Printing sheet making and printing apparatus

Abstract

In a printing sheet making and printing system applicable to for example an electronic gravure printing system a printing sheet is sheathed in a printing sheet jacket to prevent the adhesion of dust and the occurrence of scratching on its surface and the feeding and ejection of the printing sheet to and from the cylinders of a printing sheet making machine and a printing machine is completely automated so that an operator can run the system without ever directly touching the printing sheet. A printing sheet, a printing sheet jacket, and devices for pulling the jacket and the printing sheet into a printing sheet making machine or a printing machine and removing the printing sheet from the jacket and winding and clamping it onto a cylinder for engraving of the printing sheet or printing with it and returning it to the jacket and ejecting the jacket and the printing sheet inside it from the machine after the engraving or printing all in a completely automated fashion are disclosed. The interchangeability of the printing sheets with respect to the cylinders is extremely good and consequently when image data such as a photograph is engraved color by color on a plurality of printing sheets and multicolor overprinting is carried out color non-alignment, color blurring, image distortion and scumming and the like do not readily occur and high image quality, fine printing can be performed. The invention facilitates development toward a completely automated electronic gravure printing system which can be run unmanned.