Provided is a gravure printing method by which high printing density and excellent highlight suitability are obtained, even if a gravure plate having high resolution and reduced thickness is used. The gravure printing method comprises: using an aqueous ink having a Zahn cup #3 viscosity at 20 C. of 11.0 seconds or more and 20.0 seconds or less, and having an evaporation rate of 30 mass % or less in a drying test, the drying test involving drying 1 g of the ink at a temperature of 40 C. and an air flow of 1,400 L/min for 30 minutes; and transferring 1 ml/m.sup.2 or more and 7 ml/m.sup.2 or less of the ink onto a printing medium.

An optical fiber ribbon manufacturing device includes: fiber-supplying units that respectively supply optical fibers; a printing device that prints a mark on each of the optical fibers; and a ribbon-forming device that manufactures an optical fiber ribbon by connecting the optical fibers on each of which the mark has been printed. The printing device includes: a supplying roller that supplies an ink; and a printing roller that includes a printing pattern on a surface thereof and that prints the mark on each of the optical fibers that are lined up in a width direction of the optical fibers by causing the ink supplied from the supplying roller to adhere to the printing pattern and transferring the ink onto the optical fibers. Projections and depressions are disposed on a surface of the supplying roller. The surface of the supplying roller opposes the printing pattern of the printing roller.

A processing machine, in particular a printing machine, includes a unit having a storage container. The storage container comprises a roller and a base which delimit the storage chamber for a medium. One or more sliders are arranged along the edge of the base to form, together with the roller, an outlet gap for the medium. In the region of the one or more sliders, pneumatic means are provided to seal the supply chamber with respect to the medium. A method for operating such a processing machine is also disclosed.

The present invention concerns an inking for a flexographic or a rotogravure press. The inking system uses a very small amount of ink coupled with an ink source made of two tanks with two different inks. Thanks to feedback given by measuring the output directly on the printed support, the system mixes the ink in the optimal proportions to ensure an optimal printing quality at any time. It can compensate any effect due to environmental changes like the humidity or the temperature. This system, coupled with a seven colours press allows for the replacement of spot colours in most cases thereby saving times and costs.

The invention discloses an inking system for a rotary printing machine, like a flexographic or rotogravure press. The inking system uses the nip area between two cylinders of the machine as the sole source for inking the printing cylinder. This results in an inking system with very little ink, thereby gaining in reaction time and ink waste.

A roll transfer coating method for coating a coating material, which has been supplied from a coater head to a pattern surface of an intaglio roll, to a coating substrate. When the supply of the coating material is made, the supply is blocked off by a contact of the intaglio roll with the bottom surface of the coater head at a position facing the pattern surface of the intaglio roll, so that the coating material in a liquid state is supplied only into a recessed portion of the intaglio roll. Upon transferring the coating material onto the coating substrate which is being transported by a high-speed coating line, the temperature of the coating material on the pattern surface of the intaglio roll is maintained at or below a first form-changing temperature, so that the coating material in a gelled state is coated to the coating substrate.

In a digital inking system having an anilox member that carries a patterned metered layer of ink to a digital imaging member, and a doctor blade that removes excess ink from the surface of the anilox member resulting in the patterned metered layer, an overfill form roller in rolling contact with the anilox member adds an overcoat layer of ink on the patterned metered layer for transfer of both layers of ink to the digital imaging member. The overcoat layer of ink uniformly covers all regions of the anilox member and the mattered metered layer of ink, including lands of the anilox cell walls to make the combined layers of ink pattern-free.

An inking system for inking an intaglio printing cylinder of an intaglio printing press is designed to perform a selective transfer of ink to one or more intaglio printing mediums by way of a selective inking cylinder provided in at least one device. The selective inking cylinder carries a selective inking plate that receives ink supplied by an associated inking unit. The selective inking plate comprises a coating that is selectively structured to exhibit ink-repellent portions and perform selective transfer of ink at locations corresponding to engraved areas of the one or more intaglio printing mediums that are to be inked with the ink supplied by the associated inking unit. The selective transfer of ink is performed indirectly from the selective inking cylinder to the one or more intaglio printing mediums via an ink collecting cylinder and/or via a chablon cylinder carrying a chablon plate.

There are described various embodiments of an inking system for inking an intaglio printing cylinder (8) of an intaglio printing press (1.sup.I; 1.sup.II; 1.sup.III ; 1.sup.IV; 1.sup.V), which intaglio printing cylinder carries one or more intaglio printing mediums (8a, 8b, 8c) that are inked by means of a plurality of inking devices (95; 95*; 95**; 905; 905*). The inking system is designed to perform a selective transfer of ink to the one or more intaglio printing mediums by means of a selective inking cylinder (98; 98*; 98**) provided in at least one of the inking devices, preferably in each of the inking devices. More precisely, the selective inking cylinder carries a selective inking plate (90a) receiving ink supplied by an associated inking unit (96/96a/97; 96*/96a*/97*; 96**/96a**; 906/906a/910/915; 906*/906a*/910*/915*), which selective inking plate comprises a coating (900) that is selectively structured to exhibit ink-repellent portions (910) and perform selective transfer of ink at locations (920) corresponding to engraved areas of the one or more intaglio printing mediums that are to be inked with the ink supplied by the associated inking unit. The selective transfer of ink to the one or more intaglio printing mediums is performed indirectly from the selective inking cylinder to the one or more intaglio printing mediums via an ink collecting cylinder (9) and/or via a chablon cylinder (99*; 99**) carrying a chablon plate (99a) comprising relief portions (99A) corresponding to engraved areas of the one or more intaglio printing mediums that are to be inked with the ink supplied by the associated inking unit.

A pad printing machine configured to print an object in at least two stages includes at least one printing pad to print the object and at least two printing plate zones within each of which a printing plate may be moved into the desired position. The pad printing machine further includes an image recorder configured to generate an image of at least a partial area of at least one printing plate zone, and a comparator configured to compare the image generated by the recorder with reference data.