Printing process using soft photopolymer plates
AssigneeBall Corporation
InventorChris Carreras
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention relates to using soft photopolymer plates in a printing process, and more specifically, to an apparatus and methods of using soft photopolymer materials to decorate an exterior surface of cylindrical metallic containers with high definition graphics and other indicia.
Claims20
A method of using a soft photopolymer plate in a printing process to decorate an exterior surface of a metallic container, comprising:
- providing a first image to be printed onto the exterior surface of the metallic container;
- transferring said first image to a predetermined portion of a face portion of the soft photopolymer plate;
- removably affixing the soft photopolymer plate with a transferred first image onto a blanket cylinder of a decorator;
- attaching printing plates to a plate cylinder of the decorator;
- applying ink from an inker to the printing plates;
- transferring the ink from the printing plates to at least a portion of the soft photopolymer plate and the transferred first image;
- and
- transferring the ink from the soft photopolymer plate to the exterior surface of the metallic container, wherein the metallic container is decorated with the first image.
An apparatus for forming a high-definition lithographic image on an exterior surface of a metallic container, comprising:
- at least one plate cylinder with an inker, the inker operable to transfer ink to predetermined portions of one or more printing plates attached to a circumference of the at least one plate cylinder;
- a blanket cylinder, the blanket cylinder having one or more soft photopolymer plates affixed to a circumference of the blanket cylinder, the blanket cylinder operable to move the soft photopolymer plates into rotational contact with a printing plate attached to the at least one plate cylinder, wherein ink is transferred from the predetermined portions of the printing plate to at least a portion of the soft photopolymer plates, and wherein the soft photopolymer plates each have an image formed thereon;
- and
- a support cylinder, the support cylinder including a plurality of stations adapted to receive metallic containers, the support cylinder operable to receive the metallic container from a conveyor and move the metallic container into contact with a soft photopolymer plate affixed to the blanket cylinder, wherein ink is transferred from the soft photopolymer plate to the metallic container to form the high-definition lithographic image on the exterior surface of the metallic container.
A soft photopolymer plate adapted to form a high-definition lithographic image on an exterior surface of a metallic container in a printing process, the soft photopolymer plate comprising:
- a plate body of a predetermined size and hardness, the plate body having a face portion and a back portion, wherein the back portion is adapted to be attached to a blanket cylinder of a decorator;
- an image formed on the face portion, wherein the image is formed by creating a film negative of the image, placing the film negative on a predetermined portion of the face portion, exposing the face portion and the film negative to a light source, removing the film negative from the face portion, and cleaning the soft photopolymer plate to remove unexposed soft material from the face portion.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.