WO1997016313A1

WO1997016313A1 - Printing process for producing originals

Info

Publication number: WO1997016313A1
Application number: PCT/EP1996/004634
Authority: WO
Inventors: Rainer Röschke
Original assignee: Roeschke Rainer
Priority date: 1995-10-31
Filing date: 1996-10-25
Publication date: 1997-05-09
Also published as: DE19540539C1; AU5274598A

Abstract

The invention concerns a printing process for producing originals. To this end, the objects to be printed are allocated system codes via a code-allocation device, the allocation being retained for the entirety of the printing operation. The system code contains information about the maximum possible number of printing operations and the printing colours. Objects having identical system code components corresponding to a given printing motif and a given printing colour are extracted from an initial stack by an extraction device, are printed, some originals are extracted from the process and the remainder of the printed objects are further processed in a further corresponding process step. All possible originals required are obtained simply and reliably by repeating these process steps.

Description

description

Printing process for the production of unique items

The invention relates to a printing method for the production of unique items according to the preamble of claim 1.

The creation of a unique piece, for example in the manner of a painting or a graphic, is achieved in that an artist or designer creates a unique piece by hand. This is obviously complex, so that such unique items have a high price and are only available in small quantities. Larger numbers of unique pieces, for example for greeting cards, representations on T-shirts, etc., are not possible with such processes at affordable prices and quantities relevant to the market.

It is therefore already known to produce one-offs in large numbers more cheaply by printing processes. Different printing plates are used for this purpose, which are printed with different printing colors one after the other and one above the other on the same paper base. Finished prints are referred to here as unique pieces, which have one or more passages with the available printing plates, each with different colors, in such a way that each print obtained differs from the other in the motif and / or in the color combination . For example, four printing plates, with which a (complete) motif can be built up by four overprints, and four printing colors and a paper base color are available. A one-off is then obtained by just printing with a printing plate and a certain printing ink. A next unique item is obtained by the same print with a different printing ink, etc. Further unique items result from combinations of several successive prints with the available printing plates in connection with the available printing inks and the base color of the printing paper. In the present case (4 printing plates, 4 printing inks + paper base color) there are 624 unique pieces (the statistical combination element, in which no printing plate and no printing ink is used, does not represent a practically usable unique piece).

It has hitherto been known to carry out the printing process for such unique items in such a way that a certain number of printing papers, in the specific example given, about 300 printing papers are prepared, the majority of which are printed with a first printing plate and a first printing ink. Then, for a certain, individually estimated proportion of these prints, another print is carried out with a further printing plate, possibly with a further printing ink.

From this point in time at the latest, the artist or designer present decides on which print which further printing with which printing plate and printing ink is to take place, so that an optically good overall impression is created. This is associated with a considerable amount of time for each artistic decision as well as a conversion of the printing device to the different printing plates and different printing inks. In addition, the respective printed papers have to be designed for an assessment, if only to ensure that two identical prints have not been produced which are then no longer unique. This layout for the assessment requires a considerable amount of space, especially in the case of large-format art prints.

This previously known printing process for the production of unique items is therefore associated with a considerable outlay, which requires an artistic decision before many printing processes, whereby in the case of multiple printing plates and multiple printing inks, due to the large number of possible unique items, usually only a small part of the possibilities is realized: the different, unique representations are practically more manageable, so that on the one hand optically good print combinations may not be carried out and on the other hand there is a risk that the same print combinations will be printed out and therefore no one-of-a-kind.

In contrast, the object of the invention is to propose a printing process for the production of unique items, in which all possible combinations and thus unique items depending on printing runs and printing inks are obtained safely and automatically without a decision by the human mind without an artistic decision .

This object is achieved with the features of claim 1.

According to claim 1, a printing device for successive printing processes with different printing motifs and different printing inks on the same printing objects is used in the printing method according to the invention for producing unique items. The printing device has a printing object provision device, a code assignment device and a sorting device.

With the code assignment device, each printing object is assigned a system code with a number of digits corresponding to the printing were with different printing motifs, or according to the number of different printing plates. This system code corresponds to one line from the following matrix arrangement:

Ao Do V ^ o I o

Ao B ₀

Sum of rows:

(x + l) ^γ

with Y = number of printing passes with different printing motifs or with different printing plates, x = number of printing colors, 0 = basic color of the printing object.

At least in the printed object provision device

Printed objects provided. This number corresponds exactly to the number of possible unique items, where (x + 1) represents the number of printing colors (x) plus the basic color of the printed object. A piece of a printed object is also to be subtracted from the purely statistical formula, since a printed object is only recorded statistically with the basic color, ie without any print, but does not represent a realistically usable printed copy.

The assignment of a specific system code to a print object is retained during the entire printing process. For example, each printing paper in a paper stack thus receives an assigned system code, by means of which each printing paper can be identified independently at any location during the entire printing process.

In a first process step, all sorting objects with a code component (A,) for the first print motif or the first printing plate and for a first printing ink are sorted out of all print objects by the sorting device and in a second process step corresponding to the code component (A = Printing plate, 1 = printing ink) printed. In a third method step, copies that represent unique specimens are sorted out from the printed printed objects and collected in a unique specimen stack. After the first printing process, a printing object with the system code (A, B ₀ C ₀ ... Y ₀ ) is obviously already unique. The unique items are collected in a separate batch of unique items by the sorting device and the further pre-sorting for subsequent ones Imprints removed.

In a further procedural specification, the sorting device then sorts out all printing originals with a code component (A ₂ ) for the first printing motif or the first printing plate and for a second printing ink from the remaining printing objects and after a color change be printed accordingly. Subsequently, unique items (A ₂ B ₀ Co ... Y ₀ ) are also sorted out here.

In further process steps, prints are now carried out analogously with the first printing motif or the first printing plate and the other available printing inks. When all possible printing inks have been processed, there is a change of the printing motif or a change to the second printing plate, whereupon all printing operations are also carried out on pre-sorted printing objects with the system code component (BJ and the associated printing ink code).

At the same time, after each printing process with a certain printing plate and / or certain printing inks or at the end of the printing process, finished unique pieces are sorted out. This can be easily derived automatically from the system code: all printing processes that have already been processed (corresponding to certain system code components) are recorded and saved (system code components with a coding corresponding to the basic color of the print object are saved as processed from the start). If, with a current printing process, all system code components are stored as processed, the current printing process is the last to produce a one-off and the corresponding printed copy can be sorted out into the unique stack.

Of course, instead of sorting out a batch of unique items, it is possible to let the unique items run in the sorting process and not to call them up during a pre-sorting for a next printing operation or to slip past them unnoticed during the printing operation. However, early sorting out of the unique items advantageously leads to an early reduction in the number of printed objects in the sorting device, as a result of which the sorting process is simplified and accelerated. With this continuous printing process, which runs automatically with a code assignment and sorting, it is achieved that with a predetermined number of printing motifs or printing plates and a predetermined number of different printing inks, on the one hand, all possible combinations for unique pieces are reliably obtained and, on the other hand, a printing of several identical copies are excluded.

Since the printing process runs automatically without a weighing human decision, the effort is manageable even with a larger number of printing motifs and printing inks and is relatively low. This opens up industrial production of unique items with large numbers by using a larger number of printing motifs and printing inks. When using 7 printing motifs and 7 printing inks, for example, there are already over 2 million guaranteed unique pieces. On an industrial scale, instead of boring collections with identical motifs, greeting cards, art prints, clothing prints and T-shirt prints are possible as guaranteed unique pieces in large numbers. The customer can then choose which of these offered one-of-a-kind items is particularly popular when buying on site from a plurality of offered unique pieces. In the case of art prints, an artist can also sort out particularly appealing specimens from the complete set of unique specimens and possibly only offer them for sale. However, these individual decisions are made only after the printing process according to the invention has been completed.

According to claim 2, the code assignment device contains an electronic memory, the code assignment being carried out with this memory. The memory is connected to the sorting device in such a way that when the printing objects are rearranged, the code storage in the memory is rearranged accordingly and, in each process step, the respective location of a load is stored in the memory. object is recognizable and the sorting process is controlled for a further printing process.

The system code is assigned here purely electronically with a corresponding control of the sorting device and the electronic memory. The starting position expediently corresponds to that of a stack of printing objects, with one line of the system code matrix according to claim 1 being assigned to each object in succession.

Alternatively, according to claim 3, the respective system code can be objectively applied as a line of the system code matrix according to claim 1 on each printing object. As a result, the printing object is identified with its assigned system code during the entire printing process and can be determined accordingly for each sorting and printing process. The system code can be attached directly, for example by printing or using an appropriately printed sticker. This can be carried out automatically, in particular in the case of large quantities. It is also possible for the assistant to attach the system code manually.

Of course, the system code of letters and numbers given as an example can be replaced by other corresponding symbols.

According to claim 4, the sorting device preferably has at least one sorting track for sorting the printed objects. The sorting device can be controlled automatically via the code assignment device and its memory content. The sorting device can also form intermediate stacks for the pre-sorting for individual printing processes with certain printing motifs and printing inks, provided this is expedient and possible by the sorting device. Such a fully automatic Processing of the printing processes is particularly advantageous in the case of a large number of unique items, the printing objects themselves not having to be objectively identified with the system code.

Alternatively, in the event that the printing objects themselves are identified by the system code, a reading device, for example in the manner of a bar code reading device, can be used according to claim 5, via which the sorting device is then controlled fully automatically in accordance with the system code detected in each case can be. Smaller numbers of unique items can also be sorted manually by an assistant.

The printing method according to the invention for producing unique items can be used for a large number of different printing objects. According to claim 6, the printing objects or the surfaces to be printed thereon are made of paper, textile material, metal or plastic. It is essential that the printed objects can be sorted easily and easily. The method according to the invention can be used particularly advantageously for printing cards, individual business letters, art prints and in the textile industry for printing on fabrics, in particular items of clothing.

The invention is further explained on the basis of a schematic drawing.

The single figure shows a flowchart of the printing process for producing one-offs, for example as art prints on paper with

(for the sake of clarity only) three different printing plates, which are labeled A, B, C.

A stack 1 with paper sheets in the number of possible unique items is provided in a preparation and sorting device. In series a system code corresponding to a line from matrix 2 is assigned to each of these following the paper sheets.

With the sorting device, all paper sheets which have a code component A- in the assigned system code are now selected in preparation for the first print. These paper sheets are provided in a stack 4 in accordance with the arrow 3, in an order corresponding to the matrix 5.

The code component A requires printing with the first printing plate A and the first printing ink in accordance with the code component (1). This pressure is carried out on the printing device in accordance with block 6.

The printed paper sheets are fed back to the main stack according to arrow 7, so that the stack 8 results, whereby according to arrow 9 unique items, here a paper sheet with the system code A, B ₀ C _0, are sorted out into a unique stack 10.

The printing process is now continued in a next identical step, in which all paper sheets with an assigned code with a code component A ₂ corresponding to the matrix 12 are selected from the stack 8 in a new stack 11. According to block 13, printing is now carried out using printing plate A and printing ink (2). Subsequently, the unicum stack 10 is fed a further unique specimen according to the code A ₂ B ₀ C ₀ and the remaining printed paper sheets are added to the main stack again, so that a new stack 14 results.

All possible printing processes are now processed according to the same scheme, as a result of which the unique stack 10 grows and the stack to be processed in each case becomes smaller until the last unique specimen is printed.

Claims

Expectations

1. printing process for the production of unique pieces,

with a printing device for successive printing processes with different printing motifs and different printing colors on the same printing objects,

marked by,

a print object provision device,

a code allocation device,

a sorting device, wherein

A system code is assigned to each printing object with the code assignment device with a number of digits corresponding to the printing runs with different printing motifs, or according to the number of different printing plates, and this system code corresponds in each case to one line from the following matrix arrangement, 12

Ao B ₀ C ₀ Yo

Ao Bo Co

Sum of rows:

(x + IV

with Y = number of printing passes with different

Print motifs, or with different printing plates, x = number of printing colors 0 = basic color of the printing object,

at least in the printed object provision device

Printing objects are made available in accordance with the possible number of unique items and the assignment of a specific system code to a printing object is retained during the entire printing process, in a first method step, the sorting device sorts out all printed objects with a code component (Aj for the first printed motif or the first printing plate and for a first printing ink from all printed objects,

the corresponding printing process is carried out in a second method step in the printing device with these sorted printing objects,

In a third process step, copies of the unique items are made from the printed print objects, here after the second process step with the system code (A, B ₀ C ₀ ... Y ₀ ), sorted out by the sorting device and removed from the printing process will be collected, as well as in a unique batch,

in a further method step, the sorting device sorts out all printing originals with a code component (A ₂ ) for the first printing motif or the first printing plate and for a second printing ink from the remaining printing objects,

in a further process step in the printing device with these printing templates, after a color change, the corresponding printing process with subsequent sorting out of unique items takes place, and

in further process steps, corresponding prints with the first

Print motif, or the first printing plate and all printing inks (1 ... x) are carried out,

in further procedural documents after a change to the next print motifs (B, C ... Y), these are each processed with all the printing inks by the printing device using the sorting Direction provided printing templates with assigned system code and with each subsequent sorting out of unique items, so that after completion of the process all printing templates with assigned system code with the exception of the code (Ao B ₀ C _o ... Y ₀ ) are printed as unique items and are collected in unique batches.

2. Printing method according to claim 1, characterized in that

that the code assignment device contains an electronic memory and the code assignment is carried out in this memory,

that the memory is interconnected with the sorting device in such a way that when the printing objects are rearranged, the code storage in the memory is re-sorted accordingly, and thus the respective content of the memory content in each process step

Position of a printed object specified and the sorting process is controlled for a print run.

3. Printing method according to claim 1, characterized in that the code assignment device contains a code recording with which the respective system code is applied directly or via a sticker to each printed object.

4. Printing method according to claim 2, characterized in that the sorting device at least one sorting track for sorting the

Has printed objects and the sorting device is controlled via the code assignment device and its memory content.

5. Printing method according to claim 3, characterized in

that the sorting device has at least one sorting track for sorting the printing originals and a reading unit for detecting the system codes applied to the printing objects, and

that the sorting device is controlled according to the detected system codes.

. Printing method according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized gekenn¬ characterized in that the printing objects are made of paper, textile, metal or plastic.