Patent ID: 6102536
Filing Date: 2000-08-15
Classification: B41J,B41M,B65B

Abstract:
A method of printing a plurality of digital images of graphic designs on a web of packaging material for a flowable food product, the method comprising the steps of:providing a web of packaging material having an exterior surface and a flowable food contact surface;generating an electronically storable and retrievable preselected digital image of a graphic design to be printed on the web of packaging material, the preselected digital image of a graphic design capable of being substituted for by another of the plurality of digital images of graphic designs, the plurality of digital images of graphic designs generated at a computer site;transferring the preselected digital image of a graphic design to an inkjet printer at a printing site at a predetermined time;passing the web of packaging material through the printing site at a predetermined rate; andjetting an ink through an inkjet printhead directly onto the exterior surface of the web of packaging material, at substantially the predetermined time, to print the preselected digital image of a graphic design directly onto the exterior surface as the web of packaging material passes through the printing site at the predetermined rate thereby creating a printed web of packaging material;whereby the step of transferring the digital image of a graphic design to a printing site is substantially contemporaneous with the step of jetting an ink through an inkjet printhead to print the preselected digital image of a graphic design directly onto the surface of the web of packaging material allowing for the substitution of the preselected digital image of a graphic design with another of the plurality of digital images of graphic designs without altering the predetermined rate of passing the web of packaging through the printing site.