The Breakthrough of Coated Iron Can Technology Brings More Possibilities

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As we all know, metal coated materials including coated iron and coated aluminum are not only more in line with the national environmental protection policy, but also meet the requirements of the continuous improvement of the technical level of metal packaging products, giving metal packaging the ever-changing changes. At the same time, in the Japanese market where it originated, the applications have been very successful in both beverage cans and food cans. This is also the reason why all parties are still optimistic about its development in the domestic metal packaging industry even though the companies involved in the localization of coated iron have gone through a ten-year process and it seems that there is no harvest.

In recent years, with the participation of several companies in the R&D and production of coated iron, the coated iron has made significant progress in production technology and product quality. The application fields, promotion methods and channels are more extensive than in the early days, and the demand is increasing year by year. .

Despite this, due to the two factors of material performance, cost, can making (forming) and related supporting technologies, the current problems of “more types, less batches and less materials” of coated iron have not been effectively improved. Large-scale application has never been realized – the annual demand is less than 8% of the annual production capacity, and so far it has not brought significant economic benefits to the relevant enterprises.

Material-side factors Material-side factors include material performance and cost. The two complement each other and are related to each other. They are embodied in the following aspects.

First of all, in the early stage of research and development, the coating technology and polymer film materials of coated iron are in the exploratory stage, and there are no conditions to adjust the performance of chrome-plated iron, resulting in quality defects in the coated products and small production batches, which makes the coated iron Material costs remain high and lack market competitiveness.

Secondly, there is a certain degree of lag in the research and development and supply of polymer films due to production cost factors. In terms of weight ratio, the polymer film is about 3.3%, and the polymer film required for 10,000 tons of coated iron can be produced in just one week. Therefore, in the early stage of research and development, various polymer film formulations were ordered by the film production enterprises on an hourly basis, and the production cost was very high due to the small amount. As a result, the cost of coated iron is clearly at a disadvantage compared to coated iron without mass production.

Third, in the early days, there was only one domestic company that researched and supplied coated iron materials. It may be that the exclusive supply has no competition relationship and high cost. Users are generally reluctant to try or use it for a long time, which makes it difficult to promote domestic coated iron in the domestic market.

The factors of can making and related supporting technologies are subject to the shortcomings of earlier can making and related supporting technologies. Coated iron has not achieved significant gains in both its more application-advantaged fields and the huge demand market. , for two reasons. On the one hand, in terms of application, coated iron is most suitable for making DRD two-piece cans and lids. Due to the lack of product types and demand for coated iron in China in the early days, the lids are available in quantity but use less material; more importantly, the DRD two-piece can production line needs to improve the mold or equipment to adapt to the production of coated iron and other problems , All kinds of factors are added together, so that the development space of coated iron is seriously restricted.

On the other hand, in the huge three-piece can market, the coated iron cannot be applied to the production of three-piece cans because there are no related supporting technologies such as blank lamination and welding seam lamination.

Coated iron application: where is the way?

At present, the problems of coated iron in terms of technology, quality and single supply have been basically solved, but the whole industry seems to be still exploring its application direction, and the way forward is still unclear. The author believes that the current coated iron industry should adhere to the following two development directions.

Avoid the advantages of coated iron, and find another way to promote the application of coated iron. The practice or lessons of the past years have proved that it is not feasible for domestic coated iron to replace the coated iron. For domestic coated iron to develop, it is necessary to give full play to the advantages of coated iron in new application fields or markets where coated iron cannot reach, and to reflect the value of coated iron. The approach can be to promote coated iron products through new products and new marketing models, increase the domestic market share of coated iron products, and promote the development of a virtuous circle of the coated iron industry. Only by gradually changing the market share of coated iron products and coated iron products can coated iron products be truly respected by the industry.

Starting from can-making technology and equipment, the innovation of film-coated iron packaging is carried out. Coated iron has the advantages of deep drawing resistance, wear resistance, corrosion resistance, etc. It can be combined with the two-piece can forming technology to complement the advantages and disadvantages, and has a broader development platform.

Special Effect Metal Printing

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Differentiation is one of the effective ways to avoid homogeneous competition. As far as the packaging and printing industry is concerned, the use of coatings or inks to achieve product differentiation is one of the most direct and effective methods. Special coatings and inks such as hammer pattern, wrinkle, mottled pattern, stone pattern, wood grain, fluorescent, pearlescent, crystal grain, flash, temperature sensitive, photosensitive and other special coatings and inks can give packaging a personalized and unique surface effect, so it has been widely used in the packaging and printing industry. application.

However, due to the complexity and particularity of the process, the application of special effects coatings and inks in my country’s iron printing industry has been far behind other industries. For a long time, only wrinkle oil, crystal grain oil (commonly known as explosion oil), bead oil, rubber A handful of special coatings such as oil. Moreover, the key technologies have been monopolized by American and Japanese companies for many years, and they are supplied in the form of imports, which seriously restricts the application of special effects printing in the iron printing industry.

In recent years, the situation has been greatly improved, and local enterprises have caught up through independent research and development, and there is a tendency to catch up. There are two specific manifestations. On the one hand, the variety of domestic special coatings is becoming more and more complete, the construction is more convenient, the production efficiency is higher, and the yield rate is higher. For example, crystal grain oil (commonly known as explosive oil) has been serialized, and the crystal grain size and gloss have different formulas, which can be adjusted according to customer requirements. The speed is as high as 80 sheets/min. There will be no explosion.

On the other hand, in addition to the above-mentioned common special coatings, new varieties such as high-gloss rubber oil, anti-slip oil, anti-fouling oil, orange peel oil, and crystal grain ink have also been added. Among them, high-gloss elastic anti-skid oil, orange peel oil and crystal grain ink are worthy of attention. The characteristics and application prospects of these three types of special coatings and inks are briefly introduced below.

High-gloss elastic anti-slip oil

High-gloss elastic non-slip oil, also known as high-gloss rubber oil, is one of the new varieties on the market.

Performance characteristics and application fields Unlike matte rubber oil, it is as flat as ordinary varnish, but the gloss is much higher than the latter, and the appearance is full. In addition, the coating film is soft and has good elasticity, so it has a delicate touch and can provide a silicone-like feel. In addition, it has a strong anti-slip function, as well as good resistance to stamping and cooking. Suitable for trays, gift boxes, beverage cans.

Application points The process is the same as that of ordinary varnish, and it is baked at 180 ℃ for 10 minutes. The thicker the coating film, the stronger the elasticity, and vice versa.

Product Comments When applied to the tray, the soft feel and super anti-slip effect are unforgettable and addicting.

orange peel oil

Orange peel oil, also known as orange oil, is one of the special paint varieties that are very worth exploring at present.

Performance characteristics and application fields Orange peel oil has good processing performance and can be widely used in various miscellaneous cans and milk powder cans. At the same time, it has good cooking resistance and can also be used in beverage cans.

The orange stripe effect is caused by the shrinkage caused by the difference in the surface tension of the paint surface and the bottom layer. The smaller the surface tension of the bottom layer and the greater the surface tension of the surface layer, the greater the shrinkage force of the orange peel oil and the greater the texture of the orange peel oil; and vice versa. Therefore, by adjusting the surface tension of the bottom layer and the surface layer, a lot of surface effects can be made, providing unique visual and tactile effects, and giving the product a distinct personality.
In addition, users can also adjust the texture effect they want through the combination of orange peel base oil and orange peel oil. For example, apply orange peel oil on the special ink, or apply a layer of orange peel base oil on the ink first, and then apply orange peel oil on top, so that the coating effect can be completely controlled by yourself, even if competitors use the same orange peel Oil, it is also difficult to imitate the same coating, so it can give the product a strong anti-counterfeiting function, and at the same time greatly improve the added value and competitiveness of the product.

The main application process is the same as that of ordinary varnish, that is: first coat the bottom varnish, the dry film weight is 2~3g/m2, bake at 170 ℃ for about 10 minutes; then apply orange peel oil on the bottom varnish, the dry film is The weight is 5~12g/m2, and it is baked at 170℃ for about 10 minutes.

Comments When applied to Red Bull beverage cans, “Junlebao” milk powder cans, Dulux primer packaging barrels, Carpoly wall paint packaging barrels, and Garrett Jello popcorn cans, the irregular tactile texture is quite eye-catching.

Crystalline ink

Crystal pattern ink, commonly known as explosive ink, is a new variety developed on the basis of crystal pattern oil. It is unique in the world and has a very broad market prospect.

Performance characteristics and application fields Crystalline ink has all the advantages of crystalline oil, such as crystal clear, bright vision, delicate touch, etc. At the same time, it overcomes the shortcomings that crystalline oil must be coated on a large area and the mechanical processing performance is limited. Any position of the finished print can be printed at will, to meet the requirements of machining, cooking, etc., suitable for all printed iron can products.

Application points It is very convenient to use, just use the existing printing equipment to print directly on the varnished print. The thicker the film, the larger the grain, and vice versa. The process of baking temperature and vehicle speed can refer to the grain oil process, that is, the temperature of the front furnace is 80~110℃, and the temperature of the rear furnace is 130~150℃; or the rear furnace is only opened, and the temperature is 160℃; /minute.

Since it is a brand-new product, users can mix colors and shapes, and add dyes or pigments appropriately to bring out their ideal and unique local crystal grain visual and tactile effects, giving the product a distinct personality and strong anti-counterfeiting function, which greatly improves the the added value and competitiveness of the product.

Product reviews are on the black part around the iron text “Huoshan Huangya” on the tea cans, the blue flaxseed in the vegetable oil can, the dark blue shield in the golden-collared milk powder can, and the black background outside the red letter “vial” in the cosmetic can with empty red letters. The heart-shaped chocolates and ribbons of the Dove chocolate box, and the gold base around the “A Bucket of Gold” in the Jinxilai wine can, the application of partial crystal pattern ink gives people a bright, unforgettable, fresh and refined feeling. The finishing touch.

Epilogue

The production and application processes of these three types of special effect inks and coatings are mature and meet the requirements of environmental protection. They have broad market prospects and are worthy of vigorous exploration and promotion.

Bonus: Two special applications It’s important to point out that they also have two special applications. The first is to use the heat insulation function of high-gloss elastic varnish on the drying room bracket, which can not only solve the pain point of the flower stand printing industry, but also have the effect of energy saving and environmental protection. Second, by adding fluorescent, pearlescent, flashing, temperature-sensing, photosensitive and other materials to give special coatings and inks corresponding functions, so as to develop more unique products to meet market needs.

Four unsolved problems and countermeasures At present, there are still the following problems in the application of special effect inks and coatings in the printing iron can industry, but they can be solved through efforts.

First, the printing yield and production efficiency have yet to be improved. This is because most special coatings and inks have higher requirements on construction technology and are more sensitive to baking temperature and vehicle speed than ordinary products. It can be solved by improving the application adaptability of special effect inks and coatings and conducting professional training for construction personnel.

Secondly, the material cost and the use cost are relatively high. The former is due to the high research and development costs of special effect inks and coatings, coupled with less sales and thicker coatings than ordinary products; the latter is due to the lower printing yield and production efficiency of special effect inks and coatings than ordinary products. The formula cost can be reduced by improving and adjusting the formula and increasing the sales volume; at the same time, the cost of use can be reduced by improving the printing yield and production efficiency.

Third, the resistance to cooking and stamping needs to be improved. The root cause is that special effect inks and coatings are thicker than ordinary products, and most of the surfaces have patterns. The solution is to improve and adjust the formula, reduce the thickness of the coating film and improve the wear resistance, scratch resistance and machining performance of special effect inks and coatings without affecting the surface pattern.

Finally, the industry doesn’t pay enough attention to special effect inks and coatings. This is due to the lack of promotion by suppliers and the general lack of awareness in the industry. It can be solved by widely publicizing the application of special effect inks and coatings in differentiated packaging and raising users’ awareness.

To sum up, the application prospects of special effect coatings and inks in the printing iron can industry are quite broad. It is believed that in the near future, all participants, especially material suppliers and iron-printing can manufacturers, will work together and cooperate closely with the goal of “safety, environmental protection, energy saving and high efficiency”, and differentiated metal packaging will shine.

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