Abstract
A new rotary gravure-offset printing unit is constructed by paralleling a gravure plate cylinder, a blanket cylinder and a impression roller. A Muti-Unit Gravure-Offset Printing Press(MUGOP) equipped with a series of the 3 printing units is utilized for roll-to-roll fine printing. Its core technology is precise over-piling printing of fine patterns. The severe problems of 'slurring' and 'doubling' in typical offset printing are unavoidable, which can be eliminated by applying a soft pad-type blanket cylinder and the unique 'true rolling' technique. Nip pressure between the blanket cylinder and the plate cylinder is measured by the constant pressure control system which equipped with load cells attached on the cylinders' axes. The running circumference of the blanket cylinder is increased to reach the same circumference of the plate cylinder as the pressure increasing, so that the specifications of the blanket cylinder is determined by the relationships of its shore hardness, diameter and nip pressure. When a softer blanket is used, a blanket cylinder of smaller diameter could give higher nip pressure. Realization of the true rolling technique on the MUGOP makes multilayer printing possible as well as fine printing in printed electronics.