Screen printing apparatus and method

摘要

A composite stencil screen assembly including a uniformly-prestressed resilient backing screen attached to a frame and a metallic wire mesh stencil screen attached to the backing screen. A predetermined portion of the backing screen is removed after the stencil screen is attached thereto in order to permit the pre-stressing force in the backing screen to uniformly pre-stress the stencil screen in all directions to impart a tight, wrinkle-free, high-quality printing surface to the stencil screen. In a preferred embodiment, the assembly is retensioned subsequent to removal of the predetermined portion of the backing screen. The composite construction is uncomplicated in design, resists metal fatigue of the wire mesh stencil screen, is effectively used in non-thermally dependent and thermally dependent printing operations, and has a long service life.