From 21 to 24 October 2014, glasstec 2014 is being held at the Dusseldorf Exhibition Centre. At this leading trade fair for the glass industry, Durst Industrial Inkjet Application GmbH will present the Rho Vetrocer 250 digital printer for decorative glass.
Durst Industrial Inkjet Application GmbH is a 100% subsidiary of the Durst parent company, a leader in the field of flatbed inject printers for 15 years, and offers innovative digital printers for industrial applications. As part of industrial manufacturing processes – wooden boards for furniture, door panels or floors, metal plates for cans or façades, synthetic parts for car interior fittings or control consoles – surfaces are embellished with decorative finishes. The digitisation of surface printing via digital inkjet printing provides an answer to the increasing cost pressure in the industry caused by smaller batch sizes, the personalisation of products and copy-protection for branded products. An additional benefit is that with the functional nano-inks developed through intensive research, functionalization of surfaces as well as decoration can be carried out.
Durst Application has specialised in this digital coating technology in industrial manufacturing processes. One of the largest and most interesting fields of application is the flat glass area.
In the field of glass, inks with inorganic pigments and zinc frits are fired at 680-700°C during ESG production. In the process, the colours have a greater colour space than previous colours due to special pigments developed in collaboration with university research departments. Their density and opacity exceed standard requirements.
With the Rho Vetrocer 250, Durst offers a robust inkjet printer with inorganic ceramic inks for glass processers in the area of façades and glass applications with extreme surface requirements. Durst’s own patented print heads with continuously circulating inks prevent nozzle outlets clogging, a problem which can otherwise occur due to sedimentation of the inorganic pigments. The nozzles are therefore always ready to use without long cleaning procedures. A special printing programme which intelligently combines the process colours, including white, enables the colours to appear as brilliantly as in offset printing. The printer with special glass feed tables can be integrated into existing glass production lines or be operated as a stand-alone, fully automatic production system. As printing is carried out directly from a digital dataset, no costs are incurred for template creation or in set-up times. Companies benefit from these cost-efficient solutions both on small print runs and also in series production.
The Vetrocer builds on the tried and trusted RHO printer series in the graphics area; supports, nozzle carriages, electronics, and the Rho series software have been combined with nozzle heads, ink feed systems and media transportation specifically for glass printing to create a printer which meets the needs of glass printing and the special requirements of the industry.
Durst’s inorganic ceramic ink was developed specially for printing on glass. The ink is printed directly onto the glass without a primer and combines permanently with the glass in the oven at a temperature of 680-700°C on the base of the frits contained in it. The ink is available in black, white, red, blue, yellow, green and “Satinato” colours, offers perfect UV protection and is opaque, depending on the printing intensity. It has test certificates, is fade-proof for at least 15 years and can be used for the protective black edge of frameless façade glazing or equally well for windows in transport vehicles (rail wagons, cable cars and track-bound vehicles).
The areas of application of the Rho Vetrocer include the manufacture of brightly coloured glass for all areas of outdoor use such as glass façades, solar panels, car windscreens, garden ornaments, permanent signs or panorama maps made of glass etc. as well as for interiors, such as glass for furniture, internal partition walls, kitchen backsplashes or bar decorations, panels for lifts and equipment and much more.
Durst Industrial Inkjet Application GmbH is a 100% subsidiary of Durst Digital Technology. Its head office is located in a new LEED-certified building in Lienz, Tirol.
On its stand A71 in Hall 12, DIIA presents the future of glass printing for the first time at glasstec 2014 in Dusseldorf from 21-24 October 2014.