Process for manufacturing a strip of aluminum alloy for lithographic printing plates
AssigneeAlcan Technology & Management Ltd.
InventorsGuenther Hoellrigl, Glenn Smith
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A process for manufacturing a strip of aluminium or an aluminium alloy for electrolytically roughened lithographic printing plates, in which the alloy is continuously cast as a strip and then rolled to final thickness, is such that the cast strip is rolled to final thickness with a thickness reduction of at least 90% without any further heating. The resultant microstructure in the region close to the surface of the strip leads to improved electrolytic etching behaviour.
Claims6
Process for manufacturing a strip of aluminium or an aluminium alloy for electrolytically roughened lithographic printing plates, comprising:
- (a) continuously casting the alloy as a cast strip in the gap between cooled rolls of a strip-casting machine to a thickness of at most 3 mm, the strip having very fine, intermetallic particles in high density and having a small grain size in the regions close to the surface of the cast strip, and, in order to prevent coarsening of grains, no further heat is applied to the strip which has been solidified in the roll gap;
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- (b) cold rolling the cast strip so that advantageous grain microstructure in the surface regions arising from rapid solidification is retained to final thickness with a thickness reduction of at least 90%, the cast strip not having any further heat applied to it until after the final thickness has been attained.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.