The Printing Ink Manual

889 Pages·1988·27.67 MB·English

by  C. Armstrong (auth.)

The
Printing
Ink Manual
The
Printing
Ink Manual
FOURTH EDITION
Edited by
Dr R. H. Leach, Dr C. Armstrong, J. F. Brown,
M. J. Mackenzie, L. Randall and Dr H. G. Smith
International in association with
© 1961, 1969, 1979, 1988 Society of British Printing Ink Manufacturers Ltd.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1988
All rights reserved. No part of this work covered by the copyright hereon
may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means - graphic,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping,
or information storage or retrieval systems - without the written
permission of the publishers.
Published by Van Nostrand Reinhold (International) Co. Ltd.
Molly Millars Lane, Wokingham, Berkshire, England
First published 1961
Revised impression 1963
Second edition 1969
Third edition 1979
Reprinted 1984
Fourth edition 1988
Typeset in Meridien by Best-set Typesetter Ltd, Hong Kong.
Padstow, Cornwall.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
The Printing ink manual. - 4th ed.
1. Printing-ink
I. Leach, R. H.
667'.5 Z247
ISBN-13: 978-94-011-7099-4 e-ISBN-13: 978-94-011-7097-0
DOl: 1O .l 007/978-94-011-7097-0
Contents
Preface xi
The Editors and Authors xiii
I The Nature of Printing Inks
c.
Armstrong, Coates Brothers Inks Ltd
1.1 Visual characteristics of inks
1.2 The nature of printing inks as determined by the
printing process 3
1.3 The drying characteristics 5
1.4 The adhesive nature of printing inks 6
1.5 The resistance properties of printing inks 7
2 The Printing Processes 10
B. Blunden and J. Birkenshaw, PIRA
2.1 The letterpress process 11
2.2 The offset lithographic process 20
2.3 The gravure process 35
2.4 The flexographic process 44
2.5 The screen printing proce.ss 50
2.6 Non-impact printing processes 54
2.7 Other printing processes 59
2.8 Print recognition 60
2.9 Substrate selection 65
2.10 The need for communication 67
3 Colour and Colour Matching 69
J. Brown, Mander-Kidd (UK) Ltd
3.1 The physical nature of colour 69
3.2 The perception of colour 72
3.3 Additive and subtractive colour mixing 78
3.4 Origins of colour in printed material 84
3.5 Graphic reproduction 86
3.6 The measurement of colour 88
3.7 The recording of colour data and the specification
of colour 94
vi
CONTENTS
3.8 Colour matching 98
3.9 Instrumental colour match prediction 102
References 107
4 Raw Materials 109
M. Clayton, Au/t & Wiborg General Printing Inks
Section I Pigments 110
4.1 Yellow pigments 111
4.2 Orange pigments 117
4.3 Red pigments 120
4.4 Green pigments 139
4.5 Blue pigments 142
4.6 Violet pigments 149
4.7 Brown pigments 152
4.8 Black pigments 154
4.9 White pigments and extenders 156
4.10 Pearlescent materials 161
4.11 Metallic pigments 161
4.12 Fluorescent pigments 162
4.13 General properties of pigments 163
Section II Dyestuffs 172
4.14 Acid dyes 172
4.15 Basic dyes 174
4.16 Solvent dyes 178
4.17 Disperse dyes 180
Section III Oils 183
4.18 Drying vegetable oils 183
4.19 Other oils 188
Section W Resins 192
4.20 Natural resins 193
4.21 Synthetic resins 199
Section V Solvents 225
4.22 Hydrocarbon solvents 228
4.23 Alcohols 231
4.24 Glycols 232
4.25 Ketones 234
4.26 Esters 235
Section VI Plasticisers 244
Section VII Waxes 249
4.27 Synthetic waxes 250
4.28 Petroleum waxes 253
4.29 Natural waxes 255
Section VIII Driers 258
4.30 Liquid driers 258
4.31 Paste driers 260
vii
CONTENTS
Section IX Miscellaneous additives 260
4.32 Chelating agents 260
4.33 Antioxidants 261
4.34 Surfactants 262
4.35 Deodorants and reodorants 264
4.36 Pure chemicals 265
4.37 Defoaming agents 269
4.38 Laking agents 270
Section X Raw materials for radiation curing systems 271
4.39 Pigment selection 271
4.40 Prepolymers 272
4.41 Reactive diluents 274
4.42 Photoinitiators 274
4.43 Additives and inhibitors 275
Section XI Health and safety at work 280
References 281
5 Letterpress Inks 282
G. B. Burdall, Usher-Walker pic
5.1 Nature of the process 282
5.2 General characteristics of letterpress inks 284
5.3 Physical properties 286
5.4 Raw materials 289
5.5 Letterpress ink formulation 294
5.6 Ink-related problems and their possible solutions 302
5.7 New developments 304
6 Lithographic Inks 308
P. Ford and R. J. TUft, Coates Brothers Inks Ltd
6.1 General characteristics of litho inks 312
6.2 Drying mechanisms 315
6.3 Physical properties 321
6.4 Formulating principles 328
6.5 Typical inks and varnishes 343
6.6 Ink-related problems and their possible solutions 352
6.7 Recent and future trends 361
7 Gravure Inks 368
E. Cawkill and B. Ellison, BASF Coatings + Inks Ltd
7.1 General characteristics 369
7.2 Physical properties of inks and their measurement 376
7.3 Formulating principles 382
7.4 Inks and varnishes for specific end-use
applications 393
7.5 Printing ink faults 426
7.6 Future developments 429
viii
CONTENTS
8 Flexographic Inks 435
F. C. Wyatt, Lorilleux & Bolton Ltd
8.1 General characteristics of the inks 437
8.2 Physical properties of flexographic inks and
their measurement 442
8.3 Formulating principles 447
8.4 Inks and varnishes for special purposes 456
8.5 Ink-related printing problems and possible solutions 476
8.6 Recent and future trends 478
9 Screen Inks 481
J. Joannou, Coates Brothers Inks Ltd
9.1 Important characteristics of screen inks 481
9.2 Requirements of raw materials 487
9.3 Inks for paper and board 490
9.4 Inks for impervious surfaces 493
9.5 Inks for plastic containers 499
9.6 Textile inks 502
9.7 Transfer inks 504
9.8 Overprint varnishes 505
9.9 Daylight fluorescent inks 506
9.10 Process inks 507
9.11 Metallics 509
9.12 Ink-related printing problems 510
9.l3 Recent and future trends 513
10 Radiation Curable Systems 515,
R. Holman, BASF Coatings + Inks Ltd
10.1 Electromagnetic radiation and electron beams 517
10.2 Microwave and radio frequency drying 521
10.3 Infra -red curing systems 522
10.4 Ultraviolet and electron beam curable inks and
varnishes 525
10.5 Radiation curing equipment 552
10.6 State of the art and future trends 560
Further reading 561
11 Inks for Special Purposes 562
R. Marsh, Coates Brothers Inks Ltd
11.1 Non-impact printing 562
11.2 Speciality screen inks 571
1l.3 Inks for the electronics industry 573
1l.4 'Inks for laminated plastics 578
1l.5 Inks for wallcoverings 578
11.6 Textile transfer inks 580
11.7 Sterilisation inks 582
CONTENTS ix
11.8 Metal decorating 585
11.9 Letterset printing 588
12 Manufacture of Inks and Varnishes 592
M. 1. Heath, Lorilleux & Bolton Ltd, and A. J. Wild,
Usher-Walker pIc
12.1 General requirements 592
12.2 The manufacturing processes 593
12.3 Mixing equipment 616
12.4 Milling equipment 624
12.5 Handling, storage and manufacture of UV inks 644
12.6 Manufacture of newspaper inks 645
12.7 Handling and storage of inks 648
12.8 Modern production trends 655
12.9 The future 660
13 Rheology of Printing Inks 666
A. Tabbernor, Mander-Kidd (UK) Ltd
13.1 Flow in ideal systems 667
13.2 Deviations from Newtonian behaviour 668
13.3 Apparatus for the measurement of the viscosity
of Newtonian liquids 675
13.4 Practical measurements for non-Newtonian
systems 678
13.5 Tack 685
13.6 Tack measurement 686
13.7 Ink distribution and related matters 689
13.8 Rheological measurements and machine design 694
References 696
14 Testing, Control and Analysis 699
E. Cawkill, BASF Coatings + Inks Ltd and
D. Easterly, Coates Brothers Inks Ltd
14.1 Standard tests 700
14.2 Sampling technique 700
14.3 Pigment testing 701
14.4 Chips and pre-dispersions 710
14.5 Dye testing 710
14.6 Resins 711
14.7 Varnishes and oils 714
14.8 Solvents 720
14.9 Radiation curing products 724
14.10 Miscellaneous materials 726
14.11 Ink quality control 726
14.12 Short-term ink testing 727
14.13 Long-term ink testing 731
14.14 Press performance tests 735
x
CONTENTS
14.15 Dry print performance tests 740
14.16 Analysis of printing inks 751
References 779
Further reading 779
15 Health, Safety and the Environment 780
G. J. May and J. Orpwood, Coates Brothers Inks Ltd
15.1 Handling of dangerous substances in the
manufacture of printing inks 785
15.2 Mechanical and operational aspects 809
15.3 Specific printing ink applications 820
15.4 Some international constraints 826
Glossary of abbreviations 831
References 832
Index 839