Hard Hat Printing

Hard hats are not a common item to find in the everyday home. In fact, hard hats appeal to a very limited amount of people. But for those that require the safety of a hard hat, it is an extremely important purchase. Hard hat printing is another way to diversify your product line.

The rule of thumb is to replace your hard hat every five years. Replace your hard hat every two years if the work environment has a higher exposure to sun, chemicals, and/or heat. Similar to bike helmets, a hard hat that has taken any blow to its exterior should be replaced immediately. Hard hats protect against concussions, wounds, bruises, and traumatic brain injuries that can happen on a work site from falling objects, workplace accidents, and electrical shock. They are invaluable to the safety of many industries, including construction, manufacturing, welding, gas, oil, and more.

That being said, hard hat printing could be a very fruitful endeavor as the need for hard hats is continuous.

Hard Hat Printing

Due to the bulky and large nature of a hard hat, we suggest hard hat printing by pad printing for the best results.  We offer a wide variety of different shaped and sized pads to accommodate any graphic to be printed. Silicone pads are developed with the highest results in mind, promising to deliver sharp, high-resolution transfers.

Which Ink is Best to Use on Hard  Hats?

The BA Series Pad Printing Ink is a great option for printing on ABS hard hats. (ABS, otherwise known as Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene and is commonly used for hard hats as it has good chemical and impact resistance and is rather lightweight for extended wear.)

BA Series Ink is a pad printing ink that is high gloss in nature and specifically formatted for ABS plastics. With the use of a hardener the BA Series Ink has superior abrasion resistance, particularly important when picturing a hard hat rolling around the back of a dirty truck bed when not in use.

We recommend using the the 1000-H Hardener with the BA Series Inks. It is a general purpose hardener and will enhance durability.

If you are unsure of the material your hard hat is made of ask our application specialists.  We are more than happy to identify which plastic you are printing on and recommend the proper ink, solvent, and hardener for your product.

Hard Hat Printing Machines

Inkcups has multiple hard hat printing machines ready to go. How many colors do you wish to print your logo with? The ICN-150 large format pad printers all hold similar features but can accommodate up to six colors depending on the machine. ICN-150 printers blow the industry standard of 130mm ink cups and a print size capability of a mere 115mm images out of the park by handling 150mm ink cups to print images up to 140mm! That is up to 5.5 inches of image!

• The ICN-150 is a two color, large format pad printer. This machine comes with a 2-position pneumatic part shuttle which transports your hard hat from one pad to the next to achieve two colors. The average production speed for the ICN-150-2 is 550 to 720 impressions per hour.
• The ICN-150-4 is a four color, large format pad printer. This is a great option for those who wish to print with three or four colors at a time.
• Looking to print a six color logo? Inkcups still has you covered with the ICN-150-6 which is a pad printer that can accommodate up to six different colors with six 150mm ink cups.

Precision Designed Tooling

Inkcups has created a precision designed tooling to hold the hard hat in place while it travels along the part shuttle system to each different pad. Having proper tooling is vital to having a successful print run.

The part shuttle system is specially designed and timed to transport the hard hat from one pad color to the next to create a multi-colored design.

The tooling not only firmly holds the hard hat in place, it also features a rotational feature to print on any side of the hard hat. This feature allows an easy transition from printing on the front of the hardhat, to the side, keeping the level of the hardhat at the same ready to print height.

We are happy to answer any lingering questions you may still have about hard hat printing, contact us today.