Pad Printing Explained
With pad printing you can print on almost any substrate. Of all printing techniques, pad printing is one of the most versatile techniques when you look at printing on difficult shapes of substrates, especially if the mark requires color.
Through the years we have worked with a wide variety of customers in different industries. What can you do with pad printing? And in what kind of industries is it used? Some examples are:
PROMOTIONAL GIFTS
Pens, USB drives, notebooks, mint boxes, and many other items made from materials like plastic, wood, and metal can be printed by pad printing.
PLASTIC INDUSTRY
All kinds of plastics can be printed with pad printing. The most common ones are: Polycarbonate (PC), Acrylic (PMMA), Polypropylene (PP), Polyethylene (PE), Acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS), Poly-vinyl-chloride (PVC), and Polystyrene (PS) etc. The variety of plastics is wide. Examples of products made out of plastic and decorated by pad printing are computers, keyboards, auto parts, pens, hand tools, technical parts, and plastic housings, just to name a few.
GLASS INDUSTRY
Pad printing is an excellent way of decorating glass. The pad can adapt itself to the shape of the substrate making pad printing an ideal technique for printing on round substrates like drinking glasses or little glass bottles. Bottles are often made out of glass, but they can also be made out of other materials which can be printed on as well. Other applications where you print on glass are light bulbs, tube lighting, eyeglasses, car windows, medical beakers, and measuring devices, etc.
TAGLESS PRINTING AND TEXTILE DECORATING
Almost all clothing is fitted with a wash/care tag in the neck or in the side seam. The newest technique to provide washing instructions and branding is to print it directly on the garment using pad printing. This print can be positioned in the neck or other area. The care instructions are printed using ink. Other clothing articles can be printed as well. Insoles for shoes and cleaning cloths for glasses can also be printed. We can provide ink with Oeko-tex TM Certification.
AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY
Gas caps, brake pads, and dashboard components are printed using pad printing. Under the hood of the car, a lot of items are printed, including belts and hoses. Sometimes it is only for product identification. In this industry a lot of different materials, such as metal, glass, plastics, rubber, silicone, and coated parts are pad printed.
PRINTING MEDICAL PRODUCTS
The printing of scales is very common in the medical industry. Catheter tubes, infusion tubes, and ostomy bags require printing with a proper scaling or a logo on them. Some of this printing has to be done in cleanroom environments. We have machines that can live up to these specs and can assist in guiding our customers in IQ, OQ, and PQ certification, as well as assistance in cleanroom supplies.
PRINTING ON TOOLS
Screwdrivers, wrenches, spanners, hammers, pliers, and electrical tools like drilling machines, jigsaws, grinding machines, etc. are usually printed with some kind of branding or identification, typically pad printers. In addition to these, safety helmets, saw blades and discs, grinding discs, etc. can all be pad printed.
COSMETICS AND CARE PRODUCTS
Nail polish bottles, mascara tubes, compacts, and shampoo and perfume bottles are all items that are commonly decorated and labeled using pad printing. Our pad printers can decorate these bottles circumferentially and can also be built to mark multiple sides of square bottles.
ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY
Computers, tablets, car parts, machine parts, electronic components, household appliances, and more use pad printing. So many small substrates need identification in the form of a barcode.
PACKING INDUSTRY
Carton boxes, plastic bags, and wooden or metal boxes can be decorated using pad printing. Logos, legal text, or specifications printed directly on packages are common solutions in the reduction of time and packaging.
PRINTING ON FOOD AND AGRICULTURE PRODUCTS
Within these product branches more and more items are printed with pad printers. Flowers, such as roses, can be printed with a company logo or ‘I love you’ on a leaf, an apple, pear, or other fruit, as well as vegetables, are some examples of pad printed agricultural products. For printing on foods, we supply edible, food-grade inks. Eggs for easter can also be printed using pad printing.
Printing directly on fruit and vegetables with barcodes is also an emerging technology. Using edible ink means packaging and labels are eliminated, which is better for the environment.
TOY INDUSTRY
Lots of toys are decorated using pad printing. Many of them using multi-color designs. Babydoll faces, action figures, construction blocks made out of plastic and wood, miniature cars and trains, etc. – the possibilities are truly endless. Any kind of toy can be printed in pad printing. In general, plastics and wood are printed in this field. We offer inks that are certified to be non-hazardous for childrens’ toys.
SPORTS GEAR INDUSTRY
Golf balls, tennis balls, baseballs, helmets, ski boots, arrows, bows, bicycle parts, hockey sticks, and other items are all pad printed. This area is a very large decoration market.
PAD PRINTING ON METAL
Aluminum, steel, copper, brass. titanium, etc., can all be easily pad printed with inks that are very impervious to scratching and even aggressive chemicals. Products made out of metal such as tools, technical parts, and promotional gifts are all excellent examples of pad printed parts.
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