Patent ID: 8282382

Claim:
Apparatus for vacuum thermoforming and printing plastic articles from a substantially continuous web of thermoformable plastic material comprising: a rotatable vacuum thermoforming drum for receiving said web and having a continuum of thermoforming dies defining said articles arranged circumferentially thereon; a vacuum source associated with said drum; means for providing a web of thermoformable plastic material at a first elevated temperature to said drum; means for rotating said drum to cause said web to wrap partly around said drum and contact said dies while applying vacuum from said source to said dies; a printing structure carrying a printing plate and being disposed immediately adjacent said drum at respective, circumferentially spaced locations for contacting and imparting ink to plastic articles immediately after said articles are formed in said web over said dies and while remaining on said dies at a second elevated temperature; and means for operating said printing structure in synchronism with the rotation of said drum.