Pad printer with space, speed, utility

Printing via the pad method in now possible at 2000 cycles/hr under most conditions for one color and typically 1700 cycle/hr in the two-color mode as a consequence of the latest advancements at Pad Print Machinery of Vermont (East Dorset, VT). Detailing the KP-06 unit, head machine designer Bill Kelley says, “We have combined the concept of a fixed cup/moving cliché with a moving pad to realize a machine that can be fed/loaded without concern for the pad vertical position, as the machine now can stop with the pad over the cliché area, and that leaves the loading and fixture area completely clear.” Further, the pad cleaning tape now lies below the cliché front position, so that when the pad is back, it is located directly above the tape, allowing immediate cleaning after a print cycle and zero waste of cycle time when operated in the single cycle mode. Under certain conditions of printing, the pad cleaning cycle ensures good image quality as well as pad and cliché life, according to Kelley.

The fact that the pad and cliché move toward one another during the inking cycle accelerates the cycle. This machine is available with two 110-mm cups in the two-color version and either a 110- or 130-mm cup in the single-color version. —[email protected]