Curing of photo-curable printing plates with flat tops or round tops by variable speed exposure

摘要

An apparatus for curing a printing plate made of or having photo-curable material, a method of curing such a printing plate, and a printing plate cured by the method. One embodiment of the method includes curing a printing plate made of or having photo-curable material thereon. The method includes producing light energy on part of the printing plate using a light exposure unit, including relative motion between the light energy and the plate in a transverse direction at a changeable period of repetition, such that curing can produce printing features on the plate that can be switched to have either flat tops or round tops according to the period of repetition.

主权项

1. An apparatus for curing a printing plate made of or having photo-curable material thereon, the apparatus comprising:
a light exposure unit including a light source to produce light energy on the printing plate at a wavelength or wavelengths suitable for curing the photo-curable material; a drive mechanism configured to produce relative motion between the illumination applied to the plate from the light exposure unit and the plate during curing of the plate, the relative motion including at least relative motion in a transverse direction; and a control system coupled to and configured to control at least the drive mechanism, wherein at any time, the light source illuminates a relatively small proportion of the extent of the printing plate in the transverse direction, wherein the control system is configured to repeat the relative motion between the illumination and the plate in the transverse direction, the repeating being periodic with a period of repetition, such that the illumination is applied periodically to any region of the plate with the period of repetition, wherein the control system is further configured such that the period of repetition is controllable between a first period of repetition and a second period of repetition, the second period of repetition being substantially longer than the first period of repetition, wherein the second period of repetition is selected such that curing at the second period of repetition produces printing features that have flat tops, and the first period of repetition is selected such that curing at the first period of repetition produces printing features that have round tops, the respective overall fluence at each of the first period of repetition and the second period of repetition being sufficient to cure the printing plate.