ITW Trans Tech: Automated Pad Printing Systems

Automation

High-Volume, Single-Source, Turnkey Pad Printing Systems

Custom-Designed
to Customer Requirements

Integrated with
Manufacturing Process

Full Safety Guarding to
OSHA Standards

Custom-Designed Manufacture & Building of Automated Pad Printing Systems

TO meet the demands of high-volume product decorators, semi- and fully automated pad printing systems are often required. ITW Trans Tech has a long and successful track record of custom automation building for major OEMs in medical devices, automotive, custom injection molding and other product decorating industries since 1979.

Robotics in Padprinting more...

Examples of Automated Pad Printing Applications:

• dispenser package

• fuel cap

• automotive bezel

• food canister

• multicolor golfball

• satellite dish

• toothbrush

• catheter luerlock

• various catheters

• slidemount

• remote control

• television housing

• syringe

• blender housing

• medical device

• marker button

• various rotary applications

• Others

State-of-the-art CAD machine design enables innovative engineering within a completely digital environment.

Our team of engineers, R&D staff and print lab technicians work together to turn customer dreams into realities: from concept to design to machine building to precision fine-tuning. Our state-of-the-art production facilities and experienced craftsmen manufacture the entire system in-house to ensure total quality control while providing each customer with a single-source, turnkey system.

CNC machine operator

CNC manufacture of multiple holding fixtures and custom millwork is required for accurate, high-volume, automated pad printing systems.

Custom-automated machine systems for pad printing may include: part feeding, sorting, orientation, conveyors, pick & place loading and unloading, part presence sensors, inspection, pretreatment, holding fixtures, pad blowers, post-print curing, assembly, ejection and others.

custom-building an automated system

This capability to custom-build systems from the ground up offers customers our valuable expertise in solving unique pad printing challenges without limitations. ITW Trans Tech has designed and manufactured semi- and fully automated pad printing systems for a wide range of industries and products, including medical devices, automotive, electronics, computers, sporting goods, communication and many others.
For some customers, our Fast-Track custom-designed semi-automated sytems may be a better fit. For more details click here.

Check out the PADPRINT Notebook: an archive of articles from past issues more....

Time To Re-Tool?
Ask Our Experts more...

For Tooling, Re-tooling or Fixture information:

Retooling Manager:
Owen Ault
630.909.5777

Fully automated system for applying two colors to both sides of a medical device. This application uses a Weiss ring indexing dial. To see the complete specifications, click here.

Multicolor automated padprinting system for printing dispenser package

Multicolor dispenser package printing system features linear racetrack to move parts at varying speeds for printing and curing with precision accuracy. More...

Another fully automated system we designed and built uses a precision Weiss ring to index parts and hold registration. Take a closer look at this four-color system for pad printing on automotive fuel caps.

Fully automated system for pad printing medical devices

Detail view of a fully automated system for pad printing and assembling a medical device, using a single over / under conveyor, multiple Sealcup 90 pad printers, pick & place devices, pad clean-off devices, I/R curing, & vision inspection.

Photo of Rotary Pad Printer & Food Canisters

A custom-designed food canister rotary pad printing system (detail of printing area shown at right.)

Rotary Pad Printing on Food Container Canisters
A major manufacturer of food containers approached ITW Trans Tech with the following request: design and manufacture a printing system for decorating cylindrical canisters of various sizes with horizontal stripes around a 360° circumference. The plastic containers vary in dimension from 50mm to 178mm diameters and substrates include polycarbonate and polypropylene. Production requirements call for decorating 900 pieces per hour. The product must be loaded, pretreated, printed, cured, unloaded, and conveyed to packaging.

To solve this pad printing challenge, important consideration was given to part-moving, treating and curing operations. What began as a concept for a simple, rotary pad-printing application evolved into a sophisticated automation using integrated auxiliary equipment to achieve high production rates.

Scroll below for more pad printing challenges or feel free to contact us.

Photo of Pad Printer and Printed Golfballs

A custom-designed multicolor golfball pad printing system built around the MKM 80 pad printing machine (shown at left above with custom dial indexer accessory).

Multicolor Golfball Pad Printing
A major golfball manufacturer required a decorating system with the following capabilities: automatically apply a combination of up to five-color graphics on any combination of up to four poles of golfballs; maximum number of prints per pole is five.

In the finished system, the operator removes a finished ball from the fixture and replaces it with an unprinted ball while the MKM 80 is printing the ball in the second fixture. When the print cycle is complete, the two-position dial indexer swings 180 degrees to move the second fixture from the print station to the operator with the fixture opening automatically. As the first fixture moves to the print station, the ball is clamped inside.

The system is easily programmed through the touchpad control panel. The MKM 80 sealed ink cup pad printing machine, as configured, is designed for a full range of multicolor golfball applications at a most economical level. The concept unites complex precision technology with amazingly simple handling.

Scroll below for more pad printing challenges or feel free to contact us.

Photo of satellite dishes being pad printed

A semi-automatic system for pad printing on satellite dishes (detail view of printing area shown above).

Pad Printing On Satellite Dishes
An international communications company asked ITW Trans Tech to design a customized application for semi-automatic pad printing of various logos on digital television satellite dishes.

The finished system needed to print on three different sizes of steel, powder-coated dishes, including 46cm diameter (weighing 1.36kg) to 60cm (2.95kg) to 76cm (4.4kg). Our customer’s requirements were for a machine with manual loading and unloading with a capability of printing twelve parts per minute. An ink curing unit was also needed to enable immediate bulk packing of finished parts.

The machine operation is very simple: the operator loads the unprinted dish onto the fixture and presses the two-hand, anti-tiedown buttons to activate the dial. Once the dish has passed the guard door, it is pad printed and moves to the next position for curing. There the part is treated by a high-temperature thermodiffusion curing unit. Finally, the dial moves one more time to return the dish to the operator’s station where it is manually unloaded.

For more information on these or any other pad printing challenge, feel free to contact us.