Looking for printer for artwork on small camera housing with protrusion

[Ed_]

I'm new to this, but am looking around for printer that can put artwork on a small plastic camera housing with a small protrusion for the lens that is about 1/8" tall.

The camera is small, and measures .65" x 1.69" x 2.05". Material will be plastic of various colors, exact material is to be determined, but will be made via 3D printing or plastic injection molding. Face to print on will be flat, printed area will be on a single plane within 1.5" x 2" rectangle, but needs to work around lens bump which is about 3/4" diameter x 1/8" tall.

Artwork is intended to be custom - small runs of various graphics onto same geometry.

From looking around online, I think I need a UV LED printer. I found seven manufacturers and tried contacting asking for help. The only one that looked like a match so far is ArtisJet 2100U which is from China. They claim the print head is 1/3" away from printing surface and would work - but the reviews online for the product didn't look so great.

I see Mimaki offers many models, but they won't respond to any of my emails asking for information. I'm not having much luck finding any specs online for any of these printers regarding how they can handle a product like mine with a protrusion.

I only need a very small print area.. I don't need to print multiples at once. I'm just looking for a one that will work well for this geometry, is easy to use, and will not have a lot of maintenance. If you have suggestions, I would appreciate it..

 

[Ed_]

Another question - are there any services out there that will print custom artwork on my product? I'd like to be able to send my parts out, have a handful of logos printed on them - to see what the finished product looks like, and give us an option short term until we're able to procure a printer and do this ourselves. It would also be helpful to see printed sample to see what these machines are capable of.

 

[ScooterGuy]

I'm new to this, but am looking around for printer that can put artwork on a small plastic camera housing with a small protrusion for the lens that is about 1/8" tall.

The camera is small, and measures .65" x 1.69" x 2.05". Material will be plastic of various colors, exact material is to be determined, but will be made via 3D printing or plastic injection molding. Face to print on will be flat, printed area will be on a single plane within 1.5" x 2" rectangle, but needs to work around lens bump which is about 3/4" diameter x 1/8" tall.

Artwork is intended to be custom - small runs of various graphics onto same geometry.

From looking around online, I think I need a UV LED printer. I found seven manufacturers and tried contacting asking for help. The only one that looked like a match so far is ArtisJet 2100U which is from China. They claim the print head is 1/3" away from printing surface and would work - but the reviews online for the product didn't look so great.

I see Mimaki offers many models, but they won't respond to any of my emails asking for information. I'm not having much luck finding any specs online for any of these printers regarding how they can handle a product like mine with a protrusion.

I only need a very small print area.. I don't need to print multiples at once. I'm just looking for a one that will work well for this geometry, is easy to use, and will not have a lot of maintenance. If you have suggestions, I would appreciate it..

By chance would a "pad printer" work for you? Tis is sort of like screen printing but is very good for placing one color of ink at a time on an irregular shaped item. These pad printers are how items like pens or various unusually shaped items with various dimensions are decorated. I have seen one and two ink color models and they may make models that can print more colors.

 

[Ed_]

ScooterGuy-
Thanks for the suggestion. I don't think I've seen these before - I'll do some research. If they can work with the geometry and make a quality print, this might be a good match.


-Ed