Patent ID: 6588339
Filing Date: 2003-07-08
Classification: B41C,B41J,B41N,B41P,C09D

Abstract:
A plate-making method comprising:forming an image directly on a plate material by an electrostatic ink jet method comprising ejecting an oil ink using an electrostatic field based on signals of image data; and fixing said image to manufacture a printing plate, wherein said method uses: (1) an ink circulation line having the following members a, b and c: a. an ink jet ejection head, b. an ink transportation line comprising an ink feed line for feeding said oil ink to said ink jet ejection head and an ink recovery line for recovering said oil ink from said ink jet ejection head, and c. an ink tank for storing said oil ink; (2) a cleaning solution feed line for feeding a cleaning solution to said ink transportation line; and (3) a cleaning solution recovery line comprising a waste solution tank, for recovering said cleaning solution from said ink transportation line and discharging said recovered cleaning solution to said waste solution tank, and wherein at the time of cleaning, said ink tank is separated from said ink transportation line, said cleaning solution feed line and said cleaning solution recovery line are connected to said ink transportation line, and said cleaning solution is transported to the ink transportation line to perform the cleaning.