Patent ID: 7770519

Claim:
A method of printing an item comprising: providing an item having a surface for printing; feeding the item onto a conveyor defining a conveyor path; providing an electrode head having a gas inlet and a plasma outlet configured to provide multiple streams of plasma in a series arranged along the conveyor path; ionizing a gas input through the gas inlet to create a plasma, providing multiple streams of the plasma in the series while conveying the item along the conveyor path through the series of the multiple streams of the plasma and directing the multiple streams of the plasma in said series to at least one specific area of the surface where printing is to occur while the item is being conveyed; and subsequently printing an image on the at least one specific area of the surface with a drop on demand ink jet printer; wherein the step of directing the multiple streams of the plasma through the plasma outlet to at least one specific area of the surface where printing is to occur comprises splitting the plasma with a furcated nozzle couple to the plasma outlet.