JP3194991B2 - Exposure 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 exposure apparatus for directly printing a printing plate.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to save labor in plate making and printing plate processes, which are pre-printing processes, a direct printing plate system has been actively developed. 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an exposure apparatus of a direct printing plate system, a method of performing scanning exposure of a printing plate having sensitivity in a wavelength region of the laser by various lasers such as a semiconductor laser and an Ar laser is known.

[0003]

However, in the above-described laser type exposure apparatus, since there are many complicated optical systems and movable parts, the reliability of drawing is low, and the structure of the laser writing section is complicated, and the cost is low. There was a problem that caused the up. In addition, a long-wavelength, low-power beam oscillated from a semiconductor laser or the like cannot use a conventional printing plate,
I had to develop a printing plate that could be exposed with that output.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and to provide an exposure apparatus which has a simple structure and enables direct printing using a conventional printing plate as it is.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an exposure apparatus according to the present invention provides a printing plate for direct printing.
In the exposure apparatus to perform, a conveying means for conveying the printing plate,
An exposure light source that emits light having a wavelength to which the printing plate is sensitive,
A shutter disposed in a transport path of the transport unit and substantially perpendicular to a transport direction of the transport unit, for selectively blocking light from the exposure light source, and printing the light transmitted through the shutter; A condensing lens for condensing light on a plate, an opening / closing unit for controlling the opening and closing of the shutter and a conveying operation of the conveying unit, and an exposure processing unit for exposing a character, a line drawing, and an image on the printing plate;
And the exposure processing section includes character information, line drawing information, and image information.
Create and record image data for exposure based on the information
A data processing unit for storing the image data,
Control the opening and closing of the shutter and the transport operation of the transport means.
And an exposure control unit for performing the operation .

[0006]

With the exposure apparatus of the present invention, plate making can be performed directly by using the same exposure light source as in the prior art and by image signals from the exposure processing section.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings and the like. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of an exposure apparatus according to the present invention, FIGS. 2 and 3 are schematic diagrams and perspective views showing a liquid crystal head, and FIG. 4 is a block mainly showing a control unit and an exposure processing unit. FIG.

The exposure apparatus of this embodiment includes a plate feeding unit 10
The exposure unit 20, the plate discharge unit 30, the control unit 40, the exposure processing unit 50, and the like have a main configuration.

In the plate supply section 10, a plate supply tray 11 for accommodating a plurality of printing plates P is arranged. Plate tray 1
The position of the uppermost printing plate P accommodated in the printing plate 1 is detected by the plate height detection sensor 12, and the bottom of the plate feeding tray 11 is raised based on the signal, so that a constant height position is always maintained. It is kept. The printing plate P is transferred to the plate receiving roller 14 by the suction cup 13a of the suction device 13.
a, 14b.

At the exit side of the plate receiving rollers 14a and 14b, a conveyor belt 15 is disposed.
A static electricity removing device 16 and a plate surface dust removing roller 17 are disposed above. Further, the plate receiving rollers 14a, 1
Timing sensors S1 and S2 are provided at predetermined positions of the timing sensor S0 and the conveyor belt 15 immediately before 4b, and detect the position of the printing plate P.

In the exposure section 20, the transport belt 21 is sucked by a vacuum pump 22, and sucks and holds the printing plate P through a suction hole 21a. In the conveyance path of the conveyance belt 21, a plate position confirmation sensor 23 for detecting the position of the printing plate P, a liquid crystal head 24, and plate press rollers 25a, 25
b, an encoder 26, a timing sensor S3, and the like.

The liquid crystal head 24 includes, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, an exposure light source 241, a liquid crystal shutter 242,
It is composed of a condensing optical system 243 and the like. Exposure light source 24
Reference numeral 1 denotes a light source that emits light having a wavelength capable of sensitizing the printing plate P (suitable for sensitizing), and for example, a UV lamp can be used. The liquid crystal shutter 242 includes an exposure light source 241
Is a shutter for selectively blocking light from the camera. The condensing optical system 243 is a condensing lens that condenses the light transmitted through the liquid crystal shutter 242 on the printing plate P. For example, a selfoc lens can be used. Here, when direct exposure is performed by the liquid crystal head 24, since the flatness of the printing plate P and the accuracy of conveyance of the printing plate P are required, both sides are pressed by the plate pressing rollers 25a and 25b, and the slip of the printing plate P by the conveyance belt 21 is performed. To prevent this, suction is performed using the suction hole 21a.

The plate discharge section 30 is provided with a transport belt 31 for discharging the printing plate P exposed by the exposure section 20, and is further discharged to a plate discharge tray 33 by a plate discharge roller 32. At a predetermined position of the conveyor belt 31, a timing sensor S4 is disposed. In addition, plate discharge tray 3
The position of the uppermost printing plate P discharged onto the plate 3 is detected by the plate height detection sensor 34, and the bottom of the plate discharge tray 33 is lowered based on the signal, so that a constant height position is always maintained. I have to do it.

The conveyor belts 15, 21, 31 and plate receiving roller 14 are driven to rotate by a stepping motor M.

The control unit 40 includes a host computer 41,
It comprises a keyboard 42, a mouse 43, a scanner 44, an external connection I / F 45 and the like.

The host computer 41 includes a keyboard 4
2. Direct input from mouse 43 and scanner 44,
Various databases connected online, MT, F
Based on character information, line drawing information, and image information input from an external connection I / F 45 connected to a reading device for recording media such as D and CD, the editing unit 41a performs editing for plate making. When editing is completed in the editing unit 41a, yellow Y,
Data for each color of magenta M, cyan C, and black B is stored in the internal memory.

The type of plate and various edited data output from the host computer 41 are transmitted through the interface I
The data is transferred to the data processing unit 510 of the exposure processing unit 50 via / F. Further, the host computer 41 generates a control signal based on signals from the above-described timing sensors S0 to S4 and controls the data processing unit 510 and the exposure control unit 520.

The exposure processing section 50 is a section for controlling the opening and closing of the liquid crystal shutter 242 of the liquid crystal head 24, and includes a data processing section 510 and an exposure control section 520 as shown in FIG.

The data processing section 510 is a section for combining data edited by the editing section 41a of the host computer 41 with image data for exposure. If there is a character code, a font is selected from the bitmap font memory 511 in accordance with the typeface designation data, temporarily expanded according to the position data on the bitmap memory 512 exclusively for characters, and synthesized by the address processing unit 513. Address processing for If there is no character code and the data is vector data, the raster image processor (RIP) 514 performs vector / raster conversion, and if the data is raster data, various data of characters, line drawings, and images are directly processed. Bitmap memory 51
5 and the address processing unit 516 performs address processing. In the combining / storage circuit 517, according to the position data,
The data stored in the bitmap memories 512 and 515 are combined and stored.

The exposure control section 520 controls opening and closing of the liquid crystal head 24 and driving control of the stepping motor M. The exposure memory 521 includes a synthesizing and storing circuit 51.
7 are stored in the interface I /
The data is transferred via F, the data is temporarily stored, and the completion of the data storage is output to the data transfer timing control circuit 523. Further, a pulse signal for plate pitch detection from the rotary encoder 26 is connected to the transport movement amount detection circuit 522. A confirmation signal from the plate position confirmation sensor 23 and a signal from the transport movement amount detection circuit 522 are connected to the data transfer timing control circuit 523 to generate a data transfer timing signal. 524 and an exposure object transport control circuit 525. Data from the exposure memory 521 is connected to the liquid crystal head control circuit 524, and generates a drive signal for the liquid crystal head 24 according to a timing signal from the data transfer timing control circuit 523. The exposure object transport control circuit 525 is a circuit that generates a drive signal for the stepping motor M according to a timing signal from the data transfer timing control circuit 523.
Its output is connected to a stepping motor M.

Next, the operation of the exposure apparatus of this embodiment will be described mainly with reference to FIGS. When a main switch (not shown) is turned on, the presence or absence of the printing plate P in the plate feeding tray 11 is confirmed by the plate height detection sensor 12 according to a command from the host computer 41, and a warning is issued when there is no printing plate P. When the printing plate P is present, the suction device 13 starts sucking air, and sucks and lifts the printing plate P.

When the printing plate P is sandwiched between the plate receiving rollers 14 and the timing sensor S0 is turned on, the timer operates. When the timing sensor S1 detects the leading end of the printing plate P within a predetermined time, the timer is stopped. At this time, in order to confirm the pitch of the printing plate P in the flow direction, the pulse counting of the rotary encoder 26 (here, one count is 0.01 mm) is started.

If the timing sensor S1 does not detect the leading edge of the printing plate P within a predetermined time, the conveyance, pulse count and the like are stopped, and a warning such as a display of a plate jam position is issued. In this case, the operator removes the printing plate P in which the plate is clogged and presses the reset switch to return to the initial state.

When the timing sensor S1 detects the leading edge of the printing plate P, the host computer 41 drives the static eliminator 16 to remove the static electricity, and activates a timer. Is detected within a predetermined time, the timer is stopped. If the timing sensor S2 does not detect the leading edge of the printing plate P within a predetermined time, a warning of a plate jam is issued as described above.

When the timing sensor S2 detects the leading end of the printing plate P, the host computer 41 lowers the plate dust removing roller 17, starts removing dust on the plate of the printing plate P, operates a timer, and operates the timing sensor. S
When 1 detects the rear end of the printing plate P, the timer is stopped. At this time, the counting of the pulses for the rotary encoder 26 to confirm the plate pitch ends. If the timing sensor S1 does not detect the rear end of the printing plate P within a predetermined time, a warning of a plate jam is issued as described above.

When the timing sensor S1 detects the passage of the printing plate P, the static eliminator 16 stops operating, the timer operates, and when the timing sensor S2 detects the passage of the printing plate P, the plate surface dust removing roller 17 Rises.

Next, when the timing sensor S3 detects the leading edge of the printing plate within a predetermined time, the vacuum pump 2
Activate 2 If the timing sensor S3 does not detect the leading edge of the printing plate within a predetermined time, a warning of plate jam is issued. At this time, after the timing sensor S3 detects the passage of the printing plate P, the plate position confirmation sensor 23 is turned on, and the transport movement amount detection circuit 522 starts the pulse count of the rotary encoder 26 to determine the exposure start timing. I do. When the set number of pulses are counted in the transport movement amount detection circuit 522, a signal indicating completion of setting of the plate to the exposure start position is transmitted to the data transfer timing control circuit 523.

In response, data is transmitted to exposure memory 521 of exposure control section 520. When the data transmission to the exposure memory 521 is completed, data such as an image is transmitted to the liquid crystal head control circuit 524, and the data transfer timing control circuit 523 transmits a start signal to the liquid crystal head control circuit 524 for a predetermined time. After the exposure, a stop signal is transmitted.

The data transfer timing control circuit 523 is
At the same time as transmitting the stop signal, the stepping motor M is driven again via the exposure object transport control circuit 525. The transport movement amount detection circuit 522 detects the transport movement amount from the pulse for determining the exposure timing counted by the rotary encoder 26, and outputs the detected movement amount to the data transfer timing control circuit 523.

If the timing sensor S4 does not detect the leading edge of the printing plate P within a predetermined time after the exposure of the entire surface of the plate is completed, a plate jam alarm is issued at the exit of the exposure unit in the same manner as described above. When the timing sensor S4 detects the leading edge of the printing plate P, a timer operates, and if the timing sensor S4 does not detect the trailing edge of the printing plate P within a predetermined time, the plate in the plate discharging unit is operated in the same manner as described above. Perform a clogging alarm.

When the timing sensor S4 detects the trailing edge of the printing plate P within a predetermined time, it checks the data of the next plate. And the above operation is repeated. If there is no next version of data, all operations are terminated.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications can be made. For example, the shutter has been described using a liquid crystal shutter as an example, but instead of liquid crystal, a shutter using a crystal that changes the optical path, such as lithium niobate, may be used.
A mechanical shutter may be used.

[0033]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, there is an effect that a direct printing plate can be formed by using a conventional printing plate as it is with a simple structure.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an embodiment of an exposure apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a liquid crystal head.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a liquid crystal head.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram mainly showing a control unit and an exposure processing unit;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Plate supply part 11 Plate supply tray 12 Plate height detection sensor 13 Suction device 14 Plate receiving roller 15 Conveyor belt 16 Static elimination device 17 Plate surface dust removal roller 20 Exposure part 21 Conveyor belt 22 Vacuum pump 23 Plate position confirmation sensor 24 Liquid crystal head 241 Light source 242 Liquid crystal shutter 243 Lens system 25 Plate press roller 26 Rotary encoder 30 Plate discharge unit 31 Conveyor belt 32 Plate discharge roller 33 Plate discharge tray 34 Plate height detection sensor 40 Control unit 41 Host computer 42 Keyboard 43 Mouse 44 Scanner 45 External connection I / F 50 Exposure control unit 510 Data processing unit 511 Bitmap font memory 512 Bitmap memory 513 Address processing circuit 514 RIP 515 Bitmap memory 516 Address processing circuit 517 Synthesis Conveying movement amount storage circuit 520 exposure controller 521 for exposure memory 522 detection circuit 523 the data transfer timing control circuit 524 crystal head control circuit 525 the exposure object transport control circuit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-58-159391 (JP, A) JP-A-57-89758 (JP, A) JP-A-64-5017 (JP, A) (58) Field (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G03F ^7/ 20-7/24 G03F ^9/ 00-9/02

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An exposure apparatus for directly printing a printing plate.
Oite, conveying means for conveying the printing plate, an exposure light source for emitting light of a wavelength that the printing plate is photosensitive, in the transport path of the transport means, the direction substantially perpendicular to the conveying direction of the conveying means A shutter for selectively blocking light from the exposure light source; a condenser lens for condensing light transmitted through the shutter on the printing plate; opening and closing of the shutter and a transport operation of the transport unit And an exposure processing unit that controls characters, line drawings, and images on the printing plate , wherein the exposure processing unit performs exposure based on character information, line drawing information, and image information.
A data processing unit for creating and storing the image data of the shutter;
An exposure apparatus , comprising: an exposure control unit that controls a transport operation of the transport unit.