The Systems Used During The Process Of Screed Printing

By Laurie J. Duff


Allowing woven mesh to support ink stencils is a printing method known as screen printing. Open areas of mesh are formed from the attached stencils and then used to transport ink and other materials that are printable to be pressed through the mesh to create a sharp edged image to a substrate. Ink is forced through a squeegee or fill blade that has been moved onto a screen stencil, which is then pushed through the mesh openings of the screen in order to move the ink with a squeegee stroke.

Polyester or something that is similar in material is used in screen printing to make a design using coated blank areas that are covered with a material that the ink will be forced through mesh openings in the screen by using a squeegee stoke to print the design on the surface. Serigraphy printing, serigraphy, and silkscreen are also other names to explain this process. Many colors can be used in this printing as well, such as striped printing. A usual screen printing mesh screen is made from a giant piece of mesh that has been stretched over a frame of some sort.

Before any printing happens, the screen and the frame must go through the pre printing process, which is when the emulsion is scooped onto the mesh and then the exposure unit burns all the unneeded emulsion away leaving only a clean area of mesh in the exact shape of the desired image behind. The surface, otherwise known as the pallet, is coated with a wide pallet tape before the substrate is printed on it.

This tape is used to prevent any unwanted ink from staining the top of the screen or pallet, which is used to help with the transfer of ink that is not unwanted onto another substrate by it. The frame and screen are then bordered with the strip. It is dependent on the kind of ink that is used on what type of tape is needed for the process.

The publishing screen will then be placed on top of the substrate. Ink will be then placed on the screen, and a floor bar will be used in order to shove the ink through the gaps in the mesh screen. The fill bar located at the bottom of the screen will then be used as a storing place for all the unwanted ink. The screen will then be lifted to prevent any kind of contact onto the substrate, which will happen once the screen is move in a downwards motion to fill the bar in front of the screen.




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