Printing on Plastic
This is the colour-print capability shown on a real part: multi-colour graphics applied to a moulded plastic component, registered to the moulded features around them.
Specification
| Part family | Moulded rubber part |
|---|---|
| Construction | Single-compound moulding, no metal insert |
| Face detail | Injection-moulded plastic dial printed in several colours with a serrated rim. |
| Moulding compounds | EPDM, SBR, TPE, TPE-SEBS, PVC or PP, to drawing |
| Decoration | Multi-colour printing on moulded plastic components |
| Tooling | Designed and built in house |
| Prototype parts | 4 weeks from prototype tool |
| PPAP | Typically 8 weeks, to ISO/TS 16949 or VDA |
| Dimensions | Built to customer drawing or to a supplied sample |
| Moulded from | Beijing rubber plant (rubber) / Shanghai plant (plastics) |
The face on this part
Injection-moulded plastic dial printed in several colours with a serrated rim. It sits in the Plastic Parts group, and the photograph above is of the part itself rather than a rendering — what you see is the tread, the outline and the finish as they leave the tool.
One compound, one tool, one shot
The tread, the retaining geometry and any mounting holes or locating tabs are all formed in the tool rather than added afterwards. That is why the tool drawing and the part drawing are effectively the same document, and why a change to the face means a change to the tool.
Compound and hardness
We run EPDM, SBR, TPE, TPE-SEBS, PVC and PP with or without glass reinforcement. Oil or fuel contact rules EPDM out; weather and ozone rule SBR out. Shore A hardness decides how the part feels in use and belongs on the drawing, not in an email.
With no metal face, the compound is the part
There is nothing to hide behind. A pad that is too hard makes its tread pattern useless; one that is too soft wears through at the rib tips. Send the service conditions and our designers will propose a grade rather than asking you to guess one.
Background reading
Choosing a Pedal Pad Compound: EPDM, SBR, TPE and When Each One Fails
Service conditions, not price, should pick the compound. Here is how we narrow it down and what we test to prove the choice.
Ribs, Lattices, Studs and Slots: What Each Pedal Tread Is For
Four tread families appear across this catalogue. Each one is a different answer to the same question about grip and wear.
How to Get a Pedal Pad Quoted: Send a Drawing, or Send the Part
What we need to price a part, what we can work out ourselves, and what genuinely cannot be guessed.
Questions buyers ask
Which compound will this part be moulded in?
Whichever the drawing calls for. We run EPDM, SBR, TPE, TPE-SEBS, PVC and PP with or without glass reinforcement; if you have not fixed a compound yet, send the service conditions and we will propose one.
How long before I see a real Printing on Plastic sample?
All tooling is designed and made in house, and we deliver parts from a prototype tool in 4 weeks. Full PPAP to ISO/TS 16949 or VDA typically takes a further 8 weeks.
What do you need from us to quote it?
Send the sample if you have no drawing. We will measure it, model it and come back with a drawing for your approval before anything is cut.
How is the material verified?
Our production facilities in Beijing, Shanghai and Wuhan are ISO/TS certified, and the rubber test equipment sits next to the Beijing production line so a bad batch is stopped, not diagnosed later.
Quote the Printing on Plastic
Send the annual volume and, if you have one, the drawing. Prototype parts follow 4 weeks after a prototype tool.