An apparatus and method of manufacturing a fluorosilicone composite for a variable data lithography imaging member surface layer. Examples of the fluorosilicone composite include a first part and a second part, the first part having fluorosilicone, carbon black, silica and butyl acetate, the second part having a platinum catalyst, a crosslinker, butyl acetate and an inhibitor. The first part may also include a dispersant (e.g., a polyoxyalkylene amine derivative) that removes a need for shaking the dispersion by paint shaker and instead allows a more manufacture friendly roll ball milling process. The dispersant will also help in stabilizing the fluorosilicone composite for scaled up production.

Relief precursors with an enhanced capacity to be developed into high performing relief structures, more in particular high quality relief structures such as printing plates. A photosensitive composition (PC) for forming a photosensitive layer of a relief precursor (RP), comprising particular stabilizers and binders. By including the stabilizer and binder as described herein the stability of the melt of the photosensitive composition during production, e.g. production by extrusion, can be enhanced significantly. Such enhanced stability could be achieved without or with minimal undesired impact on the resulting printing performance and/or imaging characteristics of the reliefs formed by developing the relief precursors.

A printing system and method are provided. The printing system includes an image forming station for temporarily deposit an image on an intermediate transfer member when the intermediate transfer member in the image forming station is in a first temperature range. The system further includes a drying station configured to increase a temperature of the intermediate transfer member from a first temperature in the first temperature range to a second temperature in a second temperature range, the second temperature being substantially higher than the first temperature. The system further includes an impression station configured to transfer the temporarily deposited image from the intermediate transfer member onto a substrate when the intermediate transfer member in the impression station is in the second temperature range. The system further includes a cooling station for retaining a coolant configured to revert the intermediate transfer member to a temperature in the first temperature.

A printing process is disclosed which comprises directing droplets of an ink onto an intermediate transfer member to form an ink image, the ink including an organic polymeric resin and a coloring agent in an aqueous carrier, and the transfer member having a hydrophobic outer surface so that each ink droplet in the ink image spreads on impinging upon the intermediate transfer member to form an ink film. The ink is dried while the ink image is being transported by the intermediate transfer member by evaporating the aqueous carrier from the ink image to leave a residue film of resin and coloring agent. The residue film is then transferred to a substrate. The chemical compositions of the ink and of the surface of the intermediate transfer member are selected such that attractive intermolecular forces between molecules in the outer skin of each droplet and on the surface of the intermediate transfer member counteract the tendency of the ink film produced by each droplet to bead under the action of the surface tension of the aqueous carrier, without causing each droplet to spread by wetting the surface of the intermediate transfer member.

This disclosure is directed to a material composition that may be usable as a surface component in a plate design for use in variable data digital lithographic image forming devices. The disclosed material composition incorporates infra-red (IR) absorbing filler materials, including carbon black filler material particles in a fluorosilicone polymer or elastomer. The inclusion of the disclosed carbon black material compositions promotes precise heating in a patterning step for a layer of dampening fluid while minimizing harmful byproduct emissions including emissions of trifluoropropionaldehyde (TFPA) resulting from localized heating of a principally fluorosilicone imaging layer. The disclosed homogeneously-dispersed carbon black particles are particularly usable for improving operational characteristics of fluorosilocone-based reimageable surface layers of imaging members employed in the variable data digital lithographic image forming devices.

A reimageable layer of an imaging member is provided with a dampening fluid layer. The reimageable layer has specific properties such as composition, surface profile, and so on so as to be well suited for receipt and carrying the dampening fluid layer. An optical patterning subsystem such as a scanned modulated laser patterns the dampening fluid layer. Ink having a first set of properties such as color, composition, etc., is applied at an inking subsystem such that it selectively resides in voids formed by the patterning subsystem in the dampening fluid layer to thereby form an inked latent image. The inked latent image is then transferred to a substrate, and the reimageable surface cleaned. The process is repeated for a second ink having properties different than the first. Each ink image may successively be applied to the substrate, or a composite image may be formed then applied to the substrate.

This disclosure is directed to a plate design for use in variable data digital lithographic image forming devices. The disclosed plate design incorporates surface passivated carbon black filler material particles in a fluorosilicone polymer. The disclosed functionalized carbon black material compositions include hydrophobic carbon black particles passivated with polymerized pentafluorostyrene. The disclosed surface passivated carbon black particles have a diameter in a range of 50 nanometers to 1 micron, and enable enhances dispersion in fluorinated polymers, and fine dispersion in solvent. The disclosed surface passivated carbon black particles are particularly usable for improving operational characteristics of fluorosilocone-based reimageable surface layers of imaging members employed in the variable data digital lithographic image forming devices.

An imaging member includes a surface layer comprising a fluorosilicone and an infrared-absorbing filler. At least 75% of the siloxane units in the fluorosilicone are fluorinated. Methods of manufacturing the imaging member and processes for variably lithographic printing using the imaging member are also disclosed.

An intermediate transfer member containing a thermally conductive nanofiller dispersed in a polymer base, a method of forming the intermediate transfer member, and a method of printing an image to a substrate using the intermediate transfer member.

An intermediate transfer member containing a thermally conductive nanofiller dispersed in a polymer base, a method of forming the intermediate transfer member, and a method of printing an image to a substrate using the intermediate transfer member.