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Pad Printing Equipment

Pad Printing Equipment

Superior Repeatability Meets Unprecedented Efficiency

Our pad printers combine market-leading repeatability with built-in efficiencies that generate significant time and cost savings.  We offer single and multi-color pad printer machines in manual, semi-automatic, and fully-automated configurations. Our pad printing equipment systems run the gamut from highly flexible to high speed and are available with a wide range of supporting products.

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Aero is ideal for high-performance, low volume applications. Touch screen interface, text-driven GUI and clear operating instructions.
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pad print automation
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Corona Treatment
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Single & Multi-Color Pad Printing Equipment

Trans Tech pad printing machines provide both single and multi-color product decoration. Our digital padprinters offer virtually limitless color options.

The experts in the Trans Tech Ink Lab can match your color requirements with market-leading precision. All color batches are kept to within a ΔE color variance of 2.0 or less.

In addition to providing a single image in two multiple colors, our pad printing equipment can print two separate images in two different places on a single part.

  Our Pad Print Machines
Pad Printing Color Matching
Electromechanical, Pneumatic and Rotary Pad Printing Machines

Trans Tech offers electromechanical, pneumatic and rotary pad print machines.

Electromechanical pad print machines provide streamlined and repeatable performance. Cam-driven movement is highly repeatable. Electromechanical machines are highly durable and maintenance-friendly.

Pneumatic systems are often favored for their cost-effectiveness as well as for their flexible pad stroke adjustment, which can accommodate parts of varying sizes. Pneumatic machines can also integrate a cup slide as an option—for printing on longer parts.

Rotary pad printing equipment is well-suited to printing cylindrical products at very high speeds.

Our technical experts can walk you through the benefits and considerations tied to each approach and help you find the best solution for your unique application.

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Precision Pad Print Decoration
Stand-Alone to Fully-Automated Pad Print Machines

For lower-volume applications that require greater flexibility- we offer stand-alone solutions fully compliant with OSHA safety standards. These systems allow for immediate manual visual part inspection.

For higher volume applications, we provide semi- up to fully-automated systems that can incorporate elements like material handling and camera-driven quality control. In addition to providing superior reliability, these machines offer enhanced efficiency and reduced labor requirements.

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Decorate Wide Range of Substrates

Both digital and pad printing provide highly durable print on a wide range of plastics , metal and wood substrates. Both techniques can be used to decorate treated and painted surfaces as well.

Range of substrates
Decorate Wide Range of Shapes

Pad printing machines are particularly well-suited to printing on a range of even the most challenging part geometries. Our printing equipment can decorate flat (linear), 2D, 3D, curved, recessed surfaces, and raised surfaces with the highest possible precision tolerances.

pad printing options

Pad Print Decoration

Benefits, Considerations, Trans Tech Expertise

Benefits

Pad Printing Benefits
Benefit Description
Print on Rough Surfaces and Textures, 3D Shaped Objects Pad printing uses a silicone pad with the shape and durometer selected to fit the application needs. The pad conforms to the shape and texture of the object to transfer ink completely. Ability to print on products that have inconsistent dimensions or variations, such as blow molded parts. Utilizing flexible silicone transfer pads, pad printing is the ideal method for printing irregular shaped products. Pad printing also has the diversity to print round, cylindrical, flat, raised, as well as recessed areas. Pad printing has the ability to fill most textured surfaces.
High-Quality Images Pad printing can provide photographic quality decoration. Pad printing can provide fine-scale detail on critical components that require line definition down to .0001” (25µm).
Extreme Accuracy & Repeatability Pad printing can provide the accuracy required on components such as:

  • Medical devices
  • Pharmaceutical dispensing components
  • Surgical devices
  • Safety components
  • Automotive components
  • Military components
  • Consumer Electronic components & devices
  • Optical components
Accurate & Consistent Decoration Color The pad printing process applies films & coatings with extremely high accuracy.

With the high accuracy (.00011” / 3µm) the pad printing process provides an accurate & repeatable film color. (variations below what the unaided human eye can perceive).
Medical & Automotive Grade Inks Available Broad range of ink formulations available. Trans Tech provides materials for many specific requirements such as biocompatibility, chemical resistance, wear resistance, UV resistance, sterilization resistance.
Fast & Easy Tooling Changes Changeover time on Pad printing systems. On systems that utilize liners, an ink change can be accomplished in 1-2 minutes. Liner systems can be removed & cleaned in under 5 minutes, without a need for wash tanks.
More Cost-Effective Than Many Alternatives Compared to hot stamping or heat transfer labels, pad printing is cheaper when flexibility is required. With pad printing, there is the flexibility to change graphics, ink chemistry, and ink color very quickly at a much lower cost. With hot stamping, the cost of foil is high due to high minimum order quantity and the cost for producing foils in specific colors for specific substrates can be extremely expensive. With heat transfer labels, there is a high cost associated with printing the label due to high minimum order quantity and the cost of applying the label.

Pad printing eliminates much of the cost incurred with labeling products. (cost of printing labels & cost of applying the label).
UV Curable Inks For Instant Curing With the UV curable ink formulations, the product can move directly into assembly or packaging. This ink completely cures in seconds, providing an extremely high ware & chemically resistant finished product.
Considerations

Pad Printing Considerations
Consideration Description
Pre-Treatment May Be Required In some cases, pre-treatment may be required on chemically resistant materials.
Ink viscosity Needs to be Controlled Ink viscosity is relevant to the process & requires control to function properly. This can have an impact on print quality. Defective prints could result when the ink is too thick or too thin, where the pad won’t pick up the image from the plate or release ink onto the part.
Solvents Required Solvents used in the pad printing process are hazardous chemicals that may be volatile or flammable and may possess health hazards. Thinner is required to adjust the ink viscosity. Solvents are required for cleaning all components.
Post-Treatment May Be Required Some of the ink formulations require heat to increase adhesion. Post curing may be required if the product is packaged in bulk or assembled immediately after printing.
Print Size Limited by the Size of the Ink Cup The ink cup diameter defines the maximum size of the print image. 60mm ink cup = 50mm maximum image diameter. 90mm ink cup = 80mm maximum image diameter. 130mm ink cup = 110mm maximum image diameter. The exception is the Orion 130 with CupSlide, which can print an image 460mm in length.
Changing Artwork Requires Changing Plates Artwork is etched onto a steel or polymer plate and is permanent. To change artwork, a new plate needs to be etched with the new artwork.
Limitations on Metallic Colors A chrome finish cannot be accomplished with pad printing inks.
Skilled Operators/Maintenance Personnel Required Maintenance personnel need to understand the pad printing process in order to address any print quality issues. Some factors they need to understand are: how environmental factors such as temperature and humidity affect print quality and may need to adjust the ink viscosity accordingly.
Pad Printing Expertise

Trans Tech has over 40 years of experience in designing and manufacturing pad printing equipment for product decoration. Our deep familiarity with the entire product decoration process allows to serve as a true One-Stop-Shop for pad printing needs. We provide pad printing machines as well as precision tooling, pads, plates and inks. Our systems run the gamut from manual to fully automated.