The better performance of uv piezo inkjet printer on metal and glass substrates is due to their unique adhesion and weatherability. An industrial UV piezoelectric inkjet printer uses nanoscale active ink to achieve 5B adhesion (ASTM D3359 standard) on glass without pretreatment, and the pattern retention rate is 99.5% after 50 times of high pressure washing (10MPa), while the traditional screen printing only maintains class 3B and 85% retention rate. A home appliance company uses this technology to print touch labels on stainless steel plates, and after 1000 wear tests (CS-10 rounds, 1kg load), the ΔE color difference value is less than 0.8, 68% better than the ΔE≤2.5 of the laser etching process, and quality complaints reduce by 92% per year. According to the 2023 market research, UV piezoelectric inkjet penetration rate in architectural glass printing increased from 7% in 2018 to 39%, and its colorfastness at -30 ° C to 300 ° C and insulation glass tightness test based on EN 1279-5.
Instant curing technology addresses the accuracy problem of non-absorbing substrates. The 395nm LED light source and the UV piezoelectric inkjet printer have 99.8% curing rate in 0.005 seconds, in such a way that the radius of diffusion of the ink on the metal surface is less than 3 microns, compared to the solsol-based ink on anodized aluminum diffusion of 15 microns, line width precision improves by 400%. An automobile parts manufacturer has printed a tiny two-dimensional code onto an aluminum alloy wheel with a curvature radius of 5mm, using 1200dpi resolution and ±5 micron positioning accuracy, the rate of recognition of scan codes is enhanced from 76% for traditional pad printing to 99.9%, and the price per unit is reduced from 2.4 yuan to 0.3 yuan. According to “Precision Industrial Printing Report” data, UV piezoelectric inkjet printing 50μm wide conductive silver paste line on 0.8mm thick glass, square resistance value ≤12mΩ/□, impedance consistency standard deviation of the traditional process from 1.8Ω to 0.3Ω, meet the IEC 60115-8 electronic component standards.
Cost reduction and environmental benefits accelerate industry substitution. The comparison of a glass curtain wall firm shows that the monochrome printing with UV piezoelectric inkjet costs 0.07 yuan/square decimeter, 82% less than the sandwich colored glaze glass process, and is able to support the production of 5,000 square meters of customized pattern within 72 hours, and the construction time is reduced by 90%. The EU EPD environmental product declaration of 2024 requires the carbon footprint of building materials to be less than 15kg CO₂/㎡, whereas the carbon emission of the UV piezoelectric inkjet process is only 2.3kg CO₂/㎡, which can help a company to gain LEED platinum certification, and the product premium is increased by 35%. In power saving, the UV-LED curing module owns merely 0.8W/cm² power density, 93% more energy saving than 12W/cm² mercury lamp system, and the electricity cost per year exceeds 1.8 million yuan according to yearly production of 1 million square meters glass.
Intelligent color management and high dynamic range printing redefine the surface decoration standard. A UV piezoelectric inkjet system adopts a 7-color (CMYK+ white + metal + gloss oil) system structure, and achieves color accuracy of ΔE≤0.5 on mirror stainless steel, and the color gamut of the metal color occupies 98% of the Pantone metal color system. One premium mobile phone maker uses this technology to substitute for the traditional PVD coating, which increases the gradual color yield from 72% to 99.5%, and working time for each piece is decreased from 45 minutes to 90 seconds, saving the annual coating expense of 270 million yuan. 2023 market data show that UV piezoelectric inkjet in metal packaging printing is 51% of the market share, its 1200×1200dpi and 3 microliter variable ink drop technology, can print 20μm precision anti-counterfeiting microwire on 0.12mm aluminum foil, miss rate is less than 0.001ppm. All these technical parameters make UV piezoelectric inkjet printers the primary solution for high value-added printing of glass and metal.