The marking of strands, cables, sheathed cables or even pipes, hoses and profiles made of soft PVC in a wear resistant manner presents a challenge to the cable and extrusion industry. An ink developed by printer specialist Leibinger is resistant to plasticisers and also prevents the transfer of printing ink to neighboring cables.

To mark materials reliably, two components need to mesh like the gears of a well-oiled machine: Printer technology and printer ink. Which is why, in contrast to various other players on this market, Leibinger develops and produces its own inks. These include a special black ink for the printing of extruded products.
 

Challenges presented by the printing of soft PVC

Extruded products such as cables, sheathed cables, hoses, pipes or profiles primarily comprise polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Depending on their application, they are mixed with plasticizers, also known as ’softeners’. After production, the printed cables are usually coiled onto reels. Due to ‘plasticizer migration’, an imprint or ‘transfer print’ may appear on the neighboring cable when it is being unwound at a later date. To prevent this, Leibinger has a specialist ink for use on PVC.
 

Leibinger’s PVC ink adheres where it is meant to

Leibinger has developed a special ink for cable marking and meter marking of extruded goods, one that adheres reliably to PVC materials. This ink is resistant to plasticizers which means it can prevent the effect described above of accidental transfer prints. With a Blue Wool Scale (BWS) ranking of 8, it also possesses exceptional UV stability. This is particularly important, to name just one example, when used on window spacers. In addition, this ink dries very rapidly which makes it ideally suited to high-speed applications. The PVC ink article number is 70000-00165.
 

Here you will find more information about the Leibinger portfolio of inks and printers at www.leibinger-group.com.