Apparatus for making plates for printing

An electro-fax type of apparatus for making a plate for offset printing, comprising:

• a manuscript table section comprising a first housing having a vertical exposure window formed in the front thereof, a manuscript table unit mounted on the front side of said first housing and adapted to cover said exposure window and to be laid down on the front side of said exposure window so that a manuscript is placed face upward thereon and, then, set face backward at said exposure window and lamp means accommodated in said first housing for illuminating said exposure window;
• an optical system section comprising a second housing, a projection lens accommodated in said second housing and located in the rear of said exposure window to project the picture of the manuscript in the backward direction, and a mirror accommodated in said second housing and located in the rear of said projection lens to reflect the projected picture in the downward direction, and;
• a master paper processing system section comprising a third housing and a system accommodated in said third housing for processing a master paper to be made into said plate, said master paper-processing system comprising a plurality of components including a paper feeding mechanism, an electrically charging device, an exposure station located directly under said mirror, a wet developing device and a drying and discharging device, said components being so arranged that said master paper is forwarded along a substantially straight path extending in a horizontal plane and in a lateral direction to the apparatus which is perpendicular to the direction of the optical axis of said projection lens.