INNOVATION | DECORATION AND INTERACTIVITY
PC hard coat film for a TactoTek functional display panel is second surface printed with Noriphan XMR. TactoTek says the panel is 90% thinner and 70% lighter than a panel with the same level of functionality made using tradition- al technologies, which would require numerous pieces of tooling and multiple assembly steps
Carbon-based pigments normally used for black colour shades are electrically conductive and can interfere with the functional struc- tures, the company notes. “The Noriphan HTR N 990 NC colour shade has been formulated and optimised regarding the interlayer adhesion and shows good adhesion in compound values in the final film/ink/ injection material composition,” says Stefan Zäh, Marketing Communication Manager. Noriphan XMR is a halogen-free two-com- ponent screen printing ink system for IMD/FIM
technology. Zäh says it is formable, shows extreme- ly high wash-out resistance, outstanding cohesion in compound and long-term durability in the final part. It can be used as decorating ink or a wash-out protective layer on PC films and PET films. It shows high electrical resistance in capacitive fields. Surface decoration specialist Leonhard Kurz says it is developing a process combination to create new exterior designs for autonomous driving and e-mobility.
Right: Engel’s Clearmelt process in action
“New aesthetic and functional demands will determine the future of automobile exterior design,” says the company. “Autonomous vehicles require materials permeable to LiDAR and radar beams. Electric vehicles without radiator grilles need alternative brand-defining front designs. Furthermore, exteriors must be extremely durable. To meet these requirements and expand creative leeway, Kurz has developed the new decoration process IMD PUR. It produces injection moulded parts in a clamping unit, coats them with in-mould designs, and floods them with polyurethane. In one production step, IMD PUR delivers the best of two worlds: the design quality and variety of IMD, and the depth and glassy appearance of PUR coatings. The process generates surfaces that support radar and LiDAR functions, while boasting a distinct, brand-defining design.” The PUR-coated surface meets durability require- ments for exteriors and provides high surface protection, says Kurz. “The decoration remains intact after stone-chipping and scratching; what’s more,
18 INJECTION WORLD | October 2020
the PUR topcoat self-heals scratches.” IMD PUR was demonstrated at K2019, using an Engel injection moulding machine and a Hennecke polyurethane processing unit. Engel calls the combination of thermoplastic and PUR processing Clearmelt. Decoration can take place during injection moulding and subsequent PUR flooding in the roll-to-roll IMD technique, but individual sheets can also be processed in what Kurz calls PMD (Print Mould Design). Designs manufactured with both techniques can be combined with special light effects. Kurz has used an automobile front panel with single-image design to illustrate the light and depth effects achievable in the roll-to-roll process. The design incorporates a gradient from black to blue and incorporates a design that appears to show a structure emerging from under the surface. For IMD PUR processing of individual PMD
sheets, Kurz uses surface designs developed by its subsidiary Burg Design. These sheets are pre- formed and decorated using silk-screen printing, then fed individually into the injection mould, bonded with the component using injection moulding, and finally flooded with PUR. The silk-screen technique used, and the two-sided printing of the sheets, allows PMD to generate a special 3D effect. In rigid packaging, functionality in in-mould labelling (IML) films (and in fact any form of product label or decoration) is being adopted using Digimarc electronic watermarks. Developed by the company of the same name, the individual- ly-coded watermark is invisible to the naked eye but readable by smartphones and industrial scanners. It provides extra information for use by consumers, acts as an anti-counterfeit measure, and facilitates sorting in post-consumer recycling. One of the latest demonstrations of Digimarc in
www.injectionworld.com
IMAGE: PRÖLL
IMAGE: ENGEL
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