Toray Industries, Inc.

Shinji Tanaka

Shigetora Kashio

Katsutoshi Sasashita

Katsuhiro Uehara

Michihiko Ichikawa

Masanao Isono

Tamio Adachi

Kumiko Asato

Katutoshi Sasashita

Toshiki Kito

Yoshiki Ichii

A method for making a photosensitive resin printing plate which comprises at least (1) the exposure step of forming a latent image in an aqueous-developable photosensitive resin layer of a printing plate material by irradiating the printing plate material with a ray of active light, (2) the development step of forming a relief image from the latent image by dissolving or dispersing the photosensitive resin layer that forms the latent image into a developer that contains water as a main component, and (3) the drying step of removing the developer from the printing plate having the relief image, the method being characterized in that a photosensitive resin layer component-dissolved or dispersed developer produced in the development step is subjected to a reduced pressure distillation, and is therefore reused as a developer, and a residue produced by the reduced pressure distillation is solidified. Furthermore, a photosensitive resin printing plate material developer processing apparatus for processing a photosensitive resin layer component-containing developer characterized by comprising an evaporator that reduces a pressure of the developer, a cooler that recovers a developer by condensing a developer vapor, and a detachable inner container provided within the evaporator. A developer produced as a result of the development of a photosensitive resin printing plate material and, more particularly, an aqueous-developable photosensitive resin printing plate material, can be reused without a reduction in the developing speed nor aggregation of a photosensitive resin layer component.

Method for manufacturing photosensitive resin printing plate, and developer treatment device

A photosensitive resin printing plate precursor including: a photosensitive resin layer (A) containing a water-soluble or water-dispersible resin and an ultraviolet-curable monomer; and a water-insoluble heat-sensitive mask layer (C) containing an infrared-absorbing material, deposited in that order on a support is disclosed. By introducing a crosslinked structure or a hydrophobic constituent to the heat-sensitive mask layer (C) so as to be insoluble in water, a difference in polarity is produced between the layers (A) and (C) and, thus, mass transfer between the two layers can be prevented. Also, the scratch resistance of the heat-sensitive mask layer (C) can be dramatically enhanced and, thus, the printing plate precursor becomes easy to handle.

Photosensitive resin printing plate original, process for producing the same and process for producing resin relief printing plate therewith

Disclosed is a photosensitive resin printing plate material, which comprises at least a support, a photosensitive resin layer and a photocoloring layer, and in which the photocoloring layer is UV-transmissive before colored, and is colored through exposure to light having a wavelength of from 450 to 1500 nm to be substantially UV-non-transmissive. This is transparent and can reproduce any fine relief, not requiring an original picture film.

Photosensitive resin print plate material and production method for photosensitive resin print plate

A photosensitive resin composition comprising (A) a polymer as derived from its latex dispersion in water, (B) a hydrophilic photopolymerizable monomer, (C) rubber, and (D) a photopolymerization initiator, especially that as prepared by mixing (A&prime;) a latex dispersion in water and (B) a hydrophilic photopolymerizable monomer to give a component (E), followed by kneading under heat the resulting component (E) with (C) rubber and (D) a photopolymerization initiator, can be developed with a developer not containing additives such as surfactants and alkali metal salts. The composition has good image reproducibility and is favorable to flexographic printing plates.

Photosensitive resin composition, method for producing photosensitive resin composition, and printing plate material

Disclosed are a photosensitive resin composition for printing plate materials, which comprise a polymer having an ionic group and a polymerizable group in the side chain, and a printing plate material as formed by applying the composition onto a support. The hardness of the photosensitive layer of the composition is hardly influenced by temperature and water, and the layer, after having been developed, has good resistance to aqueous ink.

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Okazaki, Japan

Shinji Tanaka