Method for printing on at least one substrate
The method addresses inkjet printing misalignment issues by controlling printhead nozzles and adjusting image data to compensate for substrate changes, ensuring high-quality registration and alignment without material waste.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- DE102013214014
- Authority / Receiving Office
- DE · DE
- Patent Type
- Patents
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2013-07-17
- Publication Date
- 2026-01-08
- Estimated Expiration
- 2033-07-17
AI Technical Summary
Inkjet printing processes face challenges in maintaining precise registration and alignment of images on double-sided substrates due to dimensional changes caused by moisture loss or solvent expansion during drying, leading to misalignment and potential waste of printed material.
A method for controlling printhead nozzles by selectively ejecting droplets and adjusting image data to compensate for substrate dimensional changes, including shifting and stretching pages to ensure accurate registration and alignment without cutting off printed areas.
This method enhances print quality by reducing material waste and disturbances, allowing for high-quality, registered images even with varying substrate dimensions, suitable for digital printing processes and various printing technologies.
Smart Images
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Abstract
Description
[0001] The invention relates to a method for printing on at least one substrate.
[0002] Various printing processes are known to be used in printing presses. These include, for example, printing processes that do not use a fixed printing form. This makes it possible to customize each individual printed product. This allows for the production of personalized printed materials and / or, due to the elimination of printing forms, the production of small print runs at low cost. One such printing process is inkjet printing. In this process, individual droplets of coating medium are ejected from nozzles in printheads and transferred to the substrate in such a way that a printed image is created. By individually controlling a large number of nozzles, different printed images can be created.
[0003] The exact alignment of a printed image on the front and back of a double-sided printed substrate is called register (DIN 16500-2). In multicolor printing, the term registration (DIN 16500-2) refers to the precise alignment of individual printed images of different colors to form a single image. Appropriate measures must also be taken in inkjet printing to ensure registration and / or alignment.
[0004] EP 2 202 081 A1 and JP 2003-063707 A each disclose a printing machine, wherein the printing machine comprises a first printing unit and a dryer, wherein the first printing unit comprises a central cylinder with its own drive motor assigned to the first central cylinder and at least one inkjet printhead.
[0005] DE 10 2011 076 899 A1 discloses a printing machine which has at least one printing unit and at least one printhead designed as an inkjet printhead.
[0006] Inkjet printing uses printheads, each typically equipped with multiple nozzles. Depending on the print image, for example, its division into color separations, different nozzles may remain inactive for varying lengths of time. It can happen that after a prolonged inactivity, a nozzle may not respond correctly upon its next activation, ejecting at least one requested droplet too late or not at all. Possible causes include changes in the ink upon contact with the ambient air near the nozzle and / or changes in the nozzle itself, such as those caused by temperature fluctuations or the damping of vibrations in individual components.Methods are known in which, in addition to the desired print images, predetermined maintenance print images are generated at regular intervals to ensure maintenance at all nozzles, i.e., a constant readiness for immediate printing on demand. Such maintenance print images can, for example, be strips printed between individual overall print images and, if necessary, cut off from the substrate in a post-processing step. EP 2 390 101 A2 discloses a method in which, to maintain print quality in an inkjet printing process, additional droplets are ejected alongside the print image. It is also known to superimpose another print image onto the actual print image, for which each nozzle is activated at least once and which appears as a finely distributed dot pattern in the background of the actual print image.
[0007] In the preceding and following text, a printed product is understood to be, in particular, a finished product that is both printed and, where applicable, folded and / or cut. There are different types of printed products, for example, those consisting solely of a single page. In this case, for instance, sheets of appropriately sized substrate are printed, or webs of substrate are printed and then cut. Other types of printed products consist of multiple individual pages printed on at least one common substrate, in particular at least one common web, which is subsequently folded and cut, for example, in at least one folding device.Depending on the type and / or control of at least one folding device, the individual pages must be printed on the substrate in a specific arrangement to ensure correct orientation and sequence after folding. This specific arrangement of individual pages is called the overall print image or signature. For example, an overall print image can consist of two rows of four individual pages each, with the pages of the first row being oriented upside down compared to the pages of the second row. For instance, an initial overall print image is applied to the substrate by a first printing unit, and a second, corresponding overall print image is applied to the substrate by a second printing unit, specifically on the reverse side of the substrate.
[0008] During transport of the substrate between the first and second printing units, deformation often occurs. This can manifest as shrinkage due to moisture loss from an intermediate drying process and / or expansion due to softening from solvents and / or water introduced with the coating material. A relative change in the substrate's dimensions can be as high as 1% (one percent). This can result in the registration and / or alignment no longer meeting quality requirements. Such effects can vary in intensity depending on the orientation of the paper fibers in different directions, being less pronounced in the transport direction than in a direction perpendicular to it.
[0009] WO 2009 / 005766 A2 discloses a printing machine which has two printing units with printheads that are aligned on the same side of the substrate.
[0010] WO 2005 / 031470 A1 discloses a method in which toner images are generated based on bitmaps and in which, due to an expected shrinkage of a printing material, these bitmaps are changed during their generation with regard to the number of pixels to be printed.
[0011] DE 101 11 216 A1 discloses a method in which image data is modified to compensate for heat shrinkage, wherein an amount of heat shrinkage was previously obtained experimentally and corresponding data is stored in a memory.
[0012] DE 10 2007 040 402 A1 discloses a method in which changes in the dimensions of a substrate are compensated by tilting inkjet printheads.
[0013] German patent DE 10 2009 051 197 A1 discloses a method in which rasterized image data for inkjet printing are modified to compensate for web shrinkage.
[0014] US Patent 4,721,969 discloses a method in which image data from a thermal printer is shifted or stretched to compensate for changes in the dimensions of a substrate.
[0015] US Patent 2004 / 0205603A1 discloses a method for printing on a substrate using a printer connected to a computer system. Depending on the properties of the printing program, the printer driver, and the printer's own controller, necessary layout and resolution changes are assigned to these three instances in a configuration-dependent manner. A raster graphics processor generates raster data for individual pages from the template image data. These pages, already represented by raster data, are then arranged to compensate for any increase in thickness caused by variations in paper thickness.
[0016] German patent DE 101 56 040 A1 discloses a method in which a printed product is first scanned. Image errors in the data captured during scanning are corrected.
[0017] US Patent 2007 / 0127064A1 discloses a method in which individual pages stored in a PDF document are rearranged to create a PDF document containing the page arrangement suitable for a print product to generate output data for a printing device.
[0018] US Patent 2001 / 0021027A1 discloses a method in which the application of toner to a substrate in a second printing unit is shifted side by side to compensate for shrinkage of the substrate during the fixing process after printing with a first printing unit.
[0019] The invention is based on the objective of creating a method for printing on at least one substrate.
[0020] The problem is solved according to the invention by the features of claim 1.
[0021] A preferred advantage of the invention is that it preferably avoids the need to remove, for example, cut off, areas of the printed product after printing. This preferably saves printing material and reduces the number of necessary devices and work processes. This is particularly evident from a preferred method for operating a printing press, wherein the printing press preferably has at least one printhead with at least one first nozzle, and wherein control data and / or raster data of at least one print image to be printed are preferably forwarded to the at least one printhead in the form of entries to be processed, and wherein each entry is preferably assigned to one of the at least one first nozzle and either has a value corresponding to an instruction to pause or has a value thatwhich corresponds to an instruction to eject a droplet and wherein, preferably, depending on the data assigned to the at least one print image, at least one additional droplet is ejected by means of the at least one first nozzle between two drops that represent pixels of the same print image to be printed and are also ejected by means of this at least one first nozzle, which does not represent a pixel of this print image to be printed.
[0022] This preferably results additionally or alternatively from a preferred method for operating a printing press, wherein the printing press preferably has at least one printhead with at least one first nozzle, and wherein raster data and / or control data of at least one printed image are preferably stored and / or processed in at least one data memory, and wherein each entry is preferably assigned and / or processed to a nozzle and either has a value corresponding to an instruction to pause or a value corresponding to an instruction to eject a drop, and wherein preferably at least one of the first sequences of entries to be processed successively, assigned and / or assignable to this first nozzle, is checked to see if it has at least one subsequence.which contains only entries with instructions to pause and which exceeds a predetermined number of entries, and wherein, preferably, upon finding such a subsequence, at least one entry of this subsequence is modified in such a way that it subsequently has a value corresponding to an instruction to eject a drop.
[0023] A further advantage of the invention is preferably that, preferably by selectively controlling nozzles of the at least one printhead, the amount of ejected coating material, for example ejected printing ink, is low compared to a method in which all nozzles eject coating material at regular intervals.
[0024] Another advantage is that unnecessary disturbances in a printed image are avoided.
[0025] Preferably, raster data and / or output data and / or control data belonging to successive print images and / or template image data are processed together and checked for corresponding effects. This allows for even greater savings in coating material and / or even better print quality.
[0026] A single page is understood to be, for example, an object that is part of a larger printed image. This could be, for instance, a single page of a newspaper, book, or magazine. A single page can also be a poster and be the sole image printed on a sheet of a finished printed product. For example, a single page can also contain multiple objects, which are treated together when describing the overall printed image. For instance, a larger printed image can consist of two single pages, corresponding to two pages of a newspaper, while at least one of these single pages contains at least one text block and at least one graphic as objects. Preferably, at least with regard to shifts made within data, a single page is the smallest unit that remains unchanged.
[0027] A preferred advantage of the invention is that the registration and / or alignment of printed products can achieve higher quality, particularly by compensating for changes in the dimensions of the substrate before the application of a suitable coating. A further preferred advantage is that individual print jobs can be addressed individually, thereby further increasing the quality of the printed products compared to using standardized solutions. A further preferred advantage is the ease of use for printing press operators, especially due to the potential for a high degree of automation.
[0028] Advantageous variants of a preferred method for printing at least one substrate using at least one printing unit of a printing press are described, wherein preferably first output data for the production or control of at least one form of print images are derived from, in particular, digitally stored template image data of at least one overall print image.in particular, at least individual pixels of printed images are generated by a component of at least one printing unit of the printing press for the production of at least one first printed overall image, and wherein the template image data of the at least one first printed overall image, which is preferably stored digitally, preferably includes template image data of at least one first single page and preferably also template image data of at least one second single page, and wherein the at least one first printed overall image is preferably produced on the at least one substrate by means of a first printing process using the at least one first printing unit according to the first output data.
[0029] Preferably, at least one first single page and at least one second single page within digitally stored data are shifted relative to each other, at least in this first printing direction, while maintaining at least their respective absolute virtual page dimensions measured in a first printing direction. This shift is dependent on print job data and / or correction data stored in at least one correction memory. This preferably offers the advantage that printed single pages originating from different printing units are correctly registered and / or aligned with each other in the finished printed product. Preferably, the extent of the relative shift depends on how far apart the single pages were previously spaced.Printed individual pages that are further apart, for example, are moved more relative to each other by changes in the dimensions of the printing material, which is preferably compensated for by a larger relative shift of the individual pages in the template image data.
[0030] Pages whose centers align are also considered to be arranged correctly, regardless of whether their page dimensions differ. Such a difference is perceived as less distracting by the viewer than pages that are completely misaligned. Pages whose centers align when viewed through the backlight of the printing material are also considered to be arranged correctly, regardless of whether their page dimensions differ. Such a difference is also perceived as less distracting by the viewer than pages that are completely misaligned.
[0031] Preferably, at least one first single page in its template image data is assigned at least one virtual first page dimension in a first template direction and a virtual first reference point, and at least one second single page in its template image data is assigned at least one virtual second reference point and, further preferably, also at least one virtual second page dimension in this first template direction, and a reference distance measured in a first print image direction, which the first reference point and the second reference point have to each other on the at least one first printed overall print image, on the one hand, and the first page dimension of a printed first single page, on the other hand, to each other in a dimensional print ratio,which preferably deviates from a dimension-original ratio depending on order data related to a print job and / or depending on correction data stored in at least one correction memory, in which a virtual reference distance measured in the first original direction, which is assigned to the virtual first reference point and the virtual second reference point to each other in the original image data of the at least one first overall print image, on the one hand, and the virtual first page dimension of the at least one first individual page in the original image data, on the other hand, are relative to each other. This can be the case, for example, with a simple shift of the individual pages relative to each other. However, it is also possible thatThis can be achieved through a combination of shifting individual pages and stretching individual pages and / or the entire printed image. For example, shifting the individual pages allows their centers to be aligned, and individually stretching them allows their dimensions to be adjusted.
[0032] Preferably, or alternatively or additionally, at least one single page within digitally stored data is stretched by a first scaling factor before and / or during the generation of the output data, at least in the first template direction, depending on the template image data, print job-related order data, and correction data stored in at least one correction memory. Stretching at least one single page and / or, for example, an entire print image, preferably allows for the largely or even completely compensation of uniform changes in the dimensions of the substrate. While this approach requires modification of the template image data of the corresponding single pages themselves, it achieves very high-quality results with regard to registration and / or alignment.
[0033] The preferred method is particularly suitable, on the one hand, for controlling the nozzles of printheads of at least a first printing unit of the printing press, in particular for controlling the ejection of coating material through nozzles of printheads, for example, of an inkjet printer. Alternatively, the method is suitable for all types of digital printing processes, especially those in which individual controlled elements generate pixels, for example, digital thermal printing processes, printing processes based on electrical charging, for example, using toner as a coating material, or similar. On the other hand, the method is particularly suitable for controlling at least one manufacturing device for producing solid printing forms, for example, for imaging printing plates in offset printing and / or for producing printing forms for letterpress and / or flexographic printing and / or gravure printing.The process is then used to produce, in particular, solid printing forms, for example printing plates.
[0034] Preferably, at least one printing unit is an inkjet printing unit and / or the printing machine is an inkjet printing machine and / or first output data for controlling nozzles of printheads of the at least one first printing unit of the printing machine are generated from the template image data of the at least one first overall print image, which is stored in particular digitally, according to which coating material is ejected through these nozzles of printheads to produce the at least one first printed overall print image and / or the respective output data are control data of the nozzles of printheads of at least one inkjet printing unit of the printing machine to be used.
[0035] Particularly in connection with digital printing processes, such as inkjet printing, the advantage arises that data modifications, such as shifting and / or stretching individual pages or entire printed images, can be carried out relatively late, specifically only after it has already been determined which printing press, substrate, climatic conditions, and / or coating material will be used for the print job. For example, if a different substrate is used contrary to the original plan, perhaps because a particular type of substrate is no longer available in sufficient quantity, the process can be applied immediately before printing begins and take these changes into account. It is also possible to react to changes in environmental conditions, such as altered humidity.In digital printing processes, such changes can even be adjusted during the course of a print job, whether due to changed conditions, a changed substrate during a rolling change, or due to measurements on printed products already produced within the same print job.
[0036] Preferably, the displacement of at least one page and / or the stretching of at least one page and / or at least one overall print image and / or at least one reference distance depends on the template image data at least insofar as the template image data contains information about the positions of individual pages within the overall print image. A displacement of an individual page will preferably be greater the further that individual page is already positioned from a reference point, for example, a center line of the overall print image, particularly because the change in at least one dimension of the substrate then has a greater effect. For example, shrinkage of a substrate web would displace individual pages positioned at the edge of that web more than individual pages positioned close to the center line of the substrate web.Therefore, to compensate, the individual pages located at the edges must first be shifted more significantly. This becomes increasingly important the more individual pages are arranged side by side and / or the smaller the individual pages are. Uniform stretching of the overall printed image allows for uniform compensation of any changes in the page dimensions of the printing material.
[0037] A preferred method is, alternatively or additionally, a method for printing at least one substrate using at least one printing unit of a printing press, wherein first output data for the production or control of at least one component of at least one printing unit of the printing press, defining at least one form of print images, is generated from stored template image data of at least one first overall print image, and wherein the stored template image data of the at least one first overall print image includes at least template image data of at least one first single page and template image data of at least one second single page, and wherein the at least one first single page and the at least one second single page within stored data are maintained by aMachine control and / or print data processing of the printing press itself and / or by means of at least one stored algorithm of the machine control and / or print data processing of the printing press are shifted relative to each other at least in this first template direction and wherein, by means of a first printing process using the at least one first printing unit according to the first output data, the at least one first printed overall print image is produced on the at least one substrate.
[0038] An advantage of a preferred, additional, or alternative method for coating a substrate by means of printing units of a printing press, wherein the substrate is coated along a transport path by means of at least one first printing unit and preferably also at least one second printing unit, and wherein at least six different coating agents are applied to an identical first side of the substrate, and wherein each of these at least six different coating agents is applied to the substrate by means of a plurality of individually controllable components of at least one first printing unit and / or at least one second printing unit of the printing press, which define individual pixels of printed images depending on output data and, in particular, control data, and wherein at least three different coating agents are applied to the first side of the substrate by means of the at least one first printing unit.The advantage of this system, which applies at least three different coating materials to the first side of the substrate using at least one second printing unit, lies particularly in the fact that high-quality printed products can be produced using controllable, especially digitally controllable, components that define individual pixels of printed images in at least one printing unit. These high-quality products can be distinguished from simpler printed products, for example, by their variety of colors and / or varnishes and / or other features. In this way, high-quality yet individual printed images can be produced, for example, in packaging printing. This is especially true in connection with inkjet printers, as these can apply a large number of different coating materials in variable printed images with particular ease. In particular, the individually controllable components, which determine the individual pixels of printed images, are preferred.Output data and, in particular, control data, components defining individual pixels of printed images, nozzles of inkjet printheads of printing units of at least one first printing unit and / or at least one second printing unit of the printing machine.
[0039] This applies in particular to a printing press, wherein preferably at least one first printing unit and at least one second printing unit are arranged along a transport path through the printing press for at least one substrate to be printed, and wherein the printing press has at least five, more preferably at least six, even more preferably at least seven and even more preferably at least eight different intermediate storage units for different coating materials, and wherein each of these has at least five, more preferably at least six,more preferably at least seven and more preferably at least eight intermediate storage devices, each with at least a plurality of individually controllable components of the at least one first printing unit or the at least one second printing unit of the printing machine, are connected and / or connectable, and wherein preferably individual printed pixels of printed images can be generated by means of each of these components depending on output data and in particular control data, and wherein preferably each of these components is arranged on the same side of the transport path through the printing machine provided for the at least one substrate to be printed, and wherein preferably the at least one first printing unit has at least one, more preferably at least two,further preferably at least three and further preferably at least four of the different intermediate storage units for different coating materials, and wherein preferably the at least one second printing unit has at least one, further preferably at least two, further preferably at least three and further preferably at least four of the different intermediate storage units for different coating materials.
[0040] An advantage of a preferred method is that, preferably, first output data and / or control data for controlling the component of the at least one first and / or second printing unit that defines at least one individual pixel of print images are additionally generated from stored template image data of at least one first overall print image, and the stored template image data of the at least one first overall print image preferably includes template image data of at least one first single page and preferably also template image data of at least one second single page, and the at least one first single page and the at least one second single page are preferably stored within data, preferably maintaining at least their respective absolute virtual page dimensions measured in a first template direction, depending on job data related to a print job.and / or are shifted relative to each other at least in this first template direction depending on correction data stored in at least one correction memory, and / or at least the first single page within stored data is stretched with a first scaling factor before and / or during the generation of the output data at least in the first template direction, depending on the template image data and depending on job data related to a print job and depending on correction data stored in at least one correction memory, consists in particular in the fact that this allows printing with correct registration and / or registration even if different printing units are used and / or dimensions of the substrate change between the printing units, for example due to the effect of a dryer.
[0041] This advantage is particularly evident when, as is preferred, at least a change in at least one dimension of the printing material is at least partially compensated by stretching at least one first single page and / or stretching at least one second single page and / or stretching at least one virtual reference distance and / or by the relative displacement of at least one first single page and at least one second single page to each other in the template image data.
[0042] A further advantage arises particularly when, preferably, the substrate is coated with at least one different coating material along a transport path by means of at least one first printing unit, then dried by means of at least one dryer, and then coated with at least one other of at least five, in particular at least six, more preferably at least seven, and even more preferably at least eight different coating materials by means of at least one second printing unit. In particular, this preferably prevents undried coating material from contaminating the printed product and / or the printing press, and preferably results in a clean, registered, and / or misaligned printed image.For this purpose, at least one first printing unit, at least one first dryer, and at least one second printing unit are preferably arranged along the transport path through the printing machine for at least one substrate to be printed.
[0043] A further advantage arises particularly when, preferably, at least one of the at least five, in particular at least six, more preferably at least seven and even more preferably at least eight different coating agents is a printing ink in at least one of the colors cyan and / or magenta and / or yellow and / or black and / or is a white printing ink and / or is a transparent coating agent and / or is a coating agent of the color gold and / or silver and / or contains iron oxide particles and / or has a positive or negative magnetic susceptibility and / or ferromagnetic or ferrimagnetic or antiferromagnetic properties and / or is a water-based coating agent and / or contains at least one organic solvent and / or is crosslinkable by means of UV light and / or is electrically conductive and / or is only visible under UV light.because this makes it possible to create a wide variety of different and / or sophisticated and / or counterfeit-proof and / or functional printed images.
[0044] A preferred method is an alternative or additional method for printing at least one substrate using at least one printing unit of a printing press, wherein output data for controlling at least one component of at least one printing unit of the printing press, which defines at least one form of print images, is preferably generated from stored template image data of at least one overall print image, and wherein the at least one overall print image is preferably defined and / or described in a primary data package and / or is assigned at least one dimension measured in a template direction to the at least one overall print image in the template image data and / or in the primary data package, and wherein this at least one dimension is preferably compared with at least one limit value, and wherein, preferably, if the at least one limit value is exceeded, the at least oneLimit value by which at least one dimension divides the at least one first overall print image, with respect to this template direction, into a plurality of sections of the at least one first overall print image, and wherein preferably the plurality of sections is defined and / or described in a plurality of secondary data packages and / or is, and wherein preferably by printing operations, which are preferably carried out by means of the at least one first printing unit and in which output data based on at least one of the secondary data packages is preferably processed, the plurality of sections of the at least one first overall print image is preferably produced on the at least one first substrate.
[0045] One advantage of this preferred method is that a relatively small memory can be used for the secondary data packets and / or that particularly large print images, and in principle even printed images that extend endlessly in at least one direction, can be created from a digital print image template. Without data partitioning, a limitation would arise, for example, from a memory that stores raster data, which is then retrieved from this memory and converted into output data. By partitioning data packets that would be too large for this memory, it is preferentially possible to produce very long, high-quality printed images. The preferred use of a buffer and / or ring buffer and / or shift register enables seamless printing even at high printing speeds because fewer large data storage areas need to be emptied and refilled.In particular, this allows the emptying and / or filling of the corresponding data storage to be decoupled from the reading of that data storage. If, as is preferred, the division of a primary data packet into several secondary data packets is only carried out when a threshold is exceeded and / or by a machine control and / or print data processing and / or an algorithm stored therein, particularly flexible operation is possible. This is because, for example, a printing company with differently configured printing presses does not have to determine in advance which printing press will be used and, consequently, how the data packets should be divided. Especially if each printing press has its own configuration-dependent threshold, unnecessary data processing effort can be avoided.
[0046] Especially when the primary data package contains template image data or geometrically modified template image data, it is preferable to first create sections from it, which can then be converted into raster data or geometrically modified raster data. This allows the rasterization process to be carried out with relatively small data packages. This simplifies data handling during rasterization and enables the printing of very large images.
[0047] Exemplary embodiments of the invention are shown in the drawings and are described in more detail below.
[0048] They show: Fig. 1a a schematic representation of a printing press; Fig. 1b a schematic representation of a printing press with alternative web guidance; Fig. 2 a schematic representation of part of a printing unit with a double row of printheads; Fig. 3 a schematic representation of part of a print data processing device; Fig. 4 a schematic representation of part of a print data processing device, where broken lines indicate a plurality of printhead controls and printheads; Fig. 5 a schematic representation of partial image data, for example within raster data, whereby additional pixels are inserted; Fig. 6 a schematic representation of printed areas of a substrate, wherein an upper part of the representation shows a first area of the substrate and a first signature printed by a first printing unit and not yet dried, and wherein a middle part of the representation shows the first area after drying, and wherein a lower part of the representation shows a second signature applied to the first area of the substrate on a front or back side, and wherein a change in any dimension of the substrate has not been taken into account; Fig. 7a a schematic representation of printed areas of a substrate, wherein an upper part of the representation shows a first area of the substrate and a first signature printed by a first printing unit and not yet dried, and wherein a middle part of the representation shows the first area after drying, and wherein a lower part of the representation shows a second signature applied to the first area of the substrate on a front or back side, and wherein a change in a dimension of the substrate by shifting individual pages has been taken into account; Fig. 7b a schematic representation of two composite print images, preferably to be printed using different printing units, in their template image data, wherein individual pages of the upper composite print image are shifted relative to individual pages of the lower composite print image; Fig. 8 a schematic representation of printed areas of a substrate, wherein an upper part of the representation shows a first area of the substrate and a first signature printed by a first printing unit and not yet dried, and wherein a middle part of the representation shows the first area after drying, and wherein a lower part of the representation shows a second signature applied to the first area of the substrate on a front or back side, and wherein a change in a dimension of the substrate by stretching the first overall printed image has been taken into account; Fig. 9a a schematic representation of an initial further processing of correction data and / or order data and / or template image data; Fig. 9b a schematic representation of an alternative second processing of correction data and / or order data and / or template image data; Fig. 10a a schematic representation of a printing machine with a web guide for printing by means of several printing units on the same side of a substrate; Fig. 10b a schematic representation of a printing press with an alternative web guide for printing by means of several printing units on the same side of a substrate; Fig. 11 a schematic representation of an overall printed image and different possible divisions into sections.
[0049] A printing machine 01 comprises at least one substrate source 100, at least one first printing unit 200, preferably at least one first dryer 301, preferably at least one second printing unit 400, and preferably at least one second dryer 331, and preferably at least one post-processing device 500. The printing machine 01 is preferably configured as an inkjet printing machine 01. Preferably, the printing machine 01 is configured as a roll-to-roll printing machine 01, and more preferably as a roll-to-roll inkjet printing machine 01. The printing machine 01 is, for example, configured as a rotary printing machine 01, for example as a roll-to-roll rotary printing machine 01, and in particular as a roll-to-roll inkjet printing machine 01. In the case of a roll-to-roll printing machine 01, the substrate source 100 is configured as a roll unwinding device 100. In the case of a sheet-fed printing machine or sheet-fed rotary printing machine, the substrate source 100 is configured as a sheet feeder.In the substrate source 100, at least one substrate 02 is preferably aligned, preferably with respect to at least one edge of this substrate 02. In the roll unwinding device 100 of a roll-to-roll printing press 01, at least one web-shaped substrate 02, i.e., a substrate web 02, for example, a paper web 02, a textile web 02, or a film 02, for example, a plastic film 02, or a metal film 02, is unwound from a substrate roll 101 and preferably aligned with respect to its edges in an axial direction A. The axial direction A is preferably a direction A that extends parallel to an axis of rotation 111 of a substrate roll 101 and / or at least of a central cylinder 201; 401.A transport path of the at least one substrate 02 and in particular the substrate web 02 runs from the at least one substrate source 100 preferably through the at least one first printing unit 200, where the substrate 02 and in particular the substrate web 02 is preferably provided with a printed image on at least one side and preferably on both sides in conjunction with the at least one second printing unit 400 by means of at least one coating agent, in particular at least one printing ink.
[0050] After passing through at least one first printing unit 200, the substrate 02, and in particular the substrate web 02, preferably passes through at least one first dryer 301 to dry the applied printing ink. For the purposes of this document, "printing ink" generally refers to a coating material, including, in particular, a varnish. Preferably, the at least one first dryer 301 is part of a dryer unit 300. After passing through at least one first dryer 301, and preferably through at least one second printing unit 400 and / or at least one second dryer 331, the substrate 02, and in particular the substrate web 02, is preferably fed to at least one post-processing device 500 for further processing.The at least one post-processing device 500 is configured, for example, as at least one folding device 500 and / or as a winding device 500 and / or as at least one flat delivery device 500. In the at least one folding device 500, the substrate 02, preferably printed on both sides, is further processed into individual printed products.
[0051] Preferably, along the transport path of the substrate 02, and in particular the substrate web 02, through the printing machine 01, at least one first dryer 301 and / or at least one second dryer 400 and / or at least one second dryer 331 and / or at least one finishing device 500 are arranged after the at least one first dryer 301 and / or after the at least one second dryer 331. This ensures that high-quality double-sided printing of the substrate 02, and in particular the substrate web 02, is possible.
[0052] A roll-to-roll printing press 01 is described in more detail below. However, corresponding details can be applied equally to other printing presses 01, for example, sheet-fed printing presses, provided they do not contradict this description. Substrate rolls 101, which are preferably used in the roll unwinding device 100, preferably each have a core onto which the web-shaped substrate 02 is wound for use in the roll-to-roll printing press 01. The substrate web 02 preferably has a width of 700 mm to 2000 mm, but can also have an arbitrarily smaller or, preferably, larger width. At least one substrate roll 101 is rotatably arranged in the roll unwinding device 100. In a preferred embodiment, the roll unwinding device 100 is designed to accommodate one substrate roll 101, i.e., it has only one storage position for one substrate roll 101.In another embodiment, the roll unwinding device 100 is designed as a roll changer 100 and has storage positions for at least two substrate rolls 101. Preferably, the roll changer 100 is designed such that it enables a flying roll change, i.e., connecting a first substrate web 02 of a currently processed substrate roll 101 with a second substrate web 02 of a substrate roll 101 to be processed subsequently, while both the currently processed substrate roll 101 and the substrate roll 101 to be processed subsequently are rotating.
[0053] The working width of the printing machine 01 is a dimension that preferably extends orthogonally to the intended transport path of the substrate 02 through the at least one first printing unit 200, and more preferably in the axial direction A. The working width of the printing machine 01 preferably corresponds to a maximum width that a substrate may have in order to still be processed by the printing machine 01, i.e., a maximum substrate width that can be processed by the printing machine 01.
[0054] The roll unwinding device 100 preferably has at least one roll holding device 103 for each storage position, which is designed, for example, as a clamping device 103 and / or as a clamping device 103. Preferably, the at least one roll holding device 103 represents at least one motor-driven rotating body 103. The at least one roll holding device 103 serves for the rotatable mounting of at least one printing material roll 101. The at least one roll holding device 103 preferably has at least one drive motor 104.
[0055] Preferably, the roll unwinding device 100, along the transport path of the substrate web 02 after the roll holding device 103, comprises a dancer roller 113, preferably deflectable on a dancer lever 121, and / or a first web edge aligner 114, and / or a feed unit 139 comprising a feed gap 119 formed by a feed roller 118 and a feed pressure unit 117, and a first measuring device 141 designed as a first measuring roller 141, in particular a feed measuring roller 141. This feed roller 118 preferably has its own drive motor 146, designed as a feed drive motor 146, which is preferably connected to a machine control system. The feed roller 118 preferably represents at least one second motor-driven rotating body 118. A web tension can be set and maintained within limits by means of the dancer roller 113, and / or the web tension is preferably kept within limits.If necessary, the roll unwinding device 100 has a gluing and cutting device by means of which a roll change can take place on the fly, i.e. without stopping the printing web 02.
[0056] The first web edge aligner 114 is preferably followed by the infeed unit 139. The infeed unit 139 preferably includes at least one tension roller 118, with which the tensioning unit 117 is preferably arranged to form the infeed gap 119. The infeed gap 119 serves to regulate web tension and / or transport the substrate 02. Preferably, the web tension can be measured by means of at least one first measuring device 141, which is designed as a first measuring roller 141. The at least one first measuring device 141, designed as a first measuring roller 141, is preferably arranged upstream of the infeed gap 119 in the transport direction of the substrate web 02.
[0057] A first printing unit 200 is located downstream of the roll unwinding device 100 with respect to the transport path of the substrate 02. The first printing unit 200 has at least one first central printing cylinder 201, or simply central cylinder 201. When a central cylinder 201 is mentioned below, it always refers to a central printing cylinder 201. The at least one first central cylinder 201 preferably represents at least one third motor-driven rotating body 201. During printing, the substrate web 02 at least partially wraps around the first central cylinder 201. The wrap angle is preferably at least 180° and more preferably at least 270°. The wrap angle is the angle, measured in the circumferential direction, of a cylindrical surface of the first central cylinder 201 along which the substrate 02, and in particular the substrate web 02, is in contact with the first central cylinder 201.Accordingly, during printing, preferably at least 50% and more preferably at least 75% of the cylinder surface area of the first central cylinder 201, viewed in the circumferential direction, is in contact with the substrate web 02. This means that a partial area of the cylinder surface of the at least one first central cylinder 201, which serves as a contact surface between the at least one first central cylinder 201 and the substrate 02 (preferably designed as a substrate web 02), has a wrap angle around the at least one first central cylinder 201 that is preferably at least 180° and more preferably at least 270°.
[0058] Along the transport path of the substrate web 02 upstream of the first central cylinder 201 of the first printing unit 200, at least one second measuring device 216, preferably designed as a second measuring roller 216, is preferably arranged for measuring the web tension. Along the transport path of the substrate web 02 upstream of the first central cylinder 201 of the first printing unit 200, at least one first substrate preparation device 202 or web preparation device 202 is preferably arranged acting on the substrate web 02 and / or aligned with the intended transport path of the substrate web 02. The first substrate preparation device 202 is assigned to at least one first side and preferably both sides of the substrate web 02 and is particularly oriented to act on and / or be capable of acting on at least this first side of the substrate web 02 and preferably on both sides of the substrate web 02.Preferably, the infeed gap 119 formed by the traction roller 118 and the traction pressurer 117 is arranged along the transport path of the printing web 02 between the first web edge aligner 114 and the at least one first central cylinder 201.
[0059] In a preferred embodiment, the at least one first substrate preparation device 202 is arranged along the transport path of the substrate web 02 after the feed gap 119 and before the first central cylinder 201, acting on the substrate web 02 and / or aligned with the transport path of the substrate web 02. Preferably, the at least one first substrate preparation device 202 is configured as at least one substrate cleaning device 202 or web cleaning device 202. Alternatively or additionally, the at least one substrate preparation device 202 is configured as at least one coating device 202, particularly for water-based coating materials. Such a coating serves, for example, as a primer.Alternatively or additionally, the at least one substrate preparation device 202 is designed as at least one corona device 202 and / or discharge device 202 for corona treatment of the substrate 02.
[0060] Preferably, a roller 203 of the first printing unit 200, designed as a first deflecting roller 203, is arranged parallel to the first central cylinder 201 with respect to its axis of rotation. This first deflecting roller 203 is preferably arranged at a distance from the first central cylinder 201. In particular, a first gap 204 preferably exists between the first deflecting roller 203 and the first central cylinder 201, which is larger than the thickness of the substrate web 02. The thickness of the substrate web 02 is understood to be the smallest dimension of the substrate web 02. The substrate web 02 preferably wraps around a portion of the first deflecting roller 203 and is deflected by it in such a way that the transport path of the substrate web 02 in the first gap 204 is tangential to both the first deflecting roller 203 and the first central cylinder 201.A surface of the deflection roller 203 preferably consists of a comparatively inelastic material, more preferably a metal, and even more preferably steel or aluminium.
[0061] Preferably, at least one first cylinder 206, designed as a first pressure unit 206, is arranged in the first printing unit 200. The first pressure unit 206 preferably has a cylindrical surface made of an elastic material, for example, an elastomer. The first pressure unit 206 is preferably arranged to be positioned relative to and / or disengaged from the first central cylinder 201 by means of an actuating drive. In a position relative to the first central cylinder 201, the first pressure unit 206 preferably forms a first pressure gap 209 together with the first central cylinder 201. The substrate web 02 preferably passes through the first pressure gap 209 during printing. The substrate web 02 is preferably applied to the first central cylinder 201 in a flat surface and, more preferably, in a clearly defined and known position by the first pressure unit 206.Preferably, apart from at most the first presser 206 and / or optionally further pressers, no further rotating body, in particular no further roller and no further cylinder, is in contact with the at least one first central cylinder 201. Preferably, the axis of rotation of the first presser 206 is arranged below the axis of rotation 207 of the first central cylinder 201.
[0062] The first central cylinder 201 preferably has its own first drive motor 208, which is preferably designed as an electric motor 208 and is further preferably designed as a direct drive 208 and / or individual drive 208 of the first central cylinder 201. A direct drive 208 is understood to be a drive motor 208 that is in torque-transmitting and / or transmittable connection with the at least one first central cylinder 201 without the interposition of any further rotating bodies in contact with the substrate 02. An individual drive 208 is understood to be a drive motor 208 that is designed as the drive motor 208 exclusively for the at least one first central cylinder 201.The first drive motor 208 of the first central cylinder 201 preferably has at least one permanent magnet, which is further preferably part of a rotor of the first drive motor 208 of the first central cylinder 201.
[0063] A first rotary angle sensor 617 is preferably arranged on the first drive motor 208 of the first central cylinder 201 and / or on the first central cylinder 201 itself. This sensor is designed to measure and / or be capable of measuring the angular position of the first drive motor 208 and / or the first central cylinder 201 itself and to transmit and / or be capable of transmitting this information to a higher-level machine control system. The first rotary angle sensor 617 is, for example, configured as a rotary encoder 617 or an absolute encoder 617. With such a first rotary angle sensor 617, the rotational position of the first drive motor 208 and / or, preferably, the rotational position of the first central cylinder 201 can be determined absolutely, preferably by means of the higher-level machine control system.Additionally or alternatively, the first drive motor 208 of the first central cylinder 201 is connected to the machine control system in such a way that the machine control system is informed at all times about the rotational position of the first drive motor 208 and thus simultaneously about the rotational position of the first central cylinder 201, based on initial target data 617 specified by the machine control system to the first drive motor 208 of the first central cylinder 201. In particular, a section of the machine control system that specifies the angular position or rotational position of the first central cylinder 201 and / or the first drive motor 201 is preferably connected directly, in particular without an intermediate sensor, to a section of the machine control system that controls at least one printhead 212 of the first printing unit 200.
[0064] Within the first printing unit 200, at least one first printing unit 211 is arranged. This first printing unit 211 is preferably arranged in the direction of rotation of the first central cylinder 201 and thus along the transport path of the substrate web 02 after the first impression 206, preferably acting on and / or being able to act on and / or being aligned and / or being alignable with the first central cylinder 201. The first printing unit 211 is designed as a first inkjet printing unit 211 and is also called the first inkjet printing unit 211. The first printing unit 211 preferably has at least one nozzle bar 213 and preferably several nozzle bars 213. The first printing unit 211, and thus the first printing unit 200, preferably has the first printhead 212, which is designed as an inkjet printhead 212.Preferably, the at least one nozzle bar 213 has at least one printhead 212, and preferably several printheads 212. Each printhead 212 preferably has a plurality of nozzles from which coating agent droplets, in particular printing ink droplets, are ejected and / or can be ejected. A nozzle bar 213 is a component that preferably extends over at least 80% and more preferably at least 100% of the working width of the printing machine 01 and serves as a support for the at least one printhead 212. Preferably, the axial length of the cylinder of the at least one first central cylinder 201 is at least as large as the working width of the printing machine 01. One or more nozzle bars 213 are arranged per printing unit 211.Each nozzle is preferably assigned a uniquely defined target area relative to direction A of the width of the substrate web 02 and, more preferably, relative to direction A, in particular the axis of rotation 207 of the at least one first central cylinder 201. Preferably, each target area of a nozzle is uniquely defined, at least during printing, particularly with respect to the circumferential direction of the at least one first central cylinder 201. In particular, a target area of a nozzle is that, in particular, substantially straight spatial region that extends from the nozzle in an ejection direction.
[0065] The at least one first nozzle bar 213 preferably extends orthogonally to the transport path of the substrate 02 across the working width of the printing press 01. The at least one nozzle bar 213 preferably has at least one row of nozzles. Viewed in the axial direction A, the at least one row of nozzles preferably has nozzle openings at regular intervals across the entire working width of the printing press 01 and / or the width of the roll of the at least one first central cylinder 201. In one embodiment, a single continuous printhead 212 is arranged for this purpose, which extends in the axial direction A across the entire working width of the printing press 01 and / or the entire width of the roll of the at least one first central cylinder 201.The at least one row of nozzles is preferably configured as at least one linear arrangement of individual nozzles extending across the entire width of the substrate web 02 in the axial direction A. In another preferred embodiment, several printheads 212 are arranged side by side in the axial direction A on the at least one nozzle bar 213. Since such individual printheads 212 are not usually provided with nozzles up to an edge of their housing, preferably at least two, and more preferably exactly two, rows of printheads 212 extending in the axial direction A are arranged offset from one another in the circumferential direction of the first central cylinder 201, preferably such that successive printheads 212 in the axial direction A preferably alternately belong to one of the at least two rows of printheads 212, preferably always alternately to a first and a second of two rows of printheads 212.Two such rows of printheads 212 form a double row of printheads 212. The at least one row of nozzles is preferably not designed as a single linear arrangement of nozzles, but results as the sum of several individual, more preferably two, arrangements of nozzles arranged circumferentially offset from each other.
[0066] If a printhead 212 has multiple nozzles, all target areas of the nozzles of this printhead 212 together form a working area of this printhead 212. Working areas of printheads 212 of a nozzle bar 213, and in particular of a double row of printheads 212, adjoin and / or overlap each other in the axial direction A. In this way, even if the printhead 212 does not extend through the axial direction A, it is ensured that, in the axial direction A, target areas of nozzles of the at least one nozzle bar 213 and / or, in particular, of each double row of printheads 212 are located at regular and preferably periodic intervals. In any case, the entire working area of the at least one nozzle bar 213 preferably extends over at least 90% and more preferably 100% of the working width of the printing press 01 and / or the entire width of the ball of the at least one first central cylinder 201 in the axial direction A.On one or both sides with respect to the axial direction A, a narrow area of the substrate web 02 and / or the bale of the first central cylinder 201 may be present, which does not belong to the working area of the nozzle bars 213. An entire working area of the at least one nozzle bar 213 is preferably composed of all working areas of printheads 212 of this at least one nozzle bar and is more preferably composed of all target areas of nozzles of these printheads 212 of this at least one nozzle bar 213. Preferably, an entire working area of a double row of printheads 212 viewed in the axial direction A corresponds to the working area of the at least one nozzle bar 213.
[0067] Preferably, the at least one nozzle bar 213 has several rows of nozzles in the circumferential direction with respect to the at least one first central cylinder 201. Preferably, each printhead 212 has a plurality of nozzles, which are further preferably arranged in a matrix of several rows in the axial direction A and / or several columns, preferably in the circumferential direction of the at least one first central cylinder 201, wherein such columns are further preferably arranged obliquely to the circumferential direction, for example, to increase the resolution of a printed image. Preferably, several rows of printheads 212, more preferably four double rows and even more preferably eight double rows of printheads 212, are arranged one after the other in a direction orthogonal to the axial direction A, in particular in the transport direction along the transport path of the substrate 02 and / or in the circumferential direction with respect to the at least one central cylinder 201.In the printing operation, at least in the circumferential direction with respect to the at least one first central cylinder 201, several rows of printheads 212 are preferably arranged, more preferably four double rows and even more preferably eight double rows of printheads 212, one after the other aligned with the at least one first central cylinder 201.
[0068] The printheads 212 are preferably oriented, at least during printing, such that the nozzles of each printhead 212 point substantially in a radial direction towards the cylindrical surface of the at least one first central cylinder 201. Deviations from radial directions within a tolerance range of preferably at most 10° and more preferably at most 5° are considered to be substantially radial directions. This means that the at least one printhead 212 oriented towards the cylindrical surface of the at least one first central cylinder 201 is aligned in a radial direction with respect to the axis of rotation 207 of the at least one first central cylinder 201. This radial direction is a radial direction with respect to the axis of rotation 207 of the at least one first central cylinder 201.Each double row of printheads 212 is preferably assigned and / or assignable to a specific color printing ink, for example, one of the colors black, cyan, yellow, and magenta, or a varnish, for example, a clear varnish. The corresponding inkjet printing unit 211 is preferably designed as a four-color printing unit 211 and enables single-sided four-color printing of the substrate web 02. It is also possible to print fewer or more different colors with one printing unit 211, for example, additional spot colors. Preferably, correspondingly more or fewer printheads 212 and / or double rows of printheads 212 are arranged within this corresponding printing unit 211.In one embodiment, at least in the printing operation, several rows of printheads 212, more preferably four double rows and even more preferably eight double rows of printheads 212 are arranged successively on at least one surface of at least one transmission body, for example at least one transmission cylinder and / or at least one transmission belt.
[0069] The at least one printhead 212 preferably operates according to the drop-on-demand method for generating coating material droplets, in which coating material droplets are generated selectively as needed. Preferably, at least one piezoelectric element is used per nozzle, which, when a voltage is applied, can reduce a volume filled with coating material by a certain proportion at high speed.
[0070] This displaces coating material, which is then expelled through a nozzle connected to the volume filled with coating material, forming at least one coating material droplet. By applying varying voltages to the piezoelectric element, the movement of the piezoelectric element, and thus the reduction of the volume and consequently the size of the coating material droplets, can be influenced. In this way, color gradations in the resulting printed image can be achieved without changing the number of droplets contributing to the printed image (amplitude modulation). It is also possible to use at least one heating element per nozzle, which generates a gas bubble at high speed by evaporating the coating material within a volume filled with it. The additional volume of the gas bubble displaces coating material, which is then expelled through the corresponding nozzle, forming at least one coating material droplet.
[0071] In the drop-on-demand process, droplet deflection after ejection from the corresponding nozzle is unnecessary, as it is possible to define the target position of each coating droplet on the moving substrate web 02 with respect to the circumferential direction of the at least one first central cylinder 201 solely by the emission time of the respective coating droplet and the rotational speed of the first central cylinder 201 and / or by the rotational position of the first central cylinder 201. By individually controlling each nozzle, coating droplets are transferred from the at least one printhead 212 to the substrate web 02 only at selected times and locations.This occurs depending on the rotational speed and / or the angular position of the at least one first central cylinder 201, the distance between the respective nozzle and the substrate web 02, and the position of the target area of the respective nozzle with respect to the circumferential angle. This results in a desired print image, which is designed depending on the control of all nozzles. The ejection of ink droplets from the at least one nozzle of the at least one printhead 212 preferably occurs depending on the rotational position of the first drive motor 208 specified by the machine control. The first target data 617 for the rotational position of the first drive motor 208, specified by the machine control, are preferably included in a calculation of data for controlling the nozzles of the at least one printhead 212 in real time.A comparison with actual data of the rotational position of the first drive motor 208 is preferably not necessary and preferably does not take place. An exact and constant position of the substrate web 02 relative to the at least one first central cylinder 201 is therefore of great importance for a correctly registered and / or aligned print image.
[0072] The nozzles of the at least one printhead 212 are arranged such that the distance between the nozzles and the substrate web 02, which is arranged on the cylindrical surface of the at least one first central cylinder 201, is preferably between 0.5 mm and 5 mm, and more preferably between 1 mm and 1.5 mm. The high angular resolution and / or the high sampling frequency of the first rotary angle sensor 617 and / or the high accuracy of the first target data 617 regarding the rotational position of the first drive motor 208 of the first central cylinder 201, which is specified by the machine control and processed by the first drive motor 208 of the first central cylinder 201, enables a very precise determination of the position and / or knowledge of the position of the substrate web 02 relative to the nozzles and their target areas.A droplet flight time between the nozzles and the substrate web 02 is known, for example, through a learning process and / or through the known distance between the nozzles and the substrate web 02 and a known droplet velocity. From the angular position of the at least one first central cylinder 201 and / or the first drive 208 of the at least one first central cylinder 201, the rotational speed of the at least one first central cylinder 201, and the droplet flight time, an ideal time for the ejection of each droplet is determined, so that a registration-compliant and / or register-compliant imaging of the substrate web 02 is achieved.
[0073] Preferably, at least one sensor configured as a first print image sensor is arranged, more preferably at a point along the transport path of the substrate web 02 after the first printing unit 211. The at least one first print image sensor is, for example, configured as a first line scan camera or as a first area scan camera. The at least one first print image sensor is, for example, configured as at least one CCD sensor and / or as at least one CMOS sensor. By means of this at least one first print image sensor and a corresponding evaluation unit, for example the higher-level machine control, the control of all printheads 212 and / or double rows of printheads 212 of the first printing unit 211, arranged one behind the other and / or acting in the circumferential direction of the at least one first central cylinder 201, is preferably monitored and controlled.In a first embodiment of the at least one print image sensor, only one first print image sensor is arranged, the sensor field of which encompasses the entire width of the transport path of the substrate web 02. In a second embodiment of the at least one print image sensor, only one first print image sensor is arranged, which is designed to be movable in direction A orthogonal to the direction of the transport path of the substrate web 02. In a third embodiment of the at least one print image sensor, several print image sensors are arranged, the respective sensor fields of which each encompass different areas of the transport path of the substrate web 02. Preferably, these areas are arranged offset from one another in direction A orthogonal to the direction of the transport path of the substrate web 02. Preferably, the combined sensor fields of the several print image sensors encompass the entire width of the transport path of the substrate web 02.
[0074] A layer of pixels formed by coating droplets originating from a first printhead 212 is preferably compared with a layer of pixels formed by coating droplets originating from a second printhead 212 located circumferentially downstream of the at least one first central cylinder 201. This is preferably done regardless of whether these first and second printheads 212, located one behind the other and / or acting circumferentially downstream of the at least one first central cylinder 201, process the same or different coating materials. The alignment of the printed images originating from different printheads 212 is monitored. With identical coating materials, the registration of partial images is monitored. With different coating materials, registration or color registration is monitored.Preferably, the measured values from at least one print image sensor are also used to perform quality control of the printed image.
[0075] In normal printing operation, all printheads 212 are stationary. This ensures that all nozzles remain correctly aligned in the correct register and / or position. Various situations are conceivable in which movement of the printheads 212 is necessary. One such situation is a roll change on the fly, or more generally, a roll change with a splicing process. In this process, one substrate web 02 is joined to another substrate web 02 using an adhesive strip. This creates a splice that must traverse the entire transport path of the substrate web 02. This splice has a thickness, i.e., a minimum dimension, that is greater than the thickness of the substrate web 02. Essentially, the splice is as thick as the two substrate webs 02 and the adhesive strip combined.This can cause difficulties if the connection point passes through the gap between the nozzles of the printheads 212 and the cylindrical surface of the at least one first central cylinder 201. The at least one nozzle bar 213 is therefore movable in at least one direction relative to the axis of rotation 207 of the at least one first central cylinder 201. In this way, the distance can be sufficiently increased, but must subsequently be reduced again accordingly. A second such situation arises, for example, during maintenance and / or cleaning of at least one of the printheads 212. The printheads 212 are preferably individually attached to the at least one nozzle bar 213 and can be individually detached from the at least one nozzle bar 213. This allows individual printheads 212 to be maintained, cleaned, and / or replaced.
[0076] If several nozzle bars 213 that can be moved relative to each other are arranged, minimal misalignments of the nozzle bars 213 relative to each other can occur when at least one nozzle bar 213 is returned to a printing position. Therefore, alignment may be necessary, in particular of all printheads 212 of one nozzle bar 213 relative to printheads 212 of other nozzle bars 213. If a new and / or re-attached printhead 212 is attached to the at least one nozzle bar 213 to which at least one other printhead 212 is already attached, an exact alignment of this new and / or re-attached printhead 212 with the at least one already attached printhead 212 does not necessarily occur, but at most occurs by chance, specifically in the circumferential direction and / or in the axial direction A with respect to the at least one first central cylinder 201.Here too, an alignment requirement may arise, in particular of a single printhead 212 to other printheads 212 of the same nozzle bar 213 and / or other nozzle bars 213.
[0077] At least one sensor detects the position of the target area of at least one newly and / or re-arranged printhead 212 relative to the position of the target area of at least one previously attached printhead 212. An installation position of the at least one newly and / or re-arranged printhead 212 in the circumferential direction with respect to the at least one first central cylinder 201 can be compensated for by controlling the nozzles of this printhead 212, preferably analogous to the previously described adjustment of printheads 212 of different double rows of printheads 212. An installation position of the at least one newly and / or re-arranged printhead 212 in the axial direction A with respect to the at least one first central cylinder 201 is compensated for by means of at least one adjustment mechanism. Preferably, several printheads 212 each have their own adjustment mechanism; more preferably, all printheads 212 each have their own adjustment mechanism.
[0078] The printing press 01 has at least one supply system for coating material, in particular a printing ink supply system. Preferably, several printheads 212, for example, several printheads 212 of a common nozzle bar 213, in particular several or, more preferably, all printheads 212 of a double row of printheads 212, have a common supply system for coating material. This common supply system preferably has at least one normal reservoir. At least one first liquid line or ink line per printhead 212 is connected to the at least one normal reservoir. Preferably, the at least one normal reservoir is connected via at least one supply line and at least one outlet to at least one, and preferably at least one identical, intermediate storage reservoir.
[0079] The normal reservoir preferably maintains a constant fill level, at least during pressure operation and more preferably permanently, with deviations remaining within a narrow tolerance range. This constant fill level can be achieved, for example, by a preferably passive overflow drain and an inflow of coating material. Preferably, the at least one normal reservoir and / or the at least one outlet has at least one preferably passive overflow drain, the outlet side of which is preferably connected to and / or connectable to the at least one intermediate storage tank. Preferably, at least one valve, preferably designed as a shut-off valve, is arranged within each of the at least one inlet line and / or outlet line. Preferably, at least one liquid pump is arranged in the at least one inlet line.Preferably, the normal reservoir is maintained at a controlled and / or regulated normal pressure, which is further preferably controlled and / or regulated relative to an ambient pressure. Preferably, the normal reservoir is maintained at a negative pressure relative to the ambient pressure.
[0080] Preferably, coating compound is pumped from the intermediate storage tank into the main storage tank by at least one pump. Preferably, at least one volume designated as a first gas space is arranged in the main storage tank. The at least one first gas space is preferably connected to at least one first gas pump via at least one first gas line. Preferably, the pressure in a second gas space of the intermediate storage tank is the same as in the at least one first gas space of the main storage tank. Preferably, the at least one intermediate storage tank is connected to at least one buffer storage tank, more preferably via at least one suction line. Preferably, ambient pressure prevails in the buffer storage tank. Preferably, the coating compound is drawn from the buffer storage tank into the intermediate storage tank by the relative negative pressure.
[0081] Preferably, several printheads 212, for example, several printheads 212 of a common nozzle bar 213, in particular several or, more preferably, all printheads 212 of a double row of printheads 212, have a common power supply system 606. Preferably, at least one common power supply line extends within the respective at least one nozzle bar over at least 50%, more preferably at least 75%, and even more preferably at least 90% of the width of the working area of the respective at least one nozzle bar 213 in the axial direction A and / or the working width of the printing press 01. Preferably, each printhead 212 of this respective at least one nozzle bar 213 has at least one separate power supply line 627, which is connected to this common power supply line.Preferably, each printhead 212 of this respective at least one nozzle bar 213 has at least one separate data line connected to a processing unit that is located outside the working area of the respective at least one nozzle bar 213 with respect to the axial direction A and / or outside any transport path of the printing machine 01 provided for substrate 02 with respect to the axial direction A. Thus, at least one data line per printhead 212 of this at least one nozzle bar 213 runs parallel to each other along at least one section of the nozzle bar 213 extending in the axial direction A.
[0082] Preferably, at least one nozzle cleaning device is arranged, which has at least one series of washing nozzles and / or brushes and / or squeegees.
[0083] After the web 02 has passed the at least one first printing unit 200, it is transported further along its transport path and preferably fed to the at least one first dryer 301 of the at least one drying unit 300. Preferably, the first side of the web 02 printed by the at least one first printing unit 200 is not in contact with any component of the roll-to-roll printing press 01 between a final contact point of the web 02 with the at least one first central cylinder 201 of the at least one first printing unit 200 and an area of contact of the at least one first dryer 301.Preferably, the second side of the substrate web 02, which is not printed by the first printing unit 200 and which contacts the at least one first central cylinder 201 of the at least one first printing unit 200, is in contact between the last contact point of the substrate web 02 with the first central cylinder 201 of the at least one first printing unit 200 and the contact area of the at least one first dryer 301 with at least one deflecting roller 214 of the at least one first printing unit 200 and / or with at least one deflecting roller 312 of the at least one first dryer 301. Preferably, at least one, more preferably configured as a third measuring roller 214, is arranged. This third measuring device 214 serves to measure the web tension. More preferably, the at least one deflecting roller 214 of the first printing unit 200 is identical to the third measuring device 214 configured as a third measuring roller 214.
[0084] The at least one first dryer 301 is preferably configured as an infrared radiation dryer 301. The at least one first dryer 301 preferably has at least one radiation source 302, which is preferably configured as an infrared radiation source 302. A radiation source 302, preferably an infrared radiation source 302, is a device by means of which electrical energy is selectively converted into radiation, preferably infrared radiation, and is directed and / or can be directed onto the substrate web 02. The at least one radiation source 302 preferably has a defined effective range. In particular, the effective range of a radiation source 302 is the range that contains all points that can be connected to the radiation source 302 directly or via reflectors, especially without interruption, in a straight line.The effective zone of the at least one first dryer 301 comprises the effective zones of all radiation sources 302 of the at least one first dryer 301. The effective zone of the at least one first dryer 301 preferably extends from the at least one radiation source 302 to one of the parts of the transport path of the substrate web 02 closest to the at least one radiation source 302. Air is introduced into the interior of the at least one first dryer 301 through at least one ventilation opening. Inside the first dryer 301, water and / or solvents from the coating agents to be removed from the substrate web 02 are removed by the infrared radiation and absorbed by the introduced air. This air is then discharged from the at least one first dryer 301 through at least one exhaust opening.
[0085] In a preferred embodiment, the intended transport path for the substrate 02 through the at least one first dryer 301 has at least two sections, each extending in directions with vertical components, more preferably with larger vertical components than any horizontal components that may be present. Preferably, the intended transport path of the substrate extends upwards along one section with at least one component in a vertical direction. Preferably, the intended transport path of the substrate extends downwards along the other section with at least one component in a vertical direction. Preferably, the one section and the other section of the intended transport path are connected to each other by at least one connecting element of the intended transport path.Preferably, the at least one connecting piece extends in one direction with a horizontal component, and more preferably with a larger horizontal component than any vertical component that may be present. This allows the at least one dryer 301 to be constructed in a particularly compact manner.
[0086] In the transport direction of the substrate web 02 after the area of influence of the at least one radiation source 302 of the at least one first dryer 301, at least one first cooling device 303 is preferably arranged. The at least one first cooling device 303 preferably has at least one first cooling roller 304 and preferably a first cooling roller pressure actuator 306, which can be adjusted and / or actuated to the at least one first cooling roller 304, and preferably at least one actuating roller 307; 308, which can be adjusted and / or actuated to the at least one first cooling roller 304. A first drive motor 311, designed as a first cooling roller drive motor 311 and associated with the at least one first cooling roller 304, and the first cooling roller pressure actuator 306 are preferably part of a web tension control system, i.e., arranged to regulate the web tension, and preferably for this purpose at least partially and / or temporarily connected to the higher-level machine control system.The at least one first cooling roller 304 preferably represents at least one fourth motor-driven rotating body 304. The substrate web 02 preferably wraps around and contacts the at least one first cooling roller 304 along its transport path with a wrap angle of preferably at least 180° and more preferably at least 270°. The first cooling roller press 306 preferably forms a first cooling roller gap 309 with the at least one first cooling roller 304, in which the substrate web 02 is preferably arranged and / or through which the substrate web 02 preferably passes. The substrate web 02 is pressed against the at least one first cooling roller 304 by the cooling roller press 306. The at least one first cooling roller 304 of the at least one first cooling device 303 is preferably designed as a cooling roller 304 through which a coolant flows.
[0087] At least one second printing unit 400 is preferably arranged along the transport path of the substrate web 02 after the at least one first cooling device 303. Preferably, at least one second web edge aligner is arranged along the transport path of the substrate web 02, preferably immediately upstream of the at least one second printing unit 400 and preferably after the at least one first dryer 301 and, in particular, after the at least one first printing unit 200. This second web edge aligner is preferably manually or mechanically controllable and / or adjustable. The at least one second printing unit 400 is constructed analogously to the first printing unit 200. In particular, the second printing unit 400 has a second central printing cylinder 401, or simply central cylinder 401, which is wrapped around the substrate web 02 during printing, also with a wrap angle of preferably at least 180° and more preferably at least 270°.The second central cylinder 401 preferably represents a fifth motor-driven rotating body 401. The second central cylinder 401 of the second printing unit 400 preferably has a direction of rotation that is opposite to the direction of rotation of the at least one first central cylinder 201. Along the transport path of the substrate web 02 in front of the second central cylinder 401 of the second printing unit 400, a second substrate cleaning device 402 or web cleaning device 402 is preferably arranged to act on the substrate web 02.
[0088] The transport path of the substrate web 02 through the at least one second printing unit 400 is analogous to the transport path through the at least one first printing unit 200. In particular, the substrate web 02 preferably wraps around a part of a second deflecting roller 403 and is deflected by it in such a way that the transport path of the substrate web 02 in the second space 404 is tangential to the second deflecting roller 403 as well as tangential to the second central cylinder 401.
[0089] Preferably, at least one cylinder 406, designed as a second presser 406, is arranged in the second pressure unit 400. The second presser 406 is preferably constructed and arranged analogously to the first presser 206, particularly with regard to its mobility and a second presser gap 409. The second central cylinder 401 is preferably arranged and constructed analogously to the first central cylinder 201, particularly with regard to a second drive motor 408 of the second central cylinder 401 and a corresponding, preferably arranged, second rotary angle sensor 618, which is designed to measure and / or be capable of measuring the rotary angle position of the second drive motor 408 and / or the second central cylinder 401 itself and to transmit and / or be capable of transmitting this information to the higher-level machine control system.
[0090] Additionally or alternatively, the second drive motor 408 of the second central cylinder 401 is connected to the machine control in such a way that the machine control is informed at all times about the rotational position of the second drive motor 408 and thus also about the rotational position of the second central cylinder 401, based on the second setpoint data 618 specified by the machine control to the second drive motor 408 of the second central cylinder 401.
[0091] Within the second printing unit 400, at least a second printing unit 411, designed as an inkjet printing unit 411 or ink-jet printing unit 411, is preferably arranged in the direction of rotation of the second central cylinder 401 and thus along the transport path of the substrate web 02 after the second printing unit 406 on the second central cylinder 401.The at least one second print unit 411 of the at least one second print unit 400 is preferably identical to the at least one first print unit 211 of the at least one first print unit 200, in particular with respect to at least one nozzle bar 413, at least one print head 412 designed as an inkjet print head 412 and their arrangement in double rows, the design and resolution of the printing process, the arrangement, alignment and control of the nozzles, and the mobility and adjustability of the at least one nozzle bar 413 and the at least one print head 412 by means of at least one adjustment mechanism with a corresponding electric motor. An analogous protective cover and / or cleaning device is also preferably provided. Correct alignment of the print heads 412 of the at least one second print unit 400 is also preferably verified by at least one sensor detecting a printed image and the machine control evaluating this image.This at least one sensor is preferably at least a second print image sensor, which is designed analogously to the at least one first print image sensor. Preferably, the at least one second printing unit 411 is designed as a four-color printing unit 411.
[0092] Regarding the transport path of the printing web 02, at least one second dryer 331 is arranged after the at least one second printing unit 400. After the printing web 02 has passed the at least one second printing unit 400, it is transported further along its transport path and preferably fed to the at least one second dryer 331 of the at least one dryer unit 300. The at least one second dryer 331 is preferably constructed analogously to the at least one first dryer 301. The at least one first dryer 301 and the at least one second dryer 331 are components of the at least one dryer unit 300.Preferably, the second side of the substrate web 02, printed by at least one second printing unit 400, is not in contact with any component of the roll-to-roll printing press 01 between a final contact point of the substrate web 02 with the second central cylinder 401 of the at least one second printing unit 400 and an area of contact of the at least one second dryer 301. Preferably, at least one deflection roller 414 of the second printing unit 400 is arranged. Preferably, this at least one deflection roller 414 is designed as a fifth measuring device 414, in particular a fifth measuring roller 414.
[0093] The design of the at least one second dryer 331 is similar to the design of the at least one first dryer 301, particularly with regard to a transport path for the substrate and / or its configuration as a flow dryer 331 and / or radiation dryer 331 and / or hot air dryer 331 and / or infrared radiation dryer 331 and / or UV radiation dryer 331. In particular, the at least one second dryer 331 preferably has at least one second cooling roller 334, which more preferably represents at least one sixth motor-driven rotating body 334. Preferably, the second cooling roller 334 is driven and / or can be driven by means of a second cooling roller drive 341. Preferably, the at least one second dryer 331 is substantially, and more preferably completely, symmetrical with respect to the components described compared to the at least one first dryer 301.The at least one second dryer 331 is preferably part of the same dryer unit 300 as the at least one first dryer 301 and is further preferably arranged in the same housing 329. With regard to spatial arrangement, the dryer unit 300, and thus preferably the at least one first dryer 301 and the at least one second dryer 331, are preferably arranged between the at least one first pressure unit 200 and the at least one second pressure unit 400.
[0094] Along the transport path of the substrate web 02 after the at least one second dryer 331, at least one take-up roller 501 is arranged. The at least one take-up roller 501 preferably has its own drive motor 504, designed as a take-up roller drive 504. The at least one take-up roller 504 preferably represents at least one seventh motor-driven rotating body 504. The at least one take-up roller 501 preferably forms, together with a take-up pressure actuator 502 attached to and / or adjustable to the at least one take-up roller 501, a take-up gap 503 in which the substrate web 02 is clamped and through which the substrate web 02 is conveyed. The take-up gap 503 preferably serves to regulate web tension and / or to transport the substrate web 02.
[0095] With regard to the transport path of the substrate web 02 before and / or after the take-up roller 501, but in particular along the transport path of the substrate 02 after the at least one first dryer 301, at least one re-moistening device is preferably arranged, which preferably compensates for an excessive loss of moisture in the substrate web 02 due to treatment by the dryer unit 300.
[0096] Along the transport path of the printed material web 02 after the extraction gap 503 and / or after the re-moistening device, at least one post-processing device 500 is arranged, which is preferably designed as a folding device 500 and / or includes a sheet cutter 500 and / or a flat delivery unit 500 or is designed as a rewinding device 500. In and / or by this post-processing device 500, the printed material web 02 is preferably folded and / or cut and / or stapled and / or sorted and / or enveloped and / or mailed and / or rewound.
[0097] In at least one variant of the printing press, the printing press 01 is designed as a roll-to-roll inkjet printing press 01, and at least one transfer body is arranged with the at least one first central printing cylinder 201 to form a transfer gap. Then, preferably, the at least one printhead 212 is aligned with the at least one transfer body.
[0098] Preferably, the printing press 01 has at least one print data processing unit 600, or print data processing unit 600 for short. The at least one print data processing unit 600 is preferably part of the machine control system of the printing press 01 and / or is connected to and / or connectable to the machine control system of the printing press 01. Preferably, the at least one print data processing unit 600 has at least one first data storage device 601 configured as an image data storage device 601. The at least one image data storage device 601 preferably serves to store at least one image data, in particular in the form of template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644 and / or geometrically modified image data, in particular geometrically modified template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644. Image data is understood to mean data that contains at least one printable image in electronically stored form. Such image data can exist in different forms.One such format is a matrix of pixels, for example, a bitmap. Another format is a page description, for example, in vector form, such as in at least one PDF file (Portable Document Format file). However, other file formats can also be used to store the image data. In particular, template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644 can be in the form of at least a matrix of pixels and / or preferably in the form of at least one page description. It should be noted that image data and / or template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644 pertain to printed images, i.e., information that can also consist, for example, at least partially or exclusively of text and / or symbols and does not necessarily have to include graphic elements such as photographs or drawings.
[0099] The reference image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644 are preferably image data whose motifs and arrangements correspond to the printed image that a finished printed product would ideally have at the end of the production process. Reference image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644 are preferably data that are available to the printing machine 01 and / or that are fed into the printing machine 01 and / or have been fed into it and / or that are stored in a data storage device of the printing machine 01, for example, in the at least one image data storage device 601. An operator preferably has no further direct influence on changes to the image data that may be made after the reference image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644 have been created. At least, such influence is preferably not necessary. This simplifies the operation of the printing press.However, due to technical aspects, at least one such modification is preferably made, more preferably by means of the at least one print data processing unit 600 and / or the machine control of the printing press 01. Geometrically modified image data preferably refers to geometrically modified template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644 and / or geometrically modified raster data 647. Geometrically modified template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644 preferably refers to image data that arises when parts of the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644 are moved, in particular shifted, relative to other parts of the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644 and / or when template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644 may be partially or completely stretched.Geometrically modified raster data 647 are preferably image data that arise when parts of raster data 647 are moved relative to other parts of raster data 647, in particular when they are shifted and / or when raster data 647 are partially or completely stretched.
[0100] Preferably, the at least one print data processing unit 600 comprises at least one raster graphics processor 603. The at least one raster graphics processor 603 preferably serves to rasterize image data, in particular template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644 and / or geometrically modified template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644, and to generate raster data 647 therefrom. Preferably, the at least one image data storage unit 601 and the at least one raster graphics processor 603 are components of at least one computer 611, preferably configured as an image data computer 611. Preferably, the at least one print data processing unit 600 comprises at least one second data storage unit 602, configured as a raster data storage unit 602. The at least one raster data storage unit 602 preferably serves to store at least one raster data 647.Raster data 647 are preferably rasterized template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644 and / or rasterized geometrically modified template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644. Preferably, the at least one raster data storage device 602 is part of at least one computer 612, preferably configured as a raster data computer 612. Preferably, the at least one raster data computer 612 is connected and / or connectable to the at least one image data computer 611 via at least one first data line 609, for example, at least one first Ethernet line 609. More preferably, the print data processing system 600 comprises at least one raster data storage device 602 and / or at least one raster data computer 612 per printing unit 200. 400, so preferably at least two raster data storage devices 602 and / or at least two raster data computers 612 with two printing units 200; 400.Even more preferably, the print data processing system 600 has at least one raster data storage device 602 and / or at least one raster data computer 612 per printing color and per printing unit 200; 400, i.e. preferably at least eight raster data storage devices 602 and / or at least eight raster data computers 612 for two printing units and four printing colors each.
[0101] A partial image is preferably understood to be a part of an image that, together with other partial images, forms a complete image. A partial image is, for example, a color separation of a printed image. A multi-colored printed image can be generated, for example, from a superposition of four partial images of the colors cyan, yellow, magenta, and black, whereby other colors can also be used. Raster data 647 preferably represent at least one image matrix of image elements, more preferably at least one partial image matrix 629 of partial image elements. Image elements are, for example, pixels. Partial image elements are, for example, partial pixels. An image element preferably corresponds to a minimal section of the printed image, in particular a pixel that is present or absent. The printed image is created by arranging all image elements in their respective intended positions within the image matrix.This intended position is preferably defined by a uniquely assigned row and column reference. Accordingly, a partial image element preferably corresponds to a minimal section of a partial image of the printed image, for example, a minimal section of a color separation of the printed image. The partial image is created by arranging all partial image elements at their respective intended positions within the partial image matrix 629 corresponding to the partial image. This intended position is, in turn, preferably defined by a uniquely assigned row and column reference.
[0102] Preferably, the at least one print data processing system 600 has at least one data mapping 604, in particular an image data mapping 604, which is further preferably configured as at least one raster data mapping 604. More preferably, the print data processing system 600 has at least one data mapping 604 per printing unit 200; 400, i.e., preferably at least two data mappings 604 for two printing units 200; 400. Even more preferably, the print data processing system 600 has at least one data mapping 604 per printing color and per printing unit 200; 400, i.e., preferably at least eight data mappings 604 for two printing units 200; 400, each with four printing colors. Preferably, at least one data assignment 604 is connected and / or connectable to at least one image data computer 611 and / or more preferably to at least one raster data storage device 602 and / or at least one raster data computer 612 by means of at least one second data line 613.
[0103] Preferably, the at least one print data processing unit 600 comprises at least one first input device 608. More preferably, the at least one print data processing unit 600 comprises at least one first input device 608 per printing unit 200; 400, i.e., preferably at least two first input devices 608 for two printing units 200; 400. The at least one first input device 608 comprises, for example, at least one operating device, particularly touch-sensitive, such as a touchscreen, and / or comprises at least one display device, and / or comprises, for example, at least one data storage device, and / or comprises, for example, at least one data processing device, such as a computer processor.
[0104] Preferably, the at least one print data processing unit 600 comprises at least one signal source 617; 618 for characterizing a rotational angular position, in particular of at least one central cylinder 201; 401. The at least one signal source 617; 618 for characterizing a rotational angular position is, for example, configured as the at least one first rotational angular sensor 617, in particular of the first central cylinder 201, and / or as the at least one second rotational angular sensor 618, in particular of the second central cylinder 401, and / or as first target data 617 for the rotational position of the first drive motor 208, and / or as second target data 618 for the rotational position of the second drive motor 408.
[0105] Preferably, the at least one print data processing unit 600 has at least one register sensor 619 and / or is connected to at least one register sensor 619 via a circuit and / or arranged in a way that allows for such connection. The at least one register sensor 619 preferably serves to detect at least one first printed image, preferably applied to the substrate 02, for example, at least one register mark. The at least one register sensor 619 preferably detects one layer of at least one, and more preferably each, first printed image applied by the at least one first printing unit 211 to the first side of the substrate web 02. The at least one printed image detected by the register sensor 619 can, for example, be a barcode, which is applied to the substrate web 02 for this purpose in the first printing unit 200.Such a barcode can contain information about the content and / or dimensions of a printed image applied to the substrate web 02 by the first printing unit 200. However, at least one printed image detected by the register sensor 619 can also be, for example, a simple symbol, such as a line. Alternatively, at least one entire first printed image 636 can also be used as the printed image detected by the register sensor 619.The at least one print image detected by the register sensor 619 can, for example, also be a maintenance print image, which, in addition to desired print images, is generated at regular intervals to ensure maintenance on all nozzles, i.e., a permanent readiness for immediate printing on demand, in particular, for example, strips that are printed between individual overall print images and, if necessary, cut off from the substrate in a post-processing step.
[0106] By capturing the printed image, the quality of a register and / or registration mark of a printed image yet to be applied is facilitated relative to an already applied printed image, in particular of a second overall printed image 637 yet to be applied relative to a first overall printed image 636 already applied, even if, for example, a section length, i.e., a length of applied printed images in the direction of the transport path of the substrate web 02, is changed. The at least one register mark is preferably at least one printed image created for this purpose or a part of a printed image belonging to the actual printing job, for example, the first overall printed image 636. Preferably, at least one register mark and, more preferably, a series of register marks are printed at regular intervals onto a first side of the substrate 02 by means of the at least one first printing unit 200 and / or by means of an additional printing unit.One such additional printing unit is, for example, an offset printing unit, by means of which the substrate 02 is printed and / or has been printed before it is fed to at least one first printing unit 200.
[0107] Preferably, a print image printed by the at least one first print unit 200 and / or a register mark printed by the at least one first print unit 200 is detected at the at least one second print unit 400 by means of the at least one register sensor 619. The higher-level machine control, and in particular the at least one print data processing unit 600, preferably calculates an ideal time period for controlling the nozzles of the print heads 412 of the at least one second print unit 411 of the at least one second print unit 400 from the position of this printed print image and / or this register mark. In this way, register-compliant and / or registration-compliant alignment of the print image produced by the first print unit 200 and the print image produced by the second print unit 400 is achieved, in particular of the at least one second overall print image 637 relative to the at least one first overall print image 636.In particular, in the case of double-sided printing, a register-compliant alignment of the first print image or first overall print image 636 on the first side of the substrate web 02 to the second print image or second overall print image 637 on the second side of the substrate web 02 can be achieved.
[0108] Preferably, a print image printed by at least one additional printing unit and / or another printing press and / or a registration mark printed by the at least one additional printing unit and / or another printing press is detected at the at least one first printing unit 200 by means of at least one register sensor 619. The higher-level machine control, and in particular the at least one print data processing unit 600, preferably calculates the ideal time for actuating the nozzles of the printheads 212 of the at least one first printing unit 211 of the at least one first printing unit 200 from the position of this print image and / or this registration mark. In this way, register-compliant and / or registration-compliant alignment of the print image produced by the first printing unit 200 and the print image produced by the additional printing unit and / or other printing press can be achieved.
[0109] In the case where the at least one register sensor 619 is assigned to the at least one second printing unit 400, the at least one register sensor 619 is preferably arranged closer to the second central cylinder 401 and / or transfer body than to the first central cylinder 201 and / or transfer body, relative to the transport path of the substrate web 02. This allows for the consideration of as many influences as possible to which the substrate web 02 is exposed along its transport path between the at least one first printing unit 211 and the at least one second printing unit 411, for example, stretching of the substrate web 02 along the transport path. Preferably, the at least one register sensor 619 is designed as an area scan camera 619. Such an area scan camera preferably has a sufficiently high resolution to detect registration errors and / or misregistration errors, for example, a resolution better than 0.05 mm.Preferably, the at least one register sensor 619 is identical to the at least one first print image sensor, with which the control of all printheads 212 and / or double rows of printheads 212 of the first printing unit 211, which are located one behind the other and / or act in the circumferential direction of the first central cylinder 201, is monitored and controlled.
[0110] Preferably, the at least one register sensor 619 is directly connected to, or connectable to, the at least one data assignment 604, either directly or via at least one further intermediate switching device 614; 616. Preferably, the at least one signal source 617; 618 for characterizing a rotational angular position is directly connected to, or connectable to, the at least one data assignment 604, either directly or via at least one further intermediate switching device 614; 616; 621. Preferably, the at least one input device 608 is directly connected to, or connectable to, the at least one data assignment 604, either directly or via at least one further intermediate switching device 614.
[0111] Preferably, the at least one print data processing unit 600 has at least one switching device 614 designed as a synchronization device 614; more preferably, at least one synchronization device 614 per printing unit 200; 400, and in particular at least two synchronization devices 614 for two printing units 200; 400. Preferably, the at least one data assignment 604 is connected to and / or connectable with the at least one synchronization device 614. Preferably, the at least one first input device 608 is connected to and / or connectable with the at least one synchronization device 614. Preferably, the at least one first input device 608 is connected to and / or connectable with the at least one data assignment 604 via the switching device 614 designed as at least one synchronization device 614.The at least one synchronization device 614 is preferably used to forward incoming signals in a time-coordinated manner.
[0112] Preferably, the at least one print data processing unit 600 has at least one switching device 616 configured as a data processing unit 616, in particular a data synchronization unit 616; more preferably, at least one data processing unit 616 per printing unit 200; 400, and in particular at least two data processing units 616 for two printing units 200; 400. The at least one data processing unit 616 preferably serves to convert incoming data into at least one format that can be processed by subsequent devices, for example, by the synchronization device 614. Preferably, the at least one register sensor 619 is connected to and / or connectable with the at least one data processing unit 616. Preferably, the at least one data processing unit 616 is connected to and / or connectable with the at least one synchronization device 614.In particular, this means that at least one register sensor 619 is connected and / or connectable to at least one data processing unit 616 and / or at least one synchronization unit 614 with at least one data assignment unit 604.
[0113] Preferably, the at least one print data processing unit 600 comprises at least one switching device 621 designed as at least one signal converter 621 for angular positions, in particular for angular positions of the at least one first central cylinder 201 and / or angular positions of the at least one second central cylinder 401 and / or angular positions of the at least one first drive motor 208 of the at least one first central cylinder 201 and / or angular positions of the at least one second drive motor 408 of the at least one second central cylinder 401. The at least one signal converter 621 is preferably connected to and / or connectable with the at least one data processing unit 616. The at least one signal converter 621 is thus preferably at least indirectly connected to and / or connectable with the at least one synchronization unit 614 and / or with the at least one data assignment unit 604.
[0114] Preferably, the at least one print data processing unit 600 is connected to and / or connectable to the at least one common power supply system 606 of the printing press 01. Preferably, the printing press 01 has at least one common power supply system 606 for each printing unit 200; 400, and more preferably one common power supply system 606 for each double row of printheads 212; 412. The at least one common power supply system 606 preferably has at least one voltage source 607, which more preferably provides at least one electrical voltage that is, for example, 12 V and / or 24 V and / or 26 V.
[0115] Preferably, the at least one printhead 212; 412 has at least one printhead controller 622. More preferably, each printhead 212; 412 has at least one, and preferably exactly one, printhead controller 622. Preferably, each printhead controller 622 is connected to, and / or connectable to, the at least one voltage source 607 via at least one dedicated voltage line 627. Preferably, at least one voltage and fuse connection 628 is arranged along this dedicated voltage line 627. This connection ensures, for example, a connection between the printhead controller 622 and the voltage source 607 and / or protection against excessive current or similar issues. Preferably, each printhead 212; 412 is connected to, and / or connectable to, the at least one voltage source 607 directly and / or via the at least one printhead controller 622 assigned to it.Preferably, at least one data line 623 and at least one separate power supply line 624 extend between each printhead 212; 412 and its associated printhead controller 622. Alternatively, at least one common line, configured as both a data line and a power supply line, extends between each printhead 212; 412 and its associated printhead controller 622. Preferably, each printhead controller 622 is connected to, and / or connectable to, the at least one data assignment 604 via at least one control line 626. Alternatively, it would also be possible to connect several or all printhead controllers 622 in series and to connect only a few or only one printhead controller 622 directly to the at least one data assignment 604.
[0116] Preferably, using at least one raster graphics processor 603, partial images, for example in the form of color separations 629, are generated from an image template preferably stored in at least one image data memory 601, for example in the form of template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644 and / or geometrically modified template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644 and / or sections of template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644, preferably in the form of color separations 629, and further preferably stored in at least one raster data memory 602. This process is, for example, called rasterization. Preferably, at least one partial image in the form of at least one color separation is generated for each printing color to be printed per printing unit 200; 400.Preferably, for each printing ink to be printed, several partial image layers 632 are first generated in the form of several different color separations 629 of different printing inks, which are the same within their respective color separations. The number n of these partial image layers 632 for each printing ink is preferably equal to the number n of different droplet sizes that can be generated by each printhead 212; 412. Preferably, this number n is at least three. Each partial image layer 632 then contains information about precisely the positions at which a pixel of the respective color and size is to be printed. For example, by superimposing the partial image layers 632 of a printing ink, the color separation and / or the partial image of this printing ink is generated. By superimposing all color separations 629 and / or partial images, the entire printed image is obtained.Preferably, the image layers 632 of a printing ink are first combined and then stored as a single image layer of that printing ink. The images and image layers 632 are also called raster data 647.
[0117] In the screening process, at least one, and more preferably exactly one, partial image in the form of at least one partial image matrix 629 is preferably generated for each printing color from each printed image. This at least one partial image matrix 629 preferably has rows and columns 633. Preferably, the rows of the at least one partial image matrix 629 correspond to lines of the printed image that are oriented orthogonally to the transport direction of the substrate 02, and / or the columns 633 of the at least one partial image matrix 629 correspond to lines of the printed image that are parallel to the transport direction of the substrate 02. Each position of the corresponding partial image matrix 629, i.e., each unique combination of a defined row and a defined column 633, is preferably assigned at least one, and more preferably exactly one, entry 631. Each entry 631 can assume a value from a number of n+1 (n plus one) predefined values.Preferably, each entry 631 contains either a value corresponding to a pause instruction or a value corresponding to an instruction to eject a droplet, and more preferably, a droplet size associated with that droplet. Each of these n+1 (n plus one) default values preferably corresponds to a droplet size or the information that no pixel is to be created at that location, i.e., no ink is to be ejected. For example, in a two-bit representation, these default values could be "00" for "no ink," "01" for a "small" pixel or droplet, "10" for a "medium" pixel or droplet, or "11" for a "large" pixel or droplet.Each such column 633 preferably contains at least one first sequence 633 of several entries 631, wherein each entry 631 of this at least one first sequence 633 either has a value corresponding to an instruction to pause, or has a value corresponding to an instruction to eject a drop and a drop size associated with that drop.
[0118] Preferably, each partial image matrix 629 for each printing color is stored and / or processed such that each nozzle of the printheads 212; 412 assigned to that printing color is preferably assigned exactly one column 633 of the partial image. This column 633 then contains entries 631 in different rows, each of which has one of the corresponding predefined values and thus causes the corresponding nozzle to eject printing ink at relevant times. By processing entire rows of the corresponding partial image matrix 629 in a time-synchronized manner by the nozzles of the corresponding at least one printhead 212; 412, the print image to be produced is preferably created on the substrate 02 in the form of superimposed matrix-like patterns made up of pixels of preferably different printing colors.The term "time-aligned processing" should in particular also refer to the case in which the nozzles are arranged at different points with respect to the transport path of the substrate 02 and therefore do not, for example, eject printing ink simultaneously when a straight line is to be produced that is oriented orthogonally to the transport direction.
[0119] The partial images, in particular partial image matrices 629 and / or raster data 647, preferably stored in at least one data storage device 601; 602 and more preferably in the at least one raster data storage device 602, are preferably transmitted via the at least one second data line 613 to the at least one data mapping device 604. The at least one data mapping device 604 is preferably connected to a number of printheads 212; 412, which together have a plurality of nozzles. For example, the at least one data mapping device 604 is connected to all printheads 212; 412 of the respective printing unit 200; 400 that are assigned to a specific ink color and / or are intended for ejecting the ink for an entire color separation 629.The at least one data assignment 604 preferably assigns each column 633 of the color separation 629, and in particular each partial image matrix 629 of the raster data 647, to at least one, and more preferably exactly one, nozzle of a printhead 212; 412. In this way, the position of a print image to be printed on the substrate 02 is determined with respect to a direction A transverse to the intended transport path of the substrate 02 and / or with respect to the axial direction A. If the position of the print image to be printed is to be changed with respect to this direction A, this is achieved, for example, by shifting assignments between the columns 633 of the partial image matrices 629 and the nozzles of the printheads 212; 412. Preferably, the raster data 647 is stored in the form of entries 631 to be processed, in particular in the form of sequences of entries 631 that are to be processed by the respective nozzles.The at least one data assignment 604 preferentially assigns to each nozzle a sequence of entries 631 to be processed by it.
[0120] In printing operation, times at which respective lines of the partial image matrix 629 representing the partial image are processed are preferably determined in conjunction with the rotational speed and the angular position of the respective central cylinder 201; 401 and / or the respective drive motor 208; 408, with which the print head 212; 412 printing this partial image interacts.Both the position and the dimensions of the printed image to be produced and / or printed on the substrate 02 in a direction parallel to the intended transport path of the substrate 02 and / or in the circumferential direction of the at least one central cylinder 201; 401 are influenced and / or can be influenced by the respective times at which the corresponding nozzles eject their coating agent droplets and by the angular position and / or rotational speed of the corresponding central cylinder 201; 401 at this time and / or by a relative position of the substrate 02 on the corresponding central cylinder 201; 401 at this time.Therefore, the at least one data assignment 604 preferably processes both the respective raster data 647 and the data provided by the at least one signal source 617; 618 for characterizing a rotational angular position, in particular of at least one central cylinder 201; 401, when calculating conditions, in particular times, at which the nozzles of the printheads 212; 412 connected to this at least one data assignment 604 are to eject coating material.At least one data assignment 604 of the at least one second printing unit 400 and, more preferably, also the at least one data assignment 604 of the at least one first printing unit 200, preferably additionally processes the information provided directly or indirectly by the at least one register sensor 619 in order to enable register-containing and / or registration-containing printing, for example when printing the front of the substrate 02 using the first printing unit 200 and printing the back of the substrate 02 using the second printing unit 400, or when printing the same side of the substrate 02 with both the first printing unit 200 and the second printing unit 400.
[0121] For example, in a case where several rows and, in particular, several double rows of printheads 212; 412 are used per printing unit 200; 400 for each printing color, the columns 633 of the respective color separations 629 and, in particular, the partial image matrices 629 are preferably assigned sequentially to the nozzles of the printheads 212; 412 by the at least one data assignment 604, especially with respect to the axial direction A, irrespective of the arrangement of the nozzles with respect to the transport direction of the substrate 02 and / or the circumferential direction of the respective central cylinder 201; 401. This arrangement plays a role only in determining the correct time for ejecting the coating agent.In particular, in the case of two double rows of printheads 212; 412 per printing unit 200; 400 and per printing color, the columns 633 of the respective partial image matrix 629 are preferably assigned alternately to a corresponding nozzle of a printhead 212; 412 of a first of the two double rows of printheads 212; 412 and to a corresponding nozzle of a printhead 212; 412 of a second of the two double rows of printheads 212; 412. This assignment can, for example, alternatively to the at least one data assignment 604, also be carried out by means of the at least one raster data computer 612. The partial print image or the color separation is thus divided column by column across two double rows of printheads 212; 412 and only reassembled by applying printing ink to the substrate 02.
[0122] Preferably, the at least one input device 608 allows an operator to directly influence the dispensing of coating material through the nozzles of printheads 212 and 412 that are connected to the same data assignment 604 as the at least one input device 608. For example, the operator can use this to force the printing of a test image. Template image data and / or raster data of at least one such test image are preferably stored and / or can be stored in the at least one data memory of the at least one input device 608 and are preferably available independently of the at least one raster data memory 602.
[0123] Preferably, the printing machine 01 is characterized in that it has at least one printhead 212; 412 with at least one first nozzle, and that it preferably has at least one print data processing unit 600, and that the print data processing unit 600 has at least one data storage unit 601; 602, in particular at least one raster data storage unit 602, in which at least one first sequence 633 of entries 631 to be processed successively, assigned to and / or assignable to this at least one first nozzle, can be stored and / or is stored. Preferably, each entry 631 has either a value corresponding to an instruction to pause, or a value corresponding to an instruction to eject a drop, and more preferably also an instruction regarding a drop size assigned to this drop. Preferably, at least one print data processing unit 600 has at least one stored filling algorithm.Preferably, the at least one filling algorithm can be used to check the first sequence 633 of entries 631, preferably corresponding to a partial image, stored in the at least one raster data memory 602, to determine whether it contains at least one subsequence 634 that contains exclusively entries 631 with instructions for pausing and that exceeds a predetermined number of entries 631. Preferably, at least one entry 631 of this subsequence 634 can be modified by the at least one filling algorithm, and more preferably based on this check, such that it then has a value that corresponds to an instruction for ejecting a drop and that more preferably also corresponds to a drop size assigned to this drop.Preferably, this droplet size corresponds to a smallest droplet size that can be ejected with the at least one first nozzle and / or a smallest droplet size that is provided for in entries of the at least one partial image matrix.
[0124] Preferably, the printing machine 01 is characterized in that the printing machine 01 has at least one print data processing unit 600, which has at least one raster graphics processor 603, by means of which template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644 and / or geometrically modified template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644 at least that at least one first sequence 633 of entries 631 can be created and / or that the printing machine 01 has at least one print data processing system 600, which has at least one raster data storage device 602, in which at least one first sequence 633 of entries 631 to be processed successively, which is assigned and / or assignable to this first nozzle, can be stored and / or stored, and / or that the print data processing system 600 has at least one image data computer 611 and / or at least one raster data computer 612, by means of which at least one filling algorithm can be executed.Preferably, the printing machine 01 is characterized by the fact that the print data processing unit 600 has at least one data storage device in which the at least one infill algorithm is stored, wherein this at least one data storage device is, for example, the at least one image data storage device 601 and / or the at least one raster data storage device 602 and / or the at least one data storage device of the at least one first input device 608 and / or another data storage device. Preferably, the printing machine 01 is suitable for carrying out at least one of the preferred methods for operating a printing machine 01 described below.
[0125] Preferably, sequences 633 and subsequences 634 of entries 631 always refer only to those entries 631 that either have a value corresponding to a pause instruction or a value corresponding to an ejection instruction. Other information and / or characters and / or combinations of characters contained in the sub-image matrix are to be disregarded, for example, placeholders that separate individual entries 631 from one another or similar.
[0126] Preferably, raster data 647 are adapted such that the nozzles of the printheads 212; 412 are regularly activated to maintain a desired print quality. For this purpose, a method for operating a printing machine 01 is preferably used, wherein the printing machine 01 preferably has at least one printhead 212; 412 with at least one first nozzle, and wherein control data 646 and / or raster data 647 of at least one print image to be printed, in the form of entries 631 to be processed, are preferably sent to the at least one printhead 212;412 and wherein preferably each entry 631 is assigned to one of the at least one first nozzle and / or has either a value corresponding to a pause instruction or a value corresponding to an ejection instruction, and wherein preferably, in particular during a printing operation of the at least one print image, depending on the data assigned to the at least one print image, for example raster data 647 or template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644, at least one additional droplet, which does not represent a pixel of this print image, is ejected by means of the at least one first nozzle, preferably at least between two drops representing pixels of the same print image to be printed and also ejected by means of this at least one first nozzle.
[0127] Preferably, a method for operating the printing machine 01 is additionally or alternatively applied, wherein the printing machine 01 preferably has at least one printhead 212; 412 with at least one first nozzle, and wherein raster data 647 of at least one print image to be printed, in the form of entries 631 to be processed, are preferably stored and / or are stored in at least one data storage device 601; 602, more preferably in the at least one raster data storage device 602 of the printing machine 01, which are preferably previously generated by means of the at least one raster graphics processor 603 from image data, in particular template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644 and / or geometrically modified template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644 of the print image to be printed are created and / or were created and wherein preferably each entry 631 is assigned to a nozzle and / or is assigned and either has a value corresponding to a pause instruction, or has a valuewhich corresponds to an instruction to eject a droplet and, more preferably, also to an instruction regarding the droplet size associated with this droplet. Preferably, by means of the at least one filling algorithm, at least one first sequence 633 of entries 631, preferably to be processed successively with this at least one first nozzle and / or assignable to this at least one nozzle, and more preferably stored in the at least one raster data memory 602, is checked to see if it has at least one preferably contiguous subsequence 634 that contains exclusively entries 631 with instructions to pause and that exceeds a predetermined number of entries 631. Preferably, upon finding such a subsequence 634, at least one entry 631 of this subsequence 634 is modified by means of the at least one filling algorithm in such a way as tothat it then has a value that corresponds to an instruction to eject a drop and, more preferably, also to an instruction regarding a drop size associated with that drop.
[0128] Preferably, the method is characterized by the fact that a number of entries 631 within the at least one initial sequence 633 that are to be modified, and / or a position of the at least one entry 631 within the at least one initial sequence 633 that is to be modified, is determined such that the at least one sequence 633 subsequently no longer contains any subsequence 634 that consists exclusively of entries 631 with instructions for pausing and that exceeds the specified number of entries 631. This is achieved, for example, by ensuring, even when selecting the at least one entry 631 to be modified, that no excessively large subsequences 634 remain. Alternatively, this can also be ensured by an iterative procedure in which checks are performed and entries 631 are modified until a subsequent check no longer detects such a subsequence 634.
[0129] Preferably, the method is characterized by the fact that the position of the at least one entry 631 within the at least one first sequence 633, which is to be modified, is determined at least partially by at least one random number. For example, the at least one entry 631 to be modified can be determined by generating a random number between zero and one and multiplying it by the length of the found subsequence 634, thereby determining the position of the at least one entry 631 to be modified within the corresponding subsequence 634. Alternatively, a random number from a predefined pattern is selected, which is then used to replace the at least one subsequence 631.Such a pattern extends, for example, only over one column 633 of the sub-image matrix 629 or preferably over several adjacent columns 633 of the sub-image matrix 629, each of which has subsequences 634 that contain exclusively entries 631 with instructions to pause and that exceed a predetermined number of entries 631.
[0130] Preferably, the method is characterized by the fact that the position of the at least one entry 631 to be modified within the at least one first sequence 633 is chosen such that at least, and further preferably, exactly a predetermined number of entries 631 lie between a beginning and / or an end of this at least one first sequence 633 and the at least one entry 631 to be modified. This prevents additional pixels from being printed too close to the part of the color separation 629 to be printed, which could then disrupt the printed image, for example, by causing the printed image to appear frayed. A beginning and / or an end of this at least one first sequence 633 is understood to be an entry 631 that has an adjacent entry 631 corresponding to an instruction for ejecting a droplet.The specified number can, for example, be determined empirically in such a way that the visual impression of the printed image is only minimally or not at all disturbed.
[0131] Preferably, the method is characterized in that several sequences 633 of entries 631 to be processed successively are checked for such subsequences 634 and, depending on the result of the check, are optionally modified, and that each of these several sequences 622 is assigned to its own nozzle of the at least one printhead 212; 412. More preferably, each sequence 622 of the color separation 629 of entries 631 to be processed successively is checked for such subsequences 634 and, depending on the result of the check, is optionally modified. The method is further preferably characterized in that the several sequences 633 of entries 631 are assigned to adjacent nozzles of printheads 212; 412.Adjacent nozzles are those nozzles between which, viewed orthogonally to a predetermined transport direction of the substrate 02 and / or in the axial direction A, no nozzles assigned to the same printing ink and the same printing unit 200; 400 are arranged. Furthermore, preferably, a number of entries 631 within the multiple sequences 633 that are modified and / or positions of the entries 631 within each of the multiple sequences 633 that are modified are determined such that the positions of the modified entries 631 across all sequences 633 of entries 631 assigned to printheads 212; 412, particularly adjacent nozzles, are in a predetermined relation to one another, especially a spatial relation with respect to the printed image. This means, for example, that the modified entries 631 represent a predetermined pattern in the ink separation 629 and / or in the printed image.This specification is preferably binding for all nozzles of a printing ink and, more preferably, for all nozzles of all printing inks. In this way, a defined and tested pattern can be used which is known to not, or only minimally, disrupt the overall visual impression of a printed image.
[0132] Preferably, second sequences 633 of entries 631 that are adjacent to, or at least located near, the sequences 631 to be modified are also taken into account, regardless of whether these second sequences themselves are modified by the filling algorithm or not. This also prevents the printed image from appearing frayed in the lateral direction. The method is preferably characterized in that a change in the position of at least one entry 631 within the at least one first sequence 633 is coordinated with at least one second sequence 633 of entries 631, wherein this second sequence 633 of entries 631 consists of entries 631 that are to be processed sequentially by means of at least one second nozzle. In particular, the positions of the entries 631 of these second sequences 633 are preferably included in the selection of the first entries 631 of the at least one first sequence 633 to be modified.This at least one second nozzle is preferably a nozzle adjacent to the first nozzle and / or at least a nozzle characterized in that between it and the first nozzle, orthogonally to the intended transport direction of the printing material 02 and / or viewed in the axial direction A, at most ten, more preferably at most five, and even more preferably at most two nozzles of the same printing ink and the same printing unit 200; 400 are arranged.
[0133] Preferably, as described, the at least one sequence 633 entries 631 to be processed sequentially is part of at least one, and more preferably exactly one, partial image matrix 629, and each column 633 of the at least one, and more preferably exactly one, partial image matrix 629 is and / or is preferably assigned to a nozzle of a printhead 212; 412. Preferably, adjacent columns 633 of the at least one partial image matrix 629 are assigned to nozzles adjacent to the at least one printhead 212; 412. Preferably, each column 633 of the at least one partial image matrix 629 corresponds to exactly one sequence 633 of entries 631, which is more preferably each assigned to a nozzle of a printhead 212; 412. Preferably, the at least one partial image matrix 629 represents a color separation 629 of the at least one, more preferably multi-colored, print image to be printed.
[0134] Preferably, when determining the specified number of entries 631, a transport speed of the substrate 02 and / or a resolution of the raster data 647 and / or droplet sizes ejectable with the at least one first nozzle and / or temperatures of the printhead 212; 412 and / or the coating materials and / or physical properties of the coating materials such as their viscosity are taken into account.
[0135] In the case where several image layers 632 are added to create a partial image matrix 629, preferably either the respective entry 631 is changed directly in the composite partial image 629, or the respective entry 631 is changed in a partial image layer 632, for example, the partial image layer 632 that defines the smallest pixels, and then the partial image is reassembled from the at least partially changed partial image layers 632. It is also possible to create an additional partial image layer 632 that exclusively represents the pixels that are added in addition to the actual printed image, and then to reassemble the corresponding partial image 629 from the previous and the new partial image layer 632.
[0136] Preferably, raster data 647 and / or output data 646 and / or control data 646, belonging to successive print images and / or template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644, are processed together and checked for corresponding consequences. This allows for even greater savings in coating material and / or even better print quality.
[0137] In the preceding and following, a printed product shall be understood to mean, in particular, a finished product that is both printed and, if necessary, folded and / or trimmed. Preferably, a printed product to be printed comprises a plurality of individual pages 638; 639; 1638; 1639, which are printed on at least one common substrate 02, in particular at least one common substrate web 02. Accordingly, the printed product also comprises this plurality of individual pages 638; 639; 1638; 1639. More preferably, the substrate 02 is subsequently folded and / or trimmed, for example, in at least one post-processing device 500, in particular at least one folding device 500.Depending on the type and / or control of the at least one post-processing device 500, the individual pages 638; 639; 1638; 1639 must be printed on the substrate 02 in a specific arrangement to ensure correct orientation, sequence, and relative position of the individual pages 638; 639; 1638; 1639 after post-processing, particularly after folding. For example, such a specific arrangement of individual pages 638; 639; 1638; 1639 is preferably called a complete print image 636; 637. For example, at least one complete print image 636; 637 comprises at least a series of at least two, for example four, individual pages 638; 639; 1638; 1639 arranged side by side. The individual pages 638; 639; 1638; 1639 are therefore preferably each part of a complete printed image 636; 637.Preferably, at least one first print image 636 is applied to the substrate 02 by means of at least one first printing unit 200, and at least one second print image 637 is applied to the substrate 02, particularly in a corresponding manner, by means of at least one second printing unit 400. For example, the at least one first print image 636 is applied to a front side of the substrate 02, and the at least one second print image 637 is applied to a corresponding back side of the substrate 02, or the at least one first print image 636 and the at least one second print image 637 are applied to the same side of the substrate 02.
[0138] Preferably, during a print job, a plurality of print images 636; 637 are applied successively at different, preferably adjacent, locations on the substrate 02. These print images 636; 637 are preferably, but not necessarily, identical in terms of the number and / or arrangement of individual pages, but more preferably differ at least partially in content.
[0139] The following describes a preferred method for improving print quality with respect to registration and / or alignment by compensating for changes in the substrate 02 resulting from drying and / or printing processes. The method preferably involves modifying and / or adapting data of at least one first overall print image 636, printed by the first printing unit 200, and / or individual pages 638; 639 within at least one such first overall print image 636, preferably by means of the print data processing 600 of the printing machine 01, before printing, in such a way as to compensate for changes in the substrate 02 caused, for example, by printing by the first printing unit 200 and / or occurring subsequently and before printing by the second printing unit 400.The method is based alternatively or additionally on modifying and / or adapting data of at least one overall print image 637, which is printed by means of the second printing unit 400 and / or individual pages 638; 639 within at least one such overall print image 637, preferably by means of the print data processing 600 of the printing machine 01 before printing, in such a way as to compensate for changes in the substrate 02 caused by the printing by means of the first printing unit 200 and / or subsequently and before printing by the second printing unit 400.
[0140] This is preferably a method for printing at least one first substrate 02 by means of at least one printing unit 211; 411 of a printing press 01, wherein first output data 646 for the production or control of at least one form of print images, in particular at least individual pixels of print images, of at least one printing unit 200 of the printing press 01 for the production of at least one first printed print image 636 are generated from stored template image data 641; 642; 643;644 at least of at least one first overall print image 636 at least template image data 643 at least one first single page 638 and preferably also at least one second single page 639 and wherein at least the at least one first single page 638 is preferably stretched and / or shifted within stored data before and / or during the generation of the output data 646.;
[0141] Preferably, the at least one substrate 02 is printed in at least one printing unit 200, and the at least one substrate 02 is then printed in at least one second printing unit 400 of the printing machine 01, and the at least one printed first single page 638 is produced by the first printing unit 200. Alternatively, it would also be possible to produce the at least one printed first single page 638 using the second printing unit 400. More preferably, the at least one printed second single page 639 is produced by the first printing unit 200 and / or the at least one printed first overall print image 636 is produced by the first printing unit 200 and / or at least one printed second overall print image 637 is produced by the second printing unit 400.In particular, the method is preferably characterized in that in the first printing unit 200 of the printing machine 01, and especially the inkjet printing machine 01, the at least one first overall print image 636, comprising at least one first single page 638, is printed onto the at least one substrate 02. Preferably, during and / or afterwards, at least one dimension of the substrate 02 changes at least in a first print image direction C and / or in the axial direction A, for example due to drying and / or softening and / or shrinkage and / or stretching of the substrate 02.Preferably, after this change of at least one dimension of the substrate 02 by at least one second printing unit 400 of the printing machine 01 and in particular the inkjet printing machine 01, at least one second overall print image 637 is printed on the at least one substrate 02, for example on the same or a different side of the substrate 02.
[0142] The change in at least one dimension of the substrate 02 preferably occurs transversely to the transport direction of the substrate 02, i.e., in particular in the axial direction A. However, it is possible that the change in at least one dimension of the substrate 02 alternatively or additionally occurs along the transport direction, for example to the same extent or preferably to a lesser extent.
[0143] Preferably, the method is characterized in that the at least one first overall print image 636 is completely printed onto the substrate 02 by means of the at least one first printing unit 200 and / or that the at least one first single page 638 is printed at least partially simultaneously with the at least one second single page 639 onto the substrate 02 by means of the at least one first printing unit 200.
[0144] The method is preferably suitable, on the one hand, for controlling nozzles of printheads 212; 412 of at least one first printing unit 200 of the printing machine 01, in particular for controlling the ejection of coating material through nozzles of printheads 212; 412 of the at least one inkjet printing unit 211; 411 of the printing machine 01. These nozzles of the printheads 212; 412 are then to be regarded as the component of the corresponding printing unit 200; 400 that defines at least one form of printed image. Preferably, then, by a first printing process using the at least one first printing unit 200 and, more preferably, by ejecting, in particular, coating material through nozzles of printheads 212; 412 of the at least one inkjet printing unit 211; 411 of the printing machine 01 according to the first output data 646, the at least one first printed overall image 636 is produced on the at least one substrate 02.Alternatively, the method is suitable for all types of digital printing processes, particularly those in which individual controlled elements generate pixels, for example, digital thermal printing processes, printing processes based on electrical charging, for example, using toner as a coating medium, or similar. On the other hand, the method is particularly suitable for controlling at least one manufacturing device for producing solid printing forms, for example, for imaging printing plates in offset printing or producing printing forms for letterpress and / or flexographic printing and / or gravure printing. In this case, the method serves to produce, in particular, solid printing forms, for example, printing plates. Thus, at least one printing form can then be considered the component of the corresponding printing unit 200; 400 that defines at least one form of printed images, in particular at least individual pixels of printed images.Such imaging can be done, for example, using a controllable laser.
[0145] Preferably, in a job creation process, job data is defined, preferably at least partially, based on template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644 belonging to a print job, for example by means of a job editor 676, particularly before the start of a printing process. The template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644 of the print job represent, in particular, content to be displayed on the printed product, i.e., at least a desired printed image. The job data can, for example, be defined in a JDF data format (job definition format).
[0146] Preferably, order data relating to a print job includes at least data on the properties of the substrate 02 to be printed and / or data on at least one coating agent to be applied and / or data on the properties and / or settings of at least one dryer 301; 331 and / or data on at least one printed image to be applied and / or data on the transport speed of the substrate 02 and / or data on a printing press 01 and / or printing unit 200; 400 by means of which the printed product is to be printed. Examples of properties of the substrate 02 to be printed are the material of the substrate 02 and / or the thickness of the substrate 02 to be printed. An example of such data on at least one printed image to be applied is the ink coverage, i.e., the amount of ink per area, which can, for example, influence the change in at least one dimension of the substrate 02.Examples of such data for at least one printed image to be applied include a format that the printed product should have and / or a number and / or sequence of pages that the printed product should have.
[0147] The order data preferably also depends on the at least one post-processing device 500, particularly because this defines certain boundary conditions, such as the sequence of the individual pages 638; 639; 1638; 1639 within the overall printed image 636; 637. Preferably taking these boundary conditions into account, at least one document template is retrieved and / or created, for example, by means of at least one geometry module 678. This at least one document template represents at least a basic framework that defines the positions of individual pages 638; 639; 1638; 1639 relative to each other. At these positions, page placeholders for the individual pages 638; 639; 1638; 1639 are preferably initially arranged, which do not yet contain any information about the actual printed images of the individual pages 638; 639; 1638; 1639. Any changes in the dimensions of the substrate 02 are preferably not yet taken into account.This basic framework preferably represents, at least in part, the template image data 641; 642 of the respective overall print image 636; 637. At a later point, the page placeholders are supplemented and / or replaced by the information of the actual print images of the individual pages 638; 639; 1638; 1639. Preferably, this basic framework is in the form of a vector-based page description.
[0148] There are preferably at least two ways to apply the method for printing on at least one initial substrate 02 before generating raster data 647, by means of which changes in the dimensions of the substrate 02 are taken into account. On the one hand, shifts and / or stretches of the page placeholders can be made before they have been supplemented and / or replaced by the information of the actual print images of the individual pages 638; 639; 1638; 1639. On the other hand, shifts and / or stretches of the individual pages 638; 639; 1638; 1639 can be made after the page placeholders have been supplemented and / or replaced with them. Combinations are also possible, for example, a shift of the page placeholders in combination with a stretching of individual pages 638; 639; 1638; 1639 that have already been supplemented and / or replaced by the information of the actual print images of the individual pages 638; 639; 1638; 1639. 1638; 1639.It is also possible to apply the procedure first to the already generated raster data 647, which are in the form of matrices of pixels.
[0149] The order data is preferably further processed, for example by means of at least one control instance 677, and preferably at least partially together with the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644 of the print job. The at least one control instance 677 preferably accesses at least one correction memory 666 in which correction data is stored. Such correction data relates, for example, to empirically generated compensation instructions which, depending on the order data, lead to the greatest possible compensation of expected changes in the dimensions of the substrate 02.
[0150] Preferably, the at least one correction memory 666 comprises at least one database in which correction data for different substrates 02 and / or different coating agents and / or different settings of at least one dryer 301; 331 and / or different area coverages of printed images to be applied and / or different transport speeds of the substrate 02 and / or different combinations of these parameters are stored. Correction data preferably relates, for example, to the shrinkage behavior of different substrates 02. Preferably, at least one conversion formula and / or at least one comparison table is stored in the at least one correction memory 666, and / or the correction data preferably includes at least one conversion formula and / or at least one comparison table. Preferably, the at least one correction memory 666 is a data storage device of the printing machine 01.
[0151] Preferably, these correction data are processed at least partially together with the job data, and more preferably also at least partially together with the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644 of the print job. More preferably, these correction data are forwarded at least partially together with the job data to the at least one geometry module 678 and / or processed by the at least one geometry module 678, and even more preferably also at least partially together with the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644 of the print job.
[0152] In this preferred, at least partially joint, further processing of the correction data and / or the order data and / or preferably also at least partially of the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644 of the print job, in particular by means of the at least one geometry module 678, the positions and shapes in which the individual pages 638; 639; 1638; 1639 are arranged within the overall print images 636; 637 are determined, in particular in the output data 646. In particular, the displacement and / or stretching of the individual pages 638; 639; 1638; 1639 is preferably carried out by means of the at least one geometry module 678. Preferably, geometrically modified template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644 generated, which in the further course form the basis for the production of raster data 647 and / or output data 646, in particular control data 646.
[0153] In a first preferred such processing step, particularly by means of the at least one geometry module 678, the individual pages 638; 639; 1638; 1639 are, as preferably, first generated and / or processed in the form of page placeholders within the document template and / or the basic structure of the respective overall print image 636; 637 and / or the position and form of these page placeholders within the document template and / or the basic structure of the respective overall print image 636; 637 are determined on the basis of the order data and the correction data, and then these page placeholders are filled with information, in particular print image data of the actual print images of the individual pages 638; 639; 1638; 1639, which represent the respective print image of the individual pages 638; 639; 1638; 1639.For the purposes of this method, these page placeholders preferably represent the respective individual pages 638; 639; 1638; 1639 and thus preferably represent this document template and / or this basic structure of the respective overall print image 636; 637 with the page placeholders arranged therein the stored data, in particular template image data 641; 642 of the respective overall print image 636; 637. Such a page placeholder can, for example, have the form of an empty rectangle.For example, positions are defined at which vector-based print image data, for example in the form of PDF data, are to be inserted into the corresponding document template and / or the corresponding basic structure of the respective overall print image 636; 637 and / or the respective shapes in which they are to be inserted are defined and / or after completion of these definitions, this vector-based print image data, in particular PDF data, is inserted at corresponding positions and / or in corresponding shapes, for example in order to generate a vector-based overall print image, for example in the form of PDF data. Fig. 9a.)
[0154] In an alternative second preferred further processing method, in particular by means of at least one geometry module 678, the print image data representing the respective print image of the individual pages 638; 639; 1638; 1639 are alternatively inserted into the document template and / or the basic structure of the respective overall print image 636; 637 and then, by shifting and / or stretching this print image data representing the respective print image of the individual pages 638; 639; 1638; 1639, the final position and shape of the individual pages 638; 639; 1638; 1639 within the respective overall print image 636; 637 is determined, in particular on the basis of the order data and the correction data.For the purposes of this procedure, the print image data representing the respective print image of the individual pages 638; 639; 1638; 1639 preferably represent the respective individual pages 638; 639; 1638; 1639 and preferably represent this document template and / or the basic structure of the respective overall print image 636; 637 with the print image data of the individual pages 638; 639; 1638; 1639 contained therein the stored data, in particular template image data 641; 642 of the overall print images 636; 637.For example, vector-based print image data, such as PDF data, are inserted at specific positions in their original forms into this document template and / or the basic structure of the respective overall print image 636; 637, and only then are the positions at which this vector-based print image data, in particular PDF data, is to be positioned definitively determined, and / or the respective shapes in which it is to be positioned are defined. This results, for example, in a vector-based overall print image, such as PDF data. Then, preferably after these determinations are completed, this vector-based print image data of the individual pages is moved to corresponding positions and / or stretched into corresponding shapes, whereby in particular the vector-based overall print image, such as PDF data, is modified. Fig. 9b)
[0155] In an optional, alternative, or additional third processing step, the shifting and / or stretching of individual pages 638; 639; 1638; 1639 only takes place after the generation of raster data 647, specifically within the raster data 647. For a shift of individual pages 638; 639; 1638; 1639 within the raster data 647, for example, all columns of the respective image matrix or sub-image matrix corresponding to these individual pages are at least partially shifted, and / or columns are deleted at least at one location and / or columns are inserted at at least another location. For a stretching of individual pages 638; 639; 1638; 1639 within the raster data 647, additional columns are generated and, for example, filled with information in the form of pixels by interpolation, and / or columns are deleted, and information in the form of pixels contained in surrounding columns is preferably adjusted as necessary.For the purposes of this procedure, the pixels assigned to the respective individual pages 638; 639; 1638; 1639 preferably represent the respective individual pages 638; 639; 1638; 1639 and thus preferably represent the entire raster data 647 and / or partial image matrices the stored data, in particular raster data 647 of the respective overall printed image 636; 637.
[0156] Particularly independent of the first, second, or third processing step, the at least one job editor 676 is preferably part of the print data processing unit 600 of the printing press 01. For example, the at least one job editor 676 is part of the at least one image data computer 611 and / or is directly or indirectly connected to the at least one image data computer 611. Preferably, the at least one control instance 677 is part of the print data processing unit 600 of the printing press 01. For example, the at least one control instance 677 is part of the at least one image data computer 611 and / or is directly or indirectly connected to the at least one image data computer 611. Preferably, the at least one correction memory 666 is part of the print data processing unit 600 of the printing press 01. For example, the at least one correction memory 666 is part of the at least one image data computer 611 and / or is directly or indirectly connected to the at least one image data computer 611.Preferably, at least one geometry module 678 is part of the print data processing 600 of the printing machine 01. For example, at least one geometry module 678 is part of at least one image data computer 611 and / or is directly or indirectly connected to at least one image data computer 611.
[0157] Preferably, the content of at least one correction memory 666 is expandable and / or modifiable, for example with data based on experience from printing operations using this printing machine 01 and / or at least another printing machine and / or data entered by an operator and / or data captured by at least one sensor, in particular at least one sensor that is connected and / or connectable to the machine control and / or print data processing 600 of the printing machine.
[0158] In one embodiment, the printing machine 01 has at least one printing unit that does not operate according to an inkjet printing principle, but more preferably has at least one printing form that is fixed with respect to the printed image to be transferred, such as at least one offset printing unit and / or at least one planographic printing unit and / or at least one letterpress printing unit, in particular a flexographic printing unit and / or at least one gravure printing unit. In such a case, the at least one inkjet printing unit 211; 411 is used, for example, as an inking unit.
[0159] Preferably, the method is characterized in that the first output data 646 for ejecting coating material through nozzles of printheads 212; 412 of the at least one inkjet printing unit 211; 411 of the printing machine 01 for producing the at least one printed first overall print image 636 are generated directly or via at least one intermediate process, for example, rasterization and / or shifting of individual pages 638; 639 and / or scaling of individual pages 638; 639 and / or dividing the at least one overall print image 636; 637 into sections 679.
[0160] Preferably, at least one printing unit 211; 411 is an inkjet printing unit 211; 411 and / or the printing machine 01 is an inkjet printing machine 01 and / or first output data 646 for controlling nozzles of printheads 212; 412 of the at least one first printing unit 200 of the printing machine 01 are generated from the stored template image data 641; 642; 643; 644 of the at least one first overall print image 636, according to which an ejection of coating material through these nozzles of printheads 212; 412 is carried out to produce the at least one first printed overall print image 636 and / or the respective output data 646 are control data 646 of the nozzles of printheads 212; 412 to be used, at least one inkjet printing unit 211; 411 of the printing machine 01.Preferably, the stored data is stored in a data storage device of the printing machine 01, for example, at least one image data storage device 601 and / or at least one raster data storage device 602.
[0161] Preferably, a relative displacement and / or stretching occurs in at least one first virtual direction B, which is also preferably referred to as the first template direction B. The first template direction B in the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644 preferably corresponds to a print image direction C, which is defined in a printed print image. This preferably means that a template direction B, which in the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644 is oriented parallel to a page margin and / or an edge of a complete print image 636; 637, corresponds to a print image direction C, which on a printed single page 638; 639; 1638; 1639 and / or a printed complete print image 636; 637 is oriented parallel to a page margin and / or an edge of the complete print image 636; 637. Preferably, the print image direction C is oriented parallel to the axial direction A.Preferably, the method is characterized in that the first print image direction C is oriented orthogonally to a transport direction of the substrate 02 through the at least one printing unit 200; 400 of the printing machine 01 and / or parallel to a rotation axis 207; 407 of at least one central cylinder 201; 401 and / or transfer body and / or substrate guide element, and / or that the first template direction B is oriented orthogonally to a second virtual template direction D, in particular a processing direction D, in which a series of such image elements are arranged one after the other in the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644, which are generated in the printing process by means of one and the same nozzle of a printhead 212; 412. The processing direction D is preferably a second template direction D, in particular since it is also present in the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644 is defined and thus in particular a virtual direction D.Preferably, a virtual page dimension 643; 644 parallel to the first template direction B of at least one single page 638; 639 is represented in the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644 as a page dimension 648; 649 parallel to the first print image direction C of this at least one printed single page 638; 639.
[0162] A page dimension 648; 649; 1648; 1649 of a printed single page 638; 639; 1638; 1639 in the printing direction C preferably refers to the maximum possible distance between two printed image elements belonging to that respective single page 638; 639; 1638; 1639. A virtual page dimension 663; 664; 1663; 1664 of a single page 638; 639; 1638; 1639 in a template direction B; D in the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644 preferably refers to the maximum possible assignable distance between two image elements belonging to that respective single page 638; 639; 1638; 1639 in the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644 are to be understood in the source direction B; D. Preferably, the stored data, in particular source image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644 of at least one first overall print image 636, at least source image data 643 of at least one first single page 638, and source image data 644 of at least one second single page 639, include at least one first overall print image 636, at least one source image data 643 of at least one first single page 638, and at least one source image data 644 of at least one second single page 639.
[0163] Preferably, at least one printed first single page 638 of the at least one first printed overall print image 636 has at least one first reference point 651. Preferably, at least one printed second single page 639 of the at least one first printed overall print image 636 has at least one second reference point 652. Preferably, the first reference point 651 and the second reference point 652 have a reference distance 653 from each other on the at least one first printed overall print image 636.
[0164] Preferably, at least one first single page 638 in the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644 is assigned at least one virtual first page dimension 663, particularly in the first template direction B. Preferably, at least one second single page 639 in the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644 is assigned at least one virtual second page dimension 664, particularly in the first template direction B.
[0165] Preferably, at least one virtual first reference point 654 is assigned to the at least one first single page 638 in the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644. This assignment is further preferably carried out by means of the at least one job editor 676 and / or by means of the at least one control instance 677 and / or by means of the at least one image data computer 611 and / or by means of the at least one geometry module 678. Preferably, at least one virtual second reference point 656 is assigned to the at least one second single page 639 in the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644. This assignment is further preferably carried out by means of the at least one job editor 676 and / or by means of the at least one control instance 677 and / or by means of the at least one image data computer 611 and / or by means of the at least one geometry module 678.Preferably, a virtual reference distance 657 is assigned to the virtual first reference point 654 and the virtual second reference point 656 in the template image data 641 of the at least one first overall print image 636. This assignment is further preferably carried out by means of the at least one job editor 676 and / or by means of the at least one control instance 677 and / or by means of the at least one image data computer 611 and / or by means of the at least one geometry module 678.
[0166] Preferably, the at least one first virtual reference point 654 of the first single page 638 in the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644 corresponds to the at least one first reference point 651 of the at least one printed first single page 638. In particular, preferably, the at least one first reference point 651 of the at least one printed first single page 638 is created according to the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644 of the at least one virtual first reference point 654. Preferably, the at least one second virtual reference point 656 of the second single page 639 in the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644 corresponds to the at least one second reference point 652 of the at least one printed second single page 639.In particular, the at least one virtual second reference point 656, the at least one second reference point 652, and the at least one printed second single page 639 are preferably created according to the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644.
[0167] The at least one first overall print image 636 and / or the at least one second overall print image 637 preferably each have at least two individual pages 638; 639; 1638; 1639, which are arranged at least partially offset from one another in the at least one first template direction B in the preferably digital template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644 and which are arranged at least partially offset from one another in the at least one first print image direction C on the at least one substrate 02. The reference distances 653; 657; 1653; 1657 are determined in particular by these offset arrangements. In particular, the template image data of the individual pages 1638; 1639 of the at least one second overall print image 637 also have virtual reference points 1651; 1652, which have a virtual reference distance of 1657 from each other.
[0168] Preferably, the first reference point 651; 1651 is part of at least one first printed single page 638; 1638 and / or the second reference point 652; 1652 is part of at least one second printed single page 639; 1639. More preferably, the first reference point 651; 1651 is a pixel of at least one first printed single page 638; 1638 and / or the second reference point 652; 1652 is a pixel of at least one second printed single page 639; 1639. Particularly preferably, the first reference point 651; 1651 is a center point and / or centroid of the first printed single page 638; 1638 and / or the second reference point 652; 1652 is a center point and / or centroid of the second printed single page 639; 1639.Preferably, the virtual first reference point 654; 1654 is a component and more preferably a pixel of at least one first single page 638; 1638 in the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644 and / or the second virtual reference point 656; 1656 is a component and more preferably a pixel of at least one second single page 639; 1639 in the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644. Particularly preferably, the first virtual reference point 656; 1656 is a center point and / or centroid of the first single page 638; 1638 in the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644 and / or the second virtual reference point 656; 1656 a center point and / or focal point of the second single page 639; 1639 in the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644.
[0169] In a first variant of the method, individual pages 638; 639 of the at least one first overall print image 636 are preferably shifted relative to each other in stored form within this at least one first overall print image 636. This preferably occurs only after the completion of template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644, i.e., only after no operator has direct access to the image data.
[0170] The first variant of the method, which can increase the print quality with regard to registration and / or alignment, preferably relates to a method for printing at least one substrate 02, in particular at least one web 02, by means of at least one printing unit 211; 411 of the printing machine 01, wherein first output data 646 for the production or control of at least one component of at least one printing unit 200 of the printing machine 01 for the production of at least one printed image 636, which defines at least one form of printed images, in particular at least individual pixels of printed images, are generated from the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644 of at least one first overall printed image 636, in particular in digital form, and wherein the stored template image data 641;642 of at least one first overall print image 636 at least template image data 643 at least one first single page 638 and template image data 644 at least one second single page 639, wherein the at least one first single page 638 and the at least one second single page 639 within stored data retain at least their respective absolute virtual page dimensions 663; 664 measured in a template direction B; D, in particular the first template direction B, preferably depending on job data related to a print job and / or preferably depending on correction data stored in at least one correction memory 666 relative to each other at least in this template direction B;D, in particular first template direction B, and wherein, by means of a first printing process using the at least one first printing unit 200 according to the first output data 646, the at least one first printed overall print image 636 is produced on the at least one substrate 02.
[0171] The first variant of the method, which can increase the print quality with regard to registration and / or alignment, preferably relates alternatively or additionally to the method for printing at least one substrate 02 by means of at least one printing unit 211; 411 of the printing machine 01, wherein first output data 646 for the production or control of at least one form of print images, in particular at least individual pixels of print images, of at least one printing unit 200 of the printing machine 01 for the production of at least one first printed overall print image 636 are generated from stored template image data 641; 642; 643; 644 of at least one first overall print image 636, and wherein the stored template image data 641;642 of at least one first overall print image 636, at least template image data 643 of at least one first single page 638, and template image data 644 of at least one second single page 639, and wherein by a first printing process using the at least one first printing unit 200 according to the first output data 646, the at least one first printed overall print image 636 is produced on the at least one substrate 02, and wherein preferably at least one virtual first page dimension 663 in a template direction B; D, in particular the first template direction B, and the virtual first reference point 654 are assigned to the at least one first single page 638 in its template image data 643, and wherein preferably at least one virtual second reference point 656 and / or further preferably a virtual second page dimension 664 in this template direction B;D, in particular the first template direction B, and wherein preferably a reference distance 653 measured in the first print image direction C, which the first reference point 651 and the second reference point 652 have towards each other on the at least one first printed overall print image 636 on the one hand, and the first page dimension 648 of a printed first single page 638 and / or the second page dimension 664 of at least one printed second single page 639 on the other hand, are in a dimensional print ratio to each other, which preferably deviates from a dimensional template ratio depending on job data related to a print job and / or preferably depending on correction data stored in the at least one correction memory 666, in which the in the template direction B;D, in particular the virtual reference distance 657 measured in the first template direction B, which is assigned to the virtual first reference point 654 and the virtual second reference point 656 in the template image data 641 of the at least one first overall print image 636, on the one hand, and the virtual first page dimension 663 of the at least one first single page 639 and / or the virtual second page dimension 664 of the at least one second single page 639 in the template image data 643 on the other hand, are preferably positioned relative to each other.
[0172] This applies in particular to a case in which an inner margin of at least one single page 638; 639 is used and fixed as a stretching center 674 and the size of the single page 638; 639 is changed in the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644 by scaling and / or stretching, whereby a subsequent change in size and simultaneous displacement caused by a change in the printing material 02 leads to the desired result, because, for example, the centers of the single pages 638; 639; 1638; 1639 of the at least one first overall print image 636 and of the at least one second overall print image 637 coincide.
[0173] Preferably, the dimension-pressure ratio deviates from the dimension-temper ratio by at least 0.1%, more preferably at least 0.2%, even more preferably at least 0.5% and even more preferably at least 1%.
[0174] Preferably, the at least one first single page 638 and the at least one second single page 639 within the template image data 641; 643; 644 and / or within raster data 647 of the at least one first overall print image 636 are shifted relative to each other at least in this template direction B; D, in particular the first template direction B, while maintaining at least their absolute virtual page dimensions 663; 664 measured in the template direction B; D, in particular the first template direction B.
[0175] Preferably, the method is characterized in that the stored data within which the individual pages 638; 639 are shifted are template image data 641 and / or raster data 647 of the at least one first overall print image 636, in particular in that the at least one first individual page 638 and the at least one second individual page 639 are shifted relative to each other at least in the template image data 641; 643; 644 and / or within raster data 647 of the at least one first overall print image 636, while maintaining at least their absolute virtual page dimensions 663; 664 measured in the template direction B; D, in particular the first template direction B.
[0176] Preferably, at least one first single page 638 and at least one second single page 639 within the stored data are shifted in this template direction B; D, in particular first template direction B, before and / or while the first output data 646 are generated from the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644, for example before and / or during the generation of raster data 647 and / or after the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644 have been stored in a data storage of the printing press 01, further preferably regardless of whether raster data 647 are generated first or whether the shift takes place first.
[0177] Preferably, at least one first single page 638 and at least one second single page 639 are shifted depending on the order data relating to the print job and depending on the correction data stored in the at least one correction memory 666 within the stored data in this template direction B; D, in particular first template direction B.
[0178] Preferably, the displacement of at least one first single page 638 and at least one second single page 639 relative to each other is controlled and / or regulated by a machine control and / or print data processing system 600 of the printing machine 01 itself and / or by at least one stored algorithm of a machine control and / or print data processing system 600 of the printing machine 01 itself.
[0179] Preferably, the method is characterized in that the relative displacement of the first single page 638 and the second single page 639 towards each other is carried out by means of the print data processing 600 of the printing machine 01 and / or that the relative displacement of the first single page 638 and the second single page 639 towards each other is carried out at a time when the substrate to be printed with the at least one first overall print image 636 is already in the printing machine 01, in particular in substrate source 100, in particular roll unwinding device 100.
[0180] Preferably, a change in a dimension of the printing material 02 is at least partially compensated by the relative displacement of at least one first single page 638 and at least one second single page 639 to each other in the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644.
[0181] Preferably, the displacement of the individual pages 638; 639 of the at least one first overall print image 636 is coordinated with a change in at least one dimension of the substrate 02 such that, after the application of the at least one first overall print image 636 by means of a first printing unit 200 and after a change in at least one dimension of the substrate 02 and after a subsequent application of at least one second overall print image 637 by means of a second printing unit 400, the at least one reference point 651; 652 of the printed individual page 638; 639 belonging to the printed first overall print image 636 is arranged in a registration-compliant manner and / or in a registration-compliant manner with at least one reference point 1651; 1652 of an individual page 1638; 1639 belonging to the printed second overall print image 637.
[0182] Preferably, the displacement of the individual pages 638; 639 of the at least one first overall print image 636 is coordinated with a change in at least one dimension of the substrate 02 such that, after the application of the at least one first overall print image 636 by means of a first printing unit 200 and after a change in at least one dimension of the substrate 02 and after the subsequent application of the at least one second overall print image 637 by means of the second printing unit 400, at least one individual page 638; 639 belonging to the first overall print image 636 is arranged in a registration-compliant manner and / or in a register-compliant manner with each individual page 1638; 1639 printed by the second printing unit 411 and / or belonging to the at least one second overall print image 637 on the substrate 02.
[0183] For example, in addition to the shift, at least the first single page 638 within the stored data is preferably stretched with a first scaling factor before and / or during the generation of the output data 646, at least in the first template direction B, depending on the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644 and / or depending on the order data related to the print job and / or depending on the correction data stored in the at least one correction memory 666.
[0184] Preferably, the method is characterized in that, by the relative displacement of the at least one first single page 638 and the at least one second single page 639 relative to each other in the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644, a change in the dimension of the substrate 02, particularly in the first print image direction C and / or the axial direction A, which occurs particularly during and / or after the generation of the at least one printed first single page 638 and / or the at least one printed second single page 639, is at least partially compensated, further preferably by adjusting the position of the at least one first single page 638 and the at least one second single page 639 to an expected position of single pages 1638; 1639 and / or total print images 637 to be printed with at least one second printing unit 400.
[0185] Preferably, the at least one first single page 638 and the at least one second single page 639 within the stored data are first shifted relative to each other, preferably at least in this first template direction B. Preferably, the at least one printed first overall print image 636 is then produced by ejecting coating material through nozzles of printheads 212; 412 of the at least one inkjet printing unit 211; 411, in particular the first printing unit 200 of the printing machine 01. Preferably, a dimension of the substrate 02 is then changed, for example, by the action of at least one dryer 301 on the substrate 02. Preferably, the at least one printed second overall print image 637 is then produced by ejecting coating material through nozzles of printheads 212; 412 of at least one further printing unit 211; 411, in particular an inkjet printing unit 411 of the second printing unit 400 of the printing machine 01.Preferably, the displacement of the individual pages 638; 639 of the at least one first overall print image 636 is coordinated with the change in at least one dimension of the substrate 02 that is expected or may have already occurred, such that after the application of the at least one first overall print image 636 by means of the first printing unit 200 and after the change in at least one dimension of the substrate 02 and after the application of the at least one second overall print image 637 by means of the second printing unit 400, at least one and preferably each individual page 638; 639 belonging to the first overall print image 636 is arranged in a registration-compliant manner and / or in a registration-compliant manner with respect to each individual page 1638; 1639 printed by the second printing unit 411 on the substrate 02.Such a registration-compliant and / or register-compliant arrangement is given in particular in the case in which at least one and preferably each individual page 638; 639 belonging to the first overall print image 636 lies with its center point on a center point of another individual page 1638; 1639 arranged on the other or an identical side of the substrate, which belongs to the second overall print image 637.
[0186] Changing at least one dimension of the substrate 02 also changes at least one page dimension 648; 649 of the already printed individual pages 638; 639. Preferably, the virtual page dimensions 663; 664 of the individual pages 638; 639 of the first overall print image 636 correspond to the virtual page dimensions 1663; 1664 of the individual pages 1638; 1639 of the second overall print image 637. This inevitably results in the situation for the first variant of the method that page dimensions 648; 649 of the printed individual pages 638; 639 of the first overall print image 636 correspond to page dimensions 1648; 1649 of printed individual pages 1638; 1639 of the second overall printed image 637 may deviate, in particular due to the change of at least one dimension of the printing material 02. However, this is permissible and less disruptive than a shift of the printed pages relative to each other, i.e. a registration error and / or a misregistration error.This deviation can be accepted, for example, if it means avoiding excessive modification of the original image data 643; 644; 1643; 1644 of the individual pages 638; 639; 1638; 1639. This saves computational effort and ensures that the original image data 643; 644; 1643; 1644 of the individual pages 638; 639; 1638; 1639 remain virtually unchanged, except for their shifts.
[0187] Preferably, the virtual reference points 654; 656 in the template image data 641 of the first overall print image 636 initially exhibit a virtual template offset 667 before the shift. Due to the shift, the virtual reference points 654; 656 subsequently exhibit a virtual output offset 668, which is still a virtual length and is present, for example, in the raster data 647. Immediately after printing by the first printing unit, the corresponding reference points 651; 652 of the printed individual pages 638; 639 exhibit a first, particularly wet, print offset 669 in the corresponding print image direction C. This first print offset 669 is modified, for example, after drying, in particular reduced to a second, particularly dry, print offset 671.Subsequently, the second overall print image 637 is applied by the second printing unit 400, wherein its individual pages 1638; 1639 and, in particular, reference points 1651; 1652 exhibit a third, preferably also wet, print offset 672 immediately after application, which is preferably the same size as the second, dry print offset 671 of the reference points 651; 652 of the printed individual pages 638; 639 of the first overall print image 636. Subsequent possible changes to at least one dimension of the substrate 02 affect the first overall print image 636 and the second overall print image 637 equally and therefore have no influence on registration and / or register.
[0188] Preferably, at least two operations are performed when converting the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644 into output data 646. One of these at least two preferred operations is the displacement of the individual pages 638; 639 of the first overall print image 636 relative to each other. Another of these at least two preferred operations is the creation of raster data 647. Preferably, the displacement of the individual pages 638; 639 of the first overall print image 636 relative to each other is performed first, resulting in geometrically modified template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644. Then, raster data 647 is created from the geometrically modified template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644. The raster data 647 then form the basis of the output data 646 or are identical to the output data 646.Alternatively, raster data 647 is first created from the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644. Then, the individual pages 638; 639 of the first overall print image 636 are shifted relative to each other within the raster data 647, resulting in geometrically modified raster data 647. The geometrically modified raster data 647 then forms the basis of the output data 646 or is identical to the output data 646, depending on whether the raster data 647 can be processed directly or whether further modification of the raster data 647 is necessary and / or desired for controlling the nozzles.Alternatively or additionally, the shifting of the individual pages 638; 639 of the first overall print image 636 relative to each other and the creation of raster data 647 take place at least partially simultaneously and / or alternately, for example by creating raster data 647 row by row and / or column by column and shifting parts of the individual pages 638; 639 in between.
[0189] In a second embodiment of the method, which improves print quality with respect to registration and / or alignment, the at least one first overall print image 636 is preferably modified such that the at least one first individual page 638 and the at least one second individual page 639 are preferably stretched in stored form within this at least one first overall print image 636 at least in a first orientation B. Preferably, the at least one first individual page 638 and the at least one second individual page 639 are subjected to a one-dimensional central stretching in the first orientation B, more preferably with a common stretching center 674. The common stretching center 674 is located, for example, on a center line 673 of the at least one first overall print image 636. It is also possible to use other stretching centers, but for reasons of symmetry, the center line 673 is preferred.By appropriately stretching the at least one first overall print image 636 and / or the individual pages 638; 639 within the at least one first overall print image 636 before applying this at least one first overall print image 636 to the substrate 02 636, any subsequent change in the at least one dimension of the substrate 02 following the printing process can preferably be completely compensated for. Thus, for example, shrinkage of the substrate 02 due to a drying process can be compensated for even before the print image is applied. The finished printed product has printed individual pages 638; 639 of the intended size. The at least one stretching preferably takes place only after the completion of the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644, i.e., only after no operator has direct access to the image data.
[0190] The term "scaling" is preferably understood to mean a scaling in the mathematical sense, which can lead to an enlargement or, particularly with a scaling factor between zero and one, to a reduction. Therefore, in the preceding and following sections, the term "scaling" will also be used for this scaling in the mathematical sense, to further clarify the possibility of enlargement and reduction.
[0191] The second variant relates to a method for printing at least one substrate 02, in particular at least one substrate web 02, by means of at least one printing unit 211; 411 of the printing machine 01, wherein first output data 646 for the production or control of at least one component of at least one printing unit 200 of the printing machine 01 for the production of at least one printed overall print image 636, which is stored in particular in digital form, are generated from template image data 641; 642; 643; 644, in particular in digital form, for the production or control of at least one form of print images, in particular at least individual pixels of print images, in order to produce at least one printed overall print image 636, and wherein the stored template image data 641; 642; 643;644 at least of at least one first overall print image 636 at least template image data 643 at least of one first single page 638 and wherein at least one first single page 638 within stored data depending on the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644 and / or depending on job data related to a print job and / or depending on correction data stored in at least one correction memory 666 is stretched before and / or during the generation of the output data 646 at least in one template direction B; D, in particular the first template direction B, with a scaling factor, in particular a first scaling factor and wherein by a first printing process using the at least one first printing unit 200 according to the first output data 646 the at least one first printed overall print image 636 is generated on the at least one substrate 02.;
[0192] With regard to this at least one further component of the at least one second printing unit 400, the provisions stated above apply analogously to the at least one component of the first printing unit 200.
[0193] Preferably, the first scaling factor is determined depending on the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644 and / or depending on the job data related to the print job and / or depending on the correction data stored in the at least one correction memory 666. For example, the template image data 636 of a first overall print image 636 is examined for the presence of individual pages 638; 639, and a reference point 651; 652 is assigned to each individual page 638; 639, and a substrate type is read from the job data, and a scaling factor suitable for this substrate type is assigned to the correction data, and the distance of the respective reference point 651; 652 to a scaling center 647 is multiplied by the scaling factor.
[0194] Preferably, at least one second single page 639 within the stored data is stretched before and / or during the generation of the output data 646, at least in the template direction B; D, in particular the first template direction B, depending on the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644 and / or depending on the order data related to the print job and / or depending on correction data stored in the at least one correction memory 666, at least in the template direction B; D, and preferably with the same first stretching factor as the at least one first single page 638.
[0195] Preferably, the virtual reference distance 657 within the stored data is stretched, at least in the template direction B; D, in particular the first template direction B, depending on the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644 and / or depending on the job data related to the print job and / or depending on correction data stored in the at least one correction memory 666, before and / or during the generation of the output data 646, at least in the template direction B; D, in particular the first template direction B, further preferably with the same first stretching factor as the at least one first single page 638.
[0196] Preferably, at least one first overall print image 636 within the stored data is stretched, at least in the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644 and / or depending on the job data related to the print job and / or depending on correction data stored in the at least one correction memory 666, before and / or during the generation of the output data 646, at least in the template direction B; D, in particular the first template direction B, further preferably with the same first stretching factor as the at least one first single page 638.
[0197] Preferably, the reference distance 653 on the one hand and the first page dimension 648 of the at least one printed first single page 638 and / or the second page dimension 649 of the at least one printed second single page 639 on the other hand are in the same ratio to each other as the virtual reference distance 657 on the one hand and the virtual first page dimension 663 of the at least one first single page 639 in the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644 and / or the virtual second page dimension 664 of the at least one second single page 639 in the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644 on the other hand.
[0198] Preferably, when stretching the at least one first single page 638 in the stored data, at least the virtual first page dimension 663 within the stored data is stretched while maintaining all ratios of dimensions related to the first template direction B depending on the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644 and / or depending on job data related to a print job and / or depending on correction data stored in at least one correction memory 666 in the template direction B; D, in particular the first template direction B.
[0199] Preferably, at least one first dimension 658 of the at least one first printed overall print image 636, measured directly after the first printing process in the first print image direction C, is specifically determined depending on the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644 and / or depending on the job data related to the print job and / or depending on the correction data stored in the at least one correction memory 666.
[0200] Preferably, second output data 646 for the production or control of at least one form of printed image, in particular at least individual pixels of printed images, of at least one second printing unit 400 of the printing machine 01 for the production of at least one printed image 637 are generated from template image data 641; 642; 643; 644. Preferably, at least one second printed image 637 is produced on the at least one substrate 02 by means of the at least one second printing unit 400 according to the second output data 646.
[0201] Preferably, at least one first dimension 658 of the at least one first printed overall print image 636, measured directly after the first printing operation in a first print image direction C, and at least one second dimension 659 of the at least one second printed overall print image 637, measured directly after the second printing operation in this first print image direction C, are in an overall print image-print ratio to each other. Preferably, the virtual first dimension 661 of the at least one first overall print image 636 in the template image data 641 and the virtual second dimension 662 of the at least one second overall print image 637 in the template image data 642 are in an overall print image-template ratio to each other. Preferably, the overall print image-print ratio is different from the overall print image-template ratio.Preferably, the overall print image-to-print ratio differs from the overall print image-to-original ratio by at least 0.1%, preferably at least 0.2%, more preferably at least 0.5%, and even more preferably at least 1%. It should be noted again that the output data 646 is generated from the original image data 641, 642, 643, and 644 and is therefore identical to the original image data 641, 642, 643, and 644 only in exceptional cases. Preferably, the difference between the overall print image-to-print ratio and the overall print image-to-original ratio is specifically determined before the generation of the first printed overall print image 636, depending on the job data related to the print job and on correction data stored in the at least one correction memory 666.
[0202] Preferably, in order to precisely determine the first dimension 658 of the at least one first overall print image 636, the at least one first overall print image 636 is stretched within stored data, particularly while maintaining all ratios of dimensions related to the first template direction B. Preferably, these dimensions related to the first template direction B are the at least one virtual page dimension 663 of the at least one first individual page 638 and the at least one virtual page dimension 664 of the at least one second individual page 639. Should the at least one first overall print image 636 become larger in the template direction B, a border area of the enlarged overall print image 636 is removed, for example, to restore the original dimension 658; 659 of the at least one overall print image 636; 637.Should the at least one initial overall print image 636 become smaller in the template direction B, an area representing a blank space is added, for example, to an edge region of the reduced overall print image 636 in order to restore the original dimension 658; 659 of the at least one overall print image 636; 637. Such a removal or addition occurs, for example, after completion of the stretching of the at least one initial overall print image 636 and / or successively during the stretching of the at least one initial overall print image 636.
[0203] Preferably, at least one first single page 638 and / or at least one second single page 639 and / or at least one first overall print image 636 and / or at least one second overall print image 637 are stretched within stored data, while maintaining all proportions of dimensions related to the first template direction B, by at least one second scaling factor in a second template direction, which is further preferably oriented orthogonally to the first template direction B. More preferably, the first scaling factor related to the first template direction B differs from the second scaling factor related to the second template direction. More preferably, the second scaling factor is determined depending on the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644 and / or depending on job data related to a print job and / or depending on correction data stored in at least one correction memory 666.
[0204] Preferably, by stretching the at least one first single page 638, particularly within the stored data, and / or by stretching the at least one second single page 639, particularly within the stored data, and / or by stretching the at least one first overall print image 637, particularly within the stored data, and / or by stretching the at least one virtual reference distance 657, particularly within the stored data, and / or by specifically determining the at least one first dimension 658 of the at least one first printed overall print image 636 measured directly after the first printing process in a first print image direction C, at least a change in a dimension of the substrate 02 is at least partially compensated, further preferably even before the change in the at least one dimension of the substrate 02 has taken place.
[0205] Preferably, the stretching of at least one first single page 638 is carried out, in particular within the stored data, and / or the stretching of at least one second single page 639 is carried out, in particular within the stored data, and / or the stretching of at least one first overall print image 637 is carried out, in particular within the stored data, and / or the stretching of at least one virtual reference distance 657 is carried out, in particular within the stored data, and / or the targeted determination of at least one first dimension 658 of the at least one first printed overall print image 636, measured directly after the first printing process in a first print image direction C, is carried out before and / or during the generation of the first output data 646 from the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644, and / or after the template image data 641; 642; 643;644 were stored in a data memory of printing press 01 and / or before at least one first printed overall print image 636 is generated.;
[0206] Preferably, the stretching of at least one first single page 638, in particular within the stored data, and / or the stretching of at least one second single page 639, in particular within the stored data, and / or the stretching of at least one first overall print image 637, in particular within the stored data, and / or the stretching of at least one virtual reference distance 657, in particular within the stored data, and / or the targeted determination of at least one first dimension 658 of the at least one first printed overall print image 636, measured directly after the first printing process in a first print image direction C, is controlled and / or regulated by a machine control and / or print data processing system 600 of the printing machine 01 itself, and / or by at least one stored algorithm of a machine control and / or print data processing system 600 of the printing machine 01 itself.
[0207] Preferably, the stretching of the individual pages 638; 639 and / or of the at least one first overall print image 636 is coordinated with a change in at least one dimension of the substrate 02 such that, after applying the at least one first overall print image 636 by means of a first printing unit 200 and after changing the at least one dimension of the substrate 02 and after subsequently applying at least one second overall print image 637 by means of a second printing unit 400, at least one reference point 654; 656 of a printed individual page 638; 639 belonging to the printed first overall print image 636 is aligned in a registration-compliant manner and / or in a registration-compliant manner with at least one reference point of an individual page 1638; belonging to the printed second overall print image 637.1639 is arranged and / or such that, after the application of at least one first overall print image 636 by means of a first printing unit 200 and after a change in at least one dimension of the substrate 02 and after the subsequent application of at least one second overall print image 637 by means of a second printing unit 400, at least one individual page 638; 639 belonging to the first overall print image 636 is arranged in a registration-compliant manner and / or in a registration-compliant manner with each individual page 1638; 1639 printed by the second printing unit 411 and / or belonging to the at least one second overall print image 637 on the substrate 02.
[0208] Preferably, the difference between the overall print image-print ratio and the overall print image-template ratio is specifically determined by a machine control and / or print data processing 600 of the printing machine 01 itself and / or by at least one stored algorithm of a machine control and / or print data processing 600 of the printing machine 01 itself before the generation of at least one first printed overall print image 636.
[0209] A distance between the first reference point 651 and the second reference point 652 on the at least one first printed overall print image 636, on the one hand, and a first page dimension 648 of a printed first individual page 638 and / or a second page dimension 649 of a printed second individual page 639, on the other hand, are preferably in the same ratio, in particular dimensional ratio, to each other as a distance assigned to the virtual first reference point 654 and the virtual second reference point 656 to each other in the template image data 641 of the at least one first overall print image 636, on the one hand, and the virtual first page dimension 663 of the at least one first individual page 639 in the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 643; 1644, in particular the at least one first single page 638, and / or the virtual second page dimension 664 of the at least one second single page 639 in the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643;1644, in particular at least one second single page 639, on the other hand, stand in relation to each other.;
[0210] This means that a dimension-template ratio is equal to a dimension-print ratio. Preferably, the dimension-template ratio is the dimension ratio in which the virtual reference distance 657, which is assigned to the virtual first reference point 654 and the virtual second reference point 656 in the template image data 641 of the at least one first overall print image 636, is in relation to each other, on the one hand, and the virtual first page dimension 663 of the at least one first individual page 639 in the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644 and / or the virtual second page dimension 664 of the at least one second individual page 639 in the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644, on the other hand, is in relation to each other.The dimension-print ratio is preferably the dimension ratio in which the reference distance 653, which the first reference point 651 and the second reference point 652 have to each other on the at least one first printed overall print image 636, is on the one hand, and a first page dimension 648 of a printed first single page 638 and / or a second page dimension 649 of a printed second single page 639 is on the other hand.
[0211] Preferably, at least two operations are performed when converting the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644 into output data 646. One of these at least two preferred operations is the stretching of the individual pages 638; 639 and / or the first overall print image 636. Another of these at least two preferred operations is the creation of raster data 647. Preferably, the individual pages 638; 639 and / or the first overall print image 636 are stretched first, resulting in geometrically modified template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644. Then, raster data 647 is created from the geometrically modified template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644. 1644. The raster data 647 then form the basis of the output data 646 or are identical to the output data 646.Alternatively, raster data 647 is first created from the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644. The individual pages 638; 639 and / or the first overall print image 636 are then stretched within the raster data 647, resulting in geometrically modified raster data 647. The geometrically modified raster data 647 then forms the basis of the output data 646 or is identical to the output data 646, depending on whether the raster data 647 can be processed directly or whether further modification of the raster data 647 is necessary and / or desired for controlling the nozzles.Alternatively or additionally, the stretching of the individual pages 638; 639 and / or the first overall print image 636 and the creation of raster data 647 are carried out at least partially simultaneously and / or alternately, for example by creating raster data 647 row by row and / or column by column and stretching parts of the individual pages 638; 639 and / or the first overall print image 636 in between.
[0212] Preferably, the individual pages 638; 639 and / or the at least one first overall print image 636 are stretched within this at least one first overall print image 636, preferably in stored form. This preferably only occurs after the completion of template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644, i.e., only after no operator has direct access to the image data.
[0213] A preferred third variant of the preferred method is a combination of the first variant and the second variant. In particular, the preferred third variant contains all features of the first variant and all features of the second variant, provided that no contradictions arise. For example, the individual pages 638 and 639 within the template image data 641, 642, 643, and 644 are shifted relative to each other and each is stretched centrally from its own stretching center 374, which is preferably located on a center line of the respective shifted individual page 638 and 639. Alternatively, for example, the individual pages 638 and 639 are stretched together and then shifted relative to each other.The third variant is of interest, for example, when the substrate 02 undergoes different dimensional changes at different locations, for instance, because the application of coating material results in different changes to at least one dimension in the area of the individual pages 638; 639 than in the area outside the individual pages 638; 639, particularly in edge areas and / or spaces. Preferably, the at least one first individual page 638 and the at least one second individual page 639 are then shifted relative to each other, at least in this first template direction B, before and / or after stretching within stored data, while maintaining at least their respective absolute page dimensions 648; 649 as measured in a first template direction B.
[0214] Ratios, in particular the dimension ratio and / or the dimension-print ratio and / or the dimension-template ratio and / or the overall print image-print ratio and / or the overall print image-template ratio, are preferably to be understood as ratios in the mathematical sense.
[0215] Page description data is preferably vector-based. A shift of a single page 638; 639; 1638; 1639 within page description data can be performed, for example, by leaving all objects belonging to that single page unchanged, with the exception of a position vector that defines their position, in particular their position on the overall print image 636; 637. A stretching of a single page 638; 639; 1638; 1639 and / or an overall print image 636; 637 can be performed, for example, by stretching all objects of that single page 638; 639; 1638; 1639 and / or all objects and / or single pages 638; 639; 1638; 1639 of this overall print image 636; 637 both in themselves and by stretching the respective position vector that defines their position.
[0216] Preferably, a different side of the substrate 02 is printed by means of the at least one second printing unit 400 of the printing machine 01 than by means of the at least one first printing unit 200 of the printing machine 01. Alternatively, and more preferably, however, the same side of the substrate 02 is printed by means of the at least one second printing unit 400 of the printing machine 01 as by means of the at least one first printing unit 200. This allows a larger number of different coating materials, in particular printing inks, to be applied to the same side of the substrate 02. Preferably, at least one and more preferably several such coating materials are, for example, printing inks in the colors cyan and / or magenta and / or yellow and / or black and / or are, for example, printing inks in special colors, for example, blue and / or orange and / or green and / or red and / or violet and / or white.Preferably, at least one and more preferably several such coating materials are, for example, lacquers and / or special colors such as gold and / or silver. Preferably, at least one and more preferably several such coating materials have, for example, iron oxide particles and / or special magnetic properties, such as positive or negative magnetic susceptibility and / or ferromagnetic, ferrimagnetic, or antiferromagnetic properties. Preferably, at least one and more preferably several such coating materials are, for example, water-based coating materials and / or contain at least one organic solvent. Preferably, at least one and more preferably several such coating materials are, for example, crosslinkable by UV light and / or electrically conductive and / or visible only under UV light.
[0217] Therefore, a preferred alternative method is a method for coating, in particular for printing, a substrate 02 by means of at least one printing unit 211; 411 and preferably several printing units 211; 411 of the printing machine 01, wherein the substrate 02 is preferably coated along a transport path by means of at least one printing unit 221, at least one first printing unit 200 and / or at least one printing unit 411, at least one second printing unit 400, and wherein preferably at least five, more preferably at least six, still more preferably at least seven and still more preferably at least eight different coating agents are applied to an identical first side of the substrate 02.
[0218] Preferably, each of these preferably at least five, further preferably at least six, even more preferably at least seven and even more preferably at least eight different coating agents is applied to the substrate 02 by means of a plurality of individually controllable components that define, in particular generate and / or print, forms of printed images, especially individual pixels of printed images, depending on output data 646 and in particular control data 646, preferably by means of at least one printing unit 211, at least one first printing unit 200 and / or preferably at least one printing unit 211, at least one second printing unit 400 of the printing machine 01, in particular to generate at least one first printed overall image 636.Preferably, each of these pixel-defining components defines a multitude of pixels, for example by processing sequences of entries 631 of the raster data 647.
[0219] Preferably, at least one, more preferably at least two, even more preferably at least three, and even more preferably at least four different coating agents are applied to the first side of the substrate 02 by means of, in particular, the at least one printing unit 211 of the at least one first printing unit 200. Preferably, at least one, more preferably at least two, even more preferably at least three, and even more preferably at least four coating agents, which are in particular different from each other and each different from the coating agents of the first printing unit 200, are applied to the first side of the substrate 02 by means of, in particular, the at least one printing unit 411 of the at least one second printing unit 400.
[0220] Preferably, the substrate 02 is coated along a transport path by means of, for example, the at least one printing unit 211 of the at least one first printing unit 200 with at least one, more preferably at least two, even more preferably at least three and even more preferably at least four of the at least five, more preferably at least six, even more preferably at least seven and even more preferably at least eight different coating agents and is then preferably dried by means of the at least one first dryer 301 acting particularly on the substrate 02 and is then preferably coated by means of, for example, the at least one printing unit 411 of the at least one second printing unit 400 with at least one, more preferably at least two, even more preferably at least three and even more preferably at least four other of the at least five, more preferably at least six,more preferably coated with at least seven and more preferably with at least eight different coating agents and then preferably dried by means of at least one second dryer 331 which acts particularly on the substrate 02.
[0221] Preferably, as described, at least one printing unit 211; 411 is at least partially designed as an inkjet printing unit 211; 411 and / or the individually controllable components that define individual pixels of printed images depending on output data 646, in particular control data 646, are nozzles of inkjet printheads 212; 412 of printing units 211; 411 of the at least one first printing unit 200 and / or the at least one second printing unit 400 of the printing machine 01.
[0222] Particularly when coating the same side of the substrate 02 using several printing units 200; 400 and / or their printing units 211; 411, it is important to achieve high-quality registration. It is therefore particularly preferred that in the at least one first printing unit 200 of the printing machine 01, the at least one first overall print image 636 is printed onto the substrate 02, and during and / or afterwards, at least one dimension of the substrate 02 changes, at least in a first print image direction C, and after this change of the at least one dimension of the substrate 02, at least a second printing unit 400 of the printing machine 01 prints at least a second overall print image 637 onto the substrate 02.
[0223] Therefore, processes that can compensate for changes in the dimensions of the substrate 02 are particularly preferred. In this context, it is especially preferred that first output data 646 and / or control data 646 for controlling the component of the at least one first and / or second printing unit 200; 400 that defines at least one individual pixel of print images are generated from the stored template image data 641; 642; 643; 644 of the at least one first overall print image 636, and that the stored template image data 641;642 of at least one first overall print image 636 at least template image data 643 at least one first single page 638 and template image data 644 at least one second single page 639, and that the at least one first single page 638 and the at least one second single page 639 within stored data, while maintaining at least their respective absolute virtual page dimensions 663; 664 measured in a first template direction B, are shifted relative to each other at least in this first template direction B depending on job data related to a print job and / or depending on correction data stored in at least one correction memory 666. This shift is preferably carried out with respect to single pages 638;639 at least one overall print image 636, which is applied by means of the at least one first printing unit 200. Alternatively or additionally preferably, this shift is preferably carried out with respect to individual pages 1638; 1639 at least one overall print image 637, which is applied by means of the at least one second printing unit 400.;
[0224] In particular, it is therefore also preferred in this context that, from the stored template image data 641; 642; 643; 644 of at least one first overall print image 636, first output data 646 and / or control data 646 for controlling the component of at least one first and / or second printing unit 200; 400 that defines at least one individual pixel of print images are generated for the production of at least one first printed overall print image 636, and that the stored template image data 641; 642; 643; 644 of at least one first overall print image 636 contain at least template image data 643 of at least one first single page 638, and that at least one first single page 638 within stored data is dependent on the template image data 641; 642; 643;644 and, depending on order data relating to a print job and depending on correction data stored in at least one correction memory 666, is stretched before and / or during the generation of the output data 646 at least in the first template direction B with a first scaling factor.;
[0225] Preferably, by stretching at least one first single page 638 and / or stretching at least one second single page 639 and / or stretching at least one virtual reference distance 657 and / or by shifting at least one first single page 638 and at least one second single page 639 relative to each other in the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644, at least a change in at least one dimension of the printing material 02 is at least partially compensated.
[0226] In particular, in order to be able to print the substrate 02 on the same side using several printing units 200; 400, a modified version of the printing machine 01 is preferred.
[0227] Preferably, at least one first printing unit 200 is arranged along a transport path through the printing machine 01 for at least one substrate 02 to be printed, and preferably at least one first dryer 301 and preferably at least one second printing unit 400 are arranged, preferably also oriented towards and / or acting on the transport path. The printing machine 01 preferably has at least five, more preferably at least six, even more preferably at least seven, and even more preferably at least eight different intermediate storage compartments for different coating materials.Preferably, each of these at least five, more preferably at least six, even more preferably at least seven and even more preferably at least eight intermediate storage units is connected and / or connectable to at least one, preferably exclusively assigned, plurality of individually controllable components of the at least one first printing unit 200 or the at least one second printing unit 400 of the printing machine 01, more preferably via at least one supply line, in particular at least one supply line per intermediate storage unit.
[0228] Preferably, each of these components can be used to generate, depending on output data 646 and, in particular, control data 646, especially shapes of printed images, and especially individual printed pixels of printed images. Preferably, each of these components is arranged on the same side of the transport path through the printing machine 01 provided for the at least one substrate 02 to be printed, and / or is further preferably configured to act on the same side of the substrate 02 to be printed, in particular to apply coating agents. Preferably, the at least one first printing unit 200 has at least one, more preferably at least two, even more preferably at least three, and even more preferably at least four of the different intermediate storage units for different coating agents.Preferably, the at least one second printing unit 400 has at least one, more preferably at least two, even more preferably at least three, and even more preferably at least four of the different intermediate storage units for coating materials that are different from each other and from the coating materials of the first printing unit 200. It is also possible that a single printing unit 200; 400 has at least five of the different intermediate storage units. Preferably, the at least one first printing unit 200 and / or the at least one second printing unit 400 has at least one printing unit 211; 411 designed as an inkjet printing unit 211; 411.
[0229] Preferably, the first central cylinder 201 and the second central cylinder 401 have the same direction of rotation, and / or a transmission body of the at least one first printing unit 200 and a transmission body of the at least one second printing unit 400 have the same direction of rotation. Preferably, the at least one first printing unit 200 and the at least one second printing unit 400 are essentially identical in construction, particularly with regard to rotating bodies and printing elements 211; 411.
[0230] Preferably in order to be able to print large-scale images, especially without gaps and quickly, a method for printing at least one first substrate 02 by means of at least one printing unit 211; 411 of a printing machine 01 is additionally or alternatively preferred, wherein output data 646 for controlling at least one component defining at least one form of print images of at least one printing unit 200 of the printing machine 01 for producing at least one printed overall image 636, 637, in particular at least one first printed overall image 636, is generated from template image data 641; 642; 643; 644, in particular digitally stored template image data 641; 642; 643; 644.Such a complete printed image 636; 637 can, for example, include individual pages 638; 639; 1638; 1639 or consist, for example, of only one printed motif and / or only one individual page 638; 639; 1638; 1639 of a corresponding size. The method can be used as an independent method or as a supplement to previously described processes.
[0231] Preferably, at least one overall print image 636, 637, in particular the first overall print image 636, is defined and / or described in a primary data package. Such a primary data package is, for example, the template image data 641; 642 of the at least one overall print image 636; 637, in particular the first overall print image 636, or the template image data 641; 642 of the at least one overall print image 636; 637, in particular the first overall print image 636, which are geometrically modified, in particular by stretching and / or shifting individual pages 638; 639; 1638; 1639. Such template image data 641; 642 or geometrically modified template image data 641; 642 are, for example, in the form of a vector-based page description, for example as page description data, in particular PDF data. In particular, at least one primary data package preferably contains page description data, especially PDF data.Alternatively, such a primary data package could be, for example, raster data 647 created from the template image data 641; 642 of at least one overall print image 636; 637, in particular the first overall print image 636, or geometrically modified raster data 647 of at least one overall print image 636; in particular the first overall print image 636; 637 resulting from stretching and / or translation. Such raster data 647 or geometrically modified raster data 647 are, for example, in the form of a pixel matrix or partial pixel matrix, for example as pixel matrix data, in particular bitmap data. In particular, the at least one primary data package thus alternatively comprises pixel matrix data, in particular bitmap data.
[0232] Preferably, at least one overall print image 636; 637, in particular the first overall print image 636, is assigned at least one dimension in the template image data 641; 642 and / or in the primary data package. The at least one dimension is, for example, a first dimension measured in the first template direction B, in particular a width of the at least one overall print image 636; 637, in particular the first overall print image 636. The at least one dimension is preferably a second dimension measured in the second template direction D, in particular a length of the at least one overall print image 636; 637, in particular the first overall print image 636. Further preferably, at least the length and the width are assigned to the at least one overall print image 636; 637, in particular the first overall print image 636, in the template image data 641; 642 and / or in the primary data package.
[0233] Preferably, the at least one, and in particular the first, dimension and / or width of the at least one, first overall print image 636 is compared with at least one limit value, which is preferably a first limit value. Preferably, the at least one, and in particular the second, dimension and / or length of the at least one, and in particular the first, overall print image 636 is compared with at least one limit value, which is preferably a second limit value. Preferably, the at least one, first, and / or second dimension is compared with the at least one, first, and / or the at least one, second limit value by the machine control and / or the print data processing 600 of the printing press 01 itself and / or by at least one stored algorithm of the machine control and / or print data processing 600 of the printing press 01.
[0234] Preferably, if at least one limit value is exceeded by at least one dimension of the at least one overall print image 636; 637, in particular the first overall print image 636, the at least one overall print image 636; 637, in particular the first overall print image 636, is divided, especially with respect to the input direction B, D, into a plurality of sections 679 of the at least one overall print image 636; 637, in particular the first overall print image 63. In particular, preferably, if at least one second limit value is exceeded by at least one first second dimension, in particular the length, of the at least one overall print image 636; 637, in particular the first overall print image 636, the at least one overall print image 636; 637, in particular the first overall print image 636, is divided, with respect to this second input direction D or processing direction D, into a plurality of sections 679 of the at least one overall print image 636; 637, in particular the first overall print image 63.The sections 679 preferably each have dimensions in the second feed direction D that do not exceed the second limit value. The sections 679 preferably also have dimensions in the first feed direction B that do not exceed the first limit value. Preferably, several sections 679 resulting from the at least one overall print image 636; 637, in particular the first overall print image 636, have dimensions in the feed direction B, D, in particular the first feed direction B and / or second feed direction D, which are the same, and more preferably equal to the respective, in particular the first and / or the second limit value. For example, all sections 679 have the same dimensions in the first feed direction B or the second feed direction D, except for a first or a last section 679, the dimension of which results from a remainder after the division.Preferably, each section 679 has a width corresponding to the width of the at least one overall print image 636; 637 and / or each section 679 has a length resulting from a maximum processable size of secondary data packets.
[0235] Preferably, the majority of sections 679 are defined and / or described in a plurality of secondary, in particular separate and / or distinct, data packages. Preferably, the respective secondary data packages are smaller than the primary data package, particularly with regard to the required storage space. This allows the secondary data packages to be further processed with relatively limited resources, even if these resources would not be able to further process the primary data package. Preferably, each secondary data package contains, in particular, only data relating to exactly one section 679 of the at least one overall print image 636; 637, in particular the first overall print image 636. Preferably, all data relating to one section 679 of the at least one overall print image 636; 637, in particular the first overall print image 636, are contained in exactly one secondary data package.Preferably, each secondary data package corresponds exactly to one section 679 of at least one overall print image 636; 637, in particular the first overall print image 636.
[0236] Preferably, the majority of sections 679 of the at least one overall print image 636; 637, in particular the first overall print image 636, and preferably the at least one printed overall print image 636; 637, in particular the first printed overall print image 636, are produced on the at least one first substrate 02, preferably without gaps, by means of printing operations carried out by means of at least one first printing unit 200, in which output data 646 based on at least one and, more preferably, on exactly one of the secondary data packages are processed. Preferably, these printing operations are carried out at least partially sequentially by means of the at least one first printing unit 200. This means, in particular, that printing operations that start first are preferably also completed first.However, overlaps can occur, particularly if printhead nozzles are located at different points along the transport path and nozzles located further ahead of the transport path are already printing a subsequent section 679, while nozzles located further back of the transport path are still printing a preceding section 679. Seamless printing means that the printed overall image 636; 637, and in particular the first printed overall image 636, does not indicate where sections 679 adjoin each other.
[0237] Depending on whether the division into secondary data packages occurs before or after the print image data has been rasterized and / or stretched and / or shifted, the print image data within the secondary data packages is preferably, at least initially, in the form of at least one vector-based page description, for example, as PDF data, or in the form of at least one pixel matrix or subpixel matrix, for example, as bitmap data. In particular, at least one secondary data package preferably contains page description data, for example, PDF data, or pixel matrix data, for example, bitmap data.
[0238] Preferably, the primary data package comprises the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644 or geometrically modified template image data 641; 642; 643; 644 or raster data 647 or geometrically modified raster data 647. Preferably, the secondary data packages each comprise template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 643; 644 or geometrically modified template image data 641; 642; 643; 644 or raster data 647 or geometrically modified raster data 647, further preferably in the same way as the primary data package.
[0239] Preferably, the data contained in the secondary data packets are processed by means of at least one raster graphics processor 603. Preferably, the output data 646 are generated directly or indirectly from the resulting packets of raster data 647, for example, by means of at least one geometric modification, in particular stretching and / or translation. In particular, packets of raster data 647, each based on different secondary data packets, are preferably used at least partially sequentially to generate output data 646 for printed sections 679 of the at least one overall print image 636; 637, in particular the first overall print image 637. Preferably, the secondary data packets and / or the raster data 647 derived therefrom are processed sequentially to generate output data 646 according to which the print image is produced, and more preferably according to which coating material is ejected from nozzles.For this purpose, the output data 646 are preferably distributed to the nozzles of the printheads 212; 412 as described. Alternatively, it is also possible to first subject the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644; 1643; 1644 to a possible shift and / or stretching and in any case first to convert them into raster data 647 and only then to perform the division into sections based on the raster data 647. However, this requires higher computing power and / or storage capacity in connection with at least one raster graphics processor 603.
[0240] Preferably, the secondary data packets are loaded at least partially sequentially into at least one memory, more preferably into fewer memories than sections 679, and even more preferably into exactly one memory. Such a memory is, for example, the at least one image data memory 601 and / or the at least one raster data memory 602. Preferably, the secondary data packets are processed at least partially sequentially by means of at least one raster graphics processor 603. Preferably, the secondary data packets are read at least partially sequentially from at least one memory, more preferably into fewer memories than sections 679, and even more preferably into exactly one memory. Such a memory is again, for example, the at least one image data memory 601 and / or the at least one raster data memory 602. Preferably, the secondary data packets are processed at least partially sequentially into output data 646.In this context, “at least partially sequentially” preferably means that the corresponding processing of a first secondary data packet has already been completed before the same corresponding processing of a last secondary data packet originating from the same primary data packet is started.
[0241] Preferably, the secondary data packets and / or packets based on different secondary data packets of Rasterade 647 are stored as a whole in at least one memory, in particular a buffer and / or ring buffer and / or shift register, and further preferably read out from there at least partially and sequentially. For example, at least one second secondary data packet is already stored in the at least one memory while at least one previous first secondary data packet is still being read out. For example, at least one third secondary data packet is already stored in the at least one memory while at least one previous second secondary data packet is still being read out or has not yet been read out.In this way, it is preferably ensured that a continuous flow of output data 646 can be generated from raster data 647, even if the memory were insufficient to store the raster data 647 when the entire primary data packet is stored and / or processed at once. In particular, it is preferably ensured in this way that a continuous flow of output data 646 can be generated from raster data 647, even if the raster data 647 is loaded into and deleted from the corresponding memory in packets. Such memory is, for example, the at least one image data memory 601 and / or the at least one raster data memory 602.
[0242] The method is preferably characterized in that the stored template image data 641; 642; 643; 644 of at least one overall print image 636; 637, in particular the first overall print image 636, contain at least template image data 643 of at least one first single page 638, and that at least the at least one first single page 638 within stored data, in particular within data of the secondary data packages, is stretched with a scaling factor before and / or during the generation of the output data 646, at least in one template direction B, D, depending on the template image data 641; 642; 643; 644 and / or depending on job data related to a print job and / or depending on correction data stored in at least one correction memory 666.This template direction B is preferably a different template direction B than the template direction D in which the at least one overall print image 636; 637, in particular the first overall print image 636, is subdivided into sections 679.
[0243] The method is preferably alternatively or additionally characterized in that the stored template image data 641; 642 of the at least one overall print image 636; 637, in particular the first overall print image 636, include at least template image data 643 of at least one first single page 638 and template image data 644 of at least one second single page 639, and that the at least one first single page 638 and the at least one second single page 639 within stored data, in particular within data of the secondary data packages, are preferably shifted relative to each other at least in this first template direction B, while maintaining at least their respective absolute virtual page dimensions 663; 664 measured in a first template direction B, depending on job data related to a print job and / or depending on correction data stored in at least one correction memory 666.This template direction B is preferably a different template direction B than the template direction D in which the at least one overall print image 636; 637, in particular the first overall print image 636, is subdivided into sections 679.
[0244] Preferably, the method is alternatively or additionally characterized in that the at least one printing unit 211; 411 is an inkjet printing unit 211; 411 and / or that the printing machine 01 is an inkjet printing machine 01 and / or that output data 646 for controlling nozzles of printheads 212; 412 of the at least one first printing unit 200 of the printing machine 01 are generated from the stored template image data 641; 642; 643; 644 of the at least one overall print image 636; 637, in particular the first overall print image 636; 637, according to which coating material is ejected through these nozzles of printheads 212; 412 to produce the at least one printed overall print image 636; 637. 637, in particular the first printed overall print image 636 is carried out and / or that the respective output data 646 are control data 646 of the nozzles of printheads 212; 412 to be used, at least one inkjet printing unit 211; 411 of the printing machine 01.
[0245] Preferably, the method is alternatively or additionally characterized in that at least five different coating agents are applied to the same side of the substrate 02, and that each of these at least five different coating agents is applied to the substrate 02 by means of a plurality of individually controllable components of the at least one first printing unit 200 and / or at least one second printing unit 400 of the printing machine 01, which determine individual pixels of printed images depending on output data 646 and, in particular, control data 646, and that at least one of the at least five different coating agents is applied to the substrate 02 by means of the at least one first printing unit 200 and / or at least one second printing unit 400 of the printing machine 01, and that at least one of the at least five different coating agents is applied to the substrate 02 by means of the at least one first printing unit 200 and is then dried by means of at least one dryer 301, and then at least one other of the at least five different coating agents is applied by means of the at least one secondThe printing unit 400 of the printing machine 01 applies the data to the substrate 02. Preferably, the sections 679, and thus also the secondary data packets, are generated before the data is distributed between the at least one first printing unit 200 and the at least one second printing unit 400. When using two printing units 200 and 400, synchronization is preferably performed at regular or irregular intervals, more preferably only between such output data 646 that are based on secondary data packets of different primary data packets. The processing of output data 646 that are based on secondary data packets of the same primary data packet is preferably not affected and / or interrupted for synchronization purposes.
[0246] The division of the at least one overall print image 636; 637, in particular the first overall print image 636, into several sections, and thus the creation of the secondary data packages, is preferably carried out by means of the at least one image data computer 611 and / or by means of the at least one raster data computer 612 and / or by means of another computer, for example, another computer of the printing press 01 and / or the machine control 600 and / or the print data processing system 600. More preferably, the creation of the secondary data packages is carried out by means of the at least one image data computer 611, and subsequently, the creation of raster data 647 from the secondary data packages is carried out by means of the at least one raster data computer 612. All storage devices in which the secondary data packages or data based on the secondary data packages are stored can have comparatively small storage capacities, for example, storage capacities that are smaller than the primary data package. Reference symbol list 01 Printing press, inkjet printing press, roll-to-roll printing press, roll-to-roll inkjet printing press, rotary printing press, roll-to-roll rotary printing press, roll-to-roll rotary inkjet printing press 02 Substrate, substrate web, paper web, textile web, film, plastic film, metal foil 100 Material source, roll unwinding device, roll changer 101 Printing material roll 102 - 103 Roller holding device, clamping device, clamping mandrel, clamping cone, clamping device, clamping mandrel, clamping cone, clamping shaft; rotating body, first 104 Drive motor, electric motor (103) 107 Support arm (101) 108 Axle, support, frame (107) 109 Swivel axis (108) 110 - 111 Rotation axis (101; 103) 112 frame 113 Dancer's Roll 114 track edge aligners, first 115 - 116 Alignment roller 117 Train press 118 Pulling roller; rotating body, second 119 Inset gap 120 - 121 Dancer levers 139 Infeed mechanism 140 - 141 Measuring roller, feed measuring roller, measuring device, first 146 Drive motor, traction drive motor (118) 200 printing units, first 201 Central pressure cylinder, central cylinder, first; rotating body, third 202 Substrate preparation device, web preparation device, coating device, corona device, discharge device, substrate cleaning device, web cleaning device, dust removal device, first 203 Roller, deflection roller 204 Interspace (201; 203) 205 - 206 cylinders, presser, first 207 Rotation axis (201) 208 Drive motor, electric motor, direct drive, single drive, synchronous motor 209 Press gap, first 210 - 211 Printing unit, inkjet printing unit, four-color printing unit, first 212 Printhead, inkjet printhead, first 213 nozzle bars, first 214 Deflection roller, measuring roller, measuring device, third 215 - 216 Measuring roller, measuring device, second 300 dryer unit 301 dryers, infrared radiant dryers, radiant dryers, flow dryers, UV radiant dryers, hot air dryers, first 302 Radiation source, infrared radiation source 303 Cooling device, first 304 Cooling roller, first; rotating body, fourth 305 - 306 Cooling roller press 307 Steering roller, first 308 Steering roller, second 309 Cooling roller gap, first 310 - 311 Drive motor, cooling roller drive motor (304), first 312 Deflection roller 329 cases (300) 330 - 331 dryers, infrared radiant dryers, flow dryers, radiant dryers, hot air dryers, UV radiant dryers, second 332 - 333 Cooling unit, second 334 Cooling roller, second; rotating body, sixth 335 - 336 Cooling roller press, second 339 Cooling roller gap, second 340 - 341 Drive motor, cooling roller drive motor (334), second 342 - 343 Measuring roller, measuring device, sixth 400 printing units, second 401 Central pressure cylinder, central cylinder, second; rotating body, fifth 402 Printing material cleaning device, web cleaning device, dust removal device, second 403 Roller, deflection roller 404 Space (401; 403) 405 - 406 cylinders, pressurizer, second 407 Rotation axis (401) 408 Drive motor, direct drive, electric motor, single drive, synchronous motor 409 Presseurspalt, second 410 - 411 Printing unit, inkjet printing unit, four-color printing unit, second 412 Printhead, inkjet printhead, second 413 Nozzle bar, second 414 Deflection roller, measuring roller, fifth 415 - 416 Measuring roller, measuring device, fourth 500 Post-processing device, folding device, winding device, sheet cutter, flat delivery 501 Extraction roller, rotating body, seventh 502 Extraction press 503 Extraction column 504 Drive motor, extraction roller drive (501) 505 - 600 Print data processing equipment, print data processing 601 Image data storage, data storage, first 602 Raster data storage, data storage, second 603 Raster graphics processor 604 Data mapping 604, Image data mapping 604, Raster data mapping 604 605 - 606 Power supply system 607 Voltage source 608 Input device 609 Data line, Ethernet line, first 610 - 611 computers, image data computers 612 computers, raster data computers 613 data line, second 614 Switching device, synchronizing device 615 - 616 Switching device, data processing, data synchronization 617 Signal source, rotary angle sensor, rotary encoder, absolute value encoder, target data, first 618 Signal source, rotary angle sensor, target data, second 619 Register sensor 620 - 621 Switching device, signal converter (619) 622 Printhead control (212; 412) 623 Data line 624 Power supply line 625 - 626 Control line 627 Voltage line 628 Voltage and fuse connection 629 partial image matrix, color separation 630 - 631 entry 632 partial image plane Column 633, sequence 634 Sub-sequence 635 - 636 Total print image, first 637 Total print image, second 638 single page, first 639 Single page, second 640 - 641 Template image data (636) 642 Template image data (637) 643 Template image data (638) 644 template image data (639) 645 - 646 Output data, control data 647 raster data (636) 648 Page dimension, first (638) 649 Page dimension, second (639) 650 - 651 Reference point, first (638) 652 Reference point, second (639) 653 reference distance (651; 652) 654 Reference point, virtual, first (643) 655 - 656 Reference point, virtual, second (644) 657 Virtual reference distance (654; 656) 658 Dimension, first (636) 659 Dimension, second (637) 660 - 661 Dimension, virtual, first (641) 662 Virtual second dimension (642) 663 Page dimension, virtual, first (643) 664 Page dimension, virtual, second (644) 665 - 666 correction memory; database 667 Template offset 668 Output offset 669 Print offset, first 670 - 671 Print offset, second 672 Print offset, third 673 Center line (636; 637) 674 Stretching Center 675 - 676 Order Editor 677 Control Authority 678 Geometry module Section 679 (636) 1638 single page, first (636) 1639 Single page, second (636 1640 - 1641 - 1642 - 1643 template image data (1638) 1644 template image data (1639) 1645 - 1646 - 1647 - 1648 Side dimensions, first (1638) 1649 Side dimension, second (1639) 1650 - 1651 Reference point, first (1638) 1652 Reference point, second (1639) 1653 reference distance (1651; 1652) 1654 Reference point, virtual, first (1643) 1655 - 1656 Reference point, virtual, second (1644) 1657 Reference distance, virtual (1654; 1656) 1658 - 1659 - 1660 - 1661 - 1662 - 1663 Page dimensions, virtual, first (1643) 1664 Page dimension, virtual, second (1644) A direction, axial B direction, template direction, virtual C Print direction Direction D, processing direction, template direction, virtual
Claims
[1] Method for printing at least one web-shaped substrate (02) using at least one printing unit (211; 411) of a roll-to-roll printing machine (01) designed as an inkjet printing machine (01), wherein first output data (646) for the production or control of at least one component defining at least one form of print images of at least one printing unit (200) of the printing machine (01) for the production of at least one first printed overall print image (636) are generated from stored template image data (641; 642; 643; 644) in the form of a vector-based page description of at least one first overall print image (636), and wherein the stored template image data (641;642) of at least one first overall print image (636) have at least template image data (643) of at least one first single page (638) and template image data (644) of at least one second single page (639) and wherein the at least one first single page (638) and the at least one second single page (639) within the template image data (641; 643; 644) of the at least one first overall print image (636) are shifted relative to each other at least in this first template direction (B) depending on job data related to a print job and / or depending on correction data stored in at least one correction memory (666) while maintaining at least their respective absolute virtual page dimensions (663; 664) measured in a first template direction (B) and wherein the shift of the single pages (638;639) of the first overall print image (636) is generated, resulting in geometrically modified template image data (641; 643; 644) in the form of a vector-based page description, and wherein raster data (647) is then created from the geometrically modified template image data (641; 643; 644), and wherein the raster data (647) forms the basis of the output data (646) or is identical to the output data (646), and wherein, by means of a first printing operation using the at least one first printing unit (200) according to the first output data (646), the at least one first printed overall print image (636) is produced on the at least one substrate (02), and wherein the first template direction (B) in the template image data (641; 643; 644) corresponds to a print image direction (C) that is defined in a printed print image, and wherein a virtual page dimension (663; 664) of a Single page (638;639) in the first template direction (B) in the template image data (641; 643; 644) a maximum possible assignable distance of two image elements belonging to this respective single page (638; 639) of the template image data (641; 643;644) is to be understood in the template direction (B) and wherein in a first printing unit (200) of the printing press (01) the at least one first overall print image (636) having at least one first single page (638) is printed onto the at least one substrate (02) and during and / or afterwards at least one dimension of the at least one substrate (02) changes at least in the first print image direction (C) and after this change of the dimension of the substrate (02) at least a second overall print image (637) is printed onto the at least one substrate (02) by at least a second printing unit (400) of the printing press (01) and wherein the relative displacement of the at least one first single page (638) and the at least one second single page (639) to each other in the template image data (641; 642; 643;644) a change in a dimension of the substrate (02) is at least partially compensated and wherein the displacement of the individual pages 638; 639 of the at least one first overall print image 636 is coordinated with a change in at least one dimension of the substrate 02 such that, after the application of the at least one first overall print image 636 by means of a first printing unit 200 and after the change in the at least one dimension of the substrate 02 and after the subsequent application of the at least one second overall print image 637 by means of the second printing unit 400, at least one individual page 638; 639 belonging to the first overall print image 636 is arranged in a registration-compliant manner and / or in a register-compliant manner with each individual page 1638; 1639 printed by the second printing unit 411 and / or belonging to the at least one second overall print image 637 on the substrate 02.; [2] Method according to claim 1, characterized by, that at least one first single page (638) in its template image data (643) is assigned at least one virtual first page dimension (663) in the first template direction (B) and a virtual first reference point (654), and that at least one second single page (639) in its template image data (644) is assigned at least one virtual second reference point (656), and that a reference distance (653) measured in a first print image direction (C), which the first reference point (651) and the second reference point (652) have towards each other on the at least one first printed overall print image (636), on the one hand, and the first page dimension (648) of a printed first single page (638), on the other hand, are in a dimensional print ratio to each other that differs from a dimensional template ratio in which a virtual reference distance (657) measured in the first template direction (B),which is assigned to each other in the template image data (641) of at least one first overall print image (636), on the one hand, and the virtual first page dimension (663) of at least one first single page (639) in the template image data (643) on the other hand. [3] Method according to claim 2, characterized by that the dimension-pressure ratio deviates from the dimension-input ratio by at least 0.1%. [4] Method according to claim 1, 3, 4 or 5, characterized by, that at least one first single page (638) and at least one second single page (639) within the template image data (641; 643; 644) are shifted in this first template direction (B) before and / or during the generation of the first output data (646) from the template image data (641; 642; 643; 644) and / or after the template image data (641; 642; 643; 644) have been stored in a data memory of the printing press (01). [5] Method according to claim 1, 3 or 4, characterized by, that the order data relating to the print job contains at least data on properties of the substrate to be printed (02) and / or data on a coating agent to be applied and / or data on properties and / or settings of at least one dryer (301; 331) and / or data on at least one printed image to be applied and / or data on a transport speed of the substrate (02) and / or that the at least one correction memory (666) has at least one database in which correction data for different substrates (02) and / or different coating agents and / or different settings of at least one dryer (301; 331) and / or different area coverages of printed images to be applied and / or different transport speeds of the substrate (02) and / or data on a printing machine (01) and / or printing unit (200;400) by means of which the printed product is to be printed, and / or different combinations of these parameters are stored and / or that at least one correction memory (666) contains at least one conversion formula and / or at least one comparison table.; [6] Method according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5, characterized by , that the displacement of at least one first single page (638) and at least one second single page (639) relative to each other is controlled and / or regulated by a machine control and / or print data processing (600) of the printing machine (01) itself and / or by at least one stored algorithm of a machine control and / or print data processing (600) of the printing machine (01) itself. [7] Method according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6, characterized by, that at least one printing unit (211; 411) is an inkjet printing unit (211; 411) and / or that first output data (646) for controlling nozzles of printheads (212; 412) of the at least one first printing unit (200) of the printing machine (01) are generated from the stored template image data (641; 642; 643; 644) of the at least one first overall print image (636), according to which coating medium is ejected through these nozzles of printheads (212; 412) to produce the at least one first printed overall print image (636) and / or that the respective output data (646) are control data (646) of the respective nozzles of printheads (212; 412) of at least one inkjet printing unit (211; 411) of the printing machine (01). [8] Method according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7, characterized by, that in addition at least the first single page (638) within stored data is stretched with a first scaling factor before and / or during the generation of the output data (646) at least in the first template direction (B) depending on the template image data (641; 642; 643; 644) and depending on job data related to a print job and depending on correction data stored in at least one correction memory (666). [9] Method according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8, characterized by, that at least five different coating materials are applied to an identical first side of the substrate (02) and that each of these at least five different coating materials is applied to the substrate (02) by means of a plurality of individually controllable components of the at least one first printing unit (200) and / or at least one second printing unit (400) of the printing machine (01), which determine individual pixels of printed images depending on control data (646) and that at least one of the at least five different coating materials is applied to the substrate (02) by means of the at least one first printing unit (200) and is then dried by means of at least one dryer (301) and then at least one other of the at least five different coating materials is applied to the substrate (02) by means of the at least one second printing unit (400) of the printing machine (01).
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