Designed to allow printing directly on transparent glass or plastic bottles without having to fill them with UV-blocking stuffing first, the retrofittable device works by firing narrow beams of UV light at the print, for a split-second and at an oblique angle.

The process fixes the ink in place, ready for a second, complete cure.

The device effectively spares printers the choice of whether to stuff the bottles – and spare their printheads from reflected UV light – or to cut the time spent packing bottles and potentially allow the printheads to be damaged.

The machine, available as a field upgrade or preinstalled on Inkcups’ Double Helix bottle printer, will be distributed through the firm’s Freudenberg, Germany-based Europe office and installed here by its UK-based engineers.

Nick Macfarlane, Inkcups’ regional sales representative for the UK and Ireland, told Printweek that he was pleased by customers’ reactions to the new tech.

“Nano Pin Curing was first showcased in Europe at the PSI trade show in Dusseldorf, Germany back in January, where a number of our UK customers and prospects got to see the technology in action for the first time – they were certainly wowed by what they saw,” he said.

“Direct-to-object drinkware printing is a significant growth area for UK print service providers, so offering technology that enables faster, easier production while increasing the longevity of their machines is a huge draw.”

The technology was first unveiled at US trade show Printing United in September 2024.