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    Asahi patent

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    8 views9 pages

    US5250389 Nakamura

    Uploaded by

    Rustom Kanga
    Asahi patent

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
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    United States Patent 1) Nakamura et al. CANT A "USODS2S0389A, (11) Patent Number: 5,250,389 [4s]_Date of Patent: Oct. 5, 1993 [84] PHOTOSENSITIVE ELASTOMER COMPOSITION {75} Inventors: Shohei Nakamura; Kousi Ana, both of Fuji, Japan (73) Assignee: Asahi Kasei Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha, Ora, Japan (21) Appl Nos 48.388 [22] PCT Filed: Feb. 14, 1992 (86) PCTNo: — PCT/SPS2/00168 § 371 Date: ‘May 12, 1992, §102(@) Date: May 12,1992 [87] PCT Pub. Nos WOs2/18046 PCT Pub, Date: Mar. 9, 1992 (30) Foreign Application Priority Data Feb 15,191 UP) Jaan aie (si) Im. cus asc 1728 (2) US.c. ‘$a/an 430/286 “30/288, GATE 6/306, 500/116, 822/120, suviai [58] Field of Search .. won 430/281, 286, 288, 302, 430/306, 335, 336,99, 22/116, 126,121 36) References Cited US. PATENT DOCUMENTS 4065251 8/1977 Toda et a sors Sinan 2919 Prosow ‘sone S9h130 4/900 Nakamors ea rst ‘Seea0s Sfoet Nakamvr ea ‘bore 445182 2/984 Prosow ‘boats $5905 17980 Renters a Boast tgnem5 5/1990 Has ‘bors 4558261. 6/990 Hoffmann ‘bons 4958285 9/1950 Hofmann ‘Sort FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS $2-64301 $/1977 Japan 62.70042 3/1988 Japan 6.207875 871988 Japan 1366769 9/1974 United Kingdom TSS2683 9/1979 United Kingdom Primary Examiner—Jack P. Brammer ‘Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Birch, Stewart, Kolasch & Birch 17) ABSTRACT Disclosed is photosensitive elastomer composition comprising (1) a thermoplastic block copolymer com- prising at least one monoviny] substituted aromatic hydrocarbon polymer block and at least one conjugated diene polymer block, wherein a monoviny! substituted aromatic hydrocarbon content (A) is 10 10 359% by ‘weight, nd the vinyl content (V) of a conjugated diene §s 20 to $0%, and the (A) and the (V) satisfy the for mula: 405(A)+(V)S70; 2) an ethylenically unsatu ‘ated compound component, and (3) a photopolymeri- zation initiator. This photosensitive elastomer composi tion exhibits excellent photosensitivity, so that not only ccan the time required for insolubilization of the compo sition be reduced to about half the time which has con- vventionally been necessary, but also small dts and lines can be surely formed without occurrence of chipping at the time of development, thereby enabling the composi- tion to be advantageously used in the fields of printing plates, photoresists, and screens for screen printing. Especially when this composition is used for the pro- duction of a flexographic printing plate, an excellent flexible Nexographic printing plate capable of printing fine images can be obisined. 8 Claims, No Drawings 5,250,389 1 PHOTOSENSITIVE FLASTOMER COMPOSITION ‘TECHNICAL FIELD ‘The present invention relates toa photosensitive elas. $ tomer composition suitable for producing a flexo- graphic printing plate. More particularly, the present Invention is concerned with a photosensitive elastomer composition comprising a specific amount ofa thermo- Plastic block copolymer comprising s monovinyl subst- {uted aromatic hydrocarbon polymer block and a con- Jjugeted diene polymer block, wherein the monovingl Substituted aromatic hydrocarbon content (A) andthe ‘vinyl content (V) ofthe conjugeted diene are, respec: lively, in specific ranges and the contents (A) and (V) satiafy specific relationship, an ethylenically unsata- ‘ated compound component; and. a photopolymeriza tion nitator. The composition of the present invention exhibits excellent photosensitivity. Therefore, when this Composition is used to produce, for example, a flexo- Braphic printing pate, not only can the time for the Plate production be reduced to about half the time ‘which has conventionally been necessary, but also small Gots and lines can surely be formed withost occurrence Of chipping at the time of development, thereby en- bling the production of an excellent flexographic print- ing plate capable of printing fine images. BACKGROUND ART Conventionally, arubber plate for use in flexographic printing has been produced by etching a metallic plate to produce an original plate, preparing a matrix plate from, eg, a plastic by using the original plate, and pouring a rubber into the matrix plate, followed by pressing. However, this method has drawbacks in that ‘humerous steps are needed, thus requiring 100 great 2 cost and too much time. In addition, this method has also drawbacks in that the produced rubber plate itself is low in thickness precision and, hence, it is necessary to raise the thickness precision by shaving the back side of the plate before use. In order to solve this problem, there has recently been proposed a method of producing a flexographic printing plate from a photosensitive resin composition, ‘According to this method, not only ean the step for the above-mentioned shaving of the back side of the plate be eliminated, but also its possible to obtain a printing plate capable of printing a pattern which is finer, a5. ‘compared to a pattemn which can be printed by the conventional rubber plate. ‘AS these photosensitive elastomer compositions, there are known, for example, those disclosed in Japs nese Patent Application Laid-Open Specification No. 47.37521 (corresponding to. British Patent No. 1366769), Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open ‘Specification No. 1-106801 (corresponding to US. Pat. ‘No. 4045231), Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Specification No. 52-64301, Japanese Patent Applica- tion Laid-Open Specification No. 53-127004 (corre- sponding to U.S. Pat. No, 4197130), Japanese Patent ‘Application Laid-Open Specification No. 4-110287 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 4177074), Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Specification No. 55.48744 (corresponding to U:S. Pat. No. 4266005) and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Specification ‘No. $8-62640 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 4431723). (Ff these, a photosensitive elastomer composition in which 2 thermoplastic block copolymer is used as a “ 4s o 65 2 binder (such as those disclosed in Japanese Patent Ap: plication Laid-Open Specification Nos. 47-37521 and 53-127004), has very excellent cold-low resistance in an ‘uncured state and has very excellent rubbery elasticity in a cured state and, hence, such a solid photosensitive elastomer composition has been mainly in practical use for producing a flexographic printing plate, Especially, 1 photosensitive elastomer composition, such a those disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open ‘Specification No. 53-127004 in which famarate or male- ate is used as an ethylenically unsaturated compound, exhibits excellent thermal stability at the time of heat ‘molding for the production of a sheet therefrom and during the storage at high temperatures. Also, a printing plate obtained by using the above-mentioned compos tion has properties desired for a flexographic printing plat, suchras good flexibility, so thatthe printing plate tan be fitedly mounted onto the cylinder ofa printing ‘machine. In the above conventional photosensitive elas- tomer compositions, there is used a Block copolymer in which the content of a monovinyl substituted aromatic hydrocerbon polymer block used is about 20 to 40% by’ weight, but the vinyl content of a diene compound polymer block used is generally low, namely, 13% or kes However, a photosensitive elastomer composition comprising the conventional block copolymer as men- tioned above, has problems mentioned below. First, these conventional photosensitive elastomer composi- tions are low in sensitivity and therefore, the time re- quired for the insolubilization of compositions by pho- tocuring, so that the compositions can be insoluble in developer, is too long. In some cases, imagewise expo- sure requires as much as 20 to 30 minutes or more, thus causing the total time necessary for plate production to be long. In this instance, ifthe exposure time is reduced, 1 problem arises that the insolubilization of the photo: sensitive elastomer composition becomes insufficient, rendering it difficult to form relief portions correspond ing to small dots and lines. On the other hand, ifthe intensity of light i increased, » problem arises that relief portions corresponding to small dots and lines become broad and that reverse lines are not formed, Second, the conventional photosensitive elastomer compositions have a problem in that, unless the specific type of an ethylenically unsaturated compound to be used is selected, the photocured products are unsatisfac- tory in various mechanical properties, so that chipping is likely to occur especially in the relief portions corre- sponding to dots and lines during the development which is usually conducted with a solvent by means of ‘a brush. In this case, there isa dilemma such that if a ‘compound capable of preventing chipping from occur- ‘ing at the time of development is selected as an ethy- ‘nically unsaturated compound, the obtained plate is ‘poor in flexibility. Especially when fumarate or maleate is used, which, as mentioned above, is known to mark: edly improve the flexibility of a photocured plate and ‘the thermal stability of a photosensitive composition before light exposure, the problem of the chipping of the relief becomes more serious. ‘On the other hand, in recent years, with an increasing demand for flexographic printing plates, the printing of finer images has been required in flexographic printing For this reason, there is an increasing demand for form ing smaller dots and characters. Accordingly, it has ‘become very important to solve the problem that relief 5,250,389 J portions corresponding to such small dots and charac: ters are damaged due to the occurrence of chipping uring the operation of washing-out with an organic solvent by means of a brush after the light exposure, Further, a demand has been increased for the reduction $ of the plate production time, especially for the reduc- tion of exposure time. In these situations, the present inventors have made extensive and intensive studies with a view toward developing a photosensitive elastomer composition for producing a flexographic printing plate, which is not only capable of surely forming small dots and lines while reducing the plate production time, but also does not suffer from the occurrence of chipping in a photo- ‘cured plate atthe time of development, so that it ean be especially useful for the production of a flexographic printing plate. As a result, the present inventors have ound thet when, with respect to a photosensitive elas- tomer composition comprising thermoplastic block copolymer, an ethylenically unsaturated compound ‘component and a photopolymerizaton initiator, there is used as the thermoplastic block copolymer 2 specific amount ofa thermoplastic block copolymer comprising at least one monovinyl substituted aromatic hydrocar- 25 bbon polymer block and at least one conjugated diene polymer block, the block copolymer having a monovinyl substituted ‘aromatic hydrocarbon content (A) of 10 0 38% by weight and ‘the conjugated diene having a vinyl content (V) of 20, 10 50% by weight, wherein the (A) and the (V) satisfy the following formula 0 5 2» » 3s wsaen, the photosensitivity of the composition is dramatically improved, s0 thatthe object of the development can be attsined. The present invention has been completed, ‘based on this finding, DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a novel photosensitive elastomer ‘composition which is capable of not only shortening the plate production time to about half the time which has ‘conventionally been necessary, but also surely forming ‘small dots and lines and preventing the occurrence of chipping of the plate atthe time of development, s0 that ‘the composition is useful for the production of a print- ‘ng plate, « photoresist and a screen for screen printing, ‘especially for the production of a flexographic printing plate ‘The foregoing and other objects, features and advan- tages ofthe present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description and appended claims. Essentially, according to the present invention, there js provided @ photosensitive elastomer composition 69 comprising (at least 0% by weight, based on the weight of the elastomer composition, of a thermoplastic block co- polymer comprising at least one monoviny] substituted ‘aromatic hydrocarbon polymer black comprised ‘mainly of a monovinyl substituted aromatic hydrocar- ‘bon and at least one conjugated diene polymer block ‘comprised mainly of a conjugated diene, «0 4s % ss 6 4 the block copolymer having a monovinyl substituted aromatic hydrocarbon content (A) of 1010 38% by ‘weight and ‘the conjugated diene having a vinyl content (V) of 20, 10 50%, wherein the (A) and the (V) satisfy the following formula: woseoyere @) 1 t0 20% by weight, based on the weight of the elastomer composition, of an ethylenically unsaturated compound component; and {G) 0.1 to 3% by weight, based on the weight of the elastomer composition, of a photopalymerization intia- tor. ‘The vinyl content of the conjugated diene of the thermoplastic block copolymer used in the photosensi- tive elastomer composition of the present invention, can be determined as follows. For example, in the case of a styrene-butadiene elastomer, the determination can be conducted by the Hampton Method described in Anal. Chem. 21, 923 (1949) from the IR spectrum of a 1% carbon disulfide solution ofthe elastomer. Inthe case of 4 styrene-isoprene elastomer, the vinyl content can be determined according to the formula vinyl 9 = A/H428)8100 ‘wherein A and B respectively represent the peak area of the signal of a6 value of about 4.7 ppm ascribed to the vinyl linkege on a H!-NMR spectrum and the peak area of the signal of a 8 value of about 5.1 ppm ascribed to the 1,4linkage on a H-NMR spectrum, With respect to the content of the monoviny! substi tuted aromatic hydrocarbon, in the case of a styrene- butadiene block copolymer, the determination can be conducted from an IR spectrum in accordance with the Hampton Method. This method is described inthe same Titerature as mentioned above in connection with the ‘method for determining the vinyl content. Inthe case of a styrene-isoprene block copolymer, the content of the monovinyl substituted aromatic hydrocarbon can be etermined in accordance with the following formula, from the peak area (C) of the signal ascribed to the hydrogen of the benzene ring at @ value in the range of from 6.3 to 7.3 and the total peak area (D) on a H- NMR: ‘Styrene content (lar Fao) = Sm VS x CD Sues content (by weigh) = pot Sa With respect othe analysis fr the above-mentioned content determination, when the analysis Isto be con ducted on a block copolymer which has already been formulated into a photosensitive elastomer composition, the analysis is made after separating the block copaly- ter from the composition Generally, in prodvcing a printing plate from a pho- tosenstive elastomer composition an imagewise expo sure s continued until the formation is completed of the smallest paters, such asthe leat highlight, the small- est dots, the finest lines, et, which requie the greatest, light exposure dose for the formation thereof Accord ingly, when a photosensitive elastomer composition has a higher photosensitivity, the desired highlight ean be 5,250,389 5 formed in a shorter time of imagewise exposure. Ths, from the viewpoint ofthe reduction of the plate produc tion time, a higher photosensitivity has been desired of. 1 photosensitive elastomer composition. The more the imagewise light exposure dose, the greater the degree of the formation of the smaller dots and lines. However, ‘when the imagewise light exposure dose is too large, ‘overexposure is likely to oecur at such & portion as & reverse lin, so that disappearing (no formation) of re- ‘Verse image portions is caused. As a result, the final plate becomes defective. Thus, with respect to the con- ‘ventional photosensitive elastomer composition, it was difficult 10 conduct image-wise exposure to such an extent that smaller dots are formed while maintaining @ balance in image formation between the smaller dots and reverse image portions AMter the imagewise exposure is conducted, the de- velopment by removing the unexposed portion is use ally conducted by brushing by the use ofa solvent capa- bie of dissolving the photosensitive elastomer composi- tion. During the developing operation, various mechan ical properties ofthe relief portion become low duc 10 8 swelling caused by the developer, so thatthe rubbing witha brush frequently causes a chipping phenomenon in which the reli portion is partially chipped off. Such ‘a phenomenon is liable 10 occur at small dots and char- acters. When printing is done by the use of a plate ‘which has been damaged due to the occurrence of chip- ping, defective prin are produced, that is, portions Corresponding to the chipped-off portions sre not printed. Also, with respect to the highlight portion, Chipping atthe time of development is most likely to ‘occur at smaller highlights, so thatthe size of a high: light which canbe formed is imited. Conventionally in ‘many cases, 839 highlight was the smallest one in the pattern, bul a demand has recently been increased for the formation of a 19 highlight. In this instance, how” ever, there is @ problem such that even if imagewise exposure is applied in a dose as much as possible within the exposure dose range within which disappearing of a reverse line isnot caused, iis imposible form such a 1% highlight due to the occurrence of chipping atthe time of development, This problem has been likely 10 arise, especially when there is employed a fumarate oF maleate which are atracting attention because oftheir Capability of improving not only te thermal stability of 1 photosensitive composition prior to light exposure, but also the flexibility of a flexographic printing plate produced from the composition, or when a methacry- late is employed as the ethylenically unsaturated com- pound. ‘According to the present invention, in a photosensi- tive elastomer composition comprising a thermoplastic ‘block copolymer, an ethylenically unsaturated com- pound component and a photopolymeriation initiator, by the use of a block copolymer comprising 2 conju {gated diene compound polymer block having a vinyl Content in a specific range and a monovinyl substituted aromatic hydrocarbon polymer block having a monovi- yl substituted aromatic hydrocarbon content in a spe- cific range, it has become possible to obtain a photosen- Siive elastomer composition whichis high in photosen- sitivity, chipping resistance at the time of development and rubbery elasticity, so that its especially useful asa material for producing a flexographic printing plate Tn the photosensitive elastomer composition of the present invention, a block copolymer, which is incorpo- Fated in an amount ofa last $0% by weight, based on 20 2s “ 4“ 0 © 6 the weight of the elastomer composition, comprise a leas one, preferably two or more polymer blocks com prised mainly of a monoviny! subwituted aromatic hy- Srocarbon and at least one polymer block comprised ‘mainly of a conjugated dene Ts the composition ofthe present invention, the ter minology “polymer block comprised mainly of a mono- Vinyl substituted aromatic hydrocarbon” means & co- polymer block comprising a monoviny!sobsttetedsro- fate hydrocarbon anda dene compound, wherein the ‘monovinlsubstted aromatic hydrocarbon conten is sreter than 50% by weigh, preferably 10% by weight or more, and/or a homopolymer block of monovinyl fbattted aromatic hydrocarbon. The terminology “polymer block comprised mainly of a conjugated di- ac” means a copolymer block comprising adtne com pound ands monovinl substituted aromatic hydrocsr ton, wherein the conjugated diene compound contents sreater than 30% by weight, preferably 10% by weight Sr more, and/or a homopolymer block of a diene com pound "The distribution of the monoviny! substituted aro- tate hydrocarbon in each copolymer block maybe ttform or tapered, The terminology “tapered dita tion referred to herein means that the monoviny! sub fitted aromatic hydrocarbon content continuosly Changes in the longitudinal direction ofthe Block. Each Copolymer block may contain one oF more portions in ‘whieh the monoviny! subsituted aromatic hydrocarbon tas uniform distribution and/or one or more portions in which the monoviny subsitoted sromatic hygrocer bon has a tapered eiatbaon The thermoplastic Bock copolymer (1) used in the photosensitive elastomer composition of the present fnvention has a requirement thatthe monovins substi tuted aromatic hyerocarbon content (A) be 10 t0 38% by weigh, preferably 15 to 30% by weight, and the vinyl content (V) of the diene compound chain be 200 50%, preferably 250 45%, more preferably 300 40%, andthe (A) andthe (V) sts the fllowing formal: waar, preferably SsAnMse, ‘The diene compound is defined as a compound hav- ing a conjugated diene linkage, such as a butadiene, an isoprene, etc, Of these, most preferred is a butadiene ‘which exhibits excellent ozone resistance and is effec- tive for imparting excellent properties to an ultimate flexographic printing plate. ‘When the content (A) and the content (V) and the value of (A)+(V) are not within the above-mentioned ranges, the obtained photosensitive elastomer composi- tion cannot have satisfactory photosensitivity, so that not only satisfactory chipping Fesistance atthe time of evelopment but also rubbery elasticity suitable for an ultimete flexographic printing plate cannot be obtained, AAs the monovinyl substituted aromatic hydrocarbon contained in the block copolymer used in the present invention, there may be mentioned, for example, sty- rene, a-methylstyrene, p-methylstyrene, o-methylsty- rene etc. representative example of which is styrene. ‘These may be employed individually or in combination The block copolymer used in the present invention say be either ofa linear type or of a radial type 5,250,389 i As the thermoplastic block copolymer used in the present invention comprising at least one monovinyl substituted aromatic hydrocarbon polymer block and at least one conjugated diene polymer block, the block copolymer having a monovinyl substituted $ ‘aromatic hydrocarbon content (A) of 10t0 38% by ‘weight and the conjugated diene having a vinyl content (V) of 20, 10 50%, ‘wherein the (A) and the (V) satisfy the following formula: soxasone7, fone type of a block copolymer satisfying the above requirements can be employed alone. Alternatively, a plurality of types of block copolymers can be employed, which satisfy the above requirements as determined using the average values obtained by measurement of a mixture of all types of block copolymers used. The thermoplastic block copolymer usable in the present invention can be obtained by the method dis- closed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Specification No. 63-27573 (corresponding to USS. Pat. No. 4,792,884). The content of a monovinyl substituted aromatic’ hydrocarbon can be adjusted within the range defined in the present invention by regulating the amount thereof to be charged. The ad- Jjustment of the vinyl linkage content of a conjugated diene can be made by employing a polymerization ‘method in which an organic lithium compound in hydrocarbon solvent is used as an initiator and by using 1 polar compound as a vinylating agent, wherein the type and amount of the polar compound are selected and the polymerization temperature is controlled. ‘As hydrocarbon solvents, there can be employed aliphatic hydrocarbons, such as butane, pentane, hex- tne, isopentane, heptane, octane, isooctane and the like, alicyclic hydrocarbons, such as cyelopentane, methyl: cyclopentane, cyclohexane, methyleyclohexane, ethyl- cyclohexane and the like, or aromatic hydrocarbons, such as benzene, xylene and the like. As organic lithium compounds, there can be employed organic monoli- thium compounds, organic dilithium compounds, or- ganic polylithium Compounds and the like. Examples of organic lithium compounds include ethylithium, pro pyllithium, butyllthium, hexamethylenedilithium and the like. Examples of polar compounds to be added for the adjustment of the vinyl linkage content include ethers, such as tetrahydrofuran, diethyleneglycol dime- thylether, diethyleneglyool dibutylether and the lke, amines, such as triethylamine, tetramethylethylenedia: rine and the lke, thioethers, phosphine, alkylbenzene sulfonate, and alkoxides of potassium and sodium. ‘The ethylenically unsaturated compound component used in the present invention is not particularly re- stricted. As examples of ethylenically unsaturated com: ‘pounds, there can be mentioned such an acrylate and ‘methacrylate as disclosed in Japanese Patent Applica- tion Laid-Open Specification No. 47-37521 and Japa ‘nese Patent Application Laid-Open Specification No. 54-110287, such an N-substituted maleimide as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Specification ‘No. $5-48744, and a compound represented by the fol- lowing formula (I): ° © i cul RlotcHECHEOR? ‘wherein each of Rl and R? independently represent an alkyl group having 20 30 carbon atoms, an ary! roup having 2 to 30 carbon atoms of an aralk3] r0up having 2 0 30 carbon atoms, to and & geometrical isomer of the compound of formula @). These ethylenically unsaturated compounds may be employed individually or in combination with each ther. When these are employed in combination with tach other, from the viewpoint of obaining a pining plate which s most prefered asa flexographic pining plate having excellet rubbery elasticity and fexility and having small dots and. characters clearly formed therein, itis preferred that at least one of the com pounds represented by the above-mentioned formula () be used ata proportion of atleast 20% by weight, more preferably a least 80% by weight, based on the weight Of the ethylenically unsaturated compound component In the above-mentioned formule (I, itis preferred that each of R! and R? independently represents an alkyl group having 6 10 12 earbon atoms "The compounds represented by formula 1) above are fumarates and maleates. AS mentioned above, although fomarates and maleates are useful for attaining a good Aeniblty of a photocuted plate and a good thermal stability of a photosensitive composition prior to light txposure, the conventional photosensitive elastomer ‘composition in which a fumarate ora maleate is Used as fn ethylenically unsaturated compound, has & series problem in that chipping ofa printing plate i ikely to ‘cur at the time of development. Unenpectedly, how fever, when a fumarate ora maleate i sed aban ey nially unsaturated compound in the present invention, not only can the thermal stability of the composition Dror to light exposure be improved, but also excellent Fubbery elasticity and Menbity ae attained and chip. ping of printing plate at the time of development, Which has been a drawback accompanying the use of & famarate or a maleate is prevented, 50 that printing plate can be obtained in which even small dots and ‘characters are clearly formed and whichis most excel Jent as «flexographic printing plat. Examples of these fumaraes and maleats include dibutylester fumarate, dietylester fumarate, disteary- leser fumarate butyloctylester fumarate, diphenglesier fomarate,dibenzlester fumarate, dibutyester maleate, dioetylester maleate, and bis-phenylpropy) ester ma- Jeate. Fumarates and maleates are not limited to the above examples, These compounds may be employed individually o in combination ‘Of fumarate and maleates, fomarates are more pre- ferred since a fomarae has advantages in tat it has @ high reactivity and low tonicity as compared 10 8 maleate. ‘The suitsble amount ofthe ethylenically unsaturated ‘compound component used in the present invention varies in accordance with the type of the ethylenically “unsaturated compound and the properties, eg, hard nes, of the desired exographic printing plate, but tis necessary thatthe amount be atleast 1% by weight, based on the weight of the composition. When the amount of the ethylenically unsaturated compound 18 tess than 19 by weight, a satisfactory printing plate ‘cannot be obtained since the insolubilizaton ofthe com- as 4s so 6 5,250, 9 postion so as to be solvent insoluble isnot fully attained ‘even upon irradiation with light. On the other hand, ‘when the amount is too large, the obtained printing plates hard and britle, and low in rubbery elasticity, 0 that, in some cases, it becomes impossible to use the $ plate as a flexographic printing plate. For this reason, it {s desirable that the amount be not greater than 20% by ‘weight. The more preferable amount isin the range of from $ to 15% by weight ‘As the photopolymerization initiator usable in the photosensitive elastomer composition of the present fnvention, there can be mentioned conventional initia- tors, eg. benzoin and ethers thereof, such as benzoin methyl ether, benzoin ethyl ether, benzoin isopropy! ether, benzoin isobutyl ether, “a-methylolbenzoin 15 ‘methyl ether, a-methoxybenzoin methyl ether, 2,2-die- thoxyphenylacetophenone and the like. “The photopolymerization initiator is incorporated in ‘an effective amount for polymerization, that is, in an amount of at least 0.001% by weight, based on the ‘weight ofthe composition. Generally, its preferred to incorporate the initiator in an amount in the range of from 0.1 t0 3% by weight ‘The photosensitive elastomer composition of the present invention may contain 0.001 to 2% by weight, 25, based on the weight of the composition, of a thermal polymerization inhibitor. Examples of thermal polymerization inhibitors in- 0 clude conventional inhibitors, such as 2,6

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