This invention relates to high-speed printing on moving substrates, and, in addition, to a method and apparatus for printing short runs and variable images by using inkjet techniques on printers equipped for offset or flexographic printing.
Automated high-speed production lines for printing sheets of labels or the like conventionally use offset or flexographic printing equipment in which four rotating printing plates (for the three basic colors plus black) print four images in exact superimposed relationship onto a pair of transfer rollers from which the colored image is then transferred to a substrate (paper, plastic or the like) conveyed through the printer on an impression cylinder.
Although the resolution of this printing process is limited, it is satisfactory for many practical applications in which production speed is important. This is typically the case for orders of millions of identical items such as labels in which set-up time and variability are secondary considerations.
A problem arises when equipment of this type is to be used for short-run orders (e.g. less than 100,000 units) or orders in which successive images of a run need to be different in some way. For example, in order to overprint successive images with serial numbers, expiration dates or the like, a separate overprint head must be used after the printing process to affix the overprint. This separate head causes difficultly on the production line because it is prone to miss-registration due to unintended movement of the substrate when the substrate is deposited on a conveyor following the printing operation.
Many printing processes also do not lend themselves to short-run production because any alteration of the image requires replacement and realigning of the printing plates requires a costly and time-consuming operation which is usually not economically feasible.
The present invention overcomes the above-described shortcomings of the prior art by using a plurality of inkjet heads that successively deposit inks of different consistency directly on one or more blanket rollers under the control of a computer. The image thus formed is transferred to the substrate and may then be cured by ultraviolet radiation. The method and apparatus of this invention does away with the need for printing plates, makes it possible to electronically change the image or any part thereof from one impression to the next via a computer program, and dramatically speeds up the printing process.
Similarly, variable overprint indicia can be applied as part of the image formation process, and the need for a separate overprint heading and curing station is avoided. In addition, the present invention avoids or greatly limits the problems of reduction of ink thickness (the so-called “split-the-ink” problem) and increase in size of the ink dot during successive transfers (the so-called “dot gain” problem), and avoids blurring or “ghosting” of images.
The present invention also provides an increase in image resolution when compared to conventional ink-jet printing processes. The ink droplet placed on the blanket roller has a rounded, outward extending (with respect to the center of the roller), bubble-like surface; the opposite inward side of the droplet (again with respect the center of the roller) that is in contact with the roller surface is flat. When the blanket roller transfers the droplet to the substrate, or printed material, the droplet's flat surface faces outward and is the visible portion of the droplet on the printed material, producing a sharper, higher resolution image on the printed material.
The invention also allows variable imaging via a computer program and reduces the cost associated with cleaning of the cylinders of the printing press.
These and other advantages will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art with reference to the descriptions and drawings presented herewith.
A prior art offset printer is shown in
The four colors of the image are created by four inked printing plates 18a, 18b carried on plate cylinder 20 and 18c, 18d carried on plate cylinder 22. The plates 18a through 18d are coated with UV-curable ink by inking rollers 19 and 21 (shown schematically in
It will be noted that since the printing plates 18a through 18d are physical objects that must be manually set up (at substantial time and labor costs) for accurate registration with each other, it is not cost-effective to use the above-described apparatus for short runs (e.g. less than 100,000 copies). Likewise, the prior art apparatus of
Because the image is created separately for each sheet 12 under the control of software associated with the computer 46, sequential numbering or other variable information can be produced differently on each sheet as part of the creation of the image itself. Likewise, runs of different finished sheets, in the form of, for example, printed sheets, cards, coupons, lists or labels can be done in any length, as the change from one image run to the next requires no more than switching from one program to another in computer 46.
Once the entire image has been deposited onto the blanket cylinder 48, the rotation of the blanket cylinder 48 brings the image into contact with the sheet 12 on the impression cylinder 16. When the image has thus been printed, the sheet 12 is stripped from the impression cylinder 16 by conventional means and placed on the conveyor 32. The conveyor 32 passes the sheet underneath the UV head 56a (as in
The blanket material placed on the blanket cylinder 48 may include silicone coated polyester, silicone coated rubber, silicone coated paper, silicone-coated aluminum, or a host of other materials that can receive ink in the desired manner.
In an alternative embodiment of the invention as shown in
In another embodiment shown in
As will be appreciated in the system shown in
In the embodiments of
Because the available curing time is necessarily very short in a high-speed printing line, the UV head 56a in
The changes and alternatives described above, and others, may be made in the printing method and apparatus described herein without departing from the scope hereof. It should thus be noted that the matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings should be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. The following claims are intended to cover generic and specific features described herein, as well as all statements of the scope of the present method and system, which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.
This application claim priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application 61/321,336, filed Apr. 6, 2010, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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6354700 | Roth | Mar 2002 | B1 |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20110242167 A1 | Oct 2011 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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61321336 | Apr 2010 | US |