Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
  • G03F—PHOTOMECHANICAL PRODUCTION OF TEXTURED OR PATTERNED SURFACES, e.g. FOR PRINTING, FOR PROCESSING OF SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; MATERIALS THEREFOR; ORIGINALS THEREFOR; APPARATUS SPECIALLY ADAPTED THEREFOR
  • G03F7/00—Photomechanical, e.g. photolithographic, production of textured or patterned surfaces, e.g. printing surfaces; Materials therefor, e.g. comprising photoresists; Apparatus specially adapted therefor
  • G03F7/20—Exposure; Apparatus therefor
  • G03F7/2051—Exposure without an original mask, e.g. using a programmed deflection of a point source, by scanning, by drawing with a light beam, using an addressed light or corpuscular source
  • G03F7/2053—Exposure without an original mask, e.g. using a programmed deflection of a point source, by scanning, by drawing with a light beam, using an addressed light or corpuscular source using a laser
  • G03F7/2055—Exposure without an original mask, e.g. using a programmed deflection of a point source, by scanning, by drawing with a light beam, using an addressed light or corpuscular source using a laser for the production of printing plates; Exposure of liquid photohardening compositions
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
  • G03F—PHOTOMECHANICAL PRODUCTION OF TEXTURED OR PATTERNED SURFACES, e.g. FOR PRINTING, FOR PROCESSING OF SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; MATERIALS THEREFOR; ORIGINALS THEREFOR; APPARATUS SPECIALLY ADAPTED THEREFOR
  • G03F7/00—Photomechanical, e.g. photolithographic, production of textured or patterned surfaces, e.g. printing surfaces; Materials therefor, e.g. comprising photoresists; Apparatus specially adapted therefor
  • G03F7/16—Coating processes; Apparatus therefor
  • G03F7/18—Coating curved surfaces
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
  • G03F—PHOTOMECHANICAL PRODUCTION OF TEXTURED OR PATTERNED SURFACES, e.g. FOR PRINTING, FOR PROCESSING OF SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; MATERIALS THEREFOR; ORIGINALS THEREFOR; APPARATUS SPECIALLY ADAPTED THEREFOR
  • G03F7/00—Photomechanical, e.g. photolithographic, production of textured or patterned surfaces, e.g. printing surfaces; Materials therefor, e.g. comprising photoresists; Apparatus specially adapted therefor
  • G03F7/20—Exposure; Apparatus therefor
  • G03F7/24—Curved surfaces
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
  • G03F—PHOTOMECHANICAL PRODUCTION OF TEXTURED OR PATTERNED SURFACES, e.g. FOR PRINTING, FOR PROCESSING OF SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; MATERIALS THEREFOR; ORIGINALS THEREFOR; APPARATUS SPECIALLY ADAPTED THEREFOR
  • G03F7/00—Photomechanical, e.g. photolithographic, production of textured or patterned surfaces, e.g. printing surfaces; Materials therefor, e.g. comprising photoresists; Apparatus specially adapted therefor
  • G03F7/26—Processing photosensitive materials; Apparatus therefor
  • G03F7/36—Imagewise removal not covered by groups G03F7/30 - G03F7/34, e.g. using gas streams, using plasma

Definitions

• the invention relates to a method of manufacturing a flexography plate, in particular by digital means, comprising on a base layer, a layer of photosensitive material, of the type according to which an image is produced on the photosensitive layer by causing a selective crosslinking by insolation of the areas to be crosslinked with light of a predetermined wavelength and by removal of the noncrosslinked areas.
• the invention also relates to a flexography plate obtained by this process.
• a known method for producing a flexography plate consists in exposing a photopolymer of elastomeric nature in ultraviolet light through a mask opaque to this ultraviolet light.
• This method has the disadvantage that the mask is produced digitally by selective in situ ablation of a surface layer opaque to UV with a laser operating in infrared light.
• the image is produced by direct writing of the photopolymer plates with the aid of amplitude modulated ultraviolet sources.
• These sources can be lasers operating at wavelengths from 350 to 370 nm typically. These sources have the major drawbacks of being exorbitantly costly, of having a low energy yield and of equally low available powers, of using optics having power losses and of being costly to maintain.
• Yet another known process involves the use of photopolymers sensitive to visible light with, for example, basic technologies Film like photo film. This process is very restrictive because it requires rigorous protection measures against daylight.
• the object of the invention is to propose a method which overcomes the drawbacks which have just been explained.
• the method according to the invention is characterized in that one uses for the production of the image a laser light, amplitude modulated, whose wavelength is of the order of 390 to 410 nm, and which is caused to scan the surface of the plate.
• laser sources which consist of a diode beam operating at wavelengths around 405 nm.
• the removal of the non-crosslinked zones is carried out by fluidization of these zones thermally, without the use of solvents.
• the flexographic plate arrangement according to the invention is characterized in that it has the form of a tubular sleeve on a rigid support, which has a composite base and, fixed on this base, a layer of a photosensitive material free solvents.
• FIG. 1 is a schematic view in radial section of one arrangement of flexographic plate in the form of a sleeve according to the invention
• FIG. 2 is a sectional view, radial with cutaway, and on a larger scale, of another embodiment of the arrangement of flexographic plate according to the invention
• - Figure 3 is a perspective view of yet another embodiment of the flexographic plate arrangement according to the invention.
• a flexography plate according to the invention is advantageously in the form of a tubular sleeve 1 mounted on a rigid support 2 known per se.
• the plate 1 comprises a composite base 4 of suitable thickness, between approximately 0.2 mm and 40 mm, preferably of 0.3 mm, and a layer of a photosensitive material 5 of thickness between approximately 0.5 and
• This sleeve can be manufactured using an extrusion process or any other process known per se. According to another variant, it could be produced by thermal spraying of powder formulated beforehand on a cylinder or support sleeve, for example in a composite material or any other suitable material.
• the outer surface of the photosensitive layer can be machined and polished to ensure strict compliance with the dimensions.
• the image on the photosensitive layer is produced by direct inscription using a light having a wavelength in a range of about 390 to 410 nm approximately, which is emitted by an amplitude modulated laser by software which scans the surface of the plate.
• the light used is located between the border of the visible and the ultraviolet.
• the laser source consists of a beam of diodes operating at wavelengths around 405 nm.
• photosensitive material sensitive to such laser light
• materials comprising one or two or more polymers of high molecular weight, functionalized monomers or oligomers, photo-initiators, reactive or non-reactive diluents, inhibitors and protective agents and pigments.
• the thinners and oligomers generally allow viscosity to be adjusted.
• the photoinitiators used must of course be sensitive to the light used.
• the photopolymer used can have two or more complementary crosslinking systems, namely a main system used to create the image and a complementary system to complete the crosslinking and increase the chemical and mechanical resistance. Another system could generate different compressibilities. Such a system is described in document FR 2 803 245.
• the photopolymers used can be partially pre-crosslinked to adjust the viscosity and avoid cold creep during prolonged storage periods or during transport. It should also be noted that the photopolymer could be sensitized by a flash of light before the laser treatment to increase the effectiveness of the latter.
• a photopolymer sensitive to laser light used in the context of the invention is a material based on SBS or containing SBS, SIS or even SEBS and with a hardness of between approximately 60 and 70 ShA.
• Another particular feature of the invention resides in the fact that, preferably, the washing of the non-crosslinked areas by exposure to laser light is carried out by a thermal process known per se and described in document US 3,264,103.
• the sleeve is heated to a temperature ensuring the fluidization of the non-crosslinked zones, which allows the elimination of these zones without solvents.
• matter not crosslinked by laser light could be specially formulated by means known per se to have a strong variation in viscosity at a temperature between 60 and 140 ° C. Viscosity ranges necessary for thermal development under good conditions enter, in the solid phase between 10,000 and 1,000,000 centipoises in the fluid development phase below 1000 centipoises.
• the energy required for insolation is advantageously between 20 and 1000 mJ / cm 2 .
• the diluents which can also be reactive are the following, using the abbreviated names of the molecules and classifying them into two distinct families: ono-acrylates and mono-methacrylates of different molecular weight aliphatic and functionalized : HEA, HPA, EMA, IBMA, HMA, I-DMA, EMMA, C13MA, C17.4MA, IBOA, HPMA; Urethanes acrylates, diacrylates and dimethacrylates of different aliphatic and functionalized molecular weights: HDDA, TEGDA, TTEGDA, TPGDA, NPGDA, BDDMA, DEGDMA, HDDMA, PG200DMA, N-IBMMAA, GDMA. Multifunctional urethanes, acrylates, acrylates and methacrylates of the type: TMPTA, TMPTMA, DTMPTA, DPEMPA.
• the invention as described has many advantages.
• the production of the sleeves on the one hand, and the creation of the image, on the other hand can be carried out very quickly, with perfect location and without intermediary of an intermediate film.
• the wavelength of the laser light used which is shorter than the light used until now, ensures greater spatial resolution.
• the possibility of developing the sleeve without solvent provides the very important advantage of protecting the environment
• the use of light in a wavelength band of 390 and 410 nm makes it possible to use very efficient laser diodes 4 and a relatively low cost of acquisition and maintenance. A large number of photoinitiators sensitive to this wavelength are available. Daylight protection constraints are limited. At these wavelengths, the laser beam optics used are simple. Direct crosslinking according to the invention has the advantage of requiring less energy than ablation which is a competing technology for digital production.
• the sleeve according to the invention as described with reference to Figure 1 can be completed by adding other layers, as already mentioned above, to obtain more complex flexographic plate arrangements.
• FIG. 2 shows an arrangement in which a compressible layer 6 as described in French patent No. 2 805 245 is interposed between the photosensitive layer 5 comprising the relief image represented at 7 and the composite base 4.
• FIG. 3 illustrates the possibility of using, in the manner and for reasons described in documents EP 0 711 665, an intermediate sleeve 8 made of a polymer material between the support 2 and the sleeve 1 formed by the base 4 and the photosensitive layer 5.
• the flexography plate can have a polyester film base in place of the rigid support.
• This plate can comprise two or more layers of photosensitive materials and it can be etchable with water or with an aqueous solution under pressure, at high temperature or by simple brushing.

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• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Optics & Photonics (AREA)
• Manufacture Or Reproduction Of Printing Formes (AREA)
• Printing Plates And Materials Therefor (AREA)
• Photosensitive Polymer And Photoresist Processing (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (1)

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ID=8871255

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (8)

Families Citing this family (8)

Citations (1)

Family Cites Families (12)

• 2002
  • 2002-01-11 FR FR0200329A patent/FR2834802B1/fr not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 2003
  • 2003-01-08 BR BR0306802-1A patent/BR0306802A/pt not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2003-01-08 US US10/500,635 patent/US8196510B2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2003-01-08 CA CA002472315A patent/CA2472315A1/fr not_active Abandoned
  • 2003-01-08 JP JP2003558600A patent/JP2005514660A/ja active Pending
  • 2003-01-08 AU AU2003215698A patent/AU2003215698A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2003-01-08 WO PCT/FR2003/000037 patent/WO2003058349A2/fr active Application Filing
  • 2003-01-08 EP EP03729273A patent/EP1468334A2/fr not_active Withdrawn

Patent Citations (1)

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