ITW Trans Tech: PADPRINT: FuelCapSystem



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Fully-Automated Pad Printing System:
Fuel Cap Owes Colorful Image To Weiss Ring Design

AUTOMOTIVE component applications demand high durability and efficiency.
That means the finished product needs to take the wear and tear of heat, cold and mileage. But also the solution must survive the bottom line of the budget. With these dual pressures of lowering costs while maintaining quality, our engineers must design systems that are simple but effective; compact but accurate. We don't need to reinvent the wheel, but sometimes it takes reinventing the "ring."

Multicolor Image, High Output & Low Operator Involvement
Our challenge on this decorating system was to padprint text and a multicolor logo image onto a black nylon automotive fuel cap. The finished system was to be fully automated with minimal operator involvement. Output was targeted at 1000 parts per hour. With this goal, our machine designers started their punch list: The four pad printing heads needed to hold registration at top speed. Althought the nylon substrate did not require pretreatment, the four-color inked image needed the intense, quick heat of thermocuring as well as a cooldown blower before dropping into a bulk hopper.

With floor space and budget limitations, the demand for an integrated, compact printing unit with infeed and outfeed features was obvious. To make all these elements work together, the Weiss Ring indexing conveyor was the solution.

Shown above, elevated view of printing section of system, including full safety guarding, structure base, and operator control panel. Below: closer view of print station two (yellow ink image) with guard door open, showing the circular configuration of components on and around interior of Weiss indexing ring.
Entire knob printing system

At the first print station, the white background image is applied by the Comet 90 printer to the fuel cap. Notice the two-pad assembly which enables printing on either side of the raised center ridge. The double-hit of white ink on the black nylon substrate will serve as both text and contrasting base for additional lighter colors. Note the two grey tubes which supply pressurized air to orange-tipped pad blowers.

At the second print station, the yellow ink image is applied by the first Comet 60 machine onto a portion of the white image. As the Weiss ring advances to two subsequent print stations, images of light and dark green inks are added to complete the artwork.

Loading and unloading are performed by a tandem pick-and-place unit which positions a blank part into the empty fixture on the Weiss ring while simultaneously picking up a finished part and unloading it onto the outfeed conveyor.
printing & inspection units

Detail of pick and place unit unloading printed part onto outfeed conveyor. Parts then drop into bulk bins on final conveyor which advances as each bin is full. Shown below, overall view of entire system from above includes (from left) electrical cabinet with overhead boom, outfeed conveyor, printing module, and infeed hopper.

For more details on our custom-engineered, automated pad printing systems, feel free to contact your local ITW Trans Tech rep at: www.itwtranstech.com

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	Technical Data: Fuel Cap Pad Printing System: Pad Printing Application: Printing multicolor image on automotive fuel cap. Featured Machine: Custom-designed pneumatic “Comet”-style sealed ink cup printers: 60mm (3) & 90mm (1). Benefit: Finished system enables fully automatic decoration in a production environment with minimal operator involvement. Sequence of Operation: Conveyor orients and feeds parts into track for pick & place unit to load each fixture with blank part. Printer one imprints white text and logo background, station two adds yellow, three adds first green, four finishes with second green. Components: Heavy-duty machine base, frame, top-plate; escapement for overlapping flanges; pick & place load mechanism; eighteen-position Weiss indexing ring; eighteen one-up support fixtures; pad blower system including ring compressor & fittings; part reject station; part eject station; off-load conveyor; complete guarding; complete electrical controls & panel, plus circuit cabinet and overhead boom to main unit. Production Rate: 1000 parts per hour Artwork: Four color(s); image: multicolor logo and white text within diameter of circular cap, on either side of raised center rib; slightly concave. Cliché Plate: Material: hardened steel, 100x215 (1), 140x70 (3). Substrate: Nylon, with fine sand texture, color: black. Ink Type Used: Three custom colors plus white, Type B with epoxy. Curing: Thermodiffusion, 8000w Delivery: Ten weeks *Read about another Weiss Ring pad printing application!* Strengths of the Weiss Design: Most significant feature of the Weiss Ring is the circular configuration of components on and around the interior of the indexing ring. This benefits pad printing applications with: • *Minimal Tolerance-* Because its cam-locking mechanism is directly beneath the ring at the printing station, the tolerance is kept to a minimum. With other indexers, such as dials, where the cam is located at the center axis, the tolerance is magnified by the radius of the dial. • *Tight Registration-* With the resulting minimal tolerance, multicolor applications can be achieved. Each subsequent image will fall exactly in position, identical from part to part, throughout the entire run. • *Easy Access-* Thanks to its configuration of components on the inside of the ring, facing out, operators gain convenient access to pads, clichés and ink cups. The difficulties involved in reaching across the diameter of a dial are eliminated. • *Efficient Arrangement-* Because of its arrangement of components within the ring, the routing of electrical and pneumatic lines are simpler. Also since the distances are less, connecting cables, tubing and wiring are kept to a minimum. More Pad Printing Applications: • food canister • multicolor golfball • satellite dish • toothbrush • catheter luerlock • various catheters • slidemount • syringe • blender housing • medical device • Others *OTHER USEFUL TOPICS:* Art & Cliché Order Form: Pre-Flight Checklist Automation Case Study: Versatile Knob Printing Tips from the Pros: Test Your Fixture Science vs. Black Magic: Why Grey Scale Test? Professor Tom's Advice: Grey Scale Test Can Save You Money Contact Us