What Are The Application Cases of Multi-axis Robotic Arms And Pad Printing Machines in The Printing Industry?

The combination of multi-axis robotic arms and pad printing machines has achieved innovative applications in multiple scenarios in the printing industry. The following is an analysis of typical technical cases and technical details:

1. Precision curved surface printing (medical/packaging field)

Medical device marking

A 6-axis robotic arm (such as FANUC M-10iA) is used with a servo-controlled pad printing head to realize curved surface marking of insulin pens, indwelling needles, etc. Through the millimeter-level cooperation between the bottom positioning hole and the clamp pin (repeat positioning accuracy ±0.1mm), multi-color overprinting is completed, meeting the traceability requirements of ISO13485 certification in the medical industry.

Technical highlights: The force control sensor adjusts the printing pressure in real time to avoid damage to brittle materials (refer to the 2025 CNC high-precision rubber head rotation full-servo pad printing machine design).

Wine bottles/cosmetics packaging

The servo motor drives the clamp to rotate 180° to achieve double-sided printing (such as the beer box case), and it is used with an infrared tunnel oven for rapid drying. For cylinders without positioning holes, the color registration deviation is corrected through the visual compensation system, and the yield rate is increased to 99.2%.

2. Intelligent production line integration

Printing leading smart factory (future robot case)

The robotic arm and the unmanned forklift (VNSL14 model) work together to complete the multi-process transfer of web paper from gravure printing to hot stamping. The RCS2.0 central control system dynamically schedules 10 pieces of equipment to achieve kilometer-level material distribution across workshops, reducing labor costs by 40%.

Core innovation: Doko® ARV collaborative robot connects the pad printing and die-cutting processes through a modular orbit system (OHS), supporting 7×24 hours of fully automatic operation.

PCB board logo printing

After the Duoko GCR5-910 collaborative robot completes the assembly of the memory module, it simultaneously performs pad printing and coding. The force control algorithm (±2N control accuracy) ensures the stability of the contact between the print head and the circuit board and avoids solder paste damage.

3. Special materials and processes

Roll-to-roll film printing

The robotic arm cooperates with the tension control system (accuracy ±0.5%) to realize continuous feeding and single-color printing of plastic films. The IR tunnel oven has a drying speed of 15m/min and is suitable for mass production of safety signs and other products.

Laboratory microprinting

The ABB YuMi dual-arm robot completes micron-level pattern pad printing of biochips, and compensates for substrate deformation through visual positioning, with a registration error of<5 μm (the Juka Zu3 robot can process 2,300 samples per day for the same type of application).

4. Emerging interactive applications

Intelligent calligraphy robot

The large model of Duoke®AI generates handwriting trajectories from text, and the robotic arm uses a compliance control algorithm to achieve the brush stroke effect (axial acceleration control accuracy is 0.01m/s²), expanding into the field of personalized packaging and printing.

Accessible printing

Southeast University's eye control system drives the myCobot 280 Pi robotic arm to complete Braille printing, and the fixation point clustering algorithm has a positioning accuracy of 99.3%, providing customized solutions for groups with special needs.

Technology Trend Summary

Current applications have evolved from traditional flat printing to three-dimensional flexibility and intelligence, and the penetration rate of collaborative robots is expected to reach 65% in 2025. In the future, with the deep integration of industrial AI large models, the robotic arm pad printing system will further break through the limits of accuracy and efficiency in scenarios such as new energy battery marking and wearable device printing.