JPH10307403A - Plate making device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a plate making device whose the size, weight and power consumption are remarkably reduced by constituting a laser device by disposing plural optical fibers in parallel. SOLUTION: This plate making device is provided with a cylinder 9 having a resist film, an optical fiber laser device 1 transmitting a laser beam transmission by making an optical fiber as a laser medium, a collimator 3 converting the laser beam into a parallel laser beam 4, an optical switch 5 transmitting or interrupting the laser beam 4, a beam expander 6 expanding the diameter of the laser beam 4 and a condensing lens 8 condensing the laser beam 7 and forming a condensing spot 10. In this case, the optical fiber laser device is constituted by disposing the plural optical fibers in parallel. The whole plate making device is miniaturized and is made light in weight and the power consumption is remarkably reduced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a plate making apparatus for making a plate using an optical fiber laser device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a conventional plate making apparatus. In the figure, reference numeral 11 denotes a continuous transmission YAG laser apparatus, its output is about 30 W, and the size of a laser head (not shown) is 30 cm × 30 cm × 100 cm, the size of a power supply (not shown) is 50 cm × 50 cm × 30 cm, the power consumption is about 5 KW, and the cooling water flow rate required for a cooling device (not shown) is 5 liter / min. Reference numeral 12 denotes a laser beam emitted from the YAG laser device 11, and reference numeral 13 denotes an acousto-optic device or the like.
, An optical switch for turning on and off, 14 a beam expander for expanding the diameter of the laser beam 12, 15 a laser beam whose diameter is expanded by the beam expander 14, 16 a condensing lens for condensing the laser beam 15, and 17 a condensing lens A cylinder 18 which is rotatable and has a resist film formed by applying a resist material on its surface. Reference numeral 18 denotes a condensed spot formed by condensing a laser beam 15 at a predetermined position on a cylinder 17 by a condensing lens 16.

Next, the operation will be described. A laser beam 12 emitted from a YAG laser device 11 is transmitted or blocked by an optical switch 13 to
N-OFF. And the transmitted laser beam 1
2 has a laser beam 15 whose diameter is expanded by a beam expander 14. The laser beam 15 is condensed by the condensing lens 16, and a condensed spot 18 is formed on the resist film on the surface of the cylinder 17. The resist film is removed by the converging spot 18, and plate making by etching is performed. Cylinder 17
By controlling the rotation, a predetermined dot row can be formed, and functions as a plate. The YAG laser device 11
Are cooled by a cooling device (not shown).

[0004]

Since the conventional plate making apparatus is configured as described above, the YAG laser apparatus 11 is used.
About 30 W as the output of the laser beam 12 and the highest theoretically possible quality of the laser beam 12. As a result, the size of the laser head and power supply of the YAG laser device 11 becomes large, and the power consumption and Since the flow rate of the cooling water is also large, there has been a problem that the entire plate making apparatus becomes large and its power consumption becomes large.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and has as its object to provide a plate making apparatus capable of greatly reducing the size, weight, and power consumption of the apparatus.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a plate making apparatus capable of forming a dot row at high speed and making plate making quickly and efficiently.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a plate making apparatus comprising: a cylinder having a resist film; an optical fiber laser device; an optical switch; and a laser beam focused on the resist film of the cylinder. And a converging spot forming means for forming a predetermined converging spot.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the plate making apparatus, the optical fiber laser device comprises a plurality of optical fibers arranged in parallel.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below. Embodiment 1 FIG. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a plate making apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes an optical fiber having a core diameter of, for example, about 10 μm and capable of emitting a predetermined laser beam at a spread angle of about 100 mrad. This is a laser device, and the laser conditions and the like can be optimally set according to the dot conditions to be formed. 2
Is a laser beam emitted from the optical fiber laser device 1 at a divergence angle of, for example, about 100 mrad, and 3 is a collimator composed of, for example, a convex lens having a focal length of 10 mm and located at a position about 10 mm away from the exit of the optical fiber laser device 1. It is arranged and converts the laser beam 2 into a parallel laser beam 4 having a diameter of 1 mm. Reference numeral 5 denotes an optical switch that is configured by an acousto-optic element or the like, and that turns on or off the laser beam 4 by transmitting or blocking the laser beam 4. This is for forming dots on the resist film. 6 is a beam expander (condensing spot forming means) for expanding the diameter of the laser beam 4, 7 is a laser beam whose diameter has been expanded by the beam expander 6,
8 is a condensing lens (condensing spot forming means) for condensing the laser beam 7, 9 is a cylinder which is rotatably formed and has a resist film formed by applying a resist material on the surface, and 10 is a collecting lens for the laser beam 7. This is a condensed spot formed by being condensed into a minute spot at a predetermined position of the cylinder 9 by the optical lens 8.

Next, the operation will be described. A laser beam 2 emitted from an optical fiber laser device 1 is converted into a parallel laser beam 4 by a collimator 3. The laser beam 4 is turned on and off by being transmitted or cut off by the optical switch 5. Then, the diameter of the transmitted laser beam 4 is expanded by a beam expander 6 to form a laser beam 7. This laser beam 7 is condensed by a condensing lens 8 and a condensed spot 10 is formed on a resist film on the surface of the cylinder 9. The resist film is removed by the condensing spot 10, and plate making by etching is performed.
By controlling the rotation of the cylinder 9, a predetermined dot row can be formed, and the cylinder 9 functions as a plate.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, the volume and weight of the optical fiber laser device 1 can be reduced to about one tenth of the conventional YAG laser device 11, and the power consumption can be reduced to ten minutes. Therefore, the entire plate making apparatus can be reduced in size and weight, and the power consumption can be significantly reduced.

In the first embodiment, various numerical conditions of the optical fiber laser device 1 and the like are shown.
It is not limited to this. Further, the collimator 3 is not limited to the one made of a convex lens. Further, in the first embodiment, the plate making apparatus for printing has been described. However, the main part of the plate making apparatus can also be applied to a fine hole forming apparatus by etching.

Embodiment 2 FIG. In the first embodiment, the optical fiber laser device 1 is configured using one optical fiber, but in the second embodiment, a plurality of optical fibers are arranged in parallel. The illustration example is omitted. Thus, dot rows can be produced in parallel, so that dot rows can be produced at a higher speed than in the first embodiment, and plate making can be performed more quickly and efficiently.

As described above, according to the second embodiment, the same effects as those of the first embodiment can be obtained. In addition, since dot rows can be produced at a high speed, plate making can be performed more quickly and efficiently. can get.

[0015]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a cylinder having a resist film, an optical fiber laser device, an optical switch, and a laser beam are focused on the resist film of the cylinder. And the converging spot forming means for forming a predetermined converging spot, the volume and weight of the optical fiber laser device can be reduced to about one tenth of the conventional YAG laser device, and the power consumption can be reduced. Therefore, there is an effect that the entire plate making apparatus is reduced in size and weight and power consumption can be significantly reduced.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the optical fiber laser device is constituted by arranging a plurality of optical fibers in parallel, it is possible to produce a dot row at a high speed and thus to make a plate quickly and efficiently. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a plate making apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing a conventional plate making apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Optical fiber laser apparatus 2, 4, 7 Laser beam 5 Optical switch 6 Beam expander (Condensing spot forming means) 8 Condensing lens (Condensing spot forming means) 9 Cylinder 10 Condensing spot

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A cylinder rotatably provided with a resist film, an optical fiber laser device for emitting a laser beam using an optical fiber as a laser medium, and an optical switch for transmitting or blocking a laser beam emitted from the optical fiber laser device. A plate-making apparatus comprising: a light-condensing spot forming means for converging the laser beam transmitted by the optical switch on the resist film of the cylinder to form a predetermined light-condensing spot to remove the resist film. . 2. The plate making apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the optical fiber laser device comprises a plurality of optical fibers arranged in parallel.