Mimaki goes for unusual printing application

Mimaki has developed a method of printing decorative films for resin parts. The company exhibited resin parts made by this method at the 9th Converting & Advanced Printing Machinery which was held recently in Tokyo. A decorative pattern is printed on a film such as a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film. Then, concavities and convexities are formed on the decorative film by a vacuum moulding method, and the film is trimmed so that its shape becomes the same as that of a resin product.

By placing the decorative film inside a metal mould for injection moulding and injecting resin into it, it is possible to make a resin part that has colours and patterns on the surface.