Detailed Explanation of Automotive Piston Screen Printing Process

1. What is the automotive piston screen printing process?

The automotive piston screen printing process, also known as piston logo printing or piston mark printing, is a process that uses screen printing technology to accurately print logos, codes and markings on the top or sides of the piston.

These tags usually include:

• Part number

• Production batch number

• Installation direction arrow (extremely important, make sure the piston is installed correctly)

• Cylinder number

• Manufacturer's logo

• Displacement information, etc.

Its core purpose is for traceability, assembly guidance and quality control.

2. Why screen printing on the piston?

Under harsh working conditions of high temperature, high pressure, and high-speed reciprocating motion, screen printing marks must meet stringent requirements. This is the main reason for choosing this process:

Extremely high adhesion and durability: Markers must be able to withstand:

• High temperature: The working temperature of the top of the piston can reach over 300°C.

• High pressure: Withstand the huge pressure of gas explosion.

• Friction: Continuous friction with the cylinder wall.

• Corrosion from oil, gasoline and coolant.

The special ink used in screen printing ensures that the markings are legible throughout the engine's life cycle and will not fall off or become blurred.

Clear recognition: On automated assembly lines, machine vision systems need to quickly and accurately read the directional arrows and part numbers on the pistons to ensure correct picking and installation by the robot. Clear markings guarantee 'zero error' assembly.

Good thermal conductivity: The thickness of the screen printing coating is very thin (usually only a few tens of microns) and will not have a significant impact on the heat dissipation performance of the top of the piston, avoiding local overheating problems that may be caused by too thick markings.

Cost-Effectiveness: Screen printing is an efficient, fast and cost-effective marking method for mass-produced automotive pistons.

3. Piston screen printing process

Piston screen printing is a sophisticated, usually fully or semi-automatic process. The main steps are as follows:

Step 1: Pre-processing - Cleaning

After the piston is machined, grease, cutting fluid and metal debris will remain on the surface.

Ultrasonic cleaning or spray cleaning is usually used to ensure that the piston surface is absolutely clean, dry and free of any contaminants. This is the first and crucial step to ensure ink adhesion.

Step 2: Print

• Screen preparation: Make a special screen printing plate according to the pattern to be printed (such as arrows, numbers).

• Loading: The robot or operator accurately places the piston on the printing jig (fixture) to ensure the position is consistent every time.

• Positioning: The piston is firmly fixed and the print head moves above the piston.

• Scratch printing: The scraper scrapes the special ink on the screen, and the ink leaks to the surface of the piston through the graphics and text on the screen.

The automotive piston screen printing process is a mature, reliable and cost-effective surface marking technology. It provides vital traceability and assembly accuracy guarantee for engine manufacturing by printing durable and clear markings on the piston, and is an indispensable part of the modern and automated engine manufacturing production line. The core of its technology lies in special high-temperature ink and precisely controlled curing process, which ensures that the mark can still 'achieve its mission' in the extremely harsh working environment of the engine.