Printing plate connection systems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10518525-B2
Application number	US-201515324998-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 10, 2015
Priority date	Jul 10, 2014
Publication date	Dec 31, 2019
Grant date	Dec 31, 2019

Abstract

Techniques are disclosed for connecting a printing plate to a print cylinder or surface. The techniques may be implemented, for instance, with respect to a printing plate, a print cylinder, a print sleeve, or some combination thereof. In an embodiment, a field of mechanical fasteners is provisioned on a printing plate, and a complementary field of mechanical fasteners is provisioned on a print sleeve or cylinder. The mechanical fasteners collectively operate to provide a mechanical bond or interface that inhibits lateral and rotational movement of the plate during printing operations, and can also be configured to manage backlash between engaging surfaces of the interface. In some cases, backlash management includes use of cushion effect integral with the mechanical bond itself and/or unidirectional and possibly angled fastener elements to provide a snugging effect. The mechanical bond may be implemented with hook-and-loop, hook-and-hook, hook-to-channel, male/female-type fittings, vacuum, suction, and/or magnetics.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A fastening system for mounting a print plate to a print cylinder, comprising:
a first field of integral mechanical fasteners on one side of the print plate, another side of the print plate for carrying a print design in relief, the first field including metal pieces embedded within the print plate and at proximate edges of the print plate, and wherein concentration of the metal pieces at the edges is higher than a concentration of metal pieces elsewhere in the print plate; and
a second field of mechanical fasteners for placement on or integration with the print cylinder;
wherein the first and second fields of mechanical fasteners operate together to form a mechanical bond that inhibits lateral and rotational movement of the print plate during printing operations with respect to the print cylinder, at least one of the first or second fields of mechanical fasteners comprising a field of unidirectional hooks, the unidirectional hooks being angled according to the rotational movement of the print cylinder during printing operations.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the field of unidirectional hooks is provided on the print cylinder.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the field of unidirectional hooks is at least partially covered in a cushion material that provides at least part of a cushion effect integral with the mechanical bond itself.

4. The system of claim 1 further comprising a cushion layer integral with the mechanical bond that provides at least part of a cushion effect integral with the mechanical bond itself.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein one of the first or second fields of mechanical fasteners comprises hooks configured with flexible stems to resistively deform during at least one of engagement with the opposing mechanical fastener field and print operations, thereby providing at least part of a cushion effect integral with the mechanical bond itself.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein one of the first or second fields of mechanical fasteners comprises an unnapped loop field, wherein the unnapped loop field comprises first and second levels so as to provide a short loop height and a tall loop height.

7. The system of claim 6 wherein loops having the tall loop height provide at least part of a cushion effect and loops having the short loop height engage with a complementary hook field.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein one of the first or second fields of mechanical fasteners comprises a spacer fabric configured with loop-like engagebility or a loop pile on at least one surface, thereby providing at least part of a cushion effect integral with the mechanical bond itself.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein one of the first or second fields of mechanical fasteners comprises a loop field and the other field comprises a hook field.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein one of the first or second fields of mechanical fasteners comprises a first gear pattern and the other field comprises a second gear pattern that snugly engages with the first gear pattern.

11. The system of claim 1 wherein at least 85% of the hooks are facing in a target direction, plus or minus 15 degrees.

12. The system of claim 1 further comprising a ferromagnetic print cylinder sleeve configured to form a magnetic bond with the ferromagnetic pieces in the first field of mechanical fasteners.

13. A method for forming a print plate for a cylinder-based printing system, the method comprising one of extruding a field of mechanical fasteners onto a print plate or a print plate blank, or co-extruding a field of mechanical fasteners and a print plate or print plate blank, the field of mechanical fasteners including metal pieces embedded within the print plate and at proximate edges of the print plate, and wherein concentration of the metal pieces at the edges is higher than a concentration of metal pieces elsewhere in the print plate, the field of mechanical fasteners configured to form a mechanical bond with a corresponding print machine element having a complementary field of mechanical fasteners, the magnetic metal pieces forming a magnetic bond with corresponding magnetic elements in the print machine element, the mechanical and magnetic bonds inhibiting lateral and rotational movement of the print plate with respect to the print machine element during printing operations.

14. A print plate for a cylinder-based printing system formed by the method of claim 13 , the print plate comprising an integral field of mechanical fasteners that form a mechanical bond with a print sleeve or print cylinder having a corresponding field of mechanical fasteners.

15. The print plate of claim 14 wherein the print plate has a print side and a non-print side, the print side comprising a photopolymer material and the non-print side comprising a material that is laminated with the photopolymer material.

16. A cylinder-based printing system including the print plate of claim 14 wherein the print sleeve comprises an integral field of mechanical fasteners that form a mechanical bond with a print plate having a corresponding field of mechanical fasteners.

17. The cylinder-based printing system of claim 16 wherein the print sleeve is heat-shrinkable.

18. A print plate for a printing system, the print plate comprising an integral field of mechanical fasteners that form a mechanical bond with a corresponding print machine element having a complementary field of mechanical fasteners, wherein the integral field of mechanical fasteners includes metal pieces embedded within the print plate and proximate edges of the print plate, and wherein concentration of the metal pieces at the edges is higher than a concentration of metal pieces elsewhere in the print plate.

19. The print plate of claim 18 wherein the integral field of mechanical fasteners are configured to provide at least two types of mechanical bonds, the types being selected from the group of hook-and-loop bond, hook-and-hook bond, hook-to-channel bond, male/female-type fitting bond, vacuum bond, suction bond, magnetic bond, and interlocking gear bond.

20. The print plate of claim 18 wherein the integral field of mechanical fasteners is configured to provide a first mechanical bond proximate at least one edge of the print plate and that first mechanical bond is stronger than bonds associated with other areas of the print plate.

Assignees

• Velcro BVBA

Inventors

• Parellada Armela Luis
• Soler Carbonell Josep M
• Clarner Mark A
• Collins Andrew P
• Erickson Paul R
• Gallant Christopher M
• Villeneuve David

Classifications

• B41N6/02

  Chemical means for fastening printing formes on mounting boards · CPC title

• B41F27/1281

  details of the printing plate ends · CPC title

• B41P2200/12

  Flexographic printing · CPC title

• B41N6/00

  Mounting boards; {Sleeves} Make-ready devices, e.g. underlays, overlays; Attaching by chemical means, e.g. vulcanising · CPC title

• B41F30/04 Primary

  attaching to transfer cylinders · CPC title