Primer Coating Application on Glass Containers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current direct digital printing processes for glass containers are inefficient due to the need for pre-treatment to remove the cold-end coating and improve surface energy, which introduces additional steps and variables in quality control, leading to potential poor printing outcomes.
Innovation Solution
Applying a primer coating directly over the hot-end coating at the glass manufacturing plant, eliminating the need for pre-treatment at the printing facility, thereby simplifying the printing process and ensuring consistent high-quality prints.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a cold-end coating is applied to protect the glass container, then protection from contact with other containers is improved, but pre-treatment complexity increases and printing quality deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the cold-end coating (wax/fatty acid layer) from the conventional coating sequence, applying only the hot-end coating before printing. This extraction eliminates the need for flame pre-treatment to remove the cold-end coating, thereby improving print quality while maintaining container protection through the hot-end coating alone.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies the primer coating immediately after the hot-end coating while the glass container is still warm, before any cold-end coating would be applied. This preliminary action ensures the primer bonds to the hot-end coating without interference from subsequent cold-end coating application or removal processes.
2Reliability
If pre-treatment is performed to improve surface energy for printing, then ink adhesion is improved, but process complexity and time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The primer coating is applied in advance during the glass manufacturing process, specifically immediately after the hot-end coating application while the container temperature is still elevated. This preliminary application of the primer eliminates the need for separate pre-treatment steps at the printing facility, reducing both process complexity and time while ensuring reliable ink adhesion.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines the primer coating application with the hot-end coating process, integrating two previously separate operations (hot-end coating and primer application) into a single continuous process step. This merging eliminates intermediate handling and pre-treatment steps, reducing time and complexity while maintaining ink adhesion quality.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple coatings are applied to the glass container, then functional properties are improved, but process complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and eliminates the cold-end coating step from the conventional multi-coating process, reducing the number of coating layers from two (hot-end and cold-end) to one (hot-end only). This simplification maintains essential functional properties while significantly reducing process complexity, particularly by eliminating the need for flame pre-treatment and associated quality control variables.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach simplifies the printing process, improves throughput, and ensures consistent high-quality print applications by eliminating the need for pre-treatment, thus streamlining the manufacturing and printing workflow.
Implementation Method 1
A HEC is a metal oxide layer, such as tin oxide or titanium oxide, that is applied directly to the exterior surface of the glass container by chemical vapor deposition soon after the glass container is formed. The HEC is applied by exposing the glass container to a volatized heat-decomposable metal oxide precursor material such as stannic chloride or MBTC (Monobutyltin trichloride), among other possibilities, while the glass container is at a temperature, such as between 400° C. and 650° C., at which the heat-decomposable precursor coating decomposes into the HEC.
Implementation Method 2
The primer coating is applied over the HEC from an aqueous primer composition. In one embodiment, the aqueous primer composition is sprayed onto the glass container over the HEC to apply the primer coating.
Implementation Method 3
The primer coating is heated to increase a clarity of the primer coating
Data Source
AI summary
A method of manufacturing a glass container in preparation for direct digital printing includes forming a glass container having a glass wall and applying a primer coating to the glass container. The primer coating is applied by directing an atomized spray of an aqueous primer composition onto the glass container over an adherent base layer, such as a hot-end coating, which deposits the primer coating, followed by heating the primer coating with a heat source such as a flame. Upon being heated, the clarity of the primer coating is increased. As a result, a decorative marking may be printed onto the glass container without having to pretreat the glass container in a way that involves pyrolytically depositing a layer of silicon dioxide onto the glass container prior to printing.