Explanation of the hottest label heat transfer pri

Explanation of label heat transfer printing (Part 2)

IV. problems needing attention in label heat transfer printing

label heat transfer printing generally requires two printing processes. First, raw materials are printed by the label machine, die-cutting, waste discharge and rewinding, and then the rolled labels are printed on the bar code printer. The principle is that the heated print head contacts the ribbon, Rely on heat and contact pressure to transfer the ink on the ribbon to the label material. The heat transfer carbon tape is coated with wax base, resin base or mixed ink polyester or other high-density film on one side, and lubricant on the side without ink to prevent the wear and damage of the print head

carbon belt is composed of handle, front lead belt, carbon original belt, rear lead belt, etc. The handle and the front strap are in front of the carbon tape, and the rear strap is at the end of a roll (some have no rear strap). Carbon tape is generally composed of top coating, ink layer, inner coating, tape base and back coating

top coating: used to improve the adhesion of ink on labels and enhance the resistance of the environment

ink layer: used to print and determine the use characteristics of carbon tape

inner coating: it can make the printing surface smooth and ensure the consistency of ink release from the tape base

band base: the carrier of other layers determines the performance of heat conduction; Back coating: it is a special coating applied on the back of the carbon tape to reduce environmental pollution, which can reduce the wear of the print head, reduce the generation of static electricity, and strengthen heat conduction

the front strap is generally transparent or other colors, and its main function is to print product name, company name and trademark for marketing and promotion. Through the front lead belt, the carbon belt can be easily put on the printer, smoothly enter the working state, and protect the carbon belt during storage and transportation. The back lead belt is mainly used as a warning to let the printer sense the end of the carbon belt. Different printers have different back lead belts. A series of progress has been made, mainly in three ways: aluminum plating, transparency and tension

aluminum plating: silver, mainly for reflective sensors, and the reflected light indicates the end of the carbon ribbon

transparent: used for transmission sensor, allowing light to pass through, indicating that the carbon tape is used up

tension: it is used for mechanical sensing. The change of tension sensed by the printer indicates that the carbon belt is used up

the carbon tape is generally rolled on the paper (or plastic) shaft core, and the main requirements for the shaft core are that it cannot be deformed and cannot slide during printing. Label heat transfer is to use this kind of special carbon tape to transfer the toner coating on the carbon tape to paper or other kinds of materials by heating through the working principle similar to the print head of fax machine. Because the coating material on the carbon tape can be selected according to needs to produce strong adhesion, coupled with the selection of printing media, it can better ensure that the printed handwriting is not affected by the outside world. And this heating process, how to fifth, the load system of the waterproof coiled material tensile testing machine 1 must check the heating, and it can be handed over to the computer control. At present, various software specially developed for printing labels is very convenient for users, especially the generation of bar code symbols has also become a necessary tool for this kind of software

heat transfer label paper can generally be divided into two types: coated and non coated, and their surface ink absorption and smoothness are different. Printing ribbons are divided into wax based ink, resin based ink and wax resin synthetic ink. There are also several types of bar code printers, and some labels need to be printed on the surface of the printed ink. Therefore, printers, label paper, ribbon, etc. have a great impact on the printing quality of labels. The quality of the heat transfer printer determines the effect of label printing. Therefore, when choosing a printer, in addition to considering the price, we should also consider the quality, the technical support of the manufacturer, the guarantee of after-sales service, the technical ability of the seller, etc., because the label printing materials are special, the printing volume is large, and the operating environment is complex. Although some imported heat transfer printers are gorgeous in appearance, because there is no formal office in China, they are only imported and sold by some part-time informal agents, which is difficult to meet the needs of customers in terms of after-sales service and spare parts supply. Once there are problems with products, it becomes a big problem to buy spare parts

when choosing a heat transfer printer, we should also fully consider the wide range and versatility of its printing materials, and choose printing materials that match and are compatible with the printer, such as label paper and ribbon. When purchasing carbon tape, in addition to determining the color base (wax base, mixed base or resin base) and the width and length of the carbon tape according to the printer, in order to ensure the printing quality, the following issues should be considered:

1 Printer features

in the heat transfer printing mode, the carbon tape and label paper are consumed synchronously in the length direction. In terms of width, the width of carbon tape should be greater than or equal to the width of label paper and less than the maximum printing width of the printer. Due to the different physical dimensions of each printer, the maximum paper roll length that can be loaded and the maximum width that can be printed are also different. In addition, the combination of the working temperature of the print head and the sensitivity characteristics of the carbon tape will also have a great impact on the final printing effect of the country that produces and uses the most plastic flexible packaging materials in the world

2. Characteristics of label paper

the surface of offset paper is relatively rough, so wax based or mixed based carbon tape should be used together; The surface of pet paper is smooth, so resin based carbon tape should be used together

3. Durability of printed text

if you want the printed label content to have better durability, you should choose resin based carbon tape

4. Resistance requirements of labels

if the label is required to be scratch resistant, daub resistant, corrosion resistant, high temperature resistant, and may be often rubbed, the label needs to have strong scratch resistance. At this time, resin carbon tape or mixed base carbon tape should also be selected

5. Printing speed

in the case of high-speed printing, choose a carbon belt with high sensitivity

6. Printing media

labels of different media need to be matched with different carbon tapes. From the shape of media, they mainly include ribbon, card and label, and from the material, they mainly include paper, synthetic materials and cloth. For example, paper: according to the surface gloss, it can be divided into highlight (such as mirror coated paper, gloss paper, etc.), semi highlight (such as coated paper, etc.) and matte (such as offset paper, etc.), special paper (such as aluminum foil paper, fluorescent paper, thermal/thermal transfer paper, etc.). Generally, the media for printing high gloss paper adopts resin reinforced wax based or mixed based carbon tape, especially the mirror coated paper, whose surface has a layer of synthetic material light film, which should be treated as synthetic materials, such as pet, PVC, BOPP, PE, PS, polyimide, etc; Semi gloss paper can be used resin reinforced wax based and general wax based carbon tapes. Metallized pet mainly includes laser rainbow film, wiredrawing film, gold (silver) color (high gloss, matte), etc. Compared with paper materials, these materials are strong and beautiful, and have a wider range of application to the environment. However, they have high requirements for carbon tapes, so mixed and resin based carbon tapes should be selected

7. Cost accounting

generally speaking, the cost of wax based carbon tape is the lowest, followed by mixed based carbon tape, and the cost of resin based carbon tape is the highest

due to the wide variety of media materials, there are great differences between them. In order to obtain satisfactory printing results, multiple tests should be carried out according to their respective conditions to find a suitable carbon tape, or the supplier can be asked to help select it

there are few faults in the printing process of heat transfer labels. Generally, the following problems should be paid attention to in printing: (1) when the ink on the label surface is uneven, the concentration is not enough, and the ink printing firmness is poor, the following adjustments should be made: first adjust the pressure of the print head, then adjust and control the printer speed, check and adjust the temperature of the print head (heat, according to the darken grade), check and replace the ribbon, Check the smoothness and tension of the label paper surface, and try not to print on the surface of U V printing ink, while there is generally no transfer quality problem on the surface of resin based and water-based ink. (2) Due to the rewinding phenomenon after label printing, attention should be paid to the drying of printing ink. Generally, methods such as reducing the printing speed, controlling the ink supply, prolonging the ink drying time, and adding an appropriate amount of quick drying agent to the ink can be adopted

source: Indian industry author: Lin Qishui