ointment tube main manufacture processes

In ointment tube bulk production, most processes that squeeze tube manufacturers usually use are offset printing, screen printing and heat embossing.

The common ointment tube printing process is: dusting - surface pre-treatment - printing (UV ink) - UV curing of glass varnish. Dedicated squeeze tube printers can basically complete the above process.

Ointment tube production process - dusting.

A common problem with plastic ointment tube manufacture materials is its relative susceptibility to static electricity. In the production of plastic ointment tube, Squeeze tube manufacturer applies the raw material which is always in frictional contact with the metal mold, thus generating static electricity on the squeeze tube surface, which makes the squeeze tube surface easy to absorb dust. Therefore, squeeze tube manufacturer needs to remove dust during the printing process.

Ointment tube fabrication process - surface pre-treatment.

Since polyethylene raw material is a non-polar material, squeeze tube manufacturer needs surface pre-treatment before printing. There are two main treatment methods, one is corona treatment and the other is flame treatment. Both of these methods achieve the purpose of making the ink and varnish firmly bonded.

Ointment tube production process - printing.

Currently, there are two common printing methods for plastic ointment tubes. One is offset printing. The ink is transferred to the printing plate through a set of ink rollers, and the printing plate transfers the ink from the printed pattern to the rubber blanket. The blanket then transfers the entire print pattern onto the substrate in one pass.

Offset printing plates are typically made from light-cured resin plate materials that are made through major exposure, development, cleaning, drying and post-exposure processes. The production time for printing plates is approximately 30-40 minutes and print durability can reach over 100,000.

Currently, offset printing speeds can reach 12,000 per hour and the squeeze tube manufacturer’s process has become much easier and simpler. The increased production speed and reduced cost of offset printing has led to the widespread use of offset printing for ointment tube printing.

Another method of plastic ointment tube printing is traditional screen printing. In recent years, the printing accuracy and printing speed of home screen printing presses have been greatly improved. Squeeze tube production speeds can reach 5,000 per hour and overprint accuracy can reach ±0.2mm. Because of the thicker ink layer of screen printing, it is mainly used for color. Print squeeze tube or part of an uncovered varnished product.

Ointment tube production process - coating.

The ointment tube manufacturer installs a coating device on the offset printing machine, which consists of two steel rollers and a rubber roller. The adhesion fastness of the varnish is also directly related to the tension of the pre-treated plastic surface. Varnishes are usually UV-curable varnishes and come in many types, such as gloss and matte varnishes for squeeze tube surface. There are also thermosetting varnishes and 3-in-1 varnishes that are used for varnishing after offset printing.

Ointment tube production process - varnish curing.

For UV-curable varnishes, the degree of curing of the varnish is highly dependent on the wavelength and UV intensity emitted by the UV lamp. For products that undergo subsequent processing (e.g. hot stamping), the degree of curing of the varnish will have a significant impact on the quality of the subsequent processing.

Ointment tube production process - heat embossing.

A thin layer of heat embossed paper is embossed on it, so that the screen printing does not feel uneven. The hot stamping process is divided into several parts: ointment tube factory preparation before hot stamping, hot stamping plate, installation of the plate, determination of hot stamping process parameters, hot stamping test and formal ointment tube hot stamping.