Medical Pad Printing
Printing on 3D Products
Pad printing works on three-dimensional objects because it applies ink with an “indirect” method. In direct printing, the image is transferred from a hard-surfaced printing plate onto a flat object. But in Pad Printing, the image is first transferred from the plate to a soft and flexible silicone pad. Due to the soft, conforming surface of the inked pad, it precisely transfers the inked image to the contours of the 3-dimensional object.
Pad Printing utilizes a variety of different shaped pads, depending on the shape of the final product. A rotating silicone cylinder is used to print all the way around tube-shaped items.
How the Pad Printing Process Works
Rotational Pad Printing
Rotational printing is a specialized type of Pad Printing developed to deal with the challenges of printing all the way around a tubular surface. Depending on the area to be covered, it's often referred to as either 180¬degree printing or 360¬degree printing.
The process of rotational pad printing is important in the medical device industry because it enables the creation of a variety of markings on cylindrically-shaped components, such as catheters, fiber optic cables, guidewires and medical tubing.
How the Rotational Printing Process Works
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