Patent ID: 8322282

Claim:
A system for organizing and transporting a plurality of lithographic plates from an indexer station to a print cylinder loading station at a location vertically offset relative to the indexer station comprising (a) an indexer module adapted to receive imaged lithographic plates, one at a time, the indexer module including a frame supporting a conveyor having a horizontally movable member for transporting lithographic plates thereon and an indexer elevator mechanism for vertically displacing the horizontally movable member; (b) a pod elevator including a pod loading station and a pod unloading station vertically offset from one another; (c) a pod comprising a pod housing divided by partitions into a plurality of compartments, each compartment adapted to receive a single lithographic plate therein from the indexer module, said compartments being horizontally oriented when said pods are being loaded in the pod loading station of the pod elevator; (d) a controller coupled to the indexer for actuating the indexer elevator mechanism and the horizontally movable member for loading imaged lithographic plates into predetermined ones of the plurality of compartments at the pod loading station; and (e) a pod rotating device in the pod elevator for rotating the loaded pods from a horizontal disposition to a vertical disposition in the pod loading station before translating the filled pods to the pod unloading station.