Method and apparatus for laser ablating an image on a mounted blank printing plate

摘要

A method for laser ablating an image on a blank printing plate, includes providing a peripheral tolerance region at the edges of a printing plate, mounting the printing plate on a roller, detecting positions of at least one edge of the printing plate, determining positions of all edges of the printing plate in accordance with the detection, determining an image area within boundaries of the printing plate, laser ablating an image on the printing, within the image area, laser ablating all areas outside of the image area on the printing plate to provide a relief area at which no printing, based on the determined positions of all edges of the printing plate, and controlling the laser to prevent any laser ablation outside of boundaries of the edges of the printing plate, based on the determined positions of all edges of the printing plate, within the provided peripheral tolerance region.

主权项

1. A method for laser ablating to form an image on a mounted blank printing plate having an image area, at least one edge and a peripheral tolerance region of a thickness less than the image area at the at least one edge of the printing plate, comprising the steps of:
detecting positions of at least one edge of the mounted blank printing plate, determining positions of all edges of the mounted blank printing plate in accordance with the step of detecting, determining an image area within the edges of the mounted blank printing plate, laser ablating reliefs on the mounted blank printing plate to create an image, and controlling the laser to stop any laser ablation within the peripheral tolerance region, wherein the peripheral tolerance region is in the form of one of the following:
a beveled area,a stepped area, anda curved area, and wherein the laser transitions on and off in the peripheral tolerance region in order to accommodate a practical tolerance for the switching on and off of the laser in the peripheral tolerance region.