Printing – Planographic – Lithographic plate making – and processes of making or using...
Reexamination Certificate
2000-05-15
2002-03-12
Eickholt, Eugene (Department: 2854)
Printing
Planographic
Lithographic plate making, and processes of making or using...
C101S477000, C101S401100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06354208
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to the preparation of printing plates for mounting onto a printing press and particularly to the transport and automatic handling of the printing plates after recording an image onto the printing plates by a recording device.
Pre-press devices, e.g. imagestters and platesetters record images onto printing plates according to image information provided by electronic image files. Electronic image files may be prepared and processed by a front-end computer system, such as a server or workstation, operated by a pre-press operator. A printing job may include one printing plate having a single image recorded thereon or the printing job may include a plurality of related printing plates each having a different image or a different portion of the printing job recorded thereon. For example, when printing a color reproduction of a color original image, a separate printing plate may be required for separately printing each color of the original image.
More recently, recording devices have become automated. An automatic plate loading system may be interconnected with the recording device to provide access to various plate types automatically. For example, plates with different length and width dimensions for accommodating different size images and plates of different thickness', for accommodating different printing reproduction requirements may be stored in an automated plate handler. Accordingly, a plate type required by the printing job might be selected at the front-end and automatically loaded by the automated plate handler into the recording device for recording the image onto the selected plate type. An electronic designation signal designating the plate type may therefore be included within or provided in addition to the electronic image file sent from the front-end to the recording device.
Most printing plates require further processing after an image is recorded onto the printing plate by the image recording device. For example, when the recording media includes a photochemical image-recording layer, further processing may comprise a chemical-developing step. A chemical developer or plate processor may also perform other finishing steps such as washing and drying. On-line chemical developers attached directly onto the output end of the image recording device automatically receive plates from the image recording device and transport the plates through the chemical developer while performing the processing steps automatically. The plates exit the chemical developer onto a tray for storage until needed. More recently, other plate types having different image layers and requiring different after imaging processing steps have been made available. These plate types may require a different plate processing device for receiving the plates after imaging by a recording device.
One example of a prior art pre-press system is shown in
FIG. 1. A
computer-to-plate imaging system
10
includes a front-end server
12
, a raster image processor
14
, and a platesetter recording device
16
. Printing jobs in the form of electronic image files are prepared at the front-end server
12
and communicated to a raster image processor (RIP)
14
. RIP
14
formats the electronic image files for recording by the recording device
16
and communicated rasterized electronic image files thereto. The RIP
14
may be incorporated within the front-end
12
.
Platesetter
16
comprises an electronic controller
30
for receiving electronic image files from the RIP
14
or front-end
12
and for coordinating the operation of the platesetter
16
and a plate recording device
20
for recording an image onto a plate. The recording device may be hand loaded with printing plates or automatically fed by an automatic plate manager
18
. Plate manager
18
stores a plurality of printing plates of one or more plate types in one or more plate storage cassettes
24
. According to the present example of the prior art plates a single plate is selected from the access position by a plate transport device
28
from a cassette
24
to the recording device
20
. The platesetter
16
may also include an automated plate processor
22
for receiving the imaged plates from the recording device
20
and chemically or otherwise processing the plates to further enhance the recorded image. The prior art example of
FIG. 1
, is sold by Agfa Corporation of Wilmington, Mass. USA, under the trade name GALILEO. The plates handled by the prior art example range in size from about 450×368 mm, (17.72×14.5 in.) up to about 1130×820 mm (44.5×32.29 in.).
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patent: 5738014 (1998-04-01), Rombult et al.
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patent: 6076464 (2000-06-01), Okamura
Nita Inc. Graphic Arts Equipment—Brochure (undated).
Techno-Grafica GmbH—Brochure (undated).
Bos Jan
Hammersma Frans
Tetreault Robert
Williams John
AGFA Corporation
Eickholt Eugene
Kelley Edward L.
King Joseph D.
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