Flexographic Printing Plate Variable Depth Recesses
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Solution Overview
Problem
Flexographic printing plates experience deteriorated ink transferability and printing quality, particularly in solid portions and regions with high halftone dot area ratios, leading to issues like moire, filling-up, and collapse.
Innovation Solution
A flexographic printing plate with a relief layer featuring halftone dot portions and solid portions having two or more recessed portions of different depths, where the depth increases with halftone dot area ratio, improving ink transferability and printing quality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If grooves are regularly formed in a grid pattern in halftone portions, then ink transferability is improved, but moire, filling-up, or collapse occurs in halftone portions with specific area ratios
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by varying the groove depth according to the halftone dot area ratio. Different regions of the printing plate have different groove depths: shallower grooves in low area ratio regions (0-30%) to prevent moire, moderate depths in medium regions (30-70%) to prevent filling-up, and deeper grooves in high area ratio regions (70-90%) to prevent collapse. This localized differentiation resolves the contradiction by optimizing each region for its specific printing characteristics.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter of groove depth based on the halftone dot area ratio. By systematically varying this physical parameter across different regions of the printing plate, the invention optimizes ink transferability while preventing region-specific defects. The groove depth serves as a controllable parameter that directly influences ink behavior in different halftone density areas.
2Ease of manufacture
If uniform groove depth is used across all regions, then manufacturing is simplified, but printing quality deteriorates in specific halftone area ratio regions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements local quality by specifying different groove depth ranges for different halftone dot area ratio regions. This approach maintains manufacturing feasibility while significantly improving printing quality across various halftone densities. The localized differentiation allows each region to be optimized for its specific printing requirements without requiring completely different manufacturing processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent systematically changes the groove depth parameter based on halftone dot area ratio regions. This parameter variation enables precise control over ink transfer characteristics in different areas, achieving high printing quality across the full range of halftone densities while maintaining a relatively simple manufacturing approach using standard engraving or etching techniques.
Data Source
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AI summary
An object of the present invention is to provide a flexographic printing plate having excellent ink transferability in a solid portion and the like and having good printing quality in a halftone portion. The flexographic printing plate of the present invention is a flexographic printing plate having a relief layer including a non-image area and an image area, in which the image area has a halftone dot portion having a halftone dot area ratio of more than 0% and less than 100%, and a solid portion having a halftone dot area ratio of 100%, small dots in the halftone dot portion and the solid portion or small dots in the halftone dot portion have two or more recessed portions having different depths according to a halftone dot area ratio, and the two or more recessed portions having different depths are recessed portions whose depth becomes deeper as the halftone dot area ratio increases.