Patent ID: 6871591

Claim:
A cylindrical printing blanket having a sleeve, a compressible layer, a reinforcing layer, and a printing face layer, wherein there is no thread or fiber exterior to the sleeve which extends around the sleeve in the portion of the printing blanket used for printing: wherein at least one of the compressible layer or the reinforcing layer includes an axially oriented gradient, said gradient being either in thickness, in composition, or both, and wherein at least one layer was applied by electrostatic spraying the composition; wherein a boundary exists between the compressible layer and the reinforcing layer, and a second boundary exists between the reinforcing layer and the printing face layer; wherein the boundary between either the compressible layer and the reinforcing layer, the boundary between the reinforcing layer and the printing face layer, or both boundaries, includes a compositional gradient extending at least 0.004 inches radially; wherein the composition within the radial gradient comprises a mixture of the compositions of the layers adjoining the boundary; and wherein the compositions of the adjoining layers are different.