Abstract:
The invention relates to a device and to a method for applying a medium in the form of liquid, powder or paste to a substrate, having a container for the medium and a transport device which takes the medium from the container and discretely distributes it. In a propelling device the medium is selectively transferred from the transport device to the substrate with a propellant which is separate from the medium, or in the propelling device the medium is selectively removed from the transport device, and the remaining medium is transferred from the transport device to the substrate.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This is a continuation application of PCT/NL99/00074 filed Feb. 12, 1999. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a device and to a method for applying a medium in liquid, powder or paste form to a substrate, to a system having a plurality of such devices, as well as to a use of such device, method and system. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The substrate in question is preferably a textile substrate, although large area substrates may also quite generally be used, for example a substrate made of foil, nonwoven fabric, metal, carpet, plastic, paper, wallpaper, wood, glass, porcelain, ceramic or a similar material. The substrate may also be a printing support, for example a printing plate or a printing roll, to which it is necessary to apply printing ink as a medium prior to printing on a substrate made of paper, wallpaper etc. The advantage is that the medium can be applied at specific points on the printing support. With the medium a pattern is to be applied to such a substrate with the sharpest possible contours and a high resolution. 
     Corresponding to the large number of different substrates indicated above, many methods and devices for patterning surfaces of such substrates are also known. If they are to function with a printing speed which is high enough for mass production, these methods and devices basically require stencils which are per se expensive to produce. An example which may be mentioned in relation to this is that of the textile printing industry: for the screen printing preferably employed in this case, millions of printing stencils are made year after year just for rotary and flatbed printing. A large number of gravure cylinders are also produced for printing on films. 
     For rotary screen printing, a distinction is essentially made between two ways of producing the stencils: these are directly patterned DEP stencils (DEP=Direct Electrolytic Patterning) and resined stencils. The DEP stencils have the pattern electrolytically applied directly to them and can thus be used without further etching. With DEP stencils, the pattern and the colour separation are therefore already incorporated into the relevant dies. 
     Conversely, for the production of resin stencils, cylindrical screens are firstly produced electrolytically in a relatively complicated way. Various etching resists are then applied, according to the etching technique which is being used. All the openings existing in the stencils are closed with the etching resist during this. The desired printing pattern is then created by controlled release of openings for the respective colour separated beforehand from the model. This procedure can be carried out either using photographic development and wet chemical washing of the resist, or by direct digital transfer of the information using a laser device which “burns off” the etching resist using a laser beam. 
     Resin stencils have the advantage over DEP stencils that, by removing and re-applying the resist, they can be reused many times for different designs, whereas the DEP stencils can be used only for one design. 
     In short, the production of printing stencils, whether rolls or plates for typographic or gravure printing on paper and film, or screen stencils for rotary printing or flatbed printing on textile or carpet, is elaborate. The same is also true as regards the resin stencils which can be used repeatedly, since with these, for repeated use, the resist firstly needs to be removed, after which resist is again applied, dried etc. and this is followed by etching. 
     The production of such stencils finally only leads to economically viable products, for example printed textile, if the stencils are produced in large numbers and can be employed over an extended period of time for printing on large numbers of articles. 
     Now, especially in textile printing the problem arises that the time for which printing patterns are regarded as fashionable is becoming ever shorter, and at the same time the variety of patterns is increasing continually. Always producing new stencils therefore leads, every time fashion changes, to new rises in costs for every shorter “yardages”. This means that, especially in printing businesses in Europe and the USA, there are commonly large stocks of out-of-date stencils, the number of which may amount to several tens of thousands of stencils. 
     It should also be pointed out that stencil production as a whole, as well as stencil recycling, are very environmentally unfriendly and involve a large consumption of energy. 
     In view of this situation, consideration has already been given, for printing on textiles, to abandon the screen printing method and, for example, employ a digital inkjet printing method, successfully used in the paper industry, in order to transfer a pattern to textiles. In a method described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,324,117, liquid droplets are sprayed from very fine nozzles onto well-defined points on a substrate. The color mixing is in this case carried out with up to eight colors per point. Each of the eight colors can be applied in 256 levels. In spite of this variety of colors, the color space which can be obtained is limited in comparison with the color space of the screen printing method. 
     Thus, inkjet printing methods do indeed have the advantage that it is possible to avoid the elaborate production of stencils, that they furthermore make it possible to print without regard to register, and that it is unnecessary to premix color pastes. However, industrially usable production systems which make it possible to produce large yardages have not yet successfully been made. Individual systems have to date operated in the field of patterning with a printing speed of at most 1 m/min., while the average printing speed of a rotary printing machine is about 40 to 120 m/min. 
     It should moreover be taken into account that, with the inkjet printing methods, the droplets are formed within very fine nozzles having diameters in the micrometer range, for example 10 μm. These fine nozzles therefore unavoidably give rise to the problem of their clogging. With such nozzles, it is therefore only possible to use particular categories of color in highly pure form for printing, in order to minimize the risk of the nozzles clogging. The color space is accordingly also limited, and the use of, for example, metallic colors which are needed in fashion to obtain an iridescent effect, is out of the question. 
     A replacement for screen printing with stencils, which is suitable for mass production, has thus not yet been successfully found. 
     From the abundant prior art, only a few documents will be dealt with below by way of example: 
     DE 31 37 794 C2 describes a device for continuously delivering a minimal amount of liquid to a web of material. This device has a fine-meshed screen and a blowing device directed against the screen. The screen rests in this case as a textile mesh belt without pressure on the web of material, or is guided or laid over it, and the blowing device is arranged above the mesh belt section carrying the ink. 
     As a supplement to this, DE 31 46 828 C2 proposes using a bath as a liquid delivery device, and arranging the blowing device behind and at a higher level than the delivery device in the running direction of the endless screen belt. Such a device could per se be used for patterning/printing if etching is carried out beforehand. 
     DE 40 01 452 A1 describes a device for continuously delivering a liquid to a web of material, having a moving screen, means for filling the openings in the screen and a blowing device for transferring the liquid held in the openings in the screen onto the web of material. The device for filling the openings in the screen consists of chambers which are arranged opposite one another on both sides of the screen and bear on the screen, one chamber being designed as a feed chamber and being connected to a liquid feed, while the other chamber is designed as a discharge chamber and is connected to a liquid drain. 
     Furthermore, DE 42 28 177 A1 discloses a device for continuously delivering a liquid to a web of material having a moving screen, having filling chambers which are arranged opposite one another on both sides of the screen and extend over the width of the screen, squeegees engaging the screen on both sides and a blowing device which is made of an elongate nozzle which extends over the width of the screen and is cooperating with a propellant feedline. In order for it to be possible to adjust the delivery of liquid continuously to the width of the web of material, each filling chamber has a piston which is guided in leaktight fashion against the screen and can be moved continuously starting from one end of the filling chamber, the elongate nozzle cooperating with a closure belt which can be moved continuously from one end of the elongate nozzle and allows the elongate nozzle to be closed off to a greater or lesser extent. 
     Lastly, AT-PS 175 956 furthermore discloses a method and a device for applying liquid materials to a base. The nozzles, which are arranged behind a screen, can likewise be adjusted individually in order to control the respective amounts delivered. This method and this device are used, however, not to pattern the base but instead to coat it so as to provide it with uniform delivery. Through the arrangement of a covering mask, it is possible to adjust the distribution of a medium, taken from a container, on the substrate in a fixed ratio. The use of such masks is, however, not comparable with patterning which can be achieved by printing. Furthermore, no consideration is given here either to the synchronization between the delivery and base which is per se necessary and suitable for patterning. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The object of the invention is to provide a device and a method for applying a medium in liquid, powder or paste form to a substrate for forming a pattern on the substrate, it being possible for a pattern to be applied without the use of etched stencils with, in comparison to inkjet methods, considerably increased printing speed irrespective of registers, customary color categories being usable and the purity of the colors requiring no particular precautions. 
     A further object is to provide a system which makes it possible to use a plurality of such devices. 
     The invention is advantageously used for applying a pattern to large area substrates, in particular textile goods, for applying printing ink to particular regions of a printing support and for applying media for patterning supports for printing, especially screen printing, made of metal or plastic. 
     The device according to the invention and the method according to the invention firstly propose, as a complete departure from the prior art, a separation between the propellant for propelling the medium, that is to say preferably a printing substance, to the substrate and the medium itself. In order to achieve this separation, the liquids used for the medium, for example solutions, dispersions, suspensions etc., or pastes and powders, are distributed in a transport device, preferably in discrete form. In the case of media in liquid or paste form, a capillary action due to small openings in the transport device is employed for filling this device. Specifically, this brings about spontaneous “filling” of the small openings, which leads to virtually “automatic” metering. After apportioning (if necessary) of the medium which is optionally carried out using squeegees, it is transported into the desired delivery zone and delivered from there by the propelling device which is adapted for propelling medium from selectable points of the delivery zone, the propelling device being controlled for selecting said points. The propellant preferably is a fluid, i.e. a liquid or a gas, in particular air. In the case of using a gas as the propellant, a pressure range of between 10 3  and 10 6  Pa (0.01 and 10 bar) is used. 
     Delivering the medium from selectable points of the delivery zone can be used directly (hereinafter: “direct method”) or indirectly (hereinafter: “indirect method”) for forming a pattern on the substrate, although the direct method and the indirect method share the same inventive idea, and should be regarded as mutually “inverted” printing methods. 
     In the direct method, the medium propelled from the delivery zone is transferred directly to the substrate, and forms a part of the desired pattern on the substrate. In the indirect method, the medium propelled from the first delivery zone is not transferred to the substrate, but merely removed from the transport device. The medium remaining in the transport device is transferred to the substrate with a delivery device which may be e.g. in the form of a conventional blade squeegee or roller squeegee device (in which the transport device is in contact with the substrate), or may alternatively be a non-selective propelling device (in which the transport device is not in contact with the substrate), e.g. of the type disclosed in AT-PS 175 956. Consequently, in the direct method and the corresponding device, the propelling device selectively propels the medium which is to be transferred from the transport device to the substrate, while in the indirect method and the corresponding device, the propelling device selectively propels the medium which is not to be transferred from the transport device to the substrate. 
     In a preferred embodiment of the method and device according to the invention, as a propellant short gas pulses are used, which can be selectively released from nozzles connected with controllable valves, thereby selectively releasing amounts of medium from the transport device, in the direct method onto the substrate over its width and length, and in the indirect method into a collecting device, preferably for recycling. The patterning is thus carried out by separating the medium or printing substance from the propellant. Namely, whereas in the case of the existing nozzle devices and methods for delivery to a substrate, a pre-pressurized liquid is used and is converted into droplets by thermal expansion or alternating piezoelectric voltages, a procedure of this kind is superfluous, and moreover unusable, in the device according to the invention and in the method according to the invention. The propellant is blown in the form of gas, preferably air, onto the medium, so that the medium is transferred onto the substrate in the desired way (direct method), or removed from the transport device whereby the remaining medium is delivered to the substrate in the desired way (indirect method). 
     Any problems in terms of cleaning the nozzles and their clogging are eliminated in the device according to the invention and in the method according to the invention, since in this case the nozzles merely output gas pulses and do not spray the medium. 
     In the device according to the invention and the method according to the invention, the information which the pattern contains for the respective colors can be obtained from a computer which actuates the nozzles accordingly, so that they deliver the gas pulses in correspondence with the desired pattern. 
     As is known, the resolution of screen printing is a decisive parameter for its quality. In all screen printing methods and devices, the resolution (that is to say the density of the individual printing points) is rigidly dictated by the resolution of the stencil. This is due to the fact that screen printing methods and devices work exclusively using contact with the substrate, and the velocity between the substrate and the stencil always has, apart from small frictional effects, the same value. 
     In this regard as well, the present invention in the direct method provides considerable advantages through a resolution that can be varied in a wide range. This variable resolution is actually achieved by separation of the propellant for applying the medium to the substrate from the medium, or printing substance, itself and furthermore by the possibility of adjusting a relative velocity between the transport device, or delivery device, on the one hand, and the substrate, on the other hand, and by the possibility of matching the resolution by appropriately increasing the frequency with which the propellant is sent from the delivery device to the transport device, in order to supply the medium from the latter to the substrate without contact between the transport device and the substrate. 
     Through selective actuation of individual nozzles in pattern-related synchronization with the substrate, it is possible to transfer arbitrary patterns using the device according to the invention and the (direct) method according to the invention, while also increasing the speed of the transport device so as thereby to achieve variable resolution on the substrate. For example, by doubling the rotational speed of a transport drum which forms the transport device relative to the substrate, and doubling the delivery frequency of the gas pulses, a two-fold increase in the point density on the substrate can be achieved. It is therefore possible to transfer large amounts of colors onto the substrate, which is a great advantage especially in the textile printing industry. 
     One possible way of patterning a substrate in the direct method consists in moving the substrate to be printed past the device according to the invention, or a system containing a plurality of such devices. The delivery is then carried out selectively over the width of the substrate, and its length, in order to transfer the desired pattern to the substrate without contact. 
     It is, however, also possible to move the device or the system past a fixed substrate to be printed, or appropriately scan this substrate, while delivering the pattern in the desired way to appropriate regions of the substrate. 
     In the indirect method the invention provides considerable advantages through the selective delivery of medium in a pattern related synchronization with the substrate, with which is not only possible to transfer an arbitrary pattern, but also to transfer relatively high amounts of medium suitable for textile printing. Substrates can be patterned with high speed, with well known media, and without register. The medium remaining in the transport device, such as a drum or belt, after removal of medium in the propelling device, can be transferred to the substrate by a non-selective propelling device, or e.g. by a well known squeegee operation. 
     Very precise patterns can be transferred to a substrate using the device according to the invention and the method according to the invention. Care merely needs to be taken in this case that the transport device, e.g. the transport drum provided with holes, or the screen or else a mesh belt guided by rollers, is produced with high accuracy and runs true. This can be readily ensured by electrolytic production of the screen and by a suitable drive mechanism, so that the required balanced running accuracy and synchronization between the transport device and the substrate is achieved. 
     A further advantage of the invention (direct method) is that the medium is delivered without contact and adhesive bonding, for example of a web of textile goods onto a back cloth in the conventional sense can per se in principle be omitted, although it does not have to be omitted. 
     The aforementioned synchronization of the transport device with the motion of the substrate can, for example, be achieved by establishing the position of the transport device using an encoder and employing the signal supplied by the encoder to synchronize the gas pulses with the position of the transport device. It is, however, also possible to measure the position of (possibly encoded) individual holes of the transport device, in particular a transport drum, during operation and match the actuation of the valves which supply the gas pulses appropriately to the desired pattern. Electromagnetic acquisition has proved particularly advantageous for ascertaining the position of the transport device. Optical or capacitive acquisition is, however, also possible. 
     In the above the propelling device has been described as a device delivering gas pulses for conveying medium from a transport device. It is, however, also possible to provide the propelling device with one or more heating devices, e.g. a laser device or a high frequency device, for producing a thermal delivery of amounts of medium from the transport device. One or more of the heating devices can be arranged over the width of the transport device. Laser radiation with d- suitable wavelength can be directed with optics such that separate amounts of medium are released in an explosion-like way due to a very rapid heating, which will be particularly advantageous in the indirect method according to the present invention. A similar effect can be obtained by directional high frequency heating. Another way of delivering amounts of medium is electrostatically. 
     In the screen printing methods currently carried out, a substrate already prepared for printing, or an article, is customarily subjected to the printing process. In the case of processing natural fibers as a textile substrate, this means that the article has been scoured, decocted and bleached and has a degree of whiteness deemed suitable for printing. These articles which are white enough for printing are then fed dry to the printing process. 
     Of course, printing on textile goods as a substrate should be guaranteed to have the sharpest possible contours. However, the use of a medium or printing substance with low viscosity, such as the viscosity of a conventional textile printing paste, may be required for technical reasons. Unfortunately, this low viscosity may lead to a lower quality in the resolution and edge sharpness of the printing. Also, the color retention capacity in the case of printing on fabrics and knitwear is poor. Furthermore, because of the existence of a texture, there is a tendency for the printing substance which has been delivered, if it is fluid, to spread or run. In this case as well, it is difficult to form a sharp printing pattern. Optimization should be carried out in this case, but without causing degradation of the other properties of the textile substrate. This is achieved according to the invention through the possibility of having some of the chemicals needed to improve the process delivered to the substrate prior to the actual printing process. These chemicals, also referred to as printing aids, may with this procedure be delivered to the dry substrate, which in other regards has already been prepared for printing, for example with a foulard (bath) or another suitable delivery unit. In certain cases, the delivery of wet printing aids to a wet substrate may also be envisaged. After this, the substrate is then dried to an acceptable residual moisture content of, for example, from 2 to 15% in order for the actual printing process then to be carried out. This entire process step may be carried out both in stages and continuously in one working step. 
     In printing processes generally premixed colors are used. However, according to the invention it is also conceivable to use primary colors, and to mix these directly on the substrate. This method is already known as “multichromy”, in particular “quadrochromy” or “octochromy”, and is used in inkjet printing and flat bed printing. The advantage of this method is that metering and mixing of colors can be omitted completely. This is a considerable environmental advantage, since extensive cleaning of buckets and other containers are unnecessary. The number of necessary stencils is reduced, which reduces costs. 
     The substrate may be a printing support, e.g. a printing roll or printing plate. With the invention, it is possible to feed ink to this printing support in a simple  30  way, with a high degree of control, only over a desired, rather than the entire, width or area. The substrate may comprise metal, plastic, rubber etc. 
     The substrate may also be a printing form, e.g. a printing screen, for forming a screen printing stencil which is to be provided with a patterning medium. This medium can be a patterning lacquer, a patterning resist, a wax or an ink. 
     It is to be observed that the method according to the invention can also be used for producing a conventional patterned printing form, in particular a patterned printing screen or stencil, by providing the printing form with a pattern of lacquer or resist. In the indirect method according to the invention, the transport device is a screen, and the medium is the lacquer. The propelling device is used to remove lacquer from selected holes of the screen, which holes are to be used to let pass a printing substance during the use of the printing screen thus obtained. 
     The claims and advantages will be more readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description and considered in connection with the accompanying drawings in which like reference symbols designate like parts. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIGS. 1 to  3  show schematic sectional representations of various illustrative embodiments of the device according to the invention, 
     FIG. 4 shows a schematic plan view of a further illustrative embodiment of the device according to the invention, 
     FIG. 5 shows a schematic sectional representation of a further illustrative embodiment of the device according to the invention, 
     FIG. 5 a  shows a plan view of a nozzle plate, 
     FIG. 5 b  shows an advantageous refinement of nozzles and transport devices in plan view, 
     FIG. 6 shows a block diagram for clarification of an illustrative embodiment of the method according to the invention, 
     FIG. 7 shows a schematic sectional representation of a further illustrative embodiment of the device according to the invention with a closed feeding system for the medium, 
     FIG. 8 shows a schematic sectional representation which clarifies how a hole detection can be carried out for synchronizing operation, in the device according to the invention, 
     FIG. 9 shows a schematic sectional representation of a system according to the invention having a plurality of devices for applying a medium to a substrate, 
     FIG. 10 shows a part of a transport drum with an encoder, 
     FIG. 11 shows a schematic perspective view of a further device according to the invention, 
     FIG. 12 shows a schematic perspective view of another embodiment of the device of FIG. 11, 
     FIG. 13 shows a top view of a first embodiment of a planar device according to the invention, 
     FIG. 14 shows a top view of a second embodiment of a planar device according to the invention, and 
     FIG. 15 shows a schematic perspective view of a metering device employing the principles according to the present invention. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     FIG. 1 schematically shows a first illustrative embodiment of the device according to the invention, having a transport device  1  which consists of a transport drum in which openings have been made with a suitable hole density, so that the transport device  1  forms a “screen”. Instead of a transport drum it is also possible here, as well as in the illustrative embodiments which follow, to use a belt provided with holes (hereinafter: mesh belt) guided over two or more rollers. This transport device  1  is, for example, driven on one side by a motor (not shown) via a gear mechanism (not shown). A substrate  2  of, for example, textile goods is moved past the transport device  1 , without contact, in the direction of the arrow. The transport device  1  contains a delivery device made of an air feed  3 , a connecting piece  4 , a valve  5  and a nozzle  6 , which form the overall pneumatic arrangement of the device. Two squeegees  7  serve to apportion the medium  12  entrained from a container  8  in the form of a printing substance. Instead of squeegees (as schematically indicated), it is also possible to use squeegee rollers (cf.  7 ′), or squeegees and squeegee rollers. 
     The connecting piece  4 , the valve  5  and the nozzle  6 , and where appropriate the air feed  3  as well, may have an integral or monobloc design if this is expedient, for example, for manufacturing reasons or for reasons of space. 
     When the transport device  1  rotates in the direction of the arrow, it takes the medium  12  from the container  8  and transports it upwards (in FIG.  1 ). The squeegees  7  are set such that excess medium is taken off the transport device  1  and falls back into the container  8 . 
     The air feed  3  receives pressurized air. Another suitable gas may, of course, also be used instead of air as the propellant. In any case, the air from the air feed  3  reaches the valve  5  via the connecting piece  4 . This valve  5  may be controlled electrically in synchronism with the motor for the transport device  1 , and in accordance with a pattern to be delivered to the substrate  2 , using a central processing unit (not shown). If there are a plurality of printing stations (cf. FIG.  9 ), it is also possible to control decentralized, using a plurality of control units, each printing station being for example associated with one decentralized control unit. The valve  5  opens, in particular, with a frequency of for example from 0.1 kHz to 10 kHz, so that pressurized air is driven from the air feed  3  via the connecting piece  4  and the valve  5  to the nozzle  6  in order to deliver the medium  12  from the transport device  1  to the substrate  2  with the desired patterning. The distance between the transport device  1  and the substrate  2  is, for example, from 0.1 to 100 mm and, preferably, from 1 to 10 mm. The distance between the nozzle  6  and the transport device  1  may be between 0.01 and 10 mm, and preferably between 0.1 and 2.0 mm. For special applications, it is even possible to go below the lower limit. 
     A suitable pressure range for the pressurized air is from 10 3  to 10 6  Pa (0.01 to 10 bar). 
     The rotational speed, as well as the position of the holes of the transport device  1  may be measured by an encoder  40 , illustrated in FIG.  10 . The encoder  40  comprises two series of holes  41 ,  42  provided along and near an edge of a transport drum or rotary screen  43 , the holes  41 ,  42  being detected without contact by sensors  44 ,  45 , respectively, such as sensors for reflected light, sensors for transmitted light, air flow sensors, electromagnetic sensors, etc.. The holes  41 ,  42  have a predetermined and fixed relationship to holes  46  in the transport drum  43 , thus allowing for determining, controlling and checking the rotary position and speed of the transport drum very accurately. It is also possible to establish this rotational speed by measuring the speed of the holes  46 . If holes at both ends of the transport drum measured, possible torsion of the transport drum can be monitored. In any case, the rotational speed of the transport device  1  is synchronized with the frequency for actuating the valves  5  for the nozzles  6  and with a pattern to be applied to the substrate  2 . The rotational speed of the transport device  1  may be greater than or less than, or equal to the speed of the substrate  2 . 
     The transport device  1  and the substrate  2  may move counter one another, which is advantageous for light/dark and color-saturation control as a consequence of the slower “stencil run” which this causes. 
     During operation of the device in FIG. 1, the transport device  1  takes the medium  12  from the container  8  in such a way that the medium  2  is distributed essentially uniformly in the longitudinal plane of the transport device  1 , that is to say in FIG. 1 at right angles to the direction of the drawing, i.e. in the longitudinal direction of the transport drum which forms the transport device  1 . Using the pressurized air which is fed via the air feed  3 , the medium  12  is transferred through the nozzles  6 , by means of the pressurized-air pulses, in a controlled way onto the substrate  2  which is moving at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the transport drum. 
     The medium  12  is delivered to the substrate  2  without contact between the transport device  1  or the nozzle  6 , on the one hand, and the substrate  2  and the transport device, on the other hand. It is, of course, also possible to use patterned stencils for transferring the pattern if, for example, all of the nozzles are being used in continuous operation. 
     The nozzles  6  may be free to tilt over an angle of ±90° relative to the delivery zone, i.e. 45° up or down in FIG. 1, e.g. for presetting purposes. 
     Further illustrative embodiments of the invention will be explained below with reference to FIGS. 2 to  9 , the already described configuration of the illustrative embodiment in FIG. 1, or its mode of operation, being correspondingly applicable to these further illustrative embodiments. 
     In contrast to the illustrative embodiment in FIG. 1, which uses a horizontal nozzle arrangement, a vertical nozzle arrangement is provided in the illustrative embodiment in FIG.  2 . The substrate  2  is in this case moved horizontally past, and below the transport device  1  in the direction of the arrow. As in the illustrative embodiment in FIG. 1, firstly the transport device  1  contains on the inside the air feed  3 , the connecting piece  4 , the valve  5  and the nozzle  6 . As a supplement to the illustrative embodiment in FIG. 1, the container  8  for the medium  12  and a delivery roll  9  are also arranged inside the transport device  1  in the illustrative embodiment in FIG.  2 . This delivery roll  9  takes the medium  12  from the container  8  and delivers it to the transport device  1 , a magnetic or mechanical mating roll  10  exerting a compensating pressure on the delivery roll  9  contacting the transport device  1 . The amount of medium  12  delivered is again apportioned by the squeegees  7 , which are provided in the running direction (cf. the arrow) of the transport device  1 , behind the rolls  9 ,  10 . As has already been mentioned, the schematically represented squeegees may also be fully or partially replaced by squeegee rollers, for the purpose of apportioning the medium. 
     FIG. 3 shows a third illustrative embodiment of the device according to the invention, which differs from the illustrative embodiments in FIGS. 1 and 2 by the way in which the medium  12  is fed into the transport device  1 : in the illustrative embodiment in FIG. 3, there is a storage container  8 ′outside the transport device  1 , and this is connected via a pump  11  to a feed tube  13  inside the transport device  1 . This feed tube  13  has perforations in its longitudinal direction, which caters for uniform distribution of the medium  12  over the longitudinal direction of the transport drum forming the transport device  1 . A run-off plate  14  provided below the transport device  1  takes excess medium  12  and returns it to the container  8 ′. Such a run-off plate  14  may, of course, also be provided in the illustrative embodiment in FIG. 2 if need be. 
     FIG. 4 shows a plan view of an illustrative embodiment of the invention, an air-feed shaft  15  being in particular shown here for the air feed  3 . This air-feed shaft  15 , which like the air feeds  3  in the illustrative embodiments in FIGS. 1 to  3  run inside the transport device  1 , has a cross section with decreasing area in order to compensate for the hydrostatic pressure drop and to obtain the most uniform possible prepressurization at the individual valves  5 , so that the valves  5  actuated via control lines  17  in accordance with the pattern to be created, receive the same pressure as far as possible. The air itself is in this case input in the direction of an arrow  16  into the air-feed shaft  15 . 
     FIG. 5 shows an illustrative embodiment in which two rows of nozzles  6  with corresponding valves  5  and connecting pieces  4  are provided. If need be, depending on the field of use of the device in question, it is even possible to arrange a larger number of rows of nozzles above one another, and at the same time offset or obliquely relative to one another. With such a multirow arrangement of nozzles  6 , the resolution can be varied over the width of the substrate  2 , or over the longitudinal direction of the transport drum which forms the transport device  1 , with the possibility of also matching the speed at which the transport device  1  runs or at which the substrate  2  is moved. It has been shown that a 2- to 16-row, preferably 4-to 10-row arrangement of nozzles is advantageous. 
     FIG. 5 a  shows a plan view of a nozzle plate, in which  16  rows of nozzles  6  are provided offset relative to one another. 
     FIG. 5 b  shows an arrangement of nozzles  6 , in which these are fixed in the direction of motion of the transport device indicated by the large arrow, but displaceable at right angles relative to the direction of motion of the transport device indicated by the small arrows, that is to say at right angles to the rotational motion of the transport drum, with a suitable frequency by for example half of one hole separation each. This makes it possible to expel medium from the openings  33  of the transport device  1  with a reduced number of nozzles  6 . If, for example, the nozzles  6  are thus arranged in the middle between two openings  33 , then the left-hand or right-hand opening  33  may respectively be used by displacement through one half of the opening separation, respectively. Such displacement could, for example, be carried out in a suitable way by a piezoelectric drive for individual valves, or alternatively for the entire row of nozzles. 
     As already mentioned at the start, it may be expedient for a printing aid, for example special chemicals, to be delivered using a foulard or a suitable delivery unit prior to the actual printing process, in the case of a textile substrate referred to in the prior art as pressure-pretreated goods. The means adopted for this, or corresponding procedure, is illustrated by a “loop” in FIG. 6, the left-hand half of which (part “A”) shows the prior art, while the application of the method according to the invention (“JSP” or “Jet Screen Printing” method) is represented in the right-hand half (part “B”). In part “B” the “loop” with “chemical delivery” and “drying process” is not carried out in the normal case. 
     If, however, printing aids or chemicals are delivered and a drying process is thereupon carried out, then the printing process is subsequently carried out in accordance with the method according to the invention. Furthermore, where appropriate, it is also possible for “wet in wet” delivery of the printing aids or chemicals to be performed, this being followed by drying the substrate  2  to a desired residual moisture content of, for example, practically 0 to 50%, in particular  2  to 15%, before the method according to the invention is implemented. The process step in which printing aids are delivered may be carried out both discontinuously and continuously in one working step with implementation of the method according to the invention. 
     In all the illustrative embodiments of the invention, the medium  12  to be applied is apportioned by the squeegees  7  while being limited to the extent of the opening volume of the holes in the transport device  1 . The amount of medium  12  transported, which is then very accurately determined by the holes in the transport device  1 , is discretely distributed over the width of the web of the substrate  1 . Each hole entrains a very well-determined amount of medium in the range of a few nl. The droplets which have thus been premetered are delivered by means of the gas pulses from the nozzles  6 , fed synchronously in relation to the motion of the transport device  1 . Through synchronization of the gas pulses from the nozzles  6  with the rotational motion of the transport device  1 , and matching to the speed of the substrate  2 , then with selective release of the individual droplets an arbitrary pattern can be transferred without contact to the substrate  2 , over its width and length. 
     FIG. 7 shows an illustrative embodiment of the invention with closed feeding of the medium to the transport device  1 . The principle of this is that the liquids, such as solutions, dispersions, suspensions or pastes, are fed from the storage container  8 ′by the pump  11 , via a line  28 , to a closed filling chamber  30  which may or may not be partitioned over the width of the transport device  1 , and these liquids are taken up from here into the screen of the transport device  1 . To this end, the filling chamber  30  is provided with a venting device for allowing air which has entered to escape. It is optionally possible to omit the apportioning by squeegees. 
     In one variant, it may be advantageous according to the invention to re-collect excess substance in the storage container  8 ′via a discharge line  29 . 
     FIG. 8 schematically shows how, in the device according to the invention, a hole detection in the screen of the transport device  1  can be carried out. It is per se also possible, as already explained above with respect to FIG. 10, for “indirect” hole detection to be carried out using an encoder directly connected to the transport device  1 . It is, moreover, also preferably possible to carry out electromagnetic hole detection using a transmitter  31  and a receiver  32 . It should be noted here that the hole detection or the use of an encoder is not limited to the present invention, but can also be used in conventional screen printing devices. 
     FIG. 9 shows an illustrative embodiment in which a plurality of printing devices or assemblies  25 , each corresponding to one of the illustrative embodiments in FIGS. 1 to  5 , are arranged one after the other along a conveyor belt  21 . A substrate  2  is carried on this conveyor belt  21 , which is driven by a main drive  24 , and the substrate  2  is adhesively bonded to the conveyor belt  21  with the aid of an adhesive-bonding device  23 . The main drive  24  of the conveyor belt  21  is connected to an encoder where the substrate  2  enters. Each of the printing assemblies  25  is connected to a drive unit or a geared motor. FIG. 9 schematically represents four printing assemblies. If need be, however, it is also possible for a plurality of such printing assemblies, for example six printing assemblies, to be provided. The overall system is controlled either using a central processing unit (CPU)  20 , which is respectively connected for drive A and nozzle control D (cf. the corresponding double arrows) to the individual printing assemblies  25 , or not centrally, with each printing assembly being associated with a central processing unit. The central processing unit  20  is fed the pattern data of a printing model, by firstly scanning or digitally creating the latter, and then subjecting the result to CAD color separation and conditioning (“CAM preparation”). The encoder signal is used for synchronization and is communicated to the central processing unit  20  or central processing units of the individual printing assemblies. 
     With the system shown in FIG. 9, consisting of a plurality of devices  25 , a multicolor pattern can be transferred to an extremely wide variety of substrates  2 , irrespective of the register, if each printing assembly  25  is allocated a particular color. 
     FIG. 11 and 12 illustrate the indirect method according to the invention. A transport drum  50  provided with holes is rotated in the direction of arrow  51 , and takes up medium in each of its holes from a container  52 . A propelling device  53  (FIG. 11) or  54  (FIG. 12) selectively removes the medium from predetermined holes of the transport drum  50 . The propelling devices  53 ,  54  are controlled by a computer  55 , in which data relating to a pattern  56  to be printed is stored and processed. The medium remaining in the holes of the transport drum is transferred by an element  57 , such as a squeegee or a non-selective propelling device to a substrate  58  moving in the direction of arrow  59 . In FIG. 11 the propelling device contains valves and nozzles delivering gas pulses for bringing medium to a collecting container  60 , while in FIG. 12 the propelling device contains controllable electrostatic heads selectively removing the medium at predetermined points from the transport drum  50 . 
     FIG. 13 shows a planar container  67  containing a flat opened transport device  1  which is mounted in a frame  66 . A medium  12  (not shown in the Figure) is distributed by an applicator device  63  that is driven by a motor  61  and drive shaft  62 . Medium  12  is transferred contactless with a delivery device  80  over the whole width of a substrate  2  which is transported intermittently on a belt  64 , e.g. from the device shown in FIG. 13 to a next one for applying a next colour. An encoder  65  provides the position of the applicator device  63  with reference to the transport device  1 . 
     FIG. 14 shows a modification of the device of FIG. 13 with a delivery device  81  which is not distributed over the whole width of the transport device  1 , and instead is driven in the longitudinal direction of the applicator device  63  over the width of the transport device  1  by a second motor  68 . This reduces the size of the delivery device  81 . Via encoders  65  and  69  the position of the delivery device  81  is controlled. 
     The device according to the invention, and the method according to the invention, do not require the manufacture and patterning of stencils, as is currently necessary in the prior art. By selectively actuating a propelling device in synchronism with the movement of a substrate  2 , and successive printing assemblies  25 , any pattern can be made straightforwardly. The speeds which can be achieved are in this case at least of the order of the speeds of currently customary methods. 
     However, it is to be observed that the method according to the invention can also be used for producing patterned stencils, which can be used in the conventional way, by using an unpatterned printing screen as a transport device for transporting liquid lacquer as a medium, and using a propelling device for selectively removing the medium from holes of the printing screen, and thereafter drying the lacquer. 
     After pattern creation and colour separation, it is basically possible, in the method according to the invention, to work only with primary colours and to mix these directly on the substrate. The advantage of such a procedure is that it is entirely unnecessary to prepare and to mix colours. The burdening of the environment is thereby correspondingly reduced. 
     FIG. 15 shows an application of the inventive ideas according to the invention in the field of metering of media. A transport device  90  provided with holes is rotated in the direction of arrow  91 , and takes up medium in each of its holes from a container  92 . The amount of medium in each hole is known. A propelling device  93  selectively removes the medium from predetermined holes of the transport device  90  to a container  94 . The propelling device  93  is controlled by a computer  95 , in which data relating to the amount of medium to be metered and/or the amount of medium per unit of time is stored and processed. By providing a plurality of units according to FIG. 15, multi-metering devices can be provided. Other advantages of the described metering device are the large metering range, the high speed, no pollution of the medium in the transport device, practically digital operation, fast exchange of transport devices, and possible use in the analytical field. It is observed that also an indirect method of metering similar to the method illustrated in FIGS. 11 and 12 can be used. 
     While the invention has been described and illustrated in its preferred embodiments, it should be understood that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the invention, which is not limited to the details disclosed herein.