Traditionally, UV inkjet printing on clear vessels requires a stuffing agent known as a “foxtail” to block the UV light from curing the ink and damaging the print heads. Recently Inkcups introduces a new feature for Helix digital cylinder printers: Transparent Pin Curing.

Transparent Pin Curing (TPC) is a specialized system that enables UV inkjet printing on clear products such as plastic bottles, glassware, spirit, and wine bottles without the need to add a UV-blocking agent into the vessel. With this new patent-pending technology, containers remain uncontaminated and sterile on the inside and print head life is protected. As an added benefit, removal of this extra step thanks to the TPC system also streamlines the production process.

The TPC system is available as a field-upgradable retrofit for existing Helix printers or on new Helix machines. These include the Helix Digital Cylinder Printer and Helix Hi-Fi Photorealistic Rotary UV Printer.

“We have been developing and testing this new feature for some time and are excited to bring it to market. The revolutionary transparent pin curing system will simplify production, improve efficiency and is completely retrofittable to our fleet of Helix® Digital Cylinder printers. It makes a significant difference for transparent items,” Ben Adner, CEO of Inkcups.

Additive manufacturing is the base of 3D printing, it has several methods but the most used and common are SLA (Stereolithography) or SLS (selective laser sintering) and FDM (fused deposition modeling). Both generally use polymers as the main material to produce prints and here is where things can get complicated, in this article we will cover the use of glass and its raw materials used to produce 3D prints.octype html>

3D printing glass is not an easy task, there have been a few organizations and scientists that were able to produce a 3D printed glass piece. Most of these methods rely on high temperature to help reach the glass melting point to later mold it into the desired form, glass will require temperatures around a 1000 ºC to reach its fusion point.

A team of engineers from the University of Washington succeeded by using glass powder and a binder solution to make particles react and thus being able to lay them and form a desired glass object. The technique allows a new type of material (glass) to be used in a typical powder based 3D printing system.

In 2017, a German group of researchers from KIT (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology) used an SLA process to create intricate glass objects. In SLA printing, light is used to selectively harden liquid materials into solid parts, layer by layer. The team applied the SLA process to a special ink containing glass nanopowder suspended in a photocurable polymer, and then they fired the piece at 1,300 ºC to burn off the polymer and densify the glass.

Most recently (November 2019), ETH Zürich have used a similar method as the KIT researchers, they have developed a special resin that contains a plastic and organic molecules to which glass precursors are bonded, the resin can be cured by UV Light using commercially available DLP 3D printers.

After the resin is cured into the desired form, the piece is subjected to two different temperatures: at 600˚C to burn off the polymer framework and then at around 1000˚C to densify the ceramic structure into glass. During the firing process, the objects shrink significantly, but become transparent and hard like window glass.

Canon U.S.A., Inc., introduces to the wide format print market the new Arizona 2300 Series UV curable flatbed printers, designed to speed up production, improve operational efficiencies and fuel growth opportunities.

The new Arizona 2300 Series offers an instant-on capability through its UV-LED curing system, enabling quicker turnaround for last-minute jobs This series is built around the Arizona FLOW technology, a vacuum technique that supports a zone-less, multi-origin table layout. This technology offers more productivity, as it requires less masking and taping, and is supported by easy-to-use, three-sided pneumatic registration pins to better secure the substrate in place on the table.

Additionally, this series also provides customers with the ability to print up to 1,001 ft2/hr. and an automated maintenance system that offers hands-free printhead maintenance that reduce the downtime by restoring nozzle function.

The Arizona 2300 offers UV-LED curing for 40 percent less energy consumption that has been certified for the North American market by TÜV and DGUV.

"We are committed to the research and development of our flatbed series with a focus on smart productivity, application versatility and sustainability. With our customers in mind, the Arizona 2300 Series will make the production process smarter and more automated, enabling our customers to have the time to focus on what matters the most: growing their business," Shinichi Yoshida, executive vice president and general manager, Canon U.S.A., Inc. "With the addition of the new Arizona 2300 series to our portfolio, we have a range of large format solutions to suit any and every print need of our customers. We are confident the new flatbed printers will enable them to boost profits, expand their application possibilities and open up new market opportunities, while achieving operational excellence."

We all know ceramics have been on the market for so long and they have even been a trending material for a while when it comes to 3D printing materials. Obviously when it comes to ceramics, the first thing that comes to my mind is kitchenware and pottery (even its applications have a wide variety of markets) and I bet you are surrounded by ceramics at home without even acknowledging it.

3D ceramic parts are a bit challenging and most of the time the cost increments to much. This has led companies to wander and try different and new printing techniques.

There are brands that provide 3D ceramic printing services and we are giving you a few of them for you to start your business or to provide new and different products with these techniques.

3DCeram

3DCeram is a French company with over 15 years of expertise in 3D ceramic printing. Their focus on applications is aerospace, biomedical and jewelry. The brand offers serial production services and they develop and create their own ceramic 3D printing. They believe in a “support-free” system which relies on a technology that doesn’t leave any support marks on the printing parts surface.

Kwambio

Kwambio is a company that focuses on ceramic materials. Being a New-York based brand has let them to work with different designers and artists to create different products. Its main applications are artistic, kitchenware, sculpture making, industrial products, jewelry. Their actual production is in Ukraine with their self-developed 3D printers.

Formatec

Formatec is a brand based on The Netherlands which specializes in developing and manufacturing ceramic technical components. The brand is mainly focused on ceramic injection molding (CIM) processes to produce the ceramic parts. They create high quality parts by using DLP (Digital Light Procesing) technology which also helps to create even larger volumes of products. It’s main applications are medical, dental, industrial design, aerospace parts.

In-house production Printers

Obviously outsourcing is a great idea for many applications in the ceramic printing world, but in some cases an in-house production can save you a good amount of money. So, it’s important for you to know that there are a few great options in the market if you decide to give it a try. These machines are expensive, but it’s always nice to know or even have an idea of what kinds of printers are out there.

So, if you are interested in ceramics, you should definitely dive into the 3D printing industry and give it a try since there are more launches and there is a growing process of materials range.