Segmented Applicator Roller for Variable Coating Patterns
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current printing technologies face challenges in efficiently applying coatings to specific areas of printing materials without coating the entire surface, particularly in small series or individual copies, which is crucial for achieving special optical effects or meeting specific requirements in the printing industry.
Innovation Solution
A device comprising an applicator roller with a removal device that selectively applies and removes a coating agent from the roller's lateral surface, allowing for variable and precise coating patterns without a fixed coating form, enabling partial coating of printing materials based on digital data.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If the entire surface of printing material is coated with coating agent, then complete coverage is achieved, but material and time are wasted for small series or individual copies where only partial coating is needed
Solution Approach 1:
The applicator roller is divided into multiple independently controllable axial sections along its width, allowing selective application of coating agent to specific regions. Each section can be controlled separately to match the coating requirements of different areas on the printing material, enabling partial coating without wasting coating agent on areas that don't require it.
Solution Approach 2:
The coating application is tailored to provide different coating qualities to different local areas of the printing material. By controlling individual axial sections of the applicator roller, the system applies coating agent only where needed, matching the local requirements of each region on the printing material surface.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a fixed coating form is used, then coating consistency is maintained, but flexibility to change coating patterns is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The applicator roller transitions from a static, fixed coating form to a dynamic system where axial sections can be independently activated or deactivated. This dynamic control allows the coating pattern to be changed quickly by adjusting which sections receive coating agent, without requiring physical changes to the coating form itself.
Solution Approach 2:
The applicator roller serves multiple functions by being capable of producing different coating patterns through control of its axial sections. The same roller can create various coating configurations (full width, partial width, different axial positions) without requiring different physical coating forms, making the system universally applicable to multiple coating requirements.
3Reliability
If coating is applied to the entire printing material surface, then no uncoated areas remain, but specific optical effects and processing requirements cannot be met
Solution Approach 1:
The applicator roller is segmented into multiple axial sections that can be independently controlled, allowing selective coating of specific regions while leaving other areas uncoated. This segmentation enables creation of varied coating patterns that can produce different optical effects and meet specific processing requirements in different areas of the printing material.
Solution Approach 2:
Different local areas of the printing material receive different coating treatments based on their specific requirements. Some areas may be fully coated for durability or optical effects, while other areas remain uncoated for adhesion or subsequent processing, achieving local optimization of coating quality.
Data Source
Figure 1~2b
Figure 3a~3b
Figure 4
AI summary
A device coats one or more panels, printed by a coating means, which applies particularly a varnish or a primer. The device utilizes a forme roller which can be brought into rolling contact with the print stock to be coated, in the region of a contact zone, in order to coat the print stock on a side of the print stock facing the forme roller, and also utilizes a feed device supplying the forme roller with coating medium, which interacts, in the region of at least one contact zone on the circumference of the forme roller, with the forme roller, in order to continuously apply the coating medium, which is to be applied to the print stock, to a shell surface of the forme roller to an application width. A removal device, having removal elements, is associated with the forme roller and by the use of which removal device, the coating medium previously applied continuously to the shell surface, over the application width via the feed device, can be removed from the shell surface, before a downstream delivery to the print stock, which removal is, in one or in a plurality of partial width sections, relative to the application width, synchronized to one of a machine and a print stock phase position for one of defined and definable phase lengths. A method for coating and a printing press having a coating device are also disclosed.