A Lesson in Amines Used in Water-Based Products
One of the key ingredients of many water-based inks and coatings are amines. Amines and ammonia are used in water-based products to control pH required...
Redefining Plasticizers in Inks and Coatings
The dictionary defines plasticizers as any of various substances added to plastics or other materials to keep them soft or pliable. For the purpose of...
Focus on Crosslinking in Fluid Ink Systems
Crosslinkers are an important class of additives ink and coating formulators use to enhance properties. These materials must be selected carefully to...
Dealing with Ink Adhesion on High-Slip Films
One of the most common problems with printing high-slip films is poor ink adhesion. Such films have low surface energies, and the levels of slip additives...
NAPIM Survey Finds Printers Are Focused on Ink Performance on Press, Not on Price
America's packaging printers want their ink to perform on press as well or better than advertised. That's the key finding of a recent survey distributed among 2,000 printers by the National Association of Printing Ink Manufacturers (NAPIM)....
A Brief Chemistry Lesson On Printing Ink Pigments
I have received various inquiries about pigments and pigment chemistry. I will try to answer a few of these questions as they relate to package printing...
Crosslinking Agents Can Improve Physical Properties
One of the key areas of ink/coating formulation is the use of crosslinking additives to improve physical resistance properties, such as ink adhesion and...
VOC-Compliant Inks: What State Are They In?
Two issues that have remained in the forefront of our industry for at least two decades are environmental regulations and flexography. As the quality...
Electronic Ink Technology: New Players Aid Progress
Not only will these electronic inks be used on paper, but they can be printed and laminated to create many packaging products. More than a year ago, I...
So You've Seen a Ghost! Who You Gonna Call?
Many of us enjoyed watching Bill Murray conquer the ghosts that he encountered in the movie Ghostbusters. So, you ask, what do ghosts have to do with...
Assessing the Potential for Ink Transfer and Migration
Potential transfer…depends on many factors, such as degree of cure, ink adhesion, pressure between cups, length of time in contact, etc.
Jet Inks, Colorants, and Packaging What's Ahead?
The rapid growth of ink jet technology in various printing sectors forecasts their use in package printing. However, use of ink jet printing in packaging...
Water-Based Ink Adhesion and Web Temperature
Unlike solvent-based inks where binders are dissolved in the ink solvents, water-based inks comprise several binders, none of which are soluble in water.
Small Inspection Light Proves to Be a Shining Star
Unilux creates a hand-held inspection light for Amgraph Packaging that is not only bright enough but convenient and durable as well....
Assessing Inks, Dealing with DigitalThe NPIRI Conference
The National Printing Ink Research Institute (NPIRI) held its 44th Technical Conference in October in Pine Mountain, GA. The well-attended event included...
Think the Ink You're Using Is A No-Brainer? Think Again.
Well, here we are inside the new millennium and things certainly are complicated, aren't they? Though we entered Y2K without the many catastrophes predicted...
The Formation of ''Microfoam'' in Water-Based Flexo Inks
If you bubble air into water, the foam bubbles produced rupture rapidly, and the water surface layer becomes flat. However, if you add a small amount...
Nitrocellulose, Solvents, Recycling, and Safety
Without proper precautions, the combination of nitrocellulose-containing inks, solvent-based press cleaners, and on-site recycling can be a deadly one.
...Estimating the Drying Rate of Flexo Ink in the Laboratory
One reason the drying rate of flexo inks has become an important subject is the general trend toward the use of thinner ink films. In the narrow web sector,...
Canadian Banknote Installs Brookfield Viscometers
MISSISSAUGA, ONT., CANADACanadian Bank Note Intl. (CBN), a 50-employee printing operation specializing in lottery and gaming tickets for governments,...
What Is the Role of Additives in Water-Based Inks?
The performance of water-based inks in flexographic printing is, to a large degree, based on additives that are incorporated into the ink to optimize...
Tape Converter Stands Up to Goliath with New Press
A flexo press from Bell-Mark makes a large contribution to Filmex Corporation, a smal specialty tape converter....
Bag machine adds value to customer-oriented operation.
A new FMC servo draw bag machine fits right in at All-Pak, a company that takes customer needs very seriously.When Fred J. Faletti founded All-Pak Inc.,...
Temperature control helps ink customers optimize performance.
Sun Chemical's research and technical facility uses Raytek Raynger PM portable noncontact thermometers to help its customers get the most out of their...
EPA and printers join forces to evaluate inks.
Determined to secure systematic, comparative data on inks, the flexo industry and the Environmental Protection Agency have launched the Design for the...
