How To Choose A Pad Printer?

How To Choose A Pad Printer?

Summary

In the padprinting industry purchasing decisions are often based on assumptions that are simply nuts- literally. The

president of a company will see a padprinting machine printing nuts at an exhibition and be suckered by the sales

person into believing that, This process will print on anything. And when asked how fast the machine will print the

sales person replies, 1500 per hour, hand fed. Dream on!

How To Choose A Pad Printer?
      In the pad printing industry purchasing decisions are often based on assumptions that are simply nuts- literally. The president of a company will see a padprinting machine printing nuts at an exhibition and be suckered by the salesperson into believing that, This process will print on anything. And when asked how fast the machine will print the sales person replies, 1500 per hour, hand fed. Dream on!

      During more than 20 years of involvement with pad printing, I have not come across a truly bad press. I've also never encountered an ideal one. A variety of different press styles are available today, each with strengths and weaknesses.
     Understanding the differences between the press styles and how they may affect the application at hand will help you determine which press is best for your needs.

 

Pad-printing applications tend to fall into three main categories

, listed in descending order in terms of quality demands:
 •Printing involves the precise application of ink onto a substrate. Images normally contain lettering or symbols and may be single or multicolour.
 •Decorating is where a design or effect is applied to a product to enhance the look of the product. Designs are purely artistic, serving no functional purpose , and may again be either single or multicolour. Effects include unusual patterns, simulated wood grain, etc.
 •Coding involves printed information that must be legible, but not necessarily of high quality. An example is date stamping on containers and other packaging. Coding should not be confused with barcoding, where print quality is very important, particularly with regard to contrast and edge definition. Barcoding is considered a printing application.

      Some machine requirements are consistent for all pad-padprinting applications. The machine has to transfer ink from an image carrier (cliche) via a flexible (silicone) pad onto a substrate. It must be able to carry out this pick-and-place function as accurately as possible, ideally within +0.0001 in. (+0.025 mm). It should operate smoothly, free of unwanted vibration at production speeds.

      The press should be designed in such a way that the operator can simply regulate the ink conditions and contain the drying rate of the solvents in the ink. The ability to maintain the ink, and therefore the printing conditions, is of prime importance and is a feature that many machines lack. Although well engineered, some machines use large open ink troughs that exacerbate the problems of ink control for the printer.

      There are basic requirements for a pad-printing press. To get the right press for your work, you must understand the differences in the types of machines currently available.