JP2018069485A - Image recording device and image recording method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image recording device and an image recording method which can avoid an edge of a printing plate from being arranged at a specific position when mounting the printing plate on an outer peripheral surface of a drum.SOLUTION: An image recording device determines whether or not an edge in a sub scanning direction of a printing plate 9 is in a specific state where the edge overlaps with a specific position; and when the edge is determined to be in the specific state, displaces the position in the sub scanning direction of the printing plate 9 by a prescribed displacement amount. This can avoid the edge in the sub scanning direction of the printing plate 9 from being arranged at the specific position.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 10

Description

  The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus and an image recording method for recording an image on a printing plate.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an image recording apparatus (CTP apparatus) that records an image on the surface of a printing plate by mounting a thin plate-shaped printing plate on the outer peripheral surface of a drum and irradiating the printing plate with laser light is known. The structure of a conventional image recording apparatus is described in Patent Document 1, for example. The image recording apparatus of Patent Document 1 includes a front end clamper that fixes the front end edge of the printing plate to the outer peripheral surface of the drum, and a rear end clamper that fixes the rear end edge of the printing plate to the outer peripheral surface of the drum.

JP 2000-56482 A

  In this type of image recording apparatus, the rear end clamper described above can be attached to and detached from the drum in order to support a plurality of printing plates having different sizes. A rear end clamper can be attached to an arbitrary position of the arc-shaped clamp groove provided on the outer peripheral surface of the drum.

  However, if the edge of the printing plate is disposed at a position that exactly overlaps the clamp groove, the vicinity of the edge of the printing plate may float from the outer peripheral surface of the drum due to the attachment of the rear end clamper. If the printing plate partially floats, it becomes difficult to record an image on the surface of the printing plate with high accuracy.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an image recording apparatus capable of avoiding that the edge of the printing plate is disposed at a specific position when the printing plate is mounted on the outer peripheral surface of the drum. An object is to provide an image recording method.

  In order to solve the above problems, a first invention of the present application is an image recording apparatus for recording an image on a printing plate, the drum having a cylindrical outer peripheral surface on which the printing plate is mounted, and the drum having a central axis. A rotation drive section that rotates around, a recording head that irradiates recording light toward the outer peripheral surface of the drum, a head moving mechanism that moves the recording head in a sub-scanning direction parallel to the central axis, and printing A positioning mechanism that positions the plate in the sub-scanning direction; and a control unit that controls the rotation driving unit, the recording head, the head moving mechanism, and the positioning mechanism, and the control unit includes the printing plate When the shift acquisition necessity information indicating whether or not the edge in the sub-scanning direction is in a specific state overlapping with a specific position, and the shift necessity information indicates the specific state, Said positioning The mechanism has the sub-scanning direction position of the printing plate, a first shift command unit for displacing a predetermined displacement amount.

  A second invention of the present application is the image recording apparatus according to the first invention, wherein the drum has a clamp groove provided at the specific position on the outer peripheral surface, and a clamper engaged with the clamp groove. The edge of the printing plate in the main scanning direction, which is the rotation direction of the drum, is fixed between the outer peripheral surface of the drum and the clamper.

  A third invention of the present application is the image recording apparatus according to the first invention or the second invention, wherein the control unit is configured to control the outer peripheral surface of the drum when the shift necessity information indicates the specific state. It further has a second shift command section for displacing the recording light irradiation position in accordance with the displacement amount.

  A fourth invention of the present application is the image recording apparatus according to any one of the first to third inventions, further comprising an input unit that receives input of the shift necessity information.

  A fifth invention of the present application is the image recording apparatus according to any one of the first to third inventions, further comprising an input unit that receives an input of a type of a printing plate to be processed, wherein the control unit includes: A storage unit that stores the shift necessity information for each type of printing plate to be processed; and the information acquisition unit includes the shift requirement corresponding to the type of printing plate input from the input unit. The rejection information is read from the storage unit.

  A sixth invention of the present application is the image recording apparatus according to any one of the first to third inventions, further comprising an input unit that receives an input of a dimension in the sub-scanning direction of a printing plate to be processed. The information acquisition unit generates the shift necessity information according to the dimensions input from the input unit.

  A seventh invention of the present application is the image recording apparatus according to any one of the first to third inventions, further comprising a detection unit that detects a position of an edge of the printing plate in the sub-scanning direction, The information acquisition unit generates the shift necessity information based on a detection result output from the detection unit.

  An eighth invention of the present application is the image recording apparatus according to any one of the first to seventh inventions, wherein a punch for forming a punch hole in the printing plate before the printing plate is mounted on the drum. A positioning unit that positions the printing plate at a standard position before the punch hole is formed by the punch unit, and after the punch hole is formed by the punch unit, the printing plate is mounted on the drum. Before, the position of the printing plate in the sub-scanning direction is displaced by the displacement amount.

  A ninth invention of the present application is the image recording apparatus according to any one of the first to eighth inventions, wherein two printing plates are mounted on the outer peripheral surface of the drum in the sub-scanning direction, There are a plurality of the specific positions, and the drums are arranged symmetrically with respect to the center of the drum in the sub-scanning direction, and the first shift command unit uses the positioning mechanism to move the two printing plates to the It is displaced in directions opposite to each other in the sub-scanning direction.

  In a tenth aspect of the present invention, a printing plate is mounted on the cylindrical outer peripheral surface of the drum, and the recording light is irradiated from a recording head that moves in a sub-scanning direction parallel to the central axis of the drum while rotating the drum. An image recording method for recording an image on a printing plate, wherein a) determining whether an edge of the printing plate in the sub-scanning direction is in a specific state overlapping a specific position; b And a step of displacing the position of the printing plate in the sub-scanning direction by a predetermined displacement amount in the specific state.

  An eleventh invention of the present application is the image recording method according to the tenth invention, wherein the drum has a clamp groove provided at the specific position on the outer peripheral surface, and a clamper engaged with the clamp groove. And c) after the step b), a printing plate is mounted on the outer peripheral surface of the drum, and an edge of the printing plate in the main scanning direction, which is the rotation direction of the drum, is placed between the outer peripheral surface and the clamper. It further has the process of fixing between.

  A twelfth invention of the present application is the image recording method of the eleventh invention, further comprising: d) irradiating the recording light from the recording head after the step c), and in the step d), The irradiation position of the recording light is displaced according to the displacement amount.

  A thirteenth invention of the present application is the image recording method according to any one of the tenth to twelfth inventions, the step of positioning a printing plate in a standard position before the step b), and the standard Forming a punch hole in the printing plate positioned at the position.

  A fourteenth invention of the present application is the image recording method according to any one of the tenth to thirteenth inventions, wherein two printing plates are mounted on the outer peripheral surface of the drum in the sub-scanning direction. A plurality of the specific positions, and arranged symmetrically with respect to the center of the drum in the sub-scanning direction, and the step b includes b-1) one of the two printing plates, Displacing in one direction in the sub-scanning direction, and b-2) displacing the other of the two printing plates in the other direction in the sub-scanning direction.

  According to the first to ninth inventions of the present application, when the printing plate is mounted on the outer peripheral surface of the drum, the position of the printing plate in the sub-scanning direction can be displaced based on the shift necessity information. Thereby, it can avoid that the edge of the sub-scanning direction of a printing plate is arrange | positioned in a specific position.

  In particular, according to the second invention of the present application, when the printing plate is mounted on the outer peripheral surface of the drum, it can be avoided that the edge of the printing plate in the sub-scanning direction overlaps the clamp groove. Thereby, the floating of the printing plate from the outer peripheral surface of the drum can be suppressed.

  In particular, according to the third invention of the present application, the irradiation position of the recording light is displaced according to the displacement amount of the printing plate. As a result, an image can be recorded at a predetermined position on the printing plate.

  In particular, according to the fourth invention of the present application, the user directly inputs shift necessity information. For this reason, whether or not the position of the printing plate in the sub-scanning direction is displaced can be set by the user's judgment.

  In particular, according to the fifth invention of the present application, it is possible to easily set whether or not to shift the position of the printing plate in the sub-scanning direction according to the type of printing plate to be processed.

  In particular, according to the sixth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to automatically determine whether or not the position of the printing plate in the sub-scanning direction is displaced according to the dimension of the printing plate in the sub-scanning direction.

  In particular, according to the seventh invention of the present application, it is possible to automatically determine whether or not the position of the printing plate in the sub-scanning direction is displaced based on the detection result output from the detection unit.

  In particular, according to the ninth invention of the present application, it is possible to avoid that the respective edges of the two printing plates are arranged at specific positions.

  Further, according to the tenth to fourteenth aspects of the present invention, when the printing plate is mounted on the outer peripheral surface of the drum, it is possible to avoid that the edge of the printing plate in the sub-scanning direction is disposed at a specific position.

  In particular, according to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, when the printing plate is mounted on the outer peripheral surface of the drum, it can be avoided that the edge of the printing plate in the sub-scanning direction overlaps the clamp groove. Thereby, the floating of the printing plate from the outer peripheral surface of the drum can be suppressed.

  Particularly, according to the twelfth aspect of the present invention, the irradiation position of the recording light is displaced according to the displacement amount of the printing plate. As a result, an image can be recorded at a predetermined position on the printing plate.

  In particular, according to the fourteenth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to avoid that the respective edges of the two printing plates are arranged at specific positions.

It is the figure which showed the structure of the image recording device. It is a top view of a positioning mechanism and a punch unit. It is a perspective view of a drum. It is a top view of a drum and a light irradiation part. It is the figure which showed the mode of the attachment or detachment of the rear end clamper with respect to a clamp groove | channel. It is the block diagram which showed the connection of a control part and each part. It is the figure which showed notably the part of function implement | achieved within a control part. It is the flowchart which showed the flow of the operation | movement at the time of image recording. It is the figure which showed the mode of the process of step S3. It is the figure which showed the mode of the process of step S6. It is the figure which showed the example of the input screen of shift necessity information. It is a top view of the positioning mechanism and punch unit which concern on a modification. It is a top view of the drum and light irradiation part which concern on a modification. It is the flowchart which showed the example of detection operation by the 2nd sensor.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the following, the rotation direction of the drum (circumferential direction along the outer peripheral surface of the drum) is referred to as “main scanning direction”, and the direction parallel to the central axis of the drum is referred to as “sub-scanning direction”.

<1. Configuration of Image Recording Device>
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an image recording apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The image recording apparatus 1 is an apparatus (CTP apparatus) that records an image on a printing plate 9 by exposing a recording surface 91 of the printing plate 9 based on input image data. In the commercial color printing process, the printing plate 9 corresponding to each of the monochrome images constituting the image data is produced using the image recording apparatus 1. Then, a color image is formed on the surface of the printing paper by overprinting the image of each printing plate 9 on the printing paper.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the image recording apparatus 1 of this embodiment includes a transport mechanism 10, a positioning mechanism 20, a punch unit 30, a drum 40, a light irradiation unit 50, an operation unit 60, and a control unit 70.

  The transport mechanism 10 is a mechanism for transporting the printing plate 9 before exposure. The printing plate 9 is, for example, a rectangular metal plate, and a photosensitive material is applied in advance to a recording surface 91 that is one surface thereof. The printing plate 9 is set at a predetermined conveyance start position in the image recording apparatus 1 by an automatic supply device or a user. The transport mechanism 10 transports the printing plate 9 set at the transport start position by rotating the transport belt 11.

  Further, the transport mechanism 10 is transported between a punch facing position P1 indicated by a solid line in FIG. 1 and a drum facing position P2 indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. The position and inclination of the belt 11 can be changed. When the conveyor belt 11 is disposed at the punch facing position P1 and the conveyor belt 11 is rotated in the forward direction, the printing plate 9 is supplied to the punch unit 30. In this state, the printing plate 9 can be pulled back from the punch unit 30 by rotating the conveyor belt 11 in the reverse direction. When the transport belt 11 is disposed at the drum facing position P <b> 2 and the transport belt 11 is rotated in the forward direction, the printing plate 9 is supplied to the drum 40.

  The positioning mechanism 20 is a mechanism for positioning the printing plate 9 at a desired position in the sub-scanning direction. The positioning mechanism 20 has a function of positioning the printing plate 9 at a standard position in the sub-scanning direction and a function of displacing the position of the printing plate 9 in the sub-scanning direction from the standard position as necessary. FIG. 2 is a top view of the positioning mechanism 20 and the punch unit 30. As shown in FIG. 2, the positioning mechanism 20 includes a pair of width adjusting pins 21 a and 21 b and a pin driving mechanism 22. The pin driving mechanism 22 individually moves the pair of width adjusting pins 21a and 21b in the sub scanning direction. For the pin drive mechanism 22, for example, a mechanism that converts the rotational motion of the servo motor into a straight motion via a ball screw is used. The positioning mechanism 20 positions the position of the printing plate 9 in the sub-scanning direction at a desired position by pressing both side edges of the printing plate 9 in the sub-scanning direction with the pair of width adjusting pins 21a and 21b.

  The punch unit 30 is a unit that forms punch holes in the printing plate 9 before the printing plate 9 is mounted on the drum 40. As shown in FIG. 1, the punch unit 30 has a gap portion 31 into which the front end edge (end edge on the downstream side in the transport direction) of the printing plate 9 is inserted. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the punch unit 30 includes a pair of stop pins 32 provided in the gap portion 31 and a plurality of punch pins 33 that form punch holes in the printing plate 9.

  The front end edge of the printing plate 9 inserted into the gap portion 31 contacts the pair of stop pins 32. Thereby, the position of the printing plate 9 in the conveyance direction is positioned at a predetermined position. The pair of punch pins 33 is moved up and down by a drive mechanism (not shown) to punch out a part of the front edge of the printing plate 9. Thereby, a punch hole is formed at a predetermined position of the front edge of the printing plate 9.

  The punch holes formed in the printing plate 9 are used for positioning the printing plate 9 in a printing apparatus that uses the printing plate 9 after exposure and development. Thereby, the printing plate 9 of each color is positioned with high accuracy in the printing apparatus. As a result, in the printed matter output from the printing apparatus, it is possible to prevent the images of the respective colors from being displaced from each other.

  The drum 40 is a rotating body disposed below the punch unit 30. The drum 40 has a cylindrical outer peripheral surface 41 extending in the sub-scanning direction. As indicated by a broken line in FIG. 1, the drum 40 is connected to a rotation drive unit 42. The rotation drive unit 42 includes, for example, a motor and a power transmission mechanism such as a timing belt that transmits the driving force of the motor to the drum 40. When the rotation drive unit 42 is operated, the drum 40 rotates around the central axis extending in the sub-scanning direction.

  FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the drum 40. FIG. 4 is a top view of the drum 40 and the light irradiation unit 50. As shown in FIGS. 1, 3, and 4, the outer peripheral surface 41 of the drum 40 is provided with a plurality of front end clampers 43 and a plurality of rear end clampers 44. The plurality of front end clampers 43 fix the front end edge of the printing plate 9 conveyed from the conveyance mechanism 10 to the outer peripheral surface 41 of the drum 40. The plurality of rear end clampers 44 fix the rear end edge (end edge on the upstream side in the transport direction) of the printing plate 9 to the outer peripheral surface 41 of the drum 40. Accordingly, the printing plate 9 is mounted on the outer peripheral surface 41 of the drum 40 with the recording surface 91 facing outward.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the outer peripheral surface 41 of the drum 40 is provided with a plurality of clamp grooves 45. Each clamp groove 45 extends in the main scanning direction at a specific position in the sub-scanning direction. The rear end clamper 44 can be attached to and detached from an arbitrary position of the clamp groove 45 in the main scanning direction.

  FIG. 5 is a view showing how the rear end clamper 44 is attached to and detached from the clamp groove 45. As shown in FIG. 5, the rear end clamper 44 has a T-shaped clamping bolt 441. When the rear end clamper 44 is fixed to the outer peripheral surface 41 of the drum 40, the clamping bolt 441 of the rear end clamper 44 is inserted into the clamp groove 45 and the clamping bolt 441 is rotated. As a result, the clamping bolt 441 engages with the clamp groove 45. The trailing edge of the printing plate 9 is held between the outer peripheral surface 41 of the drum 40 and the trailing edge clamper 44.

  The light irradiation unit 50 is a unit that irradiates recording light toward the outer peripheral surface 41 of the drum 40. The light irradiation unit 50 includes a recording head 51 that emits recording light such as laser light, and a head moving mechanism 52 that moves the recording head 51 in the sub-scanning direction. When recording an image on the printing plate 9, the recording head 51 is moved in the sub-scanning direction by the head moving mechanism 52 while rotating the drum 40 on which the printing plate 9 is mounted. A laser beam is irradiated toward the beam 91. As a result, an exposure area corresponding to the monochromatic image is formed on the recording surface 91 of the printing plate 9.

  The exposed printing plate 9 is unloaded from the drum 40 to a predetermined unloading position in the image recording apparatus 1 by an unloading mechanism (not shown).

  The operation unit 60 is a part serving as a user interface. The operation unit 60 includes a display unit 61 and an input unit 62. The display unit 61 displays various information related to the processing of the image recording apparatus 1 on the screen. As the display unit 61, for example, a liquid crystal display is used. The input unit 62 receives input of various information from the user. For the input unit 62, for example, a keyboard and a mouse are used. The user of the image recording apparatus 1 can input various information to the control unit 70 by operating the input unit 62 while checking the display unit 61.

  Note that both the function of the display unit 61 and the function of the input unit 62 may be realized by a single device such as a touch panel display.

  The control unit 70 is means for controlling the operation of each unit in the image recording apparatus 1. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the connection between the control unit 70 and each unit in the image recording apparatus 1. As conceptually shown in FIG. 6, the control unit 70 includes a computer having a processor 701 such as a CPU, a memory 702 such as a RAM, and a storage unit 703 such as a hard disk drive. In the storage unit 703, a computer program P for executing each process realized in the image recording apparatus 1 and reference information R described later are installed.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the control unit 70 includes the transport mechanism 10, the pin driving mechanism 22, the punch unit 30, the rotation driving unit 42, the front end clamper 43, the rear end clamper 44, the recording head 51, and the head moving mechanism. 52 and the operation unit 60 are electrically connected to each other. The control unit 70 temporarily reads the computer program P stored in the storage unit 703 into the memory 702, and the processor 701 performs arithmetic processing based on the computer program P, thereby controlling the operation of each unit described above. Thereby, each process such as conveyance of the printing plate 9, positioning in the sub-scanning direction, formation of punch holes, and image recording proceeds sequentially.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram conceptually showing a part of the functions realized in the control unit 70. As shown in FIG. 7, the control unit 70 includes an information acquisition unit 71, a first shift command unit 72, and a second shift command unit 73. The control unit 70 realizes processing for avoiding the end edge in the sub-scanning direction of the printing plate 9 mounted on the drum 40 from overlapping the clamp groove 45 by these units. Specific processing performed by the information acquisition unit 71, the first shift command unit 72, and the second shift command unit 73 will be described later.

<2. Operation during image recording>
Next, an operation when an image is recorded on the printing plate 9 in the image recording apparatus 1 will be described. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the flow of operations during image recording.

  When recording an image on the printing plate 9, first, the type of the printing plate 9 to be processed is input (step S1). Specifically, the user inputs the type of the printing plate 9 into the control unit 70 by operating the input unit 62. The storage unit 703 in the control unit 70 stores reference information R unique to each type of the printing plate 9 in advance. The reference information R includes the size of the printing plate 9 and processing conditions for the printing plate 9. In the present embodiment, shift necessity information described later is also stored in the storage unit 703 as one piece of reference information R. The control unit 70 can read out the information from the storage unit 703 according to the type of the printing plate 9 input from the input unit 62.

  When the input of the type of the printing plate 9 is completed, the automatic supply device or the user sets the printing plate 9 in the image recording apparatus 1. In addition, the user inputs an operation start instruction by operating the input unit 62. Then, the image recording apparatus 1 starts to carry in the printing plate 9 by the transport mechanism 10.

  The transport mechanism 10 first places the transport belt 11 at the punch facing position P1. Then, the printing plate 9 is conveyed toward the punch unit 30 by rotating the conveyance belt 11 in the forward direction (step S2). The front edge of the printing plate 9 passes between the pair of width adjusting pins 21 a and 21 b of the positioning mechanism 20 and is inserted into the gap portion 31 of the punch unit 30. Eventually, when the front edge of the printing plate 9 comes into contact with the stop pin 32, the transport mechanism 10 stops the rotation of the transport belt 11.

  Next, the positioning mechanism 20 positions the position of the printing plate 9 in the sub-scanning direction to the standard position (step S3). FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating the positioning in step S3.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the positioning mechanism 20 first operates the pin driving mechanism 22 to bring one width adjusting pin 21 a into contact with one edge of the printing plate 9 in the sub-scanning direction. Subsequently, the printing plate 9 is moved to the other side in the sub-scanning direction by pressing the printing plate 9 with the width adjusting pin 21a (see the first drawing from the top in FIG. 9). At this time, the printing plate 9 temporarily moves to a position on the other side in the sub-scanning direction from the standard position C indicated by a one-dot chain line in FIG.

  Next, the positioning mechanism 20 separates one width adjusting pin 21a from the printing plate 9 and brings the other width adjusting pin 21b into contact with the other edge of the printing plate 9 in the sub-scanning direction. Subsequently, the printing plate 9 is moved to one side in the sub-scanning direction by pressing the printing plate 9 with the width adjusting pin 21b. The width adjusting pin 21b moves to one side in the sub-scanning direction and stops until the position of the printing plate 9 in the sub-scanning direction matches the standard position C. As a result, the position of the printing plate 9 in the sub-scanning direction is positioned at the standard position C (see the second stage from the top in FIG. 9).

  When the position of the printing plate 9 in the sub-scanning direction is positioned at the standard position C, the positioning mechanism 20 moves one width adjusting pin 21a to the other side in the sub-scanning direction (third step from the top in FIG. 9). Refer to the figure below). Then, the one width adjusting pin 21 a is brought into contact with one edge of the printing plate 9 in the sub-scanning direction again. Thereby, the position of the printing plate 9 is fixed (see the fourth figure from the top in FIG. 9). In this state, the punch unit 30 moves the pair of punch pins 33 up and down. Then, a part of the front edge of the printing plate 9 is punched out. As a result, punch holes are formed at predetermined positions on the front edge of the printing plate 9 (step S4).

  Subsequently, the control unit 70 determines whether or not the edge of the printing plate 9 in the sub-scanning direction overlaps with the position of the clamp groove 45 in the sub-scanning direction (step S5). Specifically, the information acquisition unit 71 of the control unit 70 reads the reference information R corresponding to the type of the printing plate 9 input in step S <b> 1 from the storage unit 703. Thereby, the information acquisition unit 71 acquires shift necessity information preset as one of the reference information R. The shift necessity information indicates whether or not the edge in the sub-scanning direction of the printing plate 9 arranged at the standard position C is in a specific state overlapping the clamp groove 45. The control unit 70 refers to the shift necessity information to determine whether or not at least one edge of the printing plate 9 in the sub-scanning direction overlaps with the position of the clamp groove 45 in the sub-scanning direction. recognize.

  When it is determined in step S5 that the specific state is set, the first shift command unit 72 of the control unit 70 controls the positioning mechanism 20 to displace the position of the printing plate 9 in the sub-scanning direction (step S6). FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the state of the processing in step S6.

  In step S <b> 6, a control signal is transmitted from the first shift command unit 72 to the positioning mechanism 20. Then, first, the pair of width adjusting pins 21a and 21b of the positioning mechanism 20 are separated from both end edges of the printing plate 9 in the sub-scanning direction (refer to the first drawing from the top in FIG. 10). Thereby, the fixation of the printing plate 9 is released. Next, one of the pair of width adjusting pins 21a and 21b (in the example of FIG. 10, the width adjusting pin 21a) presses the edge in the sub-scanning direction of the printing plate 9 (second step from the top in FIG. 10). Refer to the figure below). As a result, the position of the printing plate 9 in the sub-scanning direction moves by a predetermined displacement amount. As a result, the edge of the printing plate 9 in the sub-scanning direction is not in a specific state where it overlaps with the position of the clamp groove 45 in the sub-scanning direction. When the displacement of the printing plate 9 in the sub-scanning direction is completed, the pair of width adjusting pins 21a and 21b are separated from both end edges of the printing plate 9 in the sub-scanning direction (see the third figure from the top in FIG. 10).

  The displacement amount of the printing plate 9 may be stored in advance in the storage unit 703 as one piece of reference information R, for example. The displacement amount of the printing plate 9 is preferably smaller than the interval in the sub-scanning direction between adjacent clamp grooves 45.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S5 that the specific state is not set, the first shift command unit 72 of the control unit 70 does not operate the positioning mechanism 20. That is, the process of step S6 for displacing the position of the printing plate 9 in the sub-scanning direction is not executed.

  In step S5, when it is determined that it is not in the specific state or when step S6 is completed, the control unit 70 operates the transport mechanism 10 again. Thereby, the printing plate 9 is pulled out from the punch unit 30, and the printing plate 9 is mounted on the drum 40 (step S7).

  In step S7, the transport mechanism 10 first rotates the transport belt 11 in the reverse direction. As a result, the front edge of the printing plate 9 is pulled out from the gap 31 of the punch unit 30. Then, the entire printing plate 9 is placed on the conveyor belt 11 again. Subsequently, the transport mechanism 10 switches the position of the transport belt 11 from the punch facing position P1 to the drum facing position P2. Thereafter, the transport mechanism 10 rotates the transport belt 11 in the forward direction. As a result, the front edge of the printing plate 9 is supplied to the drum 40.

  The front end edge of the printing plate 9 supplied to the drum 40 is in contact with a plurality of front end clampers 43. Thereby, the printing plate 9 stops. When the printing plate 9 stops, the control unit 70 closes the plurality of front end clampers 43. Thereby, the front end edge of the printing plate 9 is fixed between the outer peripheral surface 41 of the drum 40 and the front end clamper 43. Thereafter, the controller 70 delivers the printing plate 9 from the transport mechanism 10 to the drum 40 by rotating the drum 40. After the entire printing plate 9 is disposed on the outer peripheral surface 41 of the drum 40, the plurality of rear end clampers 44 are closed, and the printing plate 9 is placed between the outer peripheral surface 41 of the drum 40 and the rear end clamper 44. Fix the trailing edge. As a result, the printing plate 9 is mounted on the outer peripheral surface 41 of the drum 40.

  When the printing plate 9 is mounted on the outer peripheral surface 41 of the drum 40, the control unit 70 operates the head moving mechanism 52. As a result, the recording head 51 is moved in the sub-scanning direction to a position facing the recording start position of the printing plate 9 (step S8). Here, when the position of the printing plate 9 in the sub-scanning direction is displaced in step S <b> 6 described above, the second shift command unit 73 of the control unit 70 determines the target position for the movement of the recording head 51. The displacement is performed according to the displacement amount in step S6. Thereby, even if step S6 is performed, the recording head 51 can be accurately moved to the recording start position of the printing plate 9.

  Thereafter, the control unit 70 operates the rotation driving unit 42, the head moving mechanism 52, and the recording head 51. Thereby, the recording light is emitted from the recording head 51 toward the printing plate 9 while rotating the drum 40 and moving the recording head 51 in the sub-scanning direction. Thereby, an image is recorded on the recording surface 91 of the printing plate 9 (step S9).

  In this embodiment, step S6 mentioned above is performed as needed. For this reason, when the printing plate 9 is mounted on the outer peripheral surface 41 of the drum 40, it is possible to avoid that both end edges of the printing plate 9 in the sub-scanning direction overlap the clamp groove 45. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the vicinity of the edge of the printing plate 9 in the sub-scanning direction from partially floating from the outer peripheral surface 41 of the drum 40 due to the influence of the clamp groove 45. That is, the vicinity of the edge of the printing plate 9 in the sub-scanning direction can be brought into firm contact with the outer peripheral surface 41 of the drum 40. As a result, in step S9, an image can be recorded on the recording surface 91 of the printing plate 9 with high accuracy.

  In particular, in this image recording apparatus 1, shift necessity information is preset for each type of printing plate 9 to be processed. For this reason, when the user inputs the type of the printing plate 9, the image recording apparatus 1 can automatically recognize whether or not the process of step S6 should be executed. Therefore, the process of step S6 can be appropriately executed for the printing plate 9 that requires the process of step S6.

  Further, in the image recording apparatus 1, in step S8 described above, the target position for the movement of the recording head 51 is displaced according to the displacement amount in step S6. Thereby, the irradiation position of the recording light with respect to the outer peripheral surface 41 of the drum 40 is displaced according to the displacement amount of step S6. Therefore, even when the process of step S6 is executed, an image can be recorded with high accuracy at a predetermined position of the printing plate 9.

<3. Modification>
As mentioned above, although main embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to said embodiment. Hereinafter, various modifications will be described focusing on differences from the above-described embodiment.

<3-1. First Modification>
In the above embodiment, the shift necessity information is stored as one of the reference information R in the storage unit 703 in the control unit 70, and the printing plate 9 is moved in the sub-scanning direction according to the information. It was. However, every time an image recording process is performed on the printing plate 9, the user inputs, for example, whether or not to move the printing plate 9 in the sub-scanning direction by operating the input unit 62. Also good. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of an input screen for selecting whether or not to move the printing plate 9 in the sub-scanning direction. As shown in FIG. 11, whether or not to execute the movement of the printing plate 9 in the sub-scanning direction is selected from two options of ON (move is executed) and OFF (move is not executed). That's fine. The control unit 70 only needs to move the printing plate 9 in the sub-scanning direction only when the input is ON. In this way, if the user can directly input whether or not the printing plate 9 needs to be moved, the user can flexibly select whether or not to execute step S6.

<3-2. Second Modification>
Further, the user may input the dimension in the sub-scanning direction of the printing plate 9 to be processed from the input unit 62. In that case, the information acquisition unit 71 of the control unit 70 determines whether or not the edge of the printing plate 9 in the sub-scanning direction overlaps the clamp groove 45 based on the dimension input from the input unit 62. It is automatically determined by the arithmetic processing. That is, the information acquisition unit 71 generates shift necessity information according to the dimensions input from the input unit 62. In this way, it is not necessary to separately input the dimensions of the printing plate 9 and the shift necessity information. Therefore, the input burden on the user can be reduced.

<3-3. Third Modification>
FIG. 12 is a top view of the positioning mechanism 20 and the punch unit 30 of the image recording apparatus 1 according to the third modification. The image recording apparatus 1 in the example of FIG. 12 has a pair of first sensors 81. The first sensor 81 is a detection unit that detects the position in the sub-scanning direction of the printing plate 9 in which the front edge is inserted into the punch unit 30. For the first sensor 81, for example, a non-contact type sensor such as an optical sensor is used. The first sensor 81 detects the position of the edge of the printing plate 9 in the sub-scanning direction by detecting the presence or absence of light shielding at each position while moving in the sub-scanning direction. The detection result is transmitted from the first sensor 81 to the control unit 70.

  Based on the detection result output from the first sensor 81, the information acquisition unit 71 of the control unit 70 is in a specific state where the edge of the printing plate 9 in the sub-scanning direction overlaps the position of the clamp groove 45 in the sub-scanning direction. Judge whether there is. That is, the information acquisition unit 71 generates shift necessity information based on the detection result output from the first sensor 81. In this way, shift necessity information can be accurately acquired based on the actual measurement value. Further, it is not necessary for the user to input the dimension of the printing plate 9 in the sub-scanning direction or the information on necessity of shift.

  In the example of FIG. 12, the width adjusting pin 21 and the first sensor 81 are integrally attached to the moving element of the pin driving mechanism 22 of the positioning mechanism 20. For this reason, the first sensor 81 can be moved in the sub-scanning direction using the pin driving mechanism 22. In this way, it is not necessary to provide a moving mechanism unique to the first sensor 81 separately from the pin driving mechanism 22. Therefore, the number of parts constituting the image recording apparatus 1 can be reduced.

<3-4. Fourth Modification>
FIG. 13 is a top view of the drum 40 and the light irradiation unit 50 of the image recording apparatus 1 according to the fourth modification. The image recording apparatus 1 in the example of FIG. 13 includes a second sensor 82. The second sensor 82 is a detection unit that detects the position in the sub-scanning direction of the printing plate 9 mounted on the outer peripheral surface 41 of the drum 40. For the second sensor 82, for example, a non-contact sensor such as an optical sensor is used. The second sensor 82 detects the position of the edge of the printing plate 9 in the sub-scanning direction by detecting a change in the light reflection state at each position while moving in the sub-scanning direction. The detection result is transmitted from the second sensor 82 to the control unit 70.

  Based on the detection result output from the second sensor 82, the control unit 70 recognizes the image recording start position for the printing plate 9 mounted on the drum 40. In this way, the recording start position of the image with respect to the printing plate 9 mounted on the drum 40 can be recognized more accurately based on the actual measurement value.

  In the example of FIG. 13, the recording head 51 and the second sensor 82 are integrally attached to the mover of the head moving mechanism 52. For this reason, the second sensor 82 can be moved in the sub-scanning direction using the head moving mechanism 52. In this way, it is not necessary to provide a moving mechanism unique to the second sensor 82 separately from the head moving mechanism 52. Therefore, the number of parts constituting the image recording apparatus 1 can be reduced.

  FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing an example of the detection operation by the second sensor 82. When the printing plate 9 is mounted on the outer peripheral surface 41 of the drum 40, the control unit 70 operates the head moving mechanism 52. Thus, the second sensor 82 is disposed in the vicinity of the edge of the printing plate 9 in the sub-scanning direction (step S11). Then, the position of the edge of the printing plate 9 in the sub-scanning direction is detected while slowly moving the second sensor 82 in the sub-scanning direction (step S12).

  In step S11, the second sensor 82 is moved at a higher speed than in step S12. As described above, by moving the second sensor 82 to the vicinity of the target position at high speed, the time required for detecting the position of the printing plate 9 in the sub-scanning direction can be reduced. In particular, when the position of the printing plate 9 in the sub-scanning direction is displaced in step S6 described above, the control unit 70 calculates the position of the printing plate 9 after the displacement in the sub-scanning direction. In step S11, the second sensor 82 is disposed near the edge of the displaced printing plate 9 in the sub-scanning direction. That is, the second sensor 82 is moved in consideration of the displacement of the printing plate 9. As a result, the second sensor 82 can be moved more quickly and accurately to the vicinity of the target position.

  When both the first sensor 81 and the second sensor 82 are included, it is preferable that the first sensor 81 and the second sensor 82 detect the same position in the main scanning direction of the printing plate 9. If it does in this way, the 2nd sensor 82 can be moved more correctly in consideration of the detection result of the 1st sensor 81 in Step S12.

<3-5. Fifth Modification>
In the above embodiment, the printing plate 9 is processed one by one in the image recording apparatus 1. However, the number of printing plates 9 processed simultaneously in the image recording apparatus 1 may be two. For example, two printing plates 9 may be mounted on the outer peripheral surface 41 of the drum 40 side by side in the sub-scanning direction.

  In this case, the plurality of clamp grooves 45 of the drum 40 and the two printing plates 9 are all arranged symmetrically with respect to the center of the drum 40 in the sub-scanning direction. Therefore, when performing the process of step S6 mentioned above, it is preferable to displace the two printing plates 9 in directions opposite to each other in the sub-scanning direction. That is, one of the two printing plates 9 is displaced in one direction in the sub-scanning direction by a predetermined displacement amount, and then the other of the two printing plates 9 is moved in the other direction in the sub-scanning direction. It is displaced by a predetermined amount of displacement. Thereby, it is possible to avoid the end edges in the sub-scanning direction of the two printing plates 9 from overlapping the clamp groove 45.

  Note that the number of printing plates 9 processed simultaneously in the image recording apparatus 1 may be three or more.

<3-6. Other>
In the above-described embodiment, the case where the edge of the printing plate 9 in the sub-scanning direction is prevented from overlapping with the clamp groove 45 for fixing the rear end clamper 44 has been described. That is, the case where the “specific position” in the present invention is the position of the clamp groove 45 has been described. However, recesses or holes other than the clamp grooves may be provided on the outer peripheral surface of the drum. The “specific position” in the present invention may be a position in the sub-scanning direction of a recess or hole other than the clamp groove.

  Further, the detailed structure of the image recording apparatus may be different from those in the drawings of the present application. Moreover, you may combine suitably each element which appeared in said embodiment and modification in the range which does not produce inconsistency.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image recording device 9 Printing plate 10 Conveying mechanism 11 Conveying belt 20 Positioning mechanism 21a, 21b Alignment pin 22 Pin drive mechanism 30 Punch unit 31 Gap part 32 Stop pin 33 Punch pin 40 Drum 41 Outer peripheral surface 42 Rotation drive part 43 Front end clamper 44 Rear end clamper 45 Clamp groove 50 Light irradiation unit 51 Recording head 52 Head moving mechanism 60 Operation unit 61 Display unit 62 Input unit 70 Control unit 71 Information acquisition unit 72 First shift command unit 73 Second shift command unit 81 First sensor 82 Second sensor 91 Recording surface 441 Clamping bolt P Computer program R Reference information

Claims (14)

An image recording apparatus for recording an image on a printing plate,
A drum having a cylindrical outer peripheral surface on which a printing plate is mounted;
A rotation drive unit for rotating the drum around a central axis;
A recording head that emits recording light toward the outer peripheral surface of the drum;
A head moving mechanism for moving the recording head in a sub-scanning direction parallel to the central axis;
A positioning mechanism for positioning the printing plate in the sub-scanning direction;
A control unit for controlling the rotation driving unit, the recording head, the head moving mechanism, and the positioning mechanism;
With
The controller is
An information acquisition unit for acquiring shift necessity information indicating whether or not the edge in the sub-scanning direction of the printing plate is in a specific state overlapping a specific position;
A first shift command unit that, when the shift necessity information indicates the specific state, causes the positioning mechanism to displace the position of the printing plate in the sub-scanning direction by a predetermined displacement amount;
An image recording apparatus. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1,
The drum is
A clamp groove provided at the specific position on the outer peripheral surface;
A clamper engaged with the clamp groove;
Have
An image recording apparatus in which an edge of a printing plate in a main scanning direction which is a rotation direction of the drum is fixed between the outer peripheral surface of the drum and the clamper. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein
The controller is
When the shift necessity information indicates the specific state, the image recording apparatus further includes a second shift command unit that displaces the recording light irradiation position with respect to the outer peripheral surface of the drum according to the displacement amount. . The image recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein:
An image recording apparatus further comprising an input unit that receives input of the shift necessity information. The image recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein:
It further includes an input unit that accepts input of the type of printing plate to be processed,
The controller is
For each type of printing plate to be processed, it further has a storage unit for storing the shift necessity information,
The information acquisition unit is an image recording apparatus that reads the shift necessity information corresponding to the type of printing plate input from the input unit from the storage unit. The image recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein:
An input unit that accepts input of dimensions in the sub-scanning direction of the printing plate to be processed;
The information acquisition unit is an image recording device that generates the shift necessity information according to a dimension input from the input unit. The image recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein:
A detection unit that detects a position of an edge of the printing plate in the sub-scanning direction;
The information acquisition unit is an image recording device that generates the shift necessity information based on a detection result output from the detection unit. An image recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
Prior to mounting the printing plate on the drum, further comprising a punch unit for forming punch holes in the printing plate,
The positioning mechanism is
Before forming the punch hole by the punch unit, the printing plate is positioned at a standard position,
An image recording apparatus that displaces the position of the printing plate in the sub-scanning direction by the amount of displacement before the printing plate is mounted on the drum after the punch hole is formed by the punch unit. The image recording apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein
Two printing plates are mounted on the outer peripheral surface of the drum in the sub-scanning direction,
There are a plurality of the specific positions, and the drums are arranged symmetrically with respect to the center of the drum in the sub-scanning direction,
The first shift command unit is an image recording apparatus that displaces the two printing plates in opposite directions in the sub-scanning direction by the positioning mechanism. An image is applied to the printing plate by irradiating recording light from a recording head that moves in a sub-scanning direction parallel to the central axis of the drum while rotating the drum while mounting the printing plate on the cylindrical outer peripheral surface of the drum. An image recording method for recording
a) determining whether the edge of the printing plate in the sub-scanning direction is in a specific state overlapping a specific position;
b) displacing the position of the printing plate in the sub-scanning direction by a predetermined displacement amount in the specific state;
An image recording method comprising: The image recording method according to claim 10, wherein
The drum is
A clamp groove provided at the specific position on the outer peripheral surface;
A clamper engaged with the clamp groove;
Have
c) After the step b), a printing plate is mounted on the outer peripheral surface of the drum, and an edge of the printing plate in the main scanning direction which is the rotation direction of the drum is interposed between the outer peripheral surface and the clamper. An image recording method further comprising a fixing step. The image recording method according to claim 11, comprising:
d) after the step c), further comprising the step of irradiating the recording light from the recording head;
In the step d), an image recording method in which the irradiation position of the recording light is displaced according to the displacement amount. The image recording method according to any one of claims 10 to 12, comprising:
Prior to step b)
Positioning the printing plate at a standard position;
Forming a punch hole in the printing plate positioned at the standard position;
An image recording method further comprising: An image recording method according to any one of claims 10 to 13, comprising:
Two printing plates are mounted on the outer peripheral surface of the drum in the sub-scanning direction,
There are a plurality of the specific positions, and the drums are arranged symmetrically with respect to the center of the drum in the sub-scanning direction,
The step b includes
b-1) displacing one of the two printing plates in one direction in the sub-scanning direction;
b-2) displacing the other of the two printing plates in the other direction of the sub-scanning direction;
An image recording method comprising:

Images