Printing Device Intermediate Element Grid Recesses Ink Waste
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional intaglio and offset printing machines experience significant ink wastage due to doctoring, leading to high losses of specialized and expensive colors, especially when producing securities like banknotes, where only individual lines and dots are printed, resulting in inefficient ink consumption and waste.
Innovation Solution
The printing device incorporates intermediate elements with depressions in a grid pattern that absorb and transfer ink more efficiently to the printing plate, allowing the squeegee to wipe off excess ink from non-image areas, reducing overall ink application and loss, while maintaining image quality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of substance
If a conventional doctoring process is used to remove excess ink from printing plates, then the printing plate is cleaned of excess ink, but significant ink is lost during the process
Solution Approach 1:
The printing plate surface is segmented into image areas and non-image areas. The intermediate element is correspondingly segmented with ink-receiving regions aligned to image areas and non-ink-receiving regions for non-image areas. This segmentation allows precise ink application only where needed, eliminating waste from doctoring entire plates.
Solution Approach 2:
The intermediate element has locally differentiated properties: regions with depressions that receive and transfer ink to image areas, and regions without depressions that remain ink-free for non-image areas. This local quality differentiation eliminates the need for doctoring and prevents ink loss while maintaining printing quality.
2Loss of substance
If ink is applied to the entire printing plate surface, then image areas receive sufficient ink, but excess ink must be removed from non-image areas causing waste
Solution Approach 1:
The intermediate element performs preliminary action by pre-aligning ink-receiving depressions with image areas before contact with the printing plate. This preliminary positioning ensures ink is transferred only to required areas, eliminating the need for subsequent doctoring and reducing ink consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts the ink-receiving function to specific localized regions on the intermediate element that correspond only to image areas. By taking out the ink application function from the entire plate surface and concentrating it only where needed, ink consumption is reduced without compromising image quality.
3Manufacturing precision
If the intermediate element has a uniform surface, then manufacturing is simple, but ink transfer precision to image areas is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The intermediate element incorporates local quality variations through depressions in specific regions. These depressions are positioned to align with image areas on the printing plate, enabling precise ink transfer. The localized modification approach maintains manufacturing feasibility while achieving high ink transfer precision.
4Reliability
If specialized expensive inks are used for security features, then security protection is enhanced, but ink loss becomes more economically damaging
Solution Approach 1:
The printing system segments ink application to match precisely with security feature locations on the printing plate. The intermediate element's ink-receiving regions are positioned to transfer ink only to areas containing security features, eliminating waste of expensive specialized inks while maintaining security protection.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the spatial distribution parameter of ink application by using an intermediate element with selectively positioned depressions. This parameter change ensures expensive specialized inks are applied only where security features require them, minimizing economic loss from ink waste while preserving security protection.
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
This solution significantly reduces ink consumption and waste, achieving economic and resource-saving advantages, particularly for large print series, by ensuring that only the necessary amount of ink is applied to image areas, thereby minimizing ink loss during the printing process.
Implementation Method 1
The intermediate element has depressions in an ink-receiving ink surface in at least one region associated with image areas of the printing plate
Data Source
Figure 1a~1b
Figure 2a~2c
Figure 3a~3b
AI summary
The invention relates to a printing device (1) comprising: - at least one inking unit (2) for supplying an ink (3), to which an intermediate element (4) is connected, wherein the intermediate element (4) is supplied with the ink (3) by its associated inking unit (2); - at least one printing plate (5) with image areas arranged therein, which is configured to receive the ink (3) directly or indirectly from the intermediate element (4); - and at least one doctor blade (7) configured to wipe off excess supplied ink (3) from the printing plate (5) and/or from the intermediate element (4), wherein the intermediate element (4) has recesses in at least one area associated with the image areas in an ink-receiving surface, the recesses preferably being arranged in a grid pattern.