In the process of manufacturing membrane switch panels, screen printing is a very important step.

The graphic and text of the graphic layer, the silver paste circuit of the lower circuit layer, the insulating oil of the circuit layer, and the frosting oil of the graphic layer are all printed on the substrate through silk screen printing.

High-precision Screen Printing

1. Principle

The pre-order work of screen printing is ink mixing + film production + stencil exposure. After the ink is poured into the graphic stencil, the scraper on the screen printer will move at a constant speed from one end to the other.

In this process, the ink is printed on the substrates such as PC, PET, and acrylic through the mesh of the graphic part. (The non-graphic part of the ink cannot pass through the screen)

Then the ink on the substrate is dried.

2. High Precision

How accurate is the high-precision screen printer used by JRPanel? The minimum text line width is ≥0.2mm, and the button line width is ≥0.3mm.

In the figure below, the measurement lines of one grid by grid can be seen very clearly, and the boundary lines will not faint. The lines don't get messed up.

Real Shots of Screen Printing Machines

So what do the screen printing machines used in the JRPanel factory look like? Let's look at the picture!

1. Fully Automatic Screen Printing Machine

The fullly automatic screen printing machine automatically feeds materials, and the machine moves the substrate at the set speed to perform screen printing.

After the ink is evenly covered on the substrate, the machine will then automatically dry the ink.

This machine can save labor costs. Only one worker is required to pay attention to whether the machine is operating normally and to observe whether the graphic is clearly printed.

2. Semi-automatic Screen Printer

The semi-automatic screen printing machine requires workers to manually feed materials, and then manually take out the substrate after printing ink and put it on the assembly line.

Then the workers at the end of the assembly line need to pick up the substrate one by one, separate each piece, and then put it on the shelf layer by layer.

Workers then push a batch of substrates into the drying machine to dry all the ink that has just been printed.

What Is the Difference Between These Two Screen Printers?

There is almost no difference in accuracy between automatic and semi-automatic screen printers. However, the scope of application of the two machines is different.

Among the orders received by JRPanel, the screen printing of the graphic layer, acrylic panel, and silver paste circuit of the membrane switch panel prototype order is generally done with a semi-automatic screen printer.

Large quantities of PC and PET panel layers are printed with fully automatic screen printers, which saves manpower and greatly improves efficiency.

Because the conveyor belt of the automatic screen printing machine will curl the substrate, thick and hard acrylic panels, silk screen printing of silver paste circuits, and insulating oil printing on the lower circuit layer cannot be screen printed with this automatic screen printing machine.

Because the acrylic panel is thick and hard, it is difficult to bend. Since the lower circuit layer has silver paste circuits, it cannot be bent, otherwise the circuit will break, which will eventually affect the connection of the circuit.