At the 2013 Bologna Exhibition in Italy, Metco exhibited inkjet ceramic sheet products with a length of more than 3 meters. It is reported that this product uses inkjet glaze inkjet technology, and the effect is the same as that of inkjet full glaze. In addition, companies such as Torrecid, Esmalglass-Itacc, Ferro and Colorobbia have launched inkjet printing products such as sunken glaze, protruding glaze, metal glaze, candy glaze, transparent glaze, precious metal glaze, etc.
After visiting the exhibition in Bologna, Dr. Yin Hong, deputy secretary-general of China Building and Sanitary Ceramics Association and professor at South China University of Technology, considered spraying glaze to be one of the four technological innovation highlights of the Bologna exhibition.
Since 2013, reports on digital glaze technology have been frequently seen in the media. In May, several ceramic inkjet equipment and glaze companies at the Guangzhou Ceramic Industry Exhibition demonstrated new technologies and new equipment for ceramic inkjet printing. In September, the Bologna Exhibition in Italy blew up inkjet With the glaze spray, many products exhibited at the Foshan Ceramic Fair in October were based on digital inkjet equipment or technology.
This all conveys a message: glaze spraying technology is more and more widely concerned, and the promotion from enterprises to industries is widening and deepening.
Out of the laboratory
Functional ink can make ceramic tiles achieve the glazed decoration effect like traditional glazing. Therefore, it can also be considered that digital glaze spray includes functional ink and glaze spray. Functional inks include sagging glaze, metallic glaze, flash glaze, matte glaze, white flower glaze, flower glaze, etc.
Glaze sprays functional ink and glaze directly onto the surface of ceramic tiles through a special ceramic inkjet printing nozzle, showing a special decorative effect with strong three-dimensional sense, such as various three-dimensional particles, uneven texture, etc. With the help of glaze spraying technology, ceramic enterprises can save the complicated process and equipment of the glazing line, and can achieve the special surface effect of ceramic tiles without the help of molds, which provides great possibilities for saving production space, reducing production costs and improving production efficiency.
Regarding the current development status of China's glaze spraying technology, Li Moli, general manager of Efi-Quidaping China, said in an interview that China's ceramic digital glaze spraying has come out of the laboratory and has been put into industrial testing, but it is still in its infancy .
It is understood that the printing equipment and raw and auxiliary materials related to glaze spraying technology are in rapid development, such as the introduction of inkjet glaze spraying integrated equipment, and the application of some functional inks has begun to mature, such as metal glaze, flash glaze, etc. .
As mentioned above, this year's glaze spraying and related technologies and equipment have been eye-catching in major industry exhibitions, and the status quo of development has also become a trend. But this is only a partial budding, and it has not yet been able to form a large climate like inkjet printing in the industry, and it has been widely used in production.
Previous industry experts believe that the influence of glaze spraying equipment is not as good as that of current ceramic inkjet equipment, because the application range of glaze spraying is narrow, mainly used for waist line bricks, polished crystal bricks and some antique bricks and porcelain with special decorative effects. In the film. In addition, to achieve the bump effect through inkjet printing, a large amount of glaze needs to be consumed. If it is mass-produced, its cost is higher than that of the bump mold.
The actual application of glaze spraying technology has a long way to go from going out of the laboratory to real factory workshop production.
Technology integration
In the field of inkjet machine equipment, Sacmi launched an inkjet machine that sprays dry powder; Sistem introduces ceramic inkjet printing equipment used in glaze and dry powder technology; Efi-Quidaping introduced more Functional digital ceramic decoration printer; Taiwei independently developed a tile color image digital glaze spraying machine; Caishen and Kailajiete two inkjet equipment companies also launched an integrated inkjet glaze spraying equipment at the 2013 Guangzhou Industrial Exhibition.
Glaze spraying is the development trend of ceramic inkjet machines. The current development trend of digital printing equipment is to integrate inkjet and glaze. The glaze and inkjet functions can be flexibly used on the same device, can be mixed and compatible with the nozzle, and can support the use of different brands and ink configurations. Diversity and compatibility with ceramic color glazes, as well as the development of a powerful computer software management system, provide technical support for the practical application of glaze spray technology, bringing unlimited possibilities.
Many experts believe that spraying glaze and spraying dry powder will be the development trend of ceramic nozzles. The realization of the glaze spraying technology requires the nozzle manufacturer to develop a new type of nozzle. Due to the large particle diameter of the glaze, coupled with its own oily properties, it is easy to cause nozzle clogging and damage. Therefore, the prerequisite for the ceramic inkjet printer to realize the glaze spray function is that the nozzle can provide corresponding technical support.
According to reports, the KM1024iLHE nozzle developed by Konica can heat the ink inside the nozzle to accelerate the ink flow and effectively prevent the nozzle from clogging. It is suitable for the production of large ink tiles and the application of concave and convex glaze and sinking glaze. Starlight's 1024-LC print head can print at high speed and large ink volume, which is suitable for glaze spraying to meet the large output demand of ceramic enterprises. Xaar nozzles also said that they will launch nozzles that are suitable for most glaze applications at present, accelerating the process of glaze spraying technology.
Although glaze spraying is the development trend of ceramic inkjet machines, many people said that in addition to solving the technical problems of the nozzle, the realization of this technology has higher requirements for the stability of the glaze and the strength of ceramic enterprises.
In the field of functional inks and glaze inks, Ferro previously introduced KeramINKs 3.0 series products and inks with sag effects. Tao Lixi also launched the "glaze ink" at the 2013 Guangzhou Industrial Exhibition, spraying the depressed glaze onto the surface of the ceramic tile with inkjet technology, abandoning the traditional glaze spraying method.
At present, the glaze used in the digital spraying process has a narrow range of color development, which is easy to affect the color development of the ink. It is necessary for the color glaze enterprises and ink manufacturers to increase their research and development efforts.
Aitao Glazed Daigong believes that in the future, not only the fineness of the glaze to meet the use of the nozzle, but also the glaze product form provided by the supplier to the enterprise may also develop from the current solid to liquid.
Xin Jingtai's general manager Peng Jichang said in an interview that the development of China's glaze spraying technology is still in the process of technology integration. The glaze spraying technology is advancing. The industry needs to strengthen technical exchanges and technical preparations, and requires technical improvement in many fields, equipment and raw and auxiliary materials Need innovation.
Looking forward to innovation
Dr. Hong Hong said after visiting Bologna: "With the development of inkjet printing technology, there is still huge room for development of inkjet printing. It is estimated that in the next one or two years, inkjet printing technology will be used to replace various glazing technologies. Efforts will continue to deepen reform, and it is expected that inkjet printing technology will gradually become the mainstream technology for ceramic tile decoration printing and glazing. "
It is understood that Ferro (Ferro) experimental center in Spain has successfully tested glaze products, and has been trial in many ceramic companies in Spain. It is also reported that Jinyi Tao officially launched a sagging glazed antique brick with low water absorption at the Canton Fair in the fall of 2013. Its surface texture is uneven, and the product has many changes and is very ornamental. Li Deying, the chief engineer of Jinyitao Ceramics, said: "Digital glaze spray can achieve precise inkjet printing of digital inkjet and digital glaze spray, and achieve a wonderful composite effect."
Li Moli is looking forward to the application of glaze spraying technology: "The glaze spraying technology will help more differentiated and personalized products come out. Combining the two technologies of inkjet and glaze spraying, some puzzles and mosaic tiles may have the effect More expressive. I believe that with the advancement of glaze spraying technology, it will bring a benign impact to the industry. "
Mao Haiyan, chairman of the Ming Dynasty Technology, the earliest on-line application of domestic inks, believes that glaze spraying technology will be rapidly popularized in the domestic market in the next two or three years. At present, in addition to ceramic ink firmly occupying the position of the domestic ink leader, Ming Dynasty Technology has successfully trial-produced a microcrystalline glaze in 2013. Recently, it is conducting research on glaze spraying technology. I believe that it will take a long time. Will bring a series of surprises to the industry. Peng Jichang believes that equipment companies should integrate the technology related to digital glaze spraying to reflect and apply on the equipment, such as spraying oily glaze or functional ink onto ceramic tiles through stable nozzles to form products with special decorative effects. This seemingly simple process involves technological and material innovation in many fields.
The relevant person in charge of Xaar said that the benefits of glaze spraying technology in the production of ceramic tiles will be obvious, including effective cost reduction, improved quality of finished products, and improved production efficiency. Xaar's investment in the field of glaze spray nozzles is continuously increasing, and certain progress has been made. The new technology will be promptly promoted to the industry. From the perspective of the entire industry, there may be a big breakthrough in the field of glaze spraying technology in 2014. 2014 will be an exciting and anticipated year.
Ghilad Dziesietnik, CTO (Chief Technology Officer) of American EFI company, expressed this opinion in an exclusive interview. Product technology upgrades and technological innovations are endless. There is still a lot of room for development and upgrade of inkjet technology. Digitalization is still the best.
Digital glaze spray is an extension and upgrade of the inkjet war. For a developing technology, what we need is to make the best of existing technology and seek innovation, and look forward to breakthroughs in innovation. The development prospects and trends of glaze spraying technology are also worthy of the industry's attention and expectation.
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