Vacuum formable ink for UV-curable flatbed printers to mold three-dimensional signage
Five years ago the way you made digital 3-dimensional signage was to use an Oce Arizona T220 solvent ink printer with Sign-Tronic inks. Merely to be trained in this ink and printer cost more than two HP Designjet printers.
Today (in 2010, and since 2007), that solvent ink technology is no longer exhibited at trade shows. Last year you get the same and possibly better results from FlexForm UV-cured ink offered by Gandinnovations. But I have not seen this featured now that Agfa has taken over the remains of Gandinnovations.
Hexion Specialty Chemicals has also exhibited a thermo-formable UV ink. But Hexion ink division was disbanded two years ago.
Mimaki exhibited thermo-formed vacuum pressed UV inks but they can only create images one or two centimeters in 3-dimensional format. The Gandinnovations Jeti UV printers can do double or triple that.
The process is not really extruding the image, it is heat-forming it with a vacuum press.
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Gandinnovations FlexForm UV cured flatbed sample at ISA 2007. |
FLAAR sees tremendous potential in this and would like to develop some possible projects for this new ink chemistry shortly. This is exactly the kind of research that we can do with corporate sponsorship. But clearly Hexion is not able to sponsor anything since they don't exist any more, and Gandinnovations is unlikely to sponsor any or many outside projects. So we are working on diverse other programs in the meantime.
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Nicholas Hellmuth with the sample of Gandinnovations FlexForm 3D thermoforming |
Samples of Gandinnovations FlexForm heat forming 3D |
Most recently updated September 16, 2010.
First posted July 23, 2007. Updated June 17, 2009.
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We are adding new pages and new features every month so it is not always realistic to update old pages from past years. All the old equipment is still available on eBay, so we keep even our old pages. If you wish only the more up to date product reviews, these are in PDFs (not in the web pages, but in PDFs which are linked in the columns at the right of every page). Please realize that we tend to update a page (or a PDF) primarily when it is clear that our readers ask about this brand or model frequently. With over 45 brands of UV printers and over 200 models in the past ten years, it is not realistic to update pages on obsolete brands or unpopular models. If you prefer to speak with Nicholas Hellmuth in person about a printer, you can bring him to your company anywhere in the world as consultant. By later in 2011 each of our web sites will be in 36 different languages with instant translation (and better than old fashioned web page translators of several years ago). So far all the languages are available on www.FLAAR.org and www.3d-scanners-3d-software-reviews.org. Next will be our fine art photography, giclee, decor web site. |
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