Abstract
The following quote was obtained by the news editors from the background informa tion suppliedby the inventors: “Many processes are known in the art for prepari ng polymer printing plates, such asphotopolymer flexographic plates and letterp ress printing plates coated with photopolymer material. Sincethe beginning of f lexographic printing with polymer plates, automated movement of the plates has b eenused for the transport of polymer plates through the various processing step s, as well as inside the washingprocessor. A typical process workflow includes portions in which plates are moved from an imaging stationto a photopolymer cur ing (e.g. UV exposure) station to a plate washing/processing station. Early systems used conveyor belts for transport from the curing station to the processing station. In some currentsystems, holes are punched into the plate at one side t o fix the plate to a bar with pins that stick intothe holes in the plate. The b ar with the plate attached is then dragged through subsequent stages of theproc ess.
NETL
NSTL