JP2534820Y2 - Contact printer - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a contact printer in which an original film is superimposed on a plate making film to perform contact exposure. In particular, the present invention relates to a contact printer provided with a light control plate for thickening characters displayed on a document and for eliminating a shadow of a tape adhered to the document.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a contact printer in which a manuscript film is superimposed on a film for plate making to perform close contact exposure, it is required to faithfully record image information displayed on a document on the film for plate making.

If the light source is regarded as a point light source with respect to the size of the document, the light diverges radially, and the vicinity of the center of the document is almost perpendicular to the document surface. Although the image is faithfully reproduced, light near the periphery of the document is obliquely incident on the surface of the document, so that the thickness of the document influences the image, and image degradation such as shadows and bleeding tends to occur.

Accordingly, it is desirable to make the light for exposure substantially perpendicularly incident on the entire surface of the original to eliminate shadows and blurs. As a means for achieving this, it is conceivable to insert a traveling direction control member between the light source and the document, arrange the light source so that the light emitting point of the light source becomes the focal point of the optical system, and convert the divergent light into parallel light.

On the other hand, in addition to faithfully reproducing the image of the original, image processing such as gradation processing and spatial frequency processing is intentionally performed to correct image defects, and to provide decorative and expressive printing. There is also a request to obtain an image. In particular, the shadow of the adhesive tape used when attaching a plurality of original images to a transparent sheet such as a mylar sheet is erased, the line width of the character or graphic pattern drawn on the original is slightly increased, In some cases, it may be desirable to blur the edges.

For this reason, it is conceivable that the light incident on the document surface is not always made to be a parallel light, but the light is scattered as required. The following means has conventionally been used. (1) A milky white plastic sheet having light diffusing property is wound around a shaft, arranged between a light source and a document, and both sides of the sheet are locked with a chain or the like, by a driving means such as a motor,
A means to extend light as needed and scatter light from the light source. (2) An electric field control type liquid crystal layer is arranged between the document and the traveling direction control member that converts the light from the light source into parallel light, and the liquid crystal layer changes to milky white as necessary depending on whether or not voltage is applied. By doing so, means for substituting a light diffusion sheet (Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 2-123931).

[0007]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In the conventional means (1), (i) a space for accommodating a milky white plastic sheet wound around a shaft is required separately from a space through which light for exposure passes, and the apparatus is Increase in size. (ii) Since the plastic sheet has flexibility, it is difficult to uniformly extend the entire original. (iii) Since the time until the plastic sheet extends and the time until the winding is completed is long, the work efficiency is deteriorated. (iv) The driving mechanism for extending the plastic sheet becomes large and the mechanism becomes complicated. There were drawbacks such as.

Further, in the prior art (2), (i) a liquid crystal layer having a large area is required, it is difficult to manufacture a liquid crystal layer having no defect over the entire surface, and the cost tends to be high due to poor yield. is there. (ii) A special drive circuit for applying an electric field to the liquid crystal layer is required. (iii) Even if the liquid crystal layer is in the transparent mode, the light transmittance is low, and in order to obtain the same amount of exposure as before, it is essential to increase the output of the light source and extend the exposure time. (iv) The essential characteristics of liquid crystals are degradation by ultraviolet light,
The light source inside the device is significantly deteriorated due to a rise in temperature due to heat generation (50 ° C. to 60 ° C.) and needs to be replaced frequently. There were drawbacks such as.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks and to provide a contact printer using a light control plate capable of obtaining scattered light with a simple structure.

[0010]

According to the present invention, an original and a photosensitive material are brought into close contact with one surface of a light-transmitting plate such as a glass plate, and a light source arranged on the other surface of the light-transmitting plate is used. In a contact printer that converts light into parallel light by a traveling direction control member and exposes the photosensitive material, a light scattering property corresponding to a light incident angle is provided between the light transmitting plate and the traveling direction control member. Characterized in that a light control plate whose temperature changes is arranged.

Further, according to the above configuration, it is preferable that the light control plate is composed of two or more kinds of incompatible polymer compositions having different refractive indices.

[0012]

According to the present invention, by arranging a light control plate whose light scattering property changes according to a light incident angle between the light transmitting plate and the traveling direction control member, the light control plate can be arbitrarily set. The angle of light scattering can be changed arbitrarily,
As a result, it is possible to make the characters of the original thicker and to eliminate the shadow of the tape used when the original image is adhered to the original.

In particular, when the angle selectivity of the light control plate changes in an analog manner, the degree of light scattering can be continuously adjusted.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The light control plate according to the present invention can be obtained as follows. A compound having one or more ethylenic double bonds or acetylenic triple bonds in the molecule, each having a different refractive index, a resin composition consisting of a plurality of, a film-shaped, ultraviolet light from a specific direction A first step of curing the composition by irradiating the resin composition, on the obtained cured product, maintaining the resin composition in a film form, and irradiating ultraviolet rays from a different direction from the first step It comprises a second step of curing, and is produced by repeating the second step as necessary, so that it is composed of two or more types of incompatible polymer compositions having different refractive indices.

In particular, a compound having one or more ethylenic double bonds or acetylenic triple bonds in a molecule refers to a polymerizable group such as an acryloyl group, a methacryloyl group, a vinyl group, an allyl group, or an acetylene group. It is a monomer or oligomer containing two or more. For example, polyester acrylate, polyol polyacrylate, modified polyol polyacrylate, polyacrylate with isocyanuric acid skeleton, melamine acrylate, polyacrylate with hydantoin skeleton, polybutadiene acrylate,
Multifunctional acrylates such as epoxy acrylate and urethane acrylate, and methacrylates corresponding to these acrylates, as well as tetrahydrofurfuryl acrylate, ethyl carbitol acrylate, dicyclopentenyloxyethyl acrylate, phenyl carbitol acrylate, nonylphenoxyethyl acrylate, 2-hydroxy-3-phenoxypropyl acrylate, ω-hydroxyhexanoyloxyethyl acrylate, acryloyloxyethyl succinate, acryloyloxyethyl phthalate, tribromophenoxyethyl acrylate, isobornyl acrylate,
2-ethylhexyl acrylate, lauryl acrylate, 2,2,3,3-tetrafluoropropyl acrylate and methacrylates corresponding to these monofunctional acrylates, and N-vinylpyrrolidone, triallyl isocyanurate, diethylene glycol bisallyl carbonate, Arylidenepentaerythritol and the like. These compounds are used as a mixture.

Further, the resin composition is characterized by the solubility of a plurality of compounds constituting the resin composition and the difference in the refractive index between the compounds. Is scattered, and the angle range of scattered incident light is widened.

The light control plate is manufactured by curing these resin compositions with ultraviolet rays. For more information,
The resin composition is applied on a substrate or sealed in a cell to form a film, and a cured sheet that selectively scatters only incident light at a specific angle by gradually curing while irradiating ultraviolet rays from a specific direction. After the first step, a second step of forming the same or different resin composition into a film on the cured sheet and irradiating with ultraviolet rays from another specific direction is performed, and further comprising a second step. By repeating this second step in response, a light control plate that selectively scatters incident light in two or more types of angle ranges can be produced.

When the second step is repeated, the irradiation direction of the ultraviolet rays is changed in each case, whereby a light control plate capable of selectively scattering incident light in three or more kinds of angle ranges can be produced. Further, a different resin composition may be used each time the second step is repeated.

Further, if necessary, a photopolymerization initiator may be included in the resin composition. This photopolymerization initiator is
For example, benzophenone, benzyl, Michler's ketone, 2-chlorothioxanthone, 2,4-diethylthioxanthone, benzoin ethyl ether, diethoxyacetophenone, benzyldimethyl ketal, 2-hydroxy-2-methylpropiophenone, 1-hydroxycyclohexylphenyl ketone, and the like Is mentioned.

When irradiating with ultraviolet light, a light source such as a mercury lamp or a metal halide lamp is used. In particular, when a rod-shaped lamp light source is used, by adjusting the irradiation conditions, the cured sheet produced can have a long axis of the light source. The anisotropy of the light scattering degree is shown in the direction and the minor axis direction. That is, when light is incident on the cured sheet, the degree of light scattering is selectively changed according to the rotation angle only when the light source is rotated about the long axis direction of the light source used for ultraviolet curing. Show properties.

This phenomenon occurs because, when focusing on the internal structure of the formed cured sheet, regions having different refractive indices exist in a state where they are oriented in a certain direction, and light incident at a specific angle is reflected in regions having different refractive indices. It is considered that the light is reflected or refracted at the boundary of the light source to cause light scattering.

The degree of scattering and the angle of the selectively scattered incident light can be adjusted depending on the resin composition used or the irradiation conditions. In particular, the angle selectivity of scattering can be adjusted by changing the irradiation angle with respect to the cured sheet surface during ultraviolet curing. Therefore, even when the same resin composition is used in the light control plate composed of a plurality of films, if the irradiation angle is changed at the time of ultraviolet curing, the light control plate can be selectively used for a plurality of light incident angles. A light control plate having a good quality can be obtained.

Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the contact printer according to the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a side view of the contact printer according to the present invention in a state where a side cover is removed and a light control plate is set at an angle in a transparent mode. FIG.
Remove the side cover of the contact printer according to the present invention,
FIG. 3 is a front view showing a state where an angle of a light control plate is set to a transparent mode.

A rubber sheet roller in which a document 9 and a photosensitive material 6 such as a plate making film are brought into close contact with a light transmitting plate 5 such as a glass plate placed on the upper surface of the printer 1, and a rubber sheet 7 is accommodated therein. Simultaneously with the running of the section 8, the space between the rubber sheet 7 and the light transmitting plate 5 is sucked by a vacuum pump (not shown) to bring the original 9 and the photosensitive material 6 into close contact.

Next, light 10 for exposure is emitted from a light source 2 arranged at the inner bottom of the contact printer 1, and exposure is performed under exposure conditions such as a wavelength and an exposure time that match the characteristics of the photosensitive material. Do. The light emitted from the light source 2 generally becomes divergent light, passes through the traveling direction control member 3 and is converted into parallel light, passes through the light control plate 4 that is set in the transparent mode at an angle, and maintains the state of parallel light. While being incident on the light transmitting plate 5, the photosensitive material 6 is exposed corresponding to the image of the original 9.

Needless to say, the contact printer 1
The outer wall cover and the rubber sheet 7 employ a light shielding structure so that extraneous light from the outside does not irradiate the photosensitive material 6.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the contact printer according to the present invention in which the side cover is removed and the light control plate is set in the scattering mode at an angle. FIG. 4 is a front view of the contact printer according to the present invention, in which the side cover is removed and the light control plate is set to the scattering mode at an angle.

The arrangement of the original and the photosensitive material, the exposure conditions of the light source, etc. are the same as those in FIGS. 1 and 2, but maintain a constant angle with respect to the parallel light so that the light control plate 4 is in the scattering mode. They are different. The direction in which the light control plate 4 is tilted is a direction in which the light control plate 4 can be rotated while maintaining the geometrical parallel to the longitudinal direction of the rod-shaped lamp used in the ultraviolet curing in the manufacturing process of the light control plate. By setting the scattering mode angle corresponding to a certain angle selectivity adjusted by the manufacturing conditions, the parallel light emitted from the traveling direction control member 3 is scattered when passing through the light control plate 4, and the original 9 and The photosensitive material 6 is irradiated and exposed.

Since scattered light has various angular components, it can correct image defects, erase the shadow of an adhesive tape used when attaching an original image to an original, and can print patterns of characters and figures drawn on the original. Can be made thicker or the pattern edges can be blurred.

The light control plate according to the present invention can be specifically manufactured by the following method. Average molecular weight 20
Of a polyether urethane acrylate (refractive index: 1.481) obtained by a reaction between polypropylene glycol, toluene diisocyanate and 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate of No. 00, and a compound represented by the following structural formula (Formula 1) (refractive index: 1) .567) 50 parts

[0031]

Embedded image

And a resin composition obtained by adding and mixing 3 parts of 2-hydroxy-2-methyl-propiophenone to 200 μm.
A thick spacer was inserted between the glass plates, and an ultraviolet irradiation device of an 80 W mercury lamp (lamp length: 40 cm) was used at a distance of 40 cm as shown in FIG.
The cured sheet 51 was obtained by irradiating ultraviolet rays for 5 minutes. Further, a cell was formed thereon by a 200 μm-thick spacer and a glass plate, the same resin composition was injected, and as shown in FIG. 6, ultraviolet rays were irradiated at a distance of 40 cm and an angle Δb = 120 degrees for 3 minutes to cure the cured sheet 51. I got

In order to measure the light scattering characteristics of this cured sheet, the haze value was determined by an integrating sphere type light transmittance measuring device according to JIS K-6714. As shown in FIG. 7, the cured sheet 51 can be converted into a cloudiness value by measuring the amount of transmitted light 61 by inclining the cured sheet 51 with respect to the measured incident light 60 from the vertical plane in the direction of the incident light. .

As shown in FIG. 8, in the case of this cured sheet, in the range of about −20 degrees <α <about 20 degrees, that is, in the range close to normal incidence, the haze value is almost 0% and the transparent mode However, in the range of about −60 degrees <α <about −30 degrees and in the range of about 30 degrees <α <about 60 degrees, the haze value becomes about 70% and the scattering mode is set.

The embodiment of manufacturing the light control plate has been described above. In addition, 50 parts of bisphenol A type epoxy acrylate (refractive index: 1.560) is added to 2, 2, 3, 3
50 parts of tetrafluoropropyl acrylate and 2
A method of using a resin composition to which 3 parts of -hydroxy-2-methyl-propiophenone is added and mixed. In addition, by performing curing at various angles during ultraviolet irradiation, it is possible to obtain an arbitrary angle selectivity of scattering.

FIG. 9 is a front view of a light incident angle control means provided on the light control plate, and FIG. 9 (a) shows parallel light from the traveling direction control member being vertically applied to the light control plate. FIG. 9 (b) shows a state where the angle is controlled so that the parallel light from the traveling direction control member is obliquely incident on the light control plate. The support 20 is fixed to each side around the light control plate 4 having a rectangular shape, and the rotating shaft 22 of the driving motor 21 and one side of the support 20 are fixed members 23.
A rotating bearing (not shown) is provided at the midpoint of one side of the opposed support. When the operator selects the transmission mode using the operation panel, the drive motor 21 controlled by the mechanical control board in the contact printer starts rotating, and stops rotating when the micro switch 26 is operated. Thus, a predetermined light incident angle can be set. When the scattering mode is selected, a predetermined light incident angle can be set by stopping the rotation when the driving motor 21 starts rotating in the opposite direction and the microswitch 27 is operated.
This angle setting depends on the angle selectivity of the light control plate. When a light control plate having another angle selectivity is used, another angle setting is used. In FIG. 9, the light control plate is in a transparent mode at a horizontal position and is in a scattering mode when tilted. On the contrary, a light control plate is in a scattering mode at a horizontal position and is in a transparent mode when tilted. May be.
Further, the drive motor 21 may be a rotary drive mechanism such as a rotary solenoid.

FIG. 10 is a front view showing another embodiment of the light incident angle control means.
FIG. 10A shows a state in which the angle is controlled so that the parallel light from the traveling direction control member is vertically incident on the light control plate.
(b) is a state in which the angle is controlled so that the parallel light from the traveling direction control member is obliquely incident on the light control plate. A support 20 is fixed to each side around the light control plate 4 having a square shape,
A gear 24 is connected to the rotating shaft of the driving motor 21, and a driving force is transmitted to the gear 25, and the rotating shaft 2 of the gear 25 is rotated.
2 and the support 20 are integrally fastened by a fixing member 23. When the operator selects the transmission mode using the operation panel, the drive motor 21 controlled by the mechanical control board in the contact printer starts rotating,
By stopping the rotation when the microswitch 26 is operated, the predetermined light incident angle can be set. Also,
When the scattering mode is selected, a predetermined light incident angle can be set by stopping the rotation when the drive motor 21 starts rotating in the opposite direction and the microswitch 27 is activated.

The incident angle control means of the light control plate according to the present invention is not limited to the above-described mechanism, and may be constituted by combining known mechanical elements such as a cam, a rack and a pinion.

When a light control plate manufactured using a plastic plate as a substrate is used, the weight is reduced.
The driving force of the angle control means can be reduced, and the weight of the entire contact printer can be reduced.

Further, since deterioration due to aging is extremely small, the number of replacements or repairs is drastically reduced, and the device can be used almost maintenance-free.

In addition, since it is not necessary to use expensive parts such as a liquid crystal plate which deteriorates quickly with respect to ultraviolet rays, the initial cost of the contact printer and the running cost at the time of replacement can be reduced.

When a light control plate whose angle selectivity continuously changes is used, the light control plate can be controlled to an intermediate state from the scattering mode to the transmission mode, thereby increasing the degree of freedom in image processing. I do. In particular, if the degree of light scattering is controlled to the maximum incident angle, the effect of image processing is maximized. Further, by controlling the incident angle at which the light transmittance takes the maximum value, the insertion loss can be reduced, and effective use of light can be achieved.

[0043]

According to the contact printer of the present invention, the desired light scattering characteristics can be adjusted by changing only the light incident angle while the light control plate is mounted, and the parallel light can be adjusted with a simple mechanism. The scattered light can be switched.

Further, the mode can be switched to the scattering mode or the transmission mode while the light control plate is inserted in the exposure optical system, so that the mode switching time is short.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a contact printer when a light control plate is in a transmission mode and a side cover is removed.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing a state in which a side cover is removed when a light control plate of the contact printer is in a transmission mode.

FIG. 3 is a side view illustrating a state in which a side cover is removed when a light control plate of the contact printer is in a scattering mode.

FIG. 4 is a front view in a state where a side cover is removed when a light control plate of the contact printer is in a scattering mode.

FIG. 5 is a side view of a state in which the resin composition is cured by irradiating ultraviolet rays while maintaining a specific incident angle in the process of manufacturing the light control plate.

FIG. 6 is a side view of a state in which the resin composition is cured by irradiating ultraviolet rays while maintaining the incident angle at another angle in the process of manufacturing the light control plate.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a state in which the light transmittance and the scattered light transmittance of the light control plate are measured to obtain a haze value.

FIG. 8 is a graph in which the light transmittance and the scattered light transmittance of the light control plate are measured, and the horizontal axis is the angle (degree) and the vertical axis is the haze value (%).

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a light incident angle control means provided on a light control plate of the contact printer.

FIG. 10 is a view showing another embodiment of the light incident angle control means provided on the light control plate of the contact printer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Contact printer body 4 Light control board 5 Translucent board 6 Photosensitive material 9 Original

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-1-10625 (JP, A) JP-A-51-9732 (JP, A) JP-A-1-243042 (JP, A)

Claims (2)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] An original and a photosensitive material are brought into close contact with one surface of a light transmitting plate, and light from a light source disposed on the other surface of the light transmitting plate is converted into parallel light by a traveling direction control member. hand,
In the contact printer for exposing the photosensitive material, a light control plate whose light scattering property changes according to a light incident angle is disposed between the light transmitting plate and the traveling direction control member. Printer. 2. The contact printer according to claim 1, wherein the light control plate is made of two or more incompatible polymer compositions having different refractive indices.