Method of applying double-sided adhesive tape and gravure printing plates to gravure printing drums

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6450092
  • Patent Number
    6,450,092
  • Date Filed
    Monday, January 22, 2001
    23 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, September 17, 2002
    21 years ago
Abstract
A method for applying a gravure printing plate to a gravure printing drum including applying a release liner on the gravure printing drum, wherein a release layer of the release liner faces away from the drum, applying a double-sided adhesive foil to the gravure printing drum, wherein the two edges of the adhesive foil overlap, cutting through the overlapping edges of the adhesive foil and through the release liner, removing the release liner and attaching the two cut edges of the adhesive foil to the drum, applying a release liner on the gravure printing drum, wherein a release layer of the release liner faces towards the adhesive foil, applying the gravure printing plate onto the double-sided adhesive foil, wherein the two edges of the plate overlap in the area of the release liner, cutting through the overlapping edges of the gravure printing plate and through the release liner; and removing the release liner and attaching the two cut edges of the gravure printing plate to the adhesive foil.
Description




FIELD OF THE INVENTION




The present invention relates generally to gravure printing and more particularly to the application of gravure printing plates to gravure printing drums.




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




Gravure printing plates are well known in the art, An example of a gravure plate is disclosed in European Patent application No. EPO. 928685 assigned to the CreoScitex Corporation Ltd. The gravure plate usually includes a substrate layer, a wash-off layer, a protective layer and an IR ablatable layer. Imaging of a gravure plate so as to create an image representing the information to be printed typically includes the following steps:




1. Exposing the protective layer to IR radiation. This step may be done, for example, by LOTEM-FLEX 40-45 manufactured by CreoScitex Corp. Ltd. of Herzlia, Israel.




2. Exposing the wash-off layer to UV radiation; and




3. Washing off the uncured wash-off layer by a solvent.




Once the process described above is completed, the gravure plate is ready to be used as a printing plate. In the printing set-up the gravure plate is attached to the drum of the gravure printing press for printing. The printing process includes application of ink to the outer surface of the gravure plate: the voids produced during the imaging process described above are filled with ink, while the surplus ink is wiped off by a closely contacting wiper, commonly known as the “doctor blade”.




Because of the wiping action of the “doctor blade”, the outer surface of the gravure plate must be smooth, without gaps, or seams between the butted edges, or overlap of the edges, since these may show up in the print or may catch the blade and thus peel off the printing plate.




Many mechanisms for clamping gravure plates on printing drums are known in the art, most of them based on complex mechanisms. One such mechanism is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4527478.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




The present invention relates to the application of gravure plates to drums of gravure printing machines, using double-sided adhesive foil. The application of the plate to the drum is done in two stages: in the first stage, the double-sided foil is applied and cut, so as to butt the two edges accurately. In the second stage, the gravure plate is applied and its edges are cut so as to butt the edges, leaving practically no gap.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS




The present invention will be understood and appreciated more fully from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawings, wherein corresponding or like numbers or characters indicate corresponding or like components:





FIGS. 1-A

through


1


-E schematically illustrate the first stage of applying a double-sided adhesive foil to the printing drum, according to the present invention; and





FIGS. 2-A

through


2


-F schematically illustrate the second stage of applying the gravure plate onto the adhesive foil, according to the present invention.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION




The application of a gravure printing plate onto the printing drum according to the present invention is done in two stages:




In the first stage, the double-sided foil is applied and cut, so as to butt the two edges accurately. In the second stage, the gravure plate is applied and its edges are cut so as to butt the edges, leaving practically no gap.




Reference is made to

FIG. 1-A

, which schematically illustrates part of the first stage of applying a double-sided adhesive foil to the printing drum, according to the present invention. A strip of release liner


12


is laid and temporarily secured along the longitudinal axis of drum


10


. with the releasing layer


13


facing upward. Such release liners, with a maximal thickness of, for example, 0.1 mm, are widely used as protective layers of adhesive tapes and are peeled from the adhesive layer prior to application of the tape. Such a release layer is, for example, One Side Siliconised Glassine, manufactured by Rierama S.p.A, Monfa, Italy.




Double-sided adhesive foil


18


is then applied to the drum


10


. The upper side of the adhesive foil


18


is protected by release liner


19


. The adhesive foil is applied such that its exposed adhesive side faces the drum and it's edges


18


-


a


and


18


-


b


cover the release liner


12


and overlap each other as shown in

FIG. 1-A

. Such double-sided adhesive foil is, for example, Duplocoll 310 manufactured by Lohmann GmbH & Co. KG, Neuweid, Germany.




The foil


18


is wrapped around the drum


10


, using methods well known in the art.




Reference is now made to

FIG. 1-B

. A cut


20


is made through the layers formed by the overlapping adhesive foil edges


18


-


a


,


18


-


b


and the release liner


12


The cut


20


is done using a sharp knife


21


. Such a knife


21


may be, for example, type L-500G manufactured by NT Inc. Osaka, Japan. The cut is preferably at an angle, such as 5° to the drum's longitudinal axis, to serve as an additional safety measure against being peeled off by the “doctor blade”.




The surplus strips


18


-


c


and


18


-


d


, formed by the cut


20


, are then disposed of, while the edges


18


-


a


and


18


-


b


of the adhesive foil are left attached to the drum


10


.




Reference is now made to

FIG. 1-C

. At this stage, the edges of the adhesive foil


18


-


a


and


18


-


b


are raised from the release liner


12


.




Reference is now made to

FIG. 1-D

. The strip of release liner


12


is now removed from the drum.


10


.




Reference is now made to

FIG. 1-E

. The edges


18


-


a


and


18


-


b


of the foil are attached to the drum


10


. As the two edges


18


-


a


and


18


-


b


were cut simultaneously, they are fully butted.




A technique similar to the one described above is used in the next stage, to apply the gravure plate onto the drum


10


, now covered by the double-sided adhesive foil.




Reference is now made to

FIG. 2-A

. The release liner


19


(not shown) of

FIG. 1-E

is peeled off from the double-sided adhesive foil. A new strip of release liner


22


is attached to the adhesive foil


18


, with its releasing side


26


facing the adhesive foil, while the substrate


24


of the release liner is facing up.




Reference is now made to

FIG. 2-B

. The gravure plate


28


is applied onto the adhesive foil


18


, so that its first edge


28


-


a


covers the release liner


22


. After attaching the plate


28


to the circumference of the drum


10


, using methods well known in the art, the second edge


28


-


b


of the gravure plate should overlap the first edge


28


-


a.






Referring now to

FIG. 2-C

, a cut


30


is made along the longitudinal axis of the drum


10


, by using a specially shaped knife


31


. Such a knife is, for example, type BSL-2 manufactured by NT Inc. Osaka, Japan. The cut is preferably at an angle, such as 5° to the drum's longitudinal axis, to serve as an additional safety measure against being peeled off by the “doctor blade”. As yet another measure of safety, the present cut is done at an offset from the previous cut, so that the butting of the plate's edges is not located exactly above the butting of the double-sided adhesive foil.




The two-surplus strips


28


-


c


and


28


-


d


, which were produced by the cut, are then disposed of.




Referring now to

FIG. 2-D

, the edges


28


-


a


and


28


-


b


of the plate are raised, so as to expose the release liner strip


22


.




Referring now to

FIG. 2-E

, the release liner strip


22


is disposed of.




Referring now to

FIG. 2-F

, the edges


28


-


a


and


28


-


b


of the gravure plate are attached onto the adhesive layer


18


. Since these edges were cut simultaneously, the edges butt, leaving a minimal gap of the order of 10 microns.



Claims
  • 1. A method for applying a gravure printing plate to a gravure printing drum comprising:applying a release liner on said gravure printing drum, wherein a release layer of said release liner faces away from said drum; applying a double-sided adhesive foil to said gravure printing drum, wherein the two edges of said adhesive foil overlap; cutting through said overlapping edges of said adhesive foil and through said release liner; removing said release liner and attaching said two cut edges of said adhesive foil to said drum; applying a release liner on said gravure printing drum, wherein a release layer of said release liner faces towards said adhesive foil; applying said gravure printing plate onto said double-sided adhesive foil, wherein the two edges of said plate overlap in the area of said release liner; cutting through said overlapping edges of said gravure printing plate and through said release liner; and removing said release liner and attaching said two cut edges of said gravure printing plate to said adhesive foil.
  • 2. The method as described in claim 1, wherein said first step of cutting is done at an angle to the longitudinal axis of said drum.
  • 3. The method as described in claim 1, wherein said second step of cutting is done at an angle to the longitudinal axis of said drum.
  • 4. The method as described in claim 1, wherein said two cut edges of said adhesive foil and said two cut edges of said gravure plate do not overlap.
Parent Case Info

This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application No. 60/179,491, Feb. 1, 2000.

US Referenced Citations (3)
Number Name Date Kind
4527478 Difflipp et al. Jul 1985 A
4828641 Werther et al. May 1989 A
6286427 Smith Sep 2001 B1
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number Date Country
0 928 685 Jul 1999 EP
Provisional Applications (1)
Number Date Country
60/179491 Feb 2000 US