Method and apparatus for thermal processing of photosensitive printing elements

摘要

The present invention pertains to a process and an apparatus for treating a photosensitive element to form a relief structure suitable for flexographic printing plate. The apparatus comprises an enclosure, a conveyor, a heatable roller with absorbent material conducted over it, and a roller that can significantly smooth or uniformly roughen the relief structure of the flexographic printing plate. Previously selectively cured photosensitive elements are developed by means of the heatable roller by blotting with the absorbent material, and the resulting relief structure is made uniform by way of a smoothing or roughening roller. The flexographic plates produced by the method and apparatus are especially suited to processes that require substantially smoothed or uniformly roughened printing plate surfaces, which are capable of producing better quality printing.

主权项

1. An apparatus for forming a relief structure on a flexographic photosensitive printing element, wherein the flexographic photosensitive printing element comprises a flexible substrate and at least one layer of photosensitive material comprising cured photosensitive material and uncured photosensitive material on the flexible substrate, the apparatus comprising:
(i) an enclosure; (ii) conveying means comprising a continuous loop, upon which a flexographic photosensitive printing element can be supported; (iii) a mounted heatable roller in the enclosure; (iv) an absorbent material covering at least a portion of the heatable roller, wherein the absorbent material is capable of absorbing liquefied or softened uncured photosensitive material from the flexographic photosensitive printing element when the flexographic photosensitive printing element comes into contact with the absorbent material on a portion of the heatable roller; (v) a smoothing or roughening roller which changes the surface roughness of the cured photosensitive material of the flexographic photosensitive printing element when the smoothing or roughening roller comes into contact with the cured photosensitive material of the flexographic photosensitive printing element and wherein the smoothing or roughening roller is not in contact with any portion of the absorbent material at the point where such absorbent material comes into contact with the cured photosensitive material of the flexographic photosensitive printing element.