Bicycle rim printing apparatus and printing method of printing non-contact printed deposit on annular rim body

A printing method of printing a non-contact printed deposit on an annular rim body, the printing method comprising:

• rotating the annular rim body about a rotational axis relative to a non-contact printer with a rotational actuator;
• inclining the annular rim body about a pivot axis that is non-parallel to the rotational axis;
• and
• printing the non-contact printed deposit to the annular rim body with the non-contact printer during a rotational movement of the annular rim body.

A bicycle rim printing apparatus comprising:

• a non-contact printer to print a non-contact printed deposit to an annular rim body;
• a rim holder to hold the annular rim body;
• a rotational actuator to rotate the rim holder relative to the non-contact printer about a rotational axis;
• and
• a controller electrically connected to the non-contact printer and to the rotational actuator, wherein
• the controller is configured to control the rotational actuator to rotate the rim holder about the rotational axis in conjunction with the controller controlling the non-contact printer to perform a printing operation in which a non-contact printed deposit is provided on the annular rim body, the non-contact printed deposit is at least partly provided on a curved surface on a side portion of the annular rim body, a tangential line being defined on the curved surface in which the non-contact printed deposit is provided, a surface angle being defined by the tangential line and a reference plane perpendicular to a rotational center axis of the annular rim body, the surface angle being equal to or larger than 35 degrees.