Introduction To The Use Of Flat Screen Printing Machine
-
Posted by licheng flatprinter - Filed in Business - #Stenter #Flat Screen Printing Machine - 762 views
Screen printed T-shirts with Stenter
The screen printing machine looks a bit like an octopus. It has multiple arms, and each arm supports a screen. Although one name of the process is "screen printing", the screens nowadays are usually made of nylon or metal. Each screen prints a color on the T-shirt, and each color station includes a flat shirt support similar to an ironing board. You put the T-shirt around this support (not just on it) as if you were "dressing up" the support panel. This places only a layer of fabric on top of the support, so once the screen is lowered, the fabric can remain absolutely flat.
Once the screen is on top of the fabric, you can pour the thick ink mixture on the screen and then pull the squeegee through the mesh to force the ink through the open area of the screen (but not the area covered by the design). After completing this step, the ink must be dry. (Usually the solvent dries quickly at high temperature, although UV inks are often used in screen printing nowadays, these inks dry out immediately after being exposed to ultraviolet light.)
In order to take a step back in the screen printing process, a mask used to block certain areas of the design while allowing ink to pass through other areas is prepared in the following manner.
Apply the photosensitive emulsion to the bottom of the screen of the Flat Screen Printing Machine and stretch it on the wood or metal frame.
The artwork (printed on transparent acetate with black toner laser) is placed on the glass of the light box. A stretched screen with photosensitive emulsion is placed on the artwork
The strong light in the light box exposes the emulsion on the screen.
Then rinse the screen with water. The water washes away the liquid in the area blocked by the artwork. The non-image areas of the emulsion hardened by exposure will not be washed off.
Then you can print the T-shirt as described above (one color per screen, continuous, each color aligned with other colors).