JP2005096472A - Printing device with drier - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printing device in which warm air from a dryer is prevented from flowing into a printing part. <P>SOLUTION: A drying part 16 is composed of an upper windshield plate 50 arranged between upper/lower traveling routes of a chain 22, a lower windshield plate 51 provided below the chain 22, and an IR heater 52 fixed to the lower face side of the upper windshield plate 50. The upper windshield plate 50 is fixed in a cover 40 so as to divide the traveling routes of the chain 22 into two routes of a first conveying route (a route going from a paper discharge cylinder 7 to a sprocket 21) and a second conveying route (a route returning from the sprocket 21 to the paper discharge cylinder 7). By the arrangement of the upper windshield plate 50, the warm air is made to effectively flow in the first conveying route, and also, the warm air is prevented from directly flowing into the direction of a blanket cylinder 4 from the second conveying route. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus that prints a sheet-like printed matter, and includes a drying device that dries the printed printed matter during discharge.

  In recent years, a printing apparatus having a printing plate recording apparatus for recording an image on a printing plate on a plate cylinder to make a plate has been put into practical use, and is called a “digital printing machine” or the like. In this digital printing machine, complicated plate making operations are automated, so that even a relatively inexperienced operator can easily obtain printed matter. In addition, since the plate making mechanism and the printing mechanism are integrated to save space, it is easily installed not only in a major printing company but also in a general service bureau.

  On the other hand, recently, a short delivery time is desired also in the production of printed matter, and in particular, such a digital printing apparatus is required to have an instantaneous power with a small number of copies and a short delivery time. However, in recent years, the use of so-called soybean ink, which is a soy ink, has been realized due to the increased environmental protection. This soy ink is poorer in drying than conventional inks and cannot increase the printing speed. That is, when the printing speed is increased, adverse effects such as show-through of undried ink occur.

  As a method for solving the above problem, it is conceivable to incorporate a general drying apparatus into the printing apparatus. However, in order to save space in the digital printing machine described above, a drying device must be built in the printing device. When a drying device is installed inside the printing device in this way, the printing conditions of the printing device, such as the viscosity of the ink and the amount of fountain solution, change due to the warm air generated from the drying device, affecting print quality. Can be considered.

  In particular, in a sheet-fed printing apparatus that prints a sheet-like printed matter, a discharge unit called a chain gripper is generally employed to transport printing paper. In this chain gripper, the gripper means for holding the printed material circulates between the printing unit and the paper discharge unit along the endless chain. Hot air is likely to flow into the printing unit as the gripper circulates.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus that can prevent hot air from the drying apparatus from flowing into a printing unit as much as possible in a printing apparatus provided with the drying apparatus.

  The invention according to claim 1 is a printing apparatus including a drying device that dries when the sheet-like printing paper printed by the printing unit is transported to the paper discharge unit, and prints the printed sheet-like printed matter. A plurality of nipping means for nipping, and a first transport path from the printing unit to the paper discharge unit in a state where the nipping unit is circulated by an endless chain while nipping the printed material. And a traveling means configured to travel along a second transport path that returns from the paper discharge section to the printing section in a state where the printed material is not pinched, and the first transport path and the second transport path The first transport path is formed into a substantially tubular shape by an upper wind shield disposed between the transport path, a lower wind shield disposed along the lower side of the chain from below the discharge cylinder, and a side plate. Wind shielding means to cover and under the upper wind shielding plate A drying means for effectively drying the printing paper conveyed through the first conveyance path by causing the generated warm air to flow along the first conveyance path in the wind shielding means; And a powder spraying means provided below the upper windshield and for spraying powder onto printing paper in the windshield.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the printing apparatus according to the first aspect, when the travel of the pinching means is stopped, one of the pinching means is located near the entrance of the space surrounded by the tubular shape. This is characterized in that the system is stopped.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the printing apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the drying means is automatically driven only when the holding means is conveyed at a predetermined speed or higher. It is characterized by that.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the printing apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects of the present invention, the printing apparatus further comprises plate making means for forming an image on the printing plate on the plate cylinder.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, since it is possible to prevent the warm air for drying from flowing directly to the printing unit side, it is possible to prevent a change in print quality accompanying a temperature rise. effective. In addition, since the powder spraying means is provided in the wind-shielding means, which is roughly covered in a tubular shape, there is an effect that it is possible to prevent the printed product from being transferred to the surface together with the drying action.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, there is an effect that the holding means prevents the heated air from flowing out to the printing unit side during the stop as a simple shutter.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the drying device is automatically driven according to the printing speed, it is possible to prevent the user from forgetting to operate the drying device, and it is possible to easily cope with a speed change during printing. There is an effect.

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the plate making apparatus can be incorporated, it is more preferable for a digital printing apparatus that should realize space saving.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing an example of a printing apparatus provided with a drying apparatus according to the present invention.

  First, as shown in FIG. 1, the printing apparatus includes, as printing mechanisms, first and second plate cylinders 1 and 2 for holding a printing plate, and first and second plates for transferring an ink image from each plate cylinder. Second blanket cylinders 3, 4, an impression cylinder 5 that holds the printing paper and abuts both blanket cylinders 3, 4, and a feed cylinder 6 and a discharge cylinder that supply or discharge the printing paper to and from the impression cylinder 5 7, dampening water supply means 8 and ink supply means 9 for supplying dampening water or ink to the printing plates on the first and second plate cylinders 1 and 2, and stacked unprinted printing paper Are sequentially provided, and a paper discharge unit 11 that sequentially stacks printed printing sheets.

  On the other hand, this printing apparatus has, as a plate making mechanism, a printing plate supply unit 12 that supplies an unexposed printing plate to the first and second plate cylinders 1 and 2, and an image on the printing plate on the plate cylinder. An image recording unit 13 for recording, a developing unit 14 for developing a printing plate on which an image is recorded, and a printing plate discharge unit 15 for discharging a used printing plate are provided.

  The printing apparatus includes a drying unit 16 according to the present invention and a print control unit (not shown) that controls each unit of the printing apparatus. Details of each part will be described below.

  The first plate cylinder 1 is configured to be movable between a first printing position indicated by a solid line in FIG. 1 and an image recording position indicated by a two-dot chain line by a plate cylinder driving mechanism (not shown). Similarly, the second plate cylinder 2 is configured to be movable between a second printing position indicated by a solid line in FIG. 1 and an image recording position indicated by a two-dot chain line by a plate cylinder driving mechanism (not shown). That is, the first and second plate cylinders 1 and 2 are respectively arranged at the first or second printing position when the printing operation is executed, and are alternately arranged at the image recording position when the plate making operation is executed. The plate making process of the printing plate is performed on each plate cylinder.

  Each of the first plate cylinder 1 and the second plate cylinder 2 has a circumferential surface capable of holding printing plates for two colors, and the printing plates of each color are fixed at positions facing each other by 180 degrees on the circumferential surface. For this purpose, there is a gripping means (not shown). In the above description, two printing plates having one printing area are mounted on the plate cylinder two by two. However, a single printing plate in which two printing areas are arranged may be mounted. . Further, for example, a predetermined polymer or the like may be applied and cured to make the surface of the plate cylinder itself a printing plate surface.

  The first blanket cylinder 3 is configured to rotate in contact with the first plate cylinder 1 at the first printing position, and the second printing is similarly applied to the second blanket cylinder 4. It is configured to rotate in contact with the second plate cylinder 2 at the position. The first and second blanket cylinders 3 and 4 have the same diameter as the first and second plate cylinders 1 and 2, and blankets capable of transferring ink images of two colors from the respective plate cylinders. It is mounted on the circumference.

  The impression cylinder 5 has a diameter half that of the first and second plate cylinders 1 and 2 and is configured to rotate in contact with both the first and second blanket cylinders 3 and 4. ing. The impression cylinder 5 is provided with a holding means (not shown) capable of holding one printing sheet having a size corresponding to the printing area on the printing plate. The gripping means can be opened and closed at a predetermined timing by an opening / closing mechanism (not shown) to hold the printing paper.

  The paper feed cylinder 6 and the paper discharge cylinder 7 have the same diameter as the impression cylinder 5. Further, the sheet feeding cylinder 6 is provided with a gripping means (not shown) similar to the gripping means provided on the impression cylinder 5. The gripping means of the paper feed cylinder 6 is arranged so as to deliver the printing paper in synchronization with the gripping means of the impression cylinder 5. Further, a gripping means (gripper 23) by a chain gripper portion 20 to be described later is arranged around the discharge cylinder 7, and the gripper 23 on the discharge cylinder 7 side is synchronized with the gripping means of the impression cylinder 5. Receive the printing paper.

  The first and second plate cylinders 1 and 2 disposed at the first and second printing positions, the first and second blanket cylinders 3 and 4, the impression cylinder 5, the paper feed cylinder 6 and the discharge cylinder. The paper cylinder 7 is provided with a driving gear (not shown), which is substantially the same as the diameter of each cylinder, at each cylinder end, and the gears mesh with each other. Therefore, by driving this gear by a print driving motor (not shown), the cylinders can be driven to rotate synchronously.

  In the printing apparatus according to the present embodiment, the plate cylinders 1 and 2 and the blanket cylinders 3 and 4 have a circumferential length twice that of the impression cylinder 5, so that the plate cylinders 1 and 2 and the blanket cylinders 3 and 4 are 1 Each time it rotates, the impression cylinder rotates twice. Accordingly, when the impression cylinder 5 is rotated twice while holding the printing paper, a total of four colors can be printed from the first and second plate cylinders 1 and 2 for each of the two colors.

  Two sets of dampening water supply means 8 are arranged for each of the plate cylinders 1 and 2 at the first and second printing positions, and are selective to the two printing plates on each of the plate cylinders 1 and 2. Can be supplied with dampening water. The dampening water supply means 8 includes a water boat that stores dampening water and a dampening water roller group that pumps up the dampening water in the water boat and passes it to the printing plate surface. The roller that contacts the plate surface is configured to contact or separate from the plate cylinder surface by a cam mechanism (not shown). If the printing plate is a type of printing plate that does not require fountain solution, the fountain solution supply means 8 need not be provided.

  Two sets of ink supply means 9 are arranged for each of the plate cylinders 1 and 2 in the first and second printing positions, and are selectively different for the two printing plates on the plate cylinders 1 and 2. Color ink can be supplied. For example, in this embodiment, black (K color) and magenta (M color) ink supply means 9 are arranged for the first plate cylinder 1, and cyan for the second plate cylinder 2. (C color) and yellow (Y color) ink supply means 9 are arranged.

  The ink supply means 9 includes a plurality of ink keys along the printing width direction, an ink fountain means that can be supplied by varying the ink supply amount for each region corresponding to the ink key, and an ink fed from the ink fountain means. The roller that contacts the printing plate surface among the ink rollers is configured to contact or separate from the plate cylinder surface by a cam mechanism (not shown). Some of the fountain solution supply means 8 and the ink supply means 9 are configured so that they can be withdrawn from their movement paths as the first and second plate cylinders 1 and 2 move.

  The paper feeding unit 10 takes out printing paper one by one from a pile on which unused printing paper is stacked and passes it to the paper feeding cylinder 6. In this embodiment, the paper feeding unit 1 is turned on every two rotations of the paper feeding cylinder. Operates to supply twice-printed paper. The paper discharge unit 11 receives printed sheets from the paper discharge cylinder 7 and stacks them. Details of the paper discharge unit 11 will be described later.

  Next, the plate making mechanism of this printing apparatus will be described. In this printing apparatus, when the plate making operation is executed, the first and second plate cylinders 1 and 2 are alternately moved to the image recording position. At this image recording position, a friction roller (not shown) is brought into direct or indirect contact with the plate cylinder so as to be driven to rotate.

  The printing plate supply unit 12 includes a cassette roll in which a roll-shaped unexposed printing plate is shielded and stored, a conveyance roller and a conveyance guide for conveying the drawn printing plate to the plate cylinders 1 and 2, and the printing plate in a sheet form Cutting means. In this embodiment, a silver salt sensitive material that exposes and records an image with a laser beam is used as the printing plate. However, for example, a thermal type printing plate that is melted or ablated by a laser beam may be used. The printing plate supply operation procedure is as follows. First, the front end of the printing plate drawn out from the cassette roll is sandwiched between gripping means (not shown) of the printing cylinders 1 and 2, and the printing cylinders 1 and 2 are rotated in this state to perform printing. The plate is wound on the plate cylinders 1 and 2, and then the printing plate is cut to a predetermined length and the rear end of the printing plate is held by the other gripping means.

  The image recording unit 13 records the image by exposing the printing plate by turning on / off the laser beam. The image recording unit 13 scans the laser beam emitted from the laser light source based on the image data in the axial direction of the plate cylinder by a deflecting unit such as a polygon mirror. The scanning by the deflecting unit and the rotation of the plate cylinder are performed. Thus, an image can be recorded on the printing plate. Alternatively, one or more laser irradiation means are arranged in a line along the axial direction of the plate cylinder, and the laser irradiation means is moved in parallel along the axial direction of the plate cylinder while scanning the plate cylinder to perform scanning. May be.

  The developing unit 14 develops the printing plate exposed by the image recording unit 13. In this embodiment, the developing unit 14 is configured to draw up the processing liquid stored in a processing tank (not shown) by a coating roller and apply the processing liquid to the printing plate to perform the developing process. And a lifting means (not shown) that moves to a position close to the plate cylinder. If an image recording method that does not require development processing is employed, the developing unit 14 may be omitted.

  The printing plate discharge unit 15 is a device that discharges a printing plate used for printing, a peeling unit that peels the printing plate from a plate cylinder at an image recording position, and a conveyance unit that conveys the peeled printing plate. And a discharge cassette for discharging the transported used printing plate.

  The drying unit 16 dries the ink image on the discharged printing paper, and details thereof will be described later. The print control unit is a computer system (not shown) connected to each unit of the printing apparatus described above via various I / Fs, and controls the entire printing apparatus.

  Next, details of the discharge unit 11 and the drying unit 16 will be described. FIG. 2 is an enlarged side view schematically showing the vicinity of the drying unit 16. In the figure, the discharge unit 11 includes a chain delivery unit 20 that sandwiches and conveys printing paper, and a paper discharge table 30 that receives the printing paper conveyed by the chain delivery unit 20.

  The chain delivery unit 20 has two sets of endless chains 22 (two sets aligned in the direction perpendicular to the paper in FIG. 2) spanned between the paper discharge cylinder 7 and the sprocket 21. Is arranged with a plurality of grippers 23 stretched over. In FIG. 2, for easy understanding, the chain 22 is shown by a one-dot chain line, and only one set of grippers 23 is shown. In the above-described configuration, the plurality of grippers 23 circulate along the path of the chain 22 in synchronization with the rotation of the discharge cylinder 7. The gripper 23 acts as a clamping unit that clamps the leading end portion of the printing paper. The gripper 23 receives the printing paper by opening and closing in synchronization with the gripping means of the impression cylinder 5 on the paper discharge cylinder 7, and also receives the paper discharge tray. An open / close operation is performed on 30 and the nipped print paper is discharged. Such an opening / closing operation of the gripper 23 is performed by a cam mechanism (not shown).

  Reference numeral 24 denotes a guide roller for guiding the chain 22 and applying a predetermined tension. Reference numeral 25 denotes a suction roller for braking when the gripper 23 discharges the printing paper. The suction roller 25 has a number of suction holes on its surface and is connected to suction means (not shown).

  In the following description, the downward travel path of the chain 22 from the discharge cylinder 7 side to the sprocket 21 side is referred to as a first transport path, and the upward travel path of the chain 22 from the sprocket 21 toward the discharge cylinder 7 side is referred to as the first transport path. This is referred to as the second transport route.

  The paper discharge table 30 includes a mounting table 31 that receives and stacks the discharged printing paper, and a width adjusting unit 32 that adjusts the discharging position of the printing paper discharged on the mounting table 31. The mounting table 31 is a table-like member having a moving caster 33 on the lower surface. The width adjusting means 32 is provided on the mounting table 32, and performs a width adjusting (perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. 2) operation in synchronization with the discharge of the printing paper by a driving means (not shown). The discharge table 30 is configured to be sequentially lowered from the solid line position in FIG. 2 to the two-dot chain line position in accordance with the discharge operation of the printing paper by a vertical drive means (not shown). An air nozzle 34 is also provided in the vicinity of the paper discharge tray 30 for separating discharged print paper. It has been found that the drying effect is also increased by blowing air by the air nozzle 34.

  The paper discharge unit 11 is covered with a cover 40 at the top and left and right rear surfaces. An opening is provided below the cover 40, and the printing paper is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 30 through this opening. The cover 40 is provided with fans 41 and 42 for introducing air from outside the apparatus. One fan 41 is fixed, and the other fan 42 is slidably attached according to the paper size as shown in the figure. Although the slide of the fan 42 is manual, it may be automated. In this embodiment, the air taken in by the fans 41 and 42 acts as a down-blow air stream that blows from above the printing paper toward the discharge table 31. Reference numeral 43 denotes a temperature sensor for measuring the temperature on the discharged printing paper.

On the other hand, the drying unit 16 is disposed in the cover 40. Here, the drying unit 16 is fixed to the upper windshield 50 disposed between the upper and lower chains 22, the lower windshield 51 disposed below the chain 22, and the lower surface of the upper windshield 50. The IR heater 52 is made.
The upper wind shielding plate 50 is fixed in the cover 40 so that the traveling path of the chain 22 is roughly divided into a first transport path and a second transport path. The lower wind shielding plate 51 is disposed along the lower side of the chain 22 from the lower side of the paper discharge cylinder 7. Further, it is preferable that the upper wind shielding plate 50 has a high heat shielding effect so that temperature transmission is not performed between the divided conveyance paths. The upper and lower wind shielding plates 50 and 51 and the side wall of the cover 40 surround the first transport path in a substantially tubular shape, and the printing paper is transported through the first transport path.

The IR heater is a drying means including an infrared lamp and a fan, and performs a drying process on the printing paper conveyed immediately below. In this embodiment, medium to near infrared rays are used, but other types of heaters may be used. The warm air generated from the IR heater flows down along the wind shielding plate 50 in the first conveying path by the action of the built-in fan and the running action of the chain 22, and is discharged according to the down blow of the fans 41 and 42. Pushed downward toward the table 30. (Black arrow in the figure)
The arrangement of the upper wind shield 50 effectively prevents warm air from flowing in the first transport path and prevents warm air from flowing directly from the second transport path toward the blanket cylinder 4. Can do. Further, a part of the air blown by the fan 42 (non-warm air indicated by white arrows in the figure) flows into the second transport path as the chain 22 travels. Accordingly, it is possible to expect a decrease in the temperature of the second conveyance path and prevention of the inflow of warm air into the drying unit 16, and the influence on the print quality can be reduced. In the above-described embodiment, the fan 42 is also used to blow non-warm air into the second transport path. You may blow to the sprocket 21 along 2 conveyance paths. In this case, it is possible to more reliably prevent warm air from flowing into the sheet discharge drum 7 side along the second conveyance path.

  Note that reference numeral 53 in FIG. 2 is a powder applying means for sprinkling powder for preventing show-through on the surface of the printed matter, and is provided on the lower surface side of the upper wind shielding plate 50. This powder application means 53 may be used in combination with drying by the IR heater 52 or may be used independently. Reference numeral 54 is a thermostat for detecting an excess temperature provided for safety, and reference numeral 55 is a sensor for detecting jam of the printing paper.

  Next, the operation of the drying unit 16 will be described. The on / off operation of the drying unit 16 may be appropriately determined manually by the operator judging the printing conditions such as the type of ink to be used and the printing speed. Alternatively, the printing control unit may automatically set the on / off operation of the drying unit 16 according to preset printing conditions, and the drying unit 16 may be automatically operated when printing is started. This automatic setting includes a case where the temperature near the first conveyance path is preliminarily heated before printing.

  The operation of the drying unit 16 may be automatically performed by determining the printing speed. For example, when the printing apparatus is operated, the on / off operation is automatically performed according to the printing speed. For example, it is conceivable that the drying unit 16 is turned on only at a high speed when drying is difficult, or the drying temperature, the air volume, etc. are varied according to the speed. Further, when printing is not actually performed even under such conditions, for example, when there is no paper feed and the blanket cylinders 3 and 4 are rotated at high speed in a preparation state, the drying unit 16 is automatically operated. Is preferably prohibited.

  On the other hand, when the printing apparatus stops, it is conceivable that air whose temperature has risen from the vicinity of the entrance of the first transport path (reference A in FIG. 2) flows out to the discharge cylinder 7 side. In this case, it is desirable to block the entrance A of the transport path with shutter means (not shown) or to flow air from the discharge cylinder 7 side to the IR heater 52 side with a fan (not shown). As an easy method, the gripper 23 is stopped in the vicinity of the entrance A in the previous period to act as an incomplete but simple shutter. In any case, since the air heated by the chain 22 and the gripper 23 is less likely to flow out of the heated air from the inlet A to the discharge cylinder 7 side, the printing device is stopped for a while after the drying unit 16 is stopped. May be operated in a non-printing state to wait for the temperature drop of the drying unit 16.

It is a side surface schematic diagram which shows an example of the printing apparatus provided with the drying apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is the side surface schematic diagram which showed the drying apparatus vicinity of the said printing apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

7 Paper discharge cylinder 11 Paper discharge part 16 Drying part 20 Chain delivery part 22 Chain 23 Gripper 30 Paper discharge table 40 Cover 41, 42 Fan 50 Upper wind shield 51 Lower wind shield 52 IR heater

Claims (4)

A printing apparatus including a drying device that dries when transporting sheet-like printing paper printed by a printing unit to a paper discharge unit,
A plurality of nipping means for nipping the printed sheet-like printed matter;
By circulating the nipping means with an endless chain, the nipping means travels along the first conveyance path from the printing unit to the paper discharge unit while holding the printed material, and the printed material is narrowed. Traveling means configured to travel along a second transport path that returns from the paper discharge unit to the printing unit in a state where it is not held;
An upper wind shield disposed between the first transport path and the second transport path; a lower wind shield disposed along the lower side of the chain from below the discharge cylinder; and a side plate. Wind-shielding means that covers the first transport path in a substantially tubular shape;
The printing paper, which is provided below the upper wind shielding plate and is conveyed along the first conveying path by the generated warm air flowing along the first conveying path, is effectively dried in the wind shielding means. Drying means for causing,
A powder spraying means provided below the upper windshield and for spraying powder onto printing paper in the windshield;
A printing apparatus comprising:   2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the traveling of the holding means is stopped, one of the holding means is stopped in the vicinity of the entrance of the space surrounded by the tubular shape. .   The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the drying unit is automatically driven only when the holding unit is conveyed at a predetermined speed or more. 4. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising plate making means for forming an image on the printing plate on the plate cylinder.

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