Rastal has released details of its 7-colour, fully automatic UV-printing machine which places a photo quality picture onto glassware to enhance the appeal of any drinking glass. After showing samples at Brau recently the new line at Hohr-Grenzhausen in the Rhineland was opened April 2009. It was supplied by printing machine maker ISIMAT & cost 1.3M/Euros. Altogether, including treating the glass to ensure bonding, printing & hardening, the glasses undergo 18 steps in the transformation from plain drinking glasses to small functional art works. In normal ceramic ink printing the layer needs to be heated to 600 deg C, on the new machine a blast of UV light cures the ink before the next application. To ensure precision, the machine possesses servo-controlled printing stations & is equipped with optical control to register the layers of decoration.
