Pads

The actual task of Pad Printer machines is transferring the design & ink from a cliché' to products by using pads. Consequently, the pads must have a homogeny & flexible construction to transfer a constant pressure for a high quality print. But it is also imperative that they resist chemical materials such as solvent (Thinner and Retarder) and inks. Incidentally Sepas pads are made from high quality materials for the best possible performance and standards according to customers’ requirements. Sepas currently offers over 100 standard printing pads; with an optimum pad size, shape and hardness (durometer) for almost any job. In addition to these stock shapes, Sepas can produce custom pads for your special application.

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Printing pads can be categorized into three major groups

Loaf Pads:  which are square or rectangular

Round Pads:  shaped like tapered cylinders, bullets, or cones

Bar Pads: which are long extrusions of a given profile

The selection of the pads depends on the material, shape and characteristic of the products that the printing process would be done on. The shape & the hardness of a pad are the most Important factors to be considered when choosing a pad. The hardness influences the quality of the print as well as the durability of the pad. In general, the hardness of a pad could be classified into three categories: Soft, Medium & Hard. Soft pads should be used when printing on soft & fragile products with an intensely curved surface, such as: Eggs, Bubbles, Disposable plates, etc. Medium Pads are the most common type of pads which could be used to print on products such as CDs, Stationary, Home Appliance, promotional products, cosmetics, Toys, etc. Hard Pads are suitable for Materials such as Chinaware, Metal, Ceramics, Stones, Ultra ides, Glass, etc.

  Size

To achieve a precise, sharp print the pad should be as large as possible. The less the pad deforms, the more exact is the printed image. Especially with difficult printing designs, in which the corners have to be printed at an exact angle, the pad has to be much larger than the image. For this reason, the manufacturers usually state the printing size of the pads smaller than the actual or possible print size.

  Maintenance of Pads

New pads tend to lift the ink from the plate badly. A few prints onto paper or a quick cleaning with mild solvents (acetone) or adhesive tape (wide brown package tape) will take care of this problem.        

If the pad is cleaned with very harsh solvents like ink thinners, the pad will pick up the ink from the plate immediately, but it will print the image with poorer quality. Pads should be kept away from dust, dirt and sharp edges and positioned upwards while storing.

  Durability

Under normal conditions a pad will print approximately 100,000 prints. This depends upon factors such  as shape, size & hardness of the pad and type of inks used; Using high quality inks would the Lifetime of pads. Hence/therefore/thus it's recommended that you use high quality inks for pad printing. In addition, long time continuous use of pad, reduces its durability. The durability of pad can be increased by silicone increased by silicone spray Or silicone oil treatment during "resting" or storage time.