JP2514845B2 - Exposure equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an exposure apparatus, and more particularly, to an exposure apparatus in which a plurality of magazines containing roll-shaped photosensitive materials are loaded and one of them is selectively used. The present invention relates to an exposure device which further facilitates simplification of a mechanism for conveying a photosensitive material in an apparatus for extracting a photosensitive material from a magazine and exposing and recording image information on the photosensitive material.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In recent years, rationalization of work processes in the fields of printing and plate making,
2. Description of the Related Art Image scanning reading / recording systems have been adopted in which image information of a document is read and electrically processed to produce a film original for the purpose of improving image quality.

This image scanning reading / recording system is basically configured by a reading device, a control device, and an exposure device integrally or separately. That is, in the reading device, a photo original or a line drawing original is scanned with a laser beam and detected by a photomultiplier, or a CCD is used.
(Charge Coupled Device) An image is read by a camera to temporarily convert the image information of the document into an electric signal according to the intensity of reflected light. Next, the image information photoelectrically converted by the reading device is subjected to arithmetic processing in the control device to perform gradation correction, halftone decomposition, etc. according to the plate making conditions.

Thereafter, the image information processed by the control device is converted into an optical signal composed of a laser beam in the exposure device, and the laser beam is irradiated onto the photosensitive material to record a desired image. After the recording of the image, the photosensitive material is subjected to a developing treatment to prepare a final film original plate.

Therefore, in such an image scanning reading and recording system, an exposure device for irradiating a photosensitive material such as a film with a laser beam based on image information of a document and exposing and recording a desired image on the photosensitive material is, for example, as follows. There is something.

That is, it is a type in which a magazine in which a film wound in a roll shape is stored is loaded. In such an exposure apparatus, the film is pulled out from the magazine and sent to the exposure section. In the exposure unit, for example, the film is conveyed in the sub-scanning direction between a rotationally driven drum and a nip roller slidably contacted with the drum, and is modulated based on the gradation correction performed by the control device described above. Main scanning is performed by the laser beam, and a desired image is exposed and recorded on this film.

By the way, in the above exposure equipment, a single device
One having a function of selectively exposing various kinds of photosensitive materials has been developed. In such an exposure device, after the exposure scanning of one photosensitive material is completed, when the other photosensitive material is used, the former photosensitive material is rewound into a magazine or exposed by a cutter each time. Although a mechanism for cutting the light-sensitive material by the above amount is required, there is a disadvantage that the structure becomes complicated.

Therefore, as a simplified structure, there is a type in which the photosensitive material for rewinding is curved in a loop shape and received in the space inside the apparatus. However, since it is necessary to secure a space for receiving the loop for each photosensitive material, it is inevitable that the device becomes large.

[Object of the Invention] The present invention has been made in order to overcome the above-mentioned inconvenience, and at least one of the magazines for loading the photosensitive material is rotated to rewind the unused photosensitive material by the magazine itself. By configuring, the structure required for selectively switching the photosensitive material to be used is simplified, and the space for receiving the photosensitive material in the middle of conveyance is rationally used, and the overall size of the apparatus can be reduced. It is an object to provide an exposure apparatus.

[Means for Achieving the Object] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention is equipped with two magazines for storing a roll of photosensitive material, and selectively reverses the photosensitive material after pulling the photosensitive material from one of the magazines. In an apparatus that conveys the exposure material in the sub-scanning direction for the exposure length that is conveyed in the direction
A magazine holder that holds at least one magazine is configured to be rotatable under the driving action of an actuator, and after selecting the photosensitive material to be used, the magazine is rotated to rewind the unexposed photosensitive material. And

[Embodiment] Next, an exposure apparatus according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings with reference to preferred embodiments.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 indicates an exposure apparatus according to the present embodiment. Inside the exposure apparatus 10, a magazine loading section 12 is arranged at the upper right portion in the figure, and the magazine loading section 12 is provided. There are two magazines for loading the photosensitive material, that is, a first magazine 14 and a fixed second magazine 16 which are rotatably arranged, one above the other. The first magazine 14 and the second magazine 16 store long unexposed films F ₁ and F ₂ wound in a roll shape as photosensitive materials, respectively. The films F ₁ and F _{2 used} are, for example, films of different sizes.
One of F ₁ and F ₂ is selectively used.

First, referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the first magazine 14
Is a casing-shaped container, and a film outlet 18 is formed on one end side of the film, and the end of the film F ₁ housed inside the first magazine 14 is the film outlet. It is derived from 18. The first magazine 14 as described above is attachable to and detachable from the magazine holder 20 including the side plate portions 22a to 22c surrounding the three sides.

In this case, especially, the side plate portions 22a and 22b of the magazine holder 20 are
Long holes 24a, 24b are formed in the holes, and both ends of the presser bar 26 engage with the long holes 24a, 24b. A tension spring 28 is provided between both end portions of the push rod 26 and the side plate portions 22a and 22b of the magazine holder 20.
Under the tensioning action of the tension springs 28a, 28b, the holding rod 26 urges the first magazine 14 in the direction of arrow A to push it against the side plate portion 22c. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, a pair of guide plates 30a and 30b for restricting a pair of side surfaces of the first magazine 14 is provided inside the magazine holder 20. And magazine holder
A pressing spring 34 is engaged with a spring seat 32 provided on the side plate portion 22a side of 20. The pressing spring 34 constantly elastically urges a spring receiver 36 to which a spherical pressing body 40 is attached via a holding plate 38. To do. The pressing body 40 command comes into contact with the side surface of the first magazine 14 through the hole formed in the guide plate 30a and presses the first magazine 14 against the other guide plate 30b.

Then, the side plate portions 22a, 2 of such a magazine holder 20
Spindle members 42a and 42b are fixed to 2b, respectively.
42a and 42b are rotatably supported by mounting plates 44a and 44b which are vertically provided. A rotation drive transmission mechanism 46 for rotating the magazine holder 20 is provided between the mounting plate 44a and the magazine holder 20.

That is, the mounting plate 44a has a motor 4 as a rotary drive source.
8 is fixed, and the drive gear 50 is attached to the rotary shaft 48a of the motor 48.
Is provided. This drive gear 50 meshes with the idle gear 52,
The idle gear 52 meshes with the spur gear 54 that is fitted onto the support shaft member 42a. Therefore, the rotational drive of the motor 48 is driven by the idle gear 52 and the spur gear.
It is configured to be transmitted to the magazine holder 20 via 54. In order to limit the rotation angle of the magazine holder 20 to a certain angle, a stopper 55 is provided near the side plate member 22a of the magazine holder 20, and the magazine holder 20 is rotated clockwise in FIG. When it is rotated by a predetermined angle, the flange portion 56 of the side plate portion 22a comes into contact with the stopper 55 to prevent further rotation.

Next, referring to FIG. 1, the first magazine 14 as described above is used.
The film F ₁ drawn out from the film outlet 18 is sandwiched by feed rollers 57a and 57b which are rotationally driven by an actuator (not shown). This feed roller 57a, 5
Below the 7b, the guide plate 58 for guiding the film F ₁ is disposed, the film F ₁ along the guide plate 58 is intended to be guided to the exposure unit 60 to be described later.

On the other hand, the second magazine 16 is the first magazine described above.
Unlike 14, the exposure apparatus 10 is provided via a holding means (not shown).
The film F ₂ fixed inside and drawn out from the film take-out port 62 is sandwiched by feed rollers 64a and 64b which are rotationally driven by an actuator (not shown). A fixed guide plate 66 is arranged so as to extend in the horizontal direction from the feed rollers 64a, 64b, and the film F ₂ is guided to the exposure unit 60 along the upper surface of the fixed guide plate 66. .

Explaining the exposure 60, the exposure unit 60 basically includes a large drum 68 that is rotationally driven by an actuator (not shown), and nip rollers 70a and 70b that are in sliding contact with the drum 68. Either the film F ₁ or the film F ₂ is mainly scanned by the laser beam, and the drum 68 and the nip rollers 70a and 70b are also scanned.
Is configured to be conveyed in the sub-scanning direction by the rotation of.

Next, below the drum 68, a laser beam scanning unit 72 for irradiating the film F ₁ or the film F ₂ with a laser beam to expose and record image information is provided. The laser beam scanning unit 72 employs a known scanning optical system including a laser light source and a deflector for main scanning the laser beam on the film, such as a galvanometer mirror and an fθ lens.

The exposure apparatus according to the present embodiment is basically configured as described above, and its operation and effect will be described next.

First, the unexposed films F ₁ and F ₂ are respectively housed in the first
The magazine 14 and the second magazine 16 are loaded in the exposure apparatus 10. In the first magazine 14, the magazine holder 20 is loaded from above in FIG. In this case, the presser bar 26 moves the first magazine by the pulling force of the tension springs 28a and 28b.
14 is pressed against the side plate portion 22c, while the pressing body 40 presses the first magazine 14 against the side plate portion 22b by the elastic force of the pressing spring 34, as shown in FIG.
The magazine 14 will be held by the magazine holder 20.

Therefore, in FIG. 1, in the first magazine 14, the film F ₁ drawn from the film outlet 18 is
The end of the film F ₁ is sandwiched between the feed rollers 57a and 57b, and the tip of the film F ₁ is extended to the guide plate 58. On the other hand, the end portions of the film F ₂ drawn from the film outlet 62 of the second magazine 16 have feed rollers 64a and 64b.
Let it be sandwiched between them.

After completing the above preparations, first the first magazine
A case will be described in which desired image information is exposed and recorded on 14 films F ₁ .

In FIG. 4, the feed rollers 57a, 57b and the drum 68 are shown.
There is rotated in the respective direction of arrow A, the film F ₁ nonce length worth of exposure recording is pulled, the distal end of the film F ₁ is the drum 68, in the figure, upon reaching a hanging state on the left, The rotation of the feed rollers 57a, 57b and the drum 68 is stopped. Then, with only the drum 68 is driven in reverse in the direction of arrow B, the laser beam scanning unit 72 is driven, the film F ₁ is being transported in the sub-scanning direction is the main scanning by the laser beam L, to the film F ₁ The desired image information is exposed and recorded. The film F ₁ is bent to the left of the guide plate 58 so as to form a loop. This loop portion corresponds to the exposure length of one film.

Then, the drum 68 is driven to rotate in the direction of arrow A, and the exposed film F ₁ is cut by a cutting means (not shown). A case in which the exposure of the film F ₁ is continuously scanned as described above and then the film F ₂ is switched to will be described.

First, it is necessary to rewind the unexposed film F ₁ of the first magazine 14, but at this time, in FIG. 2, the first magazine 14 rotates integrally with the magazine holder 20 in the clockwise direction,
The rewound film F ₁ is wound around the side surface of the first magazine 14. That is, the motor 48 is started, the rotational drive of the motor 48 is transmitted from the drive gear 50 through the idle gear 52 and the spur gear 54, and the magazine holder 20
Is rotated clockwise about the support shaft members 42a and 42b. When the flange portion 56 formed on the side plate portion 22a of the magazine holder 20 comes into contact with the stopper 55, the magazine holder 20 stops, and during this time, the film F ₁ is wound around the first magazine 14 itself. As a result, it is not necessary to bend the rewound portion in a loop shape, so that there is an advantage that the space occupied by the rewound film F ₁ in the apparatus can be saved.

Next, the case of exposing the film F ₂ of the second magazine 16 will be described. In FIG. 5, the feed roller 64
The a, 64b, and the drum 68 are rotationally driven in the directions of arrow A, respectively, and the film F ₂ is pulled out from the second magazine 16 by the length for exposure recording. The film F ₂ is guided along the fixed guide plate 66 and introduced into the drum 68, and then, when the leading end of the film F ₂ is in a hanging state on the left side of the drum 68 in the drawing,
The rotation of the feed rollers 64a and 64b and the drum 68 is stopped.

Next, only the drum 68 is reversely driven in the direction of arrow B, the laser beam scanning unit 72 is driven, and the film F ₂ is conveyed in the sub-scanning direction, and the laser beam L emitted from the laser beam scanning unit 72 is conveyed. The main scanning is performed, and desired image information is exposed and recorded on the film F ₂ . As shown in FIG. 5, the film F ₂ is bent in a loop shape toward the space above the fixed guide plate 66.

Then, the drum 68 is driven to rotate in the direction of arrow A, and the exposed film F ₂ is cut by a cutting means (not shown).

In this embodiment, the first magazine 14 is rotated, but the first magazine 14 is fixed to the second magazine 14.
It goes without saying that the magazine 16 may be rotated, and further, the first magazine 14 and the second magazine 16 may be rotated together.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, after selecting the exposure material, when rewinding the unexposed portion of the photosensitive material that is not used, the magazine itself is rotated and wound without making a rule. Since this is done, there is no need for a space for receiving the loop-shaped photosensitive material, which is effective in designing the apparatus compactly. Moreover, since the film transport path is simplified and the mechanism for rotating the magazine is not so complicated, the mechanism as a whole can be simply assembled and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

Although the present invention has been described above with reference to the preferred embodiments, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and various improvements and design changes can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. Of course.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration explanatory view of an exposure apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a magazine holder on which a magazine is mounted and a rotary drive transmission mechanism for rotating them, and FIG. 3 is a magazine holder in FIG. A sectional view, FIG. 4 is an explanatory view when the film of the first magazine is exposed in the exposure apparatus, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory view when the film of the second magazine is exposed in the exposure apparatus. 10 ... Exposure device, 12 ... Magazine loading section 14, 16 ... Magazine, 20 ... Magazine holder 26 ... Presser bar, 42a, 42b ... Spindle member 48 ... Motor 57a, 57b ... Feed roller 58 ... Guide plate, 68 ... Drum 70a , 70b ... Nip roller 72 ... Laser beam scanning unit

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A photosensitive material for an exposure length, which is loaded with two magazines containing roll-shaped photosensitive material, selectively withdraws the photosensitive material from one of the magazines, and then conveys it in the opposite direction to curve in a loop. In a device for feeding image information in the sub-scanning direction to expose image information, a magazine holder holding at least one magazine is configured to be rotatable under the driving action of an actuator, and the magazine is selected after selecting a photosensitive material to be used. An exposure apparatus configured to rewind an unexposed photosensitive material by rotating.