Abstract:
There is described a method of manufacturing intaglio printing plates for the production of security papers, wherein a laser beam (2) is used to engrave intaglio printing patterns (3, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3) directly into the surface of a laser-engravable metallic printing plate medium (1), wherein laser engraving of the metallic printing plate medium (1) is carried out layer by layer in several individual engraving steps performed one after the other in register so that the intaglio printing patterns (3, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3) are gradually engraved into the surface of the metallic printing plate medium (1) up to desired engraving depths, the surface of the engraved metallic printing plate medium (1) being cleaned from residues of the laser engraving process following and between each individual engraving step. The metallic printing plate medium (1) is made of or comprises an outer layer of nickel, steel, brass, zinc, chrome or alloys thereof. Furthermore, an angle of incidence of the laser beam (2) with respect to the surface of the metallic printing plate medium (1) remains constant throughout the engraving process.
Abstract:
The invention relates to a system for manufacturing an engraved plate for intaglio printing of sheets of security papers, said system comprising a computer and at least one engraving tool controlled by said computer in accordance with a programmed engraving process, wherein said computer is programmed to control the engraving tool in accordance with three-dimensional guiding pixel data (X, Y, Z) of a master depth-map of one said sheet to engrave a non engraved plate pixel by pixel, and wherein said master depth-map is generated on said computer on the basis of at least one original depth-map stored on said computer, said original depth-map consisting of a three-dimensional raster image of at least a part of one said security paper. The invention also relates to a system and method for generating said guiding data.
Abstract:
There is described an intaglio printing plate (1; 1*) for the production of banknotes and like printed securities, which intaglio printing plate comprises an engraved polymer layer (10) and wherein a surface of the engraved polymer layer is covered by one or more coatings (100; 200, 300) including an outer coating (100; 300) made of a wear-resistant material. The outer coating (100; 300) is preferably and advantageously formed by physical vapour deposition (PVD) of the wear-resistant material. Also described is a method of manufacturing the intaglio printing plate (1; 1*).
Abstract:
There is described a method of manufacturing intaglio printing plates for the production of security papers, wherein a laser beam (2) is used to engrave intaglio printing patterns (3, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3) directly into the surface of a laser-engravable metallic printing plate medium (1), wherein laser engraving of the metallic printing plate medium (1) is carried out layer by layer in several individual engraving steps performed one after the other in register so that the intaglio printing patterns (3, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3) are gradually engraved into the surface of the metallic printing plate medium (1) up to desired engraving depths, the surface of the engraved metallic printing plate medium (1) being cleaned from residues of the laser engraving process following and between each individual engraving step. The metallic printing plate medium (1) is made of or comprises an outer layer of nickel, steel, brass, zinc, chrome or alloys thereof. Furthermore, an angle of incidence of the laser beam (2) with respect to the surface of the metallic printing plate medium (1) remains constant throughout the engraving process.
Abstract:
There is described a method of checking producibility of a composite security design of a security document, in particular of a composite banknote design, on a line of production equipment, the composite security design being the product of a combination of multiple sets of design features that are to be provided on a substrate as a result of a plurality of successive production operations carried out by means of the line of production equipment. The method comprises the steps of (a) providing digital design data representative of the composite security design of the security document, (b) modelizing, in a computer environment, the line of production equipment by means of which the composite security design is intended to be produced, (c) performing a computer simulation of production results of the plurality of successive production operations on the basis of the digital design data and the modelized line of production equipment, and (d) evaluating the computer simulated production results and determining, on the basis of these computer simulated production results, whether the composite security design can be produced on the line of production equipment.