Embossed Print Media with Fabric Liner for Crack Resistance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional canvas media face challenges such as deformation under framing strain, cracking, and fading, making them unsuitable for digital printing, and are also expensive compared to other imaging media like paper.
Innovation Solution
The development of an embossed print medium with a media substrate, an embossed image-receiving layer, a fabric liner, and an adhesive layer, which may include an abrasion-resistant layer, to provide durability and a canvas-like look and feel, using specific coating weights and materials like polymeric binders, pigment fillers, and cross-linked polymer networks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If traditional canvas media is used to support printed images, then a canvas-like appearance can be achieved, but the media deforms under framing strain, cracks, and fades
Solution Approach 1:
The invention divides the canvas media into multiple functional layers: a stable substrate layer (fabric or paper) and a separate embossed coating layer. This segmentation allows the substrate to provide structural stability while the coating layer provides the canvas appearance, preventing deformation and cracking of the entire structure under framing strain.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses composite materials by combining a stable substrate (such as tightly woven fabric or paper) with an embossed coating layer containing pigments and binders. This composite structure integrates the strength and stability of the substrate with the aesthetic properties of the embossed surface, achieving both durability and canvas-like appearance.
2Shape
If traditional canvas materials are used, then a textured canvas appearance can be achieved, but the materials are expensive compared to other imaging media
Solution Approach 1:
The invention uses inexpensive base materials such as standard fabrics or paper as substrates, which are much cheaper than traditional canvas materials. The embossed coating layer is applied as a relatively thin layer that provides the canvas appearance without requiring expensive bulk canvas material, significantly reducing overall material costs.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the physical parameters of ordinary materials by applying an embossed coating layer that creates a canvas-like texture. This allows inexpensive materials to acquire the aesthetic properties of expensive canvas through surface modification rather than using expensive bulk materials.
3Manufacturing precision
If the embossed image-receiving layer is made thinner to maintain detail, then image quality may improve, but the layer becomes more susceptible to cracking
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies local quality by creating an embossed surface structure where the coating layer has varying thickness - thinner in areas requiring fine detail resolution and thicker in areas requiring structural strength. The embossed pattern itself creates localized thickness variations that optimize both image quality and crack resistance.
Solution Approach 2:
The embossed coating layer acts as a pre-applied cushioning layer that protects the underlying substrate and printed image from cracking. The embossed structure creates a buffer zone that absorbs stress before it can propagate through the entire media structure, preventing cracks even when the coating is relatively thin.
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure is drawn to embossed print media including a media substrate having a front side and a back side, an embossed image-receiving layer formed on the front side of the media substrate at a coating weight of 3 gsm to 50 gsm, and a fabric liner coupled to the back side of media substrate via an adhesive layer. The embossed image-receiving layer can include a first pigment filler and a first polymeric binder. The adhesive layer can be applied at a coating weight from 20 gsm to 40 gsm and can include a second polymeric binder and a flame-retarding filler.