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PAD
PRINTING TECHNOLOGY
Pad printing is an indirect method of printing, a combination of
offset & gravure printing process. Plate system is like gravure &
printing system is like offset. In gravure printing, design is
etched on a roller whereas in pad printing, flat plate carries an
image. A rubber blanket, in offset process, picks up image from the
plate & transfer it on the substrate. Similarly a solid mass of
rubber called pad, picks up ink from the etched plate & prints on
the substrate hence the process is known as pad printing.
Theory of
pad print :
The ink is spread over the plate to fill up the image on it. Doctor
blade cleans the plate leaving ink in the etched portion. The upper
surface of the ink film is exposed to air. Thinner in the ink starts
evaporating from the exposed surface making ink tacky. The silicone
rubber pad come down & rolls on the image area on the plate. It goes
up with ink film on it. Because of the tacky ink film pad is able of
pick up ink from the etched portion. The another side of ink film is
now exposed to air & starts evaporating thinner from it. Ink becomes
tacky and sticks to the substrate as pad come up after rolling on
it.
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Advantages
of pad printing work :
Because of soft pads, able to take the shape of the products, pad
printing is possible on irregular surface, uneven surface & flat
surface.
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Low ink
usage in pad print
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Little
space required in pad print
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High
processing speed in pad print
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Prints
very fine details in pad print
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