The demands for flat glass for use in household appliances are becoming ever more challenging. Modern designs and new functional features have to be joined with long durability. SCHOTT has now developed a unique technology for printing on the front and back side of a flat glass panel by using ceramic inks. This opens completely new possibilities.
Printing on both sides of flat glass poses great challenges to production. Not fired ceramic ink on both sides of a glass pane can quickly lead to printing errors.
Strong and resistant
To overcome this drawback in conventional inks, SCHOTT has developed a highly resistant ceramic ink that now enables printing on the front and back of flat glass for the first time. Thanks to double-sided printing with SCHOTT Duo Design, logos can be presented in new designs. Duo Design can even turn glass surfaces into a new haptic experience or create 3D image effects.
Customers have already adapted SCHOTT Duo Design. The Swiss brand V-ZUG has set the standard with its “Pureness” line, highlighting the design with a timeless, purist look of mirror effects, black printing and an anodized aluminum handle. Duo Design orchestrates the brand logo elegantly and clearly visible in silk-matte dark grey at the front of all the built-in appliances.
Source: V-ZUG
In its current product series “Vogue”, the Hoover brand focuses on the lightness of glass in combination with solid steel. Technology blends with trendy minimalist design for the kitchen. Various built-in devices share a common design: dark grey tinted flat glass combined with back printing, symbol printing for operating the touch control and white printed text on the front for a clearly visible logo on all devices.
But the applications for SCHOTT Duo Design are not only limited to optical effects. The ceramic ink also enables the integration of haptic markings for touch control switches, which the user can feel as a roughened surface. Corresponding solutions are currently being sampled for various applications.
What comes next?
SCHOTT researchers are currently working on additional colors for Duo Design. Together with the designers of leading household appliance makers, the research team is also examining how Duo Design, in combination with other printing solutions, can make appliances an innovative visual and functional experience.
Contact
Gregor Grosse
Home Appliance
SCHOTT AG
