US Patent 11701905 Contoured surface printing

A fixture for supporting an article (e.g., a guitar such as a Stratocaster® guitar body) and controlling the position of the article relative to a print head to allow a contoured portion of a surface of the article to be printed by the print head. The fixture may include a pivot axis about which the article is pivotal. A cam surface may be engaged by the article and/or a bracket of the fixture to which the article is affixed to prescribe the controlled movement of the article based on relative movement between the article and the print head. In turn, both planar and contoured portions of the guitar surface may be printed during a single print operation.