JP2004256190A - Automatic block supply device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automatic block supply device capable of securely picking up printing blocks stored in a cassette in a piled up state one by one at low cost. <P>SOLUTION: A projecting part 68 which makes the direction of arrangement of an adsorbent panel 40 the longitudinal direction and protrudes toward an upward side by predetermined height is formed at a position corresponding to a pick-up position of the printing block 12 by the adsorbent panel 40 on a bottom face of the cassette 38 mounted in a printing block automatic exposure device. When the printing blocks 12 are stored in a piled up condition, a part riding on the projecting part 68 rises and the rising part 69 is absorbed and lifted to cause vacuum destruction in a substantially vacuum space 72. Consequently, multiple close adhesion of the printing blocks 12 can be eliminated to pick up them securely one by one by a pick-up unit at low cost. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an automatic plate feeding apparatus that adsorbs printing plates accommodated in a cassette in a stacked state one by one and conveys them to a plate receiving portion.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Using a printing plate (for example, a PS plate such as a thermal plate or a photopolymer plate) provided with a recording layer (photosensitive layer) on a support, light such as a laser beam is directly applied to the photosensitive layer (emulsion surface) of this printing plate. A technique for recording an image with a beam has been developed (printing plate automatic exposure apparatus). This type of printing plate automatic exposure apparatus includes an exposure apparatus that irradiates a recording layer of a printing plate with a light beam to expose an image, and a plate feeding apparatus that conveys and supplies the printing plate to the exposure apparatus.
[0003]
Further, the plate feeding apparatus includes a cassette that is loaded in the apparatus main body and can store a large number of printing plates in a stacked state, and a pickup member that includes a plurality of suction disks. When taking out the printing plate from the cassette, a plurality of pickup plates of the pickup member are sucked onto the upper surface of the end of the printing plate located at the uppermost layer in the cassette, and the printing plate is lifted and picked up by the suction force. Then, it is sent to the exposure apparatus of the next process.
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-128294
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Here, usually, the printing plate is often picked up at a position slightly inside the edge of the printing plate for the purpose of smoothly delivering the printing plate after picking up by the suction disk. However, since the bottom surface of the conventional cassette is a flat surface, when the printing plate is sucked by the suction plate and lifted, the portion on the edge side from the pickup position has the same action as the suction cup (suction plate). As a result, there has been a problem that a so-called multiple contact (substantially vacuum contact) phenomenon occurs in which not only one sheet but also many printing plates are lifted in close contact with each other.
[0006]
As a supplementary explanation of the mechanism of multiple contact, as shown in FIG. 6A, when picking up, first, the uppermost printing plate 100 is deformed by pulling up the vacuum suction pad 104 of the pick-up member 102 to be in a sucker state. Since the inside of the suction cup portion 106 is in a substantially vacuum state, as shown in FIG. 6 (B), the second printing plate 100 also has a suction action, and the third printing plate 100, four sheets. Multiple adhesion occurs sequentially in a chain, such as the printing plate 100 of the eye.
[0007]
When the multiple close contact caused in this way becomes a large number of sheets, a large load is applied to the vacuum suction pad 104, so that the suction force must be increased accordingly, and for this purpose, the pickup member 102 and the vacuum generator are included. The output system of the pickup unit must be made strong, resulting in a problem that leads to an increase in cost. Also, even when multiple close contact occurs between a small number of printing plates, if the printing plates are transported in multiple ways, trouble may occur in the printing plate automatic exposure device. This necessitates means and a process for reliably separating the printing plates and transporting the printing plates one by one, resulting in a complicated structure and a decrease in productivity.
[0008]
In addition, the above Patent Document 1 discloses a configuration in which the entire bottom surface of the cassette is curved in a convex shape so that the entire photopolymer plate and interleaf paper are accommodated in the cassette in a curved shape. If the entire bottom surface of the cassette is curved in a convex shape so as to warp the entire printing plate in a convex shape, a certain cost is required.
[0009]
In view of the above facts, an object of the present invention is to obtain an automatic plate feeding apparatus capable of reliably picking up printing plates accommodated in a cassette in a stacked state one by one with a low-cost pickup unit.
[0010]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
An automatic plate feeder according to the present invention as set forth in claim 1 is equipped with a cassette which is loaded in the apparatus main body and accommodates a large number of printing plates in a stacked state, and is provided in the apparatus main body and includes a plurality of suction plates. Pick-up means for adsorbing the upper surface of the end of the printing plate located in the uppermost layer of the inside with the plurality of suction discs and taking out the printing plate located in the uppermost layer from the cassette and transporting it to the supplied plate portion in the next process; An automatic plate feeding apparatus configured to include a suction plate on the bottom surface of the cassette at a position corresponding to a pickup position by the pickup means, with the arrangement direction of the suction plates of the pickup means being a longitudinal direction and a predetermined direction in the pickup direction. It is characterized in that a convex part protruding in height is provided.
[0011]
According to the first aspect of the present invention, a cassette in which a large number of printing plates are stored in a stacked state is loaded in the apparatus main body. In this state, when the printing plate in the cassette is fed to the plate receiving portion in the next process, first, the upper surface of the end of the printing plate located at the uppermost layer in the cassette by the plurality of suction plates provided in the pickup means Is adsorbed. Thereafter, the adsorbed uppermost printing plate is transported to the plate receiving section in the next process. Thereby, the printing plate is automatically fed.
[0012]
Here, in the present invention, at the position corresponding to the pick-up position by the pick-up means on the bottom surface of the cassette, there is provided a convex portion having the suction plate arrangement direction of the pick-up means as the longitudinal direction and protruding in a predetermined height in the pick-up direction. Therefore, when the printing plates are accommodated in the cassette in a stacked state, the portion of the printing plate riding on the convex portion is raised according to the protruding height of the convex portion. A suction disk provided in the pickup means is in close contact with the raised portion. Therefore, when the state immediately after picking up is considered, when the printing plate located in the uppermost layer starts to be lifted, a vacuum is applied to the substantially vacuum space formed by the printing plate located in the uppermost layer and the second printing plate. Destruction begins to occur from the edge side. Once the vacuum break occurs, the vacuum break proceeds at an accelerated rate, and the second printing plate is easily separated from the uppermost printing plate.
[0013]
In other words, in the case of the conventional structure in which the bottom shape of the cassette is flat, a substantially vacuum space formed by the printing plate located on the uppermost layer and the second printing plate is maintained, so that the uppermost layer When the printing plate located is picked up, the second printing plate is also lifted together, but in the case of the present invention, since there is a convex part on the bottom of the cassette, the edge side of the uppermost printing plate immediately after picking up As the vacuum break begins, this is promoted to eliminate multiple adhesion.
[0014]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 4 shows a schematic overall configuration of the printing plate automatic exposure apparatus 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention.
[0015]
As shown in this figure, the printing plate automatic exposure apparatus 10 includes an exposure unit 14 that irradiates an image forming layer of the printing plate 12 with a light beam to expose an image, and a sheet of the printing plate 12 that exposes the exposure unit. 14 is divided into two blocks: a plate feeding unit 15 serving as an “automatic plate feeding device” to be transported to 14. Further, the printing plate 12 subjected to the exposure processing by the printing plate automatic exposure device 10 is sent out to a developing device (not shown) installed adjacent to the printing plate automatic exposure device 10.
[0016]
[Configuration of Exposure Unit 14]
The exposure unit 14 includes a rotating drum 16 that winds and holds the printing plate 12 around the peripheral surface, and the printing plate 12 is guided by a conveyance guide unit 18 and is tangential to the rotating drum 16. It comes to be sent from. The conveyance guide unit 18 includes a plate supply guide 20 and a plate discharge guide 22, and a conveyance roller 108 and a guide plate 109 are disposed on the boundary side of the conveyance guide unit 18 with the plate feeding unit 15. Has been.
[0017]
The plate feed guide 20 and the plate discharge guide 22 of the transport guide unit 18 are in a horizontal V-shape relative to each other, and have a structure that rotates around a right end portion in FIG. 4 by a predetermined angle. By this rotation, the position where the plate feed guide 20 is selectively made to correspond to the rotary drum 16 (position where the plate feed guide 20 is arranged in the tangential direction of the rotary drum 16) and the insertion direction into the puncher 24 provided above the rotary drum 16 Position. The printing plate 12 fed from the plate feeding unit 15 is first guided by the plate feeding guide 20 and fed into the puncher 24, and a notch for positioning is formed at the tip of the printing plate 12. The printing plate 12 is configured to be moved to a position corresponding to the rotating drum 16 by being returned to the plate feeding guide 20 after being processed by the puncher 24 as necessary.
[0018]
The rotating drum 16 is driven by a driving means (not shown) in the mounting exposure direction of the printing plate 12 (in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 4) and in the removal direction of the printing plate 12 opposite to the mounting exposure direction (in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 4). It is rotated.
[0019]
A tip chuck 26 is attached to the rotary drum 16 at a predetermined position on the outer peripheral surface. In the exposure unit 14, when the printing plate 12 is mounted on the rotating drum 16, first, the front end chuck 26 is opposed to the front end of the printing plate 12 fed by the plate supply guide 20 of the conveyance guide unit 18 (printing plate). The rotating drum 16 is stopped at the mounting position).
[0020]
Further, the exposure unit 14 is provided with a mounting unit 28 facing the front end chuck 26 at the printing plate mounting position. The front end chuck 26 allows the printing plate 12 to be inserted between the front end chuck 26 and the peripheral surface of the rotary drum 16 when the telescopic rod 28A of the mounting unit 28 extends and is pressed on one end side. With the front end of the printing plate 12 inserted between the front end chuck 26 and the rotary drum 16, the telescopic rod 28 </ b> A of the mounting unit 28 is pulled back to release the pressure on the front end chuck 26. In this configuration, the front end chuck 26 and the peripheral surface of the rotary drum 16 are sandwiched and held. At this time, the printing plate 12 is positioned by abutting a positioning pin (not shown) provided on the rotary drum 16 at the tip. When the leading end of the printing plate 12 is fixed to the rotating drum 16, the rotating drum 16 is rotated in the mounting exposure direction. Accordingly, the printing plate 12 fed from the plate supply guide 20 of the conveyance guide unit 18 is configured to be wound around the peripheral surface of the rotary drum 16.
[0021]
A squeeze roller 30 is disposed in the vicinity of the peripheral surface of the rotary drum 16 on the downstream side of the mounting exposure direction (in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 4) from the printing plate mounting position. The squeeze roller 30 moves toward the rotating drum 16 to press the printing plate 12 wound around the rotating drum 16 toward the rotating drum 16, thereby bringing the printing plate 12 into close contact with the peripheral surface of the rotating drum 16. it can.
[0022]
Further, a rear end chuck attaching / detaching unit 32 is disposed in the exposure unit 14 in the vicinity of the upstream side in the mounting exposure direction of the rotary drum 16 relative to the front end chuck 26. In the rear end chuck attaching / detaching unit 32, the rear end chuck 36 moves along a guide protruding toward the rotary drum 16. When the rear end of the printing plate 12 wound around the rotary drum 16 faces the rear end chuck attaching / detaching unit 32, the rear end chuck 36 is moved in the direction of the rotary drum 16, and the rear end chuck 36 is moved to a predetermined position of the rotary drum 16. Attach to. Thus, the rear end chuck 36 is configured to sandwich and hold the rear end of the printing plate 12 with the rotary drum 16.
[0023]
When the front end and the rear end of the printing plate 12 are held by the rotary drum 16, the squeeze roller 30 is separated (see the chain line in FIG. 4). Thereafter, the exposure unit 14 irradiates a light beam modulated based on image data from the recording head unit 37 in synchronization with the rotation of the rotary drum 16 while rotating the rotary drum 16 at a high speed at a predetermined rotational speed. . As a result, the printing plate 12 is scanned and exposed based on the image data.
[0024]
When the scanning exposure on the printing plate 12 is completed, the rotating drum 16 is temporarily stopped at a position where the trailing edge chuck 36 holding the trailing edge of the printing plate 12 faces the trailing edge chuck attaching / detaching unit 32, The rear end chuck 36 is removed. Thereby, the rear end of the printing plate 12 is opened. Thereafter, by rotating the rotating drum 16 in the direction of taking out the printing plate 12, the printing plate 12 is discharged from the rear end side along the tangential direction of the rotating drum 16 to the discharging guide 22 of the transport guide unit 18, and then It is a structure conveyed to the developing device of the next process.
[0025]
[Configuration of Plate Feeding Section 15]
As shown in FIG. 4, the plate feeding unit 15 is provided with a cassette stocker unit 11 having a predetermined space, and a cassette 38 that is parallel to the apparatus installation surface. A plurality of cassettes 38 are stacked. The cassette 38 contains a plurality of printing plates 12. As shown in FIG. 5, the printing plate 12 has a structure in which an emulsion surface 12B (image recording surface) is formed on a support 12A. In the cassette 38, protection for protecting the emulsion surface 12B of the printing plate 12 is provided. Interleaving paper 13 as a sheet and printing plate 12 with emulsion surface 12B facing downward are alternately stacked and accommodated.
[0026]
Here, the cassettes 38 of the present embodiment are stacked in a state where they are offset in the horizontal direction. This offset amount is set on the basis of the movement trajectory when the printing plate 12 (and the slip sheet 13 as the protective sheet) is taken out from each cassette 38 by the suction plate 40 described later.
[0027]
In the plate supply unit 15, a plurality of suction disks 40 are arranged at a predetermined pitch interval on a base plate (not shown) provided along the width direction of the printing plate 12. The suction board 40 is classified into a plurality of systems. Thereby, based on the size of the printing plate 12, the printing plate 12 can be adsorbed in a balanced manner by selecting a system and providing an adsorption function.
[0028]
At the upper part of the cassette 38, there is provided a moving mechanism 72 as a “pickup means” capable of supporting the suspension board 40 in a suspended manner and moving the base point 70 supporting the suspension in a horizontal direction in FIG. ing.
[0029]
The moving mechanism 72 includes a bar 73 (see FIGS. 1 and 3) or a plate that supports the plurality of suction plates 40 along the width direction of the cassette 38, and a pair of rails (both illustrated) over which the bar 73 or plate is stretched. (Omitted).
[0030]
The base point 70 that supports the suction plate 40 is rotatable. Here, when the printing plate 12 is taken out from each cassette 38, the bar 73 or plate to which the suction plate 40 is attached is located on the right end of FIG. 4 of each cassette 38 on the rail.
[0031]
Here, since the slip sheet 13 and the printing plate 12 with the emulsion surface 12B facing down are alternately stacked in the cassette 38, the suction disk 40 contacts the upper slip sheet 13 in the cassette 38. Will do. When the suction disk 40 is given a suction force at the time of contact, the suction force is transmitted not only to the upper layer paper 13 but also to the lower printing plate 12, so that the pair of paper 13 and the printing plate 12 are paired (one set). ) (Both simultaneously) and lifted. In FIG. 4, the lifting and lowering of the suction plate 40 is omitted, but the sheet 13 is lowered to the height position of each cassette and is sucked by the separating plate 39 provided in each cassette 38 and the printing plate 12. It is “spreaded” (separated) from the lower interleaving paper 13 and the printing plate 12, and ascends to the upper end position in this state.
[0032]
At this time, depending on the length of the printing plate 12 (the length in the left-right direction in FIG. 4), the movement trajectory differs in the vertical take-out from the cassettes 38 at each stage. That is, in the case of three stages as in the present embodiment, only the leading end of the printing plate 12 is lifted when it is taken out from the uppermost cassette 38, and when it is taken out from the middle cassette 38, About 2/3 is lifted, and when it is taken out from the lower cassette 38, the printing plate 12 is entirely suspended.
[0033]
In this state, the plate that supports the suction plate 40 starts to rotate counterclockwise in FIG. 4 around the base point 70 and starts to move to the left in FIG. 4 of the cassette 38 along the rail. As a result, the suction point of the suction disk 40 moves while drawing a so-called cycloid curve. By setting the offset amount of each cassette 38 based on this movement trajectory, it is possible to take out the interleaf 13 and the printing plate 12 from any cassette 38 without interfering with the upper cassette 38. It has become.
[0034]
It is most preferable that the printing plate 12 and the upper-layer cassette 38 do not interfere with each other. However, since the surface in contact with the cassette 38 is the slip sheet 13 (the back side of the printing plate 12), the flat surface of the cassette stocker unit 11 is used. Assuming that the visual space is reduced, the movement of the suction disk 40 in the left-right direction (horizontal direction) only needs to be avoided when the suction disk 40 moves in the up-and-down direction (vertical direction) and in the rotational movement. ) There may be some contact when moving.
[0035]
When the suction disk 40 is rotated by 180 °, the lower side becomes the interleaf 13 and the upper side becomes the printing plate 12 in the state of FIG.
[0036]
A belt 56 is wound around a roller 107 adjacent to the lower roller 108 </ b> A of the conveying roller 108. The belt 56 is also wound around a roller 74A on the right side of the pair of rollers 74 disposed in the vicinity of the conveyance guide unit 18 of the exposure unit 14. A pair of rollers 76 is further provided below the pair of rollers 74, and the belt 56 is wound around each of a roller 76 </ b> A on the right side of the lower roller 76 and a pair of small rollers 78. A letter-shaped loop is formed and driven in the direction of arrow D in FIG.
[0037]
A belt 80 is stretched between the left roller 74B of the upper pair of rollers 74 and the left roller 76B of the lower pair of rollers 76.
[0038]
The roller 74 </ b> B is a roller that rotates in a direction opposite to the conveyance direction of the printing plate 12, and has a structure in which a frictional force with the interleaf sheet 13 is increased. During normal conveyance, the roller 74B is retracted below the conveyance surface of the printing plate 12. After the printing plate 12 and the slip sheet 13 have passed over the roller 74B, the roller 74B rises, and the slip sheet 13 is drawn between the rollers 74 by the frictional force, and the roller 74B is retracted. Further, the interleaf paper 13 is sent to a pair of lower rollers 76 and discarded (see a chain line arrow E in FIG. 4).
[0039]
On the other hand, the printing plate 12 passes over the upper pair of rollers 74 and is fed into the plate feeding guide 20 (see solid line arrow F in FIG. 4).
[0040]
[Configuration of cassette 38]
Next, the structure of the cassette 38 according to the main part of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.
[0041]
First, the relationship between the structure of the cassette 38 and the pickup position by the suction disk 40 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIGS. 3A to 3C, the cassette 38 is formed in a tray shape whose upper surface is opened, and includes a front wall portion 38A, a rear wall portion 38B, a pair of side wall portions 38C, and a bottom wall. It is comprised by the part 38D. A pair of lateral guides 62 and a rear end guide 64 are arranged in an upright state so as to be adjustable on the inner side of each side wall part 38C and the inner side of the rear wall part 38B. A large number of printing plates 12 are accommodated in a stacked state in the cassette 38 by using these lateral guides 62 and rear end guides 64.
[0042]
The cassette 38 is loaded in the cassette stocker unit 11 in the state shown in FIG. 3A. In this state, the aforementioned suction disk 40 is lowered to a position slightly inside the edge of the front end of the printing plate 12. To come into contact. The position indicated by the P line is the “pickup position” of the printing plate 12 by the suction disk 40.
[0043]
Here, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, in this embodiment, the arrangement direction of the suction disk 40 is extended to a position corresponding to the pickup position by the suction disk 40 in the bottom wall portion 38D of the cassette 38 described above. A band-plate-shaped convex portion 68 that is formed in a direction and protrudes a predetermined height toward the cassette upper side (pickup direction) is integrally formed. 3 to 6, the illustration of the convex portion 68 is omitted.
[0044]
The vertical section of the convex portion 68 is trapezoidal, and three surfaces, a relatively long inclined surface 68A, a comparatively short horizontal surface 68B, and a vertical surface 68C that defines the height of the convex portion 68, are on the bottom wall portion 38D. It is formed to appear. Further, the convex portion 68 is disposed in parallel with the front wall portion 38A along the width direction of the cassette 38, and the length of the convex portion 68 is equal to the distance between the opposing surfaces of the pair of lateral guides 62. .
[0045]
Next, the operation and effect of this embodiment will be described.
[0046]
First, the overall operation of the printing plate automatic exposure apparatus 10 will be outlined.
[0047]
In the printing plate automatic exposure apparatus 10 configured as described above, when the printing plate 12 (and the slip sheet 13) is taken out from the cassette 38, one of the cassettes 38 stacked in a plurality of stages is specified. When the cassette 38 is specified, the suction plate 40 is positioned near the right end portion of the specified cassette 38 in FIG. After the positioning, the suction disk 40 is lowered to the height position of the cassette 38. At this time, the height positions of the respective cassettes 38 are different, but the respective linear movements are simple.
[0048]
When the suction disk 40 is lowered, it comes into contact with the slip sheet 13 located at the uppermost layer in the specified cassette 38. In this state, suction by the suction disk 40 is started, and the suction disk 40 starts to rise. At the time of this rise, the suction disk 40 sucks the next printing plate 12 together with the uppermost interleaf paper 13.
[0049]
Here, when the sheet 38 is detached from the cassette 38, the slip sheet 13 or the printing plate 12 of the next layer may be brought into close contact with the adsorbed printing plate 12 due to static electricity and vacuum contact of the plate itself. At this time, only the uppermost interleaving paper 13 and the next-layer printing plate 12 receiving suction force are taken out of the cassette 38 by being separated by the separating plate 39 provided in the cassette 38.
[0050]
When the suction plate 40 takes out the printing plate 12 (and the interleaving paper 13) and becomes the uppermost point, the suction plate 40 horizontally moves in the direction of the exposure unit 14 while rotating 180 degrees around the base point 70. At this time, the pick-up position of the printing plate 12 (the suction point of the suction disk 40) moves while drawing a so-called cycloid curve. For this reason, the printing plate 12 (and the interleaf paper 13) taken out from the lower cassette 38 is conveyed while wrapping around the upper cassette 38 together with the strength of its own waist, so that it can almost come into contact. Absent. Since the upper side cassette 38 comes into contact with the back side of the printing plate 12, some contact is acceptable.
[0051]
The printing plate 12 (and the slip sheet 13) rotated by 180 ° is delivered to the transport roller. Further, the slip sheet 13 is peeled from the printing plate 12 by the roller 74B rotating in the direction opposite to the transport direction, and the peeled slip sheet 13 is drawn between the rollers 74 and sent to the lower roller 76. Don't be discarded into the disposal box.
[0052]
On the other hand, the printing plate 12 continues to convey the guide plate 109 substantially horizontally and is fed into the plate supply guide 20. The printing plate 12 on the plate supply guide 20 is fed into the rotating drum 16, and the leading end portion of the printing plate 12 is held by the leading end chuck 26, and the rotating drum 12 rotates in this state, so that the rotating plate 16 rotates on the peripheral surface. After tightly winding, the trailing edge of the printing plate 12 is held by the trailing edge chuck 36, whereby preparation for exposure is completed.
[0053]
In this state, image data is read and exposure processing is started by the light beam from the recording head unit 37. The exposure process is so-called scanning exposure in which the recording head unit 37 is moved in the axial direction of the rotating drum 16 while rotating the rotating drum 16 at high speed (main scanning).
[0054]
When the exposure process is completed, the conveyance guide unit 18 is switched (the 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 from the tangential direction. At this time, the printing plate 12 is sent to the discharge plate guide 22. When the printing plate 12 is sent to the discharge plate guide 22, the conveyance guide unit 18 is switched, the discharge plate guide 22 is made to correspond to the discharge port, and the printing plate 12 is discharged. A developing section is provided in the discharging direction, and the printing plate 12 is continuously developed.
[0055]
Here, in this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the arrangement direction of the suction plate 40 is set to the longitudinal direction at a position corresponding to the pickup position by the suction plate 40 in the bottom wall portion 38 </ b> D of the cassette 38. Further, since the convex portion 68 that protrudes by a predetermined height in the pickup direction is provided, as shown in FIG. 1, when the printing plate 12 is housed in the cassette 38 in a stacked state, the printing plate 12 has the convex portion 68. It gets on top of it and becomes a small raised state. The suction disk 40 is in close contact with the raised portion 69. Accordingly, when considering the state immediately after the pickup, when the printing plate 12 positioned at the uppermost layer starts to be lifted, the substantially vacuum formed by the printing plate 12 positioned at the uppermost layer and the second printing plate 12 is formed. A vacuum break with respect to the space 72 starts to occur from the edge side of the printing plate 12. Once the vacuum break occurs, the vacuum break proceeds at an accelerated rate, and the second printing plate 12 is easily separated from the uppermost printing plate 12.
[0056]
That is, when the bottom surface shape of the bottom wall portion 38D of the cassette 38 is a flat shape, a substantially vacuum space formed by the printing plate 12 positioned at the uppermost layer and the second printing plate 12 is (destroyed). Since the second printing plate 12 is lifted together when the printing plate 12 positioned at the uppermost layer is picked up, in the case of this embodiment, the cassette 38 Since the convex portion 68 is formed on the bottom wall portion 38D, the vacuum break starts immediately after the pickup from the edge side of the uppermost printing plate 12, and this is promoted to eliminate multiple adhesion. As a result, according to the printing plate automatic exposure apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment, the printing plates 12 accommodated in a stacked state in the cassette 38 can be reliably picked up one by one.
[0057]
In the above-described embodiment, the convex portion 68 having a trapezoidal cross-sectional shape is provided on the bottom wall portion 38D of the cassette 38. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and convex portions having various cross-sectional shapes can be employed. In other words, any convex portion can be applied as long as it can break a substantially vacuum space formed between the printing plate to be picked up and the printing plate therebelow (that is, cause vacuum breaking). is there.
[0058]
In the above-described embodiment, the pickup position P is set at a position where the inclined surface 68A of the convex portion 68 intersects the upper surface of the bottom wall portion 38D of the cassette 38 (the bottom surface of the cassette 38). Also, other positions may be set within a range where the effect of providing the convex portion 68 (vacuum breaking effect) is obtained.
[0059]
Furthermore, in the present embodiment described above, the convex portion 68 is formed integrally with the bottom wall portion 38D of the cassette 38. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the convex portion 68 is formed as a separate body, and is formed on the bottom wall portion 38D of the cassette 38. It may be retrofitted.
[0060]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, the automatic plate feeder according to the first aspect of the present invention has the position corresponding to the pickup position by the pickup means on the bottom surface of the cassette (which accommodates a large number of printing plates in a stacked state). Since the protruding direction is provided with a predetermined height in the pickup direction with the arrangement direction of the suction plates of the pickup means as the longitudinal direction, it is formed between the printing plate located in the uppermost layer and the second printing plate. The vacuum breakage of a substantially vacuum space can be promoted, and as a result, the printing plate stored in the cassette in a stacked state can be reliably picked up one by one with a low-cost pickup unit. Have.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an enlarged sectional view showing a main part of a printing plate automatic exposure apparatus according to the present embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a cassette provided with a convex portion shown in FIG.
FIGS. 3A and 3B are three side views showing a cassette in which a large number of printing plates are accommodated in a stacked state. FIG. 3A is a plan view, FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view seen from the front, and FIG. FIG.
FIG. 4 is an overall configuration diagram of a printing plate automatic exposure apparatus according to the present embodiment.
FIG. 5 is a side view showing a state in which printing plates and slip sheets are stacked in a cassette.
FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a problem (multiple contact of printing plates) of a cassette having a conventional structure.
[Explanation of symbols]
12 Printing plate 14 Exposed part (Plate part for next process)
15 Plate feeder (automatic plate feeder)
38 cassette 40 suction board 68 convex part 72 moving mechanism (pickup means)
69 Raised part 90 Space of almost vacuum

Claims (1)

A cassette that is loaded into the apparatus body and contains a large number of printing plates in a stacked state;
A printing plate provided in the apparatus main body and provided with a plurality of suction plates, and adsorbing the upper surface of the end of the printing plate located in the uppermost layer in the cassette with the plurality of suction plates, and placing the printing plate located in the uppermost layer from the cassette. Pick-up means for conveying to the plate portion to be taken out in the next process;
An automatic plate feeding apparatus comprising:
Provided at the bottom surface of the cassette at a position corresponding to the pick-up position by the pick-up means is a protrusion that protrudes a predetermined height in the pick-up direction with the arrangement direction of the suction plates of the pick-up means as the longitudinal direction,
An automatic plate feeder characterized by that.

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