Lid for a disposable beverage container including graphic images and method of fabricating same

A method for applying graphic images to an outer surface of a plurality of lids for a plurality of disposable beverage containers, said method including the steps of:

• passing a substantially planar sheet of material through a printing system on a first printing run;
• directly printing, in the first printing run, a plurality of registration marks on the sheet of material, the plurality of registration marks including at least two or more aligned pairs adjacent opposite side edges of the sheet of material, the aligned pairs spaced at intervals from each other along a length of the sheet of material and substantially aligned with complementary markings of the printing system;
• applying, during the first printing run, a first color ink directly to one or more discrete regions of the sheet of material to form at least a part of a graphic image in the one or more discrete regions of the sheet of material, wherein the at least part of the graphic image is distinct and separate from the one or more registration marks;
• correctly positioning the printed sheet of material in a thermoforming machine using the plurality of registration marks in alignment with corresponding indicators on the thermoforming machine;
• passing the sheet of material through a thermoforming process in the thermoforming machine;
• molding into the sheet of material, during the thermoforming process, a plurality of lids that are circular in shape when viewed from above;
• and
• wherein when thermoformed, each of the one or more graphic images is disposed on an outer surface of one of the one or more circular lids;
• correctly positioning the thermoformed sheet of material in a cutting assembly using the plurality of registration marks;
• cutting to the circular lids from the sheet of material in a cutting process performed by the cutting assembly;
• and
• removing the circular lids with the graphic images printed thereon from the cutting assembly.