Process for preparing a flexographic printing plate
AssigneeE. I. Du Pont de Nemours and Company
InventorsSabine Rapp, Thies Knudsen
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A process for preparing a flexographic printing plate comprising providing a photosensitive element comprising a support and at least one photopolymerizable layer, providing a photomask adjacent the photopolymerizable layer opposite the support, exposing the photosensitive element with ultraviolet radiation between 200 and 300 nm through the photomask, exposing the photosensitive element with ultraviolet radiation between 310 and 400 nm through the photomask to photopolymerize areas of the photopolymerizable layer, and treating the exposed photosensitive element to remove unpolymerized areas, thereby forming a relief surface suitable for printing.
Claims13
A process for preparing a flexographic printing plate comprising in order:
- a) providing a photosensitive element comprising a support, and at least one photopolymerizable layer comprising at least one elastomeric binder, at least one ethylenically unsaturated compound photopolymerizable by actinic radiation, and at least one photoinitiator or photoinitiator system;
- b) providing a photomask adjacent the photopolymerizable layer opposite the support;
- c) exposing the photosensitive element with ultraviolet radiation between 200 and 300 nm through the photomask;
- d) exposing the photosensitive element with ultraviolet radiation between 310 and 400 nm through the photomask to photopolymerize areas of the photopolymerizable layer exposed to ultraviolet radiation;
- and
- e) treating the exposed photosensitive element to remove unpolymerized areas of the photopolymerizable layer not exposed to ultraviolet radiation, thereby forming a relief surface suitable for printing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.