Pad Printing Pads

Pad Shape

Pad shape can be almost anything imaginable, yet the most commonly used configurations are either round, conical, rectangle, square or “roof top” in appearance.
Please note: a print pad is only specified once the Durometer (Hardness), Color and Mounting Base is specified.

Round and Conical – Typically conical or round shaped pads are the most popular as their diameter allows them ability to print on virtually any surface be it round, flat, or irregular. Select a standard pad from our catalog page for Round Print Pads and Conical Print Pads
Square and Rectangular – Rectangle or square pads are more often used when solely printing lines of copy or graphics on flat surfaces. -> See catalog page Square Print Pads and Rectangular Print Pads
Roof Top – generally used when a pad must be forced within a narrow geometric area such as the parting line of a semiconductor strip. -> See catalog page Roof Top Pads and Elongated Roof Top Pads
Print Blanket – generally used like rectangular print pads hover build on metal shim as base – See catalog page Print Blankets
Rotary Print Pads or Print Rollers – used from round items where the print needs to cover more that a common print pad can print. -> See catalog Rotary Print Pads
Special pad shapes or custom pads should only be utilized if and only if the common shapes fail. Custom pads are usually more expensive than standard shapes. See our catalog for examples of Custom Print Pads
View and print our complete Print Pad Catalog (PDF Format)

Pad Durometer / Hardness

In addition to the shape, the durometer (hardness) of the print pad plays an equally important role.

Remember, as a rule of thumb: ” The higher the angle, the harder the durometer, the better the print.” However, substrate structure, tooling layout, and a many other factors may not allow the use of a hard-pointed pad. To deal with these obstacles, choose lower angle pads. And the durometer /hardness of the pad is adjustable. AccuPad can manufacture pads in the range of 20-80 Shore OO or anywhere in between with a plus or minus 3 range consistently.

By special request, AccuPad will design and produce a “dual durometer” print pad which has two different durometers in one pad or even a hollow pad for those extremely difficult applications.

Pad Color

We also have a wide range of colors if color is your preference, and any durometer can be any color:

• Blue, Gray, Pink, Lime, Green, Yellow, Orange
• Lavender, Bright Red, Dark Green, Beige/White, Red/Mauve/Rust

Pad Mounting

All pads are manufactured on bases to match virtually any pad printing equipment.
Any customer specified base is possible:

• Base material: ply wood, aluminum, various plastic materials
• Base shape: round, square, rectangular and customer specified
• Base mounting: threaded at any size, for example: 1/4″x20, 5/16″x18, 3/8″x16, M6, M8
• Print blankets are molded to steel or brass shims at 0.01″ or 0.25 mm thickness and in dimensions specified by the customer.

When ordering a Pad, please indicate which type mounting base you require. If unsure, please feel free to call or email us and we can help to determine the proper base and mounting requirements.