

Roller printing is the production method that uses the least amount of large-volume printing, and the output continues to decline every year. If the batch production of each pattern is not very large, this method is not economical. In most cases, roller preparation and equipment adjustments are expensive and costly, making printing using this method less economical. However, roller printing is often used for Indian-like paisley vortex tweed prints with a very thin line pattern and major printing patterns that are printed in large quantities in many seasons.

The size of the engraved flower tube depends on the printing machine and the print pattern. Most printers can be configured with a 16-inch flower cylinder, which means that the size of the print pattern cycle cannot exceed 16 inches. The width of the stencil should be slightly larger than the width of the printed fabric so that the fabric, including the hem, can be completely printed with the pattern. Once prepared, the printing cylinder can be used almost unlimitedly, and generally there is no problem printing a few million yards of fabric.