IQS Newsroom Articles on Name Plates
About Name Plates and Name Plate Manufacturers Including:
Aluminum
Nameplates, Custom
Nameplates, Engraved
Nameplates, Metal
Nameplates, Nameplate Manufacturers
& Plastic
Nameplates.
Name plates label and identify people, products and
contents and sometimes offer short pertinent descriptions of which, what
and who these are. Compared to ones used for the home or office, industrial
name plates must withstand harsher environments including high temperatures,
long term outdoor exposure, abrasion, salt spray and chemicals. Industrial
name plate manufacturers can offer a variety of different name plates
for a wide range of applications. First of all, companies need to identify
their products with a plate, tag, overlay or label of their name and
logo. While offering important information or instructions, graphic
overlays also provide decorative value for faceplates, control panels, instrumentation,
consumer appliances, food equipment, medical equipment and electronics.
Many times labels are needed for identifying the serial number or barcode
of specific equipment or parts. Especially in industrial environments,
safety labels are needed to indicate proper use of machinery or warn
of hazardous materials. Labels can also identify whether the product
has been endorsed by the government or different associations.
Industrial name plates can be found on aircraft brakes, Navy destroyers, the International
Space Station, restaurant equipment and outdoor signs. Name plates can be mounted
or bound to the object that they are labeling in a number of ways. Commonly,
they are riveted, screwed on or stuck on with an adhesive. Adhesive backings
can be resistant of extremely high temperatures, extremely low temperatures,
harsh and outdoor environments. The properties of name plates that vary from
application to application include material, thickness, custom graphics, type
of printing process, anodizing, adhesive backing, serialization and military
standards.
Printing processes include hot stamping, screen printing, sub-surface printing,
etching, embossing, mechanical or laser engraving, photo anodizing and lithography.
Serial numbers can be hot stamped or printed on both the surface and sub-surface
of most materials. Sub-surface serial numbers are the most durable and resistant,
being fully protected from abrasions and solvents. Screen printing involves applying
a photographic stencil to a piece of porous, tightly stretched polyester through
which enamel colors are forced. Chemically etched name plates are manufactured
by masking certain areas of metal with an acid resistant material, thus allowing
the unmasked area to be dissolved away. During the embossing process, the name plate
material is squeezed between a female metal die and a male counter one using
heat and pressure to create the desired 3-D effect. Mechanical and laser engraving
involves cutting the name plate with a rotary tool or a laser beam. Simply put,
photo anodizing is like developing a picture on specialized aluminum sheet. In
lithography, a printing press is utilized to move a master image to the name plate
using an ink-transferring roller device.
Materials used by name plate manufacturers include metal, stainless
steel, brass and
alloys, polycarbonate, Mylar®, rigid PVC or plastic, MetalPhoto®,
vinyls and foils. Metallic plates and polycarbonates are ideal for harsh environments,
although aluminum is not recommended for the harshest outdoor conditions. Depending
on name plate application and the type of material that is being used to produce
it, name plate manufacturers offer a range of custom options from a limited number
of colors to unlimited design possibilities.
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Name Plates and
Name Plate Manufacturers Images Provided by ID3,
Inc. |
Name Plate Types
- are metal nameplates made from aluminum, and they may be brushed, bright, etched or screened.
- and offer encoded numbering
systems for identification of each and every part, product or piece
of equipment. Manufacturers can either provide the encoding or go with
what their client gives them.
- are
manufactured to the customers' design specifications. Depending
on material and application, custom options could be limited or unlimited.
- are made
of light-weight non-metallic material such as heavy duty paper, polyester,
vinyl or soft plastic or rubber and are usually made with backing to be
torn off to reveal adhesive. So many customization options are available
for these products, and they can generally be made in any size.
- are
used in more of a corporate setting to identify which desk belongs to
which team member, maybe displaying a job title. Usually made out of plastic
or wood, they are less expensive to produce, unless impressive bronze
ones are chosen.
- are
labels, panels or plates that identify the calibration or measurements
on dials or scales.
- are
typically produced using mechanical engraving, laser engraving, whittling
or photo-chemical etching processes to permanently cut out lettering or
a design.
- are
bound to the machinery that they identify. Small and rectangular or square,
they can simply include the machinery manufacturer's name and logo
or offer details like location, phone number, power capacity, size, complementary
machinery or components and model, make, stock or job number.
- are
decorative components with bright colors and crisp copy typically used
for faceplates, control panels, instrumentation, consumer appliances,
food equipment, medical equipment and electronics.
- are
commonly made with an adhesive backing and of a thinner material and something
other than metal, such as paper, vinyl, polyester, metallic polyester,
reflective tape and phosphorescent tape. Choosing the material depends
on the label's function: Is it an instruction label, a safety label
or a warning label? Does it need to stand out with a bright color or be
seen in low light or glow in the dark?
- are
usually made out of aluminum, stainless steel, brass, bronze, copper,
zinc, titanium or alloys.
- or
front panels are thinner plates made to fit over specific control or instrumentation
panels with openings and identifications for buttons or lighted displays.
- are
any tags, badges or plates that identify employees or members of a company
or organization, usually used as clearance or admittance for certain areas.
- offer
a cost-effective alternative to using metal and other materials.
- contain
instructions for the proper use of the labeled object.
- are pieces
or strips of strong paper, plastic, metal or leather that attach by one
end to something as a mark or label. These ID tags can be used when not
a lot of surface area is available, for items like valves, wire rope or
cable.
- are permanent, machine-readable, inscribed with
a dot matrix and attached to qualifying items. They are part of a system
of distinguishing one object from another to allow for Department of
Defense tracking.
- stand
out in bright colors like orange or yellow or red and have big bold words
like "Warning!" and "Danger!" on them to bring
Name Plate Terms
(or anodising) - A
technique used to coat the surface of a metal with an oxide layer. It may be
used to increase corrosion resistance, increase wear resistance, allow dyeing
or prepare the surface for other processes and coatings including paint.
- The process of
creating a three-dimensional image or design in ductile materials by
combining heat and pressure. This is achieved by using a metal die (female)
and a counter die (male) that fit together and squeeze the fibers.
- The process of using
strong acid to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create
a design.
- A process in
which an engraved image is heated then forced against a part with a marking
foil in between. Ink from the foil is left behind where the die meets
the part; it is a dry process and the parts can be handled right after
stamping.
- A process
that can precisely and quickly engrave very fine details using a laser
beam combined with a CNC driver.
- An offset printing
process where a rubber cylinder "blanket" rolls over a metal
printing plate, picks up the master image and transfers the it to another
area of the press where the nameplate is located. It is possible to achieve
extremely fine detail in both direct and reverse print but does not weather
well when placed outdoors or in other harsh environments.
- A high-speed
rotary tool cuts into the surface of a metal or plastic. Then enamel
paint is filled into the engraved area.
- An anodized,
photosensitive aluminum offering a sharp print quality that's highly
durable and extremely resistant to abrasion, corrosion and high temperatures.
This material doesn't fade or chip and is used in many military
applications because it meets strict government regulations.
- A strong laminated
polyester film suited for sub-surface printing that has good temperature,
chemical and abrasion resistance.
- Exposing
an image onto specially coated aluminum that is developed much like a
piece of photographic film and then sealed, thus trapping the image in
the metal under an anodized layer. This method can produce small quantities
of highly durable nameplates with a fast turn-around time.
- A particular
group of thermoplastic polymers easily worked, molded, and thermoformed.
This material is extremely resistant to chemicals, corrosion and temperature;
it also has excellent durability and light transmission.
(also, silkscreening
or serigraphy) - A printmaking technique that creates a sharp-edged
image using a stencil.
- Processed with the ink on the underside of
transparent plastic materials, making it abrasion, oil and chemical resistant.
- A non-laminated polyester
suited for surface printing. This material has good chemical and abrasion
resistance for normal indoor use.