What is a Textile Printing Blanket / Belt ?

A Textile Printing Blanket / Belt is a conveyor belt installed on a Fabric Printing Machine. It acts as a medium which carries the Fabric / Cloth to be printed from first screen to the last screen accurately so that multiple colors can be printed on the Fabric / Cloth.

The Textile Printing Blanket is usually of 2 type: Textile Printing Rubber Blanket and Textile Printing PU Blanket.

The main difference between the two types is the material being used.

 

Textile Printing Rubber Blanket

These were the blankets that were first used in Textile Printing Machines. The benefits of Textile Printing Rubber Blankets are its long life, Endless construction / no Joint and cost effective over Textile Printing Blankets made from PU.

 

ADVANTAGES

·         Life

 

The Textile Printing Blankets made from Rubber last almost twice as much as the Textile Printing Blankets made from PU. Rubber is much more resilient to chemicals and abrasion and hence provides a longer operation time.

 

·         Endless Construction / Joint less Blanket

 

One of the major issues with Textile Printing Blankets made with PU is the joint which is made to make the Blanket endless. Usually, suppliers don’t have much experience with the joining process and mistakes in the process can significantly reduce the strength of the joint. Utmost care is to be paid to the temperature, pressure and cross section of the joint area in order to achieve a reliable joint. Other factors such as the strength of the blanket and the quality of the PU is also important for making a reliable joint and they vary from supplier to supplier. In most cases, failure of joint is the primary reason for replacing a PU Textile Printing Blanket.

 

·         Cost Effective

 

Considering the cost of Textile Printing Blankets made of Rubber and their operation life, they are much more cost effective than Textile Printing Blanket made from PU.

 

DISADVANTAGES

·         New Machines

 

However, new machines with twin / double / dual servo drives now require blankets with much less elasticity. So Textile Printing Blankets made of Rubber don’t usually work on these machines if very accurate printing has to be achieved.

 

·         Installation Time

 

Textile Printing Rubber Blankets require more installation time as compared to Textile Printing Blankets made from PU (PU Printing Blanket). They need to be run on the machine for 2-3 days in order to set them on the machine to get the best results

 

·         Lead time

 

As these blankets are custom made as per the size of the machine, the delivery time for Textile Printing Rubber Blankets maybe more if the size of the machine is not standard or stock isn’t available.

 

 

TPU Printing Blanket / PU Printing Blanket

These are the latest belts which are used in Textile Printing Machines. There are various types of PU Printing Blankets that vary in structure, thickness, PU quality, strength, finish etc. There is a wide range of quality of PU Printing Blankets available in the market and hence it is very important to work with a trusted supplier.

There are various types of PU Printing Blankets available in the market. Usually they differ in terms of the fabric structure and fabric Material Used. The common types are Single Ply Printing Blanket, 2 Ply Printing, 3 ply Printing Blanket and Aramid Printing Blanket. All these have different characteristics and have different benefits and application. It is very important to find out the requirement of the customer and then suggest him the correct blanket as there is no one type fits all solution. For example, one can say Aramid Printing Blanket is the best type of printing blanket, however Aramid is usually preferred when the machine length is very long and very high level of accuracy is to be achieved. So if the machine is short in length, the customer does not need to invest in an aramid blanket as they cost almost 2-3 times the normal PU Printing Blanket.

Apart from the fabric structure, the quality of PU used in the Textile Printing Blanket is also very important. The resistance to chemicals and abrasion and the strength of the joint is largely dependent on the PU Quality of the Textile Printing Blanket.

 

ADVANTAGES

·         Ease of Installation

 

Textile Printing Blankets made of PU are much easier to install as compared to Textile Printing Blankets made from rubber. So the time to set up is much less.

 

·         Delivery Time

 

Suppliers import open end rolls of of PU Blanket from various countries. From these rolls, Printing Blankets are cut as per the customers desired size and the joining/splicing is done to make it endless. So considering the supplier has stock, a PU Printing Blanket can be delivered in 1 day or maybe even the same day the order is placed, while Textile Printing Rubber Blankets require atleast 7-10 days to be manufacture.

 

·         Less weight

 

The PU Printing Blankets due to their light structure are much less heavier than Textile Printing Blankets made from Rubber. So they significantly reduce the load on the machine.

 

DISADVANTAGES

 

·         Life

 

The life of the PU Printing Blanket vs Rubber Blanket is much less as rubber is much more resistant to chemicals and abrasion as compared to PU. Their life is almost half that of Textile Printing Blankets made of Rubber.

 

·         Joint Problems

 

Since the Textile Printing PU Blankets are not truly endless but are spliced, there are many problems in the joint if the proper process, materials, equipment and expertise is not used while making the joint.