JP2005335098A - Printing method and printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printing method and a printer, which can prevent outside leakage of confidential information by surely maintaining the confidentiality of a used master after ejection, and which enable the relatively thin low-strength (low-toughness) master to be surely cut so that the confidentiality can be maintained. <P>SOLUTION: The used master 21 is compressed between a master ejection roller pair 30 and a cutting roller pair 60 in a state wherein the master 21 abuts on the roller pair 60 in a driving-stopped state while being conveyed by the roller pair 30. End surfaces 61c of teeth on the top 61 of the cutting roller and end surfaces 62c of teeth on the bottom 62 of the cutting roller, adjacent to each other, are urged in a mutually rubbing state by an urging force of a compression spring 63. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing method and a printing apparatus, and more particularly to a stencil printing method having a confidentiality maintaining function for a used master, a stencil discharging method in a printing method including the stencil printing apparatus, and a stencil discharging apparatus in the printing apparatus.

  Conventionally, a heat-sensitive digital stencil printing apparatus is known as a simple printing method. This is because a porous cylinder (Japanese paper fiber or synthetic fiber, or Japanese paper and synthetic fiber) is mixed with a plate cylinder composed of a porous cylindrical support body and a thermoplastic resin film (hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as “film”). Ink supply means provided inside the plate cylinder after the thermoplastic resin film surface of the master is heated, melted, punched, and made by a thermal head, and wound around the plate cylinder. To supply an appropriate amount of ink to the inner peripheral surface of the plate cylinder, and press printing paper (hereinafter referred to as “paper”) as a sheet-like recording medium to the outer peripheral surface of the plate cylinder by pressing means such as a press roller or an impression cylinder. Thus, printing is performed by transferring the ink oozed from the plate cylinder opening portion and the master punching portion to the paper. Recently, this stencil printing apparatus continuously performs operations such as plate discharging, plate making, plate feeding, and printing, and has improved printing image accuracy and reduced printing cost. A predetermined number of copies (approximately 10 copies). The user who performs the print image formation is used instead of an electrophotographic copying machine or the like.

  In the above stencil printing apparatus, when a new original is printed, the plate discharging unit is first activated, and the used master wound on the plate cylinder is peeled off and stored in the plate discharging box. Thereafter, or partly in parallel, the plate making unit operates to make a plate on a new master and wind it around the plate cylinder. The used master stored in the reclaiming box is managed by a sensor provided in the repelling part, and discarded when the refilling box is full. Disposal of used master from the stencil box is done manually, and the user removes the stencil box from the stencil printing machine main body and discards the stored master to the trash, etc. Is mounted on the stencil printing machine main body again.

  In this way, the used master is temporarily stored and stored in the plate release box after being peeled off from the plate cylinder in the plate release unit, and is disposed of in the recycle box when the plate release box is full. It is possible to confirm by, for example, taking out a used master stored in the container or discarding it in the trash box and viewing or transferring the plate making contents. Therefore, if the master stored and stored in the plate removal box requires confidentiality, the confidentiality may be leaked.

  Therefore, a plurality of pairs of rotary blades are provided at the entrance of the plate removal box, which is a used master passage that is peeled from the plate cylinder, so as to sandwich the master, and the rotary blades rotate in the direction of conveying the master. A technique that makes it impossible to confirm the contents of a used master by disposing a shredding cutter is disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 1).

  By the way, in a stencil printing apparatus, ink passes through a perforated portion of a Japanese paper fiber and a film, which is a porous support, for example, and is transferred to paper. The amount of wasted waste ink that can be thrown in and discarded increases, the passage of ink is obstructed when the support fibers are intertwined in a complicated manner, or when thick fibers cross the perforated part. As a result, there is a problem that a phenomenon called “fiber eyes” occurs in which a solid portion of an image is lost or a fine line or character is cut or faint.

Therefore, in recent years, the thickness of the porous support itself has been reduced by reducing the fiber mesh and reducing waste ink, etc., or the support fiber has been thinned to reduce image quality degradation due to the fiber mesh. Attempts have been made (see, for example, Patent Document 2).
In the technique described in Patent Document 4, for example, a porous resin film made of a resin is formed on one surface of a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) thermoplastic resin film, and a fibrous material is formed on the surface of the resin film. A master having a relatively thin thickness, a relatively low strength, and a bending stiffness of 5 mN or more has already been put into practical use. According to the present invention, a uniform print image quality (hereinafter referred to as “print image quality”) can be obtained with a relatively small amount of ink adhesion, there is no printing unevenness, there is little back-stain on the printed matter, and image quality deterioration due to fiber eyes is reduced. It is possible to reduce the image quality, and in particular, there is an effect that smooth reproducibility of the picture quality can be achieved.

  In addition, recent masters are made of a very thin (approximately 1 to 3 μm) substantially thermoplastic resin film without the porous support itself in order to save ink, improve printing image quality, and reduce costs. A master is currently being proposed and used (see, for example, Patent Document 3). The master consisting essentially only of the thermoplastic resin film means that the master consists only of the thermoplastic resin film, the thermoplastic resin film containing a trace component such as an antistatic agent, and the thermoplastic resin. It includes a film formed by forming one or more thin film layers such as an overcoat layer on at least one of both main surfaces, that is, the front surface or the back surface of the film.

Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-61107 JP-A-10-147075 JP-A-7-223307

  However, since the shredding cutter disclosed in Patent Document 1 is provided with an old-style ear paper and is relatively high in strength, in other words, shreds a base paper (master) having a strong stiffness, it has been described above. When cutting a thin master such as a master with a thin porous support or a master composed essentially of a thermoplastic resin film, multiple pairs of rotary blades sandwich the master. If it is only partially broken in such a way that it can be bent, it cannot be cut finely and reliably, or in some cases, the rotating blade may bite the master and cause jams that cannot be rotated or conveyed. As a result, there is a problem in that the confidential information on the master that has been used is leaked to the outside because it cannot be cut into a state where confidentiality can be reliably ensured.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and a first object of the present invention is to prevent the outflow of confidential information in advance by ensuring the confidentiality of the used master that has been discharged. To provide a printing method and a printing apparatus.
A second object is to provide a printing method and a printing apparatus that can maintain confidentiality by reliably cutting a master having a relatively thin thickness and low strength (weakness).

In order to solve the above problems and achieve the above object, the invention according to each claim employs the following characteristic means and configuration.
According to the first aspect of the present invention, a plate cylinder on which a pre-printed master is wound, a discharged plate conveying means for peeling and conveying a used master on the plate cylinder, and a used master conveyed by the discharged plate conveying means Using a printing apparatus that forms a printed image by pressing a sheet against a master that has been made on the plate cylinder, and a cutting plate storing unit that stores a master cut by the cutting unit. In this printing method, the used master is cut by the cutting unit after the used master is transported and compressed by the discharged-plate transport unit.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the printing method according to the first aspect, the used master is compressed against the cutting means in the drive stop state while the used master is conveyed by the discharged plate conveying means. However, it is carried out between the discharged-plate conveying means and the cutting means.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the printing method according to the first aspect, the printing method according to the first aspect further includes a compressing unit that compresses the used master conveyed by the discharged plate conveying unit, and the used master after being compressed by the compressing unit. The master is cut by the cutting means.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the printing method according to the first, second or third aspect, the used master is cut by the cutting means when the confidentiality mode is set, and a predetermined number of prints are completed. It is forcibly performed after a certain period of time later.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the printing method according to the fourth aspect, the predetermined time can be arbitrarily adjusted.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the printing method according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, from the viewpoint of preventing image quality deterioration due to fibers and improving image quality and saving ink, It is preferable that the thickness is relatively thin and the strength is low.
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the printing method according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, the cutting means includes a plurality of paired cutting rollers each having a rotary blade, and the adjacent cutting rollers. Is movable in the axial direction, and the adjacent cutting rollers are urged by the urging means to rub the surfaces of the rotary blades.

The invention described in claim 8 includes a plate cylinder around which a master made by plate making is wound, a discharged plate conveying means for peeling and conveying a used master on the plate cylinder, and a used master conveyed by the discharged plate conveying means. A compressing means for compressing the used master, a scraping means for scraping the used master compressed by the compressing means, a cutting means for receiving and cutting the used master compressed from the scraping means, and the cutting means And cutting and storing plate storing means for storing the cut master.
According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the printing apparatus according to the eighth aspect, the scraping means is disposed in the main body of the apparatus and includes a guide means. A master scraping member that can engage with the guide means and scrape and reciprocate the used master that has been compressed on the guide means, and a drive means that reciprocates the master scraping member. To do.

  According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the printing apparatus according to the eighth or ninth aspect, the cutting means includes a plurality of paired cutting rollers having teeth on an outer peripheral portion, and one of the adjacent pairs forming the pair. An urging means for urging the end faces of the teeth into a state of being rubbed together by using a cutting roller is provided.

In the printing apparatus according to claim 8, 9 or 10, the following technical configuration can be adopted. That is, the first technical configuration includes a security mode setting unit for setting a security mode in the printing apparatus according to claim 8, 9 or 10, and the security mode is set by the security mode setting unit. The cutting of the used master by the cutting means is forcibly performed after a predetermined time has elapsed after the completion of printing a predetermined number of sheets.
The second technical configuration is characterized in that in the printing apparatus described in the first technical configuration, the predetermined time can be arbitrarily adjusted and set.
According to the third technical configuration, in the printing apparatus described in the first technical configuration or the second technical configuration, the thickness of the master is reduced in order to improve image quality and save ink by preventing image quality deterioration due to the fiber mesh. Is relatively thin and has low strength.

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the various problems which the above-mentioned prior art has can be solved, and a novel printing method and printing apparatus can be provided. The main effects are as follows.
According to the present invention, since the used master is cut by the cutting means after the used master is transported and compressed by the discharge plate transport means, even if the thickness is relatively thin and the strength is low. Even if a master is used, it is possible to reliably cut without causing the cutting means to bite the master or cause jamming. Outflow can be prevented in advance.

  According to the present invention, since the used master is cut by the cutting means when the confidentiality mode is set and forcibly performed after a predetermined time has elapsed after the completion of printing a predetermined number of sheets, Information leakage can be completely prevented.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention including examples will be described with reference to the drawings. In each embodiment and the like, components (members and components) having the same function, shape, and the like will be omitted by giving the same reference numerals after being described once. In the figure, components that are configured in a pair and do not need to be specifically distinguished and described are described by appropriately describing one of them for the sake of simplification of description. In order to simplify the drawings and the description, even if the components are to be represented in the drawings, the components that do not need to be specifically described in the drawings may be omitted as appropriate. When describing with reference to components of such patent publications are given the same parentheses the code shall be distinguished from that of such embodiments.

(First embodiment)
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
First, an overall configuration of a stencil printing apparatus 1 as an example of a printing apparatus according to a first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, reference numeral 8 denotes an apparatus main body forming the framework of the stencil printing apparatus 1. In the upper part of the apparatus main body 8, the part indicated by reference numeral 7 is an image reading unit, the part indicated by reference numeral 3 at the lower right is a plate making part, the part indicated by reference numeral 2 on the left side is a printing part, A portion indicated by 5 indicates a plate discharging portion, a portion indicated by reference numeral 4 below the plate making portion 3 indicates a paper feeding portion, and a portion indicated by reference numeral 6 on the left side of the printing portion 2 indicates a paper discharge portion.

  The printing unit 2 is disposed almost at the center of the apparatus main body 8, and includes a plate cylinder 9 that winds a plate-making master 21 on which a plate-making image is formed, and a plate-making master on the plate cylinder 9. 21 and a press roller 10 as pressing means for pressing the paper P against the paper 21. The printing unit 2 has a function and a configuration in which the sheet P fed from the sheet feeding unit 4 is pressed against the master 21 on the plate cylinder 9 to be rotated and driven by a press roller 10 as a pressing unit. .

The plate cylinder 9 has a pair of end plates (not shown) rotatably supported by a support shaft 11 that also serves as an ink supply pipe, and a large number of ink-permeable holes that are wound around the outer peripheral surface of each end plate. It is mainly composed of an attached porous support plate (not shown) and a mesh screen (not shown) as an ink holding member wound around the outer peripheral surface of the porous support plate.
The porous support plate is formed in a cylindrical shape and has a large number of ink-permeable holes. This porous support plate is sometimes called a porous support cylinder or simply a plate cylinder.

  The plate cylinder 9 is shown in FIG. 6 of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-14001, for example, and includes a motor (12) described in paragraphs “0012” and “0016” to “0020”. A drive mechanism similar to the drive mechanism is rotationally driven in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 1 (clockwise).

  On the outer peripheral surface of the plate cylinder 9, a stage 12A disposed along one generatrix of the outer peripheral surface of the plate cylinder 9, a rotation shaft provided in parallel with the stage 12A, and a plate attached to the rotation shaft A clamper 12 that can be opened and closed with respect to the stage 12 </ b> A is provided as a holding means for holding and fixing the master 21 on the cylinder 9. The clamper 12 can peel the used master 21 from the plate supply position shown in FIG. 1 where the tip of the master 21 conveyed and supplied from the plate making unit 3 can be received, and the plate cylinder 9. When the plate cylinder 9 selectively occupies a possible plate discharge position (a position substantially opposite to the plate discharge roller 31), which is not shown, a known opening and closing provided with a clamper opening / closing motor on the apparatus main body 8 side. Opened and closed by means. The home position of the plate cylinder 9 is set in advance, for example, at a position where the rotation center axis of the clamper 12 is located directly above in FIG.

  The detection of the home position, the feeding position, and the discharging position of the plate cylinder 9 and the stop control thereof are performed by a known control configuration similar to that shown in FIGS. 2 and 4 of JP-A-8-183238, for example. . That is, the home position and the plate feeding position are detected by the home position sensor (26) and a plate feeding position sensor similar thereto (however, only the arrangement position around the plate cylinder 9 is different), and the plate cylinder driving motor (12 ) Is stopped. On the other hand, the plate displacement position is detected by the pulse detection sensor (23), and the rotation position signal (angle signal) of the motor (12) transmitted through a pulse counter and a comparator (not shown) and the home position sensor (26). ) From the signal related to the home position.

Around the clamper 12, for example, components similar to those disclosed in JP-A-6-247031 or JP-A-2002-137520 are disposed. In other words, a claw-like portion (not shown) that is disposed in the vicinity of the stage 12A so as to be swingable and kicks the tip of the used master 21 on the plate cylinder 9 in the substantially centrifugal direction of the plate cylinder 9 is provided. 9 and a plurality of elastic thin plates that open and close in conjunction with the opening and closing operation of the clamper 12. Therefore, the clamper 12 can be opened at a predetermined angle required for plate feeding and discharging, so that it is possible to use an automatic plate feeding and automatic plate discharging device having a relatively simple mechanism, and the clamper only at the plate discharging position. 12 is opened at a large angle necessary for discharging the plate, and the elastic thin plate that swings in conjunction with the clamper 12 is swung in a direction protruding from the recess to the centrifugal direction of the plate cylinder 9, so that the used master 9 It is possible to realize a reliable plate removal.
A known ink supply means 15 having an ink roller 13 and a doctor roller 14 is disposed inside the plate cylinder 9.

  A press roller 10 is disposed below the plate cylinder 9 so as to face the ink roller 13. Both ends of the press roller 10 are rotatably supported between a pair of press roller arms 16, and each press roller arm 16 is swung by a not-shown press roller rocking means to be placed on the outer peripheral surface of the plate cylinder 9. It is approached and separated. The press roller 10 includes a printing position indicated by a broken line in FIG. 1 that is pressed against the outer peripheral surface of the plate cylinder 9 by the operation of the press roller swinging means, and an obstacle such as a clamper 12 that moves as the plate cylinder 9 rotates. It selectively occupies the non-printing position shown by the solid line in FIG. Around the press roller arm 16, a well-known locking means for holding the press roller 10 in a non-printing position is also provided.

The plate making unit 3 has a function and a structure for making the master 21 and transporting and feeding the master 21 after the plate making to the outer peripheral surface of the plate cylinder 9. The plate making section 3 includes a master roll support member 17, a platen roller 18, a thermal head 19 as plate making means, a cutting means 20 and the like.
The master roll support member 17 rotatably and detachably supports the core pipe of the master roll formed by winding the master 21 around the core pipe.

  As the master 21, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-147075 discloses that a relatively small amount of ink is attached, there is no uneven printing, the back stain of the printed matter is small, and image quality deterioration due to the fiber pattern can be reduced. The described master is used. That is, the master 21 has, for example, a porous resin film made of resin on one surface of a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) -based thermoplastic resin film, and further has a porous fiber film made of a fibrous material on the surface thereof. A master formed by lamination, which is relatively thin, relatively low in strength, and has a bending stiffness of 5 mN or more. Specifically, for example, the thickness of the film is about 1-2 μm, the thickness of the support (porous resin membrane and porous fiber membrane) is about 25-30 μm, and the total thickness is about 30-35 μm. used. The waist strength of the master 21 is about 30 to 50% lower than that of the conventional master.

The master 21 may use the following master as long as the advantages of the master 21 are not so desired. That is, for example, it has a laminated structure in which a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) -based film is bonded with an adhesive made of Japanese paper fiber or synthetic fiber or a mixture of Japanese paper and synthetic fiber as a support. A conventional master (specifically, for example, a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film or the like has a thickness of about 1 to 2 μm, a support has a thickness of about 45 to 55 μm, and a total thickness of about 50 to 60 μm). In comparison with the conventional structure), the thickness is relatively thin and the strength is low (specifically, for example, the film configuration is the same, and the thickness of the support is 25 to 30 μm). A total thickness of about 30 to 35 μm is used). The waist strength of the master 21 is about 30 to 50% lower than that of the conventional master having the same configuration as the master 21 but only the thickness.
Of course, if the advantage of the master 21 is not so desired, the conventional master may be used.

The platen roller 18 is rotationally driven by a stepping motor 22. The thermal head 19 has a large number of heating elements and is configured to be able to come into contact with and separate from the platen roller 18 by contact / separation means (not shown), and is pressed against the platen roller 18 during plate making. The thermal head 19 makes contact with the surface of the thermoplastic resin film of the master 21 based on an image data signal as image information transmitted via a plate making control unit and a thermal head drive circuit (not shown). By selectively generating heat, the thermoplastic resin film portion of the master 21 is subjected to hot melt perforation plate making, and a plate making image corresponding to the image data signal is formed.
As the image information, in addition to the image information of the original read by the image sensor 44 of the image reading unit 7, a computer such as a personal computer when connected to the stencil printing apparatus 1 via a network or the like is possible. Image information transmitted from (external image information input means) is also included.

  The cutting means 20 has a movable blade and a fixed blade, and cuts the master 21 by moving the movable blade up and down or rotating relative to the fixed blade. Two sets of master conveyance rollers for conveying the master 21 and a master guide plate for guiding the conveyance are disposed on the downstream side of the cutting unit 20 in the conveyance direction of the master 21.

  The paper feed unit 4 includes a paper feed tray 23 as a paper feed stand, a paper feed roller 24, a separation roller 25, a separation roller 26, a registration roller pair 27, and the like. The sheet feeding tray 23 is loaded with a large number of sheets P on its upper surface and is supported by the apparatus main body 8 so as to be movable up and down, and is moved up and down by lifting means (not shown). The paper feed roller 24 and the separation roller 25 each have a high friction resistance member on the surface thereof, and are in contact with the paper P on the paper feed tray 23 at a predetermined pressure and rotated in synchronization with each other by a common stepping motor 28. Driven. The separation roller 26 is in pressure contact with the separation roller 25 and is intermittently rotated in the same direction as the separation roller 25. The registration roller pair 27 includes a drive roller and a driven roller, and is rotationally driven in synchronization with the rotation of the plate cylinder 9 to feed the paper P toward the printing unit 2 at a predetermined timing.

The plate discharging unit 5 has a function and configuration as a plate discharging device that performs a plate discharging / compressing / cutting operation, which will be described later, for peeling and discharging the used master 21 wound around the outer peripheral surface of the plate cylinder 9.
The plate discharging unit 5 (hereinafter referred to as “plate discharging device 5”) is a plate discharging roller as a plate discharging conveying means for peeling and conveying a used master 21 (hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as “master 21”) on the plate cylinder 9. The pair 30, a cutting roller pair 60 as cutting means for cutting the master 21 conveyed by the plate discharge roller pair 30, a compression plate 34 for compressing the master 21 cut by the cutting roller pair 60, and a cutting roller pair 60 And a plate discharge box 35 serving as a plate storage unit for storing the used master 21a cut by the compression plate 34 and compressed by the compression plate 34 (hereinafter referred to as “compressed master 21a”). The plate discharging roller pair 30, the cutting roller pair 60, and the compression plate 34 are arranged in this order from the upstream side to the downstream side of the plate discharging path.

  The discharge roller pair 30 is the same as the discharge roller pair (5) disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-43394, FIG. 1 to FIG. This is a fixed plate discharge roller type that holds the master 21 and pulls it in while peeling. As shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4, the discharge roller pair 30 has an upper discharge roller 31 and a lower discharge roller 33 which are in pressure contact with each other, and a rotary shaft 31a, which forms the shaft portion of these rollers. 33a is a pair of plate ejection side plates 29 and 29 disposed on the front side and the back side of the paper surface of FIGS. 1, 3, and 4 (in each drawing, the back side of the paper surface is shown. It is supported rotatably. The plate removal side plate pair 29 is fixed to the apparatus main body 8.

  A driven gear (rotating shaft 31a) and a driving gear (rotating shaft 33a) (not shown) that mesh with each other are fixed to the end portions of the rotating shafts 31a and 33a on the back side of the paper surface. The lower plate discharge roller 33 is connected to a plate discharge drive motor 30A including, for example, a stepping motor as a plate discharge drive means, via drive transmission means such as a gear train (not shown) that meshes with the drive gear. Thus, the upper plate roller 31 and the lower plate roller 33 are placed in opposite directions by the plate driving motor 30A as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, and in FIG. 33 is driven to rotate counterclockwise. The plate removal drive motor 30A is driven at a predetermined timing as will be described later.

  A plurality of the discharge roller pairs 30 are provided at intervals in the axial direction of the plate cylinder 9, and a blade member that rotates synchronously with the upper discharge roller 31 is disposed beside the upper discharge roller 31 in each discharge roller pair 30. An impeller 32 is provided. The impeller 32 has a roller-shaped base fixed to the rotating shaft 31a of the upper plate roller 31 and extends radially from the base in the centrifugal direction (radial direction) of the upper plate roller 31. It has the some elastic blade | wing 32a which has the length which protrudes outward rather than an outer diameter. The upper plate roller 31 and the impeller 32 are formed of an elastic body such as nitrile rubber or silicon rubber having ink corrosion resistance (oil resistance).

As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the elastic blade 32 a is deformed so as to be bent in contact with the lower plate roller 33 during discharging. The elastic blade 32 a contacts the tip of the master 21 to pull the master 21 into the nip portion between the upper plate discharge roller 31 and the lower plate discharge roller 33, and peels off the peripheral surface of the upper plate discharge roller 31 by hitting the master 21. And a function of preventing pasted master 21 from sticking.
The lower discharge roller 33 is formed of a resin having ink corrosion resistance (oil resistance) (for example, ABS resin or polyacetal resin), and reduces the sticking of the master 21 containing ink on the outer peripheral surface thereof. In other words, tooth profile processing and knurling processing, which are not shown, are performed so that the contact area with the master 21 can be reduced.

  A cutting roller pair 60 shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 4 is arranged in the discharging path on the left side of the discharging roller pair 30. The pair of cutting rollers 60 includes a large number of substantially serrated teeth on the outer peripheral portion, and has a plurality of upper and lower pairs of cutting rollers 61 and a plurality of lower cutting rollers 62. The upper cutting roller 61 and the lower cutting roller 62 are arranged so that the tooth end surfaces 61c of the rollers 61 and 62 rub against each other, and the formation outer peripheral portions of the respective teeth partially overlap each other.

  The upper end 61 of the cutting roller is provided so that both ends thereof are movable in the axial direction of a shaft 61 a that is rotatably supported by the plate-discarding side plate pair 29. As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the shaft 61a is formed with a convex portion 61b that fits loosely with the groove-shaped concave portion of the two upper cutting rollers 61 arranged close to each other. Yes. As a result, the upper cutting roller 61 can move back and forth linearly in the axial direction of the shaft 61a within the formation range of the convex portion 61b. The mechanism that allows the upper cutting roller 61 to move back and forth linearly in the axial direction of the shaft 61a is not limited to this, and the upper cutting roller 61 may be supported by a spline so as to be able to move back and forth linearly.

  On a shaft 61a between two adjacent cutting rollers 61 that form a pair, each cutting roller upper 61 is used as a biasing means that biases the end surfaces 61c of these teeth into a rubbed state. A compression spring 63 is wound around. That is, each upper cutting roller 61 is always urged by the urging force of the compression spring 63 in the opposite arrow directions shown in FIG. 2B, that is, in the axial direction away from each other.

  Both ends of the lower cutting roller 62 are attached and fixed to a shaft 62 a that is rotatably supported by the plate discharge side plate pair 29. In the present embodiment, the urging force of the compression spring 63 between the two cutting rollers 62 arranged in close proximity to the upper and lower shafts 62a in FIG. Two cutting rollers 61 that are movable in the direction of the axis of the shaft 61a are arranged in pairs in the opposite arrow direction, and a plurality of these sets (for example, the width of the master 21) are arranged on each of the shafts 61a and 62a. If the size in the direction is A3, 6 sets) are arranged. The upper cutting roller 61, the shaft 61a, the lower cutting roller 62, and the shaft 62a are made of metal such as stainless steel.

  The magnitude of the urging force of the compression spring 63 is surely cut to such an extent that the compressed master 21a in the state of being compressed and folded in a bellows shape with ink attached can be kept secret without being bitten. And it sets appropriately by experiment etc. to such an extent that the drive load of the drive motor 70 does not become abnormally large.

  In FIG. 2, reference numeral 64 indicates a cutting drive unit that rotationally drives the cutting roller pair 60. The cutting drive means 64 includes a gear 66 and a driven pulley 67 fixed to one end of the shaft 62a of the lower cutting roller 62, and a gear 65 fixed to one end of the shaft 61a of the upper cutting roller 61 and meshed with the gear 66. , A drive motor 70 as drive means fixed to the platen side plate on the back side of the paper, a drive pulley 68 fixed to the output shaft of the drive motor 70, and a driven pulley 67 and a drive pulley 68. It is mainly composed of an endless belt 69 that is stretched. The drive motor 70 is a DC motor, for example.

  By driving the drive motor 70 counterclockwise, for example, via the drive transmission means (drive pulley 68, endless belt 69, driven pulley 67, gears 66, 65), the upper cutting roller 61 and the lower cutting roller 62 As shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 3, the cutting roller upper 61 is driven to rotate clockwise, and the cutting roller lower 62 is driven to rotate counterclockwise in FIG. The drive motor 70 is driven at a predetermined timing as will be described later.

  In the discharge path on the left side of the pair of cutting rollers 60, the base end side is attached and fixed to a shaft 34a supported so as to be rotatable by a predetermined angle between the discharge plate side plate pair 29, and the arrow in FIG. A compression plate 34 is provided as a compression member that swings in the direction. The compression plate 34 is substantially L-shaped, and its free end passes through a position close to the pair of cutting rollers 60 and presses the master 21 cut and discharged by the pair of cutting rollers 60 while discharging the plate. The cut master 21 is compressed and accommodated in the lower back portion of the discharge box 35.

  The compression plate 34 is connected to the compression plate drive motor 34A via a drive transmission means such as a gear attached to one end of the shaft 34a, and is oscillated and driven at a predetermined timing by the compression plate drive motor 34A. . The discharge box 35 is detachably attached to the discharge plate side plate pair 29. When the cut master 21 is full, a full detection sensor (not shown) detects this and informs the user so that it can be discarded as appropriate. It has become. In FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the code | symbol 35a shows the handle at the time of attaching / detaching operation of the plate discharging box 35 attached to the plate discharging box 35. FIG.

  The paper discharge unit 6 has a function and configuration for peeling the paper P printed by the printing unit 2 from the outer peripheral surface of the plate cylinder 9 and discharging it to a paper discharge tray 39 as a paper discharge table. The paper discharge unit 6 includes a peeling air fan 36, a peeling claw 37, a paper discharge transport unit 38, the paper discharge tray 39, and the like.

  The peeling claw 37 has a function of peeling the printed paper P from the outer peripheral surface of the plate cylinder 9 and is supported by the apparatus main body 8 so as to be swingable. The position which adjoins the outer peripheral surface of the plate cylinder 9 and the position where the front-end | tip does not interfere with obstructions, such as the clamper 12 which moves with rotation of the plate cylinder 9, are occupied selectively. The peeling fan 36 blows air compressed from the blowing port between the master 21 on the plate cylinder 9 and the leading end of the paper P to assist the peeling action of the paper P by the peeling claw 37. Have

  The paper discharge conveyance unit 38 includes a driving roller, a driven roller, an endless belt having a large number of air suction holes, a suction fan, and the like. The sheet P peeled off from the surface is sucked onto the endless belt and conveyed in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. The paper discharge tray 39 stacks the paper P conveyed by the paper discharge conveyance unit 38 on its upper surface, and has a pair of side fences movable in the paper width direction and one end fence movable in the paper conveyance direction. And have.

  The image reading unit 7 has a function / configuration for reading an image of a document. The image reading unit 7 includes a contact glass 40 on which a document is placed, a pressure plate 41, a scanning unit 42 that scans and reads the document, a lens 43 that focuses the scanned image, and a CCD (charge coupled device) that processes the focused image. ) And the like, and an ADF unit 45 that automatically conveys the document to the document reading unit is disposed above the pressure plate 41.

  FIG. 5 shows the operation panel 46 of the stencil printing apparatus 1. The operation panel 46 is provided on the upper front surface of the apparatus main body 8. On the upper surface of the operation panel 46, a plate making start key 47, a printing start key 48, a trial printing key 49, a continuous key 50, a clear / stop key 51, a numeric keypad 52, and an enter key are provided. 53, a program key 54, a mode clear key 55, a printing speed setting key 56, a four-direction key 57, a display device 58 including a 7-segment LED (light emitting diode), a display device 59 including an LCD (liquid crystal display device), and the like. It has a configuration. The present embodiment is also characterized in that the operation panel 46 is not provided with a security mode key as security mode setting means for setting the security mode.

With reference to FIG. 6, the control structure of the principal part of this embodiment is demonstrated.
In FIG. 6, the code | symbol 80 shows the control apparatus as a control means which controls the principal part of this embodiment. The control device 80 includes a CPU 81 (central processing unit), a ROM 82 (read-only storage device), a RAM 83 (read / write storage device), a timer 84, and an I / O / I / F 85 (input / output port interface). And a microcomputer having a configuration in which they are connected by a signal bus (not shown).

  The control device 80 is provided in a control board placement section (not shown) in the device main body 8. The CPU 81 is electrically connected to the paper discharge sensor 71 and the above-described various keys of the operation panel 46 via the input port interface 85 and the like, and receives a data signal and an on / off signal. The CPU 81 (hereinafter sometimes referred to as “control device 80” for the sake of simplicity) is a control target of the above-described units of the stencil printing apparatus 1 in addition to the plate drive motor 30A, the compression plate drive motor 34A, and the cutting drive motor 70. The driving means is also controlled, but the description is omitted for the sake of simplicity.

The control device 80 is electrically connected to the discharge plate drive motor 30A, the compression plate drive motor 34A, and the cutting drive motor 70 via the output port interface 85 and the motor drive circuit, and various types described in the operations described later. A command signal is transmitted to each motor 30A, 34A, 70.
The ROM 82 stores in advance an operation program related to operations to be described later, related data, and the like. The RAM 83 temporarily stores the judgment results and calculation results of the CPU 81 and stores the output signals from the respective sensors, the respective keys and the like as needed, and inputs and outputs these signals. The called operation program is temporarily written (in the control devices of the embodiments and modifications described later, since only the CPU and ROM are different, the description is omitted below. ).

Based on the above-described configuration, the operation of the stencil printing apparatus 1 will be described.
The user sets a document to be printed on the image reading unit 7, sets platemaking conditions using various keys on the operation panel 46, and then presses a platemaking start key 47.

When the plate-making start key 47 is pressed, a start signal is generated, which is a trigger. First, the used master 21 is peeled off from the outer peripheral surface of the plate cylinder 9 used in the previous printing in the plate discharging device 5. A specific series of operations for discharging, compressing, and cutting is performed. Hereinafter, the main part of the above operation will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
The plate cylinder 9 on which the used master 21 is wound on the outer peripheral surface reaches the plate discharge position where the tip portion of the master 21 (the portion clamped by the clamper 12) faces the plate discharge roller pair 30. Is driven to rotate. When the plate cylinder 9 reaches the plate removal position, the rotation of the plate cylinder 9 is stopped, and the plate drive motor 30A (stepping motor) is activated by a command from the controller 80 immediately before the clamper drive motor of the opening / closing means is activated. As a result, the discharge roller pair 30 starts to rotate. At this time, the drive motor 70 and the compression plate drive motor 34A remain stopped.

  Then, immediately, the clamper driving motor is driven, so that the clamper 12 is released to the stage 12A at an angle larger than that at the time of feeding, and in conjunction with this, the leading end of the master 21 is kicked up by the elastic thin plate. Operation is performed. As a result, the leading end of the master 21 is kicked up and released over the entire width direction Y of the master 21 to be in a free state, and in this state, the leading end of the master 21 is transferred to the discharging roller pair 30.

  Then, by the rotating plate discharging roller pair 30, the opened front end portion of the master 21 is brought into contact with the elastic blade 32 a of the impeller 32 and is drawn into the nip portion between the upper discharging roller 31 and the lower discharging roller 33. The leading end of the master 21 is inserted into the plate discharge roller pair 30 and the rotation operation of the plate discharging roller pair 30 elapses for a predetermined time (which is also a predetermined number of steps of the plate discharging drive motor 30A). The leading end of the master 21 peeled off by a plate removal sensor (not shown) as a detecting means for detecting the pinching (for example, a reflective optical sensor disposed near the plate discharge roller pair 30) is drawn into the nip portion. Is detected, the discharge roller pair 30 temporarily stops rotating. Thereafter, when the clamper 12 is closed by the operation of the opening / closing means, the plate cylinder driving motor is immediately activated, so that the plate cylinder 9 is moved around the support shaft 11 as shown in FIG. 3 starts rotating in the direction of the arrow (clockwise), and at the same time, the plate discharge roller pair 30 is again driven to rotate in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 3, so that the peeled master 21 is discharged along with the low-speed rotation of the plate cylinder 1. The pair of cutting rollers 60 which are held between the upper roller 31 and the lower plate discharge roller 33 and are separated from the surface of the plate cylinder 1 while being prevented from sticking to the upper plate discharge roller 31 by the impeller 32 and in a driving stopped state. It is conveyed toward the cutting part.

  At this time, the rotation speed of the discharge plate drive motor 30 </ b> A is controlled by the control device 80 so that the rotation peripheral speed of the plate discharge roller pair 30 exceeds the rotation peripheral speed of the plate cylinder 9. Then, the master 21 wound on the plate cylinder 9 is peeled and conveyed while tension is applied between the master cylinder 21 and the discharge roller pair 30 by rotation of the plate cylinder 9.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the master 21 peeled off by the discharge roller pair 30 is conveyed and brought into contact with the cutting roller pair 60 in a driving stop state, while the discharge roller pair 30 and the cutting roller pair 60 are in contact with each other. It is compressed while being folded in the shape of a bellows. The rotational position of the plate cylinder 9 of the closed clamper 12 indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 1 indicates an operating state in the middle of the formation of the compressed master 21a between the plate discharge roller pair 30 and the cutting roller pair 60. ing. When the control means 80 determines that almost one plate of the master 21 on the plate cylinder 9 has been conveyed and compressed by the discharge roller pair 30 by the rotational drive of the predetermined number of steps of the discharge plate driving motor 30A, the control means 80 The drive motor 70 is started by the command.

  When the pair of cutting rollers 60 are driven to rotate by starting the drive motor 70, the compressed master 21a is in contact with the tooth end face 61c of the upper cutting roller 61 and the lower cutting roller 62 that are in a state of being rubbed by the urging force of the compression spring 63. The plate-making image information on the master 21 is finely cut so as not to be visually recognized or transferred without being jammed between the end surface 62c and accommodated in the discharge plate box 35. Is done.

  When it is determined that the plate cylinder 9 occupies a predetermined position and all the masters 21 are peeled off from the plate cylinder 9 and are accommodated in the plate discharge box 35, the rotation of the plate discharge roller pair 30, the cutting roller pair 60, and the plate cylinder 9 is rotated. Is stopped. Thereafter, the compression plate 34 is swung approximately 90 degrees to push the master 21 into the discharge plate box 35, and the plate cylinder 9 is rotated again. The plate cylinder 9 reaches the plate supply position shown in FIG. When 12 is opened as indicated by a two-dot chain line, the plate removal operation is completed.

  When the plate ejection operation is completed, the image reading unit 7 performs a document reading operation. The read image is focused by the lens 43 and then input to the image sensor 44 and subjected to photoelectric conversion. The image sensor 44 sends the input image data to an A / D converter (not shown) and a plate making control unit.

  In parallel with the reading operation, the platen roller 18 and the thermal head 19 are operated in the plate making unit 3, and the plate making operation to the master 21 based on the image data is performed to form a plate making image. The master 21 that has been subjected to plate making is sent to the clamper 12, and if it is determined from the number of steps of the stepping motor 22 that the tip of the master 21 has reached the clamper 12, the clamper 12 is closed by the operation of the opening / closing means. Thereafter, the plate cylinder 9 is rotationally driven in the clockwise direction in FIG. 1 at the same rotational peripheral speed as the conveying speed of the master 21 that has been subjected to plate making, and the winding operation of the master 21 that has been subjected to plate making is performed. When the image data signal from the image reading unit 7 is interrupted, the operation of the thermal head 19 is stopped. After that, when it is determined that the master 21 for one plate has been transported by plate making based on the number of steps of the stepping motor 22, the plate making is completed. The conveyance of the master 21 is stopped, and the cutting means 20 is operated to cut the master 21. The cut master 21 is pulled out from the plate making section 3 by the rotation of the plate cylinder 9, and the plate cylinder 9 is stopped at the home position to complete the plate feeding operation.

  The printing operation is performed following the plate feeding operation. After the plate cylinder 9 stops at the home position, the plate cylinder 9 is driven to rotate at a low speed, and the paper feed roller 24, the separation roller 25, and the paper discharge transport unit 38 are driven to be positioned at the uppermost position from the paper feed tray 23. Only one sheet P to be fed is separated and fed, and the leading end of the sheet P is brought into contact with the nip portion of the registration roller pair 27, whereby a predetermined curved deflection is formed at the leading end portion of the sheet P. The registration roller pair 27 feeds the sheet P to the plate cylinder 9 at a predetermined timing when the leading edge of the image area in the plate cylinder rotation direction of the master 21 that has been wound around the plate cylinder 9 reaches the position corresponding to the press roller 10. To the press roller 10. At almost the same time, the press roller 10 swings as indicated by the wavy line in FIG. 1 and its peripheral surface is pressed against the outer peripheral surface of the plate cylinder 9 with a predetermined pressing force.

  The paper P is pressed by the press roller 10 against the master 21 that has been wound around the plate cylinder 9, whereby the press roller 10, the paper P, the master 21 that has been prepressed, and the plate cylinder 9 are brought into pressure contact with each other, and ink supply means. 15, the ink supplied to the inner peripheral surface of the plate cylinder 9 oozes out from the openings of the porous support plate of the plate cylinder 9 and the mesh portion of the mesh screen. After filling the gap with the porous support, it is transferred to the paper P through the perforated portion of the thermoplastic resin film, and so-called printing is performed. The paper P to which the ink has been transferred is peeled off from the outer peripheral surface of the plate cylinder 9 at the tip of the peeling claw 37 and falls downward, and is sucked and conveyed to the left by the paper discharge transport unit 38 and is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 39. To be discharged. Thereafter, the plate cylinder 9 again occupies the home position and stops, and the plate making operation is completed, and the stencil printing apparatus 1 enters a print standby state. The paper P printed by the printing operation is detected to be turned on by the paper discharge sensor 71, but the CPU 81 of the control device 80 invalidates the paper P and does not count it as a regular print number.

  When the trial printing key 49 is pressed after the stencil printing apparatus 1 is in a print standby state, only the topmost sheet P on the paper feed tray 23 is separated and fed as in the case of printing, and the registration is performed. While being sandwiched by the roller pair 27, the plate cylinder 9 is driven to rotate at a higher speed than during plate attachment. The registration roller pair 27 feeds the paper P at a predetermined timing between the plate cylinder 9 and the press roller 10 rotating at a high speed, and the fed paper P is fed by the press roller 10 to the plate cylinder 9. After the ink is transferred to the master 21 wound around the paper, the ink is transferred onto the paper discharge tray 39 in the same manner as described above. The plate cylinder 9 is then returned to the home position again to complete the trial printing operation.

The test print confirms the density of the print image and the print image position, adjusts these appropriately with the various keys on the operation panel 46, performs the test print again, and then sets the number of prints on the display device 58 using the numeric keypad 52. Then, by setting a desired print speed with the print speed setting key 56 and pressing the print start key 48, the paper P is continuously fed from the paper feed unit 4 and the number of prints set by the ten key 52. Minute printing operation is repeated in the same manner as the paper feeding, printing, and paper discharging operations.
When the set number of prints is consumed, the plate cylinder 9 returns to the home position again and stops, the printing operation is completed, and the stencil printing apparatus 1 enters the plate making standby state again. At this time, the CPU 81 calculates the remaining number of prints based on the predetermined number of copies set signal set by the numeric keypad 52 and the ON signal count related to the number of printed sheets from the paper discharge sensor 71. The remaining number of prints is displayed on the display device 58.

  As described above, in the first embodiment, it can be said that the printing method according to claims 1, 2, 6, and 7 described in the section for solving the problem is used.

  Therefore, according to the first embodiment, the used master 21 on the plate cylinder 9 is peeled and conveyed by the discharge roller pair 30 while being brought into contact with the cutting roller pair 60 in the drive stop state, and the discharge roller pair 30 between the pair of cutting rollers 60 and the cutting roller pair 60, and the cutting of the compressed master 21 is between the tooth end surface 61c of the upper cutting roller 61 and the end surface 62c of the lower cutting roller 62 in a state of friction. By reliably performing the process without causing jamming, the plate-making image information on the master 21 can be visually recognized or transferred even if the master 21 is relatively thin and weak. It can be surely cut to such an extent that it cannot be carried out and can be accommodated in the discharge box 35, and is stored and discarded in the discharge box 35 regardless of the necessity of confidentiality of the master 21 that has been subjected to plate making. Confidentiality used master 21 is reliably performed, it can be advantageously prevented from flowing to the outside in advance.

(Modification 1)
8 and 9 show a first modification of the first embodiment.
The modified example 1 is different from the stencil printing apparatus 1 of the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 7 in that it has an operation panel 46 </ b> A in place of the operation panel 46, and a control device in place of the control device 80. The only difference is that it has 80A, and the other configuration is the same as that of the first embodiment.

  Compared with the operation panel 46, the operation panel 46A is a confidential mode key as a security mode setting means for setting a security mode for causing the stencil printing apparatus 1 to perform a security operation for maintaining the security of the master 21. It differs only in the point which has 79, and another structure is the same. When the confidential mode key 79 is pressed once, a signal related to the confidentiality mode is generated and the built-in LED lights to indicate that the confidentiality mode is set. The LED is turned off to notify that the confidentiality mode is released.

The control device 80A is different from the control device 80 in that it has a CPU 81A having a control function to be described later instead of the CPU 81, and stores an operation program to be described later in order to perform the function of the CPU 81A in place of the ROM 82. The only difference is that it has a ROM 82A, and instead of the timer 84, it has a timer 84A with a battery as a time measuring means having a time keeping function described later, and the other configurations are the same.
Compared with the CPU 81, the CPU 81A of the control device 80A is timed by a signal related to the security mode setting from the security mode key 79, an ON signal after the completion of printing a predetermined number of sheets from the paper discharge sensor 71, and the timer 84A. Based on the respective signals after a certain period of time has elapsed since the end of printing (after leaving the stencil printing apparatus 1), the same evacuation, compression, cutting and compression operations after cutting as described in the first embodiment are performed. The only difference is that it has a control function to control each motor 30A, 34A, 70 so as to be forcibly performed after completion.

The operation of the first modification will be described focusing on differences from the first embodiment.
In the same manner as in the first embodiment, after the operation of peeling, discharging, compressing and cutting the used master 21 from the outer peripheral surface of the plate cylinder 9 used in the previous printing in the discharging apparatus 5 is performed, A document reading operation, plate making / plate feeding operation, plate making operation, appropriate test printing operation, and regular printing operation are performed.

  When the set number of prints is consumed, the plate cylinder 9 returns to the home position again and stops, the printing operation is completed, and the stencil printing apparatus 1 enters the plate making standby state again. At this time, the user presses the confidential mode key 79 to generate a signal related to the confidentiality mode setting, and turns on the LED to enter the confidentiality mode setting state. The CPU 81A receives a signal related to the setting of the security mode from the security mode key 79, an ON signal after the completion of printing of a predetermined number of sheets from the paper discharge sensor 71, and a lapse of a certain time from the end of printing timed by the timer 84A (for example, Based on each signal of 3 minutes (prestored in the ROM 82A), the same plate discharging / compression / cutting as described in the first embodiment and the compression operation after cutting are forcibly performed after the end of the current printing. In addition, by controlling the motors 30A, 34A, and 70, the same plate removal, compression, cutting, and compression operation after cutting as those described in the first embodiment are used for printing this time and need to maintain confidentiality. 9 will be executed for the master 21 above.

  As described above, in Modification 1, it can be said that the printing method according to claims 1, 2, 4, 6, and 7 described in the means column for solving the problem was used.

  Therefore, according to the modified example 1, the same advantages as those of the first embodiment can be obtained, and the plate cylinder 9 that requires the same confidentiality as used in the current printing is used for the same plate removal, compression, cutting, and compression operation after cutting. Since the upper master 21 is also automatically performed, the plate making image information on the master 21 requiring confidentiality is surely cut to such an extent that it cannot be visually recognized or transferred, and is accommodated in the plate discharging box 35. Therefore, there is an advantage that confidentiality of the used master 21 accommodated / discarded in the discharge box 35 can be completely and surely prevented and the outflow to the outside can be completely prevented.

(Second Embodiment)
10 to 12 show a second embodiment.
Compared with the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 7, the second embodiment is used in place of the plate removal device 5 (plate removal portion 5) and wound around the outer peripheral surface of the plate cylinder 9. As will be described later, the stencil printing apparatus 1 is different from the stencil printing apparatus 1 having a plate discharging device 5B (plate discharging unit 5B) that performs plate discharging, compression, and cutting operations.

  Compared with the plate discharging device 5, the plate discharging device 5B has a compression means 86 for compressing the used master 21 conveyed by the plate discharging roller pair 30 instead of the compression plate 34 and the compression plate drive motor 34A. Instead of the cutting roller pair 60 and the drive motor 70, a scraping means is provided which has a scraping means 90 for scraping the used master 21 compressed by the compressing means 86 (shown schematically in FIG. 10). 90 has a cutting roller pair 60B and a drive motor 70B as cutting means for receiving and cutting the compressed master 21a from 90, and a cutting and discharging plate for storing the master 21 cut by the cutting roller pair 60B in place of the discharging plate box 35 The main difference is that it has a dust box 97 as a storage means.

In the present embodiment, the discharge roller pair 30, the compression means 86, the cutting roller pair 60B, and the dust box 97 are arranged in this order from the upstream side to the downstream side of the discharge path.
In the plate discharge path on the left side of the plate discharge roller pair 30, the base end side is attached and fixed to a shaft 87a supported so as to be rotatable by a predetermined angle between the plate discharge side plate pair 29, and the direction of the arrow in FIG. A compression plate 87 is provided as a compression member that oscillates. The free end side of the compression plate 87 passes through the gap between the blade roller 32 arrangement portions and moves toward the lower wall surface of the discharge plate compression box 88 while pressing the master 21 conveyed by the discharge plate roller pair 30. The master 21 is compressed and stored below the discharge plate compression box 88.

  The compression plate 87 is connected to the compression plate drive motor 89 via a drive transmission means such as a gear attached to one end of the shaft 87a, and is oscillated and driven at a predetermined timing by the compression plate drive motor 89. .

  As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the scraping means 90 is disposed on the plate-discarding side plate pair 29 and has a moving notch groove 88 a (three in the illustrated example) as a guiding means and accommodates the compressed master 21 a. As a master scraping member capable of reciprocating by scraping the compressed master 21a on the moving notch groove 88a and capable of engaging with the discharging notch compression box 88 as a possible discharging plate compression storing means and the moving notch groove 88a. The master scraping arm 91 and a master scraping drive means 92 provided with a scraping drive motor 93 as a drive means for reciprocating the master scraping arm 91 are mainly configured.

The discharged plate compression box 88 has a substantially casing shape in which both the upper side which is the receiving port of the master 21 and the left side which is the discharging port of the master 21 are opened. For example, a resin having ink corrosion resistance (oil resistance) (For example, ABS resin and polyacetal resin) are integrally formed. The discharged plate compression box 88 is attached and fixed to the discharged plate side plate pair 29 and is not removable.
The master scraping arm 91 includes a master scraping portion 91a that is a portion that actually scrapes the compressed master 21 on the upper surface of the lower wall of the discharge plate compression box 88. The master scraping arm 91 has a substantially L-shape in front view and substantially in plan view. It has a T-shape and is integrally formed of, for example, stainless steel or a resin having ink corrosion resistance (oil resistance) (for example, ABS resin or polyacetal resin). On the lower wall of the master scraping arm 91 located at the center of the three master scraping arms 91, there is a rack portion 91c for moving the master scraping arm 91 in the horizontal direction in the figure at the right end. Are respectively formed with light shielding pieces 91d protruding downward. The three master scraping portions 91a are integrally connected by a connecting portion 91b.

  The master scraping drive means 92 includes the scraping drive motor 93 fixed to the discharge plate 29 on the back side of the paper surface, and a driving force transmission means for converting the rotational driving force of the scraping drive motor 93 into a reciprocating linear motion. Consists mainly of. The scraping drive motor 93 is a stepping motor whose movement amount can be easily controlled.

  The drive force transmission means is fixed to the output shaft of the scraping drive motor 93 and is always engaged with the rack portion 91c of the master scraping arm 91. The pinion 94 is pivotable to the discharge plate 29 on the back side of the paper. It is mainly composed of an idler pinion 95 that is supported and always meshed with the rack portion 91c. Reference numeral 98 denotes a home position sensor composed of a transmissive optical sensor that selectively engages with the light shielding piece 91 d for detecting the home position of the master scraping arm 91.

The cutting roller pair 60B is mainly different from the cutting roller pair 60 in that the arrangement position and orientation of the cutting roller pair 60 are changed by 90 degrees to form a pair of left and right cutting rollers 61B and a cutting roller right 62B. The same as the roller pair 60. Correspondingly, the cutting drive means provided with the drive motor 70B and omitted in FIG. 10 is mainly different in that its arrangement position and arrangement attitude are changed by 90 degrees, and the others are the same as those shown in FIG. Is the same.
The cutting roller left 61B and the cutting roller are driven by, for example, appropriate rotational driving of the driving motor 70B via the drive transmission means (the driving pulley 68, the endless belt 69, the driven pulley 67, and the gears 66 and 65) shown in FIG. As shown by the solid line in FIG. 10, the right 62B is driven in the opposite directions. In FIG. 10, the cutting roller left 61B is rotated clockwise, and the cutting roller right 62B is driven counterclockwise. The drive motor 70B is driven at a predetermined timing as will be described later.

  Reference numerals 96a and 96b denote a pair of left and right master guide plates that guide the compressed master 21a scraped from the discharge port of the discharged plate compression box 88 toward the cutting portion of the pair of cutting rollers 60B. The dust box 97 is detachably attached to the plate ejection side plate pair 29, and when the cut master 21 is full, a full detection sensor (not shown) detects this and notifies the user so that it can be disposed of appropriately. It has become.

With reference to FIG. 12, the control structure of the principal part of this embodiment is demonstrated.
In FIG. 12, reference numeral 80 </ b> B indicates a control device as control means for controlling the main part of the present embodiment. The control device 80B is mainly different from the control device 80 shown in FIG. 6 in that it has a CPU 81B in place of the CPU 81 and a ROM 82B in place of the ROM 82, and is otherwise the same as the control device 80. .

  The CPU 81B is electrically connected to the above-described various keys of the paper discharge sensor 71, the home position sensor 98, and the operation panel 46 via the input port interface 85 and the like, and receives data signals and on / off signals. To do. The CPU 81B (hereinafter sometimes referred to as “control device 80B” for the sake of simplicity) includes the stencil printing apparatus 1 in addition to the plate removal drive motor 30A, the compression plate drive motor 89, the cutting drive motor 70B, and the scraping drive motor 93. The control target drive means of each of the above parts is also controlled, but the description is omitted for the sake of simplicity.

  The control device 80B is electrically connected to the discharge plate drive motor 30A, the compression plate drive motor 89, the scraping drive motor 93, and the cutting drive motor 70B via an output port interface 85 and a motor drive circuit, which will be described later. Various command signals described in the operation are transmitted to the motors 30A, 89, 70B, 93.

Based on the above-described configuration, the operation of the stencil printing apparatus 1 according to the second embodiment will be described focusing on differences from the first embodiment.
As in the first embodiment, when the user sets a document to be printed on the image reading unit 7, sets the platemaking conditions using various keys on the operation panel 46, and then presses the platemaking start key 47, a start signal is generated. First, a specific series of operations for peeling, discharging, compressing, and cutting the used master 21 from the outer peripheral surface of the plate cylinder 9 used in the previous printing is performed in the discharging apparatus 5B. .

  In the plate cylinder 9 on which the used master 21 is wound on the outer peripheral surface, the leading end portion of the master 21 (portion clamped by the clamper 12) is connected to the plate discharge roller pair 30 in the same manner as in the first embodiment. The master 21 on the plate cylinder 9 is sandwiched between the upper plate discharging roller 31 and the lower plate discharging roller 33 through the same operation as in the first embodiment, being rotated until reaching the plate discharging position which is the opposite position. As a result, the impeller 32 is peeled off from the surface of the plate cylinder 1 while being prevented from sticking to the upper plate roller 31, and is conveyed and stored in the discharged plate compression box 88.

  When it is determined that the plate cylinder 9 occupies a predetermined position and all the masters 21 are peeled off from the plate cylinder 9 and stored in the discharge plate compression box 88, the rotation of the discharge roller pair 30 and the plate cylinder 9 is stopped. . Thereafter, when the compression plate drive motor 89 is activated, the compression plate 87 swings and the master 21 is pushed into the discharge plate compression box 88 for compression. The compression plate 87 oscillates back to the original position shown in FIG. 10 after compressing the master 21 for one plate inside the discharge plate compression box 88.

  Next, the scraping drive motor 93 is activated (for example, normal rotation driving is started) by a command from the control device 80B, and the compressed master 21a accommodated in the discharged-plate compression box 88 is rotationally moved by the rack portion 91c meshing with the pinion 94. By the operation, the master scraping portion 91a of the master scraping arm 91 is moved and transported while being scraped from the upper surface of the lower wall of the discharge plate compression box 88 toward the left side in FIG. The master guide plate from which the compressed master 21a scraped by the scraping drive motor 93 (stepping motor) is rotated by a predetermined number of steps from the master discharge port at the lower left end portion of the discharged plate compression box 88 indicated by the arrow in FIG. When the control device 80B determines that the position that can be transferred to the cutting roller pair 60B via the pair 96a, 96b is occupied, the rotational drive of the scraping drive motor 93 is temporarily stopped and the control means 80B. The drive motor 70B is started by a command from. By driving the drive motor 70B, the cutting roller pair 60B starts to rotate.

  Next, the compressed master 21a scraped by the master scraping portion 91a of the master scraping arm 91 is sent to the cutting portion of the cutting roller pair 60B that is being rotationally driven while being guided by the master guide plate pair 96a, 96b. And cut. At this time, the master 21 compressed by the rotational driving of the pair of cutting rollers 60B is as if the end surface 61c of the cutting roller left 61B and the end surface 62c of the cutting roller right 62B are in a state of being rubbed together by the urging force of the compression spring 63. The plate-making image information on the master 21 is finely cut to such an extent that it cannot be visually recognized or transferred without being jammed in between and stored in the dust box 97.

  When it is determined that the plate cylinder 9 occupies a predetermined position and all the compressed masters 21a in the discharged plate compression box 88 are cut and accommodated in the dust box 97, the scraping drive motor 93 is started again (for example, reverse rotation drive). As a result, the master scraping portion 91 a of the master scraping arm 91 is moved back to the initial position detected by the home position sensor 98. As a result, the specific discharging and cutting operations are completed.

  When the plate removal and cutting operations are completed, the same operations as in the first embodiment, that is, a document reading operation, plate making / plate feeding operation, plate making operation, appropriate test printing operation, and regular printing operation are performed.

  As described above, in the second embodiment, it can be said that the printing method according to claims 1, 3, 6, and 7 described in the section for solving the problem is used.

  Therefore, according to the second embodiment, after the used master 21 on the plate cylinder 9 is peeled and conveyed by the pair of discharge rollers 30, the compression operation of the master 21 is performed by the compression means 86, and thereafter The scraping means 90 scrapes the compressed master 21a from the discharge plate compression box 88 and transfers it to the pair of cutting rollers 60B. Next, the cutting roller left 61B in which the cutting of the compressed master 21a is in a state of friction is performed. The low-strength master 21 has a relatively thin thickness and a low waist, and is reliably performed without causing jamming between the end surface 61c of the teeth and the end surface 62c of the cutting roller right 62B. Even if there is, the plate making image information on the master 21 is surely cut to such an extent that it cannot be visually recognized or transferred, and finally stored in the dust box 97. Regardless of the necessity of confidentiality of the master 21 that has been subjected to plate making, it is possible to reliably maintain the confidentiality of the used master 21 that is contained and discarded in the dust box 97 and to prevent the outflow to the outside. There are advantages you can do.

(Modification 2)
FIG. 13 shows a second modification of the second embodiment.
The modification 2 has an operation panel 46A (see FIG. 8) in place of the operation panel 46 as compared with the stencil printing apparatus 1 of the second embodiment shown in FIGS. 10 to 12, and a control device 80B. The only difference is that the control device 80C is replaced with the other configuration, and the other configurations are the same.

  The control device 80C is different from the control device 80B in that it has a CPU 81C having a control function to be described later in place of the CPU 81B, and an operation program to be described later to exhibit the function of the CPU 81C in place of the ROM 82B. The only difference is that it has a ROM 82C, and instead of the timer 84, it has a timer 84C with a battery as a time measuring means having a time keeping function to be described later, and the other configurations are the same.

  Compared with the CPU 81B, the CPU 81C of the control device 80C is timed by a signal relating to the confidentiality mode setting from the confidential mode key 79, an on signal relating to the completion of printing a predetermined number of sheets from the paper discharge sensor 71, and the timer 84C. The motors 30A, 89 are configured to forcibly perform the discharging, compression, and cutting operations similar to those described in the second embodiment after the end of the current printing based on the signals after a certain period of time has elapsed since the end of the printing. , 70B, 93 is only different in that it has a control function.

The operation of the modified example 2 will be described focusing on the points that are different from those of the second embodiment.
In the same manner as in the first embodiment, after each operation of peeling, discharging, compressing, and cutting the used master 21 from the outer peripheral surface of the plate cylinder 9 used in the previous printing is performed in the discharging apparatus 5B. Document reading operation, plate making / plate feeding operation, plate making operation, appropriate test printing operation, and regular printing operation are performed.

  When the set number of prints is consumed, the plate cylinder 9 returns to the home position again and stops, the printing operation is completed, and the stencil printing apparatus 1 enters the plate making standby state again. At this time, the user presses the confidential mode key 79 to generate a signal related to the confidentiality mode setting, and turns on the LED to enter the confidentiality mode setting state. The CPU 81C receives a signal related to the setting of the security mode from the security mode key 79, an ON signal after the completion of printing of a predetermined number of sheets from the paper discharge sensor 71, and a lapse of a fixed time from the end of printing counted by the timer 84C (for example, Based on each signal of 3 minutes stored in the ROM 82C in advance, each of the plate removal, compression, and cutting operations similar to those described in the second embodiment is forcibly performed after the end of the current printing. By controlling the motors 30A, 89, 70B, 93, the master plate on the plate cylinder 9 that requires the confidentiality used for printing this time is the same as the plate removal, compression, and cutting operations described in the second embodiment. 21 will be executed.

  As described above, in Modification 2, it can be said that the printing method according to claims 1, 3, 4, 6, and 7 described in the section for solving the problem is used.

  Therefore, according to the second modification, the same advantages as those of the second embodiment can be obtained, and the master on the plate cylinder 9 that requires the confidentiality used for the current printing in the same operations of discharging, compressing, and cutting. 21 is also automatically performed, so that the plate-making image information on the master 21 that needs to be kept secret is surely cut to such an extent that it cannot be visually recognized or transferred, and is finally stored in the dust box 97. There is an advantage that the confidentiality of the used master 21 accommodated / discarded in the discharge plate compression box 88 can be reliably and completely maintained, and the outflow to the outside can be completely prevented.

Modifications 1 and 2 are not limited to this. For example, in place of ROM 82A and ROM 82C, in addition to a narrow-sense PROM that can be programmed only once, an EPROM that can be erased by ultraviolet rays, an electrically erasable EEPROM, or the like Then, a certain period of time after the end of printing is set in accordance with the purpose and application of the user by a so-called serviceman program using a combination of appropriate keys on the operation panel 46A by the user, for example, the numeric keypad 52 and the enter key 53. However, it may be configured to be arbitrarily prepared and settable.
The master is not limited to the above-described one, and the above-described effect can be obtained even when a master that is substantially made of only a thermoplastic resin film is used.

The plate discharge conveying means is not limited to a plate discharge roller pair 30 of a plate discharge roller fixed type, but may be a known plate discharge roller swing type.
The entire cutting roller pair 60, 60B and the cutting driving means 64 are unitized without being limited to the first and second modifications, and the united cutting unit is compressed as shown in the first and second embodiments. It is configured to selectively occupy a cutting position where the master 21a is cut and a non-cutting position where the compressed master 21a is cut from the discharge path and cannot be cut, and a security mode 79 is set by the security mode key 79. It may be configured to control so that the cutting unit occupies the cutting position only in the case where the cutting is performed.

  In the Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-392645, the applicant of the present application is provided with a printing drum around which a prepressed plate is wound, a drum unit that is detachable from the apparatus main body, and an original reading unit that reads an image of the original. A reading unit that can be freely opened and closed, a plate-making means for making a plate, a plate-making unit that is detachable from the apparatus body, and a storage means for storing a used plate peeled from the printing drum. In a printing apparatus that includes at least one unit of the detachable plate discharging unit except for the case of the drum unit alone, and forms a printed image by pressing paper against the plate-making plate on the printing drum. If you do not want to know the information on the pre-printed plate on the printing drum and the information on the printed matter, And at least one unit for preventing the at least one unit from being detached from the apparatus body when the security mode is set by the security mode setting means. A technique relating to a printing apparatus, characterized in that it has a locking means arranged for each of them.

According to this technology, the master and ink are not wasted because a new unfinished master is wound around a printing drum (plate cylinder), and regardless of the layout depending on the type of printing apparatus. Since the confidential information of the plate on the plate cylinder (printing drum) cannot be viewed or transferred, the confidential information can be prevented from being leaked to the outside, and the confidentiality can be reliably maintained. It was a thing.
By applying the above technique and the first or second embodiment of the present invention in an appropriate combination, for example, a user intends to discard a used master that requires confidentiality in the discharge box, and the discharge unit includes the discharge box. Is stored and stored in the discharge box or dust box by a third party who is in danger of leaking confidential information when the locking unit arranged corresponding to It is possible to completely prevent confirmation by looking at a used master or transferring it.

It is a front view of the principal part of the whole stencil printing apparatus which shows the 1st Embodiment of this invention. (A) is a top view of the principal part which shows the cutting roller pair and cutting drive means of the plate discharging apparatus used for 1st Embodiment, (b) is an enlarged plan view of the upper part of a cutting roller. It is a partial cross section front view which shows the plate discharging apparatus used in 1st Embodiment, and peeling and plate discharging operation | movement. It is a partial cross section front view which shows the plate discharging apparatus and compression operation | movement used for 1st Embodiment. It is a top view of the operation panel used for 1st and 2nd embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the control structure of the principal part of 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining the plate removal operation | movement of the principal part of 1st Embodiment. 10 is a plan view of an operation panel used in Modifications 1 and 2. FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a control configuration of a main part of Modification 1. FIG. It is a partial cross section front view of the principal part of the stencil printing apparatus which shows 2nd Embodiment. It is a top view of the principal part of FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the control structure of the principal part of 2nd Embodiment. FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a control configuration of main parts of a second modification.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Stencil printing apparatus as an example of a printing apparatus 5 Plate discharging apparatus (plate discharging part)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 8 Apparatus main body 9 Plate cylinder 21 Master 21a Compressed master 29 Discharge side plate 30 Plate discharge roller pair as discharge plate conveying means 34 Compression plate as compression member 35 Discharge box 46, 46A Operation panel 60, 60B Cutting means as discharge plate storage means A pair of cutting rollers as 63 A compression spring as a biasing means 64 A cutting driving means 70 A drive motor constituting the cutting driving means 79 A confidential mode key 80, 80A, 80B, 80C as a confidentiality mode setting means A control device as a control means 86 Compression means 88 Discharge plate compression box as discharge plate compression storage means 88a Movement notch as guide means 89 Compression plate drive motor 90 Scraping means 91 Master scraping arm as master scraping member 93 Scraping drive as drive means Motor 99 Dust box as a means to store cut and discharged plates Scan

Claims (10)

A plate cylinder around which the master made from plate making is wound, a discharge plate conveying means for peeling and conveying the used master on the plate cylinder, a cutting means for cutting the used master conveyed by the discharged plate conveying means, In a printing method using a printing apparatus for forming a printed image by pressing a sheet against a pre-printed master on the plate cylinder, the plate storing means for storing the master cut by the cutting means,
The printing method, wherein the used master is cut by the cutting means after the used master is transported and compressed by the discharged-sheet transport means. The printing method according to claim 1,
The used master is compressed between the discharged plate transporting unit and the cutting unit while the used master is being transported by the discharged plate transporting unit and brought into contact with the cutting unit in a driving stop state. Characteristic printing method. The printing method according to claim 1,
A printing method comprising compressing means for compressing a used master conveyed by the discharged plate conveying means, and cutting the used master after being compressed by the compressing means by the cutting means. The printing method according to claim 1, 2 or 3.
A printing method characterized in that cutting of a used master by the cutting means is forcibly performed after a predetermined time has elapsed after completion of printing a predetermined number of sheets when the confidentiality mode is set. The printing method according to claim 4, wherein
A printing method characterized in that the predetermined time can be arbitrarily adjusted. The printing method according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The printing method, wherein the master has a relatively thin thickness and low strength. The printing method according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
The cutting means has a plurality of paired cutting rollers having teeth on the outer peripheral portion, and the pair of adjacent cutting rollers are movable in the axial direction, and the adjacent cutting rollers are attached to the cutting means. A printing method, characterized in that the end surfaces of the teeth are rubbed together by a biasing means. A plate cylinder on which a pre-made master is wound;
Exhaust plate conveying means for peeling and conveying the used master on the plate cylinder,
Compression means for compressing the used master transported by the discharged plate transport means; scraping means for scraping the used master compressed by the compression means;
Cutting means for receiving and cutting the used master compressed from the scraping means;
A cutting and discharging plate storing means for storing the master cut by the cutting means,
A printing apparatus comprising: The printing apparatus according to claim 8.
The scraping means is disposed on the apparatus main body and includes a guide means, and a discharged plate compression storage means capable of storing a compressed used master, and a compressed used on the guide means that can be engaged with the guide means. A printing apparatus comprising: a master scraping member capable of scraping and reciprocating the master of the master; and a driving means for reciprocating the master scraping member. The printing apparatus according to claim 8 or 9,
The cutting means has a plurality of paired cutting rollers with teeth on the outer periphery,
A printing apparatus comprising biasing means for biasing one end face of the teeth into a state of rubbing with each other of the pair of cutting rollers adjacent to each other.

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