JP2555418Y2 - Photosensitive plate auto feeder - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a photosensitive plate auto feeder for feeding a photosensitive plate having been subjected to image exposure to an automatic developing machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a photosensitive plate such as a lithographic printing plate in which a photosensitive material is applied to the surface of a support such as a thin metal plate is used.
In the case of processing using an automatic developing machine, an operator manually inserts the sheets one by one from an insertion table of the automatic developing machine to perform the processing. Further, when a large number of photosensitive plates are to be processed successively, JP-A-63-106245 and JP-A-63-1
A photosensitive plate auto feeder connected to an automatic processor as disclosed in U.S. Pat.

A conventional photosensitive plate auto feeder will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a conventional photosensitive plate auto feeder, and FIG. 13 is a side view of the same. Conventional photosensitive plate auto feeder 10
Reference numeral 0 denotes a state in which a plurality of exposed photosensitive plates P are mounted on the inclined mounting table 102 while being connected to the automatic developing machine 101.

The capturing / moving means 103 approaches the uppermost photosensitive plate P0 of the photosensitive plate P placed on the mounting table 102 and sucks the photosensitive plate P0.
Turn up the lower end of and move. The turned-up photosensitive plate P0 is transported from the mounting table 102 to the inside of the pair of separation roller transport chains 104 constituting the separating means while being attracted to the capturing and moving means 103.

[0005] A separation roller 105 is attached to a part of the separation roller transfer chain 104. When the separation roller transfer chain 104 is rotated with the lower end of the photosensitive plate P0 transferred to the inside of the chain, the separation roller 105 is turned over. A separation roller 10 is provided below the raised photosensitive plate P0.
5 will sink in. By further rotating the separation roller transport chain 104, only one photosensitive plate P0 is separated from the mounting table 102.

The separated photosensitive plate P0 has its back surface supported by a curved guide plate 106 provided inside the separation roller transport chain 104 and a fixed guide roller 107 protruding from the curved guide plate 106. You.
Thereafter, the lower end of the photosensitive plate P0 is accommodated in a hook 109 attached to a plate transport chain 108 constituting the plate transport means, and the suction of the capturing and moving means 103 is released. In this state, the plate transport chain 108
, And the lower end of the photosensitive plate P0 is
While being pushed up by 9, it was conveyed along the curved guide plate 106 and the fixed guide roller 107, and was inserted into the insertion roller 110 of the automatic developing machine 101.

[0007]

However, in such a conventional photosensitive plate auto feeder 100, when the photosensitive plate P is carried into the inclined mounting table 102,
Those exposed first are stacked on the lower side, and the photosensitive plates P exposed later are stacked on the upper side. Therefore, the capturing / moving means 103 approaches and sticks to the uppermost photosensitive plate P0 of the mounting table 102, so that the photosensitive plate P exposed later is sent to the automatic developing machine 101 first to be developed and processed. I was

For this reason, when the conventional photosensitive plate auto feeder 100 is used, the subsequent work cannot be performed in the order of exposure, and the work procedure is complicated. In the conventional photosensitive plate auto feeder 100, the mounting table 1
Since 02 is separated from the transporting portion, the apparatus has a drawback that the device becomes large and workability is poor. or,
Some conventional photosensitive plate auto feeders have a structure in which photosensitive plates are horizontally stacked on a mounting table, stocked, suctioned one by one from above using a catching and moving means, and sequentially fed to an automatic developing machine. there were.

However, even in this case, the photosensitive plate exposed earlier is stacked on the lower side and the one exposed later is stacked on the upper side, so that the photosensitive plate exposed later is later put on the automatic developing machine. Was sent to and processed. Therefore, even with the conventional horizontal photosensitive plate auto feeder, the subsequent work cannot be performed in the order of exposure, and the work procedure is complicated. In addition, a separate horizontal mounting table separate from the transporting portion is required, and there is a disadvantage that an extremely large installation space is required.

In order to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks of the conventional photosensitive plate auto feeder, the invention according to claim 1 conveys the photosensitive plate which has been exposed first to an automatic developing machine in order, and performs development processing in the order of exposure. It is an object of the present invention to provide a photosensitive plate auto feeder which can perform the operation procedure easily. Further, according to the present invention, the photosensitive plate can be successively separated one by one and conveyed to an automatic developing machine, and can be separated while depositing and holding the photosensitive plate. The purpose of the present invention is to provide an automatic plate feeder.

[0011]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and to achieve the object, a photosensitive plate auto feeder according to the present invention comprises a plurality of image-exposed photosensitive plates, one by one from the outside. In the photosensitive plate feeder that carries in, deposits and holds the photosensitive plates carried one by one, and separates them one by one from the photosensitive plate carried in earlier and sends them to the automatic developing machine. A photosensitive plate insertion opening to be carried in, and a photosensitive plate mounting means for moving the photosensitive plate carried in from the photosensitive plate insertion direction in the unloading direction and stacking and holding the photosensitive plates in a standing state in the order in which the photosensitive plates are carried in And a photosensitive plate end which is located at the unloading position facing the photosensitive plate mounting means and which supports the end of the photosensitive plate loaded before the upright state. Supporting means, disposed in the unloading direction opposite to the photosensitive plate insertion opening with respect to the photosensitive plate in the stack holding state, capturing the photosensitive plate in the stack holding state in the order in which the photosensitive plate is first loaded, and A catching and moving means for moving to the plate end supporting means, and a moving and moving between the photosensitive plate which has been captured and moved and the photosensitive plate deposited and held by the photosensitive plate mounting means which is to be subsequently captured and moved; A separating unit that separates the photosensitive plates, and a photosensitive plate end supporting unit that supports the photosensitive plates separated by the separating unit, and conveys the photosensitive plates to the automatic developing machine. Transport means.

A plurality of image-exposed photosensitive plates are placed on the photosensitive plate placing means in the order of exposure. At this time, the previously exposed photosensitive plate is sequentially placed so as to face the capturing and moving means side, and the capturing and moving means is brought close to the placed photosensitive plate to capture the photosensitive plate. Then, the capturing and moving means is moved to move the end of the photosensitive plate to the position of the photosensitive plate end support means, and is disposed between the photosensitive plate end support means and the photosensitive plate mounting means. The photosensitive plate is separated from the photosensitive plate mounting means by using the separating means. The end of the photosensitive plate separated by the separating means is conveyed to the automatic developing machine by the conveying means while being supported by the photosensitive plate end supporting means. In this manner, the photosensitive plate insertion port and the capture moving means are positioned on the opposite side to the photosensitive plate in the accumulation holding state so that the photosensitive plate previously carried in faces the capture movement means side. The photosensitive plates can be sequentially separated from the loaded photosensitive plate and transported to an automatic developing machine.

Further, the photosensitive plate automatic feeder according to the present invention is characterized in that the separating means is a loop-shaped member having a plurality of divided separating rollers. A plurality of image-exposed photosensitive plates are moved to the position of the photosensitive plate end support means, and the captured and moved photosensitive plate is moved by using a loop-shaped member having a blocking separation roller. The plate is separated from the photosensitive plate mounting means. As described above, since the separation means is divided into a plurality of blocks, the photosensitive plates can be sequentially and successively separated one by one and transported to the automatic developing machine. can do.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway perspective view of the photosensitive plate auto feeder of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side view of the same. The photosensitive plate auto-feeder A engages with the pair of separation roller transfer chains 1 disposed at an interval wider than the width of the photosensitive plate P to be transferred, and rotates the pair of separation roller transfer chains 1. A sprocket 2 and separation rollers 3 each having both ends of a rotating shaft 3a supported by the pair of separation roller transport chains 1
And the plate temporary receiving roller 4 which is supported on both ends of the rotary shaft 4b by a roller support member 4a attached to the separation roller transport chain 1 and protruding radially outward from a rotational movement surface at the center of the chain. A pair of plate transport chains 5 arranged at a wider interval than the width of the photosensitive plate P, a sprocket 6 engaged with and rotating these plate transport chains 5, and both ends of the plate transport chain 5 A photosensitive plate end supporting means 7 provided with a hook 7b having a V-shaped cross section fixed to a shaft 7a to be supported, and a plurality of photosensitive transfer plates 8 are provided on a transfer moving surface to form a plate transfer surface 8. A rotatable fixed guide roller 9, a plate mounting table 10 for supporting lower ends of the plurality of loaded photosensitive plates P, and a plate mounting table 10. And a catching moving means 11 for moving the plate conveying surface 8 and adsorbed is disposed at a position toward one by one photosensitive plate P plate from the mounting table 10. The plate mounting table 10 constitutes a photosensitive plate mounting unit that stacks and holds the photosensitive plates P one by one in the order in which the photosensitive plates P are carried in. The capturing / moving means 11 includes a photosensitive plate insertion port 19 for loading the photosensitive plate P into the plate mounting table 10 serving as a photosensitive plate mounting means, and a photosensitive plate insertion port for the photosensitive plate P in the stacked and held state. The photosensitive plate is provided on the side opposite to 19, and is captured by the photosensitive plate mounting means in the order in which the photosensitive plates are held and moved to the photosensitive plate end support means 7.

The separating means is a loop-shaped member having a plurality of divided separating rollers 3 attached to the separating roller transport chain 1. The plate temporary receiving rollers 4 for temporarily receiving the photosensitive plate P are alternately arranged at predetermined intervals with the separation roller 3, and a plurality of blocks having a length substantially equal to the length of the photosensitive plate P in the long side direction. Are divided into Separating means having a plurality of blocked plate temporary receiving rollers 4 and separation rollers 3 can move these together in a loop. The plate temporary receiving rollers 4 are stacked and held on the plate mounting table 10 in an upright state. The separation roller 3 moves while receiving the photosensitive plate P to be moved, and the separation roller 3 is moved between the lower end of the photosensitive plate P captured and moved and the lower end of the photosensitive plate P deposited and held on the plate mounting table 10 to be captured and moved next. One photosensitive plate P can be separated by moving toward the entrance upper end. The separating means has a portion that does not hold each roller between the separation roller 3 and the block of the temporary plate receiving roller 4. Activate.

The rising angle θ of the separation / conveyance chain 1 is set to, for example, θ = 60 ° to 85 ° so that the roller outer surface 4c of the temporary plate receiving roller 4 forms a plate support surface 4d. The plate support surface 4d is located radially outward of the rotation center of the chain with respect to the separation roller 3. Further, a rotatable fixed guide roller 9 constituting the plate transport surface 8 of the photosensitive plate P is
It is composed of a support shaft 9a and a number of guide rings 9b which are supported by the support shaft 9a and arranged at regular intervals. The support shaft 9a is supported by the side plate A1 of the photosensitive plate auto feeder A.

A curved guide plate 12 is mounted between the adjacent guide rings 9b. The curved guide plate 12 has a plurality of cutouts 12a for projecting a part of the guide ring 9b. I have. The plate conveyance surface 8 formed by the fixed guide roller 6 having the above-described configuration and assisted by the curved surface guide plate 12 passes through the insertion guide 14 from the carry-out port 13 of the photosensitive plate auto feeder A, and passes through the insertion roller 16 of the automatic developing machine 15. Is led to.

A conveyance detection sensor 17 is provided on an insertion guide 14 for connecting the photosensitive plate auto feeder A to the automatic developing machine 15 and captures a conveyance detection signal.
And a drive detection signal to drive control means 18 for controlling each drive (not shown) for driving the separation roller transfer chain 1 and the plate transfer chain 5.

The catching / moving means 11 comprises two or more suction cups 11a arranged in parallel, and suction cup moving means 11b capable of moving the suction cups 11a in a direction perpendicular to the plate mounting table 10. The photosensitive plate P is connected to a vacuum pump (not shown), attracts the photosensitive plate P on the plate mounting table 10 in a negative pressure state, and moves to the photosensitive plate end support means 7 on the plate transfer surface 8.

The transport means for transporting the photosensitive plate P loaded on the plate transport surface 8 to the automatic developing machine 15 includes a plate transport chain 5 and a hook 7b attached to the plate transport chain 5 by locking a shaft 7a. It comprises a photosensitive plate end support means 7. The hook 7b has a V-shape for accommodating the lower end of the photosensitive plate P to be conveyed.

The plate transport chain 5, which is engaged with the sprocket 6 rotating forward and backward by driving means (not shown), rotates upward while the photosensitive plate P is placed on the photosensitive plate end support means 7, and the photosensitive plate is rotated. P is conveyed to the automatic developing machine 15 while being supported by the fixed guide roller 6 on the back surface. On the other hand, while moving the plurality of photosensitive plates P loaded on the plate mounting table 10 onto the photosensitive plate end support means 7 using the capturing and moving means 11 as described above,
The separation means for separating into one sheet is a separation roller transport chain 1
And a separation roller 3 and a plate temporary receiving roller 4 locked to the roller. The separation roller transport chain 1 that engages with the sprocket 2 that is rotated by a driving unit (not shown) rotates upward from below.

Further, a photosensitive plate insertion opening 19 is opened in the upper surface portion A2 of the photosensitive plate auto feeder A, and the inserted photosensitive plate P is supported on the back by the plate temporary receiving roller 4 of one block. In this state, the lower end is supported by the plate mounting table 10. The plate mounting table 10 has a table 10a on which about 20 plates of the photosensitive plate P can be mounted. The tip of the base 10a is provided with a jagged projection 10b to assist in separation when the photosensitive plate P is captured and moved. The plate mounting table 10 has an L-shape, and plays a role of pressing down the photosensitive plate P with a back plate 10c that stands upright on the base 10a during suction.

Next, the operation of the photosensitive plate auto feeder A will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 10 are side views of the photosensitive plate auto feeder for explaining the photosensitive plate supply / transport operation. First, the photosensitive plate P is inserted into the photosensitive plate auto feeder A from the photosensitive plate insertion port 19, and the photosensitive plate P is supported by the temporary plate receiving roller 4 and the base 10a of the plate mounting table 10. . At this time, the guide 19a of the photosensitive plate insertion opening 19 is inclined so that the photosensitive plate P inserted earlier is on the plate temporary receiving roller 4 side.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3, the suction cup 11a approaches and sticks to the photosensitive plate P supported by the plate mounting table 10 from a vertical direction. At this time, the photosensitive plate P is pressed against the back plate 10c of the plate mounting table 10. Thereafter, when the suction cup 11a starts to return, the uppermost photosensitive plate P0 on the plate mounting table 10 is
The lower end portion is separated by sliding contact with the projection 10b. The topmost photosensitive plate P0 is the one that has been inserted into the plate mounting table 10 first.

When the suction cup 11a moves, the sprocket 6 is controlled by the drive control means 18.
Is rotated so that the hook 7b of the plate transport chain 5 is located immediately below the suction cup 11a. Similarly, the separation roller transport chain 1 also rotates the sprocket 2 so that the blocked separation roller 3 and the leading portion of the temporary plate receiving roller 4 are set below the hook 7b. . The sucker 11a that has sucked the lower end of the photosensitive plate P0 moves from above the plate mounting table 10 onto the hook 7b of the photosensitive plate end support means 7 with the movement of the sucker moving means 11b (FIG. 4).

Next, the sprocket 2 is rotated under the control of the driving device control means 18 so that the separation roller transport chain 1 is rotated.
Is moved upward, and the separating roller 3 and the plate temporary receiving roller 4 are cut from below the photosensitive plate P0 so that 1
Separate into sheets (FIG. 5). When the leading end of the block of the separation roller 3 and the temporary plate receiving roller 4 reaches the upper end of the photosensitive plate P0,
A plate upper end detection sensor 20 attached in the vicinity detects the upper end of the photosensitive plate P0 and sends a detection signal to the capturing / moving means 11 and the drive control means 18 to stop the rotation of the sprocket 2 and the suction cup 11a. Release the suction. Thus, the lower end of the photosensitive plate P0 is held by the hook 7b (FIG. 6).

Note that the photosensitive plate P
If the lower end is held, suction can be released even while the separating means is moving. As shown in FIG. 7, the separated photosensitive plate P0 has a curved surface guide plate 12 and a guide ring 9b of a fixed guide roller 9 on its back surface.
And support. The other photosensitive plate P remaining on the plate mounting table 10 is supported by the plate temporary receiving roller 4 of the block stopped at this position instead of the plate temporary receiving roller 4 of the previously supported block. You.

Next, the sprocket 6 is rotated under the control of the driving device control means 18 to rotate the plate transport chain 5 upward. Thereby, the photosensitive plate P0 is conveyed along the fixed guide roller 9, and is introduced into the insertion roller 16 of the automatic developing machine 15 through the insertion guide 14 from the carry-out port 13 of the photosensitive plate auto feeder A. At this time, when the conveyance detection sensor 17 on the insertion guide 14 detects the conveyance of the photosensitive plate P, the detection signal is sent to the capturing / moving means 11 and the drive control means 18 (FIG. 8).

After a predetermined period of time has elapsed after receiving the detection signal, the drive control means 18 stops driving the plate transport chain 5, and then reversely rotates the sprocket 6 to retract the hook 7b. And the capturing and moving means 11
Return to the standby position below (FIG. 9). Thereafter, the separation roller transport chain 1 is moved and set so that the heads of the separation roller 3 and the plate temporary receiving roller 4 which are re-blocked are located below the hook 7b (FIG. 1).
0). Thereafter, the capturing / moving means 11 is again moved to the plate mounting table 1.
By sucking the photosensitive plate P of 0 and repeating the above-described steps, the photosensitive plates P in which a plurality of photosensitive plates P are inserted are transported one by one to the automatic developing machine 15 in the order of insertion.

In this embodiment, a plurality of divided separation rollers 3 and a temporary plate receiving roller 4 are attached to the separation roller transport chain 1 so that the separation means and the photosensitive plate mounting means are also used. However, as shown in FIG. 11, the plate temporary receiving means 30 may be provided separately from the separation roller transport chain 21. In this case, the temporary plate receiving member 30a is formed of a flat member having an appropriate width to support the photosensitive plate P, and the temporary plate receiving member 30a can be extended and contracted by the temporary plate receiving member movement control means 30b. It has a simple configuration. That is, when supporting the photosensitive plate P, the temporary plate receiving member 30a is extended, and when the upper one of the placed plates is captured, moved and separated, the plate is moved to a position where the operation is not hindered. The temporary receiving member 30a is reduced.

[0031]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the photosensitive plate insertion opening and the capturing / moving means are stacked and held so that the photosensitive plate carried in earlier faces the capturing / moving means side. Since the photosensitive plate is located on the opposite side to the photosensitive plate, it can be sequentially separated from the photosensitive plate that has been previously carried in and transported to the automatic developing machine.

In the present invention, since the separating means is divided into a plurality of blocks, the photosensitive plates can be successively separated one by one and conveyed to an automatic developing machine. Since the photosensitive plate is separated while being deposited and held, it is possible to provide a simple and miniaturized photosensitive plate auto feeder.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway perspective view of a photosensitive plate auto feeder of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the photosensitive plate auto feeder of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a side view of a photosensitive plate auto feeder for explaining a photosensitive plate supply / transport operation.

FIG. 4 is a side view of a photosensitive plate auto feeder for explaining a photosensitive plate supply / transport operation.

FIG. 5 is a side view of a photosensitive plate auto feeder for explaining a photosensitive plate supply / transport operation.

FIG. 6 is a side view of a photosensitive plate auto feeder for explaining a photosensitive plate supply / transport operation.

FIG. 7 is a side view of a photosensitive plate auto feeder for explaining a photosensitive plate supply / transport operation.

FIG. 8 is a side view of a photosensitive plate auto feeder for explaining a photosensitive plate supply / transport operation.

FIG. 9 is a side view of a photosensitive plate auto feeder for explaining a photosensitive plate supply / transport operation.

FIG. 10 is a side view of a photosensitive plate auto feeder for explaining a photosensitive plate supply / transport operation.

FIG. 11 is a side view of another embodiment in which the plate temporary receiving means is provided separately from the separation roller transport chain.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a conventional photosensitive plate auto feeder.

FIG. 13 is a side view of a conventional photosensitive plate auto feeder.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS A Photosensitive plate auto feeder P, P0 Photosensitive plate 1 Separation roller conveyance chain 3 Separation roller 4 Plate temporary receiving roller 5 Plate conveyance chain 7 Photosensitive plate end support means 9 Fixed guide roller 10 Plate mounting table 11 Capture movement means 12 Curved guide plate 15 Automatic developing machine 30 Plate temporary receiving member

Claims (2)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] 1. A plurality of image-exposed photosensitive plates are carried in one by one from the outside, and the photosensitive plates carried in one by one are deposited and held. In the photosensitive plate feeder which separates and feeds the photosensitive plate into the automatic developing machine, the photosensitive plate insertion opening for loading the photosensitive plate and the photosensitive plate loaded from the photosensitive plate insertion opening are moved in the unloading direction. A photosensitive plate mounting means for stacking and holding the photosensitive plates in an upright state in the order in which the photosensitive plates are loaded, and a photosensitive plate placed at an unloading position opposed to the photosensitive plate mounting means and loaded at the tip of the upright state. A photosensitive plate end supporting means for supporting an end of the plate; and a photosensitive plate in the stacking and holding state, which is disposed in an unloading direction opposite to the photosensitive plate insertion opening. Capturing and moving means for capturing and moving the photosensitive plate in the accumulation holding state to the photosensitive plate end support means in the order in which the photosensitive plate is first carried in, the photosensitive plate which has been captured and moved, and the photosensitive plate which has been captured and moved next Separation means for moving between the photosensitive plate deposited and held on the mounting means and moving to separate one photosensitive plate,
Transport means for moving the photosensitive plate end support means for supporting the photosensitive plate separated by the separating means and transporting the photosensitive plate to the automatic developing machine. Plate auto feeder. 2. A photosensitive plate auto-feeder according to claim 1, wherein said separation means is a loop-shaped member having a plurality of divided separation rollers.