Advanced Printing Technology Makes Toy Balls Richer

The toy ball, this kind of product that seems to be indistinguishable from printing, has now become more colorful due to the use of advanced printing technology. In order to be more competitive in the international market, toy ball suppliers in mainland China and Taiwan are upgrading their own printing equipment so that patterns on the surface of the ball can be printed more exquisitely and with richer colors. While most companies in other parts of the world still stay in four-color printing, more and more companies in mainland China and Taiwan have started to provide eight-color printing products. In addition, some companies have adopted full-coverage printing technology so that they can print on the entire sphere surface.

At present, the vast majority of globally produced toy balls are only partially printed using screen, offset or adhesive transfer. This is due to the fact that the printing machine capable of full-sphere coverage printing is very expensive, and the training of operating workers also requires additional expenditures. In addition, the molds required for full-coverage printing are very expensive and are much slower to fabricate than traditional screen printing.

Although operating costs are high, some companies still invest in the introduction of spherical full-coverage printing technology, especially for those export-oriented enterprises facing high-end overseas markets.

Printed colorful balls for toy balls

“Consumers have always loved bright and colorful designs. Although full-coverage printing is much more expensive than screen printing, its print quality is better.” Hoarder Plastic Industrial Co., Ltd. of Taiwan Sales director Miss Fu said.

At the same time, manufacturing companies also pay great attention to the production of such materials as neoprene rubber to ensure that the pigments have a stronger adsorption capacity and that colors can be kept longer. In addition, some manufacturers use the method of laminating the surface of the sphere to protect the printed pattern from wear.

Now, some companies in mainland China and Taiwan already have 8-color and full-coverage printing capabilities. The above-mentioned Hao Da company used full-coverage printing and four-color printing two years ago. At the time, they could only apply this kind of printing technology to some relatively small individual products. Now, they have used full-coverage printing technology to produce toy balls with diameters of 6 to 8.5 inches.

Hao Da company imports spherical full-cover printing printing dies from Germany, each mold needs about 2400 US dollars. If screen printing is used, the mold only needs 80 US dollars. This huge difference hinders the enthusiasm of some toy ball suppliers to invest in such molds.

Haoda Company will invest in designing 1 and 2 molds each year. At present, they already have 12 full-coverage printed toy ball designs.

Wuxi Kunda Sporting Goods Co. Ltd. in mainland China is also one of the few companies that has full-coverage ball printing equipment. The company began to supply toy balls with full-coverage printing in 2004. Ms. Xu, the company’s sales manager, said, “According to our understanding, only two or three companies in China currently have this printing capability.” At the same time, Wuxi Kunda also has 8-color screen printing capabilities.

The two-color stripe pattern rubber ball of PVC material produced by Ming-huang of Taiwan has 18cm and 23cm specifications.

At present, even toy balls produced by traditional printing methods such as screen printing, adhesive transfer printing, and thermal transfer printing are processed on the surface of the ball in order to attract the attention of children, such as marble, metal lines, and luminous. .

Taiwan's Hong Kee Industrial Co. Ltd uses a combination of screen printing and thermal transfer. They can print up to 11 colors, and their printing can reflect tone and brightness. When many companies subcontract printing processes, Hongshi insists on printing, because they feel that this can better control the quality of printing. Another Taiwanese company, Kiddygarden Products Co. Ltd, has contracted printing and surface treatments to more specialized manufacturers. They feel that this will allow them to free up energy for product design and at the same time reduce production investment. The products produced by Minghuang Company have been professionally processed and finished. The company can provide toy balls with different effects such as metallic effect, luminous, laser engraving and discoloration.

In addition to Taiwanese companies, there are also some companies in China that adopt similar processing methods for multi-color spherical processing.

There are many kinds of raw materials that can make toy balls, including PVC, PU and EVA foam, rubber, and synthetic rubber. When selecting raw materials, suppliers first consider safety and non-toxicity.

In Taiwan, Cheer Tai Enterprise Co. Ltd. uses children's toy balls made of PVC and silicone without phthalates to meet European legal requirements. Similarly, Haoda also uses PVC materials that are free of phthalates. Their raw materials are sourced from South Korea. The company is not yet able to use silica gel to make toy balls, but they are considering this issue.

The toy ball is not a very big industry, and the relationship with the printing industry is far from close, but now, the needs of the market are making the two industries have an increasingly close relationship. Printing, a previously purely processing technology, is currently merging with more industries and becoming part of other industries.

Author: Wen Li
Source: HC Network Printing Industry Channel