Offset
plate (part 2)
Eastman
Kodak had invented a copying process, which they named Verifax to
compete with the diffusion reversal method. Addressograph Multigraph
direct image plates did not accept the Verifax image which was a
silver gelatin coating, but ours did. We developed a unit with the
assistance of a company located at 8 ½ Orange Street in Bridgeport
CT to transfer the Verifax image to our plate. I went to Kodak in
Rochester several times in this regard. Kodak was not able to get
the image on the plate to pick up ink on the
offset
press. I invented a solution, patent # 3029727, which when applied
to the imaged plate solved this problem. Kodak was very surprised
how I did it. One thing I learned from the Vice-President of Kodak
who was in charge of the Verifax project was to keep notes;
previously I had relied on my memory. Kodak mentioned that they had
an excess supply of letter size Verifax copiers but were back ordered
on legal size. I told them I would expect this. Although over
ninety per cent of stencil duplicating was printed on letter size
paper, the only people who bought letter size stencils were
companies that had letter size forms. Everyone else paid extra for
the legal stencils just in case they needed to make a legal size
copy. When we made the aluminum presensitized plates we coated the
paper plates with the sensitizer and sold them as Polycoat.