JP2020079941A - Resin letterpress printing plate and method for manufacturing the same - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a manufacturing technology for manufacturing a resin letterpress printing plate which is suitable for letterpress printing and flexographic printing.SOLUTION: A resin letterpress printing plate 18 is a flexible resin letterpress printing plate 18 which is manufactured by irradiating a photosensitive resin layer 13 of a plate material 10 with an energy beam of a required wavelength from an active light source using a plate material 10 of a photosensitive resin plate with a plate thickness of 1 mm to 10 mm, photo-curing the photosensitive resin layer 13, forming a relief image 22 and a latent image of a back precipitate layer 23 on the photosensitive resin layer 13, and removing an uncured resin material from a cured part of the photosensitive resin layer 13 by spray cleaning of a cleaning liquid and water cleaning with brush cleaning of a cleaning brush 25, in which the plate material 10 constitutes an integral floor layer in a laminate part from a film base 16 to the back precipitate layer 23, the relief image 22 is integrally fastened in the back precipitate layer 23, and the relief layer 22 having a relief depth of 60 μm or more and 1 mm or less is integrally provided on the floor layer.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for making a flexible resin relief printing plate, and more particularly to a resin relief printing plate suitable for letterpress printing or flexographic printing and a method for producing the same.

  From the plate material of the photosensitive resin plate, the photosensitive resin layer of the plate material is irradiated (exposed) with an active light source (ultraviolet) to be photo-cured, and by this exposure, a relief image and a back layer are formed on the photosensitive resin layer of the plate material Is formed. After the exposure, when the plate material of the photosensitive resin plate is developed with water, the photosensitive resin layer of the plate material is brushed and washed with a cleaning brush using a cleaning liquid in which a surfactant is added to room temperature water or warm water. However, there is known a plate making technique for producing a resin relief printing plate by removing the uncured resin material from the photosensitive resin layer of the plate material (Patent Documents 1 and 2). At the time of cleaning, in order to prevent environmental pollution, it is desired to avoid the use of organic solvents as much as possible and use an aqueous cleaning solution to the extent that a surfactant is added to room temperature water or warm water as needed. ..

  In the plate-making technique of Patent Document 1, a resin material of an uncured portion is removed from a plate material of a photosensitive resin plate by using a cleaning liquid and a cleaning brush in a cleaning zone, and rinse cleaning is performed in a rinse zone to manufacture a resin relief printing plate. A plate making apparatus for a photosensitive resin relief printing plate is described. This plate-making device includes a cleaning section including a cleaning zone for removing an uncured portion from the plate material of the photosensitive resin plate and a rinse zone for rinsing and cleaning the plate material from the cleaning zone, and an endless conveyor belt passing through the cleaning section. And a carrying section for fixing the plate material of the photosensitive resin plate and carrying it in the horizontal direction. The endless conveyor belt is wound around a drive roller and a driven roller driven by a conveyor belt drive mechanism and is driven to be conveyed.

  On the other hand, a cleaning brush unit having a plurality of cleaning brushes, for example, three cleaning brushes, in the cleaning zone, and a cleaning brush unit for sliding the cleaning brush unit on the conveyor belt in a sliding motion in which a circular motion and a linear reciprocating motion are combined. Is provided.

  The plate material of the photosensitive resin plate placed on the endless conveyor belt and fixed by the fixing means slides a plurality of cleaning brushes of the cleaning brush unit in a synchronous sliding motion while being conveyed in the conveying section. The resin material of the uncured portion is removed from the photosensitive resin layer by the sliding slide and the cleaning liquid in which all the cleaning brushes are synchronized, and the (photosensitive) resin relief printing plate is manufactured.

  Further, in the plate making technique described in Patent Document 2, the photosensitive resin layer of the photosensitive resin plate is irradiated with ultraviolet rays in the exposure step to expose the photosensitive resin layer to a relief image and a back protrusion layer. It is formed by curing. After the exposure, the plate material of the photosensitive resin plate is sent to a water cleaning step, and in this water cleaning step, a cleaning liquid obtained by adding a surfactant to cleaning water at room temperature (20°C to 25°C) is added to the photosensitive resin layer of the plate material. It is supplied and washed with water using a cleaning brush. There is described a plate making system for producing a (photosensitive) resin relief printing plate by removing an uncured resin material from a photosensitive resin layer of a photosensitive resin plate.

Japanese Patent No. 5683029 Patent No. 5225237

  In the plate making apparatus for a flexographic photosensitive resin relief printing plate described in Patent Document 1, the plate material of the photosensitive resin plate is fixed to the belt surface of the endless conveyor belt by using a fixing means such as a double-sided adhesive tape. The plate material fixed on the conveyor belt is supplied with the cleaning liquid while passing through the cleaning zone, and all the cleaning brushes are synchronously driven by the cleaning brush unit for brush cleaning. The cleaning brush unit is designed so that all (3) cleaning brushes slide on the surface of the plate material in synchronism with each other while sliding on the surface of the plate material. The fluctuating torque in the same direction is repeatedly applied. Therefore, the plate material of the photosensitive resin plate may be subjected to the synchronous driving fluctuating torque from all the cleaning brushes in one direction of the brushes, and may move laterally from the conveyor belt to be displaced or peeled off. If the photosensitive resin plate is displaced or peeled off from the conveyor belt, it may be difficult to effectively wash the surface of the plate material of the photosensitive resin plate, or the relief image may be damaged or damaged.

  The endless conveyor belt is conveyed by being driven around the drive roller and the driven roller by the conveyor belt drive mechanism, and the plate material of the photosensitive resin plate is synchronously driven by each cleaning brush of the cleaning brush unit (slide sliding). The fluctuating torque may cause the endless conveyor belt to meander or obliquely travel. Therefore, the endless conveyor belt may not travel stably, and smooth conveyance may be difficult. If the endless conveyor belt meanders or skews and cannot be stably conveyed, it may adversely affect the performance and quality of the (photosensitive) resin letterpress printing plate produced by the resin letterpress plate making system. there were.

Further, in the plate-making technique described in Patent Document 2, a plate material of a photosensitive resin plate having a plate thickness of less than 1 mm is desired in order to realize an ultimate resolution. However, in order to support flexible printed materials such as plastic film or various printed materials such as corrugated paper such as flexographic printing, a thicker plate material is desirable even if the resolution of the printed material is slightly reduced. There is.
Furthermore, in order to provide various packaging materials with a higher level of aesthetics, it is expected that various plates will be efficiently manufactured, including multicolor printing and support for a variety of items to be packaged. It

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned circumstances, and uses a plate material having a photosensitive resin plate of 1 mm to 10 mm or less, a relief image having a relief depth of 1 mm or less, and a back folding of a film base and a required layer thickness. An object of the present invention is to provide a resin letterpress printing plate excellent in performance, quality, and strength, which can stably and efficiently produce a resin letterpress printing plate integrally provided with a floor layer of a projecting layer, and a method for producing the same. And

  Another object of the present invention is to provide a resin relief printing plate integrally provided with a relief image having a relief depth of 110 μm to 1 mm or less using a plate material having a photosensitive resin plate of 1 mm or more and a floor layer of a film base and a back deposition layer. An object of the present invention is to provide an environmentally-friendly resin relief printing plate which can stably produce a printing plate, has excellent printing performance, quality and strength, and a method for producing the same.

  Another object of the present invention is a letterpress plate material or flexographic plate material having a plate thickness of the resin relief plate of 1 mm to 3 mm or less, and a relief image having a relief depth of 110 μm to 1 mm or less, a film base, and It is possible to stably and efficiently produce a resin letterpress printing plate for letterpress printing or flexographic printing, which is integrally provided with a floor layer from a back deposition layer, and an environmentally friendly resin letterpress printing plate and a method for producing the same. Is to provide.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention uses a plate material of a photosensitive resin plate having a plate thickness of 1 mm to 10 mm or less, and irradiates the photosensitive resin layer of the plate material with energy light of a required wavelength from an active light source. And photo-cured to form a relief image and a latent image of a back deposit layer on the photosensitive resin layer, and after exposure, by spraying a cleaning liquid on the photosensitive resin layer and water cleaning by brush cleaning of a cleaning brush, A flexible resin relief printing plate produced by removing an uncured resin material from a cured portion of a photosensitive resin layer, wherein the plate material is an integrated floor in a laminated portion from a film base to the back deposition layer. A resin relief printing press forming a layer and integrally fixing the relief image by the back deposition layer, and integrally providing the relief image having a relief depth of 60 μm to 1 mm or less on the floor layer. It provides a print version.

  Further, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention irradiates a plate material of a photosensitive resin plate having a plate thickness of 1 mm to 10 mm or less with energy light of a required wavelength from an active light source to photo-cure the plate, Exposure step of forming a relief image and a latent image of the back deposition layer on the photosensitive resin layer of the material, the exposed plate material is conveyed to a cleaning zone, in which the plate material sprays a cleaning liquid. While receiving the cleaning brush, a water development step of sliding the cleaning brush on the surface of the photosensitive resin layer to wash the brush, and removing the uncured resin material from the cured portion of the photosensitive resin layer to form a resin relief printing plate. A method for producing a resin relief printing plate to be produced, wherein in the exposure step, relief exposure and back exposure are made incident on the photosensitive resin layer of the plate material to photo-cure the relief image and the latent image of the back deposition layer. In the water cleaning step after exposure, the uncured resin material is removed from the cured portion by water cleaning by spray cleaning of the cleaning liquid on the photosensitive resin layer and brush cleaning of the cleaning brush to remove the relief. The image and the back deposit layer are made visible to form a flexible resin relief printing plate having a plate thickness of 1 mm or more. In the water washing step, the back deposit layer is formed on the film base side of the photosensitive resin layer. The film base and the back deposit layer form an integral floor layer, and the back deposit layer integrally fixes the relief image, and the relief depth is 60 μm to 1 mm or less on the floor layer. Provided is a method for producing a resin letterpress printing plate, which is characterized by integrally including an image.

For the above-mentioned purpose, the present inventor will add some details about the process of reaching the present invention as a result of various examinations and trial productions regarding the plate making technology of the resin relief printing plate, particularly the washing (developing) step of the exposed plate material.
In particular, (1) In order to maintain a good plate making environment, avoid the use of organic solvents as much as possible, and use water at room temperature as a base, and add additives such as surfactants or pH adjusters. Should stop. (2) A plate thickness exceeding 1 mm can be accommodated. (3) In order to provide a flexible plate that can be applied to good flexographic printing, it may be possible to use a rubber-like plate that has been crosslinked and cured. (4) Adhesion of the exposed plate material to the endless magnetic material transfer belt by means of a double-sided adhesive tape and a magnet plate, which has been trial-adopted, is adopted for double-sided adhesion of the exposed plate material as disclosed in Patent Document 1. This is effective in improving the inconvenience such as the complexity of the peeling operation of fixing the front surface of the back surface to the endless conveyor belt and the damage of the plate due to the peeling.

  However, it cannot be denied that the local fixing of (4) is weaker than the effect of fixing the exposed plate material to the conveyor belt as compared with the whole surface fixing. On the other hand, it is understood that the realization of the above (1) to (3) leads to an increase in sliding friction load on the cured resin layer of the exposed plate material by the cleaning brush. Due to such circumstances, in the system employing the means of (4) in combination with any one or more of the above (1) to (3), the lateral displacement of the exposed plate material with respect to the conveyor belt during the cleaning process is Occurrence of the above-mentioned adverse effects such as inhibition of effective washing and damage of the relief image on the washed plate as described above were recognized. This problem can be solved by providing a rotation angle difference in the swiveling motion of the cleaning brush between a plurality of cleaning brush sets.

  In the present invention, a laminated layer of a film base and a back deposit layer constitutes an integral floor layer, and a relief image is integrally fixed to the back deposit layer, and the relief depth of the floor layer is 1 mm or less. Since the images are integrally provided, the resin relief printing plate can be stably and efficiently produced, and the resin relief printing plate having excellent performance, quality, and strength and a method for producing the same can be provided.

  Further, in the present invention, a resin relief printing plate produced by using a plate material having a photosensitive resin plate of 1 mm or more comprises a film base and a back deposition layer that form an integral floor layer, and the back deposition layer has a relief. Since the images are integrally fixed, the relief image can be stably provided with strength, and the relief image has a relief depth of 110 μm to 1 mm or less, so that the printing performance, quality, and strength are excellent. It is also possible to provide a resin letterpress printing plate and a method for producing the same.

  Further, the present invention provides a plate making technique in which a plate material of a photosensitive resin plate has a plate thickness of 1 mm or more, and a relief image having a relief depth of 110 μm or more and a back deposition layer having a required layer thickness can be formed. You can

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a plate material of a photosensitive resin plate used for manufacturing a resin relief printing plate. (A)-(F) is the schematic which shows the manufacturing procedure of a resin relief printing plate from the plate material of a photosensitive resin plate. The measurement data figure which shows the thickness dimension relationship of relief depth-floor layer-back deposition layer of a rubber-based resin relief printing plate (plate material thickness: 1.14 mm). The measurement data figure which shows the thickness dimension relationship of relief depth-floor layer-back deposition layer of a rubber-based resin relief printing plate (plate material thickness: 1.70 mm). The measurement data figure which shows the thickness dimension relationship of relief depth-floor layer-back deposition layer of a rubber-based resin relief printing plate (plate material thickness: 2.84 mm). 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing a plate making system for a resin relief printing plate. The top view which abbreviate|omits a part of manufacturing system of a resin relief printing plate, and shows it. The block diagram which shows the cleaning apparatus of the manufacturing system of a resin relief printing plate from a side surface. The side sectional view which expands and shows the A section of FIG. The figure which saw the washing|cleaning apparatus shown by FIG. 8 partially in the direction of arrow B, and saw it. Sectional drawing which cuts and shows the endless magnetic material conveyance belt in a belt width direction. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a rectangular flat cleaning brush. The top view of a flat type cleaning brush. The top view which shows the other example of a flat type cleaning brush. The side view which shows a cleaning tank roughly. The top view which shows a cleaning tank schematically. The side view which shows the rinse tank roughly. The top view which shows a rinse tank roughly. The top view which shows a part of endless mesh conveyance belt.

  Preferred embodiments of the resin relief printing plate and the method for producing the same according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows a plate material 10 of a photosensitive resin plate used for manufacturing a resin relief printing plate. The plate material 10 includes an analog version and a digital version. The analog plate and the digital plate include the plate material of the photosensitive resin plate used for the resin relief printing plate described in Japanese Patent No. 5225327. A negative film is used as the plate-making film for the analog plate, and a CTP (Computer to Plate) type plate material that does not require the plate-making film is used for the digital plate. The CTP plate material refers to a plate material in which a heat-sensitive layer (ablation mask) serving as an image mask is integrated on the surface of a photosensitive resin layer.

  Specific examples of the photosensitive resin plate material 10 include CTP flexographic plate materials such as product names Cosmolite QS114U, QS170F, QS284F, Cosmolite QH, and Cosmolite QZ manufactured by Toyobo Co., Ltd., and Fuji Film Global Graphic Systems (FFGS). ) Product name: Water development flexographic printing plate, FLENEX FW series (FW-L, FW-A, FW-U) and other flexographic printing plates, GL-L9T, GL-L9D, GL-L7S, WS95HTIV, WF58HTIV , WF95DTIV, WF95GIIJ, WF95SII, WF95IIJ, WF95BII, WF95BSII, WF70BSII, WF95SSIII, etc., and photosensitive resin plate material for letter press. The flexographic printing plate material is used for printing soft packaging films such as plastic films, paper containers, paper bags, corrugated paper, and industrial parts such as electronic parts. Photosensitive resin plate materials are widely used for paper printing such as letterpress.

  The plate material 10 of the photosensitive resin plate is a flexographic plate material having a Shore A hardness of, for example, 30 to 82 degrees, preferably 68 to 82 degrees, and is a photosensitive resin plate material for letterpress and having a Shore D hardness. It is 22 degrees to 65 degrees (corresponding to about 68 degrees to 100 degrees in Shore A hardness), and the flexographic plate material is softer than the photosensitive resin plate material (letterpress plate material). Furthermore, for example, the vertical direction (longitudinal direction) of the flexographic printing plate material is 762 mm to 1540 mm, and the width direction is 635 mm to 1067 mm. Moreover, the vertical direction (longitudinal direction) of the photosensitive resin plate material is several meters (for example, 3 m) to 9 m, and the plate thickness of both plate materials is 0.70 mm to 2.84 mm. Be done. An example of the plate material 10 of the photosensitive resin plate is a CTP flexographic plate material having a vertical direction of 1200 mm, a width direction of 900 mm, and an overall plate thickness of 1.14 mm.

  In the plate material 10 of the photosensitive resin plate, as shown in FIG. 1, a photosensitive resin layer 13 is integrally laminated on a base film (film support) 11 of a polyethylene film as a substrate via an adhesive layer 12. An ablation mask 14 that reacts with a laser beam having a desired wavelength, for example, an infrared laser beam is integrally mounted on the photosensitive resin layer 13. The ablation mask 14 is formed with a black mask layer that reacts with infrared laser light, and the black mask layer reacts with the laser light to form a plate-making pattern. A cover film 15 is attached on the ablation mask 14. The photosensitive resin layer 13 has no sensitivity to the irradiation of infrared laser light and does not react with the irradiation.

  When the plate material 10 of the photosensitive resin plate is a flexographic plate material, the rubber-based photosensitive resin layer 13 contains, for example, a polymerizable compound and a photopolymerization initiator, and a wavelength required for an active light source, for example, 300 nm to 400 nm A photo-curable resin that photo-cures in response to the energy light (UV light) is used. As the photopolymerization initiator, for example, a benzoin-based or acetophenone-based photopolymerization initiator can be used. The photocurable resin may be used by adding at least one of a solvent and an additive.

  When the plate material 10 of the photosensitive resin plate is a flexographic plate material of Cosmolite QS114U, the photosensitive resin layer 13 is made of, for example, synthetic rubber, liquid rubber, polyurethane methacrylate compound, acrylate compound and photopolymerization initiator. Composed. Further, when the plate material 10 of the photosensitive resin plate is a flexographic plate material of the FLENEX FW series (FW-L, FW-A, FW-U), the photosensitive resin plate layer 13 is, for example, a polymer or a methacrylic acid ester. It is composed of a system monomer, an additive, a photopolymerization initiator and the like. When the plate material 10 is a photosensitive resin plate material for letterpress printing (paper printing), the photosensitive resin layer 13 is composed of, for example, a photopolymerized polyamide, a methacrylic acid ester monomer, an additive and a photopolymerization initiator. It

  For the photosensitive resin plate layer 13, an unsaturated polyester resin, a photosensitizer of an unsaturated resin layer in which an unsaturated group such as polybrasian, acrylic or urethane is introduced or a photocurable resin to which heat stability is added is used. May be.

  As an example of a preferable rubber-based photosensitive resin plate material 10, in the case of a flexographic plate material, if the plate thickness is 1140 μm, the film thickness of the base film 11 is 125 (or 188) μm, and the adhesive layer 12 for preventing halation is The thickness of the photosensitive resin plate layer 13 is 20 μm, and the layer thickness of the photosensitive resin plate layer 13 is 995 (or 932) μm. The film base 16 (base film 11+adhesive layer 12) as a film support has a base thickness (support film thickness) of 145 (208) μm.

For the base film 11, in addition to the polyester film, polyethylene-terephthalate (PET film), plastic resin film such as polyvinyl chloride, synthetic rubber film such as styrene-butadiene rubber, plastic resin film reinforced with glass fiber, epoxy resin Examples include films and phenol resin films. For the adhesive layer 12, various coating materials such as coating treatment with a rubber-based, polyester-based, epoxy-based, acrylic-based, urethane-based adhesive or anchor treatment with a coupling agent are used.
Next, a case of manufacturing a resin relief printing plate using the photosensitive resin plate material 10 will be described.
An example of manufacturing the photosensitive resin relief printing plate 18 using a CPT (Computer to Plate) type flexographic plate material as the plate material 10 of the photosensitive resin plate will be described.

  Of the plate material 10 of the photosensitive resin plate, the flexographic plate material is, for example, Cosmolite QS, QH, QZ, etc. and has a plate thickness of 700 μm to several thousand (7000) μm, preferably 1000 μm to 4000 μm, more preferably 1140 μm. There is a plate material having ˜2840 μm. Among them, the plate material 10 of the photosensitive resin plate is an example of a plate making technique for manufacturing the photosensitive resin relief printing plate 18 using a CTP flexographic plate material having a plate thickness of 1140 μm. The flexographic plate material has a smaller Shore A hardness and a softer material when the plate thickness of the plate material is equal to that of a (letter press) plate material of a photosensitive resin plate commonly used for paper printing such as letter press. It

  When manufacturing the photosensitive resin relief printing plate 18, a CTP plate material of a flexographic plate material and a positive film 19 are prepared as the plate material 10 of the photosensitive resin plate shown in FIG. First, the cover film 15 is removed from the CTP plate material 10 which is a photosensitive resin plate.

2B, the infrared laser light L is pattern-irradiated to the ablation mask 14 side of the plate material 10 to form a plate-making pattern on the ablation mask 14. The CTP plate material 10 does not require a negative film which is a plate-making film.
After a plate-making pattern is formed on the ablation mask 14 of the CTP plate material 10, it is sent to a lamp house of an exposure device (not shown).

[Exposure process]
As shown in FIG. 2C, the CTP plate material 10 conveyed to the lamp house that constitutes the exposure apparatus travels in the lamp house at a predetermined speed, and the CTP plate material 10 of the required wavelength is generated by the active light source 20 in the lamp house. Energized light is emitted. As the active light source, for example, an ultraviolet source is used to irradiate ultraviolet rays (UV light) of 315 nm to 400 nm, and relief exposure which is the main exposure is performed. The active light source 20 for relief exposure includes, in addition to an ultraviolet ray source, a high pressure mercury lamp in the wavelength range of 300 nm to 400 nm, an ultrahigh pressure mercury lamp, a carbon arc lamp, a xenon lamp, and the like. The light source is preferably not a point light source but a surface light source.

In the relief exposure, the CTP plate material 10 is irradiated with a predetermined amount of light, for example, about 13,000 mj/cm ² of ultraviolet rays, on the photosensitive resin layer 13 through the plate making pattern of the ablation mask 14. When the photosensitive resin layer 13 is irradiated with strong ultraviolet energy, the photosensitive resin layer 13 in the irradiated portion is photoreacted by photoreaction. By this photo-curing, a relief image 22 of characters/images forming a hardened portion is formed on the imaged portion (irradiated portion) of the photosensitive resin layer 13 of the CTP plate material 10. The relief image 22 is formed stably toward the base film 11 in a taper shape that spreads toward the end.

The maximum height of the relief image is determined by the thickness of the photosensitive resin layer 13. The photosensitive resin layer 13 is used to harden the relief image 22 of the latent image in the image area. Normally, the active light source 20 is exposed to strong energy light, for example, an ultraviolet light source with an energy light amount of about 5,000 mj/cm ² or more, and preferably about 13,000 mj/cm ² of ultraviolet light for printing and exposure. When an ultraviolet ray is irradiated with an energy light amount of about 13,000 mj/cm ² for a required time, for example, 30 minutes, the photosensitive resin layer 13 causes a photoreaction of the irradiated portion to form a relief image 22 having a required relief depth (height). Stable formation. If only the forming a relief image 22 near the surface layer portion of the photosensitive resin layer 22, the energy beam of the relief exposure may be 5,000 mJ / cm ² about the amount of light, necessarily the amount of 13,000mj / cm ² Not.

  After the relief image 22 is formed on the photosensitive resin layer 13, the CTP plate material 10 is taken out of the lamp house and inverted, and the active light source is irradiated from the back side of the CTP plate material 10 through the transparent film 19. The film 19 is aligned with the ablation mask 14, vacuum-contacted, and vacuum-fixed. This vacuum fixation prevents the CTP plate material 10 and the film 19 from being misaligned or from having uneven contact.

After the CTP plate material 10 of the photosensitive resin plate is thus subjected to relief exposure, it is taken out, inverted, and passed through the film 19 fixed to the base film 11 side of the CTP plate material 10 with a back light with an energy light amount less than the relief exposure. Exposure is performed. In back exposure, active light having an energy amount of 0.03 to 1 times (equal to) relief exposure, for example, ultraviolet rays, is incident from the active light source on the photosensitive resin layer 13 through the film base 16 from the film 19 side. In the back exposure, for example, an ultraviolet light amount of 370 mj/cm ^{2 to} 10,000 mj/cm ² is incident, and the floor of the required coagulation area is solidified (photocured) in a layered manner on the film base 16 side of the photosensitive resin layer 13. The back protruding layer (back solidified layer) 23 is formed on the entire surface. The height of the back protrusion layer 23 can be adjusted by the back exposure time and the intensity of the energy light amount of the back exposure.

  In the exposure step, since the back deposit layer 23 is formed after the relief image 22, the light source is not a point light source but a line light source or a surface light source close to a surface light source. If the relief exposure amount is small, the relief image 22 itself may be missing, or the shoulder may stand too much, resulting in impaired printing durability. If the relief exposure amount is too large, the shadow portion of the halftone dots and the characters are likely to be thickened, the depth of the non-image area is reduced, and the ink is likely to be clogged during printing, which causes deterioration of print quality.

  The relief depth (relief height) of the relief image 22 is determined by adjusting the exposure amount of relief exposure and back exposure that act on the photosensitive resin layer 13, but the relief image 22 having a shallow relief depth, for example, the relief depth. When the thickness is about 60 μm or less, background stain may occur on the member to be printed during printing, which is not preferable. On the other hand, if the relief depth (relief height) is high, the relief image 22 may be folded, damaged, or deformed during printing, which is not preferable. Therefore, the relief depth (relief height) of the relief image 22 is preferably 110 μm or more, and more preferably 350 μm or less.

The CTP plate material 10 has a floor formed by integrally forming the back protruding layer 23 on the film base 16 side of the photosensitive resin layer 13, and improves the mechanical, physical and chemical strength of the CTP plate material 10. be able to. The thicker the back protruding layer 23 is, the more the strength of the CTP plate material 10 can be improved. The height (relief depth) of the relief image 22 is determined by subtracting the height of the back deposition layer 23 from the layer thickness of the photosensitive resin layer 3. As a result, the relief height (relief depth) is preferably a flexographic printing plate material (for printing soft packaging film) in which kiss-touch printing is preferable, and the relief image 22 having a size of 110 μm or more, preferably about 300 μm to 400 μm is preferably formed. ..
In addition, in FIGS. 2C and 2D, relief exposure and back exposure may be simultaneously performed on the CTP plate material 10 of the photosensitive resin plate, or the back exposure may be performed prior to the relief exposure. .

Back exposure is performed to form a back deposit layer 23, and the relief depth is reduced to about 130 μm to 400 μm to reduce the light amount of relief exposure. For example, the relief image 22 can be formed at about 5,000 mj/cm ^2. it can. The smaller the light amount of the relief exposure, the clearer and clearer solid white voids can be when printing. Further, by making the relief depth shallow, the amount of the uncured portion to be washed out at the time of water development can be small and the washing time can be short, so that the water washing efficiency can be improved. Furthermore, by combining the resin letterpress printing plate 18 with a printing machine with less bouncing (dancing) of the plate cylinder during printing, it is possible to cleanly print small dots and fine ruled lines.

[Water development process]
In the exposure step of performing relief exposure and back exposure of the latent image, the CTP plate material 10 that has undergone the photo-curing action is sent to the cleaning device 31 of the plate-making system 30 described below after the film 19 and the like are peeled off and removed. A water developing step (water washing step) is performed in the washing zone 37 of the apparatus 31. In the water development step, the CTP plate material 10 is placed on the endless magnetic material transport belt described later with one touch, and is stably fixed by the magnetic force of the thin band-shaped magnet plate via the double-sided adhesive tape, so that the inside of the cleaning zone 37 is It is transported horizontally. The endless magnetic material conveyance belt is composed of an endless stainless steel belt having magnetism.

  The CTP plate material 10 is sprayed (cleaned) with a cleaning liquid in the cleaning zone 37, and a plurality of sets, for example, two sets of flat cleaning brushes 25 (hereinafter referred to as cleaning brushes) slide while maintaining a rotation angle difference for each group, Brush cleaning with swiveling motion is performed. By this water washing, the CTP plate material 10 is separated and removed from the photosensitive resin layer 13 of the plate material from the cured portion (relief image 22 and back deposition layer 23) where the uncured resin material has been photocured.

  FIG. 2(E) shows an example using two cleaning brushes 25. Actually, a plurality of sets, for example, two sets of flat cleaning brushes 25 are provided. A plurality of cleaning brushes 25 in the cleaning brush unit swirl the surface of the photosensitive resin layer 13 of the plate material 10 while maintaining a rotation angle difference for each group, and slide to clean the brush. However, since the cleaning brushes 25 of each group are swung while keeping a required rotation angle difference (rotational phase difference) constant for each group, the brush pressure of each group of cleaning brushes 25 is equal to the resin surface of the plate material 10. Can be dispersed in different directions.

  The cleaning brushes 25 of each set are swung while maintaining a rotation angle difference (rotational phase difference) between the cleaning brushes 25 and the other sets, so that the cleaning brushes 25 of each set slide while rubbing the resin surface of the CTP plate material 10. Then, when the brush is washed, the brush pressure acting on the CTP plate material 10 does not go in the same direction. Since the brush pressure acting on the CTP plate material 10 by the cleaning brush 25 is dispersed for each set, the CTP plate material 10 fixed to the magnetic carrier belt by the magnetic force of the magnet plate via the double-sided adhesive tape is washed during the water cleaning. It can effectively prevent falling and shifting and damage. Moreover, the CTP plate material 10 is elastically pressed by a plurality of water-removing rollers (described later) held so as to be free from rotation, so that skid on the magnetic material conveying belt is prevented.

  Further, the photosensitive resin layer 13 of the CTP plate material 10 that is brush-cleaned by the cleaning brushes 25 of each set is brushed while being spray-injected with a cleaning liquid of warm water. The cleaning liquid is efficiently washed with water using warm water heated to 40° C. to 60° C., preferably about 50° C.

  In the water washing step, the CTP plate material 10 is automatically and continuously conveyed at a conveying speed of several tens mm/min to several hundreds mm/min, preferably 70 mm/min to 250 mm/min. The cleaning liquid of warm water is sprayed and sprayed on the photosensitive resin plate layer 13 of the plate material, and the plurality of sets of cleaning brushes 25 are slid and brush-cleaned while maintaining the rotational angle difference (rotational phase difference) of the swiveling motion for each group. It By the cleaning brushes 25 of each set, the photosensitive resin plate layer 13 of the plate material is a cured portion (relief image 22 or back deposition layer 23) in which the uncured resin material (which does not photoreact with the energy light of the active light source) is photocured. Separated from, removed and washed away. At the time of this water washing, a washing liquid of hot water is supplied at a flow rate of, for example, 3 L/min to 6 L/min for washing with water. Further, when a plate material for letterpress printing is used as the plate material 10 of the photosensitive resin plate, as described in Japanese Patent No. 5225237 of the present inventor, exposure is performed using a negative film and a positive film. The relief image 22 and the back deposit layer 23 formed in the process are brushed with a cleaning brush using a cleaning liquid at room temperature, for example, 20° C. to 25° C. in the water developing process. Due to the brushing action of this cleaning brush, the uncured resin material in the photosensitive resin plate layer 13 is separated and removed from the surface of the cured resin, and is washed away.

  The photosensitive resin layer 13 of the plate material is cured by being irradiated with energy light of a required wavelength from an active light source by relief exposure or back exposure and solidified. The photocured cured resin material is left behind with the relief image 22 supported by the back deposition layer 23 fixed on the film base 16, and the stable photosensitive resin relief printing plate 18 is manufactured.

  In the cleaning solution, a cleaning solution containing a pH adjusting agent and a surfactant is used as an aqueous developing solution in order to accelerate separation and removal of unreacted uncured resin during exposure. The photosensitive resin plate layer 13 is a photocurable resin material that is solidified and photocured by a photoreaction, and the photocurable resin in the cured portion does not have solubility or lubricity in an aqueous developer and has chemical resistance to the aqueous developer. It takes advantage of what is given. The photosensitive resin relief printing plate 18 is formed on the frame base 16 with a relief image 22 having excellent mechanical, physical and chemical properties (strength) supported by a back deposition layer 23. As the surfactant added to the cleaning liquid, specifically, a surfactant of an alkaline aqueous solution, for example, a dishwashing detergent or a clothes washing detergent is used.

  The photosensitive resin plate plate 10 that has been washed with a cleaning liquid is washed with warm water or normal temperature water to produce a photosensitive resin relief printing plate 18 depending on the structure of the letterpress plate member or flexographic plate member. To be done. The surface of the resin relief printing plate 18 is then washed with a rinse liquid to remove foreign matters such as dust and uncured residual resin material attached to the surface of the photosensitive resin relief printing plate 18. In this way, the photosensitive resin relief printing plate 18 is manufactured.

[Relief Depth of Resin Topographic Printing Plate-Floor Layer-Back Deposition Layer Thickness Dimension Relationship]
When the resin relief printing plate 18 for flexographic printing is manufactured using three types of photosensitive resin plate materials 10 (10A, 10B, 10C) of product name Cosmolite QS114U, QS170F, and QS284F manufactured by Toyobo Co., Ltd. 3 to 5 show measurement data showing examples of the relief depth of the resin relief printing plate 18 and the thickness dimension relationship between the floor layer and the back deposit layer in FIG. Here, the floor layer is a laminated portion from the base film 11 of the resin relief printing plate 18 to the back deposition layer 23, and the layer thickness of the floor layer is for maintaining the physical, mechanical and chemical strength of the resin relief printing plate 18. Is important in.

  (1) FIG. 3 is a measurement data diagram showing the relationship between the relief depth-floor layer-back deposition layer thickness dimension of a resin letterpress printing plate 10A produced from a rubber-based photosensitive resin plate material 10A of Cosmolite QS114U. Is. This plate material 10A is a CTP plate material for flexographic printing having a plate thickness of 1.14 mm, and a plate material having a size of 900 mm×1200 mm and a Shore A hardness of 81 degrees was used. The thickness of the CTP plate material is 125 μm for the base film 11, 20 μm for the adhesive layer 12, 995 μm for the photosensitive resin plate layer 13, 2 μm for the ablation mask 14, and cover. The film 15 is a flexographic printing plate material 10A having a cover thickness of 100 μm.

The flexographic printing plate material 10A was subjected to relief exposure (main exposure) with an amount of light of 13,000 mj/cm ² from the active light source in the exposure step, and with back exposure to various amounts of light of 374 mj/cm ^{2 to} 9781 mj/cm ² . UV light from an ultraviolet ray source was used for relief exposure and back exposure. The photosensitive resin plate material 10A that has been subjected to relief exposure and back exposure in the exposure process is then subjected to a spray process of a cleaning liquid and a brush cleaning of the cleaning brush 25 by the swirling motion of the cleaning brush unit in a cleaning process. Done. By this water washing, the uncured resin material of the photosensitive resin layer 13 of the plate material 10A is removed from the cured portion (relief image 22, back deposition layer 23) and removed. From the flexographic plate material 10A from which the uncured resin material has been removed, the resin relief printing plate 18 is surface-washed by the required rinse cleaning to remove foreign matters such as dust, and then the resin relief printing plate 18 is dried by a drying treatment. Then, the stickiness and the like are removed, and the resin relief printing plate 18 is manufactured.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of the relief depth-floor layer-back deposition layer thickness dimension relationship of the resin relief printing plate 18 produced by varying the back exposure light amount in the exposure step from the photosensitive resin plate material 10A. It is a list. From this list, No. 8 to No. According to the measurement result of No. 12, the relief depth of the resin relief printing plate 18 is as shallow as 42 μm or less. When the resin relief printing plate 18 having a relief depth of 42 μm or less is mounted on the plate cylinder of the flexographic printing apparatus for printing, the height (relief depth) of the relief image 22 of the resin relief printing plate 18 is low, and thus the printing is performed on an object to be printed. It is not preferable because it causes scumming. Therefore, the relief depth of the relief image 22 is required to be 110 μm or more, preferably 300 μm to 400 μm or more in consideration of the roughness of the plate surface of the resin relief printing plate 18 and the accuracy of the plate cylinder and the impression cylinder. The resin letterpress printing plate 18 can provide a resin letterpress printing plate 18 suitable for soft packaging films such as plastic films, envelopes, cartons, tags, and labels.

  (2) FIG. 4 is a measurement data diagram showing the relationship between the relief depth-floor layer-back deposition layer thickness dimension of the resin relief printing plate 10B produced from the rubber-based photosensitive resin plate material 10B of Cosmolite QS170F. is there. This plate material 10B is a CTP plate material for flexographic printing, and a plate material having a size of 900 mm×1200 mm and a Shore A hardness of 77 degrees was used. Regarding the thickness dimension of the CTP plate material, the base film 11 has a base thickness of 125 μm, the adhesive layer 12 has a layer thickness of 20 μm, the photosensitive resin plate layer 13 has a layer thickness of 1555 μm, the ablation mask 14 has a thickness of 2 μm, and a cover film. Reference numeral 15 is a flexographic plate material 10B having a cover thickness of 100 μm.

Plate material 10B of the photosensitive resin plate is exposed relief exposure amount 13,000mj / cm ² from the UV radiation source of the active light source (main exposure) was irradiated in step, the light amount 374mj / ^{cm 2} ~9781mj / ^cm 2 on the back exposure And changed the irradiation. The plate material 10B of the photosensitive resin plate that has been subjected to the relief exposure and the back exposure in the exposure process is then sent to the cleaning process, in which the cleaning liquid is sprayed and the cleaning brush swirling motion of the cleaning brush unit is performed. Water cleaning is performed by brush cleaning with. By this water washing, the uncured resin material of the photosensitive resin layer 13 of the plate material 10B is removed from the cured portion (the relief image 22 and the back deposition layer 23) and removed. A resin letterpress printing plate 18 is manufactured from the photosensitive resin plate material 10B from which the uncured resin material has been removed, in the same manner as the flexographic plate material 10A.

  FIG. 4 is a measurement data diagram showing an example of the relief depth-floor layer-back deposition layer thickness dimension relationship of the resin relief printing plate 18 manufactured from the photosensitive resin plate material 10B having a plate thickness of 1.70 mm. .. From this list, the resin relief printing plate 18 has a relief depth of 109 μm to 714 μm even if it is mounted on a flexographic printing plate cylinder and flexographically printed, so that the exposure latitude is large and the quality is excellent. The resin letterpress printing plate 18 can be provided. The floor layer has a layer thickness of about 1 mm to 1.6 mm, and the back deposition layer has a layer thickness of 841 μm to 1446 μm, so that the relief image 22 can be sufficiently supported, and the physical, mechanical, and A flexible resin relief printing plate 18 having chemical strength can be provided. The resin relief printing plate 18 can provide a printing plate suitable for printing a packaging film such as a plastic film, an envelope, a carton, and a label.

  (3) FIG. 5 is a measurement data diagram showing the relationship between the relief depth-floor layer-back deposition layer thickness dimension of the resin relief printing plate 10C manufactured from the rubber-based photosensitive resin plate material 10B of Cosmolite QS284F. is there. This plate material 10C is a CTP plate material for flexographic printing, and a plate material having a size of 900 mm×1200 mm and a Shore A hardness of 77 degrees was used. Regarding the thickness dimension of the CTP plate material, the base film 11 has a base thickness of 125 mm, the adhesive layer 12 has a layer thickness of 20 μm, the photosensitive resin plate layer 13 has a layer thickness of 2695 μm, the ablation mask 14 has a thickness of 2 μm, and a cover film. Reference numeral 15 is a flexographic printing plate material 10C having a cover thickness of 100 μm.

The flexographic printing plate material 10C was subjected to relief exposure (main exposure) with an amount of light of 13,000 mj/cm ² from an ultraviolet source of an active light source in the exposure step, and with back exposure, the amount of UV light was 374 mj/cm ^{2 to} 9781 mj/cm ² . Irradiation was carried out after changing variously. The plate material 10C of the photosensitive resin plate that has been exposed by performing the relief exposure and the back exposure in the exposure process is then sent to the cleaning process, and in this cleaning process, the cleaning liquid is sprayed and the cleaning brush 25 is swirled to wash the brush. By this, water washing is performed. By this water washing, the uncured resin material of the photosensitive resin layer 13 of the flexographic plate material 10C is removed from the cured portion (the relief image 22 and the back deposition layer 23) and removed. From the flexographic plate material 10C from which the uncured resin material has been removed, the resin relief printing plate 18 is manufactured in the same manner as the flexographic plate materials 10A and 10B.

  FIG. 5 is a list list showing an example of the relationship between the relief depth-floor layer-back deposition layer thickness dimension of the resin relief printing plate 18 manufactured from the plate material 10C for the flexographic plate material having a plate thickness of 2.84 mm. From this list, even if the resin relief printing plate 18 is mounted on the plate cylinder of a flexographic printing apparatus and flexographically printed, the relief depth of the relief image 22 is 668 μm to 929 μm, and the relief depth is 1 mm or less. It is possible to provide a printing plate having good printing durability, large exposure latitude, and excellent quality. Since the floor layer also has a layer thickness of about 2 mm, and the back deposition layer 23 also has a layer thickness of 1766 μm to 2027 μm, the relief image 22 can be sufficiently supported by the back deposition layer 23, and physical and mechanical chemistry can be provided. It is possible to provide the resin relief printing plate 18 having the desired strength.

By the way, in the plate material 10 of the photosensitive resin plate, a rubber-based flexo plate material is used in the exposure step (main exposure of the main exposure in comparison with the plate material 10 of the photosensitive resin plate described in Japanese Patent No. 5225327 (letter press plate material). ) It was found that a large amount of active light energy is required for relief exposure and back exposure. For example, in the flexographic printing plate of the plate thickness 1.14mm, 13000mj / ^{cm 2} in the relief ^exposure, the energy amount of 374mj / ^{cm 2} ~4,559mj / ^cm 2 of the active light (UV light) is required at the back exposure. In the case of a rubber-based flexographic plate material, in order to obtain a relief image 22 and a back deposit layer 23 having a required height, a relief exposure of about 10 to 30 times and a back exposure of about 10 to 70 times that of a letterpress plate material are performed. We have found that the amount of energy light is required.

  Further, the photosensitive resin layer 13 of the rubber flexographic printing plate material has rubber elasticity because it includes the rubber components of synthetic rubber and liquid rubber. Therefore, in the flexographic plate material, the cleaning brush 25 presses more strongly than the case of the letterpress plate material in order to remove the uncured resin material from the cured part (the relief image 22 and the back deposit layer 23) in the water development step. It is necessary to make a swivel motion and brush cleaning. When the cleaning brush 25 is strongly pressed against the photosensitive resin plate layer 13 of the flexographic printing plate material and is swung to perform brush cleaning, the flexographic printing plate material may slide sideways on the upper magnetic transport belt 54a. However, in the flexographic printing plate material, as described below, a plurality of water-draining rollers are free to rotate and elastically press-contact from above, and the flexographic printing plate material is transported by a magnetic force of a magnet plate through a double-sided adhesive tape. Since it is fixed to the belt, skidding of the flexographic printing plate can be effectively and reliably prevented.

Further, FIGS. 3 to 5 show an example of a resin relief printing plate 18 manufactured from three types of photosensitive resin plate plates 10A, 10B, and 10C having plate thicknesses of 1.14 mm, 1.70 mm, and 2.84 mm. However, the plate material 10 of the photosensitive resin plate is considered to be capable of producing the resin relief printing plate 18 in the same manner from a plate material having a plate thickness of about 10 mm even if the plate thickness is 3.00 mm or more. Be done.
Next, an embodiment of a resin relief printing plate manufacturing system will be described.
FIG. 6 is an overall configuration diagram showing a plate making system 30 for a resin letterpress printing plate, and FIG. 7 is a plan view showing the plate making system 30 for a resin letterpress printing plate with a part thereof omitted.

  The resin relief printing plate making system 30 according to the present invention is for producing a resin relief printing plate 18 from a photosensitive resin plate material 10. The plate making system 30 is configured by combining a cleaning device 31 and a drying device 32. As for the cleaning device 31 and the drying device 32, a cleaning stand 33 and a drying stand 34 having an angle welding structure are separately installed so as to be separable. The combined plate-making system 30 is configured in a substantially rectangular box shape having a total length of 5200 mm, a width of 1700 mm, and a height of about 1650 mm, for example.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the plate making system 30 for the resin relief printing plate is provided with a cleaning unit 35 on the upper part of the cleaning base 33. The cleaning section 35 is partitioned by a transparent partition wall 36 into a cleaning zone 37 using a cleaning liquid and an adjacent rinse zone 38 using a rinse liquid.

  On the cleaning unit 35 of the cleaning rack 33, a pair of open/close lids 40 that are opened on both sides in the longitudinal direction are provided so as to be openable/closable between an open position and a closed position. Each opening/closing lid 40 is provided with a cleaning brush unit 43 that is driven by a brush drive motor 41. The cleaning brush unit 43 includes a plurality of cleaning brush units 25, for example, two cleaning brushes 25 each, and a plurality of cleaning brush units 25, for example, two cleaning brush units 25.

  On the other hand, the washing stand 33 is integrally provided with mounting stands 50 and 51 on both right and left sides in FIG. A drive roller 52 is rotatably provided on the right side mounting base 50, and a driven roller 53 is provided on the left side mounting base 51. An endless magnetic material conveyance belt 54 is wound around and wound around the drive roller 52 and the driven roller 53. As the endless magnetic material conveyance belt 54, for example, a stainless steel belt having magnetism is used. When the endless magnetic material conveyance belt 54 is a stainless steel belt, the drive roller 52 and the driven roller 53 have a large diameter, for example, a diameter of several hundred mm to 1 m, and in one example, a drum roller having a diameter of 700 mm.

  The belt width of the stainless steel belt is formed to be about 1000 mm to 1500 mm, for example, 1200 mm wide, and the belt thickness is about 1 mm or less, for example, a thin stainless steel plate of 0.8 mm is used. Stainless steel belts have a belt surface with great planar stiffness. Since the belt width of the endless magnetic material conveyance belt 54 is wide, if the roller diameters of the drive roller 52 and the driven roller 53 are made small, the radius of curvature of the endless magnetic material conveyance belt 54 becomes small, so that smooth belt conveyance can be performed. Becomes difficult and the belt life is impaired.

  Further, a belt drive motor 55 is provided in the right side mounting base 50. The belt drive motor 55 is drivingly connected to the roller shaft of the drive roller 52 via a power transmission mechanism 56. The power transmission mechanism 56 drives the drive roller 52 via a two-stage reduction gear mechanism connected to the output shaft of the belt drive motor 55 and a multi-stage reduction mechanism including a sprocket-chain mechanism. The motor speed of the belt drive motor 55 is adjusted by inverter control, and the drive roller 52 is rotationally driven (via the power transmission mechanism 56) by the motor drive of the belt drive motor 55. The endless magnetic material conveyance belt 54 driven by the drive roller 52 is conveyed at a conveyance speed of, for example, 70 mm/min to 250 mm/min. Although the example in which the drive roller 52 is provided on the right side mounting base 50 has been described in FIG. 6, the drive roller may be provided on the left side mounting base 51, and the driven roller may be provided on the right side mounting base 50.

  For the endless magnetic material conveyor belt 54, for example, a stainless steel belt having magnetism, austenite ferrite type (SUS329J1), martensite type (SUS403, SUS420), ferrite type (SUS430LX) and martensite type precipitation hardening type magnetic material (strong). Magnetic material) stainless steel is used. Ferrite stainless steel or martensite stainless steel is preferably used for the stainless steel belt of the endless magnetic material conveying belt 54.

  In the endless magnetic material transport belt 54, the upper magnetic material transport belt 54a extends horizontally in the cleaning unit 35 from the carry-in port IN side to the carry-out port OUT side, and a transport path is formed on the upper magnetic material transport belt 54a. As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the plate material 10 of the photosensitive resin plate is placed on the upper magnetic material transport belt 54a at the carry-in IN side of the cleaning unit 35. The plate material 10 is magnetically fixed to the upper magnetic material transport belt 54a by a belt-shaped thin magnet plate 58 and a double-sided adhesive tape 48. The plate detection sensor 59 detects the reflected light from the reflection seal 49 of the plate material 10 passing through the carry-in port IN. The magnet plate 58 fixes the front end side and the rear end side of the plate material CTP plate material 10 of the photosensitive resin plate in the width direction, and mounts the plate material 10 on the upper magnetic material conveyance belt 54a.

  The magnet plate 58 is a thin plate, for example, a strip plate having a plate thickness of 0.3 mm to 1 mm. As shown in FIG. 9, the belt-shaped magnet plate 58 is disposed in contact with a stainless belt that constitutes the upper magnetic material transport belt 54 a, and the double-sided adhesive tape 48 is placed on the belt-shaped magnet plate 58 to form the photosensitive resin plate material 10. Is placed. Therefore, the front end side and the rear end side of the plate material 10 are fixed by the adhesive force and the magnetic force acting between the magnet plate 58 and the magnetic material transport belt 54a. The lower surfaces on the front end side and the rear end side of the plate material 10 are fixed to the upper surfaces of the rear end portion of the leading magnet plate 58a and the front end portion of the trailing magnet plate 58b by a double-sided adhesive tape 48. The magnet plate 58 (58a, 58b) has a length substantially equal to the entire belt width of the upper magnetic material conveying belt 54a, and the lower surface thereof is in surface contact with the conveying belt 54a and is fixed by magnetic force. The magnet plates 58 (58a, 58b) extend in the belt width direction of the magnetic material transport belt 54a and are formed in a band shape. The magnet plate 58 has a relatively wide band width and a large contact area with the magnetic material transport belt 54a. Therefore, the magnet plate 58 is fixed on the magnetic material conveying belt 54a with a large magnetic force. Therefore, the plate material 10 is fixed to the magnet plate 58 via the double-sided adhesive tape 48, and is stably fixed to the magnetic material transport belt 54a by the magnetic force of the magnet plate 58.

  The double-sided adhesive tape 48 on the front end side and the rear end side of the plate material 10 has a tape thickness of 20 μm to 100 μm. The double-sided adhesive tape 48 is fixed to the rear end portion or the front end portion of the magnet plate 58, and is not fixed by directly contacting the plate material 10 with the stainless belt. The front end side and the rear end side of the plate material 10 are fixed to the magnet plate 58 via the double-sided adhesive tape 48, and are placed and fixed on the stainless belt in the belt width direction by the magnetic force of the magnet plate 58. Further, the magnet plate 58 extends forward or backward from the front end or the rear end of the plate material 10, and a reflection seal (reflection plate) 49 is installed on the extended portion. Light reflected from the reflective seal 49 is detected by the plate detection sensor 59, and the plate detection sensor 59 detects the leading edge and the trailing edge of the plate 10 to detect the passage of the plate 10.

  The plate material 10 is firmly fixed to the upper magnetic material transport belt 54a with a large contact area by the magnetic force of the magnet plate 58 via the double-sided adhesive tape 48, and is stably placed. In addition, instead of fixing the magnet plate 58 to the front end portion and the rear end portion of the plate material 10 in the width direction, both end portions in the width direction of the plate material 10 are similarly fixed in the longitudinal direction via the double-sided adhesive tape 48. May be. The magnet plate 58 has a rectangular, thin-walled, strip-shaped plate structure, and is formed to have a plate thickness of 1 mm or less, for example, about 0.3 to 1 mm. The strip-shaped magnet plate 58 has a large flexibility in the longitudinal direction (belt width direction) and a large flexibility, and a large rigidity in the width direction and a small flexibility. Therefore, the magnet plate 58 is closely attached (surface contact) to the plate material 10 of the photosensitive resin plate and is stably attached by one-touch, and the plate material 10 is a large magnet having planar rigidity (of the upper magnetic material transport belt 54a). It can be fixed on a belt.

  Further, the endless magnetic material transport belt 54 on which the plate material 10 is placed and fixed is provided with a meandering prevention mechanism 60 (FIG. 10) so as not to meander and run in the cleaning section 35. The meandering prevention mechanism 60 is composed of a circumferential groove 61 formed in the drive roller 52 and the driven roller 53, and a guide rope 62 along the endless magnetic material conveyance belt 54. The guide ropes 62 of the endless magnetic material conveyance belt 54 are fitted into the circumferential grooves 61 of the drive roller 52 and the driven roller 53, and the traveling of the endless magnetic material conveyance belt 54 is guided. The endless magnetic material conveyance belt 54 is prevented from zigzag running and meandering travel by the meandering prevention mechanism 60, and can prevent oblique travel.

  The endless magnetic material conveyance belt 54 is a stainless steel belt, and as shown in FIG. 11, a flexible guide rope 62 is fixed to the inner peripheral surface near both ends of the belt over the entire circumference. Functioning as an O-ring). The guide rope 62 is provided with a V-shaped, U-shaped or arcuate cross section. The rope width is about 15 mm to 25 mm. When the belt width W is 1200 mm, the endless magnetic material conveyance belt 54 has a belt effective dimension Wa between the pair of left and right guide ropes 62 of, for example, about 1100 mm to 1160 mm.

  In the meandering prevention mechanism 10, the circumferential grooves 61 of the drive roller 52 and the driven roller 53 and the guide ropes 62 along the longitudinal direction of the endless magnetic material conveyance belt 54 are fitted to guide the traveling of the endless magnetic material conveyance belt 54. .. Therefore, the meandering prevention mechanism 60 smoothly guides the upper magnetic material conveyance belt 54a in the horizontal direction, and prevents meandering and skewing. Although the meandering prevention mechanism 60 shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 is constituted by the engagement of the circumferential groove 61 of the drive roller 52 and the driven roller 53 with the guide rope 62 of the endless magnetic material conveyance belt 54, Instead, the drive roller 52 and the driven roller 53 have a crown structure in which the central portions in the longitudinal direction are formed to have a middle height. A meandering prevention mechanism that prevents the endless magnetic material conveyance belt 54 from meandering running may be used.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 8, the upper magnetic material conveying belt 54a of the endless magnetic material conveying belt 54 is supported on a plurality of carrier rollers 65 arranged in the horizontal direction to guide the traveling, and the upper endless magnetic material conveying belt 54a. A transport path extending in the horizontal direction is formed on the belt surface of the body transport belt 54. The carrier rollers 65 are provided between the cleaning brushes 25 of the cleaning brush unit 43, on the upstream side of the first cleaning brush 25, and on the downstream side of the final cleaning brush 25 at required intervals, for example, equal intervals. Each carrier roller 65 constitutes a circumferential groove that engages with the guide rope 62 of the endless magnetic material conveyance belt 54, or each carrier roller 65 has a roller longitudinal direction so as not to come into contact with the guide rope 62 of the endless magnetic material conveyance belt 54. The length in the direction may be less than the effective belt width Wa of the non-magnetic material conveyor belt 54. The upper endless conveyor belt 54a is a stainless steel belt forming a belt surface having a large plane rigidity. Since this stainless steel belt is supported and conveyed by a large number of carrier rollers 65, the conveyor path on the stainless steel belt is corrugated. A stable belt surface is constructed without any phenomenon.

  Further, a water draining roller 66 is provided on the upper magnetic material conveying belt 54a so as to face each carrier roller 65, and each water draining roller 66 is composed of an elastic roller such as a sponge roller. Squeezing rollers 67 are provided on the downstream side of the first draining roller 66. Similar to the draining roller 66, the squeezing roller 67 is also made of an elastic roller having a high elasticity such as a sponge roller. The water draining roller 66 and the squeezing roller 67 are arranged in an upper and lower pair on the upper magnetic material conveying belt 54a so as to face the carrier roller 65. Furthermore, the plurality of water draining rollers 66 are elastically supported in a freely rotatable manner, and elastically press the plate material 10 of the photosensitive resin plate mounted on the upper magnetic material transport belt 54a from above. Each of the water draining rollers 66 presses the plate material 10 from above in a rotation-free manner, and prevents the plate material (CTP plate material) 10 from sliding sideways by an elastic pressing force. The draining roller 66 and the squeezing roller 67 are elastically supported by an elastic roller and elastically supported on the upper magnetic material conveying belt 54a by an elastic spring or the like, so that the end portion of the plate material 10 of the photosensitive resin plate and the belt-shaped magnet plate 58 are It is possible to absorb unevenness due to the presence.

  Also, a plurality of, for example, two nip rollers, guide rollers 68 and squeezing rollers 67, are disposed on the carry-in port IN side of the cleaning zone 37. The guide roller 68 presses and guides the upper endless transport belt 54a sent from the driven roller 53 from above. Then, the plate material 10 on the upper endless conveyor belt 54a is pressed and guided from above by the guide roller 68, the squeezing roller 67, and the draining rollers 66 which are elastically supported, and is conveyed.

  On the other hand, the cleaning device 31 is provided with a pair of opening/closing lids 40 on the upper part of the cleaning portion 35 so as to be able to open double doors, and each opening/closing lid 40 is opened and closed by a fluid cylinder device 70 installed at both end portions. It can be opened and closed freely. Each opening/closing lid 40 is provided with a brush drive motor 41 on an attachment fixing base 71 at the bottom. A plurality of cleaning brush units 43, for example, six elastic springs are supported below the mounting/fixing base 71 via elastic springs. Further, a turning rotation mechanism 72, which is a known actuator, is installed on the attachment fixing base 43. The swivel rotating mechanism 72 is configured to swivel the cleaning brush unit 43 by driving the brush drive motor 41. The slewing rotation mechanism 72 may be a worm gear mechanism including a worm gear provided on the motor output shaft of the brush drive motor 41, a circumferential gear that meshes with the gear, and a bearing that rotatably supports the circumferential gear. An eccentric crank fixed to the motor output shaft and a swing crank mechanism that rotatably supports the other side of the eccentric crank.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 8, a plurality of sets, for example, two sets of cleaning brush units 43 are elastically supported on the attachment fixing base 71 of each opening/closing lid 40 by a plurality of elastic springs or the like. Each set of cleaning brush units 43 is provided with a plurality of, for example, two flat cleaning brushes 25 (hereinafter referred to as cleaning brushes) facing each other in the longitudinal direction of the upper magnetic body transport belt 54a. The cleaning brush unit 43 includes a rectangular brush mounting plate 73 elastically supported in a horizontal direction on the mounting fixing base 71, and a base base 74 fixed on both sides of the brush mounting plate 73 in the longitudinal direction (longitudinal direction of the upper magnetic body transport belt 54a). And a plurality of cleaning brushes 25, for example, two cleaning brushes 25, provided on both bases 74. The cleaning brushes 25 of each set are slidably attached to the base base 74 by being slid from one side of the base base 74 when the opening/closing lid 40 is in the open position.

  The plate material 10 that is subjected to the spray cleaning with the cleaning liquid and the brush cleaning with the cleaning brush 25 in the cleaning zone 37 has the operating temperature of the cleaning liquid depending on the types of the flexographic plate material and the photosensitive resin letterpress plate material (letterpress plate material). different. When the plate material 10 is a flexographic plate material, the cleaning liquid is warm water heated to a predetermined temperature, for example, 40°C to 60°C, preferably about 50°C. In the case of a letterpress printing photosensitive resin letterpress plate material, normal temperature water, for example, water at 20°C to 25°C is used.

  The cleaning brush 25 has a flat box shape as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13. In the cleaning brush 25, a large number of mounting holes are arranged in a staggered manner on a rectangular plate-shaped brush substrate 75, and a large number of, for example, 10 to several tens of brush bristles 76 are planted in each mounting hole. The brush bristles 76 may be cleaning brushes 25A arranged in a grid pattern as shown in FIG.

  Resin brush bristles are used for the brush bristles 76 of the cleaning brush 25. Examples of the resin bristles include nylon brushes having a strong elasticity, polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) brushes. The brush bristles 76 of the cleaning brush 25 have uniform bristles, and when the resin surface of the plate material 10 is frictionally contacted (rubbed) for brush cleaning, the plate bristles of the plate material 10 have a strong elasticity. The resin material in the uncured portion is rubbed and scraped from the photocured cured portion, and separated and removed from the resin material in the cured portion.

  By the way, as the cleaning brush 25, a plurality of types, for example, three or four types of brush bristles 76 are selectively used according to the diameter (thickness) of the brush bristles 76. Explaining with an example of three types of brush bristles 76, coarse brush bristles, intermediate brush bristles and finish brush bristles are used for the cleaning brush 25. For example, in the case of coarse brush bristles, the diameter (thickness) of the brush bristles 76 is 160 μm and the effective length is about 17 mm, and in the case of intermediate brush bristles, the diameter of the bristles 76 is 130 μm and the effective length is about 15 mm. In the case of finishing brush bristles, the brush bristles 76 having a diameter of 100 μm and an effective length of about 13 mm are used as the cleaning brush 25. The effective length of the bristles 56 is the length from the surface of the brush substrate 75 to the free ends of the bristles 76.

  As for the arrangement of the cleaning brushes 25 of each set of the cleaning brush unit 43, the cleaning brush unit 43 on the upstream side (the left side of FIG. 5) is arranged with a set of the cleaning brush 25 of the coarse brush and the intermediate brush bristles. The cleaning brush unit 43 on the downstream side (the right side in FIG. 8) is provided with a set of cleaning brushes 25 for intermediate brush bristles and finish brush bristles.

  In this way, the arrangement of the cleaning brushes 25 of each set is arranged from the upstream side to the downstream side of the upper endless transport belt 54a, from the cleaning brush 25 of the set of the coarse brush bristles and the intermediate brush bristles or the set of the coarse brushes to each other. On the side, cleaning brushes 25 of a set of intermediate brush bristles and finish brush bristles or a set of finish brush bristles are appropriately combined and sequentially arranged.

  It should be noted that, when the cleaning brush 25 uses the finishing brush bristles, the thickness (diameter) of the brush bristles is smaller than that of the cleaning brush 25 using the other bristles, and the cleaning brush 25 has friction and wear due to the brush cleaning action. Has a short brush life. For this reason, the cleaning brushes 25 of each set reach the brush life in the order of the fineness of the finish brush bristles. The cleaning brush 25 that has reached the end of its brush life needs to be replaced with a new cleaning brush in sequence.

  The replacement work of the cleaning brush 25 is performed by stopping the cleaning operation of the cleaning device 31 and setting the opening/closing lid 40 to the open position by the operation of the fluid cylinder device 70. At the open position, the cleaning brush 25 that needs to be replaced is slid to be removed from the base base 74 of the cleaning brush unit 43, and a new cleaning brush 25 is slid to be attached to the base base 74 to perform the replacement work. The cleaning brushes 43 of each set can be individually attached and detached to and from the cleaning brush unit 43, which is easy to attach and detach. By attaching a new cleaning brush 25 to the cleaning brush unit 43 and closing the opening/closing lid 40, the replacement operation of the cleaning brush 25 is completed and the cleaning operation of the cleaning device 31 can be restarted.

  When four types of brush bristles are used for the cleaning brush 25, that is, coarse brush bristles and medium-thickness bristles and medium fine bristles and finishing brush bristles, the cleaning brush 25 of a pair of coarse bristles and medium-thickness bristles is on the upstream side. Further, the cleaning brush unit 43 including the cleaning brush 25 of the set of the medium thin bristles and the finishing brush bristles is arranged on the downstream side. As described above, the cleaning brush unit 43 of each set has a different brush bristle diameter (thickness) from the cleaning brush 25, and the coarsest brush is used as the most upstream cleaning brush 25 and the most downstream cleaning brush is used. For 25, bristles of finished brush are used.

  In the cleaning brushes 25 on each of the upstream side and the downstream side of the cleaning brush unit 43, the tips (bristles) of the brush bristles 76 are aligned downward, and the resin faces the resin surface of the plate material CTP plate material 10. It slides in frictional contact with the surface. The cleaning brushes 25 of each set are brush-cleaned by magnetic force or the like so that the plate material 10 does not move from the stainless steel belt due to the torque of the brush pressure generated when sliding on the resin surface. At this time, the plurality of draining rollers 66 elastically press the plate material 10 from above together with the squeezing roller 67 to prevent the plate material 10 from slipping sideways.

  On the other hand, as the brush drive motor 41, a torque drive motor having a torque measuring mechanism on its output shaft is used, and it is possible to increase or decrease the torque and specify the rotation speed. In this example, a servomotor is used as the brush driving motor 41, and the cleaning brush units 43 of each set are swung at the same rotational speed, for example, 60 rpm via the swivel rotating mechanism 72 on the upstream side and the downstream side.

  In one (first) brush drive motor 41, the swivel rotation mechanism 72 starts from 0 degrees, and in the other (second) brush drive motor 41, the swivel rotation is shifted (delayed) in the same (or opposite) rotation direction. It is supposed to start. Both brush drive motors 41 are set so that the rotating rotation mechanism 72 keeps the displacement rotational angles (rotational angle difference, rotational phase difference) of both cleaning brush units 43 constant, and performs rotational movements at the same rotational speed. The turning motions may be turning motions in the same direction or opposite directions. For example, between the one brush drive motor 41 and the other brush drive motor 41, the rotational angle difference (rotational phase difference) between the cleaning brushes 25 of each set of the cleaning brush unit 43 is, for example, 30 degrees or 45 degrees. Any one of degrees, 60 degrees, 90 degrees, 135 degrees, etc. is selected, and the turning motion is performed while maintaining a constant rotation angle difference. For this reason, the cleaning brush units 43 of each group are rotated while maintaining a constant swivel angle difference (swirl phase difference) of the cleaning brushes 25 in units of groups, and the cleaning brushes 25 of each set rotate synchronously at the same rotation angle. There is nothing to do. Therefore, (the photosensitive resin layer 13 of) the plate material 10 fixed on the upper magnetic material transport belt 54a (transport path) is brought into frictional contact with the cleaning brushes 25 of each set of the cleaning brush unit 43 to be brush-cleaned. However, the cleaning brushes 25 of each set do not act synchronously on the resin surface of the plate material 19 in the direction in which the acting directions of the fluctuating brush pressure coincide.

  The swiveling movements received by the cleaning brushes 25 in each set may vary. For example, the cleaning brush 25 is a circular revolving motion having a rotation speed of 60 cycles/minute, and delays the rotation angle (direction in which the rotation advances from the front end position of the brush unit) between each group by + or. When the direction in which it is defined is −, it can be selected within a range of, for example, ±30 to 330°, preferably ±45 to 315°.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 8, a plurality of cleaning nozzles 77 for supplying a cleaning liquid are provided in the cleaning zone 37 above the upper magnetic body transport belt 54a. Each cleaning nozzle 77 sprays the cleaning liquid at 20° C. to 60° C. downward on the upstream side and the downstream side of the cleaning brush 25 of each set of the cleaning brush unit 43. Specifically, a plurality of cleaning nozzles 77, for example, 3 to 5 cleaning nozzles 77 on the upstream side of the first cleaning brush 25 and the downstream side of the last cleaning brush 25 are provided along the width direction of the upper magnetic body transport belt 54a. Be done. The other cleaning nozzles 77 are provided, for example, above the widthwise central portion of the upper magnetic body transport belt 54a.

  The cleaning zone 37 is provided with a large number of cleaning nozzles 77 for spraying a cleaning liquid onto the resin surface of the plate material 10 at a required pressure on the upstream side and the downstream side of each cleaning brush 25 of the cleaning brush unit 43. The cleaning water in the cleaning tank 78 shown in FIG. 15 and FIG. 16 is heated by a heater as necessary, and a surfactant for pH adjustment is added to form a cleaning liquid. This cleaning liquid is supplied to each cleaning nozzle 77 by the supply pump 79, and sprayed from each cleaning nozzle 77 onto the resin surface of the plate material 10. At this time, the cleaning nozzle 77 on the upstream side of the first cleaning brush 25 and the cleaning nozzle 77 on the downstream side of the final cleaning brush 25 spray the cleaning liquid onto the entire surface of the plate material 10 in the resin surface width direction. Further, the cleaning nozzle 77 located between the cleaning brushes 25 of the cleaning brush unit 43 sprays the cleaning liquid onto the central portion of the resin surface of the plate material 10.

  On the other hand, in the cleaning brush units 43 of each set, the cleaning brushes 25 of each set are swung while maintaining a constant rotation angle difference (rotation angle difference). In the cleaning brush units 43 of each set, all the cleaning brushes 25 are not synchronously and integrally swung at the same rotation angle. Therefore, on the resin surface of the plate material 10, spray cleaning with the cleaning liquid from each cleaning nozzle 77 and brush cleaning with the cleaning brush 25 of each set of the cleaning brush unit 43 are combined, and water cleaning is performed jointly. .. The uncured portion of the photosensitive resin layer 13 is peeled off from the cured portion (relief image 22 and back deposition layer 23) that has been rubbed and photocured, and separated and removed. The cleaning liquid from which the uncured resin material has been removed becomes cleaning waste liquid. It is collected in the cleaning pan 81 of the cleaning zone 37 and is returned to the cleaning tank 78 from the cleaning liquid discharge port 82 at the bottom.

  At this time, since the cleaning brush units 43 of each group do not rotate at the same rotation angle in synchronization with the swiveling motion of the cleaning brush 25, the brush force of each group of cleaning brushes 25 has a different action direction. , Not all torque in the same direction. Moreover, since the upper magnetic material carrying belt 54a running on the carrier roller 65 of the carrying path is guided by the meandering prevention mechanism 60, meandering running and skew running are reliably prevented. Since the upper magnetic material transport belt 54a is formed of a stainless steel plate having a large plane rigidity, the plate material 10 is not corrugated and transported. Moreover, the plate material 10 of the photosensitive resin plate is placed on the stainless steel belt (plate) of the upper magnetic material transport belt 54a, and is stably fixed by the magnetic force of the strip-shaped thin magnet plate 58 via the double-sided adhesive tape 48. Are transported.

  Therefore, the plate material 10 of the photosensitive resin plate on the upper magnetic material transport belt 54a is stably and smoothly transported horizontally in the cleaning zone 37 without meandering, skewing, or waviness. To be done. The resin surface of the plate material 10 frictionally contacts in the turning direction as the cleaning brushes 25 of each set slide and slide, and receives the torque of the brush pressure. However, the swiveling motions of the cleaning brushes 25 of each set do not rotate integrally at the same rotation angle in synchronization with each other, and the torque direction on which the brush pressure acts is distributed differently for each set. Therefore, the cleaning brush 25 makes frictional contact with the resin surface of the plate material 10 to exert a brush pressure, but the acting direction of the brush pressure is different for each group of the cleaning brush 25 and is dispersed. The cleaning brushes 25 of each set can effectively brush-clean the relief images 22 of the photosensitive resin plate layer 13 of the plate material 10 at different brush contact angles.

  The plate material 10 of the photosensitive resin plate that undergoes brush cleaning in the cleaning zone 37 does not have the same direction of the brush pressure of the cleaning brushes 25 of each set, and is dispersed for each cleaning brush 25 of each set. There is. Therefore, the plate material 10 is stably held by the upper magnetic body transport belt 54a by the magnetic force of the magnet plate even if the plate material 10 receives brush pressure in the cleaning zone 37, and is effectively prevented from being displaced or displaced from the cleaning brush unit 43. It can be prevented. The entire surface of the magnet plate 58 is in surface contact with the upper magnetic material conveying belt 54a, and the plate material 10 is fixed by a large magnetic force.

  Further, the spray cleaning of the cleaning liquid from each cleaning nozzle 77 in the cleaning zone 37 is performed in cooperation with the brush cleaning of the cleaning brush 25 of each cleaning brush unit 43. The resin surface of the plate material 10 is rubbed from the photo-cured cured portion of the resin material in the uncured portion by the brush cleaning of the cleaning brushes 25 of each set that swirl, and is removed. The uncured resin material removed in the cleaning zone 37 becomes a cleaning liquid waste liquid, which is washed away and collected in the cleaning pan 81. A cleaning liquid discharge port 82 is formed at the bottom of the cleaning pan 81, and the cleaning waste liquid flowing down to the cleaning liquid discharge port 82 is guided to a recovery pipe (pipe).

  The cleaning waste liquid is a processing waste liquid in which the cleaning liquid contains an uncured resin material. When the cleaning waste liquid passes from the recovery pump 83 through the recovery pipe, the uncured resin material is recovered by the filter device 84. The cleaning liquid from which the uncured resin material has been removed is returned to the cleaning tank 78 again, and is prepared for spray cleaning with the next cleaning liquid. The filter device 84 is provided with, for example, two 200 μm mesh cartridge filters connected in series. The cleaning tank 78 has a device that stores, for example, 300 L of cleaning liquid.

  In this way, the cleaning device 31 constitutes the closed circulation cycle of the cleaning liquid by the cleaning zone 37 and the cleaning tank 78. By the closed circulation cycle of the cleaning liquid, the cleaning liquid and the uncured resin material are kept in the circulation cycle and are not discharged to the outside environment. Therefore, the cleaning liquid and the uncured resin material do not pollute the external environment or adversely affect the external environment, and the environmental protection is maintained. At the time of washing with water, a small amount of washing water, for example, 3 L/min to 6 L/min, is continuously supplied from the washing tank 78, whereby the resin surface of the plate material 10 is washed with a spray of a washing liquid. Therefore, it is possible to maintain the excellent environmental property of the water developing type.

  Further, the plate material 10 of the photosensitive resin plate placed on the upper magnetic transfer belt 54a is brushed by the swiveling motion of the cleaning brushes 25 of each set while being automatically transferred in the horizontal direction in the cleaning zone 37. It undergoes cleaning and spray cleaning of cleaning liquid (from multiple cleaning nozzles 77). The exposed plate material 10 is subjected to a water cleaning action in the cleaning zone 37 while the plate material 10 is automatically conveyed on the upper magnetic body conveyance belt 54a. The resin surface (photosensitive resin layer 13) of the plate material 10 is removed by separating and removing the uncured resin material from the photo-cured portion (relief image 22 and back deposition layer 23). The resin relief printing plate 18 is manufactured by removing the uncured resin material.

  The resin relief printing plate 18 guided through the cleaning zone 37 is subsequently conveyed from the cleaning zone 37 to the rinse zone 38 over the transparent acrylic resin partition wall 37. The rinse zone 38 is configured as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. The upper magnetic material conveying belt 54a passing through the rinse zone 38 is supported and guided by the carrier roller 65, while the upper magnetic material conveying belt 54a is provided with a rinse squeezing roller 87, a rotary brush 88 and an air knife 89 in this order. It is arranged.

  The rinsing squeezing roller 87, the rotary brush 88, and the air knife 89 are arranged above and below each pair with the carrier roller 65. A rinse nozzle 90 is arranged in the rinse zone 38 above the rotary brush 88 and above the rinse diaphragm roller 87. A rinse liquid at room temperature (for example, tap water) is sprayed downward from the rinse nozzle 90, and the resin relief printing plate 18 is rinsed with this rinse liquid. The rinse liquid is stored in the rinse tank 92 shown in FIGS. 17 and 18 in a predetermined volume, for example, 100 L. The rinse liquid in the rinse tank 92 is supplied to the rinse nozzle 90 by the supply pump 93 through the supply pipe or the hose. The rinse liquid sprayed from the rinse nozzle is sprayed on the plate surface of the resin relief printing plate 18 in the rinse zone 38 and rinsed to remove dust and foreign matters. The rinse liquid sprayed and sprayed from the rinse nozzle 90 cleans the resin relief printing plate 18 and flows down, and is collected in the rinse span 94.

  Further, a rinse liquid discharge port 95 is provided at the bottom of the rinse span 94. The rinse liquid outlet 95 is returned to the rinse tank 92 by a recovery pump (not shown) through a recovery pipe or a pipe (not shown). The refluxed rinse liquid is prepared for the next rinse cleaning operation, and like the cleaning liquid, a closed circulation cycle of the rinse liquid is configured. While the rinse liquid recovery pipe is provided with the filter device 97, the rinse liquid supply pipe is also provided with the filter device 97. These filter devices 97 are provided with a cartridge filter having a finer mesh than that of the cleaning liquid filter device 84, for example, 100 μm mesh. The filter device 97 captures all the foreign matters such as the uncured resin material and the remaining foreign matter mixed in the rinse liquid, and removes them from the rinse liquid.

  A rinse liquid at room temperature is stored in the rinse tank 92. Since the rinse tank 92 is a smaller tank than the cleaning tank 78, the rinse tank 92 may be stored in the lower portion of the cleaning rack 33. Further, the rotary brush 88 of the rinse zone 38 is rotationally driven in a direction opposite to the traveling direction of the upper magnetic body transport belt 54a. The brush pressure and rotation speed of the rotary brush 88 are supported so as to be adjustable. As the cleaning brush 25, a resin brush is used for the rotary brush 88. In the resin brush, brush bristles are radially implanted on the entire surface of the roller of the rotary brush 88. The brushes of the rotary brush 88 are closely arranged in a zigzag pattern.

An air knife 89 is provided in the rinse zone 38 downstream of the rotary brush 88 and immediately after the rinse squeezing roller 87. The air knife 89 is designed such that air at room temperature is jetted obliquely downward from a blower controlled by an inverter. The air knife 89 is provided with a slit-shaped outlet that is ejected in the width direction of the upper magnetic material transport belt 54a. From this outlet, a room-temperature air is supplied with a required air volume, for example, 16 m ³ /min of air. It is blown toward the plate surface of the resin relief printing plate 18, and the surface of the resin relief printing plate 18 is washed with air to remove foreign matters such as residual rinse liquid and dust.

  The resin relief printing plate 18 on the upper magnetic material transport belt 54 a is sequentially rinsed, brushed and air-cleaned in the rinse zone 38 and transported, and is unloaded to the unloading port OUT of the cleaning device 31. The resin relief printing plate 18 sent to the carry-out port OUT is subsequently transferred from the cleaning device 31 to the drying device 32 on the drive roller 52 of the upper magnetic material transport belt 54a. The endless magnetic material conveyance belt 54 is reversed by the drive roller 52 and guided to the lower magnetic material conveyance belt 54b. The lower magnetic material carrying belt 54b is guided again to the upper magnetic material carrying belt 54a via the driven roller 53, and the next endless magnetic material carrying belt 54 is continuously run between the drive roller 52 and the driven roller 53, It is designed to be transported.

[Drying device]
The resin relief printing plate 18 that has exited the carry-out port OUT of the cleaning device 31 is transferred to the drying device 32 with the assistance of the detaching mechanism 99 from the cleaning device 31 as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. The drying device 32 is provided with a separate drying rack 34 that is independent of the cleaning device 31. A drying box 100 is installed on the top of the drying rack 34, and an endless mesh-shaped conveyor belt 102 (hereinafter referred to as a mesh conveyor belt) is provided in a drying zone 101 extending from the inlet side to the outlet side of the drying box 100. The mesh transport belt 102 is horizontally stretched between a drive roller 103 with a sprocket and a driven roller 104 with a sprocket. The resin relief printing plate 18 placed on the mesh transport belt 102 is guided by being horizontally guided in the drying zone 101 in the drying box 100. The drying frame 34 is provided so that the height position of the mesh transport belt 102 can be adjusted.

  By the way, the detaching mechanism 99 is configured to smoothly transfer the resin relief printing plate 18 from the cleaning device 31 to the drying device 32. When the resin relief printing plate 18 placed by the magnetic force of the magnet plate 58 is fed from the cleaning device 31, the detaching mechanism 99 is provided with the resin relief plate because of the curved surface of the drive roller 52 and the flatness (planar rigidity) of the magnet plate 58. The tip side of the magnet plate 58 on which the printing plate 18 is placed jumps apart from the roller surface of the drive roller 52, while the tip end of the jumped magnet plate 58 is guided by the mesh transport belt 102 and guided onto the mesh transport belt 102. It is like this. The belt surface of the upper conveyor belt 102a forming the drying device 32 has a step difference of several cm, for example, 3 cm, from the belt surface of the upper magnetic conveyor belt 54a so that the resin relief printing plate 18 can be delivered and received smoothly. Set down.

  Although the mesh conveyor belt 102 and the driven roller 104 of the drying device 32 are not in contact with the endless magnetic material conveyor belt 54 on the drive roller 52 side of the cleaning device 31, they are set so as to be as close as possible. Further, the detaching mechanism 99 is provided with a non-magnetic guide plate (not shown) extending from the top of the drying device 32 or the supporting portion of the driven roller 104 to the vicinity of the drive roller 52 side. The discharged resin relief printing plate 18 may be placed so that the tip side of the magnet plate 58 is guided by the mesh transport belt 102.

  Further, an inverter-driving drive motor 105 is provided in the drying frame 34, and the output side of the driving motor 105 is connected to the drive roller 103 via the power transmission 106 so that the drive roller 103 is rotationally driven. Is becoming The mesh transport belt 102 is sprocket-driven by the rotational drive of the drive roller 103, and is transported at a transport speed of, for example, 150 mm/min to 350 mm/min. This transportation speed is higher than the transportation speed of the endless magnetic material transportation belt 54 of the cleaning device 31, and is transported at a large speed.

  As shown in FIG. 19, the mesh transport belt 102 is composed of a magnetic or non-magnetic mesh transport belt. The mesh transport belt 102 is composed of, for example, a nonmagnetic stainless mesh transport belt. The mesh conveying belt 102 has a mesh size knitted in a mesh having a different vertical dimension V (rod pitch) and lateral dimension H (spiral pitch). The mesh transport belt 102 may have a honeycomb mesh structure.

  The mesh transport belt 102 is sprocket-driven by a drive roller 103 and a driven roller 104 along a mesh mesh and is transported. Since the mesh transport belt 102 is sprocket-driven by the drive roller 103 and the driven roller 104, meandering traveling and skew traveling are prevented. The belt width of the mesh conveying belt 102 is equal to the belt width of the endless magnetic substance conveying belt 54, but has a belt thickness of several mm, for example, about 5 mm to 6 mm, and is more flexible than the endless magnetic substance conveying belt 54. Have sex.

  Then, the resin relief printing plate 18 carried to the carry-out port OUT of the cleaning device 31 is carried along with the magnet plate 58 by the double-sided adhesive tape 48. The planar rigidity of the magnet plate 58 in the plate width direction (belt longitudinal direction) is larger than the plate longitudinal direction (belt width direction). When the magnet plate 58 is guided by the arc surface of the drive roller 52, the plate tip side of the magnet plate 58 separates from the drive roller 52 and slightly floats (bounces) due to the curved surface of the arc surface of the drive roller 52. On the other hand, the mesh conveyor belt 102 of the drying device 32 has a belt surface set below the belt surface of the upper magnetic material conveyor belt 54a of the cleaning device 31, and the radius of curvature of the driven roller 104 is several tens mm, for example, about 30 mm to 50 mm. And small. In addition, the mesh transport belt 102 approaches the drive roller 52 in a non-contact manner and is rotated in the opposite direction different from the rotation direction of the drive roller 52. Therefore, the resin letterpress printing plate 18 and the plate front end side of the magnet plate 58 are smoothly transferred and guided to the mesh conveying belt 102, and the resin letterpress printing plate 18 is transferred and conveyed on the mesh conveying belt 102. ..

  Further, the drying box 100 is provided with a drying blow-out device 107 as a blower in the drying zone 101 above the mesh transport belt 102. In the dry blowing device 107, a blowing slit 108 is formed on the mesh conveying belt 102 in the belt width direction, and hot air or warm air of several tens of degrees, for example, about 60 degrees at the maximum, is blown from the blowing slit 108 to the resin relief printing plate. It is blown downward toward 18.

  The drying device 32 is provided with, for example, a heater (not shown) of a SUS fan heater, and hot air or warm air heated by the heater is supplied from the duct intake ports 109 on both sides as shown in FIG. The air is guided by the blowing slit 108 and blown into the drying zone 101 from the blowing slit 108. The blown hot air or hot air is directly blown to the plate surface of the resin relief printing plate 18, while it wraps around the back side of the resin relief printing plate 18 in the drying zone 101 and is blown from below through the mesh transport belt 102. Be done. The resin relief printing plate 18 is efficiently dried by blowing hot air or warm air on both its front and back surfaces in the drying zone 01. By this drying action, the stickiness of the plate surface of the resin relief printing plate 18 is removed, and the residual liquid is removed.

  By passing through the drying zone 01, the resin relief printing plate 18 subjected to the drying action is carried out from the outlet side of the drying box 100 after the drying process. At this time, the resin relief printing plate 18 is detected by the plate detection sensor 110, and the detection result is notified to the surroundings by a tower light 111 by a buzzer sound or green or red detection light. In a specific example, for example, the plate detection sensor 110 detects the light reflected by the reflective seals 49 adhered to the front and rear ends of the resin relief printing plate 18, and after the sensor detection, the tower light 111 notifies the surroundings by sound or light. Has become.

  Further, the resin relief printing plate 18 carried out from the drying device 32 is sent to a post-exposure device (not shown) as needed, and the uncured resin is cured by the post-exposure process. In the case of the flexographic resin 8, the post-exposure process is not always necessary.

  In the embodiment of the present invention, the production of the resin relief printing plate for flexographic printing was mainly described, but the present invention is not limited to the resin relief printing plate for flexographic printing. It can also be applied to a resin letterpress printing plate for letterpress printing. Further, although the cleaning brush unit is shown to have two sets, the cleaning device may have three or more cleaning brush units. Modifications and improvements can be appropriately made without departing from the scope of the present invention, and embodiments including such changes and improvements are also included in the scope of the present invention.

10... Photosensitive resin plate material (CTP plate material)
11... Base film 12... Adhesive layer 13... Photosensitive resin layer 14... Ablation mask 15... Cover film 16... Film base 18... Resin relief printing plate 19... Film 20... Active light source 22... Relief image 23... Back deposition layer 25 ... Flat cleaning brush 26... Blower 30... Plate making system 31... Cleaning device 32... Drying device 33... Washing stand 34... Drying stand 35... Washing part 36... Partition wall 37... Washing zone 38... Rinse zone 40... Opening/closing lid 41 ... Brush drive motor 43... Cleaning brush unit 48... Double-sided adhesive tape (double-sided adhesive tape)
49... Reflective sticker (reflector)
50, 51... Mounting/mounting base 52... Drive roller 53... Driven roller 54... Endless magnetic material transport belt (stainless steel belt having magnetism)
54a... Upper magnetic material transport belt (transport path)
55... Drive motor 56... Power transmission mechanism 57... Conveying part 58... Magnet plate 59... Plate detection sensor 60... Meandering prevention mechanism 61... Circumferential groove 62... Guide rope 65... Carrier roller 66... Draining roller 67... Squeezing roller 68... Guide Roller 70... Fluid cylinder device 71... Mounting/fixing base 72... Swivel rotation mechanism 73... Brush mounting plate 74... Base base 75... Brush substrate 76... Brush bristles 77... Cleaning nozzle 78... Cleaning tank 81... Cleaning pan 82... Cleaning liquid discharge port 84... Filter device 87... Rinse squeezing roller 88... Rotary brush 89... Air knife 90... Rinse nozzle 92... Rinse tank 94... Rinspan 95... Rinse liquid discharge port 97... Filter device 99... Desorption mechanism 100... Drying box 101... Drying Zone 102... Endless mesh conveyor belt (mesh conveyor belt)
103...Drive roller 104 (with splot)...Driven roller 105 (with splot)...Drive motor 106...Power transmission mechanism 107...Drying blowout device 108...Blowout slit 110...Plate detection sensor 111...Tower light

Claims (6)

Using a plate material of a photosensitive resin plate having a plate thickness of 1 mm to 10 mm, the photosensitive resin layer of the plate material is irradiated with energy light of a required wavelength from an active light source to be photocured, and a relief image is formed on the photosensitive resin layer. And after forming a latent image of the back deposition layer, after exposure, uncured resin material from the cured portion of the photosensitive resin layer by spray cleaning of the cleaning liquid on the photosensitive resin layer and water cleaning by brush cleaning of a cleaning brush. A flexible resin letterpress printing plate produced by removing,
The plate material constitutes an integral floor layer in the laminated portion from the film base to the back deposition layer, and, the relief image is integrally fixed to the back deposition layer,
A resin relief printing plate, wherein the relief image having a relief depth of 60 μm to 1 mm or less is integrally provided on the floor layer.   The plate material of the photosensitive resin plate is a letterpress plate material or a rubber-based flexographic plate material, and the relief image and the back deposition layer are formed by applying relief exposure and back exposure to the photosensitive resin layer of the plate material. 2. The back exposure layer is formed with the energy light of an active light source, which is smaller than that in the relief exposure, to integrally form a floor on the film base side of the photosensitive resin layer. The resin letterpress printing plate described in.   The plate material of the photosensitive resin plate has a plate thickness of 1 mm to 3 mm or less, and the relief image having the relief depth of 110 μm to 930 μm is integrally provided on the floor layer of the plate material. Resin letterpress printing plate.   The plate material of the sensitive resin plate is a letterpress plate material or a rubber-based flexographic plate material, and the resin letterpress printing plate manufactured by the flexo plate material is a resin letterpress printing plate manufactured by the letterpress plate material. The resin relief printing plate according to any one of claims 1 to 3, which is softer than the plate. A plate material of a photosensitive resin plate having a plate thickness of 1 mm to 10 mm is irradiated with energy light of a required wavelength from an active light source to be photocured, and a relief image and a latent image of a back deposition layer are formed on the photosensitive resin layer of the plate material. An exposure step to form,
A water development step of transporting the exposed plate material to a cleaning zone, in which the plate material slides a cleaning brush onto the surface of the photosensitive resin layer while the brush is sprayed with a cleaning liquid to clean the brush. With and
A method for producing a resin relief printing plate, which comprises producing a resin relief printing plate by removing an uncured resin material from a cured portion of the photosensitive resin layer,
In the exposure step, a relief exposure and a back exposure are made incident on the photosensitive resin layer of the plate material, and the relief image and the latent image of the back deposition layer are photocured to form,
In the post-exposure water washing step, the photosensitive resin layer is water-washed by spray washing of the washing liquid and brush washing of the washing brush to remove the uncured resin material from the cured portion, and the relief image and back deposit are formed. The layer is made visible to form a flexible resin letterpress printing plate with a plate thickness of 1 mm or more,
In the water washing step, a back deposit layer is formed on the film base side of the photosensitive resin layer, an integral floor layer is formed by the film base and the back deposit layer, and the relief image is formed by the back deposit layer. Are fixed together,
A method for producing a resin relief printing plate, wherein the relief image is integrally provided on the floor layer with a relief depth of 60 μm to 1 mm or less.   In the water washing step, after washing the photosensitive resin layer of the plate material, wash water obtained by adding a surfactant of an alkaline aqueous solution to the wash liquid is used, and the temperature of the wash water is the sensitivity of the letterpress plate material. 6. The method for producing a resin relief printing plate according to claim 5, wherein a cleaning liquid at 20° C. to 25° C. is used in the resin layer, and a cleaning liquid at 40° C. to 60° C. is used in the photosensitive resin layer of the flexographic printing plate material. .