In packaging box printing, hot stamping is a common technique, which is also known as hot stamping. The substrate for hot stamping includes general paper, ink printing paper such as gold and silver ink, plastic (PK, PP, PVC, engineering plastics such as ABS, etc.), leather, wood, and other special materials. With the application of high-tech in hot stamping, the hot stamping process is developing in a deeper and broader direction. If applied to the vast majority of products (including hot stamping on gold, silver, laser, and glass cards), a wide range of ordinary gold and laser gold hot stamping are used. Applied to high-end product packaging, positioning holographic stamping with certain anti-counterfeiting effect.

Hot stamping mainly uses heating and pressure to transfer patterns or text to the surface of the hot stamping material. The completion of this process involves a hot stamping machine heating a template (such as a zinc plate, copper plate, etc.) with specialized text or patterns to a certain temperature and ensuring the pressure required for the complete transfer of the hot stamping foil. And maintain the corresponding time. But what Jiarunlong, a printing factory in Shenzhen, wants to say is that for different materials for hot stamping, we should choose different types of electrochemical aluminum foil, and adjust and control the appropriate temperature, pressure, hot stamping time, etc. during the operation. Only in this way can we ensure the ideal hot stamping effect. There are mainly several types of equipment and materials used in the stamping process, and Shenzhen Jiarunlong will introduce them one by one:

1. Hot stamping machine

At present, the commonly used hot stamping machines include: 6-station machine (suitable for various round and irregular whole surfaces, lines, transfer printing, etc.), 8-station machine (suitable for various round surface whole surfaces, line hot stamping and transfer printing, etc.), flat hot stamping machine and rolling hot stamping machine (mainly used for hot stamping images and texts on flat products), round hot stamping machine (including double round machine, used for hot stamping images and texts on circular substrates), irregular machine (can be used for hot stamping whole surfaces, lines, and other images and texts of various irregular products), and so on. The selection of stamping equipment is a key factor in determining the quality of stamping.

2. Gilded plate

High quality hot stamping plate is the primary factor to ensure the quality of hot stamping. At present, the production of hot stamping plates mainly adopts photo etching technology and electronic carving technology, and the materials are commonly copper or zinc plates. The copper plate material is delicate, and the surface smoothness and heat transfer effect are better than zinc plate. Using high-quality copper plate can improve the glossiness and outline clarity of hot stamping images and texts. The traditional photo etching technology for making hot stamping plates is simple and cost-effective, mainly used for text, bold lines, and general images; For fine-grained and unevenly sized hot stamping plates, secondary etching or electroengraving technology should be used. The production of electroengraving hot stamping plates can express rich and delicate hierarchical changes, greatly expanding the packaging performance ability, and this process is beneficial for environmental protection. However, the investment in electric engraving equipment is relatively high, and the depth of engraving is not ideal enough, which can easily lead to gilding "pasting".

The production technology requirements for holographic anti-counterfeiting hot stamping plates are relatively high. Previously, they were mainly produced in Taiwan or abroad, with a longer plate making cycle and only used for fixed and bulk packaging of products. The hot stamping plate is mainly made of the following materials: silicone plate (rubber wheel): suitable for general plastic shells, with a thickness of generally 1.5mm, and suitable for temperatures ranging from 180 ℃ to 380 ℃; Copper plate: suitable for large-scale and deep stamping, relatively durable, suitable for temperatures ranging from 120 ℃ to 280 ℃. Zinc plate: not resistant to high temperature and pressure, suitable for temperatures ranging from 120 ℃ to 150 ℃. In addition, there are steel plates, magnesium alloy plates, etc., which have been basically phased out.

3. Hot gold foil

Hot stamping foil, also known as anodized hot stamping foil, is the main material used for hot stamping. The thickness of hot stamping foil is generally 6 microns to 35 microns, usually 12 microns. The image and text of thin foil stamping are clearer, while thick foil stamping can cause font paste and other phenomena. The basic structure of hot stamping foil is a base film layer, an alcohol soluble dyeing resin layer, an aluminum plating layer, and an adhesive layer. It can be roughly divided into two thin layers: polyester film substrate and transfer layer. During hot stamping, the hot stamping foil comes into contact with the substrate, and the transfer layer is fused and transferred to the surface of the substrate through heat and pressure. After the hot stamping is completed, the polyester film is peeled off along with the non transferred part.

Hot stamping foil can be divided into general type (generally used for ABS, PVC, PS, PC), special type (PP color foil, generally used for PP, PE), and common type (ABS, PP are suitable, and this foil has good temperature resistance). Hot stamping foil can be divided into two categories: roll foil and sheet foil. Roll foil can be distinguished into different models based on the material used for ironing, mainly including sizes 1, 8, 12, 15, 18, and general types. For example, according to its color, it can be divided into gold, silver, brownish red, light blue, black, bright red, green, etc.