Plate in-mold laminating process

Plate in-mold laminating process

1 Application of plate thermal transfer process
At present, the plate thermal transfer process is mainly used on plastic plates.

According to the different transfer processes, the commonly used plate thermal transfer processes can be classified into two types: ordinary thermal transfer process and thermal transfer derivative process - in-mold laminating process.

Below, we take plastic plates as an example to understand the process principles and differences between the two.

2 Plate thermal transfer process and plate in-mold laminating process principle

1. Plate thermal transfer process

The principle of thermal transfer process is to use a printer to print the pattern image on a heat-resistant base film, and then use thermal transfer equipment to transfer the image on the thermal transfer film to the surface of the product through heating and pressurization.

It can be said that the plate thermal transfer process is to use a thermal transfer machine to transfer the pattern on the thermal transfer film to the regular surface of the plate.

2. Plate in-mold lamination process

The common points between the plate in-mold lamination process and the plate thermal transfer process are: the printing method of the in-mold lamination and the thermal transfer film is the same, both of which use gravure printing; and both use heating and pressure to achieve the integration of the pattern and the substrate. This is why the industry considers the in-mold lamination process to be a derivative process of the traditional thermal transfer process.

The plate in-mold lamination process can solve the defect that the plate thermal transfer process cannot transfer on the irregular surface of the plate. Using the temperature and pressure of the plate plastic molding (including injection molding and blow molding) for a certain period of time, the exquisite pattern on the in-mold film is successfully integrated with the irregular surface of the plate. After cooling, the beautiful plate is decorated.