Stork Prints unveils new NovaScreen textile printing range

The new NovaScreen combines the benefits of the existing NovaScreen 165 (mesh) and NovaScreen 195 (mesh). NovaScreen 165 is known for its large open area (19%); whereas NovaScreen 195 offers a very high printing resolution.

This unique combination allows printers who prefer NovaScreen 165 for the voluminous paste supply purposes, to work with the new high resolution NovaScreen 195-19%.

The new screen has a number of benefits:
- The highest printing resolution combined with the highest screen volume;
- improved surface printing;
- Benefits in geometrical printing.

NovaScreen 195-19% is therefore a valuable addition to the NovaScreen collection.

Screen parameters

To fully understand the benefits of the new NovaScreen 195-19%, one must appreciate the general screens’ characteristics, or parameters. The parameters open area, mesh count and screen thicknesses have a close relation. This is due to the nickel growth occurring during the screen manufacturing process. Simply put, a higher mesh count and a higher thickness of the screen decreases the open area. During the screen making process, the nickel grows from the mandrel in both directions, to the top and to the sides.

Being the experts in electroforming, Stork Prints is able to steer the nickel growth mainly in the top direction. This way, the dam shape stays thin and gets streamlined. Therefore the ratio between hole-size, mesh count and thickness of the screen can be pushed beyond the conventional boundaries of the rotary screen printing industry.

The existing NovaScreen program illustrates the possibilities in thickness, open area and hole-size:
- NovaScreen 135, thickness 120 micron, 22% open area, hole-size 88 micron
- NovaScreen 165, thickness 115 micron, 19% open area, hole-size 67 micron
- NovaScreen 195, thickness 115 micron, 16% open area, hole-size 52 micron

These specifications indicate the boundaries of what was possible in the recent past. However, due to the improved production process as described above, it is now possible to increase the open area for a given mesh count even more.

The new NovaScreen 195-19% specifications are:

NovaScreen 195-19%, thickness 115 micron, 19% open area, hole-size 57 micron.

Printability of regular NovaScreen

To fully appreciate the printability of the new NovaScreen 195-19%, we must first look at the printability of regular NovaScreen. Looking at the process of paste transfer from the inside of a screen onto the substrate, we see that the main direction of the paste flow is downwards, straight into the fabric.