Portable T-Shirt Printing Machine

Abstract

T-shirt printing is one of the occupations of the youth in the Ho Municipality of Ghana. Various methods of printing such as dye sublimation, heat transfer and screen printing are employed to print t-shirts in Ghana. However, screen printing is the most popular method in Ghana. It is easy to use and less expensive. Despite the fact that the screen printing method is the most preferred in Ghana, its processes come with challenges. The printing process is slow and the products that are churned out are of low quality. And in order to minimise the problems that local printers encounter during screen printing, the “Portable T-shirt Printing Machine” has been developed. The machine which is manually operated comes with an adjustable squeegee, leather padded table, an adjustable metallic frame which holds the screen during printing and a magnetic holder which holds the frame taut during printing without the help of a second person. The squeegee can be moved manually by the help of a bearing and a hollow pipe. The squeegee blade which is made of rubber can easily be removed and washed after each printing session. The Portable T-shirt Printing Machine which is 75cm long, 45cm wide and 12cm high can be carried easily and printing can be done anywhere whether there is electricity or not. The adjustable metallic frame which holds the frame can be adjusted to suit any screen size; ranging from (40 cm by 40cm) to (15cm by 15m) or even smaller screens. The research design adopted for the study is the qualitative (descriptive) approach. The sample population for the study is 108 representing 30% of the target population. The data collecting instruments used were interview, observation and questionnaire. The main findings of the study were that, the speed of the traditional screen printing process can be increased when a machine is developed. Also, the fastness and efficiency of the t-shirt printing process have a direct relation with the income earned. It is therefore recommended that the “Portable T-shirt Printing Machine” is adopted by the local printers to enhance their occupation.  It is also recommended that the metal parts of the machine are oiled regularly to prevent friction and rusting. Furthermore, a challenge is thrown to prospective researchers to conduct a research into the automation of the “Portable T-shirt Printing Machine” so as to increase its speed.

Keywords: Squeegee, Sublimation, T-shirt, Heat Transfer, Screen Printing and Portable.