Forming a flexographic plate

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9375910-B2
Application number	US-201414509253-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 8, 2014
Priority date	Oct 8, 2014
Publication date	Jun 28, 2016
Grant date	Jun 28, 2016

Abstract

A system for forming a flexographic plate includes a digital front end (DFE) for rendering a halftone image; wherein the DFE identifies pixels in the halftone image as being part of an edge region or interior region based on the pixels proximity to an edge image features; wherein the DFE applies a fine pattern to each of the edge regions; wherein the DFE applies a coarse pattern to each of the interior regions; an interface for transmitting the patterned image to an imaging device; and wherein the imaging device images the flexographic plate with the patterned image.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A system for forming a flexographic plate comprising;
a digital front end (DFE) for rendering a halftone image;
wherein the DFE identifies pixels in the halftone image as being part of an edge region or interior region based on the pixels proximity to an image edge feature;
wherein the DFE alters each of the edge regions in the halftone image with fine pattern data to form a portion of an altered half tone image;
wherein the DFE alters each of the interior regions in the halftone image with coarse pattern data to form another portion of the altered half tone image;
wherein the altered half tone image is an image for imaging a flexographic plate;
an interface for transmitting the altered half tone image to an imaging device; and
wherein the imaging device images the flexographic plate with the altered half tone image.

2. The system according to claim 1 wherein the fine pattern is a checkerboard pattern.

3. The system according to claim 1 wherein the coarse pattern is a checkerboard pattern.

4. The system according to claim 1 wherein the DFE applies a pixel window matrix to identify edge pixels and interior pixels.

5. The system according to claim 4 wherein the pixel window is a five-by-five pixel matrix.

6. The system according to claim 4 wherein pixel window matrix determines a distance between the edge region and the interior region.

7. A system for forming a flexographic plate comprising:
a digital front end (DFE) for providing rendering a halftone image;
wherein the DFE detects an edge region of image features of the halftone image and alters edge region data with a fine pixel mask pattern to form a fine pattern edge,
and wherein the DFE detects an interior region of image features of the halftone image and alters interior region data with a coarse pixel mask pattern to form a coarse patterned interior, and wherein the DFE combines the fine patterned edge and the coarse patterned interior into an altered patterned halftone image;
wherein the altered patterned half tone image is an image for imaging a flexographic plate;
an interface which transmits the altered patterned halftone image to an imaging device; and
wherein the imaging device images the flexographic plate with the altered patterned half tone image.

Assignees

• Eastman Kodak Co

Inventors

• Bielak Richard R

Classifications

• G06K15/1822

  Analysing the received data before processing · CPC title

• B41C1/003 Primary

  the relief or intaglio pattern being obtained by imagewise deposition of a liquid, e.g. by an ink jet · CPC title

• G06K15/1825

  Adapting the print data to an output condition, e.g. object trapping (trapping on rasterized data H04N1/58) · CPC title

• G03F7/2022 Primary

  Multi-step exposure, e.g. hybrid; backside exposure; blanket exposure, e.g. for image reversal; edge exposure, e.g. for edge bead removal; corrective exposure · CPC title

• B41N1/12

  non-metallic other than stone {, e.g. printing plates or foils comprising inorganic materials in an organic matrix (B41N1/003, B41N1/006 take precedence)} · CPC title