Apparatus and method for producing flexographic printing forms
AssigneeNeuefeind GmbH
InventorSven Neuefeind
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Disclosed are an apparatus and a method for the production of printing forms for flexographic printing. The apparatus includes a carrier plate on a retaining device, a reservoir and an exposure apparatus. A solidifiable medium is applied to a carrier plate in regions or at certain points in at least one layer in order to configure a raised surface of the printing form. At least one exposure apparatus emits UV radiation, points which are exposed to this radiation. By the sequence of exposure over a defined time and subsequent movement of the carrier plate, preferably in the vertical direction to the exposure apparatus, the solidifiable medium is solidified layer by layer. Thus a raised printing form is produced by repetition of this sequence.
Claims17
An apparatus for producing printing forms for flexographic printing, comprising a carrier plate and a retaining device on which the carrier plate is arranged, a reservoir and an exposure apparatus,
- wherein the reservoir is configured to be filled with a solidifiable medium and the carrier plate is configured for immersion in the solidifiable medium and the exposure apparatus is configured to radiate UV radiation in patterns, images or other shapes onto the solidifiable medium,
- wherein the carrier plate and the exposure apparatus are arranged so that at least one layer of the solidifiable medium can be exposed between a main side of the carrier plate and the exposure apparatus with UV radiation and can be solidified on the carrier plate,
- wherein the carrier plate is adjustable in the reservoir and a layer thickness of a layer of the solidifiable medium between the carrier plate and the exposure apparatus is adjustable by a relative movement of the carrier plate and the reservoir,
- wherein the exposure apparatus comprises at least two projectors, which are configured to project an image in such a way that a contiguous image is produced by edge trimming and stacking of a plurality of images, and
- wherein the projectors are arranged with their respective beam cones in such a way that each projector exposes a region by itself and exposes a region overlapping with a further adjacent projector.
A method for the production of flexographic printing forms, wherein a carrier plate on a retaining device is immersed in a reservoir which can be filled with a solidifiable medium and is at least partially irradiated with UV light in freely selectable regions by an exposure apparatus, wherein the exposure apparatus comprises at least two projectors, which are configured to project an image in such a way that a contiguous image is produced by edge trimming and stacking of a plurality of images, comprising the following steps:
- a immersion of the carrier plate on the retaining device in the reservoir with solidifiable medium;
- b adjustment of the thickness of a layer of the solidifiable medium between the carrier plate and the exposure apparatus by a relative movement of the carrier plate and the reservoir;
- c exposure of freely selectable regions of the solidifiable medium of the layer between the carrier plate and the exposure apparatus for solidification of the solidifiable medium by UV light of the exposure apparatus, wherein the projectors are arranged with their respective beam cones in such a way that each projector exposes a region by itself and exposes a region overlapping with a further adjacent projector;
- d repetition of the steps b and c for the production of layers of solidified medium to produce a solidified and raised structure from the solidifiable medium on the carrier plate;
- and
- e movement of the carrier plate with the produced raised structure out of layers of solidified medium by a relative movement of the reservoir and the carrier plate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.