Intaglio printing plate coating apparatus

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates generally to a device for coating gravure printing plates that coat gravure printing plates such as those used for printing documents protected from counterfeiting. More specifically, the present invention relates to a device for coating intaglio printing plates on which gravure printing plate coating is carried out by physically vapor deposition (PVD) of an abrasion-resistant coating material such as chromium, but not limited thereto.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] In the field of security printing, anti-counterfeit documents, for example, banknotes, there is usually an operation of so-called intaglio printing using intaglio plates (or similar printing media) having complicated curved patterns engraved in the surface of intaglio plates (see, for example, international publications with numbers WO 03/103962 A1, WO 2007/119203 A1 and WO 2009/138901 A1).

[0003] At present, intaglio printing plates for producing anti-counterfeit documents are typically produced by laser engraving a precursor polymer plate (see, for example, WO 03/103962 A1) or by direct laser engraving of a metallic plate (see, for example, WO 03/103962 A1 and WO 2009/138901 A1). Alternative solutions include direct mechanical engraving of a metallic plate using rotating chisels or similar tools, or pickling of a metallic plate that was first provided with a suitable etch-resistant mask by photolithographic techniques. In all cases, before being used on a gravure printing press, intaglio plates are first provided with an abrasion resistant coating, usually

[0004] So far, intaglio printing plates are commonly chromed using electroplating (or "chroming"), i.e. by subjecting a uncoated printing plate to an intaglio galvanic treatment in a chrome bath. Chromium is, however, potentially problematic from the point of view of health due to the production of hexavalent chromium compounds (or "chromium VI"), which require proper processing and careful handling.

[0005] A potential alternative to chrome plating is the deposition of chromium (or similar wear-resistant coatings) by means of physical vapor deposition (PVD) techniques. PVD is the process by which atoms are ejected from a solid target material, usually by bombardment with ions or atoms in a vacuum environment, and then deposited on the desired substrate.

[0006] The deposition of waterproof coating materials on printing media, in particular on engraved printing media, is already known as such in the art. U.S. Patent No. 5,252,360 (and corresponding European patent EP 0 446 762 B1) discloses, for example, a process for securing an engraved roller or plate, e.g. for gravure printing, in which a main body of metal whose surface is provided with engraved the cells are coated with at least one metal or metal compound layer to increase the abrasion resistance and corrosion resistance of the engraved roller or plate. According to US 5,252,360, on the surface of the engraved roller or plate, a dense intermediate layer of a metal containing component or component comprising a ceramic material having a thickness of about 10 to 15 Pm and a Vickers hardness of at least 850 HV is first placed. This intermediate layer is, for example, applied by spraying or electrolytically. The surface of this intermediate layer is then polished and cleaned, and then subjected to vacuum. When kept under vacuum, the main body is heated to a temperature of at least 240 ° C to about 480 ° C for a period of time from at least 1 hour to about 4 hours for quenching. Then, at the end of the hardening period,

[0007] US 5,252,360 does not specifically disclose or relates to any particular type of coating device performing PVD-depositing abrasion-resistant material.

[0008] German Patent Publication No. DE 195 16 883 A1 similarly discloses an engraved printing medium for gravure printing, which engraved printing medium is provided with a thin layer of waterproof coating material. DE 195 16 883 A1 contains a general reference to the use of a vacuum coating apparatus for depositing a waterproof coating material, but does not accurately describe a suitable vacuum coating device. [0008] In the state of the art, PVD coating devices are known for applications other than for coating printing plates. However, these devices are not directly suitable for the treatment of intaglio printing plates for the production of documents protected against counterfeiting. Known PVD coating devices are usually either too small, or too large and incapable of depositing coatings with the desired properties and thicknesses required for the production of intaglio printing plates. Such a case relates, for example, to the PVD coating apparatus disclosed in US Pat. US 4,892,451, which relates in particular to the processing of data storage discs, for example, CDs and magnetic disks, semiconductor wafers, and the like, in plate form for optical and / or electronic purposes.

[0010] Similarly, the coating process disclosed in US Patent Publication No. US 2011/0139246 A1 is particularly used for depositing a thin transparent conductive oxide layer (TCO) on a substrate for use in photovoltaic devices, which method is not directly transposed for the coating of intaglio printing plates for the production of documents protected against counterfeiting.

[0011] An improved solution is therefore required.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The general purpose of the invention is thus to provide an improved coating device compared to a solution already known in the art, i.e. better suited for the coating of intaglio printing plates used for printing securities.

[0013] Another object of the invention is to provide a coating apparatus that can reliably and efficiently enable the coating of intaglio printing plates with a layer of waterproof coating material.

[0014] Yet another object of the invention is to provide a coating device that is easy to use and which facilitates maintenance.

[0015] These objects are achieved by a device for coating intaglio printing plates, as defined in the claims.

[0016] According to the invention, a device for coating gravure printing plates comprising a vacuum chamber having an interior space adapted to receive at least one intaglio plate to be coated, a vacuum system connected to a vacuum chamber for generating an internal vacuum, is suitably provided. vacuum chamber space, and a physical vapor deposition (PVD) system for depositing a waterproof coating material under vacuum on the engraved surface of a gravure printing plate, the physical gas phase deposition system comprising at least one target of a coating material comprising a source of waterproof coating material, which is to be deposited on this engraved surface of an intaglio printing plate. The vacuum chamber is positioned that the intaglio plate to be coated is mounted substantially vertically in the interior space of the vacuum chamber with its engraved surface facing at least one target of the coating material. The apparatus for coating intaglio printing plates further comprises a movable support housed in the interior space of the vacuum chamber and adapted to support and cyclic movement of the intaglio plate before and after at least one target of the coating material.

[0017] According to the invention, the intaglio printing plate can be suitably provided with a coating of abrasion resistant material. The configuration of the vacuum chamber associated with the cyclic motion of the movable support supporting the gravure printing plate ensures that a high quality coating can be formed on the engraved surface of the intaglio printing plate. The system further allows a compact overall configuration of the coating apparatus to be provided. The verticality of the vacuum chamber is more advantageous as it substantially reduces the risk of dirt and the like falling on the engraved surface of the gravure printing plate.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the physical vapor deposition system is a sputtering system comprising at least one sputtering target in the form of a magnetron acting as a target of a coating material, delivery of a sputtering gas to supply sputtering gas to the interior space of the vacuum chamber, and an ionization system for inducing spraying a waterproof coating material from at least one sputtering target and depositing a sputter-coated wear-resistant coating material on the engraved surface of the intaglio printing plate. In this context, the sputtering arrangement may preferably comprise at least two dusting targets, each of which comprises a source of an abrasion-resistant coating material to be sputtered, e.g., pure chromium or titanium.

In a preferred embodiment, the vacuum chamber and movable support are arranged such that the intaglio plate to be coated is inclined towards the rear, wherein the angle of inclination between the engraved surface of the intaglio plate and the vertical surface is preferably not exceeds 20 degrees.

[0020] According to a further embodiment, the movable support is adapted to move the translational printing plate concave therein back and forth within the interior space of the vacuum chamber and along the translational displacement path in front of at least one target of the coating material. In the context of this invention, it should be noted that the cyclic movement of the intaglio plate may occur in a different way than if it were translational, e.g., by rotation or oscillation about the axis of rotation. The translational movement, however, is advantageous in the sense that it greatly simplifies the configuration of the vacuum chamber and the entire coating device.

[0021] Within the above embodiment, the vacuum chamber may preferably have an elongated shape with first and second end at both ends of the translational displacement path of the movable support, the first sealing door being located at the first end of the vacuum chamber, which first sealing door provides access to the interior space of the vacuum chamber, allowing the gravure printing plate to be coated to be coated, or the coated gravure printing plate to be unloaded. The first end of the vacuum chamber can advantageously be connected to a clean room from which the gravure printing plates are loaded or unloaded into or out of the vacuum chamber. The second sealing door can also be located at the other end of the vacuum chamber,

[0022] According to a preferred embodiment, removable protection panels are provided at least on the rear interior wall of the vacuum chamber behind the movable support. These removable protective panels are intended for supporting and facilitating maintenance.

[0023] In yet another embodiment, the movable support is adapted to receive a support of a gravure printing plate on which a gravure printing plate is mounted, which support of the intaglio printing plate is removable from the movable support together with the intaglio plate.

In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, the vacuum chamber includes a bore hole connected to the inner space of the vacuum chamber, housing an advancing sealing panel on which at least one target of the coating material is located, and which slide seal panel can be used during maintenance operations. moved between the retracted position, thus providing access to the inner space of the vacuum chamber through the front aperture and the working position, where the front aperture is closed in a sealing manner by the retractable sealing panel, thereby bringing at least one target of the coating material to the working position inside the front aperture .

In this particular context, the advancing sealing panel can preferably rotate at one end onto the vacuum chamber, wherein in the retracted position the retractable sealing panel preferably lies substantially horizontally with the surface of at least one target oriented coating material.

[0026] Even more preferably, the apparatus for coating gravure printing plates further comprises a curtain mechanism for selectively separating the interior space of the vacuum chamber and at least one target of the coating material positioned on the retractable sealing panel.

[0027] Furthermore, and in the context of a sputtering system operating as a physical vapor deposition system that includes at least one magnetron sputtering target acting as a target of the coating material, the coating apparatus may further be provided with means for shaping the magnetic field of the magnetron. Such means may in particular comprise an electrical winding surrounding a front opening arranged close to the at least one target of the coating material when it is brought into the operating position and which electric coil is fed during the sputtering operation.

[0028] In a further embodiment, the vacuum system comprises a main pump system and at least one turbomolecular vacuum pump, which turbomolecular vacuum pump is preferably connected to the inner space of the vacuum chamber via a control slide.

[0029] Further advantageous embodiments of the invention form the subject of the dependent claims and are discussed in the following.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0030] Other features and advantages of the present invention will be better understood by reading the following detailed description of an embodiment of the invention, which are set forth as non-limiting examples and illustrated by the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a device for coating a gravure printing plate in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a front view of the coating device of the intaglio printing plate of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side view of the coating device of the intaglio printing plate of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a top view of a device for coating an intaglio plate of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a diagram of a device for coating a gravure printing plate of Fig. 1 in a simplified manner illustrating further functional elements of the device; Fig. 6 is a simplified diagram of a vacuum chamber of an intaglio printing plate coating apparatus illustrating the translational movement of the movable support supporting the gravure printing plate to be coated;

Figures 7A to 7C are simplified pictorial views illustrating the possible operation of a vacuum system connected to a vacuum chamber by means of which a vacuum is generated in the interior space of the vacuum chamber; and Fig. 8 schematically illustrates an apparatus for coating gravure printing plates connected at one end to a clean room, wherein the intaglio plates to be coated are prepared prior to the coating operation and where the coated intaglio plates are supported after the coating operation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION In the context of the present invention, the expression "intaglio printing plate" means specifically engraved printing plate such as used for the production of security documents, e.g. bank notes. Such "intaglio printing plates" are to be distinguished from gravure printing media that are used in gravure printing for the production of magazines or packages. In gravure printing, the so-called gravure cylinder is usually used as the printing medium, which gravure cylinder is usually provided with a plurality of paint retaining cells of different sizes and / or depths, which cells are distributed in a uniform and regular pattern around the circumference of the gravure cylinder. Whereas, gravure printing plates,

In the context of the present invention, reference will be made to a physical vapor deposition (PVD) technique known as "sputtering". Deposition by sputtering (or "sputtering") is a PVD method for depositing coating materials by sputtering, i.e. by ejecting the atoms of the coating material from a sputtering target comprising a stable source of coating material onto the desired substrate to be coated. The ejection (or sputtering) of atoms from the sputtering target is usually performed by bombarding the sputtering target with atoms or ions under vacuum by using an inert gas (such as argon) that is ionized near the sputtering target, generating ions (in particular Arg + ions). ) that are thrown with high energy onto the dusting target, thus inducing the sputtering of the atoms of the coating material which are then ballistically projected onto the substrate to be coated. The high energy ions are usually produced by plasma, which is contained near the sputtering target by means of a suitable magnetic field. The reactive gas (such as nitrogen) may further be fed into the vacuum chamber during the sputtering process to form compounds on the surface of the substrate coated by the combination of atoms sputtered with the reactive gas.

[0033] Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a device for coating gravure printing plates in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, which coating apparatus is generally indicated by reference numeral 1. Figures 2 to 4 are a front view, respectively, of a view and a top view of a device 1 for coating gravure printing plates of Fig. 1. Figures 5 to 8 are further illustrative and schematic diagrams of a device 1 for the printing of intaglio plates.

wherein the at least one target of the physical vapor deposition (PVD) layer coating material is located when in the operating position (see, e.g., Figures 5 and 6). In this example, there are two such targets of the coating material indicated by numerals 51 and 52. The PVD system 5 is intended to deposit under vacuum the abrasion-resistant coating material on the engraved surface 10a of the gravure printing plate 10, each target 51, 52 of the coating material comprises a source of the desired abrasion-resistant coating material to be deposited, for example, pure chromium or titanium (or similar coating materials suitable for deposition by PVD). 5 and 6). In this example, there are two such targets of the coating material indicated by numerals 51 and 52. The PVD system 5 is intended to deposit under vacuum the abrasion-resistant coating material on the engraved surface 10a of the gravure printing plate 10, each target 51, 52 of the coating material comprises a source of the desired abrasion-resistant coating material to be deposited, for example, pure chromium or titanium (or similar coating materials suitable for deposition by PVD). 5 and 6). In this example, there are two such targets of the coating material indicated by numerals 51 and 52. The PVD system 5 is intended to deposit under vacuum the abrasion-resistant coating material on the engraved surface 10a of the gravure printing plate 10, each target 51, 52 of the coating material comprises a source of the desired abrasion-resistant coating material to be deposited, for example, pure chromium or titanium (or similar coating materials suitable for deposition by PVD).

[0035] According to a preferred embodiment, the PVD system 5 is a sputtering system comprising at least one sputtering target in the form of a magnetron acting as a target of the coating material (in this case two such magnetrons acting as targets 51, 52 are used), the feeding of the sputtering gas for supplying a sputtering gas (such as argon) to the inner space 30 of the vacuum chamber 3 (such a sputtering gas supply is schematically shown in Fig. 5 as component 55), and an ionization system for inducing spraying of the waterproof material of the coating surfaces 51, 52 and deposition a coated abrasion-resistant coating material on the engraved surface 10a of the gravure printing plate 10. In this example, the targets 51, 52 of the coating material form a cathode of the sputtering system,which is typical in the art.

In this preferred example, the vacuum chamber 3 comprises a front opening 35a connected to the inner space 30 of the vacuum chamber 3, and housing a retractable sealing panel 35 on which the targets 51, 52 of the coating material of the PVD system 5 are located. This retractable sealing panel 35 can be moved between a retracted position during maintenance operations (as shown in Figs. 1 to 4 and 8), thus providing access to the inner space 30 of the vacuum chamber 3 via a front opening 35a and a working position (as shown in FIG. Figs. 5 to 7AC), where the front opening 35a is sealed by the retractable sealing panel 35, thereby bringing the targets 51, 52 of the coating material to the working position within the front opening 35a.

[0037] As shown in the figures, the retractable sealing panel 35 preferably rotates at one end (namely at the lower end) into the vacuum chamber 3. As additionally shown in Figs. 1 to 4, the retractable panel preferably lies in the withdrawn position. substantially horizontally with the surface of the target material 51, 52 facing upwards, which facilitates maintenance operations such as the replacement of any of the targets 51, 52 of the coating material with a new target. The actuation of the slide seal panel 35 from the working position to the retracted position, and vice versa, can be carried out by means of a suitable actuating mechanism, such as a motor-driven actuator.

[0038] Furthermore, a movable support 6 is provided and it is disposed within the inner space 30 of the vacuum chamber 3, which movable support 6 is adapted to support and cyclically displace the intaglio plate 10 before and after the targets 51, 52 of the coating material. In the present example, the vacuum chamber 3 and the movable carrier 6 are arranged such that the gravure printing plate 10 to be coated is tilted towards the rear (see Fig. 3) and the angle of inclination between the engraved surface 10 a of the printing plate of the concave 10 and the vertical surface preferably does not exceed 20 degrees.

In the illustrated embodiment, as schematically shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the movable carrier 6 is adapted to translational movement of the gravure printing plate 10 back and forth within the inner space 30 of the vacuum chamber 3 and along the translational movement path T before and after the targets 51, 52 of the coating material. The vacuum chamber 3 is suitably adapted to exhibit a longitudinal shape with first and second extremes, designated generally by reference numerals I and II, at both ends of the translational movement path T of the moveable carrier 6.

[0040] Furthermore, the movable support 6 is preferably adapted to receive a support 65 of a gravure printing plate (see Figs. 2, 3, 5, 6) on which a gravure plate 10 is mounted, wherein the support 65 is removable from the movable The carrier 6 is itself guided along the translational translational path T through the lower and upper guide rails 61, 62, (see Fig. 3), which are attached to the lower and upper inner walls of the vacuum chamber 3. The actuation of the movable support 6 along the translational translational path T is effected by means of a suitable actuating mechanism, such as a gear drive motor (not shown), which engages and interacts with the rack 63 (visible in Fig. 3) located on the rear side of the movable carrier 6.

[0041] As more accurately shown in Figs. 1 to 3, removable protection panels 37 are provided on at least the rear interior wall 37a of the vacuum chamber 3 behind the movable support 6. These removable protective panels 37 are intended to facilitate cleaning operations and removal of coating residues. .

[0042] The first sealing door 31 is provided as the first extremity 1 of the vacuum chamber 3, which first sealing door 31 provides access, as indicated by reference numeral 31a, to the inner space 30 of the vacuum chamber 3, enabling the gravure printing plate 10 to be loaded, which has to be coated, or to unload the coated gravure printing plate 10. As schematically illustrated in Fig. 8, the first extremity 1 of the vacuum chamber 3 is preferably connected to a clean room 100 from which the gravure printing plates 10 are loaded or unloaded into or out of the chamber. Vacuum 3. This makes it possible to properly convey, in a controlled environment, intaglio plates 10 before and after the coating operation,while avoiding the need to place the entire coating device 1 in the clean room 100, the operator inside the clean room 100 is provided with access to the coating device 1 through the first sealing door 31 and access 31a to the inner space 30 of the vacuum chamber 3.

[0043] The second sealing door 32 may further be provided at the second end of the vacuum chamber 3, which second sealing door 32 provides further access, indicated by numeral reference 32a, to the inner space 30 of the vacuum chamber for maintenance purposes.

[0044] During the coating operation, the inner space 30 of the vacuum chamber 3 is closed in a sealing manner, the slide seal panel 35 and the sealing door 31, 32 closed and secured to the main frame of the vacuum chamber 3. A suitable vacuum system 4 connected is with a vacuum chamber to create a vacuum in the inner space of the vacuum chamber. Some elements of the vacuum system 4 are seen in Figures 1 to 4, including the so-called turbomolecular vacuum pump 45 (supplied, for example, by the company Oerlikon Leybold Vacuum GmbH -<a href="http://www.oerlikon.com/leyboldvacuum)_i_powi%c4%85zana_zasuwasteruj_%c4%85ca_46_(dostarczana,_na_przyk%c5%82ad,_przez_firm%c4%99_VAT_Vakuumventile_AG_-www.vatvalve.com),_kt%c3%b3re_zamontowane_s%c4%85_bezpo%c5%9brednio_na_stronie_przedniej_komorypr%c3%b3%c5%bcniowej_3">www.oerlikon.com/leyboldvacuum) and associated control valve 46 (supplied, for example, by VAT Vakuumventile AG www.vatvalve.com), which are mounted directly on the front of the vacuum chamber 3</a>.

[0045] Fig. 5 is a schematic illustration depicting a graph of the vacuum system used in a preferred embodiment of the invention. Such a vacuum system 4 comprises a main vacuum pump system 40 comprising a first vacuum pump 41 and a second vacuum pump 42 connected in series (so that the so-called Roots pumps are supplied by Oerlikon Leybold Vacuum GmbH -<a href="http://www.oerlikon.com/leyboldvacuum"> www.oerlikon.com/leyboldvacuum</a>). As shown in Fig. 5, the main vacuum pump system 40 is functionally connected to the inner space 30 of the vacuum chamber 3 via a conduit containing the first valve 401. The main vacuum pump system 40 is further connected to the inner space 30 of the vacuum chamber 3 via a turbomolecular pump 45 and a channel containing another valve 402 is also provided. An auxiliary pump 43 is connected to the turbomolecular pump 45 via a conduit containing a third valve 403. An outflow valve 405 is also provided, which discharge valve 405 is released at the end of the coating process. which allows pressure in the inner space of the vacuum chamber 3 to return to atmospheric pressure. As more fully illustrated in Fig. 5, the sputtering gas supply is connected to the inner space 30 of the vacuum chamber 3 via a channel comprising a valve 455, which allows injection of the required sputtering gas (such as argon). It should be understood that more than one supply of a sputtering gas can be provided, and further leads, e.g. a reactive gas (such as nitrogen), if necessary.

[0046] Figs. 7A-C are simplified views illustrating the possible operation of the vacuum system 4, by means of which a vacuum is created in the inner space 30 of the vacuum chamber 3. As shown in Fig. 7A, in an initial step, air is pumped from the inner space 30 of the vacuum chamber 3 via a conduit containing the valve 401 by means of the first vacuum pump 41 of the main vacuum pump system 40 (the second vacuum pump 42 is inactive at this initial stage) . The turbomolecular pump 45 (which is active) is not connected to the inner space 30 of the vacuum chamber 3 in the initial stage and is also disconnected from the main vacuum pump system 40 (valve 402 is closed). The auxiliary pump 43 (and associated valve 403) is however active to maintain a low line pressure downstream of the turbomolecular pump 45. In a second step, as illustrated by Fig. 7B, the second vacuum pump 42 is turned on to pump a higher volume of air from the the inner space 30 of the vacuum chamber 3. When the pressure inside the inner space 30 of the vacuum chamber 3 reaches a predetermined level where the turbomolecular pump 45 can be used, the valves 401 and 403 are successively closed while the valve 402 is opened. At the same time, the control slide 46 is opened to connect the turbomolecular pump 45 to the internal space 30 of the vacuum chamber 3, thereby allowing the air to be pumping through the turbomolecular pump 45 and the main system 40 of the vacuum pumps.

[0047] After a suitable level of vacuum has been created in the inner space 30 of the vacuum chamber 3, a PVD coating operation can be initiated using the previously described sputtering system. During the coating operation, the sputter gas (e.g. argon) is injected into the vacuum chamber 3, which sputter gas is ionized, producing high energy ions (such as Ar + argon ions) that are projected onto the targets 51, 52 of the coating material, causing spraying the coating material and re-depositing the coating material to be engraved on the engraved surface 10a of the gravure printing plate 10. During this process, the movable support 6 operates to cyclicly move the gravure plate 10 before and behind the targets 51, 52, as shown in Fig. 5 and 6. This process can take several minutes to several hours,

[0048] The refinement of the embodiment described above may consist of a further supply of means for shaping the magnetic field of the magnetron (s) used as the target (s) 51, 52 of the coating material. Indeed, studies have shown that shaping the magnetic field produced by magnetrons can have a positive effect on the deposition process and / or the use of targets of the coating material. Such means for shaping the magnetic field of the magnetron (s) may, for example, comprise an electrical winding 53 surrounding the opening 35a (see Figs. 5 and 6) and placed close to the targets 51, 52 of the coating material when brought into the operating position, which electric winding 53 is fed during the sputtering operation.

[0049] A further refinement of the embodiment described above may consist of using a curtain mechanism 36 (see Figs. 5 and 6) for selectively separating the interior space 30 of the vacuum chamber 3 and the targets 51, 52 of the coating material disposed on the slide seal panel 35. the curtain mechanism 36 is advantageous in that it allows separate cleaning of the surface of the intaglio printing plate 10 and the surface of the targets 51, 52 of the coating material, without affecting the quality of the coating operation. More specifically, by closing the curtain mechanism 36, the sputtering system 5 can be activated to induce the detachment of a small layer of coating material from the surface of the targets 51, 52 of the coating material,

[0050] Various modifications and improvements may be made to the above-described embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. For example, although sputtering deposition is described in the framework of the preferred embodiment discussed above, other coating PVD methods, including electron beam deposition, can potentially be used. However, sputtering remains the preferred and particularly preferred PVD coating method in the context of the present invention.

[0051] Furthermore, the vacuum chamber may be adapted to contain at one time more than one intaglio printing plate.

LIST OF NUMERICAL REFERRALS USED IN THIS DOCUMENT [0052] A device for coating gravure printing plates of a vacuum chamber support frame 3 a vacuum chamber with an interior space adapted to receive (at least) one gravure printing plate to be coated with a vacuum system connected to a vacuum chamber 3 to create a vacuum in the inner space 30 of the vacuum chamber 3, a sputtering arrangement for depositing by spraying a water-resistant coating material on the engraving surface of a gravure printing plate, a movable carrier supporting the gravure printing plate 10 to be coated with an intaglio printing plate

10a engraved surface of intaglio plate (surface, coated) vertical elements of frame 2 supporting vacuum chamber 3 internal space of vacuum chamber 3 sealing door on side I (loading / unloading of concave printing plate)

31a access to the inner space 30 of the vacuum chamber 3 for loading / unloading the gravure printing plate sealing door (page II)

32a access to the inner space 30 of the vacuum chamber 3 (for maintenance purposes, for example), a retractable sealing panel including the sputter target (s) 51, 52

35a front opening connected to the inner space 30 of the vacuum chamber 3 (closed when the slide seal panel 35 is in its operating position connected to the vacuum chamber 3) the cover mechanism removable protective panels

37a rear inner wall of the vacuum chamber 3 main system of vacuum pumps (for example, Roots pumps) first vacuum pump second vacuum pump auxiliary pump turbomolecular vacuum pump control slide (first) sputtering target containing source of waterproof coating material to be sprayed (such as magnetron sputtering chrome) (second) a sputtering target containing a source of waterproof coating material,which is to be sputtered (such as a chromium sputtering magnetron) a winding surrounding the front aperture 35a sputter gas supply for supplying a sputtering gas (such as argon) to the inner space of the vacuum chamber 3 the lower guide rail of the moving carrier 6 the upper guide rail of the movable carrier 6 a rack for translating a movable support 6 a plate support for intaglio printing

100 clean room

401 a valve between the main system 40 of vacuum pumps and the interior space 30 of the vacuum chamber 3

402 a valve between the main system 40 of vacuum pumps and the turbomolecular vacuum pump 45

403 valve between the auxiliary pump 43 and the turbomolecular vacuum pump 45

405 discharge valve

455 a valve between the sputtering gas supply 55 and the inner space 30 of the vacuum chamber 3

I first end of the vacuum chamber 3 (loading / unloading side of the gravure printing plate coating equipment 1)

II second end of vacuum chamber 3 (opposite side I)

This is the length of the translational displacement of the media 6