A multi-material fluidic printing system including pressure source; regulator(s) having first end(s) and second end(s), first end(s) fluidically coupled to pressure source; flow selector(s) having third end(s) and fourth ends; cartridges capable of holding fluid materials, cartridge having fifth end and sixth end, fifth end fluidically coupled to corresponding fourth end; processor(s) configured to: control pressure source to generate first pressure; control regulator(s) to regulate first pressure to obtain second pressure at second end(s); control flow selector(s) to selectively distribute second pressure received at third end(s) to obtain third pressure(s) on fourth end(s), so that fluid material(s) held in cartridge(s) corresponding to fourth end(s) is/are dispensed from sixth end(s) of cartridge(s) onto fluidic device.

There are several coatings and a method for surface finishing, in particular for producing durable and stable surface coatings using ink jet printing methods. The coating comprises a first layer, which can be produced from one or more ink jet-capable inks, and a second layer, which can be produced from one or more top coats, wherein at least the first layer is applied using an ink jet print head.

A multi-material fluidic printing system including pressure source; regulator(s) having first end(s) and second end(s), first end(s) fluidically coupled to pressure source; flow selector(s) having third end(s) and fourth ends; cartridges capable of holding fluid materials, cartridge having fifth end and sixth end, fifth end fluidically coupled to corresponding fourth end; processor(s) configured to: control pressure source to generate first pressure; control regulator(s) to regulate first pressure to obtain second pressure at second end(s); control flow selector(s) to selectively distribute second pressure received at third end(s) to obtain third pressure(s) on fourth end(s), so that fluid material(s) held in cartridge(s) corresponding to fourth end(s) is/are dispensed from sixth end(s) of cartridge(s) onto fluidic device.

There is described a combined printing press (10) for the production of security documents, in particular banknotes, comprising a screen printing group (3) and a numbering group (4) adapted to process printed substrates in the form of individual sheets or successive portions of a continuous web. The screen printing group (3) is located upstream of the numbering group (4) and comprises at least one screen printing unit (32-33) designed to print a pattern of optically-variable ink, which optically-variable ink contains flakes that can be oriented by means of a magnetic field. The screen printing group further comprises a magnetic unit (36) located downstream of the screen printing unit (32-33), which magnetic unit (36) is designed to magnetically induce an optically-variable effect in the pattern of optically-variable ink applied by the screen printing unit (32-33) prior to drying/curing of the optically-variable ink. The screen printing group (3) further comprises at least one drying/curing unit (37) designed to dry/cure the pattern of optically-variable ink in which the optically-variable effect has been induced by the magnetic unit (36), prior to transfer of the printed substrates to the numbering group (4).

An article includes a substrate and a graphical component forming an image and an optical component which includes magnetic pigment flakes aligned so as to form a frame pattern which surrounds the image. When light is incident upon the pigment flakes from a light source, light reflected from the frame pattern forms a dynamic frame which surrounds the image and appears to move as the substrate is tilted with respect to the light source. The image appears to be stationary when the dynamic frame appears to move.

According to examples, an article may include a base layer that extends along a first dimension and a second dimension, in which the second dimension is orthogonal to the first dimension. The article may also include reflective ribbons provided on an upper surface of the base layer, in which the reflective ribbons positioned along a common plane extending in the second dimension have dihedral angles that change as a function of distance across the common plane.

According to examples, a substrate may be moved through a magnetic field, in which the substrate includes a fluid carrier containing magnetically-orientable flakes. The magnetic field may influence the magnetically-orientable flakes to be respectively oriented in one of multiple orientations. In addition, during movement of the substrate through the magnetic field, radiation may be applied onto a plurality of selected portions of the fluid carrier through at least one opening in a mask to cure the fluid carrier at the plurality of selected portions and fix the magnetically-orientable flakes in the plurality of selected portions at the respective angular orientations as influenced by the magnetic field.

There are provided an ink jet ink composition including water; and particles including a chain polymer including Unit (1), Unit (2), and a hydrophilic group and a polymerizable group, and an image forming method. Cy.sup.1 and Cy.sup.2 each independently represent a divalent organic group having 3 to 30 carbon atoms including a ring, Y.sup.1 and Y.sup.2 each independently represent an oxygen atom, a sulfur atom, or a NR.sup.1 group, R.sup.1 represents a hydrogen atom or a hydrocarbon group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms, *1 in Unit (1) represents a bonding position to a structural unit other than Unit (1), and *2 in Unit (2) represents a bonding position to a structural unit other than Unit (2).

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According to an aspect of the present invention, a printing apparatus includes a plasma treatment unit configured to acidify at least a surface of a print medium by applying plasma treatment to the surface of the print medium, a first primer applying unit configured to apply primer treatment by applying treatment liquid to the surface of the print medium having undergone the plasma treatment, and a first recording unit configured to perform recording by inkjet recording on the print medium having undergone the primer treatment.

The invention relates to the field of the protection of security documents such as for example banknotes and identity documents against counterfeit and illegal reproduction. In particular, the present invention provides processes for optical effect layers (OEL) exhibiting one or more indicia using a magnetic assembly comprising i) a soft magnetic plate (x31) comprising a) one or more voids (V) and b) one or more dipole magnets (x32-a), wherein the one or more dipole magnets (x32-a) are disposed within the one or more voids (V) and/or are facing said one or more voids (V), and/or one or more pairs of two dipole magnets (x32-b), wherein the dipole magnets (x32-b) of the one or more pairs are disposed below the soft magnetic plate (x31) and are spaced apart from the one or more voids (V).