Basf Aktiengesellschaft

Klaus Spreng

Gerhard Hoffmann

Werner Lenz

Manfred Zuerger

Josef Woellhaf

Paul Hecke

Milan Obradovic

A process and apparatus for the production of exposed printing plates consisting of a resin layer and a support, said resin layer being prepared from a fluid photopolymerizable material which is introduced into a mold having at least one transparent wall which is covered with an image-bearing transparency, and being exposed through said image-bearing transparency, which causes photopolymerization of the exposed areas of the resin layer and bonds these areas to the support which is provided with an adhesive layer. The improved process comprises introducing a predetermined amount of fluid photopolymerizable material, said amount corresponding substantially to the volume of the resin layer of the exposed printing plate; adjusting said support and said transparent wall of the mold so that they are equidistant from one another, adjustment being advantageously effected by bending or doming the support relative to the transparent wall after the latter has been bent or domed by the fluid material introduced into the mold under pressure. Further embodiments of the invention serve to minimize the loss of photopolymerizable material and to avoid the formation of foam when the fluid material is introduced into the mold. The apparatus of the invention can be manufactured and operated easily and economically.

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Weisenheim, Germany

Klaus Spreng