Patent ID: 7849792

Claim:
A method of printing on objects, the method comprising the steps of: orienting the objects on a conveyor extending through and upstream from a printing station in a longitudinally extending row in groups each having a predetermined number n of longitudinally aligned objects and a longitudinal length equal to n times a predetermined step length and with the groups separated in the row from one another by an empty gap having a short length equal to n−1 times the predetermined step length; displacing the oriented objects with the conveyor through the printing station in alternating long steps having a long length equal to n times the predetermined step length and short steps equal to n−1 times the predetermined step length such that with each long step one of the groups is positioned in the printing station; and in the printing station taking the objects off the conveyor, printing the objects, and returning them to the conveyor during the standstill after the succeeding short step.