Direct Printing

Direct printing technology has opened up revolutionary new possibilities in surface design for laminate floor manufacturers.

The only thing conventional and direct printed laminate have in common is their HDF support board. The standard method of gluing the décor paper and melamine resin pressing does not apply to direct printed laminates. Instead the décor is printed directly onto the HDF support board. What we have here is what is called a direct printed laminate or DPL (Direct Printed Laminate) process which is defined in DIN EN 15468.

The coating process in the DPL method is very complex. It is based on a combination of pigmented, water-based primers and sealers. These are applied using rollers. They are responsible for providing the adhesion to the HDF board and for basic colouration.

Hydro printing inks are used to print the décor directly onto the pre-sealed HDF support boards using a multicolour printing press. This means décor paper is no longer required.

To achieve the high abrasive strength typical of laminates, anti-abrasive UV sealers are then applied, again using rollers, and coated with a UV sanding sealer.

Klumpp Coatings has achieved a technical milestone in the form of its 3D structure UV-coatings which are very close to series production.  They are able to reproduce rustic surface structures perfectly and to give DPL floors an unprecedented authenticity. There’s nothing like it!

UV anti-scratch topcoats come into use as a finish- these may be combined optionally with what so-called pore UV-coatings, used to reproduce open-pore woods as authentically as possible.