Claims
- 1. A lithographic printing plate having increased hydrophilicity comprising
a. a substrate comprising:
i. an aluminum base; and ii. a quantity of calcined alpha alumina particles firmly embedded in and protruding from a surface of said aluminum base, said calcined alpha alumina particles having particle sizes less than 10 microns and said quantity being such that at least 2 percent of the area of said surface is occupied by said particles ; and b. a coating on said substrate said coating being imageable by radiation of a selected wavelength and containing a radiation absorber for said radiation of said selected wavelength.
- 2. A lithographic printing plate as recited in claim 1 wherein said coating has a composition which interacts with said radiation of said selected wavelength to image said coating by a process selected from solubilization, insoubilization and internal ablation.
- 3. A method of producing a lithographic printing plate which is imageable by radiation of a selected wavelength and having increased hydrophilicity comprising the steps of:
a. providing an aluminum base; b. graining a surface of said aluminum base with
calcined alpha alumina particles having particle sizes less than 10 microns and thereby embedding a quantity of said calcined alpha alumina particles in said surface, said quantity being such that at least 2 percent of the area of said surface is occupied by said particles producing increased hydrophilicity; and c. while maintaining said quantity of embedded
calcined alpha alumina particles, applying an imageable coating to said surface of said grained alumina base, said imageable coating containing an absorber for said radiation of said selected wavelength.
- 4. A method as recited in claim 3 wherein said coating has a composition which interacts with said radiation of said selected wavelength to image said coating by a process selected from solubilization, insolubilization and internal ablation.
- 5. A method as recited in claim 3 wherein said graining comprises brush graining.
- 6. A method as recited in claim 3 and further comprising the step of anodizing said aluminum base between said embedded calcined alpha alumina particles.
- 7. A process of lithographically printing with reduced ink/water requirements comprising applying a printing image to the lithographic printing plate of claim 1 and lithographically printing with said imaged plate on a printing press using reduced rates of application of ink and water to said plate in accordance with the increased hydrophilicity of said plate.
- 8. A lithographic printing plate having increased hydrophilicity comprising
a. a substrate comprising: i. an aluminum base; and ii. a quantity of high surface free
energy metal oxide particles firmly embedded in and protruding from a surface of said aluminum base, said particles having particle sizes less than 10 microns and said quantity being such that at least 2 percent of the area of said surface is occupied by said particles ; and b. a coating on said substrate said coating being imageable by radiation of a selected wavelength and containing a radiation absorber for said radiation of said selected wavelength.
Parent Case Info
[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 09/630,223 filed Aug. 1, 2000.
[0002] The invention relates to lithographic printing plates and in particular to an improved printing plate with enhanced hydrophilicity and imageability and to the method of manufacture of the plate and the method of using the plate in printing.
Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09630223 |
Aug 2000 |
US |
Child |
10013867 |
Oct 2001 |
US |