Relief imaging plates made by repetitive xerographic processes

Claim 2

A process for preparing a relief printing master consisting essentially of: a. forming an electrostatic latent image on the surface of an electrophotographic plate; b. developing said latent image with electroscopic marking particles to form an image pattern thereon comprising areas of image body and areas of background; c. fixing said developed image; and d. thereafter in at least one successive cycle reforming said electrostatic latent image on the surface of said plate, redeveloping said latent image and fixing said developed image to form said relief printing plate.

Claim 3

The process of claim 1 wherein said electrophotographic plate comprises a photoconductive layer comprising selenium.

Claim 4

The process of claim 1 wherein said electrophotographic plate comprises a photoconductive layer comprising an inorganic photoconductor selected from the group consisting of zinc oxide, zinc sulfide, zinc cadmium sulfide, cadmium selenide, cadmium sulfide and mixtures thereof.

Claim 5

The process of claim 1 wherein said electrophotographic plate comprises a photoconductive layer comprising an organic photoconductor.

Claim 6

The process of claim 4 wherein said organic photoconductor comprises polyvinylcarbazole.

Claim 9

The process as defined in Claim 6 wherein said photoconductive insulating member comprises a photoconductive layer comprising selenium.

Claim 10

The process as defined in claim 6 wherein said photoconductive insulating member comprises a photoconductive layer comprising an inorganic photoconductor selected from the group consisting of zinc oxide, zinc sulfide, zinc cadmium sulfide, cadmium selenide, cadmium sulfide, and mixtures thereof.

Claim 11

The process as defined in claim 6 wherein said photoconductive insulating member comprises a photoconductive layer comprising an organic photoconductor.

Claim 12

The process as defined in claim 9 wherein said organic photoconductor comprises polyvinylcarbazole.

Claim 13

A method for producing a relief printing master which comprises forming an electrostatic latent image on the surface of a photconductive insulating member, depositing electroscopic marking particles on said member in conformity with said electrostatic latent image to form an image pattern thereon comprising areas of image body and areas of background, said areas of image body comprising loose electroscopic marking particles adhering to said electrostatic latent image, transferring said image body to an image support member yielding an electrophotographic print on said image support member, fixing said transferred image to said support member and thereafter in at least one successive cycle reforming said electrostatic latent image on the surface of said image support member, depositing additional electroscopic marking particles on said member in conforMity with said latent image to reform said image pattern thereon and fixing said reformed image to form said relief printing master. 12. The process as defined in claim 11 wherein said image support member comprises an aluminum substrate.

Claim 14

A process for preparing a relief printing master from a zinc oxide xerographic plate said process comprising charging said zinc oxide plate, selectively exposing said charged plate to a light source so as to produce an electrostatic latent image thereon, depositing electroscopic marking particles comprising polystyrene on said plate in conformity with said electrostatic latent image to form an image pattern thereon, transferring said electroscopic marking particles in imagewise configuration to the surface of an aluminum image support member, heating said image support member so as to fuse said transferred particles to the surface of said image support member and thereafter in at least one successive cycle recharging said zinc oxide xerographic plate, reexposing said charged plate thereby reproducing said electrostatic latent image, depositing additional electroscopic marking particles in conformity with said reproduced electrostatic latent image, transferring said deposited particles in registration to the surface of the image-bearing aluminum substrate, and fusing said transferred electroscopic marking particles to the surface of the preceding fused image to form said relief printing master.

Claim 15

A process for preparing a relief printing master from a zinc oxide xerographic plate said process comprising charging said zinc oxide plate, selectively exposing said charged plate to a light source so as to produce an electrostatic latent image thereon, depositing electroscopic marking particles comprising polystyrene on said plate in conformity with said electrostatic latent image to form an image pattern thereon, transferring said electroscopic marking particles in imagewise configuration to the surface of an aluminum image support member, heating said image support member so as to fuse said transferred particles to the surface of said image support member and thereafter in at least one successive cycle recharging said zinc oxide xerographic plate, reexposing said charged plate thereby reproducing said electrostatic latent image, depositing additional electroscopic marking particles in conformity with said reproduced electrostatic latent image, transferring said deposited particles in registration to the surface of the image-bearing aluminum substrate, and fusing said transferred electroscopic marking particles to the surface of the preceding fused image to form said relief printing master.