A container body decorator (10) has a controller with a software stored in a memory. A plurality of ink jet print heads (108) is in communication with the controller. An endless image transfer belt (116) has a circumferential configuration with an inner surface opposite a printing surface. A printing site (124) is located along the endless image transfer belt (116). A container body handling module (200) delivers container bodies (14) to the printing site (124).

A carousel-type printing system includes a plurality of printing units for printing on objects and a revolver for conveying the objects from one of the printing units to another. The revolver has a plurality of spindles with retaining elements for holding the objects. A first shaft and a first motor are provided for rotating the revolver. A second shaft and a common second motor are provided for rotating the spindles. One of the two shafts is a hollow shaft and the other of the two shafts is an interior shaft in the hollow shaft. The first motor and the second motor are preferably coaxial with one another.

A device and a method for the decoration of objects to be decorated, wherein the object is held by a holding device. In a first step decorative material is applied to a transfer medium by a printing device. In a second step adhesive is applied to the transfer medium provided with the decorative material or to the object, and in a third step the transfer medium is pressed onto the object by a pressing device and at the same time the adhesive is cured by a curing device.

A carrier includes a body and a prong formed as a unilaterally fixed arm connected to the body at an end. The prong is folded in a longitudinal direction and has a kink. The prong is insertable into a tube shaped object and mechanically fixes the tube shaped object.

A sublimation printing production line for a workpiece having a cylindrical outer surface includes a sublimation paper loading station, workpiece wrapping station, a baking station, and a sublimation paper dismantling stations. The sublimation paper loading station has a workpiece conveyor belt and a sublimation paper conveyor belt that operate synchronously and in parallel. The sublimation paper is positioned on to an elastic fastening jacket, which is then tightly wrapped around the workpiece with the ends buckled together to secure the sublimation paper to the workpiece and making the sublimation image clearer, more colorful, and ensuring the quality of the sublimation.

A medium, a container, an object-holding container, a marking, device, and a method of manufacturing the container. The medium includes an image of design, and the design includes a light color portion and a dark color portion, the light color portion including a light reflecting layer, and the dark color portion including a light attenuation layer The container includes a laser beam source to emit a laser beam, a forming unit to make the laser beam perform marking on a container that has transparency and is colorless or colored, and an adjuster to adjust a marking condition according to information about a to-lie-contained object stored in the container. The method includes irradiating the container with a laser beam to form a light reflecting layer and a light attenuation layer, and the light reflecting layer and the light attenuation layer includes an aggregate of microstructures.

A direct-to-object printer is configured to adjust a pixel density of a portion of contone image data for an image to be printed on a surface of a tapered object. The controller of the printer also filters the contone image data with a stochastic halftone filer to produce binary image data for the image to be printed on the tapered object. The adjustment in the pixel density for the portion of the image to be printed on the portion of the object having a circumference that is different than another portion of the surface at the uppermost portion of the image produces a more uniform appearance in the resulting printed image.

The invention relates to a direct printing device for applying a circumferential print onto containers with at least one container seam, comprising a printhead which is configured to print directly onto a container, a detection device which is adapted such that at least one predetermined feature of the container is detected, a computing device which is configured to determine whether and possibly how the container is to be oriented in order to be moved from an actual container orientation to a predetermined target container orientation, and an orientation device which is configured to orient the container to the target container orientation on the basis of the determination by the computing device. The target container orientation is predetermined such that the container seam is oriented relative to the printhead such that a print seam, which is produced during the application of a circumferential print, substantially coincides with the container seam.

A printing technique is presented for efficiently printing (i.e. with production lines rates at high resolution and high accuracy) on outer surfaces of a plurality of objects passing in an optimized stream through a printing route/zone. According to this technique, at least one array of printing head units is provided being configured to define at least one printing route along a printing axis, where the at least one printing route is a substantially linear segment of a closed loop lane along which the objects are progressing.

An ink for ink-jet printing used for ink-jet printing images onto the ink non-absorptive surfaces of cylindrical containers, and comprising at least a water-soluble solvent, a coloring material, a surfactant, a thickener and/or a binder resin, the coloring material being contained in an amount of 5 to 20% by weight, the surfactant in an amount of 0.1 to 5% by weight, the thickener in an amount of not more than 10% by weight, and the binder resin being contained in an amount of not more than 30% by weight. Owing to its ink-jet printability, the ink for ink-jet printing of the invention can be favorably used for printing images on the non-absorptive cylindrical containers such as seamless cans that are used for containing beverages and foods.