Application and development of pad printing technology

Pad printing technology was introduced to my country in the 1980s. Because it can print on products with small areas and concave and convex surfaces, it has very obvious advantages, thus making up for the shortcomings of screen printing, so it has developed rapidly in recent years.With the further opening of my country's market, a large number of foreign-funded enterprises focusing on traditional industries such as electronics, plastics, gifts, and toys have entered our country. Decoration methods based on pad printing and screen printing technology have achieved extraordinary development.According to incomplete statistics, the application of pad printing and screen printing technologies in the above-mentioned industries has reached 27%, 64%, 51% and 66% respectively.

Pad printing and screen printing technologies have similarities.For example, it has wide adaptability to substrates; it uses a wide variety of inks, and most of the two inks can be used in common. By changing the fixture and printing plate, it is very convenient to complete the printing of different products.Therefore, on many occasions, pad printing and screen printing technology are inseparable.Because the two technologies are so close, most printing companies have classified pad printing technology into the field of screen printing for investigation. Therefore, there is still no specialized organization to study pad printing technology, and there is also a lack of detailed investigation of pad printing technology in the market. Organizations, many data involving pad printing companies cannot independently reflect the actual situation of pad printing technology.
There must still be many differences between pad printing and screen printing technologies. For example, there are obvious differences in the ink transfer process: the structure of the printing machine is different; the types of substrates are also very different.In fact, the differences between them are far greater than the similarities.The reason why they are traditionally bundled together is because they face a common market.In this market, pad printing is inseparable from screen printing, and screen printing is inseparable from pad printing.Divorcing pad printing from the screen printing industry is difficult and unnecessary.But if you want to deeply understand the current status of pad printing technology, you cannot look at it from the perspective of the screen printing industry.
At present, we tend to regard paper printing as mainstream printing, and it has received great attention from theoretical circles.In recent years, screen printing has received much attention, primarily because of its printing advantages on paper.For example, screen printing is used to complete UV partial glazing of paper. The printing of special UV inks such as coral ink, ice flower ink, and Zou pattern ink has better results than offset printing and flexo printing.Overall, the technology content of pad printing is not high, and it is very difficult to continue to develop when production costs in developed countries remain high.Therefore, it is an inevitable trend for pad printing technology to transfer to developing countries with low labor costs like my country.At present, except for a few foreign companies that can manufacture highly automated pad printing production lines, most companies have moved their production bases to my country.This is an opportunity for our country, but what is the development level of pad printing technology? What is development?

plate making
Traditional printing is achieved by first transferring the graphics and text on the original manuscript to the surface of the printing plate.As far as pad printing plate making is concerned, a combination of gravure plate making technology and corrosion sign technology should be used.Gravure plate making technology has now developed to a combination of electronic engraving and laser technology, and sign corrosion has also gradually phased out acid etching technology.However, pad printing plate making still remains based on ancient techniques, which is related to the conditions of the pad printing technology itself.First of all, the cost of pad printing processing is low, and the cost of using electronic engraving and laser engraving is too high, which is unaffordable for ordinary enterprises.The operation process of acid corrosion is easy to master and has low cost. Although there are serious environmental pollution problems, it is still used by the vast majority of enterprises.Pad printing steel plate
Pad printing steel plates occupy a major position in the use of pad printing technology. Some oil plate pad printing machines and 16% of oil cup pad printing machines use thick steel plates with a thickness of about 15 ram; another 77% of oil plate printing machines use thick steel plates with a thickness of about 15 ram. The cup-type pad printing machine uses a thin steel plate with a thickness of 0.2.5~0.5mm. The plate-making technology is the same and the base material used is roughly the same.The steel plate must have a fine organizational structure and the surface finish must be high enough.The former ensures the neatness of the edges of the etched graphics and text, thereby ensuring the integrity of the dot structure, so that the edge sharpness and color restoration of the printed graphics and text can be achieved to the greatest extent; the latter ensures the cleanliness of the scraping ink and the print durability.The thick steel plates used on pad printing machines have higher surface tolerance requirements.If the surface tolerance is too large, it will accelerate the wear of the oil cup on the one hand, and it will also affect the sealing property of the ink on the other hand.If the steel plate used on an oil pan type pad printing machine is to be used on an oil cup type pad printing machine, it must ensure a higher surface finish and a lower flatness tolerance.
resin version
Resin plates have not been applied to pad printing technology for a long time, but they have already received attention.The resin plate is mainly made of nylon photosensitive adhesive and is cast on the surface of the zinc plate, similar to the resin plate used on self-adhesive trademarks.Nylon has very good wear resistance and can withstand repeated friction with an oil cup or scraper after photocuring.The advantage of using resin plates is that it is easy to obtain extremely fine dots. It is best to use resin plates when printing exquisite small items.If manufacturing a cup-type pad printing machine reflects the manufacturing level of a company, then it will be more difficult to manufacture a pad printing machine that uses a resin version.After all, nylon photosensitive adhesive is a polymer material. When the manufacturing accuracy of the base plate supporting it is poor, it is not easy for the pad printing machine to complete ordinary printing.The surface state of polymer materials is very fine, and slight defects will seriously affect the quality of printing.
plate making process
At present, the production of pad printing steel plates mainly uses nitric acid solution and ferric chloride solution with added protective agents for corrosion. The acid smell used in this corrosion is very smelly, and the generated nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide are harmful to the human body. The harm is great.Chemical solvents based on hydrogen peroxide are often used for development after corrosion of the steel plate, which is also harmful to human skin.Therefore, its use has been banned in European countries, and resin plates or laser engraving are used to make plates.Some companies have successfully trial-produced the method of using powder-free etching machines to etch zinc plates to corrode steel plates.This method greatly reduces environmental pollution.Resin plate making becomes much more environmentally friendly and safer.The resin version uses nylon photosensitive glue and can be developed with alcohol.With the implementation of digital technology, it will not take too long to use digital methods to produce pad printing resin plates.
Pad printing machine new technology
It is a consensus in the industry that pad printing machines are developing towards automation.This is the fundamental way to improve production efficiency and reduce costs. It is also the transformation of pad printing technology from labor-intensive to