Screen Printing on Your Plastic Cups

Whether they're for the home, disposable, or souvenir stadium cups, plastic cups offer your customers an affordable and efficient way to market their brand at an event or meeting. When screen printing plastic cups, pretreatment is not typically considered for ink adhesion due the short life of the cup use (unless if it is a reusable plastic cup which is dishwasher safe).

The ink you decide to use with your plastic cup printing machine will depend on your throughput and budget. If you are purchasing a T8-SS with integrated UV, you will be using UV inks which are easiest to work with as they do not dry to the screen unless left out with the light on over head (best to cover screen between uses). If solvent based inks are used then you can air dry them or expose them to forced air and IR to expedite the drying. UV provides you with an instant cure for your products so they can immediately go into packaging. Using solvent inks may take a few minutes to a few hours depending on if you are air curing or using forced hot air/ IR. The Model F1-DC is your semi-automatic solution for printing plastic cups and more. Once printed on the Model F1-DC, may either use a conveyor oven or the Model UVSP. 

When you are looking at fixtures to use for placing your plastic cups on the machine prior to printing, it is important to make sure the tolerance for the sizes of cups you receive are made known by the manufacturer for your machine. You need your plastic cup to be hugging the fixture it is placed on for optimal prints and avoid any tooling that will affect the form of the plastic cup when the screen is moved down and the squeegee pushes the ink through the screen on the part. If there is space for the cup to bend, your image will be compromised. SA offers precision manufacturing, and prior to shipping we will show you that the machine works through test print videos using your product.

Plastic cups range in their thickness. If you are using a thin disposable cup that is typically used for parties and one time uses, it is advised you do not use forced hot air to cure your products to avoid any warping that may occur. Conventional UV curing may also cause warping but this can be mitigated by opting for UV LED. SA systems that use conventional UV are designed with your ability to control the amount of UV that your cup is exposed to and the time it is exposed for. We will work with you on finding the best process for your product.