A roller incorporating a relief surface is used for handling the emulsion coated
surface of laser sensitive media in a laser imaging system. In some embodiments,
the roller incorporating the relief surface is used to mount and demount media
from a media support surface of the laser imaging system. The relief surface may
be an integrally formed component of the roller. Alternatively, the relief surface
may be provided by a braided sheath that is removably couplable to the roller.
The relief surface minimizes debris contamination of the roller during the process
of unloading an imaged media from the media support surface. This in turn minimizes
contamination of subsequent pieces of media that are loaded by the roller onto
the media support surface in order to be imaged.
