Printing in ceramic factory

[Maryr]

 Hello dear friends.

I saw a video in YouTube 

 

I wanted to know how this machine works? What's the process 

what is the main material to make a machine like this https://youtube.com/shorts/q3wFexNqyjk?feature=share

 

Thank u for help guys

[PeterH]

Just to get things started ...

It's a form of offset printing called pad printing.

Basic idea is to form an image on a plate, pick it up on a flexible pad, and transfer it onto the target.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/7/70/Cetakan_Pad_pada_barangan_seramik.webm/Cetakan_Pad_pada_barangan_seramik.webm.720p.webm

More details at Pad printing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pad_printing

The machine you showed does colour printing using several pads, one for each colour.

PS If you were thinking of a manual DIY process, some of the issues would presumably be:

1) Making the image plate (probably a photo-engraved plastic printing plate?). 

2) Cleanly inking the plate for each transfer.

3) Making the silicone pad to fit your target ceramic object. Video of casting a pad at  https://youtu.be/VN0hESxwxXk No details about the ingredients. No idea if the vacuum chamber is optional.

4) Cleaning the pad after each use (I assume that the image registration achieved by the automation means this isn't needed for factory equipment).

5) Clean pickup of the image on the pad.

6) Clean transfer of the image onto the target object, and clean removal of the pad.

7) Choice of a suitable "ink" for your purpose. Maybe not that different from the ones used in silkscreen printing onto ceramic.

8) As you are transferring a 2D image onto a 3D object via a shape-shifting pad you may need to pre-distort the image so that it looks right on the object.

Edited June 19, 2022 by PeterH

[High Bridge Pottery]

This machine Murray-Curvex was designed in 1950 and it's still being used today where I work for small runs.

All pneumatic with a cylinder to raise and lower the pad, rails that the tray and plate centering device slide left to right, a doctor blade to scrape the colour off the engraved plate and flooder to spread the colour back across. Pid controller for the hot plate and some hall effect sensors to tell it where to do things / start and stop.

[High Bridge Pottery]

The colour is a hot melt thermoplastic that seems to be made from resins, fatty alcohols and colouring oxides. Melts around 40c and has a working temp of 55-65c, seems to stick to the silicone pad easily and comes off based on the temperature of your ware. Too cold and it solidifies quickly and stays on the pad, too warm and only some will harden onto the ware. It's a balance between the temperature of your engraving, ware and how long you hold the pad down on each.

There are cold colours that are not so nasty to clean up as the hot ones need isopropyl alcohol but they let you print multiple colours directly after each other.

[High Bridge Pottery]

It is possible to do it all by hand using tissue paper which is how Spode originally did printing before getting that Murray machine designed.

 

[PeterH]

26 minutes ago, High Bridge Pottery said:

It is possible to do it all by hand using tissue paper which is how Spode originally did printing before getting that Murray machine designed.

Wonderful stuff. Although it had a limited ability to fit compound curves.

greatly exceeded by the pad process.

I must confess to being interested in the tissue printing process, as well as the tissue itself. Can you add anything to the discussion in this thread?

[High Bridge Pottery]

11 minutes ago, PeterH said:

I must confess to being interested in the tissue printing process, as well as the tissue itself. Can you add anything to the discussion in this thread?

No idea about the paper as we just use silicone rubber pads now. I will ask a guy at work who could know as he was at Spode before it closed down and has talked about the paper transfer process before.