In the market, we often see characters printed on the keys of silicone products, and there is also a penetration effect. Now let's share how to achieve characters printed on silicone products.
There are three kinds of character technology to be realized on the surface, namely, silk screen technology, radium carving technology and ink dropping technology.
1、 Silk screen
1. Make corresponding screen
2. The position of the characters on the screen printing plate is left blank, and the positions other than the characters are sealed with glue.
3. The silicone ink is placed in the screen plate, and the characters on the screen plate are aligned with the positions of the characters needed to be printed on the silicone products,
4. The silicone ink on the silk screen scraper scrapes the place where the silk screen is needed on the silicone products,
5. The silica gel ink will penetrate the surface of the silica gel product through the empty position on the screen plate, and the characters on the surface of the silica gel product will be formed.
The silk screen printing process is easy to operate and low in cost, but the friction life of characters is relatively low. For silicone products with too strict friction life of characters, a layer of wear-resistant PU should be sprayed on their surface to improve the wear-resistant life of silicone products.
2、 Radium carving
1. Silicone keys with transparent or translucent background
2. Spray a layer of ink of the desired color on the surface of the silicone key,
3. Then use the laser engraving machine (laser marking machine) to conduct laser processing on the surface of the silicone key, so as to form the required characters and achieve the light transmission effect.
The laser carving process can make the silicone key products easy to use in low light conditions, just install a led lamp at the bottom of the key as the light source.
3、 Drip ink
1. The shape of the characters made in the silicone mold
2. Silicone ink drops into the groove
3. Bake the ink in the groove through the tunnel furnace to make it firmly adsorbed in the character groove of the silicone product to form characters.
The ink dropping process can basically eliminate the possibility of abrasion of the surface characters of silicone products.
Summary:
To achieve the character effect of silicone products, there are three methods, and each method has its advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, when choosing a method, it should be determined according to the actual needs of the product. It is recommended that you do not blindly pursue complex processes, and it is the most important to choose the one that best suits the needs of the product you design.
For silicone rubber, please check the details:
https://www.siliconerubbers.net/product-common-grade-htv-silicone-rubber.html 
