C-9000 PrinterApex has been providing printers into this marketplace for decades and offer machines for every type of decoration requirement onto all types of pens, pencils, markers, ballpen refills, rulers, protractors, set squares, erasers, plastic clips, and more.

Our printing solutions for this marketplace range from low speed, highly flexible, bench top units for small run advertising novelty use to high speed dedicated lines for marker pen barrels running at speeds up to 600 parts per minute.

 

Machine types for this market include:

 

C-40 Cylindrical Parts Printers

C-40 Cylindrical Parts Printers

Apex C-40 series printers are highly adaptable to suit a wide variety of specialist printing and decorating applications. The flexible design characteristics enable the machines to have considerable scope for size adjustments to allow a variety of products to be printed. The C-40 can be supplied with a variety of print technologies ranging from dry offset and gravure, to hot foil applications or specialist coatings.

Diverse applications for the C-40 range include:

Lipstick Tubes, Golf Balls, Cans, Rigid Tubes, Corks, Cups, Bottles, Squeeze Tubes,  Pill Jars and Glue Sticks to name just a few.

The C-40 can be supplied as a complete semi-automatic straight wall cylindrical part printing system that includes a feed station, pre-treat station, print station, UV drying station, and optional eject station all in one small footprint.

This machine is designed so that parts can be manually loaded onto mandrels located on a four or eight station rotary index wheel. On a four mandrel index wheel, the load mandrel is also the exit mandrel. An optional automatic eject can be added to the eight mandrel system. The C-40 can also be supplied with part or full automation for higher speed operation.

Following the loading section is an optional Gas Flame or Corona pre-treatment section where the part is rotated and the circumference is pre-treated prior to its entrance into the print station. Following the pre-treatment is the print section, where colors and graphics are added to the part. Next, the part indexes into a UV curing section where the part is rotated and the circumference is exposed to the UV light source until the ink is "cured" and dry. Finally, the part indexes so that it can be ejected.

Either a mechanical part holder or an optional Vacuum Assist mechanism is typically utilized to secure the part to a mandrel. An optional Rotational Orientation Device can be integrated on each mandrel to register the imprint on the part.

For multiple color capacity, this machine utilizes either Dry Offset or FlexApex printing methods for decorating the cylindrical objects. Each Dry Offset Print Head includes a 360° plate drum allowing for the use of Photopolymer Print Plates. These plates may be secured using a variety of optional plate mounting systems, for example, Vacuum, Magnetic, Strap-On or Double Sided Tape.

The print station can consist of up to Four Dry Offset Heads printing circumferentially on the part. If the part incorporates STRAIGHT WALLS, a 360° artwork wrap can be achieved. An optional angling device can allow for tapered parts to be printed however, the more the taper, the less artwork wrap can be achieved. In either case, spot artwork can be printed around the circumference.

The C-40 in manual loading mode operates at about 20 to 35 parts per minute, limited only by the speed of the operator. It is ideally suited for a wide variety of cylindrical products including cups and tubes. In automatic loading configurations higher operation speeds of up to 100 parts per minute can be achieved.

The following is a listing of standard options:

  • Four or Eight Station layout
  • Orientation Device
  • Vacuum Part Assist
  • Mechanical Part Assist
  • Gas Flame Treating Station - for 3", 6" or 9" wide print area
  • Corona Treating Station - for 3", 6" or 9" wide print area
  • Up to Four Dry Offset Print Heads - for 3", 6" or 9" wide print area
  • Vacuum, Magnetic, Strap-on or Double-sided Tape plate mount systems
  • Ultraviolet Light Drying System - for 3", 6" or 9" wide print area
  • Air Blow Off or Mechanical Eject System
  • Choice of Printing Systems - Dry Offset, Flexapex, Hot Foil

Detailed machine information, specifications and, in many cases, videos are available on request once we have the basic details of your application and requirements to enable us to select and supply the most relevant information and recommendations. Please click below to submit a request for additional information. We will be very pleased to provide you further information and assistance.