Machinery and techniques are disclosed for applying treatment processes to surfaces of objects arranged in a form of an array of objects, and for inspecting surface areas of the objects in such object arrays before and/or after applying the surface treatment processes thereto.

This disclosure relates generally to manufacturing systems and, more particularly, to systems and methods for printing on flexible materials. Various novel systems and methods of using the same are provided, including printing systems, roll dispensing system, and other processing systems.

The present application proposes a printing apparatus, including n printheads arranged along the first direction, each printhead communicating with at least two different inks; a printing medium opposing to the printheads, the printing medium configured to rotate around a rotational axis; a motion controller that controls the motions of the printheads and the printing medium; a printing driver that controls the printing of the printheads; the printing medium being divided into s printing areas along the first direction, such that each printing area is configured to be printed by a printhead, where s and n are positive integers greater than 1. The printing apparatus and printing method proposed in this invention reduce the relative moving distance between the printheads and the printing medium during the printing process by dividing the printing area into multiple printing areas, thereby reducing the overall printing time and increasing the printing speed.

An image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit, first and second detectors, and a corrector. The image forming unit includes first and second image forming units disposed downstream of the first unit in a transport direction of a recording medium and causes the first and second units to form predetermined correction images onto the recording medium. The first detector is disposed downstream of the first unit and upstream of the second unit in the transport direction, and detects the correction image formed by the first unit. The second detector is disposed downstream of the second unit in the transport direction and detects the correction image formed by the second unit. The corrector corrects an image position of the second unit in a width direction of the recording medium by using the correction images formed by the first and second units and detected by the first and second detectors.

Machinery and techniques are disclosed for applying treatment processes to surfaces of objects arranged in a form of an array of objects, and for inspecting surface areas of the objects in such object arrays before and/or after applying the surface treatment processes thereto. The treated objects are held by an array of grippers/mandrels, each gripper/mandrel is configured to receive a respective object of the array, and to controllably generate gripping contact with internal surface(s) of the received object, for attaching the object thereto. A gripper of some embodiments comprises a body assembly configured to be at least partially received inside the object and comprising a hollow part extending along a length thereof, one or more friction imparting elements located in or on the body assembly and configured to change between an engaged state in which contact with inner surface of the object placed over the gripper is established therewith, and a released state in which there is no contact with the inner surface of the object, and an attachment mechanism configured to cause the one or more friction imparting elements to engage the inner surface of the object when said object is placed over the gripper.

A method of operating a printer separates the image content data for a sheet in a print job into multiple color separations and operates a digital air curtain between the printhead modules that print the multiple color separations. Image data of the printed color separations are used to adjust operating parameters for the digital air curtain.

Embodiments of the invention provide a technique that effects spot gloss or gloss control and/or variations on one image without requiring clear inks. This is preferably accomplished by use of a multilayer printing process in which an image is first printed using a first set of color print heads and then cured, and in which the image is again printed using a second set of color print head, but where the image remains uncured for a predetermined interval to allow the ink drops applied to the media to spread and thus introduce a gloss effect.

A printing station for use in a packaging material manufacturing system is provided. The printing station comprises a printing unit being configured to provide a print at a pre-set position on the packaging material, a detecting unit arranged downstream the printing unit and configured to determine the actual lateral distance between a reference position and the provided print, and a control unit being configured to store a desired lateral distance between the print and the reference position, and to adjust the pre-set position of a subsequent print based on a comparison between a desired lateral distance and the actual lateral distance.

The present disclosure relates to methods for printing absorbent article substrates. Printing systems herein may include a first printhead and a second printhead, wherein a substrate advances under the first and second printheads. The first printhead ejects ink onto the substrate to define a first printed zone, and the second printhead ejects ink onto the substrate to define a second printed zone. The first printed zone and the second printed zone together define a printed region. The first and second printed zones may be coterminous along respective edges to define a print stitch line extending in the machine direction. The substrate may then be manipulated proximate the print stitch line during a manufacturing process. Positioning the print stitch line proximate a region subject to manipulation may help hide and/or obscure the print stitch line from view. In turn, noticeable visible results of imprecise and/or inconsistent printing operations may be reduced.

Systems and techniques for improving ink jet ink durability and adhesion to a substrate. The techniques may include applying a varnish to the surface of the substrate, curing, in an initial curing step, the varnish with an ultraviolet (UV) lamp, and applying a pigmented ink to at least a portion of the substrate. The initial curing step may comprise pinning the varnish with the UV lamp in a low-power state. The techniques may additionally or alternatively include applying a layer of pigmented ink and varnish at substantially the same time, allowing the pigmented ink and varnish to at least partially mix, then pinning or curing the ink/varnish combination.