Drill for flexographic plates and negatives

A drill bar for flexographic negatives and plates, said drill bar comprising:

• a. a linear array of spaced apart drilling spindles, each of said drilling spindles being hollow and having a drill clamp arranged at a common height;
• b. hollow drills shaped for clamping into said spindles, each of said drills having a collar arranged at an equal distance from a drilling tip so that said collars can abut against said spindles and position said drilling tips at a common height;
• c. slug rods mounted to extend downward through said spindles and said drills for removing drilled out slugs from the insdies of said drills;
• and
• d. said spindles having chain sprockets, and a drive chain meshed with said sprockets for rotating said spindles in unison.

A drill table for flexographic plates and negatives, said drill table comprising:

• a. a platform supporting a bearing system;
• b. a table supported by said bearing system for movement in a Y direction;
• c. a clamp for clamping said table in a Y direction position;
• d. a plate and negative-holding pin bar mounted in a recess in said table and movable in an X direction within said recess relative to said table, said pin bar having a row of upstanding pins extending above an upper surface of said table so that a plate or negative having holes mounted on said pins on said pin bar rests on said upper surface of said table;
• and
• e. a clamp for clamping said pin bar to said table in an X direction position within said recess so that plates and negatives mounted on said pin bar and resting on said table are movable in a Y direction with said table and in an X direction with said pin bar in said recess so that said plates and negatives can be fixed in a selected position relative to a linear array of drills arranged above said table for drilling an array of holes in non-image areas of said negatives and in flexographic plates to be imaged by said negatives.