JP2003063697A - Sheet material positioning device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simplify device constitution by enabling to correctly decide a position even without cuts for positioning a printing plate to dispense with punching for forming the cuts, and saving installation space for punching. SOLUTION: An end surface of the printing plate 12 is used to be simply applied to reference pins 90, 92, and 94 for positioning. The cuts or the like need not be formed in the printed plate 12, so that work efficiency can be improved. Devices for cutting the cuts become unnecessary, so that device constitution is simplified.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet material positioning device for positioning a sheet material at a predetermined reference position.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A sheet-shaped recording material, particularly a printing plate having a photosensitive layer provided on a support is used, and a laser beam or the like is directly applied to the photosensitive layer (emulsion surface) of the printing plate. A technique for recording an image has been developed (printing plate exposure device). With such a technique, it is possible to quickly record an image on a printing plate.

In an automatic printing plate exposure apparatus which uses a technique for recording an image on a printing plate, the printing plate is fed by an exposure section with a flat plate as a supporting surface, and the printing section receives the printing plate and a predetermined value is obtained. The exposure process is performed by positioning the position.

Before the printing plate is fed along the plate, a notch having at least two directional faces as positioning end faces is provided at the transporting front end of the printing plate, and positioning is performed with this notch as a reference.

When the printing plate is positioned, the projections provided corresponding to the notches are accommodated in the notches for positioning. As a result, the printing plate can be reliably positioned.

However, in the above conventional positioning,
It was necessary to mount a punch for processing the notch in the device, which secured an installation space and complicated the device configuration.

In consideration of the above facts, the present invention enables accurate positioning without a notch for positioning the printing plate, and as a result, a punch for processing the notch is not required, and the punch It is an object of the present invention to obtain a sheet material positioning device that can omit the installation space for the device and can simplify the device configuration.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sheet material positioning device for positioning a sheet material at a predetermined reference position, which conveys the sheet material in a predetermined direction. The conveyance means of No. 1 is disposed on the movement locus of the sheet material in the predetermined direction, and abuts on the leading end surface of the sheet material at at least two points, whereby the position and inclination of the sheet material in the predetermined direction. And a second conveying means for conveying the sheet material in the width direction of the sheet material orthogonal to the predetermined direction, and the position and inclination of the sheet material in the predetermined direction by the first positioning means are determined. In a state where the sheet material is arranged on the widthwise conveyance locus of the sheet material by the second conveying means and abuts on one end surface in the width direction of the sheet material to determine the position of the sheet material. Position 2 It has a fit means.

According to the first aspect of the invention, the first conveying means conveys the sheet material in a predetermined direction. At this time, when the sheet material is rectangular, the vertical and horizontal sides are preferably parallel and perpendicular to the transport direction, but may be inclined depending on the transport mechanism. Here, in the first positioning means, the leading end surface of the sheet material is brought into contact with at least two points, so that the position and inclination of the sheet material in a predetermined direction are determined.

Next, the sheet material is conveyed in the width direction by the second conveying means. At this time, since the position and the inclination of the sheet material in the predetermined direction are fixed,
When the width direction is determined by the positioning means, the sheet material is positioned at a unique position.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the first aspect, the first positioning means and the second positioning means are provided.
Each of the positioning means is a reference pin that comes into contact with the end surface of the sheet material.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the reference pins are optimal as the first positioning means and the second positioning means, and the sheet material can be brought into point contact with the respective reference pins. .

According to a third aspect of the invention, in the invention of the second aspect, the first positioning means and the second positioning means are provided.
The reference pin applied to at least one of the positioning means is a rolling bearing.

According to the invention described in claim 3, the reference pin applied to at least one of the first positioning means and the second positioning means is a rolling bearing.
The movement in the contact state with the reference pin becomes smooth.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to any one of the first to third aspects, the reference position at which the leading end portion of the sheet material is positioned is wrapped around the sheet material. It is characterized in that it is present on the peripheral surface of the drum to be held, and the first positioning means and the second positioning means are provided on the peripheral surface of the drum.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the reference position exists on the peripheral surface of the drum, the reference can be determined at the stage of manufacturing the drum alone, and the relative positional relationship with other peripheral members. Assembling work can be done without worrying about.

According to a fifth aspect of the invention, in the invention according to any one of the first to third aspects, the reference position at which the leading end of the sheet material is positioned is the sheet material. It is characterized in that it is provided on the peripheral surface of the drum to be wound and held, the first positioning means is provided on the peripheral surface of the drum, and the second positioning means is provided on a conveying path to the drum. There is.

According to the invention described in claim 5, the second positioning means is provided on the conveying path to the drum,
The position in the width direction with respect to the drum can be adjusted after assembling.

According to a sixth aspect of the invention, in the invention according to the fourth or fifth aspect, after the sheet material is positioned at the reference position on the drum, the sheet is rotated as the drum rotates. The material is characterized in that it is wound around the peripheral surface of the drum and held.

According to the sixth aspect of the invention, the sheet material is wound with the rotation of the drum with reference to this tip portion after the positioning of the tip portion is completed. As a result, the relative positional relationship between the drum and the sheet material can always be matched.

For example, as the sheet material held in this way, there is a recording material having a photosensitive surface, and by performing the positioning according to the invention described in any one of the above claims 1 to 5, the recording material has a rear end at the end. It is possible to maintain the quality of the recording material because it is not necessary to process the remaining notches and the like.

[0022]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a printing plate automatic exposure apparatus 10 according to this embodiment.

This printing plate automatic exposure device 10 is used for printing plate 1
It is divided into two blocks: an exposure unit 14 that exposes an image by irradiating the two image forming layers with a light beam, and a transport guide unit 18 that transports the printing plate 12 to the exposure unit 14. The printing plate 12 exposed by the printing plate automatic exposure device 10 is sent to a developing device (not shown) installed adjacent to the printing plate automatic exposure device 10.

The exposure unit 14 is mainly composed of a rotary drum 16 for winding and holding the printing plate 12 on its peripheral surface, and the printing plate 12 is guided by a conveyance guide unit 18 to be rotated by the rotary drum 16. It is designed to be fed in from the tangential direction. The transport guide unit 18 includes a plate supply guide 20 and a plate discharge guide 22.

Plate feeding guide 20 of the transport guide unit 18
The relative positional relationship between the plate discharge guide 22 and the plate discharge guide 22 is a horizontal V-shape, and is configured to rotate a predetermined angle around the center of FIG. By this rotation, the plate feeding guide 2
0 or the plate discharge guide 22 is selectively associated with the rotary drum 16 (arranged in the tangential direction of the rotary drum 16).
be able to.

A punching machine 24 for punching a through hole which serves as a reference for winding the printing plate 12 around a plate cylinder of a rotary press (not shown) is disposed near the transport guide unit 18. By allowing the plate guide 20 to face the punching machine 24, the leading edge of the printing plate 12 can be fed to the punching machine 24. That is, the printing plate 12
First, the sheet is guided by the plate feed guide 20 and fed into the punching machine 24. After punching, for example, a circular hole and a long hole at the tip of the printing plate 12, the sheet is once returned to the plate feed guide 20. After that, by rotating the transport guide unit 18, the printing plate 12 is moved to a position corresponding to the rotary drum 16.

2 and 3, the conveyance guide unit 1 is shown.
8 detailed configurations are shown.

The plate supply guide 20 and the plate discharge guide 22 are stretched over a pair of side plates 50 which are parallel to each other. Above the plate feed guide 20, skewer rollers 52 are arranged in the width direction in the vicinity of the end on the side of the rotary drum 16. The rotary shafts of the skewer rollers 52 are pivotally supported by the side plates 50, respectively. .

On the outer side of one side plate 50, a drive unit 54 connected to the rotary shaft of the skewer roller 52 is attached. The drive unit 54 includes a motor and a speed reducer (not shown), and the drive force of the drive unit 54 causes the skew roller 5 to move.
2 is rotated at a predetermined speed.

The upper plate discharge guide 22 is composed of two flat plates 22.
It is composed of A and 22B, and these two flat plates 22A,
The skewered roller 52 is disposed between 22B. Further, the two flat plates 22A and 22B are stretched over the pair of side plates 50 at a predetermined angle with respect to the skewer roller 52 as a base point.

The flat plate 22A on the front side of FIG. 2 is provided with a plurality of ribs 56 at a uniform pitch along the carrying direction. A through hole 58 is provided between the ribs 56. Further, the flat plate 22B on the back side of FIG. 2 is provided with a plurality of ribs 60 at equal pitches along the transport direction.

The plate discharge guide 22 is adapted to carry the printing plate 12 wound around the rotary drum 16 and subjected to the exposure process.

FIG. 3 shows the transport guide unit 18 in a state where the plate discharge guide 22 is removed (that is, only the plate supply guide 20 is attached).

In the plate feed guide 20, a plurality of ribs 64 are formed on a flat plate 62 in a substantially horizontal state at a uniform pitch along the carrying direction. The rib 64 is made of synthetic resin and may be integrally formed with the flat plate 62 or may be a separate body.

The printing plate 12 (see FIG. 1) is substantially supported by the ribs 64 when placed on the plate feed guide 20. Therefore, when the printing plate 12 is fed along the rotary drum 16, the entire surface does not come into contact with the plate feed guide 20, so that the frictional force is reduced.

A pusher unit 66 is provided at the end of the plate feed guide 20 opposite to the rotary drum 16 (the end on the front side in FIG. 3). The pusher unit 66 includes a pressing bar 68 that moves along the plate feed guide 20 in the direction of the rotary drum 16. The pressing bar 68 is provided with three pressing members 70 that come into contact with the front end surface of the printing plate 12 placed on the plate supply guide 20 in FIG.

The pressing member 70 is attached to one end of a substantially L-shaped bracket 72 which is rotatably attached to the pressing bar 68 via a shaft.

The pressing member 70 has a role of pressing the printing plate 12 placed on the plate supply guide 20 toward the exposure drum by the rotating operation of the bracket 72, while the pressing bar 68 is provisionally positioned. Rotating drum 16 for printing plate 12
It has the role of sending in the direction. An operation for temporarily positioning the printing plate 12 in the width direction is performed between the pressing operation by the pressing member 70 and the feeding operation by the pressing bar 68.

That is, the widthwise pressing portion 74 movable in the widthwise direction is provided on the left side surface portion of the plate feeding guide 20 in FIG. The width-direction pressing portion 74 is composed of an L-shaped bracket 76 and a contact portion 78. On the contrary,
A reference pin 80 is provided on the right side surface of the plate feed guide 20 in FIG.

The printing plate 12 that has been temporarily positioned is the printing plate 1
The widthwise pressing portion 74 is moved in the widthwise direction in accordance with the size of 2, and the printing plate 12 is moved in the widthwise direction by the contact portion 78 by the rotation of the bracket 78.

At this time, the plate feed guide 20 is provided with a rectangular hole 84, and the rectangular plate 84 has a rectangular hole 84.
A roller roller 82 is housed that rotates along the widthwise movement of the roller. As a result, the widthwise movement of the printing plate 12 is smoothly performed.

The rotating drum 16 is driven by a driving means (not shown) so that the mounting exposure direction of the printing plate 12 (direction of arrow A in FIG. 1) and the direction of removing the printing plate 12 opposite to the mounting exposure direction (arrow B of FIG. 1). Direction).

As shown in FIG. 1, on the rotary drum 16 provided in the exposure section 14, a tip chuck 26 is attached at a predetermined position on the outer peripheral surface. Exposure unit 14
Then, when the printing plate 12 is mounted on the rotary drum 16, first, the tip chuck 26 is moved by the transport guide unit 1
Rotating drum 1 at a position (printing plate mounting position) facing the front end of printing plate 12 fed by plate feeding guide 20
Stop 6

The exposure unit 22 is provided with a mounting cam 28 facing the tip chuck 26 at the printing plate mounting position.
The tip chuck 26 can insert the printing plate 12 between itself and the peripheral surface of the rotating drum 16 by rotating the mounting cam 28 and pressing one end side thereof.

In the exposure section 14, with the front end of the printing plate 12 inserted between the front end chuck 26 and the rotary drum 16, the mounting cam 28 is returned to release the pressure on the front end chuck 26, and the printing plate is released. The tip of 12 is clamped and held between the tip chuck 26 and the peripheral surface of the rotary drum 16.

At this time, the printing plate 12 is contacted by a pair of reference pins 90 and 92 (see FIG. 4) whose front end surface is projected at a predetermined position on the peripheral surface of the rotary drum 16 and the printing is performed. One end of the plate 12 in the width direction comes into contact with a positioning pin 94 protruding from one end of the rotary drum 16 in the axial direction, and is finally positioned with respect to the rotary drum 16.

Here, the temporary positioning on the plate feeding guide 20 and the main positioning on the rotary drum 16 will be described in more detail. As shown in FIG.
The press bar 68 presses the rear end of the printing plate 12 while the printing plate 12 is placed on the plate feed guide 20 (substantially the pressing member 70 presses at two points), whereby the inclination is substantially corrected. ,
And, it is sent to a substantially predetermined temporary positioning position (see FIG. 5). Further, in this state, the abutting portion 78 pushes it in the width direction and moves it until it abuts the reference pin 80 (see FIG. 5).

In this state, the pressing member 70 moves the printing plate 12 in the direction of the rotating drum 16 so that the rotating drum 16
It comes into contact with the pair of reference pins 90 and 92 provided on the (see FIG. 5). At this time, the pair of reference pins 90,
Since 92 comes into contact with the printing plate 12, the position and inclination of the front end of the printing plate 12 are accurately positioned.

After that, in the width direction of the printing plate 12 whose position is substantially determined by the reference pin 80, the reference pin 94 for adjusting the width direction is pressed again by the contact portion 78.
It is possible to make the relative positional relationship between the rotary drum 16 and the printing plate 12 unique by contacting with (see FIG. 5).

In the exposure unit 14, when the front end of the printing plate 12 is fixed to the rotary drum 16, the rotary drum 16 is rotated in the mounting exposure direction. As a result, the transport guide unit 18
The printing plate 12 fed from the plate feeding guide 20 is wound around the peripheral surface of the rotating drum 16.

In the vicinity of the peripheral surface of the rotary drum 16, the squeeze roller 3 is located downstream of the printing plate mounting position in the mounting exposure direction.
0 is placed. The squeeze roller 30 moves toward the rotary drum 16 to move the rotary drum 16.
The printing plate 12 wound on the rotary drum 16 is pressed against the rotating drum 16 to bring the printing plate 12 into close contact with the peripheral surface of the rotating drum 16.

The exposure unit 14 includes a squeeze roller 3
A rear end chuck attachment / detachment unit 32 is arranged near the upstream side of the rotation exposure direction of the rotary drum 16 with respect to zero. A rear end chuck 36 is attached to the rear end chuck attachment / detachment unit 32 at the tip of a shaft 34 protruding toward the rotary drum 16.

In the exposure section 14, the trailing edge of the printing plate 12 wound around the rotary drum 16 is the trailing edge chuck attaching / detaching unit 3
When facing 2, the shaft 34 is projected and the rear end chuck 36 is mounted at a predetermined position on the rotary drum 16. As a result, the trailing edge chuck 36 holds and holds the trailing edge of the printing plate 12 with the rotating drum 16.

In the exposure section 14, when the front end and the rear end of the printing plate 12 are held by the rotating drum 16, the squeeze roller 30
Separate. After that, in the exposure unit 14, the rotary drum 1
While rotating 6 at a predetermined rotation speed at high speed, the recording head unit 37 irradiates a light beam modulated based on image data in synchronization with the rotation of the rotating drum 16. As a result, the printing plate 12 is scanned and exposed based on the image data.

In the exposure section 14, when the scanning exposure of the printing plate 12 is completed, the rotary drum 16 is placed at a position where the rear end chuck 36 holding the rear end of the printing plate 12 faces the rear end chuck attaching / detaching unit 32. Pause the rotating drum 16
Then, the rear end chuck 36 is removed. As a result, the trailing edge of the printing plate 12 is opened.

After that, the rotary drum 16 is rotated in the take-out direction of the printing plate 12, so that the printing plate 12 is discharged from the rear end side to the plate discharge guide 22 of the transport guide unit 18 along the tangential direction of the rotary drum 16. After that, it is conveyed to the developing device in the next step.

The operation of this embodiment will be described below.

First, the printing plate 12 is placed on the plate feed guide 20. At this time, so-called manual feeding may be used, or feeding may be performed by an automatic sheet feeding device or the like.

The printing plate 12 placed on the plate supply guide 20.
Are supported relatively roughly (such as the placement position and the inclination with respect to the plate feed guide 20). By operating the pressing bar 68 in this state, the printing plate 12 is pressed to the vicinity of a predetermined temporary positioning position ( See FIG. 5). At this time, printing plate 1
Since at least two pressing members 70 come into contact with No. 2, the inclination is corrected during the pressing movement.

At the time of transportation to the rotary drum 16,
Since the plurality of ribs 64 are formed on the plate feed guide 20 along the conveying direction to the rotary drum 16, the printing plate 12
Are supported by ribs 64. Therefore, the substantial supporting surface of the printing plate 12 is the upper surface of the rib 64, the contact area is small, and the frictional force is reduced, so that smooth transportation can be performed.

When the provisional positioning in the conveying direction on the rotary drum 16 is completed, the width direction pressing member 74 is subsequently moved according to the plate size, and then the bracket 76 is axially rotated to operate the contact portion 78. (See FIG. 5). As a result, the printing plate 12 comes into contact with the stopper 80, so that the printing plate 12 is temporarily positioned in the width direction.

In this temporary positioning state, the pressing member 70 is further added.
To move the printing plate 12 toward the rotating drum 16,
A pair of reference pins 90, 92 provided on the rotary drum 16
(See FIG. 5). As a result, the printing plate 1
The position and inclination of the tip of 2 are corrected.

Next, in this state, the printing plate 12 is moved in the width direction by the abutting portion 78 and abutted against the reference pin 94 (see FIG. 5). Since the position in the width direction is substantially determined by the reference pin 80 (temporary positioning), the error caused by a slight movement of the printing plate 12 from the temporary positioning position is corrected. As a result, the printing plate 12 becomes a unique position with respect to the rotary drum 16 (main positioning).

The printing plate 12 sent to the rotary drum 16 and finally positioned is tightly wound around the peripheral surface of the rotary drum 16 by the front end chuck 26 and the rear end chuck 36, and the preparation for exposure is completed.

The image data is read and the recording head unit 37
The exposure process is started by the light beam from. The exposure processing is so-called scanning exposure in which the recording head unit 37 is moved in the axial direction of the rotary drum 16 while rotating the rotary drum 16 at high speed (main scanning).

When the exposure process is completed, the transport guide unit 18 is switched (the plate discharge guide 22 is made to correspond to the rotary drum 16), and then the printing plate 12 wound around the rotary drum 16 is discharged in the tangential direction. At this time, the printing plate 12 is sent to the plate discharge guide 22.

When the printing plate 12 is sent to the plate ejection guide 22, the conveyance guide unit 18 is switched to the plate ejection guide 2
2 is made to correspond to the discharge port, and the printing plate 12 is discharged. A developing unit is provided in the discharging direction, and the printing plate 12 is continuously developed.

In this embodiment, the rotary drum 16
Although the reference pin 94 for the widthwise positioning of the main positioning is provided in the above, the reference pin 80 for the widthwise positioning of the temporary positioning provided on the plate feeding guide 20 may also be used for the main positioning.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the printing plate 1
By using the end face of 2, the reference pin 9 for positioning is simply
Since the positioning is performed by abutting against 0, 90 and 94, it is not necessary to provide the printing plate 12 with a notch and the working efficiency can be improved. Further, a device for processing the notch becomes unnecessary, and the device configuration can be simplified.

[0070]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to perform accurate positioning without a notch for positioning the printing plate, and as a result, a punch for processing the notch is not required. Installation space for
It has an excellent effect that the device configuration can be simplified.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a printing plate automatic exposure apparatus according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a conveyance guide unit.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the transport guide unit with the plate discharge guide removed.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view around a tip chuck of a rotating drum.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a moving state of the printing plate during positioning.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Automatic printing plate exposure device 12 Printing plate (sheet-shaped recording material) 14 Exposure unit 37 recording head 50 side plate 52 skewer roller 54 Drive 80 reference pins (for temporary positioning in the printing plate width direction) 90 Reference pin (for main positioning in printing plate transport direction) 92 Reference pin (for main positioning in printing plate transport direction) 94 Reference pin (for main positioning in printing plate width direction)

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued Front Page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification Code FI Theme Coat (Reference) B65H 9/00 B65H 9/00 L 9/14 9/14

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A sheet material positioning device for positioning a sheet material at a predetermined reference position, comprising: first conveying means for conveying the sheet material in a predetermined direction; and the sheet in the predetermined direction. A first positioning unit which is disposed on the movement path of the sheet material and which determines the position and inclination of the sheet material in a predetermined direction by contacting the leading end surface of the sheet material at at least two points; A second conveying means for conveying the sheet material in the width direction orthogonal to the sheet material, and the second conveying means with the position and inclination of the sheet material in a predetermined direction determined by the first positioning means. A sheet material position disposed on a conveyance path of the sheet material in the width direction and having a second positioning means for determining the width direction position of the sheet material by contacting one end surface in the width direction of the sheet material. Decided apparatus. 2. The sheet material positioning device according to claim 1, wherein each of the first positioning means and the second positioning means is a reference pin that contacts an end surface of the sheet material. 3. The sheet material positioning device according to claim 2, wherein the reference pin applied to at least one of the first positioning means and the second positioning means is a rolling bearing. 4. The reference position at which the leading end of the sheet material is positioned is present on the peripheral surface of the drum around which the sheet material is wound and held, and the first positioning means and the second positioning means are provided.
The sheet material positioning device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the positioning means is provided on the peripheral surface of the drum. 5. The reference position at which the leading end of the sheet material is positioned is present on the peripheral surface of the drum around which the sheet material is wound and held, and the first positioning means is provided on the peripheral surface of the drum. The sheet material positioning device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the second positioning means is provided on a conveyance path to the drum. 6. The sheet material is positioned at a reference position on the drum, and then the sheet material is wound around and held on the peripheral surface of the drum as the drum rotates. Alternatively, the sheet material positioning device according to claim 5.