Inkjet printing on glass is a commonly used in various industries such as automotive, architecture,display, and interior design. However, the process of inkjet printing on glass for functional materials requires specialized equipment and materials. Notion Systems has developed a modular system called n.jet glass which is able to apply different kind of functional materials such as dielectrics, black mask inks, and conductive material high precise and with a high throughput.

Digital inkjet printing is a crucial technology in additive manufacturing that offers unique benefits over conventional production methods. It is an accurate, efficient process that digitizes manufacturing, significantly reducing lead times, minimizing material waste, and promoting sustainable and eco-friendly production with lower CO2 emissions.

Black mask printing on Glass

Inkjet printing is a new method for creating black obscuration masks on glass surfaces. The black masks are utilized for obstructing light transmission in specific regions of the glass, and are applied in various fields such as displays, micro lenses, and the automotive industry.

Two primary types of ink, UV-curable and solvent-based, are used in the black mask printing process. The achievement of small printed features with high precision, reaching as small as 80μm, is feasible by selecting the appropriate combination of ink, printhead, and surface pre-treatment. Moreover, the layer thickness and optical density outcomes vary depending on the ink type used.

Solvent-based inks can achieve a very high optical density (>5) within a very low layer thickness only, whereas UV ink offers the same obscuration performance giving the advantage very low post-processing efforts.