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.

In some examples, a screen printing unit includes a screen printing forme cylinder, an impression cylinder, and at least one further rotational transport body. A fixing element of the impression cylinder includes inner and outer contact surfaces for clamping sheets. The inner contact surface has a base radius as a distance from an axis of rotation of the impression cylinder. A cylinder barrel of the impression cylinder has a supporting surface for sheets that includes an impression portion having a constant barrel radius, which extends over at least 170° about the axis of rotation of the impression cylinder and the barrel radius is larger than the base radius. A fixing element of the further rotational transport body includes an inner and an outer contact surface for clamping sheets. The inner contact surface includes the base radius as a distance from an axis of rotation of the further rotational transport body.

The invention relates to a system for producing three-dimensional screen-printed articles, comprising a press bed with a printing screen, by means of which at least one printing exploit can be printed multiple times, wherein after each completed printing, the lift-off can be increased by the application thickness of the previous printing.

The invention relates to a system for producing three-dimensional screen-printed articles, comprising a press bed with a printing screen, by means of which at least one printing exploit can be printed multiple times, wherein after each completed printing, the lift-off can be increased by the application thickness of the previous printing.

Lateral adjustment apparatus comprises a gripper to grip a print substrate, the gripper being mounted on a rotor rotatable about a lateral axis, and a lateral adjustment motor to drive movement of the gripper laterally along the rotor to adjust a lateral position of the print substrate. The lateral adjustment motor is mounted on the rotor.

Lateral adjustment apparatus comprises a gripper to grip a print substrate, the gripper being mounted on a rotor rotatable about a lateral axis, and a lateral adjustment motor to drive movement of the gripper laterally along the rotor to adjust a lateral position of the print substrate. The lateral adjustment motor is mounted on the rotor.

A method for feeding a web of printing material in a manufacturing system for producing packages, includes feeding the web from a web-fed printing press to a flat-bed machine for die-cutting or embossing while the printing press is in operation. An inserting device is used for winding the web onto an auxiliary wind-up device, moving a web-guiding element having a roller in a compensatory manner to achieve a temporary standstill of the web by converting a continuous movement of the web into an iterative movement by changing a speed of the web through changes of position of the roller, clamping the web while being cut by using a clamping unit, cross-cutting the web creating a cross cut edge by using a cutting unit adjacent the clamping unit, and inserting the web, cross cut edge first, into the flat-bed machine for at least one of die-cutting or embossing.

A method for feeding a web of printing material in a manufacturing system for producing packages, includes feeding the web from a web-fed printing press to a flat-bed machine for die-cutting or embossing while the printing press is in operation. An inserting device is used for winding the web onto an auxiliary wind-up device, moving a web-guiding element having a roller in a compensatory manner to achieve a temporary standstill of the web by converting a continuous movement of the web into an iterative movement by changing a speed of the web through changes of position of the roller, clamping the web while being cut by using a clamping unit, cross-cutting the web creating a cross cut edge by using a cutting unit adjacent the clamping unit, and inserting the web, cross cut edge first, into the flat-bed machine for at least one of die-cutting or embossing.

A device for inserting a web of printing material into a flat-bed die-cutting and/or embossing machine includes a compensator for converting a continuous movement of the web of printing material into an iterative movement of the web of printing material. A clamping unit clamps the web of printing material, a cutting unit carries out a cross cut through the web of printing material, and an inserting unit transports the web of printing material into the flat-bed die-cutting and/or embossing machine. The device advantageously allows the web of printing material to be automatically clamped, cut and fed to the flat-bed die-cutting and/or embossing machine. As a result, no further stopping of an upstream printing press is required and the amount of waste is reduced. A manufacturing system for producing packages and a method for feeding a web of printing material are also provided.

A device for inserting a web of printing material into a flat-bed die-cutting and/or embossing machine includes a compensator for converting a continuous movement of the web of printing material into an iterative movement of the web of printing material. A clamping unit clamps the web of printing material, a cutting unit carries out a cross cut through the web of printing material, and an inserting unit transports the web of printing material into the flat-bed die-cutting and/or embossing machine. The device advantageously allows the web of printing material to be automatically clamped, cut and fed to the flat-bed die-cutting and/or embossing machine. As a result, no further stopping of an upstream printing press is required and the amount of waste is reduced. A manufacturing system for producing packages and a method for feeding a web of printing material are also provided.