# US 2020/0399483 A1 · Gravure printing method > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2020/0399483 A1 - Document ID: US20200399483A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 16/957,262 - Filed: 2018-12-27 - Published: 2020-12-24 - Earliest claimed: 2017-12-27 - Assignees: Kao Corporation - Applicants: Kao Corporation - Inventors: Ryuma MIZUSHIMA; Kazuki WATANABE; Yuki OZAKI; Takuto MATSUZONO; Yasufumi UEDA - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20200399483A1 ## CPC - C09D 11/037: characterised by the pigment - C09D 11/10: based on artificial resins - B41F 9/10: Doctors, scrapers, or like devices - B41F 9/1072: {Blade construction} - B41M 1/10: Intaglio printing {; Gravure printing} - C09D 11/033: characterised by the solvent - B41M 1/30: on organic plastics, horn or similar materials {(recording sheets having a coating to improve ink, dye or pigment receptivity B41M5/50; marking or recording on plastic by irradiation with electromagnetic beams, e.g. laser, B41M5/267)} - B41M 1/305: {using mechanical, physical or chemical means, e.g. corona discharge, etching or organic solvents, to improve ink retention} - C09D: COATING COMPOSITIONS, e.g. PAINTS, VARNISHES OR LACQUERS; FILLING PASTES; CHEMICAL PAINT OR INK REMOVERS; INKS; CORRECTING FLUIDS; WOODSTAINS; PASTES OR SOLIDS FOR COLOURING OR PRINTING; USE OF MATERIALS THEREFOR (cosmetics A61K; processes for applying liquids or other fluent materials to surfaces, in general, B05D; staining wood B27K5/02; glazes or vitreous enamels C03C; natural resins, French polish, drying-oils, driers, turpentine, per se, C09F; polishing compositions other than French polish, ski waxes C09G; adhesives or use of materials as adhesives C09J; materials for sealing or packing joints or covers C09K3/10; materials for stopping leaks C09K3/12; processes for the electrolytic or electrophoretic production of coatings C25D) - B41F: PRINTING MACHINES OR PRESSES (manifolding devices or office printing machines B41L) - B41M: PRINTING, DUPLICATING, MARKING, OR COPYING PROCESSES; COLOUR PRINTING, (correction of typographical errors B41J; processes for applying transfer pictures or the like B44C1/16; fluid media for correction of typographical errors by coating C09D10/00; printing textiles D06P) ## Abstract The present invention relates to a gravure printing method of conducting printing on a printing substrate with an aqueous ink reserved in an ink pan using a furnisher roll, a gravure roll, a doctor blade and a nip roll, in which the aqueous ink contains a pigment, a polymer, an organic solvent, a surfactant and water; a content of organic solvent components of the organic solvent which have a boiling point of 100 to 260° C. in the aqueous ink is not less than 0.3% by mass and not more than 12% by mass; an average particle size of particles of the pigment is from 120 to 350 nm; and an arithmetic mean roughness (Ra) of a plate surface of the gravure roll is from 10 to 140 nm. According to the present invention, it is possible to improve transfer properties of the ink to the printing substrate such as a resin film, etc., and suppress fogging on the plate surface. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A gravure printing method of conducting printing on a printing substrate with an aqueous ink reserved in an ink pan using a furnisher roll, a gravure roll, a doctor blade and a nip roll, in which: the aqueous ink comprises a pigment, a polymer, an organic solvent, a surfactant and water; a content of organic solvent components of the organic solvent which have a boiling point of not lower than 100° C. and not higher than 260° C. in the aqueous ink is not less than 0.3% by mass and not more than 12% by mass; an average particle size of particles of the pigment is not less than 120 nm and not more than 350 nm; in a particle size distribution of particles in the aqueous ink, a frequency of the particles having a particle size of not more than 130 nm is not more than 40% by volume; and an arithmetic mean roughness (Ra) of a plate surface of the gravure roll is not less than 10 nm and not more than 140 nm. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The gravure printing method according to claim 1, wherein a maximum height (Rz) of the plate surface of the gravure roll is not less than 100 nm and not more than 250 nm. ### Claim 3 (canceled) ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The gravure printing method according to claim 1, wherein in a particle size distribution of the particles in the aqueous ink, a polydispersity index of the particles in the aqueous ink is not less than 0.13 and not more than 0.3. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The gravure printing method according to claim 1, wherein a content of the surfactant in the aqueous ink is not less than 0.1% by mass and not more than 10% by mass. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The gravure printing method according to claim 1, wherein a content of the organic solvent components having a boiling point of lower than 100° C. in the aqueous ink is not more than 5% by mass. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The gravure printing method according to claim 1, wherein an SP value of the organic solvent is not less than 8 and not more than 11. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The gravure printing method according to claim 1, wherein the printing substrate is a resin film. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The gravure printing method according to claim 8, wherein a thickness of the resin film is not less than 10 μm and not more than 100 μm. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The gravure printing method according to claim 1, wherein: a content of the organic solvent components having a boiling point of lower than 100° C. in the aqueous ink is not more than 5% by mass; a static surface tension of the aqueous ink as measured at 20° C. is not less than 23 mN/m and not more than 30 mN/m; a rubber hardness of the furnisher roll is not less than 55° and not more than 85°; a contact pressure under which the furnisher roll is contacted with the gravure roll is not less than 0.08 MPa and not more than 0.4 MPa; and a rotating speed of the furnisher roll is not less than 4% and not more than 28% on the basis of 100% of a rotating speed of the gravure roll. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The gravure printing method according to claim 1, wherein the furnisher roll is formed of at least one material selected from the group consisting of an acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber, an ethylene-propylene rubber and a butyl rubber. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The gravure printing method according to claim 1, wherein a surface of the doctor blade has a Vickers hardness of not less than 650 Hv and not more than 1000 Hv, and a thickness of an edge portion of the doctor blade is not less than 50 μm and not more than 350 μm; and a contact pressure between the doctor blade and the gravure roll is not less than 0.04 MPa and not more than 0.35 MPa. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The gravure printing method according to claim 1, wherein a plated layer formed on the doctor blade is a nickel plated layer, a nickel/ceramic composite plated layer, a ceramic plated layer, or a ceramic/fluororesin composite plated layer. ### Claim 14 (depends on 1) The gravure printing method according to claim 1, wherein: a dispersing medium comprising the organic solvent and water has an average boiling point of not lower than 100° C. and not higher than 122° C.; and after scraping off the aqueous ink on the plate surface of the gravure roll by the doctor blade, a hot air having a temperature of not lower than 15° C. and not higher than 45° C. and a relative humidity of not less than 0% and not more than 50% is blown against the plate surface of the gravure roll from air nozzles disposed at the intervals of not less than 30 mm and not more than 250 mm at an air quantity of not less than 0.05 L/min and not more than 15 L/min. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The gravure printing method according to claim 14, wherein a velocity of the hot air blown is not less than 0.2 m/s and not more than 2.0 m/s. ### Claim 16 (depends on 14) The gravure printing method according to claim 14, wherein a pore diameter of the respective air nozzles is not less than 2 mmϕ and not more than 12 mmϕ. ### Claim 17 (depends on 14) The gravure printing method according to claim 14, wherein the plate surface of the gravure roll is subjected to air suction after blowing the hot air thereagainst. ### Claim 18 (depends on 1) The gravure printing method according to claim 1, wherein a rubber hardness of the nip roll is not less than 55° and not more than 85°, and a contact pressure under which the nip roll is contacted with the printing substrate is not less than 0.04 MPa and not more than 0.35 MPa. ### Claim 19 (depends on 1) The gravure printing method according to claim 1, wherein the nip roll is formed of at least one material selected from the group consisting of an acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber, an ethylene-propylene rubber and a butyl rubber.