FAQ

In industrial production, many product processing has been replaced by machines instead of manual labor. Although handmade products are relatively more expensive, machine-produced products can obviously save more costs. Nowadays, the patterns on many of our clothes are becoming more and more beautiful, which indicates that the digital printing technology is becoming more and more advanced.

Let's take a look at the three common printing methods for clothing printing in digital printing:

1. Water Paste

Water paste is a kind of water-based slurry. It has a weak feel on the clothes and a weak coverage. It can only be printed on light-colored fabrics. The price is relatively low, and it belongs to a lower-grade printing type.

2. Thick Plate Paste

Thick plate paste is based on rubber paste. It is like rubber paste printed many layers repeatedly. It can achieve a very neat three-dimensional effect. Generally, the process requirements are relatively high, so most small printing factories use printed ones, and some even do not have this technology. However, it is currently a popular printing technology worldwide.

3. Rubber Paste

The emergence and widespread application of rubber paste came after water paste. Because of its excellent coverage, it can print any light color on dark clothes, and has a certain degree of gloss and three-dimensional sense, making the finished garment look more beautiful. Therefore, it has been rapidly popularized, and almost every printed T-shirt uses it.

For insoluble disperse dyes, when the concentration of inorganic salts increases, more charges with negative electricity opposite to the adsorption layer will enter the adsorption layer.
When the charge of the adsorption layer is completely neutralized, the zeta potential in the micelle drops to zero, making the electrostatic repulsion of the micelle smaller or even disappears completely, greatly reducing the anti-coagulation ability of the dispersion system, and destroying the stability of the entire dispersion system, resulting in the sedimentation of the dye.
In addition, the excessive concentration of inorganic salts is easy to corrode the nozzle and reduce the service life of the nozzle.
At present, the common active inks in the domestic market include cyan, black, magenta, blue, orange, yellow, gray, and other colors. In addition, cyan and magenta are diluted to about 15 - 20% to make light cyan and light magenta.
They can meet the basic production needs, but there are still problems such as nozzle blockage, unstable color development, incorrect color light, insufficient depth, and small color gamut in the application.
Reasons for Nozzle Blockage
There are reasons related to the printing machine and the dye. The reasons for the machine mainly include ink supply interruption, mold blockage in the ink channel, and blocked air vents of the ink cartridge.
The reasons for the dye mainly include dye deposition, impurities, and excessive dye solubility. For insoluble disperse dyes, the particle size of the dye is also crucial. The fine particles require that there should be no more than 10 particles larger than 0.2 microns within the field of view of 0.1 mm under the microscope.

For many digital printing machines, universal printers, and other printing equipment, the patterns are prone to fading and not scratch-resistant. Manufacturers need to apply a layer of varnish on the surface of the printed object. Generally, the varnish is colorless and transparent, and it does not affect the original pattern of the printed object. It only forms a colorless and transparent protective film on its surface. After drying, the pattern will not change color, and the surface will not turn yellow due to sun exposure or long-term use. At the same time, the printed object with a varnish layer has much better wear resistance and scratch resistance than before processing.

Special Requirements and Precautions for Varnish:
The adhesion of the varnish layer should be strong, and it should have a certain adhesion to the ink and other materials. Because the surface characteristics of most printed objects will change after printing a layer of patterns, and the surface adhesion will decrease due to the influence of the ink layer density. Therefore, inferior varnish may cause problems such as cracking and falling off during later use.
The leveling property of the varnish itself should be good to ensure a smooth varnish layer on the surface of printed objects with different absorbency, smoothness, and wetness.
Some products need to undergo other processing techniques after applying the varnish, such as hot stamping with aluminum foil, embossing, etc. This requires the varnish to have good heat resistance. During the subsequent processing, after heating, it should not cause a sticky effect. Otherwise, it is easy to lead to problems such as uneven surface feel and distorted patterns of the finished product. The solvent resistance should be high, and the surface of the varnish layer should not blister due to the influence of the adhesive during later processing. This requires the varnish to have a wide adaptability in later processing.

Usage Method:
For unknown materials, test spraying on a small area first;
Thoroughly remove the oil stains, water stains, and dust on the part where the varnish needs to be sprayed to ensure a clean surface;

Smooth the surface of the printed object;
Keep a distance of 20 - 30 cm from the surface of the object to be sprayed and use the multiple spraying method to achieve a better effect.

Solve according to the cause of the paper jam fault
1. Wear of the Registration Roller and Damage of the Drive Clutch
The registration roller is a hard rubber roller that drives the paper forward for alignment after the paper is rubbed out of the paper tray in the copier. It is located on the upper and lower sides of the paper. After the registration roller is worn, the paper's forward speed will slow down, and the paper will often get stuck in the middle of the paper path. If the drive clutch of the registration roller is damaged and the roller cannot rotate, the paper cannot pass through, causing a paper jam. In this case, a new registration roller should be replaced or corresponding treatment should be done.

2. Fault of the Paper Path Sensor
The paper path sensors are mostly located in the separation area, the exit of the fuser, and other places. They use ultrasonic or photoelectric components to detect whether the paper passes through. If the sensor fails, it cannot detect the paper's passage. When the paper is moving forward, it touches the small lever transported by the sensor, blocking the ultrasonic or light, thereby detecting that the paper has passed and issuing an instruction to proceed to the next step. If the small lever fails to rotate, it will prevent the paper from moving forward, causing a paper jam. Therefore, the paper path sensor should be checked to ensure that it is working correctly.

3. Wear of the Separation Claw
For copiers that have been used for a long time, the separation claws of the machine's photosensitive drum or fuser roller will be seriously worn, resulting in paper jams. In severe cases, the separation claws cannot separate the copy paper from the photosensitive drum or fuser roller, causing the paper to wrap around it and causing a paper jam. At this time, the toner on the fuser roller and the separation claws should be cleaned with absolute alcohol, and the blunt separation claws should be removed and polished sharp with fine sandpaper. This can generally allow the copier to continue to be used for a period of time. If it doesn't work, only new separation claws can be replaced.

4. Fuser Contamination
The fuser roller is the driving roller that the copy paper passes through during fusing. When the toner is melted at high temperature during fusing, it is easy to contaminate the surface of the fuser roller (especially when the lubrication and cleaning are poor), causing the copy paper to stick to the fuser roller. At this time, it should be checked whether the roller is clean, whether the cleaning scraper is intact, whether the silicone oil supplement is effective, and whether the cleaning paper for the fuser roller is used up. If the fuser roller is contaminated, it should be cleaned with absolute alcohol and a little silicone oil should be applied to the surface. In severe cases, the felt pad or cleaning paper should be replaced.

5. Displacement of the Exit Baffle
After passing through the above components, the copy paper is output through the exit baffle to complete a copying procedure. For copiers that have been used for a long time, the exit baffle may sometimes be displaced or skewed, preventing the copy paper from being output smoothly, causing a paper jam. At this time, the exit baffle should be corrected to make it straight and flexible, and the paper jam phenomenon will be eliminated.

Tips to Avoid Paper Jams
1. Choose Good Copy Paper: The quality of copy paper plays a crucial role in the "paper jam rate" and even the service life of the copier. Please do not choose paper with the following phenomena:
(a) The same pack of paper has uneven thickness, different sizes, and even defects.
(b) The edges of the paper have burrs.
(c) There is too much paper fluff, and after shaking on a clean table, a layer of white debris will be left. Too much paper fluff in the copy paper will cause the paper feed wheel to be too slippery, so that the paper cannot be fed, and it will accelerate the wear of the photosensitive drum and fuser roller, etc.
2. Use the Paper Trays Evenly: This sounds contradictory to the next point. However, if two paper trays are next to each other, alternating use can avoid excessive wear of the paper feed system of one paper path.
3. Choose the Nearest Paper Tray: The closer the paper is to the photosensitive drum, the shorter the distance it travels during the copying process, and the fewer chances of "paper jams".
4. Shake the Paper: Shake the paper on a clean table and then repeatedly align it to reduce paper fluff.
5. Moisture-proof and Anti-static: Damp paper will deform when heated in the copier, causing "paper jams", especially during double-sided copying. In autumn and winter, the weather is dry, and static electricity is easily generated. The copy paper often sticks together two or three sheets, causing "paper jams". It is recommended to place a humidifier near the copier.
6. Do Self-cleaning: If the "paper jam" phenomenon often occurs where the copy paper cannot be fed, a wet cotton swab (do not dip too much water) can be used to wipe the paper feed wheel.
7. Edge Removal: When copying manuscripts with a deep background color, the copy paper is often stuck at the exit of the copier in a fan shape. Using the edge removal function of the copier can reduce the probability of "paper jams".
8. Regular Maintenance: Comprehensive cleaning and maintenance of the copier is the most effective means to ensure the copying effect and reduce "paper jams".
Regular maintenance is also the basic responsibility of the copier warranty unit. If a "paper jam" occurs, please note the following points when taking out the paper: When taking out the "paper jam", only the parts allowed to be moved in the copier manual can be operated. Try to take out the whole paper at once, and be careful not to leave broken pieces of paper in the machine. Do not touch the photosensitive drum to avoid scratching the drum. If it is confirmed that all the "paper jams" have been removed, but the "paper jam" signal still does not disappear, the front cover can be closed again, or the power of the machine can be turned off and on again.