Agfa Graphics Nv

Aqfa Graphics Nv

Chris Gullentops

Luc J Vanmaele

Eddie R Daems

Rudi Lenders

A relief print master is created by a printhead that moves in a slow scan direction. The nozzles of the printhead jet droplets of a polymerisable liquid on a rotating drum. The different nozzles jet droplets simultaneously on different layers that have different diameters. As a result, the droplets jetted by different nozzles travel over different distances before landing. The effect of this is that the droplets undergo different position lag as they land on the different layers. By rotating the printhead in a plane that includes the central axis of the rotating drum and a nozzle row this effect can be compensated for.

System and method for the digital creation of a print master by means of a liquid droplet deposition apparatus

A method for making a flexographic printing master includes the steps of providing a flexographic printing support; providing an inkjet printing device; applying a mesa relief on the flexographic printing support with the inkjet printing device; and applying an image relief with the inkjet printing device on the mesa relief. A method for making a flexographic printing master includes the imaging apparatus.

Imaging apparatus and method for making flexographic printing masters

A relief print master is created with a printhead that jets droplets of a polymerizable liquid on a cylindrical sleeve. The droplets follow a spiral path on the cylindrical sleeve. In a multiple printhead unit, there are different spiral paths associated with the constituting printheads in the multiple printhead unit. The distance between the spiral paths is not even. Preferred embodiments of the current invention provide a method and a system so that the distance between these spiral paths becomes even. The system can also be used for the creation of other types of print masters, such as offset print plates.

System and method for digital creation of a print master using a multiple printhead unit

A method of preparing a flexographic printing master including an optional elastomeric floor, an optional mesa relief, and an image relief are applied in this order on a flexographic printing support includes applying and curing fluid droplets thereby building up a plurality of layers of fluid on top of each other, wherein each fluid droplet applied is at least partially cured before an adjacent fluid droplet is subsequently applied, with the exception that a fluid droplet applied during building up at least one layer of fluid is not cured before an adjacent fluid droplet of the same layer is subsequently applied.

Method of preparing a flexographic printing master

A relief print master is created by a printhead that jets droplets of a polymerisable liquid on a cylindrical sleeve. The droplets follow a spiral path on the cylindrical sleeve. In a multiple printhead unit, there are different spiral paths associated with the different constituting printheads. The distance between these spiral paths is not even in a prior art system. By rotating the printhead under a specific angle, the distance between these spiral paths becomes even. The invention can also be used for the creation of other types of print plates, such as for example offset print plates.

A relief print master is created by a printhead that moves in a slow scan direction. The nozzles of the printhead jet droplets of a polymerisable liquid on a rotating drum. The different nozzles jet droplets simultaneously on different layers that have different diameters. As a result, the droplets jetted by different nozzles travel over different distances before landing. The effect of this is that the droplets undergo different position lag as they land on the different layers. By rotating the printhead in a plane that is orthogonal to the jetting direction this effect can be compensated for.

Digital system for creating a flexographic printmaster

A relief print master, such as a flexographic print master or sleeve is created by printing a sequence of intermediate layers on top of each other with an inkjet printing system. The top layer corresponds with the halftoned image that is to be printed by the print master and the lower intermediate layers are supporting layers. The pixels of the intermediate layers that are stacked on top of each other are printed with different nozzles to reduce image quality artifacts. Both a method and a system are described.

Method for reducing image quality artifacts in three-dimensional printing

A relief print master is created by printing a sequence of layers on top of each other by an inkjet printing system. The top layer corresponds with the binary halftoned image that is to be printed by the print master and the lower intermediate layers are supporting layers. The features in a lower supporting layer have an area that is larger than the corresponding features in a higher supporting layer. A circular spread function is applied on the features of a higher intermediate layer to increase the area of the features in a lower intermediate layer. By using a sequence of two non-circular spread functions, the circular spread function is approximated and the number of required calculations can be reduced.

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Kessel-lo, Belgium

Chris Gullentops