Glass powder printer

Saint Gobain Glass Solutions, the world's biggest glass manufacturer,got the job of making the glass facade for the new "Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision". Since there were no industrialprocesses capable of fulfilling all the aesthetic and technicalrequirements, the artist and manufacturer came to TNO. We responded bydeveloping a powder printing process that can apply hardwearingcoloured images to glass.

To be able to print the images Drupsteen wanted to have printed on theglass, TNO developed special colour translation software that convertsthe cyan, magenta and yellow of the normal printing process intospecific quantities of red, blue and yellow glass powder.

In the powder printing process coloured glass powder in three basecolours is deposited in precisely the right quantities at the rightspot on a sheet of glass. The sheet of glass is then heated in an ovenuntil the glass powder melts into the underlying glass whereby thethree base colours mix into the right colour. This smelting process isalso able to create a relief on the glass. The end result ischaracterised by exceptionally clear, transparent colours that have anexcellent outside durability. TNO has applied for a patent for thepowder printing process.

Source: tno.nlAdded: 7 April 2008