Printing member provided with identification means defined by or connectable to updateable means for recording data relative to the member and useful for its utilization

Abstract

A printing member such as a printing cylinder includes an at least partly metal cylinder, or a sleeve to be mounted on a mandrel rotating about its axis. The printing member comprises a body having a thickness. With the printing member there is associated an activatable signaling device that is connectable to a recording device that is arranged to store data related to at least one characteristic of the printing member or to the use of the printing member. The activatable signaling device can include a transponder such as an RFID.

1 - 17 . (canceled)  
   
   
       18 . A printing member comprising: 
 a body having an inner surface bounding a through hole of said body, said body having an outer surface, said body defining a thickness between said inner surface and said outer surface of said body, said body having a lateral face at each opposite end of said body, an activatable signaling device attached to said body and configured to cooperate operationally with a remote recording means that is updatable after each use of the printing member and is able to store data relating to at least one characteristic of the printing member useful for use of the printing member.    
   
   
       19 . A printing member as in  claim 18 , wherein said body being formed as a plurality of layers torsionally rigid with each other and defining said thickness, and wherein the characteristic stored by the recording means is at least one of the following: a characteristic related to a physical value of the printing member, a characteristic related to a previous use of said member, a characteristic concerning a mechanical machining operation to which said member has been subjected after its construction.  
   
   
       20 . A printing member as in  claim 18 , wherein the activatable signaling device is embedded within the body of said printing member.  
   
   
       21 . A printing member as in  claim 20 , wherein the activatable signaling device is inserted into a seat provided within the thickness of the body of the printing member.  
   
   
       22 . A printing member as in  claim 21 , wherein the seat containing the activatable signaling device is reclosed by a closure element which covers said activatable signaling device within the thickness of said body of the printing member, said closure element terminating on the outer surface of said body.  
   
   
       23 . A printing member as in  claim 21 , wherein the seat for the activatable signaling device is close to one of the lateral faces of the body of said printing member.  
   
   
       24 . A printing member as in  claim 18 , wherein the activatable signaling device is associated with a visible surface of the body of the printing member, said visible surface being a lateral face of said body.  
   
   
       25 . A printing member as in  claim 24 , wherein the activatable signaling device is associated with the inner surface of the body of said printing member.  
   
   
       26 . A printing member as in  claim 18 , wherein the activatable signaling device comprises a microprocessor unit.  
   
   
       27 . A printing member as in  claim 26 , wherein the microprocessor unit is of the radio frequency identification system type.  
   
   
       28 . A printing member as in  claim 18 , wherein the activatable signaling device comprises an identifying support for said printing member, which is secured to the identifying support and arranged to uniquely cooperate with the updatable recording means for the data relative to said printing member.  
   
   
       29 . A printing member as in  claim 28 , wherein the identifying support is a label carrying a code.  
   
   
       30 . A printing member as in  claim 29 , wherein the code is a bar code.  
   
   
       31 . A printing member as in  claim 18 , wherein the recording means includes an electronic processor.  
   
   
       32 . A printing member as in  claim 18 , wherein its body is of metal.  
   
   
       33 . A printing member as in  claim 32 , wherein said metal body has a rubberized surface.  
   
   
       34 . A printing member as in  claim 32 , wherein said metal body has a chromium-plated surface.  
   
   
       35 . A printing member as in  claim 32 , wherein said metal body is coated with polyurethane.  
   
   
       36 . A printing member as in  claim 18 , wherein said body is of composite material that includes at least one of the fibers selected from the group including glass fiber, carbon fiber and aramid fiber.  
   
   
       37 . A printing member as in  claim 36 , wherein said composite material body comprises at least one layer of hardened polymer.  
   
   
       38 . A printing member as in  claim 37 , wherein the at least one layer of polyurethane is interposed between two layers of composite material.  
   
   
       39 . A printing member as in  claim 37 , wherein said polymer is polyurethane.  
   
   
       40 . A printing member as in  claim 37 , wherein said polymer is polyester.