Presstek, Inc.

Other

Presstak, Inc.

Presst, Inc.

Technographics Printworld, Inc.

Thomas E Lewis

Michael T Nowak

Richard A Williams

John F Kline

John P Gardiner

Frank G Pensavecchia

Kenneth T Robichaud

Bradley W Davidson

Kenneth R Cassidy

Ernest W Ellis

Robert Howard

Steven J Frank

Nanda Nathan

Frederick R Kearney

Richard J D'Amato

Eugene L Langlais

Stephen M LaPonsey

Susan J Lanphear

Kathleen Krizka

Lawrence A Howard

Carl E Sideman

Embodiments of the present invention dispense with the need for lithographic printing plates, instead facilitating direct transfer of ink from a permanent cylinder to a recording medium. Accordingly, instead of being permanently modified to exhibit oleophilic and oleophobic (or hydrophilic) regions, the cylinder is effectively 'programmed' with the image prior to each transfer of ink.

Plateless lithographic printing

A unisex garment has a waistband. A pair of leg members extend down from the waistband. A mechanism is coupled to the unisex garment to allow easy opening of the crotch area to access the genitals. The mechanism comprises a zipper running from a crotch seam positioned between the pair of leg members to a belt line just below the waistband wherein upward movement of a handle will open the zipper. A plurality of quick release fasteners run from a top section of the crotch seam towards pant inseams on both pair of leg members.

Pants having an easy to open front area and method therefor

Metal-based printing members suitable for transfer-type imaging include a metal substrate and a hydrophilic, polymeric coating thereover. Desirably, the polymeric coating is crosslinked and withstands repeated application of fountain solution during printing. The polymeric coating can, however, undergo degradation where exposed to fountain solution so long as the ink-receptive portions&mdash;the areas where oleophilic material has been transferred onto the hydrophilic coating&mdash;remain intact.

Transfer imaging with metal-based receivers

Lithographic imaging using non-ablative printing members combines the benefits of simple construction, the ability to utilize traditional metal base supports, and amenability to imaging with low-power lasers that need not impart ablation-inducing energy levels. A representative printing member has a hydrophilic metal substrate and, thereover, first and second layers. The first layer has a thickness and an exposed surface and comprises a material that absorbs imaging radiation. The second layer overlies the first layer and is oleophilic and substantially transparent to imaging radiation. Exposure to imaging radiation causes the first layer and the substrate to irreversibly detach without substantial ablation, thereby facilitating removal, by subjection to the cleaning liquid, of the first and second layers where detachment has taken place.

Lithographic imaging with metal-based, non-ablative wet printing members

Lithographic plate constructions include imaging layers having dispersed therein a radiation-scattering material and a radiation-absorbing material, both of which cooperate to increase the overall absorption of radiation in that layer. The radiation-scattering material may be in particulate form, the particles reflecting the imaging radiation from their surfaces. The use of particulate scattering material within the imaging layer creates a highly porous matrix that favors deep penetration of the imaging radiation and mechanical locking of the imaging layer to one or both adjacent layers. The scattering material may also be chosen also for its ability to chemically bind with an adjacent layer to increase intercoat adhesion.

Lithographic imaging with printing members having enhanced-performance imaging layers

Lithographic imaging using non-ablative printing members combines the benefits of simple construction, the ability to utilize traditional metal base supports, and amenability to imaging with low-power lasers that need not impart ablation-inducing energy levels. A representative printing member has a hydrophilic metal substrate and, thereover, first and second layers. The first layer has a thickness and an exposure surface and comprises a material that absorbs imaging radiation. The second layer overlies the first layer and is oleophilic and substantially transparent to imaging radiation. Exposure to imaging radiation causes the first layer and the substrate to irreversibly detach without substantial ablation, thereby facilitating removal, by subjection to the cleaning liquid, of the first and second layers where detachment has taken place.

Lithographic imaging using non-ablative printing members combines the benefits of simple construction, the ability to utilize traditional metal base supports, and amenability to imaging with low-power lasers that need not impart ablation-inducing energy levels. A representative printing member has a topmost layer that is ink-receptive and does not significantly absorb imaging radiation, a second layer thereunder that is hydrophilic and does absorb imaging radiation, and a metal substrate under the second layer. The printing member is selectively exposed to laser radiation in an imagewise pattern, and laser energy passes substantially unabsorbed through the first layer and is absorbed by the second layer. Heat builds up in the second layer sufficiently to detach the first layer, which is formulated to resist reattachment. But the first layer and, more significantly, the third layer act to dissipate heat from the second layer to prevent its ablation. Where the printing member has received laser exposure&mdash;that is, where the first and second layers have been detached&mdash;remnants of the first layer are readily removed to produce a finished printing plate.

Lithographic imaging with non-ablative wet printing members

Cleaning compositions for ablation-type lithographic printing plates include solvent, non-solvent and lubricating components, the vapor pressures and concentrations of the various components being chosen such that the mixture never becomes too rich in solvent. In this way, the solvent's effect is directed primarily at thermal byproducts, which, because they are exposed and already partly decomposed, are more vulnerable to solvent action than the intact, anchored plate constituents in unimaged regions. The compositions are used in conjunction with mechanical rubbing of the plate surface following imaging.

Methods and compositions for imaging and cleaning lithographic printing plates

A plate material tensioning and advancement mechanism is disposed in parallel relation to a cylinder, such as a plate cylinder of a printing press, so as to separate the plate material into distinct printable sections. The plate material tensioning and advancement mechanism assists in supplying tension to the plate material via a tensioning roll during printing operation and assists in winding fresh plate material about the cylinder during advancement operation by reducing the tension on the plate material and by optionally applying tangential force to the plate material via a winding roll.

Dual-plate winding mechanism with tension adjustment

The effects of interfacial transition between organic and inorganic layers of a lithographic printing member are ameliorated by incorporating an inorganic component within the matrix of the organic layer. In a first aspect, a lithographic printing plate having adjacent organic and inorganic layers is fabricated by depositing a curable polymer, softening the polymer, and integrating an inorganic material therewith. The polymer is then cured to immobilize the integrated deposition material, and the desired inorganic layer is applied over the deposited inorganic material (and any exposed portions of the polymer). In a second aspect, a graded structure is built up on a substrate in successive deposition steps. Both polymer precursors and an inorganic filler material are deposited in stages, with each stage containing a desired ratio of polymer to filler.

Lithographic imaging with constructions having mixed organic/inorganic layers

The effects of interfacial transition between organic and inorganic layers of a multilayer construction are ameliorated by incorporating an inorganic component within the matrix of the organic layer. In a first aspect, a construction having adjacent organic and inorganic layers is fabricated by depositing a curable polymer, softening the polymer, and integrating an inorganic material therewith. The polymer is then cured to immobilize the integrated deposition material, and the desired inorganic layer is applied over the deposited inorganic material (and any exposed portions of the polymer). In a second aspect, a graded structure is built up on a substrate in successive deposition steps. Both polymer precursors and an inorganic filler material are deposited in stages, with each stage containing a desired ratio of polymer to filler.

Composite constructions having mixed organic/inorganic layers

Imaging of lithographic printing plates with reduced fluence requirements is accomplished using printing members that have a solid substrate, gas-producing and radiation-absorptive layers over the substrate, and a topmost layer that contrasts with the substrate in terms of lithographic affinity. Exposure of the radiation-absorptive layer to laser light causes this layer to become intensely hot. This, in turn, activates the gas-producing layer, causing rapid evolution and expansion of gaseous decomposition products. The gases stretch the overlying topmost layer to create a bubble over the exposure region, where the imaging layers have been destroyed. If this process is sufficiently explosive, the neck of the bubble expands beyond the diameter of the incident laser beam, tearing the topmost layer and the underlying imaging layers away from the substrate outside the exposed region. The entire affected area is easily removed during a post-imaging cleaning process, resulting in an image spot larger than the incident beam diameter.

Lithographic imaging with reduced power requirements

Methods and apparatus for lithographic imaging without ablation function by irreversibly debonding intermediate printing-plate layers, thereby rendering at least the surface layer removable by cleaning to expose, in an imagewise pattern, an underlying layer having a different affinity for ink and/or an abhesive fluid for ink. In contrast to ablation-type systems, it is unnecessary to destroy a plate layer, thereby reducing power requirements and facilitating increased imaging speeds.

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E. Hampstead, NH, United States of America

Thomas E Lewis