Claims
- 1. An apparatus for registering a printing plate, using center justification, on a support surface of an external drum platesetter comprising:
a plurality of pairs of registration pins for contacting a leading edge of the printing plate; and a leading edge clamping mechanism for holding the leading edge of the printing plate against the support surface of the external drum.
- 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said pairs of registration pins have different thicknesses along a predetermined direction.
- 3. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a groove formed into said external drum having said pairs of registration pins disposed within said groove.
- 4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein a portion of each registration pin extends out of said groove above the support surface of the external drum.
- 5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein at least one pair of registration pins has a thickness that is variable in a predetermined direction.
- 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein only one pair of registration pins contacts the leading edge of said printing plate.
- 7. An apparatus, comprising:
a registration system for registering different size printing plates, having at least two pairs of registration pins, such that only one pair of the registration pins contact an edge of each different size printing plate.
- 8. The apparatus of claim 7 further comprising a groove formed into said external drum having said pairs of registration pins disposed within said groove
- 9. A registration method, comprising:
providing at least two pairs of registration pins; and registering different size printing plates using said pairs of registration pins, such that only one pair of the registration pins contact a leading edge of each different size printing plate.
- 10. The method of claim 9 further comprising the step of providing each of said pairs of registration pins with different thicknesses along a predetermined direction.
- 11. The registration method of claim 9 further comprising the step of registering larger printing plates on a first pair of registration pins positioned outside a second pair of registration pins used for registering smaller printing plates.
- 12. The registration method of claim 9 further comprising the step of positioning a centerline of said printing plate equidistant between each registration pin of a pair of registration pins selected to contact said leading edge of the printing plate.
- 13. The registration method of claim 9 further comprising the step of providing at least one pair of registration pins having a thickness that is variable in a predetermined direction.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation in part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/571,674 filed on May 15, 2000 which claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C §119(e) of U.S. Provisional application Ser. No. 06/184,880 filed Feb. 25, 2000.
[0002] This application is related to copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/573,638 of Wolber et al, filed May 17, 2000.
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60184880 |
Feb 2000 |
US |
Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09571674 |
May 2000 |
US |
Child |
09902558 |
Jul 2001 |
US |