Optical Depth Measurement for Flexographic Printing Plates
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for determining the structural depth of flexographic printing plates and scanning surfaces are inadequate for precise quality control and often require intrusive measurement tools, leading to inefficiencies and potential print quality issues.
Innovation Solution
A method using a light source to irradiate a structured surface and a 1D or 2D camera to capture location-dependent shaded areas, calculating structural depth without a reference object, allowing for contactless measurement of the entire surface.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If intrusive measurement tools are used to determine structural depth, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity and operational difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces intrusive mechanical measurement tools with an optical measurement system consisting of a light source and a camera. The light source illuminates the structured surface and the camera captures images of the shaded areas created by the structure, allowing non-contact determination of structural depth without physical intrusion or complex mechanical apparatus.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces light as an intermediary medium to enable measurement. The light interacts with the structured surface to create shaded areas that encode depth information, which the camera then captures and processes. This optical intermediary allows precise measurement without direct mechanical contact.
2Ease of operation
If contactless measurement methods are used, then ease of operation is improved, but measurement precision deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the measurement process into distinct functional components: a light source that illuminates specific portions of the surface, a camera that captures images of the resulting shaded areas, and a processing system that analyzes the images to determine depth. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently while maintaining both ease of operation and measurement precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes optical contrast changes (analogous to color changes) in the captured images to determine structural depth. The shaded areas created by the structure on the illuminated surface provide contrast information that encodes depth data, allowing precise measurement through image analysis without physical contact.
3Manufacturing precision
If traditional measurement methods are used, then manufacturing precision is improved, but productivity decreases due to intrusive measurement processes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables continuous measurement by capturing images of the entire structured surface without interrupting the production process. The light source continuously illuminates the surface and the camera continuously captures images, allowing real-time monitoring and determination of structural depth throughout the manufacturing process, thereby maintaining both precision and productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates an optical copy (image) of the structured surface that contains encoded depth information. Instead of physically measuring the surface, the system captures a visual representation where the shaded areas created by the structure provide depth data, allowing rapid processing and analysis that maintains production continuity.
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
Enables precise determination of structural depth for improved print quality, reduces production costs, and facilitates automation, eliminating the need for intrusive measurement tools.
Implementation Method 1
causing the light to strike the structure in the portion in a direction substantially parallel to the surface of the flexographic printing plate or scanning surface; causing the structure to generate a location-dependent shaded area in a path of the light
Implementation Method 2
a camera configured to generate an image of a structure at the portion of the structured surface or the scanning surface
Data Source
AI summary
A location-dependent structural depth of a flexographic printing plate or a scanning surface is detected. A light source irradiates a structured surface of the flexographic printing plate or scanning surface with light and a camera, which is a 1D camera or a 2D camera, detects in the light a location-dependent shaded structure generated in the path of the light. The light source and the camera are arranged relative to each other so that the camera detects the location-dependent shaded area. A computer calculates the location-dependent structure depth from the detected shaded area. This allows the structural depth of a flexographic printing plate to be determined and the result to be provided for improving the print quality. The method may be used in the manufacture of printing products in flexographic printing machines.