personalised rubber bands could be used for identification purposes or to send a brief message with a bundle of papers to say the next office. postmen could use them to assist them in their deliveries – marking the house number or street.

the rubber band printer would be equipped with a hollow metal cylinder onto which the user would load a tube of rubber of the required thickness as one would a condom (some lubrication might be necessary – traditionally rubber bands appear to be powdered for some reason). the cylinder would be capable of decreasing and increasing its girth mechanically for different sized rubber bands. there would be an optimum degree of stretch required for the best quality print.

type out your message and send it to print, after which a guillotine in the form of a mini-pizza cutter will slice your freshly personalised rubber band dropping neatly into a tray.
-- po, Feb 11 2005

Scroll Down http://www.systauto...roduct/product.html
These guys print on anything. Syringes, baseball bats, mugs, and sadly, rubber bands. [DesertFox, Feb 11 2005]

Custom Printed Rubber Bands http://www.promobra...com/rubberbands.htm
[DesertFox, Feb 11 2005]

"The doggie tail around which this band is wrapped will fall off on or about March 9th, 2005."

[+]
-- contracts, Feb 11 2005


I'd also like a portable printer, to print a single band. And then send the message across the room.
-- Amos Kito, Feb 11 2005


Some people wear elastics to remind themselves of something they have to do that day. With this, they wont forget the reason they’re wearing it.

“I know I have to do *something*, I just can’t remember what it is!”
-- Shz, Feb 11 2005


I seems baked in commercial printing.
-- DesertFox, Feb 11 2005


It's quite a stretch, but on a slow news day the rolled up newspaper inside the rubber band could be done without.
-- FarmerJohn, Feb 11 2005


Heh, you could print them to mimic tape measures.
"See honey, thirteen inches just like I t...OUCH!"
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Feb 12 2005


[Desert Fox], why are you sad that some commercial outfits print on rubber bands?
-- bristolz, Feb 13 2005


Probably because it's baked. I've seen messages on rubber bands...Written 'coded' messages on them myself, too. Stretch it out, write in relatively small letters, then when you let it go it looks like dots.
-- StarChaser, Feb 13 2005


But the idea is for a consumer rubber band printer not for the printing of rubber bands.

(and, goodness, it has been a looooong time indeed since I've seen a new annotation from Mr. StarChaser :-)
-- bristolz, Feb 13 2005


This could probably be adapted to create those coloured ideology bracelets everyone's wearing these days (eg Lance Armstrong's yellow LIVESTRONG bracelet).
-- waugsqueke, Feb 13 2005



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