～Easy cleaning by improving wettability of the scraper～
Cleaning up after printing is troublesome. In particular, it takes time to wipe off the ink adhering to the squeegee and scraper. Also, if you try to clean it cleanly, you will use a lot of rags and it will cost you money. I always wonder if there is an easy way to clean it.
Fluorine coating, which is often used for frying pans and pots, prevents food from sticking to the surface during cooking, making it easy to clean after cooking. I tried to find out if the same thing could be applied to the printer.
Fluorine coating, which is often used for frying pans and pots, prevents food from sticking to the surface during cooking, making it easy to clean after cooking. I tried to find out if the same thing could be applied to the printer.
Recently, DLC treatment has attracted attention as a treatment method for metal surfaces. DLC treatment can change the wettability of the metal surface. Furthermore, by adding fluorine to the DLC, it is possible to further control the wettability.
Therefore, we performed general DLC treatment and fluorine-containing DLC treatment on a scraper (made of stainless steel) and examined the effect.
The photos below are of the solvents isophorone and γ-butyl lactone, which are often used in inks, dripped onto each treated surface.
(The upper part of the photo is DLC treated, and the lower part is DLC treated with fluorine)
Therefore, we performed general DLC treatment and fluorine-containing DLC treatment on a scraper (made of stainless steel) and examined the effect.
The photos below are of the solvents isophorone and γ-butyl lactone, which are often used in inks, dripped onto each treated surface.
(The upper part of the photo is DLC treated, and the lower part is DLC treated with fluorine)
Isophorone
gamma-butyl lactone
It can be seen that the DLC treatment containing fluorine repels the solvent well.
Next, I showed a picture when the screen plate was coated with ink containing these solvents and the scraper was raised.
(The upper part of the photo is DLC treated, and the lower part is DLC treated with fluorine)
Next, I showed a picture when the screen plate was coated with ink containing these solvents and the scraper was raised.
(The upper part of the photo is DLC treated, and the lower part is DLC treated with fluorine)
Ink using isophorone
Ink using γ-butyl lactone
The amount of ink sticking to the scraper was reduced when the DLC treatment containing fluorine was performed. Also, although not shown in the photo, the ease of wiping off the ink was also different after this.
With the DLC treatment containing fluorine, the scraper became clean in no time with just one piece of rag and a single wipe.
