Introduction
A pair of sports shoes made by the sole, upper, lining, shoe rope, other accessories, it’s cumbersome process, but the industry chain in China has been quite mature, can be large-scale production. The printing methods of the upper are diverse, and the printing materials are also diverse, from solvent inks to water-based glue to silicone ink and so on.
Silicone ink generally adopts the additional type two-component liquid silicone and a variety of color powder, through the screen printing (machine printing and manual printing), the silicone ink is printed on the upper, and then after low temperature baking, the silicone ink will be firmly attached to the upper after full curing. The printed pattern is colorful, and the texture is soft and hard, which greatly enriches the artistic sense of the upper.
The ingredient of silicone ink
The additional type two components liquid silicone rubber, and if the two components are not mixed and placed in the cryogenic environment, the storage cycle is a few years, which causes the printing factory to use the silicone ink for printing. Silicone ink is usually made up of glue, color powder, cross-link and catalyst, which are combined in two components according to chemical properties, mix in a certain proportion when used, in room temperature and medium temperature, cross-link to a elastic colloid.
The speciality of shoe upper silicone ink
Sports equipment generally needs to strong, thick, scratch resistant, wear resistant, breathable materials, the silicone ink printed on the upper also needs to have scratch resistant wear permeable characteristics. Silicone ink fully cured, the harness generally 60-80 Shore (knowledge extension: Shore hardness is a measure of material hardness, fully cured silica gel Shore hardness generally between 0-80 degrees), the use of high hardness silicone ink gives sports shoes scratch resistance wear resistance and breathable advantage.
On the other hand, sports shoes as outdoor products except for scratch and wear resistance, also need to be resistant to UV light (that is, resistance to yellowing) and bending. When we do outdoor sports, sports shoes will be exposed to atmospheric ultraviolet radiation, irradiation to a certain extent, silicone ink (especially transparent silicone) will yellowed, which will greatly affect the appearance of sports shoes. The number of bending of silicone ink determines the life of silicone ink, and there are special instruments in the Lab for continuous bending of silicone after curing, the number of bending proves that this silicone ink has good toughness and is the best material for printing upper.