The Netherlands-based textile and graphics printing equipment supplier Stork Prints BV has
developed a new hybrid screen for the textile printing market. The new NovaScreen® 195-19% is a
combination of the existing open area NovaScreen 165 (mesh) screen and the high-resolution
NovaScreen 195 (mesh) screen. The hybrid screen offers printers that require voluminous paste
supply a high-resolution option with improved paste flow and printability.
Stork reports primary benefits of the new screen include: high screen volume and high
printing resolution; improved surface printing; and benefits in geometric printing.
A unique electroforming process allows Stork to control nickel growth during screen
production and push the ratio between hole size, mesh count and thickness of the screen beyond
conventional boundaries. By keeping the nickel growth mostly toward the top of the screen, the dam
shape stays thin and streamlined. A comparison of thickness, open area and hole size for the 4
NovaScreen types are shown in Table 1.
Stork reports that a smaller, more streamlined dam shape increases the chance of paste
flowing beneath the dam with lower squeegee pressure, thus creating a more even spread of paste on
the textile substrate. This even paste flow makes the screen suitable for pigment printing and
penetrative printing; the look and straightness of geometric and engraved prints is improved; and
improved rasterisations with dot definition generate quality halftone impressions.
Figure 1: Paste transfer through a conventional screen
Figure 2: Paste transfer through NovaScreen®
March 26, 2013