A device for transporting and positioning a golf ball has a shuttle configured to be attached to a track for movement along the track relative to a printing station. The device has a golf ball holder attached to the shuttle. The golf ball holder maintains an orientation of the golf ball. The device also has at least one plate configured to move the golf ball holder between an with respect to the shuttle and the printing station. The at least one plate enables position registration of the golf ball for printing.

A method and system for printing multiple-color at multiple positions on a golf ball is disclosed herein. A printing station of the system and method is capable of printing as many as twenty different colors in a single cycle. The printing station preferably has a four stamping stations, four curing stations and four reorientation stations.

The invention relates to a pad printing instrument comprising an ink supply system capable of control the temperature, viscosity and colorant concentration of an ink in an ink cup. Such controls are achieved by continuously adding and mixing a cold ink having a composition identical to the ink in the ink cup but having a lower temperature. The continuous addition of a small amount of a cold ink into the ink cup could compensate heat generated by the friction between the ink cup and a cliché and could minimize the evaporation of a diluent in the ink and change in the concentration of colorants in the ink and ink viscosity. The invention also relates to use of a pad printing instrument comprising an ink supply system of the invention for producing colored hydrogel or silicone hydrogel contact lenses.

[Object] Provided are a stamp tool whose transport head can be easily shared, a transport device capable of allowing the stamp tool to easily pick up an transport object element disposed on a surface of a substrate from the substrate and transporting the element without being left on the substrate side, and an element array manufacturing method using the same.

[Solution] A stamp tool 10 includes a stamp layer 12 allowing an element 32r as an transport object element to detachably adhere thereto, a support plate 14 to which the stamp layer 12 is fixed, and an adapter plate 16 having a mounting surface 16a, the support plate 14 being replaceably attached thereto, and a transport head 22 being allowed to be detachably attached thereon.

The present invention relates to a method for providing a multi-layered, hollow, chocolate figure with a print in edible colour preparation, comprising providing one half of a hollow, chocolate figure with one or more types of edible colour preparation by means of an elastic pad, characterised in that the printing takes place at a pressure of between 8 and 12 bar and wherein the figure is situated in a mould-half during printing.

A pad printing machine is arranged for enabling the transfer and application of multiple layers of ink from an ink source both into and onto an ink receiving member. The pad printing machine comprises a depth enhanced ink well (about 0.0015 to about 0.0035 inches deep) for peripherally enclosing an absorbable pattern of ink, a vertically and horizontally displaceable temperature controlled ink transfer print pad, and a temperature controlled printable item support print fixture for supporting an ink receiving printable item member, to enable multiple layers of ink to be simultaneously transferred after pickup by the print pad as one layer, and inversely and simultaneously applied as multiple layers into and onto the ink receiving printable item member on the support print fixture.

Embodiments of a system are described. In one embodiment, the system includes an ink template platform having a surface for engaging an ink template. The ink template may have a recess or engraving for receiving ink. Supports are configured to slideably position the ink template platform between a first and second position. The first position is a position for receiving ink, and the second position for delivering ink. The system also includes an ink capsule biased on a surface of the ink template. The ink capsule is slidably positionable on the ink template to deliver ink to the recess in response to the platform being positioned in the ink receiving position. An ink capsule biasing member applies a pressure to the ink capsule that is sufficient to remove excess ink from the ink template. Other embodiments of the system are also described.

A digital cliché pad printing system includes a conveyor for conveying a substantially non-elastic support medium, a material deposition jetting device for depositing a curable material onto the support in a desired pattern, the desired pattern having at least one void space, means for curing the material in the desired pattern, the cured material defining a cliché having a top surface, an ink delivery system for depositing ink in the at least one void space and for wiping ink from the top surface and a pad configured to contact the cliché to transfer ink from the void space to the pad the pad also configured to move into contact with an object to which the ink is transferred. A digital cliché media and method are also disclosed.

A process including the steps of: providing a water soluble film; providing an ink including between about 5% and about 30% by weight a solvent selected from the group consisting of diols, cyclic polyols, diglycols, triols, polyols, and mixtures thereof; and applying the ink onto the water soluble film.

The present invention relates to a decoration method, for applying a new décor (170) on a surface (2) of an object (1) including an existing décor (120), characterized in that the method comprises the following successive steps: a step a) for measuring at least two identification points (120a, 120b, 120f) of the existing décor (120) applied on the surface (2) of the object (1); a step b) for dynamic correction of localization points (170a, 170b, 170f) of the new décor (170) to be applied on the surface (2) of the object (1), using the identification points (120a, 120b, 120f) measured during the measuring step a); and a step c) for application of the new décor (170) on the surface (2) of the object (1), by using the localization points (170a, 170b, 170f) determined in the dynamic correction step b). The invention also relates to a control system and a decoration machine comprising such a control system.