Carton flexo printing requires high quality ink

In the past, the external image of the carton was a rough outer packaging, simple lines, boring monochromatic colors, easily smashed colors, and blurred water patterns. Nowadays, people have fundamentally changed their understanding of packaging. They are pleasing to the eye, beautifully printed and durable. The cartons that are easy to transport are no longer a simple package. They can also increase the added value of goods and enhance the market competitiveness of goods.

At present, in the world, flexo printing dominates in carton printing. In China, the development space for color printing of flexographic printing is enormous. With the introduction of multi-color corrugated box printing and slotting machines for many carton factories, the quality and use of ink for flexographic printing of cartons are very important for ink painting. The performance requirements become quite strict.

A high quality ink should have the following properties:
1, can not have a strong smell;
2, to have good flow properties and viscosity;
3, drying faster and more properly;
4, can not have any effect on the printing plate and printing press;
5, the printing press is easy to clean;
6, have a good storage stability;
7, long-term storage of sedimentation, stirring should be easy to use.

However, from the perspective of the use of domestic carton ink, most manufacturers do not have the standard of high-quality ink. At present, there are shortcomings such as slow drying, poor gloss, ineffable water and imprinting in carton ink, which directly affect the quality of printed matter. To change this situation, we must consider the root cause of the solution.

At present, domestic carton inks are broadly divided into two categories:
1. Rosin Modified Maleic Resin Ink (Rosin Ink for short)
2, styrene - acrylic polymer emulsion ink (referred to as emulsion ink)

The characteristics of these two types of inks are compared in the following table:
Rosin modified maleic resin ink Ink styrene-acrylic polymer emulsion Color of ink is generally bright and lubricious. Poor Good Suitable for printing paper Corrugated paper, white cardboard, corrugated cardboard, white cardboard, coated paper, coated paper, etc. How much volatilization is combustible Flammable Non-flammable Drying speed is slow Fast printing Appropriateness in general, dot overprinting and fine pattern printing are not ideal, all kinds of patterns can print well Water resistance is poor Excellent wear resistance is poor Excellent stability is poor ( Easy to agglomerate, discoloration, and increase) Good print residue less odor No connection material Rosin modified maleic acid resin Styrene-acrylic polymer emulsion (Excluding architectural emulsion)
Color toner or water-based color paste market price (carton ink) 15-20 yuan / kg 20-30 yuan / kg
According to the comparison of the performance of the two types of ink and wash, it can be seen that the current drawbacks of the use of carton ink, mainly stems from the fact that most manufacturers still use low-grade rosin ink. On the one hand, the ink factory's enthusiasm for the improvement of technological inputs is insufficient; on the other hand, the vicious competition in the market price leads to competition among ink makers, so that the product quality can not be guaranteed. With the increasing of people's aesthetic point of view and the nearness of WTO, the carton ink market will enter a healthy and healthy development atmosphere. The ink factory should also adjust its product structure as soon as possible to meet the market's requirements for product quality.

How to adjust the product structure as soon as possible?

The most concise method is to start with the composition of the ink. The ink is made by the chemical reaction process and physical mixing of the colorant, the binder, the surfactant and related additives. The biggest difference between rosin inks and emulsion inks is that they use different binders. The rosin-modified maleic acid resin solution commonly used in China is a binder for rosin ink. The ink produced by it can be used for low-grade carton printing. However, due to its reaction problems, it is slow and easy to stick during printing. Poor gloss, easy to fade, and water resistant. It is difficult to meet the use requirements for medium and high grade printing. Styrene-acrylic polymer emulsions (excluding styrene-acrylic architecture emulsions) have significant advantages in terms of gloss, weatherability, water resistance, ink transfer, drying speed, and the like, so that the emulsion ink exhibits excellent performance. Many ink mills are also very clear about this situation. They use a styrene-acrylic architectural emulsion similar in appearance to a special ink-and-water emulsion as a connecting material to produce ink. Although they solve the problem of slow drying and poor water resistance, they also have poor coloring power and are easy to paste. Edition, difficult to fight and other issues. Therefore, to improve the quality of ink, we should try our best to use special ink emulsion. The polymer emulsion developed by Beijing Iris Ink Co., Ltd.'s Emulsion Product Center has reached the level of well-known foreign products in terms of ink transfer, re-solubility, transparency, brightness, etc. It can provide assistance to domestic ink and water counterparts.

Although the quality of the emulsion ink is good, because the price of the special ink emulsion is much higher than that of the rosin liquid, the rosin ink manufacturers are not willing to increase the excessive cost due to market pressure. In this case, how to improve the quality of the rosin ink , it will be very urgent. If it is only by adding additives such as quick-drying agents, leveling agents, film formers, etc., it is impossible to fundamentally improve the defects of the rosin modified maleic acid resin solution, and it is necessary to introduce an auxiliary connecting material to completely fill the rosin modification. Insufficient performance of maleic acid resin. The YF-201 emulsion developed and produced by the Beijing Eriss Ink Co., Ltd. Emulsion Product Center was developed for the modified rosin ink. It has introduced a substance similar to the rosin structure, making it a good miscibility with the modified rosin ink. Improve the gloss of rosin ink, accelerate the drying speed of rosin ink, and improve the friction and water resistance of rosin ink. With the use of auxiliary additives, the quality of rosin ink is improved.

Both rosin ink and emulsion ink should use high quality as the only measure. If there is no high quality ink, even a good printing press, suitable printing plates, high-grade paper, and skilled printers cannot print qualified prints.

Carton flexo printing requires high quality ink.