Apparatus and method for picking a single printing plate from a stack of printing plates

摘要

An apparatus and method for picking a single printing plate (181) from a stack (20) of printing plates. The apparatus includes a plurality of suction cups (116), a peeler (162), a drive system (166) for displacing the suction cups (116) and the peeler (162) against the surface of the top printing plate (181) on the stack (20), a vacuum source for supplying a vacuum to the suction cups (116) to secure the suction cups (116) against the surface of the top printing plate (181), and a system for rotatably displacing the suction cups (116) relative to the peeler (162) to peel a portion of the top printing plate (181) off of the stack (20). The center line (CL) of rotation of the displacing system (100) is located at a contact point between the peeler (162) and the surface of the top printing plate (181). This prevents any relative motion of the top printing plate (181) against the next, underlying printing plate (182) on the stack (20) during the peeling operation. <IMAGE>