Screen-printing is one of the techniques and processes undertaken by students of the visual arts. Using screen-printing, images, patterns and designs are transferred from a screen on to a surface, such as t-shirts, fez caps, paper and others. The semiautomatic screen-printing table is the primary equipment used in the textile, fashion design and graphics studios to reproduce designs on different kinds of surfaces. The screen-printing table is a very delicate device. It is not just a table on which a cloth has been placed. The top is padded by felt, and a vacuum pump that ensures very firm contact between the screen and the surface being printed. This firmness in the contact between the surfaces of the screen and that being printed is what facilitates the smooth and adequate transfer of design. Along with this necessary vacuuming capacity, the screen also has to move freely, smoothly, with precision, parallel to the printing surface, making the semiautomatic screen-printing table a very delicate equipment.
In the innovative semiautomatic screen-printing table produced by Nicost, the vacuum was not used. Rather, DC 24v linear actuators were used to move the print top to meet and have the required firm contact with the screen above it. A handset was then installed for controlling the table’s contact with the print top. Also, the table has a battery system, that enables the user to work for several hours after light is out. Whereas the battery is automatically charged when there is mains electricity, the table can also work with renewable sources such as solar and wind, since it is DC 24v. In design, operation and functionality, the innovative semiautomatic screen-printing table produced by the Nicost research team is at par with imported forms. It has been put to test in the textile studios of the Department of Visual Arts and Technology, University of Cross River State, and it serves all screen-printing needs. The Nicost semiautomatic screen-printing table technology is better than imported versions because it was produced indigenously and the knowledge for maintaining it is also available. Nicost’s DC 24v semiautomatic screen-printing table is one that all other art schools can buy and use in their own studios, at a fraction of the cost of imported ones.
