JP2742337B2 - Electrophotographic plate making equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electrophotographic plate making apparatus in which a printing plate is developed with a liquid developer, and a fixing and elution process is performed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a direct plate making apparatus, there is an electrophotographic plate making apparatus in which an electrophotographic printing plate is developed with a liquid developer, and fixed and eluted.

[0003] The liquid developer used in the electrophotographic plate-making apparatus generally has toner particles adsorbed with a resin imparting characteristics such as dispersibility, polarity controllability and fixability dispersed in a carrier liquid. Things. After being charged by a charger, the electrophotographic printing plate is scanned and exposed by a laser beam. In the developing step, the toner particles adhere to the image portion of the electrophotographic printing plate to visualize the electrostatic latent image. After completion of the development, the electrophotographic printing plate is conveyed to a squeezing unit in order to remove excess liquid developer. As a method for removing the excess liquid developer, a high-speed air (for example, a transport speed of the electrophotographic printing plate of 50 mm / sec.
In the case of about c, air having a wind speed of about 20 m / sec is required), and a method of nipping and transporting with a pair of rubber rolls is known.

However, the method of blowing high-speed air may cause image defects such as the toner adhering to the image portion flowing out due to the wind pressure and the non-uniform amount of toner adhering to the solid portion. In addition, a large blower is required for the blowing source, which increases the size of the device and generates large noise and vibration.

[0005] In the method of nipping and transporting between the rubber roll pairs, as shown in FIG.
Since a substantially triangular gap 204 is formed between the rubber roll pair 202 and the rubber roll pair 202, the liquid developer on the developing unit side oozes out of the gap 204 to the downstream side of the rubber roll pair 202 and passes through the rubber roll pair 202. Electrophotographic printing plate 200
The liquid developer 204 adheres to the side end portion 200A, and the liquid developer remaining on the side end portion 200A exudes toward the flat portion of the electrophotographic printing plate. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 9, the electrophotographic printing plate 200 after passing through the rubber roll pair 202 is used.
Of the liquid developer 206 near the side end 200A.
A thick band 208 is formed. This belt 208
Since it takes a long time to dry the portion, image defects such as toner particles flowing out of the image portion and uneven toner adhesion in the solid portion occur.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide an electrophotographic plate making apparatus which does not disturb the toner adhered to the image portion of a direct printing plate after the development is completed.

[0007]

The electrophotographic plate making apparatus of the present invention is an electrophotographic plate making apparatus in which a direct printing plate developed with a liquid developer passes through a pair of squeezing rollers, and is fixed and eluted. A blower disposed close to the downstream side of the squeeze roller pair and blowing air toward the entire width of the image forming surface of the direct printing plate ; and a blower downstream of the blower.
Located near both ends of the image forming surface of the direct printing plate
Means for blowing air to blow air toward the
Of the direct printing plate arranged downstream of
Drying means for blowing hot air toward the entire width of the image forming surface ;
It is characterized by having provided.

[0008]

In the electrophotographic plate making apparatus according to the present invention, the direct printing plate developed with the liquid developer passes through a pair of squeezing rollers, whereby the liquid developer adhering in a water droplet form on a flat portion is squeezed out. Although the liquid developer adheres to the side edge of the direct printing plate that has passed through the pair of squeezing rollers, the liquid developer at the side edge is blown from the blowing means toward the entire width of the image forming surface. Receiving air to prevent bleeding on the image forming surface . For this reason, the image forming surface of the direct printing plate
The liquid developer does not become a thick film. After that, Daile
The printing plate is blown by both sides of the image forming surface
The vicinity receives wind and then hot air from the drying means.
Dry between and evenly. Therefore, the drying of the liquid developer on the image forming surface of the direct printing plate is partially delayed, so that the image with the toner attached does not flow. Thereafter, the dried direct printing plate fixing process performed in the fixing unit
Then , an elution process is performed in the elution processing section.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 4, a direct printing plate 14 used in this embodiment is a thin plate-shaped electrophotographic printing plate.
A photoconductive photosensitive layer 30 is formed on one surface of a conductive support 28 to form an image forming surface. The conductive support 28 is made of an aluminum material and has a thickness of about 0.3 mm. Further, the conductive support 28 is formed of the photoconductive photosensitive layer 3.
The interface with 0 is subjected to a hydrophilic treatment. As the photoconductive photosensitive layer 30, for example, an organic photoconductive photoconductor is used.

As shown in FIG. 5, an electrophotographic plate making apparatus 10 to which the present invention is applied is provided with a plate feeding section 12 on the upstream side.

The plate supplying section 12 includes a conveyor device (not shown), and conveys the unexposed plate material 14 in the direction of arrow A in FIG. In this electrophotographic plate making apparatus 10, the length of the direct printing plate 14 is the transport direction (the direction of arrow A in FIG. 5).
And the processing is performed with the photoconductive photosensitive layer 30 facing upward.

As shown in FIG. 6, the drawing section 16 is provided with a carrier 32 on which the direct printing plate 14 is placed.
The transfer table 32 can be moved in the direction of arrow A in FIG. The drawing unit 16 is provided with a charger 34 for positively charging the photoconductive photosensitive layer 30 of the direct printing plate 14 on the upper side of the transport table 32, and an exposure unit on the side of the charger 34 in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 36 are arranged. The exposure unit 36 is provided with a semiconductor laser (not shown), and the semiconductor laser irradiates a laser beam to an image portion of the charged photoconductive photosensitive layer 30 to scan and expose an image. Further, the drawing unit 16 is provided with a not-shown clamping claw for discharging the exposed direct printing plate 14 in the direction of arrow A in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 5, a developing / fixing processing section 18 is provided on the drawing section 16 in the direction of arrow A in FIG.
The developing / fixing processing section 18 is provided with a developing section 38, a squeeze drying section 42, and a fixing section 44 in this order. ) Are provided.

As shown in FIG. 1, the developing section 38 is provided with a frame 120 formed in the shape of a hollow prism, and the direct printing plate 14 is inserted therein. The frame body 120 is arranged in a state where the downstream side is inclined downward. The frame body 120 is entirely formed of an insulating material such as a resin, and a developing electrode 122 formed of a metal plate is provided on the inner upper surface. In the vicinity of the upstream and downstream openings of the frame 120, ground terminals 124 that contact the lower surface (the conductive support 28) of the direct printing plate 14 are provided. These developing electrode 122 and ground terminal 1
A power supply (not shown) is connected to 24 so that a bias voltage is applied to the direct printing plate 14. Further, on the upstream side of the frame 120, the liquid sending nozzle 12 is provided.
The liquid developer is supplied into the frame 120 through the liquid sending nozzle 126. The liquid developer used here is generally obtained by dispersing toner particles adsorbing a resin imparting properties such as dispersibility, polarity controllability, and fixability in a carrier liquid. In the electrophotographic plate making apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, the direct printing plate 14 in the developing section 38 is used.
Is performed by reversal development, and the positively charged direct printing plate 14 is developed with a toner having a positive charge. Further, the portion of the direct printing plate 14 to which the toner adheres becomes lipophilic, so that oil-based ink adheres.

A squeeze drying section 42 is disposed downstream of the developing section 38 in the direction of conveyance of the direct printing plate 14 (in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1), and a squeeze roller pair is provided upstream of the squeeze drying section 42. 130 is provided. As shown in FIG. 2, the length dimension (dimension W3 in FIG. 2) of the squeeze roller pair 130 is larger than the width dimension (dimension W1 in FIG. 2) of the direct printing plate 14. The width of the printing plate 14 is 30 mm larger on one side than on the other side. The outer peripheral surface of the squeezing roller pair 130 is formed of an elastic body such as rubber, and the excess liquid adhering to the flat portion of the direct printing plate 14 by rotating while sandwiching the direct printing plate 14 from the thickness direction. Squeeze the developer. A cleaning pad 132 is pressed against the outer periphery of one of the pair of squeezing rollers 130 which comes into contact with the image forming surface side of the direct printing plate 14, and has a function of cleaning the outer peripheral surface.

As shown in FIG.
An air knife 134 is disposed above the direct printing plate 14 on the downstream side of the direct printing plate 14 in the transport direction (the direction of the arrow A in FIG. 1). This air knife 134
Is provided with a blower 136 and a slit-shaped outlet 138. As shown in FIG. 2, the length of the outlet 138 in the direction along the width of the direct printing plate 14 (dimension W2 in FIG. 2) is greater than the width of the direct printing plate 14 (dimension W1 in FIG. 2). Has been enlarged.

As shown in FIG. 3, the width of the slit (dimension S in FIG. 3) of the outlet 138 is set in the range of 1 to 2 mm in this embodiment. The tip of the outlet 138 is located within 10 mm from the outer circumference of the upper squeeze roller of the squeeze roller pair 130 and within 10 mm from the surface of the direct printing plate 14, in the direction of air blowing (arrow B in FIG. 3).
Direction) is the direct printing plate 14 toward the roller opposite side.
From 15 ° to 75 °. In this embodiment, the transport speed of the direct printing plate 14 is 50 mm.
/ Sec, the air velocity at the tip of the outlet 138 is, for example, about 15 m / sec.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, on the downstream side of the direct plate 14 in the transport direction of the direct plate 14 (the direction of the arrow A in FIGS. 1 and 2) from the air knife 134, the side of the direct plate 14 A fan 176 that blows air toward the vicinity of the end 14A is arranged.

As shown in FIG. 1, the hot air drying device 1 is located above the direct printing plate 14 on the downstream side of the fan 176 in the transport direction of the direct printing plate 14 (in the direction of the arrow A in FIG. 1).
70 are provided. The hot air drying device 170 is provided with a pair of heaters 172 that do not emit visible light.
Above the heater 172, a cross flow fan 174 for blowing air toward the direct printing plate 14 is arranged. In the present embodiment, the wind speed of the air from the cross flow fan 174 is, for example, about 10 m / sec.
It has been.

A drying zone is provided between the air knife 134 and the hot air drying device 170, and the direct printing plate 14
In the present embodiment, the dimension in the transport direction (dimension L in FIG. 1) is, for example, about 200 mm.

As shown in FIG. 5, the downstream side of the squeeze drying section 42 in the transport direction of the direct printing plate 14 (arrow A in FIG. 5).
(Direction side), a fixing unit 44 is disposed. Fixing unit 4
4 is provided with a plurality of heating lamps (not shown),
The toner particles adhered to the direct printing plate 14 are melted and fixed by the heat of the heating lamp.

The elution processing unit 2 is located downstream of the fixing unit 44 in the transport direction of the direct printing plate 14 (in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 5).
2 are arranged. As shown in FIG.
Reference numeral 2 denotes an elution portion 48 for applying an alkaline solution to the direct printing plate 14 to elute the photoconductive photoreceptor layer 30 in a non-image portion of the direct printing plate 14 (that is, a non-image portion other than a portion where a toner image is formed). A squeezing unit 50 for removing excess alkali solution attached to the direct printing plate 14, a washing unit 52 for washing the squeezed direct printing plate 14 with water to remove the alkaline solution, and applying a gum solution to the washed direct printing plate 14. A gum solution application unit 54 for applying, a drying unit 114 for drying the direct printing plate 14 coated with the gum solution, and a plurality of transport rollers 56, 5 for nipping and transporting the direct printing plate 14.
8, 60, 62, 64 and 66 are provided.

The transport roller 56 is disposed on the upstream side of the elution processing section 22 (the side opposite to the direction of arrow A in FIG. 7), and is located downstream of the transport roller 56 in the transport direction of the direct printing plate 14 (see FIG. 7). The elution part 48 is arranged on the side of the arrow 7 (in the direction of arrow A). The elution section 48 is provided with an elution tank 68, and the elution tank 68 is provided with transport rollers 58 and 60 and a plurality of guide rollers 88. The direct printing plate 14 is transported by the transport rollers 58 and 60 and the guide roller 88 and is immersed in the alkaline solution in the elution tank 68. A circulation pump 84 is connected to the elution tank 68, sucks the alkaline solution in the tank, and sprays the alkaline solution from the nozzle 86 onto the direct printing plate 14.

The direct printing plate 14 in the elution tank 68
A roller-shaped brush 90 is arranged at a position corresponding to the photoconductive photosensitive layer 30. The brush 90 is connected to a rotation drive unit such as a motor (not shown), and the rotation drive unit rotates the brush 90. A drain pipe 82 is connected to the lower end of the elution tank 68, and the degraded alkaline solution in the tank can be discharged out of the tank via the drain pipe 82.

The squeezing section 5 is located downstream of the elution tank 68 in the transport direction of the direct printing plate 14 (in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 7).
0 is arranged, and the conveyance roller 62 is arranged in the squeeze section 50. Receiving part 94
Is provided, and the direct printing plate 14 is
2 removes the alkaline solution adhered to the surface. The roller 9 is provided on the side of the receiving portion 94
6 is disposed in close contact with the transport roller 62, and the alkaline solution removed by the transport roller 62 is
Through the receiving part 94. Further, a pump 98 for returning the removed alkaline solution to the elution tank 68 is connected to the receiving portion 94.

A washing section 52 is disposed downstream (in the direction of the arrow A in FIG. 7) of the direct printing plate 14 in the conveying direction from the elution section 48, and a conveying roller 64 is arranged in the washing section 52. . The washing unit 52 includes a roller-shaped brush 10.
0 and a water receiving tank 102 are provided. Wash water is stored in the water receiving tank 102, and the wash water is stored in a pump 104.
And is sprayed from the nozzle 106 onto the direct printing plate 14. The brush 100 is disposed at a position corresponding to the photoconductive photosensitive layer 30 of the direct printing plate 14, and can clean the photoconductive photosensitive layer 30 of the direct printing plate 14.

A gum solution application unit 54 is disposed downstream (in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 7) of the direct printing plate 14 in the transport direction of the washing unit 52. The gum solution applying section 54 is provided with a gum solution tank 110, and the gum solution is stored in the gum solution tank 110. The gum solution in the gum solution tank 110 is sucked up by the pump 112 and sprayed from the nozzle 113 onto the direct printing plate 14.

Direct printing plate 1 rather than gum solution application section 54
The drying unit 114 is disposed downstream (in the direction of the arrow A in FIG. 7) in the transport direction of No. 4. The drying unit 114 is provided with a dryer 116, and the direct printing plate 14 after the gum treatment is dried by the dryer 116.

As shown in FIG. 5, a standby section 118 is disposed downstream (in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 5) of the direct printing plate 14 in the transport direction of the direct printing plate 14 from the elution processing section 22. The printing plate 14 is transported to the standby unit 118. The standby unit 118 is provided with a conveyor device (not shown), and the conveyor device transports the direct printing plate 14 in the direction of arrow A in FIG.

A puncher section 24 is disposed downstream of the standby section 118 in the transport direction of the direct printing plate 14 (in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 5). In this puncher part 24,
The direct printing plate 14 is provided with a punch (not shown) for forming a notch for positioning at the time of printing.

Direct printing plate 1 rather than puncher section 24
On the downstream side in the transport direction of No. 4 (in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 5), a plate bending portion 26 is arranged. The plate bending portion 26 is provided with a bending device (not shown) for bending both ends of the direct printing plate 14 in the longitudinal direction by a predetermined size.

The operation of this embodiment will be described below. As shown in FIG. 5, the unexposed direct printing plate 14 is arranged along the transport direction with the photoconductive photosensitive layer 30 facing upward, and is transferred to the drawing unit 16 by a conveyor device (not shown) of the plate feeding unit 12. Conveyed. As shown in FIG. 6, in the drawing unit 16, the carriage 32 on which the direct printing plate 14 is placed is moved in the direction of arrow A in FIG.
During this movement, the photoconductive photosensitive layer 30 of the direct printing plate 14 on the carrier table 32 is positively charged by the charger 34. When the direct printing plate 14 is transported directly below the exposure unit 36, a laser beam corresponding to an original image emitted from a semiconductor laser (not shown) is irradiated on the surface of the photoconductive photosensitive layer 30. As a result, the incident portion where the laser beam is incident becomes conductive, positive charges move from the surface of the incident portion of the photoconductive photosensitive layer 30, and an electrostatic latent image corresponding to image information is formed. .

Direct printing plate 14 on which an electrostatic latent image is formed
Is held at its end by a not-shown holding claw, and is carried out to the developing / fixing processing section 18.

In the developing section 38, the inside of the frame 120 is filled with the liquid developer supplied from the liquid sending nozzle 126, and when the direct printing plate 14 is conveyed into the frame 120 and immersed in the liquid developer. Then, the positively charged toner particles during liquid development adhere to the exposed portions of the photoconductive photosensitive layer 14. The portion to which the toner particles adhere becomes lipophilic.

The direct printing plate 14 is provided with a squeeze drying section 42.
Is reached, the direct printing plate 14 is drawn by the squeezing roller pair 130
As a result, excess liquid developer on the flat portion is squeezed out. The liquid developer adheres to the side edge 14A of the direct printing plate 14 after passing through the pair of squeezing rollers 130, but the air blown from the air knife 134 causes the direct printing plate 14
Then, the liquid developer adhered to the side end 14A is prevented from bleeding to the photoconductive photosensitive layer 14 side by flowing toward the side portion 14 after the contact. When the direct printing plate 14 is further conveyed, the vicinity of both side ends 14A receives air from the fan 176, and then the hot air drying device 170.
Direct printing plate 1
4 is dried in a short time. Direct printing plate 1
In No. 4, the liquid developer does not become a thick film in the photoconductive photosensitive layer 14 immediately before drying, the drying is performed uniformly in the transport direction, and the toner image is not disturbed due to the drying delay. Further, in the electrophotographic plate-making apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, after the excess liquid developer in the plane portion is squeezed out by the roller pair 130, the liquid developer attached to the side end is transferred to the photoconductive photosensitive layer 14 side. It is only necessary to blow air to prevent bleeding. Compared to a method in which the liquid developer is squeezed with only the air knife, the wind speed of the air knife 134 can be reduced. Can be reduced. Furthermore, because hot air is blown by the hot air drying device 170,
The direct printing plate 14 can be dried faster than the squeezing method using only the air knife or the roller pair, and the length of the electrophotographic plate making apparatus 10 in the transport direction can be shortened. The tip of the outlet 138 of the air knife 134 is set within 10 mm from the outer circumference of the upper squeezing roller of the squeezing roller pair 130 and the direct printing plate 1
4 to 10 mm or less, and when the air blowing angle is in a range of 15 ° to 75 ° with respect to the direct printing plate 14 toward the opposite side of the roller, the side end 14A of the direct printing plate 14 is most efficiently used. Experiments confirmed that air was blown to the liquid developer to prevent seepage to the photoconductive photosensitive layer 14 side.

The direct printing plate 14 thus dried is transported to the fixing unit 44. In the fixing unit 44,
The toner adhered to the direct printing plate 14 is melted and fixed by the heat of a heating lamp (not shown) and fixed. Fixing unit 4
The direct printing plate 14 heated in 4 is sent to the elution processing unit 22 after being blown by the cooling unit 46 and cooled.

In the elution processing section 22, as shown in FIG.
The direct printing plate 14 is nipped by the transport rollers 56, transported into the elution tank 68, and immersed in the alkaline solution. Direct printing plate 14 immersed in an alkaline solution
The photoconductive photoreceptor layer 30 to which the toner has not adhered, that is, the non-image area is eluted. At this time, the photoconductive photoreceptor layer 30 of the direct printing plate 14 is rubbed by the brush 90 to promote the elution reaction. By this elution process,
In the area of the direct printing plate 14 where the toner has not adhered, the surface of the conductive support 14 on which the hydrophilic treatment has been performed is exposed.

The direct printing plate 14 after the elution treatment is nipped between the conveying rollers 62 by the squeezing unit 50, and the alkaline solution adhered to the surface is squeezed. The squeezed alkaline solution falls through the roller 96 to the receiving portion 94 and accumulates. The alkaline solution stored in the receiving portion 94 is returned to the elution tank 68 by the pump 90.

The squeezed direct printing plate 14 is conveyed to the washing section 52, and washing water is sprayed from the nozzle 106. Further, the direct printing plate 14 is rubbed by the brush 100, and the attached alkaline solution is completely removed.

When the direct printing plate 14 is conveyed and reaches the gum solution applying section 54, the gum solution is ejected from the nozzle 114 and the gum solution is applied to the direct printing plate 14. The direct printing plate 14 after the gum treatment is conveyed and the direct printing plate 1
When 4 reaches the drying section 114, the gum solution adhering to the direct printing plate 14 is dried by the hot air of the dryer 116. Thereby, the non-image portion (the portion where the toner is not adhered) of the direct printing plate 14 is hydrophilized.

The direct printing plate 14 processed by the elution processing unit 22 is then temporarily waited in a standby unit 118, and is sent to a puncher unit 24 after plate inspection work and the like, and is positioned by a punch (not shown) for positioning during plate hanging. A notch is formed.

In the direct printing plate 14 in which the notch for positioning is formed by the puncher portion 24, both ends in the longitudinal direction of the direct printing plate 14 are bent by a predetermined size by a bending device (not shown) of the plate bending portion 26. Thus, the plate making process of the direct printing plate 14 is completed.

As described above, in the electrophotographic plate making apparatus 10 according to the present invention, since the toner image is not disturbed on the developed direct printing plate 14, high quality printing can be performed by using the direct printing plate 14. Printed matter can be provided.

In this embodiment, the air knife 134 is used.
Is set to 15 m / sec, but the present invention is not limited to this. The air speed of the air knife 134 may be changed depending on conditions such as the transport speed of the direct printing plate 14, the direction of air blowing, and the temperature. Good.

The outlet 138 of the air knife 134
May be changed depending on conditions such as the transport speed of the direct printing plate 14, the wind speed of air, and the temperature, and is not limited to the dimensional range shown in the present embodiment.

In this embodiment, the air knife 134 is used.
Although the width of the slit of the air outlet 138 is in the range of 1 to 2 mm, the present invention is not limited to this, and the width of the slit may be changed according to the conditions such as the wind speed of air and the temperature.

In this embodiment, the hot air drying device 170 is used.
Although the wind speed of the air from is set to 7 m / sec, the present invention is not limited to this, and the wind speed may be changed depending on the temperature of the hot air.

Further, in this embodiment, the direction of the air blown from the outlet 138 is such that the air is blown substantially toward the space between the roller pair 130. However, the present invention is not limited to this. As shown in (1), the air blowing direction (the direction of arrow C in FIG. 10) may be a direction from the center in the width direction of the direct printing plate 14 to the side end 14A. Also in this case, bleeding of the liquid developer attached to the side end 14A can be prevented.

[0050]

As described above, since the electrophotographic plate making apparatus of the present invention has the above-mentioned structure, it has an excellent effect that the toner attached to the image portion of the direct printing plate is not disturbed after the development is completed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial sectional view showing an end squeezing device of an electrophotographic plate making apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an end squeezing device of the electrophotographic plate making apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a roller of the electrophotographic plate making apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, which is perpendicular to an axis.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a structure of a direct printing plate used in the electrophotographic plate making apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing an arrangement of each processing unit of the electrophotographic plate making apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a drawing unit corresponding to the bottom view of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing an elution processing section corresponding to the bottom view of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a state diagram showing a conventional printing plate, showing a direct printing plate sandwiched between rubber roll pairs.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a conventional example, showing a direct printing plate conveyed from a rubber roll pair, and showing a state in which a liquid developer is attached.

FIG. 10 is a plan view showing an air knife 134 of an electrophotographic plate making apparatus according to another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 10 electrophotographic plate making apparatus 14 direct printing plate 22 elution processing section 44 fixing section 30 photoconductive photosensitive layer ( image forming surface ) 130 squeezing roller pair 134 air knife (blowing means) 170 hot air drying apparatus (drying means) 176 fan ( Blowing means for promoting drying )

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An electrophotographic plate making apparatus in which a direct printing plate developed with a liquid developer passes through a pair of squeezing rollers, and is subjected to fixing and elution processing. A blower arranged and blown toward the entire width of the image forming surface of the direct printing plate ; and a blower arranged downstream of the blower and the direct printing plate.
For drying promotion by blowing air to the vicinity of both ends of the image forming surface
An electrophotographic plate making apparatus comprising: a blowing unit; and a drying unit disposed downstream of the drying-promoting blowing unit and blowing hot air toward the entire width of the image forming surface of the direct printing plate.