C.

-\STELL6~ ,SPAI:-J)

STUDY OF SCREEN-PRINTING APPLICATION

CONTROL VARIABLES AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON
SHADES IN TILE

V. Marti, J. Penalver, J. Portoles'»

P. Negra , A. Barba . S. Gimene z, E. M nn fnr f.r" )

(. ) .
TA ULELL. S.A.
''' ) In stituto de Tecn ologfa Cer arnica (ITC)

ABSTRACT

The differences in colour (shades) aris mg in single-fired ceram ic tile manufac ture ,
w hich affe ct an im portant part of production, stem from th e variab ility of th e raw mat erial s
an d th e manu facturing process in eac h proces s stage.

One of th e mo st im por tant aspects involved in tac kling th e study of this co m plex problem
has been th at of de signing a da ta acquisition an d ass essment sys tem on the effect that
different process variabl es have on shades .

As a result of the stu dy. courses of action can be defined to which pr iority should be
gIven.

This pap er forms par t of a general study on the appeara nce of shades. which is being
undertaken by TAULELL. S .r\ . in cooperation with the Instituto de Tecnologfa Cera mica
(ITC).

This study aims to offer a concrete vision of the in fluen ce of th e screen-pr inting vari abl es
involved in ceramic tile decor ati on.

Th e study focuses on the infl uence of th e scree n -printin g application variables in the
glazing line. on their control, and on the assess ment of the sh ades that arise in thi s process
step.

Thi s has bee n do ne by fitting a screen-printing facility that is usually employed in

in dustrial tile decoration. with appro priate systems for evaluating the control variables in
real time; th eir evolution has bee n analyzed over time under normal workin g co ndi tions, and
finally. th e effec t of certain significa nt variables wa s studied.

· 309 ·
 CAS TELLO :-.J (SP/\ I r\ )

1 IN TR OD UCTIOX

One of th e charac teris tics that noticeably affects tile quality is its surface appearance,
which is mainly defined by texture and colour.

This presen t work is part of a study undertaken by TAULELL, S.A., in coopera tion with
the Institu to de Tecn ologia Cera m ica (lTC), of th e factors u pon which differences in colour
(shades ) dep end in ceramic wall and floor tile manufacture, an d whos e gene ra l ob jective
has been th e sup pres sion of shades in single-fired tile.

Numerous studies have set out (1,2,3) the wide range of factor s upon which final tile
colour dep ends. Th ey particul arly rela te to changes in th e charac teristic s, across tim e, of
th e di fferen t materials making up the com position of the body, engobe , glaze and/or
scree n-prin ted decoration, as well as th e manufacturing pro cess vari abl es.

In one of the firs t stages of the study, a data acquisition system was desi gned for
collecti ng th e vari ations in colour tha t were ob served during industrial tile sorting together
with the alt erations that ha d arisen in the fundament al var iab les .

On analys ing th e data obtain ed on the different factors involved, it was in ferred tha t the
alteratio ns in the varia bles associated with th e screen-printed decoration had th e greatest
impact on sh ad es in tile (screen-prin ting currently being th e ma in tile decor ating meth od ),
man ufactured by single firin g (this re prese n ted 40-60% of the prob lem , depending on th e
mo del inv olved).

Screen-printing variables are usually classified for study as follows: th e ones relative to
th e screen-printing ink (vehicle , pigment, screen -printing base, additives, pr ep ar ati on
proc ess, etc.); those relating to the printing screen its elf (frame, fabric, emu lsion,
processing co nditio ns, etc.); and fin ally the ones correspondi ng to application in the
glazing line (prin ting ma chine, ambie nt conditions, etc.) .
Some of th e as pects relat ed to th e preparation and homogenizati on of sc re en-p rinti ng
inks (4), th e importan ce of th e rh eological param eters (5,6,7), and th e pro cessing of the
pr inting scr eens (8,9,10,11,12,13) have been dealt with elsewhe re.

2 OBJECTIVES

Th is paper focuses on an analys is of the screen-prin ting applica tion con trol variables in
th e indus trial glaz ing lin e, and how they impact th e appeara nce of sha des. The follow ing
were th e main objectives of the study:

Design of an experime n tal setup capable of adequately recording th e alterat ions

arisi ng in th e var iabl es that con trol the screen- printing ap pli ca tion.

Assessm en t of th e influen ce of th e screen-prin ting applica tio n co nt rol variab les on

tile co lou r.

Quan tifica tion of th e admissible maximu m tolera nce in th e essen tial application
va riabl es .

- 310-
 .... /
C.\STEI.I.()~ ISr,\IN I I!". QtW.1c12P.../ 96
(•••

:1 E X PE R I ~ IENTAL D EVELOP~IE:'\T

3.1 CO:\'TROL VARIABLES ~I F.ASURI:'\ G ASS E~IB LY

Th is work was car rie d ou t with an OMNI S DUE screen-pr inting ma chine. se t in th o
indu strial glazing line. equ ippe d with a side bell feedi ng system .

T he selectio n of each measuring clement of th e di ffer ent variahlos wa s do ne based on

a n analysis of th e frequency of th e phe nomenon to be determined. the measuremen t
inter val involved and th e req uired accuracy in each variable .

Th e eleme nts selec ted for assessing eac h variabl e arc detail ed bel ow .

:1. 1:1 Ink temperature in th e screen-printing ma chine

T he measurin g clemen t u sed wa s a platinum ther mal resistan ce (" T JOO) with a nom inal
accuracy of ±O.2' C. wh ic h was kept in co nsta nt con tac t with the in k o n the printing screen
during th e expe rimen tation.

:1. 1.2 Til e surface temperature in th e glazing line

A THERl\IO-II UNT EI{ mo del BA-32T optical pyrometer was used . wh ich is sensitive to
infrared rad iation . T he pyro meter wa s ins talled above the glaz ing line . in an area
im me dia tely pr eceding tile entry to the decora ting facility.

:1.1.3 For ce exe rted on th e squeegee

T he sensors used for determining th is value wer e two EF-13 flexion load ce lls . with a
measuring ra nge of 0 to 13 kgf, an d an erro r of 0.3% in respec t of their scale backgro u nd .
3.1.4 Squeegee positi on and velocity

The transducer em ployed was a TE\ IPOSOi'\] C \11' -500 posit ion a nd velocity sensor.
w h ich mo nitor ed these vari ables d ur ing th e movem ent of the squeegee. The me asuring
cle men t u sed is ca pable of detecting speeds ranging fro m 0 to 10 m/s,

3. 1.5 Ink viscosity in the feedin g tank

Th is variable was int erm ittently determined by mea ns of a BOI ILl:--J V-88 rotational
vis cometer. keepin g ink temper ature steady during testing.

:1.1.6 Til e cu rva tu re

The asse m b ly used to as sess til e c ur vat ure deter mines the di stan ce fro m the centra l part
of th e tile to a refere nce plane (sag). The slid ing micrometr ic sen sor used has a ma ximu m
tra vel of 10 mm an d a n accuracy of 1 111m .

3.1.7 Distan ce from th e scree n to th e reference plan e

This value was measured by pla cing a gra du ated a ngle bet ween th e scree n frame and a
reference surface. The depth to which th e a ngle can en ter is proportional to the distan ce
bet ween the scre en and the refe rence surface.

- ~1 1 .
 ••
•c. QUAU(Q~/ 96 C.\STEI.I.OI' ISPAIN)

Force

Veloc ity
and position - - - - - -.. •

o--\c--- - - - - Temperat ure

........--'i ....,........
~ Screen-to-tile spacing

---
r """""-----f=J
C urvature Temperature

Figure 1. Schematic of the m easuring assembly used .

3.2 l\IlATERIALS

Thr ee in dustri al inks were employe d , which are used in porous single-fired wall tile
manufacture. made up of a screen-printin g base (40-60 %). pig ment (5-20 %). a nd a sc reen-
printing vehicle (40-60 %). These inks were respectively referen ced: GREY. PINK and
BLUE.

T he pr eparat ion of the inks was carried out by propor tioning . mixi ng a nd dispersing th e
pigm en t and base in the vehicle. su bsequ entl y micro n ising in a bea d mill . w hich in every
case y ielded a maximum par ticle size below 30 micrometers.

In k de nsity was th en adjusted to applica tio n cond itio ns . and th e viscosity curve was
det ermined u nder thes e conditions .

The screen-prin ting applicati on. in th e ind ustrial line was done on 20x25 em poro u s
redware wall tile. which ha d previo usly been pressed . dried . engob ed and glaz ed .

3.3 ASSESSMENT METHOD OF PRI NTI NG RESUI:[S

Screen printing took place with a 60x80 em screen , on whi ch a grid had been dr awn
di vidi ng th e total pr inting area (20x2 5 em) into 3x3 rectang u lar screen areas. T he fab ric
us ed had 77 threads/em an d a weave of 20 point s/em. T he tens ion of th e scr een u sed was
10 N/cm .

On e variable was then mod ified in eac h experimen t. keeping th e remaining essen tial
vari abl es cons tan t. and runs were mad e on 15 tiles . selecting th e last five of each test. after
the consta ncy of the applica tion had been verified with the first 10 im pressio ns .

After printing, th e tiles were fired at an indus trial kiln and th e resu lts were ass ess ed by
mean s of a lvlACBETH COLOR EYE 7000 colo ri meter , determining th e chro ma tic
coor dinates L*, a *, b* (CIELi\B) .

· 3 12 ·
CASTELLON :SI' A II'.: I

The difference in co lour was determined as DE calculated from the data of th e mean
chro ma tic coord inates of each se t of tiles in res pec t of a reference that is detailed in each
ex perimen t.

4 RESULTS

4.1 VERIFlCAT I01\' AND PREPARAT IO:-.i OF T IlE TESTI1\'G ASSEMBLY

Th e res u lts are set out be low of th e measurements perfo rmed in th e industria l glazi ng
lin e in the cou rse of severa l non-con secutive days. during which the pro per worki ng of the
installed measuring assemb ly was verified.

4 .1.1 Analysis of th e positional cycles. velocit y and for ce of th e sq ueege e.

The flat sc reen-printi ng process [commonly used in the ceramic branch) is divided into
two stages . In the firs t. th e ink is spread over the screen, an d in the second , the ac tu al
a p plicatio n to the tile ta kes place .
In the applica tion , th e squeegee exerts a co mbina tion of forces: mov ing-d raggi ng the in k
acro ss th e screen. pushi ng th e in k through th e screen , and a bringin g the screen in to
contact w it h th e tile su rface. thu s effectivel y transferring the ink to till' tile.

In ge neral . these forces act by elasti call y deformi ng th e sque egee. gen er a tin g a
consequen t reaction on th e squeegee hol de r, so th at this part of th e equ ipmen t can be
assu me d to integr ate th e d iffer ent forces that ar ise in the tile -prin ting o pe ra tio n .

Fig. 2 sho ws the evolu tion of the positi on , veloci ty. and for ce det ected during a printi ng
cycle run .

In th e positi on curve (curve [A) in the grap b). th ree characteristic po ints ca n he
iden tified . Point ( 1) co rrespo nds to the start of the tile decorat ing cycle, and coi ncides w ith
the moment at which the squeegee sta rts spread ing ink over the screen. Point (2)
represents th e grea test ou twa rd travel of the squeegee. sin ce this marks the poin t a t w h ich
th e squeegee starts its return stroke ha ck to the starting position , rea c hed at th e momen t
represe nted by point (3).

In curve [B), the cycle of squee gee veloci ties has been plotted dur ing a s ingle
application. Five charac te ristic points can be d istingui sh ed : [point 4), corr espond in g to th e
sta rt of th e cycle (ink distribu tion step). point (5), which coincid es with th e peak ve loci ty
value (intermed ia te position betw een poi nts [1) a nd (2)). Veloci ty c hanges fro m point [Ii]
onwards , wh ose positi on coincides with maxi m um outwa rd travel. It is from thi s mo ment
on th at the act ual decorati ng step starts. reach ing peak ve loci ty in th is ste p at point (7). and
end ing at poin t (8).

Fin all y . cur ve (e) shows the register of forces obta ined duri ng a full de corating cycle. A
grad ual in crease in force ca n be observed dur ing the in k distrihution step. In the area of
the cycle correspond ing to the squeegee changeo ve r, an abrupt swing a ppears in the
recorded force . After cha nging squeegees , an sha rp fluctuation ca n be obse rved in the
recorded force values. This value drops appreciably towards th e fin al decorating st ep ,
wh ich is cha rac teri zed by a rapi d descent in th e forc e value s obser ved .

· 313 ·
 CASTELLO:-.l ISPAII\ J

Fig ure 2. £ \'O!U UOll of the sq ueegee position . velocity. an d force d uring a printing cy cle.

P= Squeegee position
V= Squeegee velocity
F= For ce registered on th e de corating squeegee

Table 1 lists the variation int er vals of th ese parameters.

Table 1. \briation interval of squeegee position, peak velocity and mean force.

Param eter Value

Maximum tra vel (em) 37.15 -37 .17
Peak velocit v (rnls) 2 A l -2 A 6
l\lean force(1) [Ka ) 3 .0 3-3 .16

(l/.In the decorating area during prin ting.

4 . 1. 2 Temperature variati on

Fig. 3 sho ws a plot of th e variation in in k. tile and ambient tempera ture duri ng th e
experimen ts run to check th e da ta gathering systems.

It ca n be observed th at tile temperature (cur ve 1) was high er th an the ot he r two

temperatures (ink an d amb ient). As far as th e temperature of th e in k spread on th e screen
is conc erned [curve 2). it was foun d that th e sw ings in tem perature were ca u se d when ink
fro m the feeding tan k was added , with ink peak temperature on th e screen coincid ing
ro ug hly with the fee ding tan k ink tem pe ratur e. After this add ition, th e in k then cooled
do wn to clo se to a mbient temperat ure (curve 3).

· 314 ·
{ ::\ST EI .I,()i"\ (S P;\ I~ l

50 , . - - - -- - - - - - -- - - - - - - -- - - -- - - - - - ..,

\ II

10

O l-- - - - ,- - - ---,-- - - - ,--- - - - ,- - _ ---,- --'

o 5 10 15 20
Time (min)

Figure 3 . Evnlutinn af lile OJ. ink (2J and ambient (:I) tem pctuturus,

-l.1. 3 Distan ce of th e scr een to th e lil e

It was sho wn that th e d istance at whi ch th e prin ting screen remained w hen it was
placed in the printing machine varied . under the nsual operati ng co ndit ions . by between
-l oB m ill.

-l .1 .-l Curva ture of the unfired til e

T he dat a obtained allowed determ ining the values for the mean sag of the tiles an d th eir
sta n dard devia tion. T hese were as follo ws :

Mean sag: 0 .169 mm

St a ndar d de viation: 0 .070 mm

4 .1. 5 Ink viscosity

Fig. 4 shows a plot of the vis cosity of the inks used at a tem peratur e of 25 "c.
10 . , - -- - - - - -- - - - - - - -- - - - - -- -- - -,

11.1 ,,"
I II J( X) ItX)11
Shear rate (s - I )

a Gray t:. Pink o B luC'

Fif.:ure 4. l'i .l,; cosity Cll rl'US of th e GRE} ~ PINK an d m.uJ:' inks .

. 3 1S ·
 C.~STELL6r\ (5 I' A I:"1)

-1.1.6 Summary of th e variations observed

Tab le 2 lists th e variation intervals of th e val ues fou n d for th e stu die d var iabl es .

Ta b le 2. Van"ulion interval of UW assessed paru metcrs

Variabl es Variation
Tile tem peratur e (0C) 37-40
Amb ient temperature [0C) 31·25
Ink temperature on th e screen (0C) 28-33
Ink temperature in th e feedins tan k (0C) 25-33
Maximum travel (em) 37.15-37 .17
Peak velocitv (m/s) 2.41-2.46
Mean force [kg] 3.03-3.16
Scr een-to-tile spacing (mm ) 4-8
Mean sao (mm) 0.099-0.239
Viscos itv l21 (cP) 505 -880
I ./
. Measured at a shea r rat e of JOOO s .

4.2 Influence of the printing app lication control variables on tile colour

Some of th e variables assessed in the previous section varied slowly. as was th e case of
a mbien t. ti le an d feeding tank ink temperatures. Th e ex per imen ts. wh ose results h ave been
set out in the following. were performed while keep ing these tem peratures virtually
constan t.

On the othe r hand. it wa s shown that th ere were only min or variations in un fir ed tile
curvature under standard op erat ing con ditions. co mpared to th e spa cing between the tile
an d the printing scree n. so th at the experime ntat io n was co nd ucted at practically constan t
cur vature of the tile.

4.2.1 Effect of ink de nsity

Screen-prin ting ink de nsity basically affected two screen-prin ting parameters: vis cosity
and solids co ncen tration. Several workers report (14,9) that in creased viscosity ca n affect
the resulting impression in two ways , depending upon th e magnitude of this param eter.
Thus, when vis cosity ris es , so does hydrodynamic pr essure, which makes th e in k pass
through th e scree n.

This favo ur ab le printing effect is cou nteracted by th e flow resist ance that occurs as a
resu lt of in creas ed visc osity.

The other parameter relating to the variation of density. na mely solids concen tra tion.
has a marked affect on th e resu lting impression , since th e variation in in k density is
directly re lat ed to its solids content, which det ermin es the deposition of printed ink.

The re su lts obtained have shown that ra ising ink density also rais ed the colour intensity
of th e prin ts, togeth er with no ticeable differences in colour, as Fig. 5 shows. These
differ en ces may be basically attributed to the variation in th e pigm ent concen tra tio n

· 3 16·
within th e ink , since as the followi ng sections will show . the va riation of hydrodynamic
pressure had less effec t on colour.

Fig. 5 depicts the difference in colour (DE) observed as a fu nction of th e ink densiti es
us ed. The difference in co lour was ca lc ula ted from the det erminati on of th e chro matic
coor d ina tes ( 15 ) (L' . a ", b), tak ing th e on es cor respond ing to th e tiles prin ted with each
ink (GREY, PINK. and BLUE) at th e low est test ed density (1.4 5 g/c m"). It ca n he obse rved .
that th e til es pr inted with BLUE ink wer e the ones that underwent th e greatest variation,
whereas th e least variation was as sociated with the ones printed with GREY ink. In an v
cas e , th e differ ences in colour were visually perceivable .

n
5

4
~E
J

o L------<:I't€ffE.~::::::::=:----.__--___._---~
1.4 1.45 1.55 1.6 1.65
Density (glee)
o Gray s: Pink o B lue

l'l~ure 5. lnjiucncc of ink density OIl scn" 'Tl-prinll'd colours

4.2.2 Effec l of th e screen-lo-lile spa cing

'I'll" sc reen-to-tile s pacing affects the deformation thai the squeegee undergoes when it
presses the stretched fabri c against the tile ho dy. at th e angle form ed by the fab ric a nd th e
squeegee d ur ing the prin tin g a pplication, and affecls th e velocity at which the fabri c is
separated from th e tile after the appli cati on.

T able :1 shows the chro matic coor d inates for inks GREY, PINK, and BLUE. a nd th e
d iffer en ce in colour of th e impres sions mad e al a screen-to -tile sp acing of 4 .5 -6 .5 c ru,
taking the values of th e ch ro ma tic coordinates for the ca lcu la tion of th e d ifference in
colour , w h ic h corresponded to the tiles whose screen-to -til e spacing was 4 .5 ern. as
reference val ue s.

On ra ising the screen -to-til e sp acing , til e colour in tensity was observed to decrease .

·/h b h ~ :I . lifF'cl of the screen -to-tile spu cing 0 /1 till' COIOU f

Distance (mm)
In k
L
,
a
. 4.5
b
.
L
. a
. 0 .5
b
. DE
GREY 86 .1 6 -0 .8 U :1. DO 86 .17 -0 .9 1 a.oo 0. 0 3
PINK 85. 19 I. no 2 .n4 B5.72 0 .8 B 2.B:J o.oi
BLUE 78 .2 1 -0 .34 -7.2(j 79 .9 9 -u .se -5 .2 2.74

·3 17 ·
 ::~
"".
QUALlm " '96
...J...e/C-/ C ISTEI.1.l1N ISI',I I:" )

4 .2.3 Effect of printing velocity

Th e velocity of the squ eegee during th e printi ng application basicall y affect s th e

hydrodyna mic pressure th at forces th e ink through th e scre en. so th at on raising th is
velocity. pressure also rises on the ink. w hich favours the printing application . However. if
th e squeegee velocity is too high, the contact time between screen and tile may be
insufficient to allow all the ink to fully pass through . Under extreme working cond itions.
at a hig h squeegee velocity . acting on a dense. highly viscous in k, th is may cause the
squeegee to slide acro ss the ink. separating th e squeegee from the screen , and producing an
excessive deposition of ink (H ).

Table 4 de tails the chromatic coordinates an d co lour differences as a fu nction of the

peak velocity of the pr inting application (for the calculation of th e d iffere nce in colour. the
va lues of th e chro matic coordina tes corresponding to the tiles pr in ted at th e low est speed
were taken as refere nce values).

In th e squeegee velocity interval tes ted, it was shown that th e variation in tile colour on
rai sing pr inting velocity was ha rdly noticeable in the GREY and PINK co lours . while
ex hibiting a greater colour differen ce in th e tiles pr inted with BLUE in k.

Table 4. Effe ct ofprinting vctocuy on colour

Peak velocity .Irn/s]

Ink
L
. a
.
2.4 1
b' L
. a
. 2.82
b
. DE
GREY 86 .16 -0. 8 9 3.00 8G.04 -0.8G 2.9 7 0 .12
PINK 8 5. 19 1.60 2.94 85.46 1.2 1 2 .86 0.4 8
BLUE 78 .2 1 -0.34 -7.2G 76 .97 -0 .14 -8 .3 2 1. 6 5

4 .2.4 Effect of sq ueegee pressure

The press ure that the squeegee exerts on the scree n fabric and on the tile is ma inl y
di rected at bringing the fab ric (whose ap ertures are full of ink) in to contac t with the tile .
for in k tran sfer to take place.

How ever. when squeegee pressure is modified. the angle whi ch the squeegee makes
wit h the tile during prin ting may also be mod ified (owing to the e last ic nature of the
squeegee). w hi ch may give rise to variations in the ink dep osition.

Table 5 lists the va lues of the chromat ic coo rdinates and colo ur differe nces (in respect
of the tiles printed at the lowest pressure). as a fu nction of the mean forc e exerted by the
sq ueegee during printing. It was shown th at in gene ral . the differences ar e much less
imp ortant than the on es observed in the foregoi ng cases. Th ese d ifferen ces were virtu ally
visually im perc eptible.
CA STEL U );-"; ISI'i\ (t' j

'fable 5 . f:Bt' ct Uf JlJrCe un colour

Mean force (ko )

Ink 4. 94
L
. 3.04
a
.
b
. L
. a
. b DE
GREY 86 . 1£i -0 .8!) :1.0 0 86. 0 0 -0.85 :1.00 0 .1l ;
PI0:K 85. 19 1.£i0 2. D4 84. 9 7 1. 7 6 2.B7 11.211
BLUE 7B.2 1 -1J.:l 4 -7.2G 78 .13 -0. 3 7 -7 .07 0 .21

-I.2 .5 Assessmen t of th e sensitivi ty of colour cha nge 10 th e varia tion of th e studi ed

vari ab les

In or der to assess th e perceiv ability of the colour differ ences th at arise in each of the
tested in ks (GREY. PI:'-JK a nd BLUE). on varying th o printing application co n tro l
paramet ers. a visual co m pa rison was mad e of th e tile s tb at had been print ed with different
intensiti es of th e GREY. PI:'-JK a nd BLLiE inks . The printed til es wer e visu all y in spected I,,'
qualified technic ians under uniform lighting condition s.

After observing these til es. they were classified according to shades a nd their ch ro ma tic
coordina tes were determin ed. so as lo allow assessing th e 111ini n1l1111 di ffe ren ce in colou r
(DE) tha i was visually per ceivab le for each col our.

Tabl e £i se ts out the res u lts of th is classifica tion . It s hows th at th e min im u m visually
perce ivab le difference in colour depends on th e co lour involved. Thus. the adrn iss ihl o
va riations in colour DE in impressions obtaine d with the BLUE ink arc mu ch greater than
the adrnissihlc one s with the PINK and GREY in ks. Several a uth ors ( 15) have dealt with
this aspec t of visu al per cepti on . wi thout find in g a sim ple rel at ionship betwee n th e
calcu la ted co lour varia tions and the ac tua lly observed ones.

Tab le 6. Minim um n/Jsc n ·eJ colour d jj ff>ren o ·.

In k Co lour differ ence (DE) equ iva le n t to a classifica tion shade

GREY 0 .2
PINK 0 04
BLUE 2 .0

Th e da ta su m marized in Tahl e £i and tho data on colour variation as a fu nctio n of t ho

stu died variables (density. scr een -to-tile spaci ng. velocity a nd pri n ting force ). have a llowed
calcu lati ng (Table 7) the modification (represen ted by th e symbol D in this table) of eac h
variabl e tha t would produce a vis ually pcr cuivahlc change in eac h of th e s tud ied col ours.

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 CASTELLON [S PAll')

Table 7. Sensitivity of colour tu variations in tile printing coru rol vcriobles.

GREY PINK BLUE Control Iimi t

Ll(Densitv) (g/cm') 0.02 0.02 0.05 ±0.01
Ll(Spacing) (mm) 16.00 0.88 1.46 ± 0.5
Ll(Velocitv) (m/s) 0.66 0.33 0.49 ± 0.05
Ll(Force) (kg) 2.37 2. 71 18.09 < 0.5 (3 )
(.1). This vatioble nul curren tly determined on an industrial scale. the "'ulue gwen
IS IS an estimate based on
the regula ting system

The table shows that th e variable whose contro l was most critica l was the density of th e
scree n-printing ink. The screen -to-tile spacing. printing velocity and force, exh ibited
suffi ciently well -adjusted control margins on an in du strial scale. which were narrower
th an th e var iat ions that would ne ed to ar ise for a visu all y perceivable colour d ifferen ce to
be produced .

5 CONCLUSIONS

The re su lts obtained allow drawing th e following co nclus ions:

1. A sys tem has been designed. wh ich allows gathering information on the state of th e
fund amental varia bles that cont rol screen -prin ting of tile on an industrial scale.

2. It has been shown for the tested inks. that the parameter th at most affec ts shades is
in k density, The screen-to-tile spacing. and printing velocity also have a
co n siderable im pact on shades. However . th e force exe rted by th e sq u eegee d ur ing
printing does not seem to have any appreci able effect.

3. The minimum visually perce ivab le colour difference (DE) has been qu antified for
eac h in k used in th is study. The sensitivity of th e control of screen-pr inting ink
de ns ity. as it is usually determin ed in manufacturing faciliti es , is actually quite
close to th e minimum val ue th at may give rise to an appreciable change in colour ,
The remaining st u died variables have a sufficien tly wi de tolera nce margin for th e
co n trol systems th at are curre ntly in place to de tect the ir variatio n s an d prevent
s ha de s fro m arising.

6 REFERENCES

1. Sharma. K.D. Origin of sha des in cera m ic tile an d some re commended remedies. In:1
World Congress on Ceramic Tile Quality. Castellon : Offici al Cha m ber of Commerce.
Industry and Navigat io n. 1990.

2. Negre, F.. et.al, Fac tores qu e influyen sobre la varia bil idad de la to nalidad de
ba ldosas ce ramicas, En: >U'YX1F Congreso AllIw l de 10 Socie dad Espanola de Ceram ica
y Yidtio . Alcor a, 1994 . (Manuscript).

3. T echnica l Reports corres ponding to th e proj ect on the Rela tionship between th e
operating con ditions, in the cerami c tile manu facturing process. and sha des that
arise in different production batch es.

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<:,\ STI-:I.I.O:-; IS I',\ I~1

4. Negre, F. et al. Estirnacion de l grado de dis persion de las tintas serigrMicas. (In
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12. :'oJegrc. F.. ct. al. Estado actu al de la tccn ica de decoracion de bal dosas mediante
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