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US 2006/0217450 A1Published application
Methods for reclaiming developing solvents
AssigneeNuPro Technologies, Inc.
InventorsConstance Hendrickson, David Bradford
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AssigneeNuPro Technologies, Inc.
InventorsConstance Hendrickson, David Bradford
Estimating the term…
The present invention relates to an improved method for reclaiming and recycling developing solvents used in the production of flexographic printing plates. More specifically, the invention relates to reclaiming and/or recycling of the developing solvent through centrifugation and/or filtration. According to the invention, the solvent used in developing printing plates can be reclaimed and/or recycled by simply centrifuging the polymer-contaminated solvent. In certain embodiment, the centrifuged solvent is further filtered. The process involves transferring the contaminated solvent, from a plate processor or a dirty holding tank, to a centrifuge, and centrifuging the contaminated solvent to remove the polymer. The reclaimed solvent can be transfer directly back to the plate processor or to a clean holding tank.
A method for purifying polymer-containing solvent used in developing printing plates, said method comprising the steps of centrifuging said solvent to separate the polymer from the solvent.
The method of claim 7, wherein the co-solvent is selected from the group consisting of n-butanol, 2-ethoxyethanol, benzyl alcohol, ethanol, methanol, propanol, isopropanol, alpha terpineol, dipropylene glycol methyl ether, 2-butoxyethanol, isopropyl alcohol, and 2-(2-butoxyethoxy) ethanol, cyclopentanol, cyclohexanol, cycloheptanol, substituted cyclopentanol, substituted cyclohexanol, substituted cycloheptanol, cyclopentyl substituted alcohol, cyclohexyl substituted alcohol, and cycloheptyl substituted alcohol.
The method of claim 8, wherein the substituted cyclohexanol is 4-ethycyclohexanol.
The method of claim 13, wherein the non-solvent is selected from the group consisting of aliphatic petroleum distillates, naphthas, paraffinic solvents, hydro-treated petroleum distillates, mineral oil, mineral spirits, ligroin, decane, octane, and hexane.
The method of claim 14, wherein the paraffinic solvents are isoparaffins.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.