Various plastic slugs for industrial cleaning equipment are to be printed with the manufacturer’s two-tone logo. The ideal printing system solution needs to be able to provide the prescribed output (1,100 pcs/h), the greatest degree of flexibility in terms of the processed workpieces, and options for extending the system in the future (fully automated supply feeds, third printing position, camera system for assessing printed image).
After considering the customer’s specifications, TAMPONCOLOR selected a transfer system for printing onto the plastic pieces; the system allows the pieces to be led to the individual processing stations by twenty revolving carriers with modularly constructed intakes.
The first step is the plasma pretreatment of the surfaces of the polypropylene parts. This is followed by two printing steps with the servo-electrically powered pad printing machines, the TAMPONCOLOR TC 80-100 T/Servo, which are equipped with fully-automated pad cleaning systems. The workpiece carriers are laid in front of the printing positions by means of pneumatic positioning. Workpieces are dried in a subsequent drying station with short-wave infra-red radiation.
Workpieces are removed by a servo-axis, which can be equipped with pneumatic pincers or vacuum cups, depending on the component at hand.
The entire system is conceived so that it can be modified to fit the geometry of new workpieces and print images as quickly as possible (approx. 50 different variations with 6 different print images). This is achieved by using servo-electric drive systems for lateral and vertical positioning, the location parameters for which can be stored on the central PLC and retrieved according to the component required.
Expansion positions were included in construction with a view towards expanding to include an additional pad printing machine and employing fully-automated feed systems.
The main dimensions are approx. 11 x 3.5 m.
By using the pad printing system, customers are able to react to customer requests and commissions flexibly and quickly even in the event of high output quantities and regardless of the components involved.
Maximum output with minimal set-up times (< 5 minutes for the entire system).
