Patent ID: 6945169

Claim:
Apparatus for producing printing plates, comprising: a frame arranged as a stand-alone structure external to a printing machine, a mounting arranged in said frame; a carrier cylinder having a first end and a second end, said carrier cylinder being cantilever mountable at an image setting position on said mounting via said first end of said carrier cylinder; a motor for driving said carrier cylinder, wherein said mounting includes a carrying tube fixed in said frame and a spindle mounted in said carrying tube, said spindle being connected to said carrier cylinder and said motor being arranged in said carrying tube and having a drive connection to said spindle; an image setting device moveable along said carrier cylinder for setting an image on a blank printing plate arranged on said carrier cylinder, said second end of said carrier cylinder being freely accessible to permit printing plate change on said carrier cylinder; and an intermediate sleeve received on said carrier cylinder and arranged and dimensioned for receiving a printing plate that can be clamped onto said intermediate sleeve on said carrier cylinder, said intermediate sleeve being one of plural intermediate sleeves of different external diameter which are receivable on said carrier cylinder, wherein said carrier cylinder is replaceable by a further carrier cylinder having a different diameter, said image setting device being movable radially relative to a longitudinal axis of said carrier cylinder for accommodating the different diameters of said carrier cylinder and the further carrier cylinder.