Also in the ceramic decoration industry a strong pressure exists towards the development of cost efficient technologies. This pressure arises from the ever increasing demand of small series, short lead times, stock reduction, etc. Hence, there is a strong interest in the possibilities of digital printing as a replacement of the analogue existing technology for ceramic decoration, namely screen printing. Essentially, this interest in "digital" in this (niche) market is completely comparable with the movement towards digital technology in the graphical market during the last decades. Because of the technological hurdles encountered, as well as the somewhat rigidness of the market, up to now no real digital solution exists as a replacement or parallel technology to screen printing. This paper focuses on the development of a toner hased digital solution for ceramic decoration. The work aims at creating a solution by developing both a "4+1" ceramic toner set as well as the printing engine, this to guarantee a high quality and stable operation for industrial applications. So called "in glaze" pigments are used, which are typically used for the decoration of high quality dinnerware.
展开▼
