Photocopying – Contact printing – Exposing on sensitized printing press plate or cylinder
Patent
1989-04-27
1990-06-05
Wintercorn, Richard A.
Photocopying
Contact printing
Exposing on sensitized printing press plate or cylinder
355 99, G03B 2704
Patent
active
049318330
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The invention relates to an automatic process line for exposing photosensitive printing plates with a film and a mask, if any, lying thereon, in a light box.
Accordingly, the present case concerns an apparatus for handling such aluminium plates having a photosensitive layer, which are used for offset printing and which are bent, after exposure and development, at two opposite edges then to be mounted on a printing cylinder in the printing press. The processing of the plates in case of multi-colour printing with text as well as pictures is very heavy and complicated because it may be necessary to expose a single plate several times in combination with different films and masks before the plate is developed, and this gathering of plates, films and masks is not only time consuming but also necessitates great care and precision in order that each plate will be properly exposed. Automatically functioning apparatus for manufacturing plates is known which is used for printing of black and white only but, as far as is known, not for manufacturing plates for multi-colour printing although there exists a clear demand of the possibility of preparing such plates of high quality rapidly and by small manual efforts.
The object of the invention is to satisfy this demand and to provide an apparatus which is well suited for automation by application of common control technique such that the preparation of the plates can follow a predetermined program without manual intervention.
According to the invention said object is achieved by providing an automatic process line of the kind referred to herein having the characteristics appearing from claim 1.
In order to explain the invention in more detail reference is made to the accompanying drawings in which
FIG. 1 is a side view of the automatic process line of the invention in one embodiment thereof,
FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a portion of FIG. 1 and
FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view along line III--III in FIG. 2,
FIG. 4 is an enlarged side view of a frame With suction nozzles forming part of the process line, in a position above a cassette shown in sectional view,
FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic and fragmentary side view of control means for centering plate, film and mask on a light box when the plate is being exposed,
FIG. 6 is a front view of a glass pane on the light box.
FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic and fragmentary side view of the light box and the sealing door thereof,
FIG. 8 is a plan view of a code templet for automatically controlling the processing of plates, films and masks,
FIG. 9 is a plan view of a coded film disposed on the code templet, and
FIG. 10 is a vertical sectional view of means for reading the code.
In FIG. 1 the process line is shown in its entirety. It is built up on a framework 10 including an inclined magazine section 11 shown in enlarged view in FIGS. 2 and 3. In the magazine section guides 12 are provided for the insertion of three cassettes 13, 14 and 15, the cassette 13 being intended for a stack of masks, the cassette 14 for a stack of films, and the cassette 15 for a stack of aluminium plates having a photosensitive layer. On each cassette the stacks supported thereon should be located in a predetermined position by means of guide pins penetrating through register apertures in the plates, films and masks. The Cassettes are arranged in parallel with each other and are mutually spaced but are not one exactly below the other; they are displaced laterally such that the lowermost cassette with the masks is located furthest to the right, the other cassettes being displaced inwardly in stepped relationship so that a portion of the lowermost cassette and the intermediate cassette is freely available from above at the right-hand edge. The three cassettes can be duplicated such that two cassettes are disposed one beside the other at each level perpendicularly to the plane of the drawing as will be seen from FIG. 3 as far as the cassettes 15 for the plates are concerned.
In the magazine section 11 of the framework 10 a carriage 20 is displaceably guided by c
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Persson Johnny
Wintercorn Richard A.
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