The world of 3D object printing is going through a period of considerable change. Much of this transformation is being led by the relatively recent arrival of inkjet technology on the 3D object printing scene—like it is in so many other sectors of the printing industry, from traditional print on paper to the printing of circuit boards and multiple other industrial uses.
Now with applications even in the pharmaceutical and medical sectors, inkjet is challenging long-held and accepted limitations of technology and stimulating the imaginations of product developers, manufacturers, and users.
The world of 3D object printing is going through a period of considerable change”
Roland’s involvement in this sector extends back half a decade, to the launch of our first specialist UV printing machine for this sector. We have, along with our inkjet peers, made significant inroads into this exciting industry, an industry that is progressive and growing. Here, inkjet is not a sideshow. It is transforming this sector, and once again offering the industry what it needs—the ability to produce a wide variety of applications, on-demand, personalised in low, cost-effective volumes, without compromising on quality and maximising profit in the process.
Quality and quantity
The technology allows the user to create personalised products such as stationery
Technology such as our own VersaUV LEF-12 flatbed UV-LED printer, which is typical of the UV-curable machines out there in this marketplace, prints four colour CMYK plus white and clear varnish. It is capable of printing on the surfaces of two- and three-dimensional objects up to 280 (h) x 305 (w) x 100mm (d). This means the user can create unique, highly desirable and profitable items by personalising stationery, key rings, electronic gadgets, awards, and novelty gifts. However, another area that may hold even more promise over the long-term is inkjet’s potential in product research and development, where it can be used to quickly and easily assist in producing 3D prototypes on demand. This dramatically reduces the time-consuming and often expensive pro-duct concept and development life cycles, shortening time to market for products and reducing the costs involved in getting them there.
In 3D object printing, the UV-curable printing system works through the direct application of the UV ink—in Roland’s case, Eco-UV or Eco-UV S flexible UV curable inks—to the 3D object”
In 3D object printing, the UV-curable printing system works through the direct application of the UV ink—in Roland’s case, Eco-UV or Eco-UV S flexible UV curable inks—to the 3D object. It is then cured with integrated long life LED-UV curing lamps, which instantly cure the inks during the process. UV inks are not only vibrant and durable, but as they are instantly cured as soon as printing is finished, they are ready to use, sell or ship straight off the machine. This is great with the ever decreasing lead times that today’s on-demand customers are requiring.
Printing with UV curable inks also provides huge versatility in terms of substrate compatibility and can print onto such diverse materials as PET, ABS, PVC, polycarbonate, PS and other plastics, as well as leather, glass, papers and various card stocks. A clear varnish can then be applied to produce both a matte or high-gloss finish that delivers improved scratch resistance for outdoor durability. It can also be built up for 3D textures and embossed effects such as Braille.
Next generation
Promotional and novelty gifts can also be produced using the technology
In many ways, this new breed of UV printer is not only opening up a whole new market for sign-makers and other entrepreneurs, but is also a great way to complement existing mass production techniques. And it also allows both types of user to expand their customer base, product portfolio and profit-ability. Part of its real appeal is its operational simplicity, providing the opportunity for sign-makers to apply their colour management skills learned in their core role, to produce outstanding low-volume promotional items and expand their customer base in the process.
In many ways, this new breed of UV printer is not only opening up a whole new market for sign-makers and other entrepreneurs, but is also a great way to complement existing mass production techniques”
The ability to personalise 3D items makes individual items profitable for the printer and affordable for the end user, and could also play a major role over time in bringing brands closer to their customers. Today, everyone wants to be different and defined by those things around them—their cars, phone cases and clothes, for example.
Brands, however great or small, know this, and are looking for exactly this service right now, and that requirement is only set to increase in the future. You only need to look at the massive investment mobile phone operators make in their user experience departments or Coca-Cola’s current campaign encouraging customers to personalise their coke bottles, to see exactly where this market is going. Now is the time for sign-makers to get on this train and contribute to it in their own way.
In the future, the ‘end-to-end’ solution in this field will be to start by creating the object first, on-demand, either through milling or additive 3D printing, and then custom printing on it”
In some areas, we still have a little way to go. For example, there remain challenges with unwieldy items like mug printing with UV. Yet this is a technology in its ascendancy, and these and other issues are being considered in depth by research and development departments, as they seek to build the next generation of UV-curable 3D object printers.
In the future, the ‘end-to-end’ solution in this field will be to start by creating the object first, on-demand, either through milling or additive 3D printing, and then custom printing on it. When I look out there in the market, speak to those here at Roland and our peers, and read about all the innovative products coming onto the market today, it is clear we are not too far away from reaching this point.
