Flexographic Printing Plate Halftone Layout for Ink-Picking Resistance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Flexographic printing plates face issues with insufficient printing durability and ink picking, particularly affecting highlight halftone dots during printing and plate washing operations.
Innovation Solution
The flexographic printing plate is designed with specific arrangements and diameters of halftone dots, using irregularly arranged dots with diameters between 17 µm and 45 µm and regularly arranged dots with a screen ruling, along with a photosensitive layer containing specific concentrations of (meth)acrylate, photopolymerization initiator, and polymerization inhibitor, and optionally a silicone compound, to enhance durability and reduce ink picking.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional halftone dot arrangements are used in flexographic printing plates, then the printing process can proceed with standard methods, but highlight halftone dots are likely to be chipped during printing or plate washing operations, resulting in insufficient printing durability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by establishing specific diameter ranges for halftone dots (17-45 μm) and defining regional classifications (regions X, Y, Z) based on dot size. This systematic parameter optimization ensures that halftone dots have sufficient size to resist chipping while maintaining image quality, directly resolving the contradiction between printing durability and manufacturing ease.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements local quality by differentiating halftone dot characteristics across different regions of the printing plate. Regions X, Y, and Z are defined with specific dot diameter ranges and arrangement patterns tailored to local requirements, allowing optimal performance in different areas of the plate while maintaining overall durability.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If standard photosensitive resin composition is used, then the manufacturing process is simple, but the printing plate exhibits ink picking during flexographic printing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies composite materials by formulating a photosensitive resin composition containing multiple specific components: (meth)acrylate monomers, oligomers, photopolymerization initiators, and polymerization inhibitors in defined concentration ranges. This composite formulation prevents ink picking while maintaining manufacturing feasibility, resolving the contradiction between performance and complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses parameter changes by specifying precise concentration ranges for each photosensitive resin component (e.g., (meth)acrylate at 0.4-2.0 mol/kg, photopolymerization initiator to polymerization inhibitor ratio at 0.5-200). These parameter optimizations eliminate ink picking without requiring overly complex formulations.
3Measurement precision
If small diameter halftone dots are used to achieve fine image detail, then image resolution is improved, but the dots become prone to chipping and printing durability decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent resolves this contradiction through parameter changes by establishing a minimum halftone dot diameter of 17 μm while categorizing dots into regions with different size specifications. This ensures sufficient dot size for stability while maintaining image detail through optimized dot arrangements and size variations within the specified ranges.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution provides a flexographic printing plate with improved printing durability and reduced ink picking, ensuring high-quality printing performance.
Implementation Method 1
a photopolymerization initiator, and a polymerization inhibitor, and the following requirements A-1 and B-1 are satisfied
Implementation Method 2
a photopolymerization initiator, and a polymerization inhibitor
Data Source
Figure 1~2
AI summary
An object of the present invention is to provide a flexographic printing plate having excellent printing durability and hardly causing ink picking, and a method for manufacturing the same. The flexographic printing plate of the present invention is a flexographic printing plate in which an image area satisfies a requirement C. Requirement C: assuming that a shading of an image expressed by the image area is formed by halftone dots having a screen ruling α, in a case where a region of the image area corresponding to a region where a diameter of the halftone dots is less than 17 µm is defined as X, a region of the image area corresponding to a region where a diameter of the halftone dots is 17 µm or more and 45 µm or less is defined as Y, and a region of the image area corresponding to a region where a diameter of the halftone dots is more than 45 µm is defined as Z, in X, the shading is formed by irregularly arranged halftone dots P having a diameter of 17 µm or more and 45 µm or less, in Y, the shading is formed by irregularly arranged halftone dots P having a diameter of 17 µm or more and 45 µm or less, or by halftone dots Q having the screen ruling α, and in Z, the shading is formed by halftone dots Q having the screen ruling α, provided that a diameter of halftone dots Pmin having the smallest diameter is equal to or less than a diameter of the halftone dots Q.