Methods and apparatuses for engraving gravure cylinders
AssigneeR.R. Donnelley & Sons Company
InventorA. John Michaelis
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention provides several methods for engraving gravure cylinders much more rapidly and at a higher resolution while, at the same time, reducing the engraving cost. The present invention employs a resist that is deposited onto the surface of a gravure cylinder. The resist is capable of being physically and/or chemically changed in response to being exposed to a form of actinic energy, such as a laser beam. The exposed areas of resist allow a material, such as chromium, to be plated onto the surface of the gravure cylinder to form walls that define cells therebetween. In use, the cells contain ink for printing the desired patterns of text and/or images.
Claims22
A method for engraving a gravure cylinder, comprising:
- depositing a layer of resist onto the gravure cylinder;
- forming a pattern of first areas and second areas in said layer of resist;
- and
- depositing a sufficient amount of at least one wall-forming material selected from the group consisting of metal and metal-alloy onto exposed areas of said gravure cylinder to form walls capable of holding a sufficient amount of ink to form an image on a media.
A method for engraving a gravure cylinder, comprising:
- depositing a layer of a wall-forming material selected from the group consisting of metal and metal-alloy onto said gravure cylinder;
- depositing a layer of resist onto said layer of wall-forming material;
- forming a pattern of first areas and second areas in said layer of resist;
- removing said first areas to produce exposed areas of said layer of said wall-forming material;
- removing a portion of said layer of said wall-forming material adjacent to said exposed areas until an underlying layer of the gravure cylinder is exposed, said underlying layer acting as an etch-stop, the removed portion exposing parts of said gravure cylinder roughly corresponding to said exposed areas.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.