Balloon-printing apparatus with silk-screen

An apparatus for printing balloons comprising a supporting frame, an endless conveyor means movably supported by said frame, a plurality of balloon neck-receiving nipples and a like number of balloon-positioning members carried by said conveyor means in spaced-apart position therealong, said balloon-positioning members including a ring movable with respect to said nipple between a retracted position and an extended outward position, said ring adapted to surround the neck of a balloon attached to said nipple and stretch said neck when said ring is in extended position, so as to steady said balloon with respect to said nipple, means for moving said conveyor means step by step in a closed path with said nipples and balloon-positioning members successively stopping at a plurality of spaced-apart functional stations, a first one of said stations allowing attaching a deflated balloon to said nipple, means at a second station to inflate the balloon, means at a third station to extend the balloon-positioning member to operative position, a silk-screen printing press mounted at a fourth station and means to cause the inflated balloon to be printed by said press, means at succeeding fifth stations to cause the drying of the ink printed on the balloon, means at a sixth station to retract the balloon-positioning member and means at a seventh station to detach the printed balloon from said nipple.