Assembly and method for reclaiming incompatible resins from printing plates

A system for removing non-polymerized liquid polymer from a photopolymerized printing plate, said system comprising:

• a) a drum for receiving and holding a printing plate, said drum being rotatable about an axis;
• b) a trough below said drum, said trough being divided into separate liquid polymer repositories by a dam located below said drum;
• c) liquid polymer-removal members disposed on opposite sides of said drum and above each of said repositories;
• and
• d) programmed controller means operable to control the direction of rotation of said drum, and also operable to selectively cause one of said polymer-removal members to engage an outer surface of a printing plate disposed on said drum, and remove liquid polymer from the printing plate so as to deposit the removed liquid polymer in a respective one of said repositories.

A method for removing incompatible liquid photopolymerizable resins from photopolymerized printing plates, said method comprising the steps of:

• a) providing a single station for resin removal;
• b) providing separate repositories at said station, there being a separate repository for each incompatible resin being removed at said station;
• c) providing separate resin-removal tools for each separate repository at said station;
• and
• d) holding a printing plate at said station and selectively bringing the printing plate into contact with one of said resin-removal tools and removing liquid resin from the plate and depositing the removed resin in one of said resin repositories.

A method for removing non-polymerized liquid polymer from a photopolymerized printing plate, said method comprising the steps of:

• a) providing a drum for receiving and holding a printing plate, said drum being rotatable about an axis;
• b) providing a trough below said drum, said trough being divided into separate liquid polymer repositories by a dam located below said drum;
• c) providing liquid polymer-removal tools disposed on opposite sides of said drum and above each of said repositories;
• and
• d) rotating said drum in predetermined direction while concurrently engaging an outer surface of a printing plate disposed on said drum with a selected one of said tools, thereby removing liquid polymer from the printing plate and depositing the liquid polymer in a selected one of said repositories.