A print system includes: a moving body supporting a can body and moving; an upper moving route extending in a lateral direction, which is taken by the moving body when moving in one direction; a lower moving route positioned below the upper moving route, which extends in the lateral direction and is taken by the moving body when moving in a direction opposite to the one direction; and an image forming unit performing image formation onto the can body supported by the moving body. In comparison between the orientation of the moving body while the moving body is positioned on the upper moving route and the orientation of the moving body while the moving body is positioned on the lower moving route, the moving body is turned upside down.

A printing and partial curing process for 3D objects that avoids print fouling due to scattered UV light. The process uses the steps of expressing an image from an inkjet printing head onto the surface of a rotating piece of transparent media, rotating the media surface along a single rotational axis away from the inkjet printing head to allow full wetting of an expressed image onto the media surface, and further rotating the media surface so that the expressed image enters a shaped ultraviolet illumination beam field that causes the partial curing of the image so that said image is held in place on the surface during continued rotation as additional ink is applied to the surface. The partial curing or “pinning” lamp is precisely positioned so that ultraviolet beam field avoids impinging on the inkjet print heads so that fouling does not occur.

A printing apparatus is provided with a moving body moving while holding a can body; an image forming unit forming an image on the can body on the moving body stopped at a predetermined stop location; and a pressed part installed at the stop location, at least one of a portion of the moving body stopped at the stop location and a portion of the can body held by the moving body being pressed against the pressed part. Thus, positioning precision of the can body in stopping the can body and performing image formation onto the can body is increased.

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.

A curing station for curing printing ink of a direct print on containers, comprising a conveyor for conveying the containers preferably in container holders, and further comprising at least one UV light unit for curing the printing ink, characterized in that the at least one UV light unit comprises a 2D arrangement of UV LEDs for generating a UV light field for curing the printing ink.

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.

A positioning system for positioning a plurality of rotatable objects for processing includes a base plate that is configured to be positioned on a support surface of a processing machine. The base plate defines a plurality of alignment members to align the base plate to the support surface. The positioning system further includes at least three elongate cylindrical members that are arranged in parallel to one another and rotatably supported in alignment with the base plate. The cylindrical members are configured to support the rotatable objects. The positioning system also includes a rotation mechanism configured to cooperate with the cylindrical members and rotate the cylindrical members in synchrony so as to rotate the plurality of rotatable objects in synchrony. The positioning system further includes a rotational control mechanism configured to cooperate with the rotation mechanism to control rotation of the cylindrical members.

While deterioration in processing efficiency caused by printing devices with slow printing speed is suppressed, facilities necessary to manufacture can bodies are able to be shared. A can body manufacturing system includes: a can body conveyance route, by which can bodies are conveyed, provided to branch halfway and thereafter merge again, the can body conveyance route at least including a first branching conveyance route and a second branching conveyance route; a first printing device performing printing on can bodies conveyed by the first branching conveyance route; and a second printing device performing printing on can bodies conveyed by the second branching conveyance route, the number of can bodies on which printing is performed by the second printing device per unit time being different from the number of can bodies on which printing is performed by the first printing device per unit time.

A mounting device for holding a hollow cylindrical object, particularly a screw cap, in a printing system, comprises a support member, and a mandrel for receiving a hollow cylindrical object arranged at the support member, and a heating device for heating the hollow cylindrical object mounted at the mandrel. A printing system for printing on hollow cylindrical objects, preferably screw caps, comprises at least one mounting device, and at least one printhead configured to print on surfaces of cylindrical objects, preferably screw caps.

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.