Patent ID: 7704345

Claim:
A process for decorating the cylindrical wall of a plurality of containers comprising: a) mounting a plurality of moving mandrels on a loop circuit, each mandrel being mounted on a support capable of moving such that the axis of the mandrel remains parallel to a given direction D, and able to rotate around its axis while resisting a force exerted perpendicular to the axis; b) successively bringing each of the plurality of containers flush with one of the plurality of mandrels and fitting the container onto the mandrel; c) bringing the mandrel thus covered with the container into the vicinity of an impression roll driven in a continuous rotary motion around a fixed axis, wherein the impression roll is a marking roll provided with an etched surface; d) rotating the mandrel around its axis while it is being moved towards the impression roll, e) running a transfer film bearing strip into the gap between the impression roll and the mandrel covered with the container at a linear velocity equal to the tangential velocities of the roll and container; f) bringing the mandrel and the impression roll into contact with each other, the cylindrical wall of the container and the surface of the impression roll being driven at a substantially equal tangential velocity, the contact translating into a force exerted by the impression roll on the mandrel through the transfer film bearing strip and the wall of the container; g) moving the transfer film bearing strip away from the surface of the container, with the result that the part of the transfer film remaining bonded to the container wall is detached from the transfer film bearing strip, thus bringing about the decoration; and h) moving the mandrel covered with the container away from the impression roll to leave room for the next mandrel.