Printing on raised characters

[craig petersen]

Looking to print the 1/32" raised portion of a typical ADA sign. We currently inject our own, one piece, "stock" ADA signs and screen the raised area to create the contrast (the 12 basic designs). We can also hot stamp the images (typically screen white and hot stamp black). We are looking to automate as much as we can. UV printers are great for custom ADA but not for the space we are in. There must be a print/coating method that would allow us to place the plastic on a conveyor that passes the product under a roller that "tips" the characters. Think of a license plate....raised characters getting printed. Google searches come up with people printing flat license plates. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[James Burke]

Ever consider roll-on hotstamping?

JB

Roll on Hot Stamping | Wabash Plastics, Inc.

Best suited for stripes, wraps, and longer decorations, roll on hot stamping decoration is another great way to apply long lasting decoration to your custom injection molded plastic parts.

wabashplastics.com

 

[Splash0321]

If you are screening them already and it’s effective couldn’t you invest in an automatic screen printer? I’ve seen them used in a local shop here and it’s as automated as it gets.

 

[craig petersen]

Thank you for the ideas The tight registration required when printing on raised characters makes the automation more difficult. Literally +/_ .005" is required. Screen printing flat images is much easy. Hot stamping means minimal set up time and easy to switch designs. Screening means plenty of time consuming registration and switch over time. We inject as many as 1000 6 x 9" stock ADA signs a day. Ideally we would print them immediately after injection by "tipping" them through a printer/coater of sorts. Wish I knew how license plates were done.