Autotype International Limited

John William Jones

David Joseph Foster

John A Sperry

Peter M Day

Screen printing stencils are produced by a positive-working method which involves no light-sensitive materials and does not require the use of safe lights. A coated receptor film having a coating layer and a support layer is imaged using an ink-jet printer or plotter in areas corresponding to the open stencil areas. The film is then applied to a mesh and an emulsion applied. Chemical hardening of the emulsion takes place in the non-imaged areas. The stencil is then produced by removing the support layer of the film and washing away the unhardened emulsion. The receptor film may include a layer which is incorporated into the stencil layer to form a profile. In addition to screen production methods, coated films, coating compositions and compositions for imagewise application are disclosed.

Screen printing stencil production

A coated film product comprises a support base, a stencil-forming layer and an intermediate release layer. The stencil-forming layer is a blend of two grades of polyvinyl alcohol having different degrees of hydrolysis. The stencil-forming layer is imaged by dropwise application (for example using an ink-jet printer or plotter) of a cross-linking agent which hardens the stencil-forming layer to resist washing out with water. The hardened areas remaining after washing out are however sufficiently tacky for the washed-out film to adhere to the screen mesh by application of pressure and, after removal of the support base, form the stencil layer of a screen-printing screen.

Method of screen printing stencil production

Light-sensitive compositions and materials incorporating such compositions, such as coated films for the production of polymeric resists, comprise a diazo-resin as a sensitizer for the composition and a water-soluble or water-dispersible colloid. In order to stabilize the diazo-resin sensitizer and increase the time between manufacture and use of such light-sensitive compositions and material, a poly-(vinylpyridine) is incorporated in the composition, preferably in the form of a water-soluble salt such as the hydrochloride or sulphate.

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Wantage, United Kingdom

John William Jones