What is Programmable Tilt in Digital Printing?

Glassware comes in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and is ever changing. Much like the clothing industry, drinkware experiences trends. At the end of the day drinkware is just as susceptible to current events as any other industry, such as sustainability concerns and economic conditions. A classic example is the Great Depression. Hardships experienced during this time shaped the glassware industry for decades to come. Once a symbol of wealth, glassware was quickly identified as an area that needed to be practical over a symbol of status.

Not only do everyday happenings shape drinkware, but social trends shape drinkware.  Have you noticed there is a new popular alcoholic drink every season? That needs to be served in a specific type of cup?  For instance, the summer drink of 2022, The Dirty Shirley, is always served in the same tall straight-walled glass.

If you’re looking to print on numerous shapes of vessel with one cylindrical printer we have a feature to make the process a breeze.

What is Programmable Tilt?

Programmable tilt is a feature available on both the Helix® and Double Helix® digital printing machines by Inkcups.  Utilize the systems software by saving each product’s specification for the required fixture’s angle. It is as simple as assigning a number to each product type and setting the required angle. During the printing process, select the number for the product type and the Helix® or Double Helix®’s part fixture will automatically adjust. This feature is time saving and makes for both a quick and easy part changeover.

The Helix® and Double Helix® are cylindrical inkjet printers that feature one or two print fixtures respectively. These machines were designed to print full color images on both straight-walled and taped cylinders. Both machines offer print innovations like mirror print, full coverage, tone-on-tone, contour print, and photorealistic printing elevates your product to stand out from the competition.

Programmable tilt allows the operator to easily switch from printing on Dirty Shirley glasses to glass cans to tumblers without breaking a sweat.

Who can Benefit from Programmable Tilt?

Today, printing innovation opens doors that were once a portion of a dream. For instance, print on demand workflows allow businesses flexibility and freedom when it comes to what products to offer services on and how much to order for inventory.

Print on demand is both beneficial to the business and to the customer. Businesses please customers by offering a wide variety of substrates to print on, while customers are not limited to one or two vessels to choose from. Any business offering print-on-demand capabilities would greatly benefit from the addition of programmable tilt to ease the changeover process and save valuable time.

Contact your sales representative today to add programmable tilt to your existing Helix® or Double Helix®, or find your local contact to get started with your first cylindrical inkjet printer today. For further reading material on glass, read How to Print on Glass.