Flexographic Printing for High-Speed Package Decoration

An arch bridge-shaped flexographic printing press with six printing units arranged in a line along the material path. The unique layout allows shorter material travel distance, preventing left-right movement, and improving registration accuracy compared to traditional flexographic presses. The press has unwinding, printing, drying, and rewinding sections sequentially arranged. The six printing units are sandwiched between two wall panels. The lowest printing unit is positioned near the ground for easy access. This arch shape reduces the material path length and minimizes left-right material movement.

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Flexographic printing system with optimized ink drying and energy efficiency. The system has a collection device that measures coverage of graphic elements on each printing station's plate cylinder. Based on these measurements, it adjusts the air flow rates in the drying units of those stations. This automated optimization of air flow matching coverage prevents over-drying or under-drying of ink, improving ink drying and speed while reducing energy consumption compared to fixed air flows.

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A method for preparing flexographic printing plates that eliminates misalignment issues between colors in flexographic printing. The method involves attaching leading and trailing edge strips to the printing plate before imaging. These strips are then secured to matching structures on the imaging cylinder and the printing cylinder. This ensures consistent positioning and tension when mounted for imaging versus printing. It replicates the mounting method used during printing plate production. This allows for improved registration between colors in flexographic printing with accuracy comparable to digital printing.

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A high-precision flexographic printing device that uses piezoelectric electrostatic adsorption to transfer ink onto the printing cylinder for improved accuracy compared to conventional flexographic printing. The device has an ink cartridge, an ink transfer radiator, an embossing radial, a printing material transport platform, and a heating device. The embossing radial is an electrostatic radiation device with an embossing spoke above the material transport platform. An ink transferring spoke is provided above the ink cartridge. The ink transferring spoke and embossing spoke are close together. A heating device is provided behind the embossing spoke. The piezoelectric electrostatic adsorption process involves using the electrostatic field generated by the embossing radial to attract and adsorb ink onto the transferring spoke. The ink is then transferred to the embossing spoke during printing to provide high-precision ink patterns

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Flexographic printing machine with an adjustable ink transfer pressure that allows independent adjustment of ink transfer pressure between the anilox roll and printing plate without affecting the inking or embossing pressures. The adjustment device uses a box-type transmission part with sliding guides and screw motors in the upper and lower layers. The upper layer slides on a rail and has a connection to the anilox roll. The lower layer slides on a rail and connects to the printing plate. A fixed connection assembly with plates, nuts, and springs connects the upper and lower layers. This allows adjusting the ink transfer pressure by moving the upper layer relative to the lower layer.

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A method for producing printed matter using flexographic printing with improved ink properties and plate stability. The method involves using an active energy ray-curable ink with specific polyfunctional acrylate monomers and ink composition levels. The ink contains at least one polyfunctional acrylate with an SP value of 8.0-9.5 calculated by the Fedors method. The ink also has 40-85% by mass of the polyfunctional acrylate with the SP range. This ink composition prevents ink swelling in the flexographic printing plate and reduces plate entanglement compared to conventional inks.

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Rotary printing press for single-sided printing of packaging materials like film and cardboard, with interchangeable cylinder sleeves to vary repeat length. The printing unit has a plate cylinder with a sleeve to hold the printing plate, a transfer cylinder with a sleeve twice the diameter to hold the transfer plate, and an impression cylinder. This allows swapping the smaller plate cylinder sleeve for the larger transfer cylinder sleeve to change the web length printed per rotation. The cylinders can also be separately driven and axes adjusted to further customize repeat length.

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A method to print tactile inks on packaging boxes using offset flexographic printing to improve efficiency and quality compared to traditional screen or gravure printing. The method involves using offset printing for the base color and then multiple passes of flexographic printing for the tactile ink instead of separate screen/gravure steps. This allows thicker tactile ink layers and better coverage without blocking screens or gravure plates. The offset printing provides the background color and the flexographic passes add the tactile effect. It simplifies the process, reduces ink accumulation, and saves time vs separate steps.

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Water-based eco-friendly ink for flexographic printing on film packaging materials that uses water as the solvent instead of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The ink composition contains pigments, a styrene-acrylic copolymer, a polyurethane prepolymer, a modified siloxane, and a functional admixture like zinc borate, rosin powder, lepa germanium, and 5-aminolevulinic acid esters. This ink provides good print quality, adhesion, and drying speed without VOCs compared to traditional solvent-based inks.

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Distributed flexographic printing machine for flexible materials like packaging film that avoids the problems of satellite-type flexo presses. The machine has multiple linear printing units instead of a central cylinder. The units are spaced apart and each prints a color. This allows flexible materials to be printed without deforming like on a central cylinder. Tension isolation groups prevent material tension variations between units. The central cylinder is replaced with a conveyor belt to maintain consistent speed. This enables distributed printing with accurate color registration and easier maintenance compared to satellite-type presses.

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A printing machine with hybrid flexographic and digital printing capabilities for flexible and cost-effective packaging printing. The machine has two printing units, one for flexographic printing and one for digital printing, that can be selectively activated based on the job requirements. This allows the machine to adapt and optimize printing processes for different jobs without the need for multiple dedicated machines. It provides flexibility for jobs with varying lengths, ink usage, and personalization needs while leveraging the cost advantages of flexographic printing for longer runs and digital printing for shorter runs.

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High-stability flexographic printing machine with improved ink distribution for consistent printing quality. The machine uses a spoke-cylinder design with separate ink and impression cylinders. The ink cylinder has multiple ink channels with conical rams that push ink into the main cylinder. An ink guide tube at the bottom distributes ink evenly. A squeegee on the tube limits ink position. A sponge ring wets the main cylinder. This ensures full ink coverage on the impression cylinder for stable printing.

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A printing press with a unique layout and operation to enable rapid and waste-minimizing task changes in packaging printing. The press has multiple flexographic printing units arranged in a plane accessible to the operator. The units are organized in pairs, with each pair forming a double printing station. Between the stations is a dryer. To change tasks, only one unit in a pair is activated at a time while the other undergoes fitting, maintenance, or color change. This allows simultaneous printing and station preparation without web waste or press downtime.

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A single-layer flexographic printing machine with improved efficiency and versatility compared to traditional models. The machine uses a flexible printing plate instead of fixed engraved anilox rolls for printing. This allows quick pattern changes without roll swapping, as the flexible plate can be easily replaced. The machine also has a drying box to avoid substrate shrinkage and curling. The flexible plate can be cleaned easier and doesn't wear as much as engraved rolls. The plate is clamped to the outer side of the anilox roll to guide ink. This reduces ink buildup in the roll meshes. The machine also has features like web winding, positioning rods, and servo motors to enhance efficiency and automation.

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Flexographic printing device that maximizes ink usage in flexographic printing. The device has an ink transfer mechanism above the anilox transfer spokes, an ink collection box below the spokes, and a print cylinder meshed with the spokes. The ink transfer mechanism has an ink cylinder, feed, baffle plate, telescopic rod, pull rod, and outlet. The telescopic rod limits ink movement between the cylinder and outlet. This allows the ink to fully transfer from the cylinder to the spokes and prevents excessive dipping of the ink box. The spokes then transfer the ink to the substrate.

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Single-blade, multi-format ink supply system for flexographic printing presses that allows ink savings and flexibility compared to traditional full-width ink systems. The system has a modified ink lifting blade with separate ink pickup segments that correspond to ink chambers in the ink fountain. This allows the ink lift blade to pick up ink from the designated chamber for the width of the printing plate, preventing waste of full-width ink. The chambers separate by partitions in the ink fountain. The blade segments have larger diameter than the base blade to accommodate the ink.

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A coating device for printing equipment that automates the application of paint or coating to packaging films. The device has a rotating printing spoke with a flexographic printing plate, a rotating driving spoke to hold the film, and a rotating coating spoke to dip in paint. The spoke assembly allows automated transfer of paint from the coating spoke to the printing plate as the film passes between them. This automates coating application compared to manually painting patterns on films.

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Printing system and method for high resolution flexographic printing with deformable anilox rolls to prevent stamp collapse and enable high resolution printing with rigid printing plates. The system has a printing roll with a rigid engraved pattern and an adjacent inking roll with deformable cells. Contacting the rigid pattern with the deformable roll allows ink transfer without plate distortion. This allows using high stiffness plates to prevent collapse while the deformable roll conforms to variations in roll diameters.

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Flexographic printing process to improve quality, prevent ink transfer issues, and allow higher speeds compared to conventional flexography. The process involves controlling pressures at different stages to optimize ink transfer and prevent issues like ink displacement and overflow. The steps are: 1. Set ink fountain pressure low to prevent ink transfer to the plate. 2. Differentiate ink fountain and anilox spoke pressures to avoid ink displacement. 3. Match impression cylinder and anilox spoke pressures to prevent ink overflow. This allows higher printing speeds without contact time issues. The process works for substrates like paper, cardboard, and film using aqueous or UV curable inks.

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Flexographic printing process for roll-faced paper used in corrugated boxes that enables high-quality, colorful, and consistent printing on roll-faced paper for corrugated boxes. The process involves steps like pre-loading the roll paper, tension control, radial preheating, guide correction, embossing, color printing, drying, cooling, and rewinding with tension control. It uses features like closed-loop tension control, radial preheating, guide correction, embossing, and tension control during winding to prevent wrinkling, deformation, and ink smearing on the roll paper. This allows high-quality, consistent printing on roll-faced paper with fine layouts, avoiding issues like dot gain, deformation, and wrinkling seen in traditional flexo printing on corrugated board.

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