UltraViolet Inks

             According to Charles Finley, Ph.D., author of Printing Paper and Inks, curing is the "conversion of a wet ink film or coating to a solid film through polymerization as opposed to mere vehicle evaporation, which is called drying (402)." Ultraviolet (UV) inks cure rather than dry, thus making the total production process faster. This paper will discuss both the pros and cons of using UV ink, as well as safety measures that should be taken when dealing with these inks.
             In order to better understand the pros and cons of UV inks a basic understanding of the process used when printing these inks would be beneficial. UV inks contain particles that cure, or join together to form a solid film, when exposed to a high intensity UV light source. Shortly after the ink is applied, the substrate passes underneath a high intensity UV light source thus causing the ink to cure. There is no need to allow for the drying time conventional inks must have.
             This demonstrates the first benefit of using UV inks, virtually no drying time. Tony Beam, manager of energy curable inks, Sun Chemical Corporation told Jenn Hess, Associate Editor for Ink World Magazine,"UV technology will... cut down on production time because the ink dries instantly (Bright Future, p.4)." One area that particularly benefits from UV inks is screen printing. Harold Johnston, vice president of sales for Nazdar, told Hess, "It takes so long for solvent-based inks to dry, but now UV inks offer the ability to run in-line multi colored printing. What had held screen printing back was drying times (Bright Future, p.5)." The elimination of drying time allows finishing processes to occur right after the press run resulting in a faster turn around of printed jobs.
             The second benefit of UV inks is its ability to print on a variety of substrates. Since most UV systems do not contain any water or solvent these inks can be printed on water sensitive materials....

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UltraViolet Inks . (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 12:29, March 28, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/70024.html