ZIMMER AUSTRIA | DIGITAL PRINTING SYSTEMS Blanket Printing www.zimmer-austria.com 24 February 2016 page 1 ZIMMER AUSTRIA | DIGITAL PRINTING SYSTEMS ChromoJET - Digital Blanket Printing (ENG) Blanket Printing Basics General Printed Mink- and Fleece blankets are popular throughout the world. ZIMMER AUSTRIA’s „MagnoPrint“ flat screen printer dominated the high quality blanket printing market for many years, and now Zimmer leads again the booming market with its next generation of digital blanket printing technology. Blanket Constructions Polar or Coral Fleece Blankets These are relatively thin blankets with a very low pile. Most fleece blankets are made out of polyester micro fiber, but there are also higher quality cotton and wool type fleece blankets in the market. Raschel (Mink) Blankets Raschel technology is a kind of knitting process, which produces a high quality blanket with a very soft touch. Fibers used for Blankets In the past, blankets were mainly made out of acrylic fiber. In the last couple of years, more and more polyester is used for the face fiber (mainly for price reason). In some cases also easy-dye polyester or blendings out of different fibers like Acrylic/Polyester or Cotton/Acrylic … are used. Cotton and wool blankets can be found in the market, but they are not popular for printing. Dyes and their Processing The printing process depends on the type of fiber and the applied family of dyes. ChromoJET printing process for blankets from acrylic or modified polyester using cationic dyes: 1. Printing 2. Steaming at saturated steam for about 10 minutes 3. Washing 4. Drying by using a conveyor belt dryer, a hot flue or a stenter dryer ChromoJET print process for polyester blankets using disperse dyes: 1. Printing 2. Drying at about 130°C 3. High temperature fixation using superheated steam or hot air with about 180°C for 2 -— 4 minutes 4. In-line or off-line reductive washing 5. Drying by using a conveyor belt dryer, a hot flue or a stenter dryer www.zimmer-austria.com 24 February 2016 page 2 ZIMMER AUSTRIA | DIGITAL PRINTING SYSTEMS ChromoJET - Digital Blanket Printing (ENG) Process Color Printing ChromoJET printing is the digital printing method for blankets which is overturning the traditional concept in the blanket printing industry: ChromoJET process color printing process – any color or shade is possible No limitation in size of artwork Designs can be nested freely to optimize the usage of raw material Samples can be printed at any time with any size, also during normal production and pile weight between 300 and 1000 g/m2 How does it work? In process color printing a set of 10 or 12 basic shades are used to generate all colors on the blanket. Individual dots of base colors are mixed on the surface of the blanket and form the new shade. Raster Imaging Processing (the RIP) This software is the key of the print process. The color information from the artwork is split into the available base shades of the printer. By combining the right base shades, the desired color is generated during printing. Color-book on the way to the steamer Dyes and Chemicals The right combination of dyes and chemicals is the key for a trouble-free operation. ZIMMER AUSTRIA and their partners from the dyestuff and thickener industry have developed high performance recipes for all kinds of dyestuff families. The dye is actually mixed on site. The basic ingredients are water, dyestuff, dispersing agent and PP7 powder thickener. Easy drying and easy washing are essential for a good printing result. The type of thickener plays a major role. CombiPrint PP7 is the latest development for this type of high performance thickeners but has been in the market since 5 years. Powder type thickener - easy to ship and store No sedimentation Stock paste can be stored for months High shear thinning effect for good penetration and definition Easy to dry - because of no oil Easy to wash Only 25% of COD in waste water (in comparison to oil based synthetic thickeners) www.zimmer-austria.com 24 February 2016 page 3 ZIMMER AUSTRIA | DIGITAL PRINTING SYSTEMS ChromoJET - Digital Blanket Printing (ENG) Drying and Dye Fixation Methods There are a number of fixation methods for Polyester blankets: Drying and HT Steaming This is today the most common method for continuous production The printed material is dried first at a relatively low temperature of about 130°C. After drying the material enters a high temperature loop steamer operated at about 180°C. ChromoJET printing with low pick-up SupraPRESS Press-Station to get full penetration at low pick-up Drying at about 130°C using a 1-pass or 3-pass double impingement dryer Steaming at about 180°C for about 10-20 minutes in a loop steamer Drying and Fixation using hot air Drying and disperse dye fixation happens at the same time in the same dryer and within a single process. Zimmer developed a special 3-pass flow through dryer where the air is actually sucked through the pile material. This has the advantage of very short drying time and a short dye fixation time (Thermosol process) and a moderate but constant air flow throughout the length of the pile. The process time is in the range of 2-4 minutes only! ChromoJET printing with low pick-up SupraPRESS Press-Station to get full penetration at low pick-up ThermoCURE-FT for drying and dye fixation at about 180°C - 210°C using a 3-pass flow through dryer Superheated steam drying and fixation (SHS) A new development is Zimmer‘s SupraFIX unit. This is a combination of a dryer and steamer working with superheated steam. The polyester fabric is first dried with superheated (water-hungry) steam and during the same process also steamed. This reduces the process time to about 2-4 minutes. The main advantage of SupraFIX is that it can be used for all kinds of materials and dyestuff classes (from saturated steam at 99°C to high temperature steam at 200°C). ChromoJET printing with low pick-up SupraPRESS Press-Station to get full penetration at low pick-up Drying and steaming with SHS steam at 180°C www.zimmer-austria.com 24 February 2016 page 4 ZIMMER AUSTRIA | DIGITAL PRINTING SYSTEMS ChromoJET - Digital Blanket Printing (ENG) ChromoJET Line Layout for Polyester Blankets The layout shows a complete ChromoJET printing line for polyester using a flow through dryer for drying and fixation This is also a typical layout where ChromoJET is replacing a flat screen printer. Washing and a stenter dryer can be off-line. Entry Unit Butt seam– to sew on roll to roll J-Box – to store greige blanket material and to give time for sewing Lint removal system - to remove lint from the surface and back-side (optional) Pre-wash and vacuum – to remove spin oils; remove wrinkles (optional) Centre guiding – to keep the greige material in center track Pull-roller and synchronization ChromoJET Printer Print speed up to 6.5 m/min at 76 x 38 dpi in 2.6 m width Wet gluing device - to hold the material stable in place 38, 50 or 76 dpi resolution - for high efficiency 10 or 12 digital process colors 1024 jets per color Blanket washing and lint removal - for a trouble-free operation SupraPRESS- Penetration Station The penetration enhancer for low pick-up applications High precision rollers with individual drive and adjustable gap or pressure Permanent washing, cleaning and drying of the press rollers Laser controlled synchronization with ChromoJET printer 4 ThermoCURE-FT Drying and Fixation Unit Removes the humidity before the fabric/material enters the high temperature steamer or dryer section. With Zimmer's flow through technology it is also possible to reach a full fixation in one process step. Drying and fixation happens at 180°C in a 3-pass flow through dryer. High performance flow through type dryer with 3 passes Gas, oil or steam heating Material is supported by conveyor belts throughout the drying process First pass = Drying of the disperse dye Second pass = Thermofixation of disperse dye Third pass = Relaxing and curing Exit Unit Plaiter at the exit of the dryer www.zimmer-austria.com 24 February 2016 page 5 ZIMMER AUSTRIA | DIGITAL PRINTING SYSTEMS ChromoJET - Digital Blanket Printing (ENG) ChromoJET printer ChromoJET is a well established technology used in the carpet industry. Zimmer adapted this concept for blanket printing and developed a tailor made printer for the blanket industry. In the following an overview about some specific parameters: Print width Depending on the type of printer and line layout - any print width up to 260 or 340 cm is possible. Number of colors 10 basic process colors are used to create thousands of shades on the blanket. Jets We use our HSV800 jet type model with 200 µm nozzles. The advantage of this jet is its reliability and it can be self-repaired. Conveyor The blanket material is fastened to the belt using a wet glue applied just before the material enters the printer. Conveyor washing At the end of the printer we use an efficient 'belt washer' to remove the glue, overprints and residue of the gluing process. Print resolution The printer can run with different settings- depending on raw material, design and other parameters. Most of the time it can run using 76 x 38 or at least 76 x 50 dpi. Specification and Technical Data of CHR800 2600 | 10 x 1024 CHR800 3400 | 10 x 1024 ChromoJET Print width up to 265 cm up to 345 cm Pile weight of knitted pile products 300 - 1000 g/m² Number of base process colors 10 (12 colors optional) Achievable colors on substrate >5000 Repeat size Unlimited - restricted by memory size Jets per color 1024, type HSV800 Max.