The. Printing. Ink Manual

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1 The Printing Ink Manual

2 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

3 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 Printing-ink I. Leach, R. H. 667'.5 Z247 4th ed. ISBN-13: e-isbn-13: DOl: 1 O.l 007/

4 Contents Preface The Editors and Authors I 2 The Nature of Printing Inks c. Armstrong, Coates Brothers Inks Ltd xi xiii 1.1 Visual characteristics of inks 1.2 The nature of printing inks as determined by the printing process The drying characteristics The adhesive nature of printing inks The resistance properties of printing inks 7 The Printing Processes B. Blunden and J. Birkenshaw, PIRA The letterpress process The offset lithographic process The gravure process The flexographic process The screen printing proce.ss Non-impact printing processes Other printing processes Print recognition Substrate selection The need for communication 3 Colour and Colour Matching 69 J. Brown, Mander-Kidd (UK) Ltd The physical nature of colour The perception of colour Additive and subtractive colour mixing Origins of colour in printed material Graphic reproduction The measurement of colour The recording of colour data and the specification of colour 94

5 vi CONTENTS 3.8 Colour matching Instrumental colour match prediction 102 References Raw Materials 109 M. Clayton, Au/t & Wiborg General Printing Inks Section I Pigments Yellow pigments Orange pigments Red pigments Green pigments Blue pigments Violet pigments Brown pigments Black pigments White pigments and extenders Pearlescent materials Metallic pigments Fluorescent pigments General properties of pigments 163 Section II Dyestuffs Acid dyes Basic dyes Solvent dyes Disperse dyes 180 Section III Oils Drying vegetable oils Other oils 188 Section W Resins Natural resins Synthetic resins 199 Section V Solvents Hydrocarbon solvents Alcohols Glycols Ketones Esters 235 Section VI Plasticisers 244 Section VII Waxes Synthetic waxes Petroleum waxes Natural waxes 255 Section VIII Driers Liquid driers Paste driers 260

6 CONTENTS vii Section IX Miscellaneous additives Chelating agents Antioxidants Surfactants Deodorants and reodorants Pure chemicals Defoaming agents Laking agents 270 Section X Raw materials for radiation curing systems Pigment selection Prepolymers Reactive diluents Photoinitiators Additives and inhibitors 275 Section XI Health and safety at work 280 References Letterpress Inks 282 G. B. Burdall, Usher-Walker pic 5.1 Nature of the process General characteristics of letterpress inks Physical properties Raw materials Letterpress ink formulation Ink-related problems and their possible solutions New developments Lithographic Inks 308 P. Ford and R. J. TUft, Coates Brothers Inks Ltd 6.1 General characteristics of litho inks Drying mechanisms Physical properties Formulating principles Typical inks and varnishes Ink-related problems and their possible solutions Recent and future trends Gravure Inks 368 E. Cawkill and B. Ellison, BASF Coatings + Inks Ltd 7.1 General characteristics Physical properties of inks and their measurement Formulating principles Inks and varnishes for specific end-use applications Printing ink faults Future developments 429

7 viii CONTENTS 8 Flexographic Inks 435 F. C. Wyatt, Lorilleux & Bolton Ltd 8.1 General characteristics of the inks Physical properties of flexographic inks and their measurement Formulating principles Inks and varnishes for special purposes Ink-related printing problems and possible solutions Recent and future trends Screen Inks 481 J. Joannou, Coates Brothers Inks Ltd 9.1 Important characteristics of screen inks Requirements of raw materials Inks for paper and board Inks for impervious surfaces Inks for plastic containers Textile inks Transfer inks Overprint varnishes Daylight fluorescent inks Process inks Metallics Ink-related printing problems l3 Recent and future trends Radiation Curable Systems 515, R. Holman, BASF Coatings + Inks Ltd 10.1 Electromagnetic radiation and electron beams Microwave and radio frequency drying Infra -red curing systems Ultraviolet and electron beam curable inks and varnishes Radiation curing equipment State of the art and future trends 560 Further reading Inks for Special Purposes 562 R. Marsh, Coates Brothers Inks Ltd 11.1 Non-impact printing Speciality screen inks 571 1l.3 Inks for the electronics industry 573 1l.4 'Inks for laminated plastics 578 1l.5 Inks for wallcoverings Textile transfer inks Sterilisation inks 582

8 CONTENTS ix 11.8 Metal decorating Letterset printing Manufacture of Inks and Varnishes 592 M. 1. Heath, Lorilleux & Bolton Ltd, and A. J. Wild, Usher- Walker pic 12.1 General requirements The manufacturing processes Mixing equipment Milling equipment Handling, storage and manufacture of UV inks Manufacture of newspaper inks Handling and storage of inks Modern production trends The future Rheology of Printing Inks 666 A. Tabbernor, Mander-Kidd (UK) Ltd 13.1 Flow in ideal systems Deviations from Newtonian behaviour Apparatus for the measurement of the viscosity of Newtonian liquids Practical measurements for non-newtonian systems Tack Tack measurement Ink distribution and related matters Rheological measurements and machine design 694 References Testing, Control and Analysis E. Cawkill, BASF Coatings + Inks Ltd and 699 D. Easterly, Coates Brothers Inks Ltd 14.1 Standard tests Sampling technique Pigment testing Chips and pre-dispersions Dye testing Resins Varnishes and oils Solvents Radiation curing products Miscellaneous materials Ink quality control Short-term ink testing Long-term ink testing Press performance tests 735

9 x Dry print performance tests Analysis of printing inks References Further reading Health, Safety and the Environment G. J. May and J. Orpwood, Coates Brothers Inks Ltd 15.1 Handling of dangerous substances in the manufacture of printing inks 15.2 Mechanical and operational aspects 15.3 Specific printing ink applications 15.4 Some international constraints CONTENTS Glossary of abbreviations References Index

10 Preface The Printing Ink Manual was first published in 1961 under the auspices of the Society of British Printing Ink Manufacturers with the object of providing an authoritative work on printing ink technology. This, the fourth edition, continues that purpose and presents a comprehensive study of the current 'state of the art' in the ink industry. For those starting in the printing ink industry it is a textbook dealing with all aspects of the formulation and manufacture of printing ink. For the ink technician it is a practical manual and useful source of reference. For printers and users of printed material the manual supplies helpful information on the nature and behaviour of ink both on the printing press and as the finished print. Readers with a little scientific knowledge will have no difficulty in using the manual. but as in previous editions, sufficient chemistry and physics have been introduced to assist the advanced technician and research scientist. In the eight years since the last edition very substantial changes have taken place in ink technology, and accordingly the book has been entirely rewritten by a new panel of authors all of whom are currently engaged in the printing ink or associated industries. While retaining the general structure of previous editions, the chapters have been arranged in a more logical order. Those dealing with ink formulation reflect the considerable changes that have taken place in the printing industry; letterpress inks have largely been superseded by lithographic inks for both packaging printing and newspaper production, and gravure and flexographic inks are now applied to a much greater variety of substrates for packaging. Developments in manufacturing methods have also been substantial. Both milling and mixing techniques have benefited by new designs in machinery and the introduction of electronic and computerised controls. Two important chapters have been added to this edition of the manual. one dealing with Radiation Curable Systems, the other with Health, Safety and Environment. Radiation curable systems have now become widely used for drying printing inks and are based on quite different ink technology. This technology is explained in depth together with details of the special raw materials required. Matters of health and safety at work and environmental pollution have assumed great importance since the last edition of the manual. Therefore a chapter has been included which

11 xii PREFACE offers a survey of the current legislation both in the United Kingdom and other countries concerning the requirements for the safe manufacture, handling and transport of printing inks and also considers the limitations in the use of raw materials. It is hoped that with its new edition, this highly respected reference book will continue to serve as a guide for all involved in the printing ink industry worldwide. R. H. Leach Editor-in-Chief ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The editors wish to thank Barry Hermiston of Coates Brothers Inks Ltd, who compiled the index. They also wish to thank those who supplied diagrams and illustrations not acknowledged elsewhere and those members of the Society of British Printing Ink Manufacturers who have kindly checked the ink formulations and chemical structural formulae at the proofing stage.

12 The Editors and Authors Editors Dr R. H. Leach, Editor-in-Chief Dr C. Armstrong, Technical Director, Coates Brothers Inks Ltd. Mr J. F. Brown, Scientific Services Manager, Mander-Kidd (UK) Ltd. Mr M. J. Mackenzie, Deputy Technical Director, Usher-Walker pic. Mr L. Randall, Deputy Managing Director, Usher-Walker pic. Dr H. G. Smith, Technical Director, Fishburn Division, BASF Coatings + Inks Ltd Authors Chapter 1 Dr C. Armstrong Coates Brothers Inks Ltd. 2 Mr B. W. Blunden PIRA Mr J. W. Birkenshaw PIRA 3 Mr J. F. Brown Mander-Kidd (UK) Ltd. 4 Mr M. J. Clayton Sun General Printing Ink 5 Mr G. B. Burdall Usher-Walker pic 6 Mr P. I. Ford US Printing Ink Corporation 7 Mr R. J. Tuft Coates Brothers Inks Ltd. Dr E. Cawkill BASF Coatings + Inks Ltd. Mr B. A. Ellison BASF Coatings + Inks Ltd. 8 Mr F. C. Wyatt Lorilleux & Bolton Ltd. 9 Mr G. Joannou Coates Brothers Inks Ltd. 10 Dr R. J. Holman BASF Coatings + Inks Ltd. 11 Mr R. Marsh Coates Brothers Inks Ltd. 12 Mr M. J. Heath Lorilleux & Bolton Ltd. Mr A. J. Wild Usher-Walker pic. 13 Mr A. Tabbernor Mander-Kidd (UK) Ltd. 14 Dr E. Cawkill BASF Coatings + Inks Ltd. Mr D. Easterby BASF Coatings + Inks Ltd. 15 Mr G. J. May Coates Brothers Inks Ltd. Mr J. P. Orpwood Coates Brothers Inks Ltd. Index Mr B. N. Hermiston Coates Brothers Inks Ltd.

PIGMENTS AND OLIGOMERS FOR INKS - MOVING TOWARDS THE BEST COMBINATION

PIGMENTS AND OLIGOMERS FOR INKS - MOVING TOWARDS THE BEST COMBINATION I Hutchinson, M Smith (Akcros Chemicals Ltd) (ian.hutchinson@akcros.com) Dr W Grierson, E Devine (Ciba Specialty Chemicals pic) (elaine.devine@cibasc.com)