An apparatus for printing a beer barrel includes a workbench, and a hydraulic pushing device, a barrel outer-sided printing device, and a barrel inner-sided printing device installed on the workbench. The barrel inner-sided printing device has a turntable rotating with respect to the Z-axis and mounted on the barrel, an inner mold installed onto a circumferential surface of the turntable for printing the inner side of the barrel. The barrel outer-sided printing device has a connecting frame moving linearly along the Y-axis direction. The connecting frame has an outer mold for printing an outer side of the barrel, and the hydraulic pushing device controls the outer mold to move linearly along the X-axis direction. The outer and inner molds print a sidewall of the barrel. This invention prevents unnecessary waste of manufacturing cost and time caused by the scrap of semi-finished products whose previous printing process becomes useless.

Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture are disclosed relating to 3D-printed structures. An example 3D-printed structure includes a first conductive substrate, a second conductive substrate and a dielectric structure between the first conductive substrate and the second conductive substrate, the dielectric structure including a latticed structure having a first stiffness in a first direction and a second stiffness in a second direction different than the first direction.

There is described a combined printing press (10; 10*) for the production of security documents, in particular banknotes, comprising a screen printing group (2; 2*) and an intaglio printing group (3) adapted to process substrates in the form of individual sheets or successive portions of a continuous web. The screen printing group (2; 2*) is located upstream of the intaglio printing group (3) and comprises at least one screen printing unit (20; 20*) designed to print a pattern of optically-variable ink onto one side of the substrates, which optically-variable ink contains flakes that can be oriented by means of a magnetic field. The screen printing group (2; 2*) further comprises a magnetic unit (24; 24*) located downstream of the screen printing unit (20; 20*), which magnetic unit is designed to magnetically induce an optically-variable effect in the pattern of optically-variable ink applied by the screen printing unit (20; 20*). The screen printing group (2; 2*) further comprises at least one drying/curing unit (25, 28; 25*, 28*) designed to dry/cure the pattern of optically-variable ink in which the optically-variable effect has been induced by the magnetic unit (24), prior to transfer of the substrates to the intaglio printing group (3).

Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture are disclosed relating to 3D-printed structures. An example 3D-printed structure includes a first conductive substrate, a second conductive substrate and a dielectric structure between the first conductive substrate and the second conductive substrate, the dielectric structure including a latticed structure having a first stiffness in a first direction and a second stiffness in a second direction different than the first direction.

There is described a combined printing press (10; 10*) for the production of security documents, in particular banknotes, comprising a screen printing group (2; 2*) and an intaglio printing group (3) adapted to process substrates in the form of individual sheets or successive portions of a continuous web. The screen printing group (2; 2*) is located upstream of the intaglio printing group (3) and comprises at least one screen printing unit (20; 20*) designed to print a pattern of optically-variable ink onto one side of the substrates, which optically-variable ink contains flakes that can be oriented by means of a magnetic field. The screen printing group (2; 2*) further comprises a magnetic unit (24; 24*) located downstream of the screen printing unit (20; 20*), which magnetic unit is designed to magnetically induce an optically-variable effect in the pattern of optically-variable ink applied by the screen printing unit (20; 20*). The screen printing group (2; 2*) further comprises at least one drying/curing unit (25, 28; 25*, 28*) designed to dry/cure the pattern of optically-variable ink in which the optically-variable effect has been induced by the magnetic unit (24), prior to transfer of the substrates to the intaglio printing group (3).

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).

A method of forming an insulator film by flexographic printing is provided with which an insulator film is formed on a printing object by using ink as an insulator film material and a flexographic printing plate with halftone dots convexly formed on a convex portion thereof that defines a printing pattern. A halftone dot condition change region with a condition of the halftone dots varied such that an ink retention volume therein is smaller than that in other region on the convex portion is provided on a part of the convex portion corresponding to an edge of the printing pattern.

A system for printing PSA on a substrate includes a rigid support structure. The system also includes a plurality of dispensing heads disposed within the rigid support structure and configured to deposit PSA solution on the substrate in response to applied pressure. Each dispensing head of the plurality of dispensing heads includes a support structure and a wicking structure disposed within the support structure and configured to hold the PSA solution, wherein the wicking structure is configured to deposit the PSA solution in a desired shape on the substrate upon contact with the substrate.