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AssigneePhotomeca S.A.
InventorMario Ferrante
Estimating the term…
A process for making plates from a photopolymer sheet which has been pre-exposed to ultraviolet radiation for conversion into printing plates for flexography, letterpress or dry-offset printing, includes the steps of inserting the sheet into an apparatus, sensitive side facing upwards and at high speed, so that the sheet is received on an etching plane and beneath a set of brushes, and etching the sheet under forces resulting from alternating movement of the brushes and to-and-fro movement of the brushes in a horizontal direction perpendicular to the alternating movement of the brushes. The sheet is automatically held in position during etching. Also disclosed is an apparatus for implementing this process, allowing for very rapid etching.
A process for making plates from a photopolymer sheet that has been pre-exposed to ultraviolet radiation to form a sensitive side, for converting the sheet into printing plates for flexography, letterpress or dry-offset printing, comprising the steps of:
An apparatus for making plates from a photopolymer sheet that has been pre-exposed to ultraviolet radiation to form a sensitive side, for converting the sheet into printing plates for flexography, letterpress or dry-offset printing following insertion of the sheet into the apparatus at high speed and with the sensitive side of the sheet facing upwardly, the apparatus comprising an etching tank, a bearing-plate supported by the etching tank for receiving the sheet and for maintaining the sheet perfectly flat during etching of the plates, and a plurality of flat brushes carried by a brush support for movement independent of each other and above the bearing-plate, wherein the sheet is automatically held in position by the brushes during etching of the plates, with the sheet lying on an etching plane beneath the set of brushes.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.