Beam illumination system and method for producing printing plates
AssigneeEsko-Graphics A/S
InventorWolfgang Sievers
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Images are transferred to printing plates by illuminating light-responsive materials with patterns corresponding to the images to be printed. The present invention provides for the transferring of an image by the combined flux from two or more beams of light. Particular embodiments ablate the mask printing plates for CTP systems by the combined illumination from a first, broad beam and a plurality of controllable, pulsed beams that co-illuminate the plate with the first beam. The resulting system and method is less expensive than the prior art and produces a printing plate more efficiently and with improved productivity than the prior art.
Claims37
An apparatus to expose an accepted light-responsive material comprising:
- a light source to produce at least two light beams having a combined intensity at a location of the accepted light-responsive material,
- where said at least two light beams includes at least one light beam having a controllable intensity, and where said combined intensity is controllable between:
- a first combined intensity insufficient to expose an accepted light-responsive material;
- and
- a second combined intensity sufficient to expose the accepted light-responsive material.
An apparatus to ablate an accepted light-responsive material having an ablation threshold comprising:
- a first light source for generating a light beam to illuminate a first area of the accepted light-responsive material, where the intensity of light of said light beam is insufficient to ablate said first area;
- and
- a second light source for generating one or more light beams to each illuminate a corresponding area within said first area, where each of said one or more light beams has a controllable intensity, and where the intensity of said one or more light beams is insufficient to ablate said corresponding area, where each controllable intensity is controllable between a first intensity and a second intensity, and
- where the combined intensity of said first light source and said second light source having said first intensity is insufficient to ablate said corresponding area, and
- where the combined intensity of said first light source and said second light source having a second intensity sufficient to ablate said corresponding area.
A method to expose light-responsive materials comprising:
- accepting a light-responsive material;
- and
- providing a light intensity sufficient to expose an area of said accepted light-responsive material, where said providing includes:
- providing a first light beam;
- and
- providing a second light beam, where the light intensity of said first provided first light beam and said second provided light beam are individually insufficient to expose said light-responsive material.
A method for exposing light-responsive materials comprising:
- accepting a light-responsive material;
- and
- providing an area of said accepted light-responsive material with a light intensity sufficient to ablate, where said providing includes:
- providing light from a first light source;
- and
- providing light from a second light source, where the light intensity of light provided by said first light source and the intensity of light provided by said second light source are individually insufficient to ablate said light-responsive material.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.