Drawing apparatus and method of attaching balance weights

A drawing apparatus, comprising:

• a rotatable recording drum having a cylindrical surface to which a plate is fixed and having a rotation shaft;
• a driving device that rotates said recording drum around the rotation shaft;
• a recording head that irradiates a laser beam on the plate fixed to the cylindrical surface of said recording drum to directly record an image on the plate;
• a front end clamp disposed on the cylindrical surface of said recording drum and having a plate fixing portion;
• a rear end clamp attached in any of a plurality of positions at the cylindrical surface of said recording drum to fix the rear end of the plate;
• a plate carry-in path that holds a plate to be recorded with an image over said recording drum;
• a pair of rollers provided at the front end portion of said plate carry-in path for feeding the plate from said plate carry-in path;
• a front end clamp opening/closing device that opens or closes said front end clamp;
• a rear end clamp attaching/detaching device that attaches or detaches said rear end clamp to or from the cylindrical surface of said recording drum;
• and
• a controller that controls said driving device, said recording head, said pair of rollers, said front end clamp opening/closing device and said rear end clamp attaching/detaching device, wherein
• said controller controls said front end clamp opening/closing device to open said front end clamp;
• controls the pair of rollers to feed the plate held on said plate carry-in path toward said front end clamp;
• controls said front end clamp opening/closing device to close the plate fixing portion of said front end clamp to fix the front end of said plate on the cylindrical surface of said recording drum,
• controls said driving device to rotate said recording drum for a predetermined amount, and
• controls said rear end clamp attaching/detaching device to attach said rear end clamp to the cylindrical surface of said recording drum to fix the rear end of the plate on said cylindrical surface of said recording drum.