JP3335013B2 - Printing plate burner - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing plate burning apparatus for exposing a non-image portion on the periphery of an image-exposed printing plate.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a printing process for producing a printing plate,
Printing plates such as photosensitive lithographic printing plates (hereinafter referred to as "PS plates")
The image recorded on the original film is printed by a printing device such as a printing machine. P with image printed
When the S plate is subjected to the development processing, it is carried to a printing process and used as a printing plate for producing a printed material. Like this, PS
There have been proposed various printing systems that automatically perform a series of operations from image exposure of a plate to development processing.

In the case of a positive PS plate, if ink adheres to a non-image portion at a peripheral portion during printing, it becomes a print stain and appears on a printed material. In order to prevent such printing stains, a non-image portion on the periphery of the PS plate is exposed and burned off to prevent ink from adhering during printing. Such a burning process of the PS plate is usually performed by an intaglio machine. In the intaglio machine, a mask is used so that an image portion is not exposed at the time of burning after returning the original film. You need to move it a lot. For this reason, there is a problem that if the process up to the burning-out process is performed by the printing plate machine, it takes time to expose the image to one PS plate, and the printing plate operation cannot be promptly performed.

[0004] Further, in the case of performing burn-out by a printing plate machine, the same light source as used for exposing an image recorded on an original film is used to expose a narrow area around the PS plate, which is extremely inefficient. Exposure work is required.

[0005] For this reason, in the printing plate process, a burn-out apparatus dedicated to exposure of a non-image portion is used.

[0006]

However, in the conventional burn-off apparatus, since the exposure is performed by manually masking the image portion of the PS plate, it hinders the smooth printing operation from proceeding. I have.

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of the above facts, and has as its object to propose a printing plate burning apparatus that enables smooth and efficient duplication work.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing plate burning apparatus, comprising: a platen on which a printing plate on which an image is printed is placed; and a printing plate placed at a predetermined position on the platen. First positioning means for positioning, a long light source unit capable of exposing a non-image portion along any one side of the periphery of the printing plate placed on the surface plate, and a central portion of the surface plate Rotation holding means for holding the printing plate formed and positioned on the surface plate and rotating the respective sides of the printing plate so as to be able to sequentially face the light source unit by rotation; and rotating the light source unit with the rotation center of the rotation holding means. And driving means for moving the printing plate in parallel to any one side of the printing plate.

A printing plate burning device according to a second aspect is the printing plate burning device according to the first aspect, wherein the printing plate is positioned at a position different from the position determined by the first positioning means, and The printing apparatus is characterized in that a second positioning means is provided which is capable of disposing the printing plate at a positioning position by the first positioning means by rotating the printing plate by a predetermined amount by the rotation holding means.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing plate burning device, comprising: a platen on which a printing plate on which an image is printed is placed; and a platen capable of appearing and retracting on the platen. A first group of pins for positioning the printing plate in a first predetermined direction on the surface plate by inserting the printing plate into a hole provided along the surface; A second group of pins for positioning the printing plate on the surface plate in a second direction different from the first predetermined direction by inserting the printing plate into the hole provided along one side of the plate; An exposure unit for exposing a portion along an arbitrary side of a peripheral edge of the printing plate placed on a plate, and the first pin group or Second
While holding the printing plate positioned by the set of pins, and after immersing the first or second group of pins in the surface plate, the printing plate is rotated to allow the light source unit to rotate the printing plate. It is characterized by comprising rotation holding means for opposing each side of the peripheral edge, and driving means for moving the light source unit in parallel with any one side of the printing plate toward the rotation center of the rotation holding means.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing plate burning apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the light source unit is vertically moved so as to contact and separate from the surface plate. A moving mask is provided.

[0012]

In the printing plate burning apparatus of the present invention, the printing plate positioned by the first positioning means is held by the rotation holding means. Further, the printing plate is rotated by a predetermined amount by the rotation holding means, and the four sides of the printing plate are sequentially opposed to the light source unit. The light source unit is moved in parallel on the surface plate by the driving means, and sequentially exposes a predetermined area around the periphery of the printing plate facing the light source unit.

Therefore, once the printing plate is positioned on the platen, the four sides of the printing plate can be successively opposed to the light source unit to perform the burning-out process.

In the printing plate burning apparatus according to the present invention, the first positioning means and the second positioning means are provided on the surface plate, and the positioning means is rotated by the rotation holding means regardless of the positioning. For example, the position is the same as that determined by a single positioning means. Thus, for example, when the printing plate is automatically supplied onto the surface plate, one positioning means is used, and when the printing plate is manually positioned, the other positioning means is used. And a smooth burning-off process can be performed automatically or manually.

In the printing plate burning apparatus of the third aspect, the first pin group or the second pin group is inserted into a hole provided for positioning the printing plate with a printing machine or the like, and the printing plate is positioned. ing. After the positioning of the printing plate is completed, the first and second pin groups used for positioning are immersed in the platen and retracted, and then rotated in a predetermined direction by the rotation holding means, and the periphery of the printing plate is rotated. The non-image portion is burned off.

Since the holes provided in the printing plate are predetermined according to the size of the printing plate, the printing device, etc., a plurality of sets of pins are provided in accordance with the positions of the holes, and a predetermined number of pins are provided. Positioning may be performed by projecting. Thus, when the printing plate is rotated while being held by the rotation holding means, the pins of the first and second pin groups do not interfere with the rotating printing plate.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the light source unit and the printing plate on the surface plate are brought into contact with each other by moving the mask up and down. This can prevent the light source unit moved by the driving means from interfering with the printing plate on the surface plate, and simultaneously rotate the printing plate on the surface plate and move the light source unit by the driving means. And a smooth burning-off process can be performed.

[0018]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an automatic printing system 12 using a printing plate burning device (hereinafter, referred to as a "burning device 10") applied to the present embodiment.

First, the schematic configuration of the automatic plate system 12 will be described with reference to FIG. In the automatic intaglio system 12, a plurality of intaglio machines 16 are arranged on one side of the rail 14 along the longitudinal direction of the rail 14 (FIG. 1).
Then only a part is shown). In this printing machine 16, a color image is converted into a Y (yellow) plate, a C (cyan) plate, and an M (magenta) plate.
When an original film (not shown) on which images separated into respective colors of a plate and a BK (sumi) plate are recorded is loaded, the image recorded on the original film is printed on a printing plate (hereinafter, “PS plate 2”).
0 ") at a plurality of predetermined positions.

In the automatic duplicating system 12, when the original film is loaded into the engraving machine 16, the size, type, etc. of the PS plate 20 for exposing the image recorded on the original film are input. In accordance with the input result, the printing plate machine 16 requests the necessary PS plate 20. Further, when the PS plate 20 is a positive type, the non-image portion of the periphery of the PS plate 20 is exposed (hereinafter, referred to as “burn-out”), and printing is performed when ink adheres to the periphery of the PS plate 20 during printing. When it is necessary to prevent dirt, data for performing burn-out (data indicating an area for performing burn-off processing) is output.

The automatic breeding system 12 includes a rail 1
4 and the PS plate supplier 2 on the opposite side of the culture plate machine 16
2, the punch table 24 and the burning apparatus 10 are arranged, and on the opposite side of the burning table 10 from the punch table 24, a barcode sticking apparatus 28, an automatic developing machine 30, and a pattern area ratio measuring apparatus 32 are arranged in order. A belt conveyor 26 is disposed between the barcode sticking device 28 and the automatic developing machine 30 as a device for transporting a sheet-like member. The PS plate 20 is conveyed from the burning device 10 to the pattern area ratio measuring device 32 (in the direction of arrow A). On the rail 14, P
A transfer robot 18 that adsorbs and holds the S plate 20 and is able to transfer between a plurality of printing plate machines 16, a PS plate supply 22, a punch table 24, and the burning device 10 is provided.

The PS plate supplier 22 has a plurality of trays 36 arranged in a substantially box-shaped casing 34 so as to be shielded from light. Each tray 36 is formed by a bottom plate 36A and a front panel 36B and is inclined at a predetermined angle. A large number (for example, about 100) of PS plates 20 are stacked and placed on the rail 14 side. ing. It should be noted that only one type of PS plate 20 is placed on each tray 36,
Different PS plates 20 can be loaded between the plurality of trays 36. Each tray 36 is pushed out of the casing 34 by a driving unit (not shown) so that the placed PS plate 20 is directed toward the rail 14.

The transfer robot 18 is provided with a base 38 which moves by engaging with the rail 14 and an arm 40 rotatably arranged on the base 38. A suction frame 42 having a large number of suction cups for sucking and holding 20 is attached. The transfer robot 18 is moved to an arbitrary position on the rail 14 by the base 38 engaged with the rail 14 and freely rotates the arm portion 40 and the suction frame 42 to move the suction frame 42 to a desired position and direction. Can be turned.

As a result, the transfer robot 18
The suction frame 42 is opposed to the tray 36 of the S-plate supplier 22, and the outermost layer P on the tray 36 is placed.
The S plate 20 can be taken out by suction and holding, and can be moved toward the punch table 24.

The punch table 24 is provided with a horizontally arranged punch platen 46, and the PS plate 20 is placed on the punch platen 46 by the transfer robot 18. On the punch platen 46, a plurality of punchers 48 for punching punch holes at predetermined positions of the PS plate 20 are provided.
A plurality of pushers (not shown) for positioning the PS plate 20 with respect to the PS plate 20 are provided.
A punch hole for positioning the hole is formed. PS plate 20 with punched holes in punch table 24
Is adsorbed and taken out by the transfer robot 18 and loaded into the intaglio machine 16.

The printing plate 16 sequentially exposes the image recorded on the loaded original film to a predetermined position of the PS plate 20, and the exposed PS plate 20 is again taken out by the transport robot 18. Then, it is transported to the burning device 10.

In the burning apparatus 10, a turntable 50 and a light source unit 54 for burning are provided on a surface plate 52, and the PS mounted by the transport robot 18 is provided.
When the plate 20 is of a positive type, the non-image portions on the four sides of the PS plate 20 are exposed in accordance with the burn-out data output from the printing plate machine 16. The burn-out device 10 will be described later in detail.

On the other hand, a guide rail 56 extends between the burning device 10 and the bar code attaching device 28. A transfer arm 60 provided with a plurality of suction cups 58 is provided on the guide rail 56. When the suction arm 58 sucks the peripheral edge of the PS plate 20 placed on the surface plate 52, the transfer arm 60 moves toward the barcode sticking device 28 by the driving force of a driving unit (not shown),
The transport arm 60 pulls the PS
The plate 20 is conveyed to the barcode attaching device 28.

The bar code affixing device 28 is provided with a surface plate 62 on which the PS plate 20 conveyed from the burning device 10 is placed. A label is affixed to one end of the surface plate 62 opposite to the rail 14. A vessel 64 is provided. In addition, surface plate 6
A plurality of fixing pins 66 protrude from the upper surface 2 along the side opposite to the rail 14, and a fixing pin 68 is disposed at an end opposite to the burn-in device 26 so as to be able to protrude and retract. A plurality of moving pins 70 and 72 are provided on the surface plate 62 as pushers facing the fixed pins 66.
The moving pin 70 is provided so as to be able to protrude and retract on the side of the burning device 10, and is capable of moving in parallel to the fixing pin 68 along the long hole 74. Further, the moving pin 72 is provided on the rail 14 side, and is movable in parallel to the fixed pin 66 along the long hole 76.

For this reason, in the bar code attaching device 28,
When the PS plate 20 is placed on the surface plate 62, the fixing pins 68,
The moving pins 70 are protruded, and the moving pins 70, 72
Are moved along the long holes 74 and 76, respectively, so that the PS plate 20 abuts on the fixing pins 66 and 68, and the PS plate 20 is positioned with respect to the label applicator 64. The PS plate 20 positioned on the surface plate 62 in this manner is provided with a bar-coded label (not shown) indicating the ID number of the PS plate 20, the image of which color, and the like. It is affixed to a fixed position on the peripheral non-image portion.

In the bar code attaching device 28, the PS plate 20
When the label is affixed to the fixing pin 68, the fixing pin 68 is tilted and retracted from the upper surface of the platen 62, and then the moving pin 70 is inserted into the long hole 74.
Along with the belt conveyor 26. In addition, the fixed pin 66, the moving pin 7
0 and 72 are PS plates 2 in which the rotatable roller section above the pins is
0, so that the PS plate 20 can be smoothly moved on the surface plate 62. When sending the PS plate 20 toward the belt conveyor 10, the fixing pins 66 and the moving pins 72 serve as guides, and move the PS plate 20 straight toward the belt conveyor 10 along the transport direction. .

The belt conveyor 26 is provided with a plurality of conveyor belts 78 whose upper ends are driven from the bar code sticking device 28 to the automatic developing device 30. In the belt conveyor 26, when the leading end of the PS plate 20 sent from the barcode attaching device 28 is detected, the conveyor belt 7
8 is started, and the PS plate 20 is pulled in. Also,
When it is detected that the leading end of the PS plate 20 has been sent to the automatic developing device 30, the transport belt 78 is driven in accordance with the transport speed of the PS plate 20 in the automatic developing device 30, and the PS plate 20 is transferred to the automatic developing device 30. Smoothly sent to 30.

The automatic developing machine 30 draws in the PS plate 20 sent from the belt conveyor 26, performs a series of processing including development processing, desensitization processing, and drying, and performs
When the latent image formed by the exposure is visualized, the latent image is sent to the pattern area ratio measuring device 32. In the pattern area ratio measuring device 32, for example, the image area of the PS plate 20 is divided into a plurality of areas, the required ink amount at the time of printing is calculated from the image area in each area, and the PS area is attached to the PS plate 20. A bar code is read from the label, and the bar coded information and the information such as the calculated ink amount are recorded on information recording means such as a magnetic card.

In the pattern area ratio measuring device 32, PS
Because a calibration mark for clarifying the boundary between the image portion and the non-image portion is formed at a predetermined position on the peripheral portion of the plate 20. The required ink amount of the image recorded on the PS plate 20 can be accurately measured based on the calibration mark.

P discharged from the picture area ratio measuring device 32
After the S plate 20 is accumulated in a stocker (not shown),
The information is sent to the printing step together with the information recording means.

Here, the burn-out apparatus 10 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of the burning-off apparatus 10. In this burning-off apparatus 10, the surface plate 52
A turntable 50 is provided at the center of the turntable 50. A plurality of suction grooves 80A,
80B and 80C are formed. These suction grooves 80
A negative pressure is supplied to each of A to 80C from the negative pressure supply means, which is selected according to the size of the PS plate 20 to be placed. Thus, the PS plate 20 placed on the surface plate 52 is sucked and held on the tene table 50 by the negative pressure supplied to the suction grooves 80A to 80C.

The turntable 50 is provided on the surface plate 52.
A plurality of pin groups of a plurality of positioning pins 82A, 82B, 82C are provided at predetermined intervals on the rail 14 side (upper side in FIG. 3) on the periphery of the pair. These positioning pins 82 </ b> A to 82 </ b> C are selected according to the punch holes formed by the punch table 24 on the PS plate 20 mounted by the transfer robot 18, and are provided inside the apparatus below the surface plate 52. When the air cylinder is not driven, it protrudes above the surface plate 52.

The transfer robot 18 holds the PS plate 20 on the platen 5
2, the punch holes of the PS plate 20 are placed by inserting any one of the positioning pins 82A to 82C protruding above the surface plate 52. Can be held by the turntable 50. In addition, breeding machine 16
By using the punch holes used when printing the image on the PS plate 20, the PS plate 20 can be arranged at the same position as the position determined by the printing plate machine 16,
The area where the image at the center is formed and the non-image area at the periphery can be accurately determined based on the data from the printing plate 16.

On the other hand, on the surface plate 52, pin groups of positioning pins 84A, 84B and 84C are provided so as to be protrudable on the punch table 24 side. These positioning pins 84A-84
C corresponds to the positioning pins 82A to 82C, respectively. For example, the PS plate 20 positioned by inserting the positioning pins 82A into the punch holes is rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise in FIG.
By rotating the positioning plate 84C, the positioning pins 84C can be inserted into the punch holes of the PS plate 20.

Accordingly, the PS plate 20 placed on the surface plate 52
By rotating the turntable 50 when positioning is performed by the positioning pins 84A to 84C,
The positioning pins 82A to 82C can be the same as those positioned by the positioning pins 82A to 82C. These positioning pins 84A to 84C project when manually selected by an operation switch (not shown). As a result, the PS plate 20 can be accurately positioned on the surface plate 52 of the burning apparatus 10 even by manual operation.

For this reason, as shown in FIG. 1, the rail 14 side of the burning apparatus 10 is within the moving area of the transfer robot 18, but the operator enters the punch table 24 side of the burning apparatus 10. A gap is provided so that the PS plate 20 can be placed on the burning device 10 from the punch table 24 side. As a result, if the operation of the transfer robot 18 is stopped, the P
When placing the S plate 20 on the surface plate 52, there is no need to go around the rails 14, and the PS plate 20 is easily placed at a predetermined position on the surface plate 52 while holding the PS plate 20 in a horizontal state. It can be positioned and positioned.

As shown in FIG. 3, the burning device 10
A light source unit 54 is provided on the side opposite to the rail 14. On the surface plate 52, rectangular long holes 86 are formed in pairs at the lower ends of both ends of the light source unit 54 toward the rail 14 (in the direction of arrow B).
Numeral 4 is movable along the long hole 86 according to the size and area (width from each peripheral edge of four sides) of the PS plate 20 to be burned off.

The light source unit 54 is provided with a PS plate 20 of the maximum size to be burned off by the burn-off device 10.
Is longer than the dimension of one side of any size.
Even in the case of the S-plate, the burn-off processing of one side can be performed by one exposure.

FIG. 4 schematically shows a driving section 88 of the light source unit 54 provided in the surface plate 52. The drive unit 88 is attached to a frame (not shown),
A long guide rail 90 is provided along 6. The light source unit 5 is provided on the guide rail 90.
A slide base 92 that supports one end of the fourth base movably along the guide rail 90 is engaged. The driving units 88 are provided in pairs near the long holes 86, and only one of them will be described below, and the other will not be described.

A pair of brackets 94 are mounted on the slide base 92. Each bracket 94
Is protruded from the long hole 86 onto the surface plate 52 and extends so as to sandwich the light source unit 54 along the moving direction (the direction of the arrow B). A fixed block 96 is attached to the distal end of each bracket 94. The fixed block 96 and the casing 100 of the light source unit 54 are
They are connected via a substantially L-shaped angle 88. On the other hand, the support shaft 102 is inserted and fixed to the fixed block 96 attached to the tip of the bracket 54.

As shown in FIG. 3, the support shaft 10
2 are arranged in pairs along the longitudinal direction of the light source unit 54 so as to be bridged by brackets 94 protruding from the respective long holes 86. Each support shaft 1
A plurality of fixed blocks 96 are attached to an intermediate portion of the light source unit 02, and each fixed block 96 and a casing 100 of the light source unit 54 are connected by an angle 98. As a result, the light source unit 54 is supported over the slide bases 92 via the brackets 96.

As shown in FIG. 4, an upright wall 104 is formed on each slide base 92. The standing wall 104 is a long rack gear 10.
6 is connected to one side surface.

On the other hand, a pinion gear 110 and a guide roller 11 are provided on the base plate 108 attached to a frame (not shown) on the rail 14 side (the left side in FIG.
2 is rotatably mounted. This pinion gear 1
Reference numeral 10 meshes with the rack gear 106, and the guide roller 112 holds the rack gear 106 between the pinion gear 110 and the guide roller 112 so as to be relatively movable.

The pinion gear 110 has the other long hole 8.
It is also provided on the sixth side, and rotates through a shaft 114. A running motor (not shown) driven by an accurate rotation amount is connected to an intermediate portion of the shaft 114. Therefore, when the pinion gear 110 is driven to rotate by the drive of the traveling motor, the rack gear 106
Move relatively along the longitudinal direction while meshing. Along with the movement of the rack gear 106, the light source unit 54 supported by the bracket 94 together with the slide base 92 is moved in parallel in the arrow B direction and in the direction opposite to the arrow B direction with an accurate movement amount.

On the other hand, the slide base 92 is provided with an air cylinder 116 and a pair of guides 118 with the air cylinder 116 interposed therebetween. Each of the guides 118 is provided below the light source unit 54 as a frame mask 120 provided as a burning frame. It is connected to. This air cylinder 116
Usually, the drive shaft 116 </ b> A protrudes, whereby the frame mask 120 is separated from the surface of the surface plate 52 and approaches the light source unit 54. Here, when the air cylinder 116 is driven to contract the drive shaft 116A, the frame mask 120 descends and comes into contact.

The frame mask 120 is formed with a baking opening 120A through which light for exposure emitted from the light source unit 54, which will be described later, passes, and the peripheral edge of the PS plate 20 mounted and held on the surface plate 52. By lowering the frame mask 120 to a predetermined position of the portion and bringing the frame mask 120 into contact with the frame mask 120, light from the light source unit 54 is irradiated only to a desired region.

The guide 118 has a role of a shock absorber, and when the frame mask 120 is lowered, the frame mask 120 is gently moved to come into contact with the surface of the PS plate 20. Also,
The lower surface of the frame mask 120 does not damage the surface of the PS
A flexible member is attached and finished so that light does not leak unnecessarily from a step between the plate 20 and the surface of the platen 52 caused by the thickness of the plate 20.

FIG. 5 shows a schematic configuration of the light source unit 54. The light source unit 54 includes the casing 1
00, a mercury lamp 122 elongated in the longitudinal direction is provided.
Is disposed on the upper side of the mercury lamp 122.
24 are provided. The upper side of the reflection plate 124
The heat shield duct 126 is covered by the heat shield duct 126.
At the upper end of 6, a plurality of exhaust fans 128 and intake fans 130 are provided alternately along the longitudinal direction.

Therefore, when the mercury lamp 122 is turned on, the air around the reflector 124 heated by the heat radiation from the mercury lamp 122 is exhausted to the outside of the casing 100 by the exhaust fan 128 so as to be exhausted. It has become. The intake fan 130 supplies relatively cooled outside air outside the casing 100 to the periphery of the reflection plate 124.
A duct 130A is provided so that the sucked outside air is not directly exhausted by the exhaust fan 128.

On the other hand, below the mercury lamp 122, a shutter 132 is provided. This shutter 13
2 is a shaft 13 at both ends via a bracket 134.
6 by rotating the shaft 136, the shutter 132 rotates about the shaft 136 and retracts from the light blocking position below the mercury lamp 122 (for opening and closing operations). Open).

Each of the shafts 134 has a gear 13
8 is connected to one gear 138 and an actuator 140 provided on one end side in the casing 100.
And the gear 142 connected to the drive shaft. The gear 1 of the actuator 140 has a shaft 1 disposed along the longitudinal direction of the casing 100.
The gear 44 is engaged with a gear 146 attached to one end of the gear 44.
The shaft 144 is also provided with a gear 146 at the other end. The gear 146 at the other end meshes with a gear 138 attached to a shaft 136 at the other end of the shutter 132 via a gear 148. I have.

Therefore, by driving the actuator 140, the shafts 136 at both ends can be rotated to open and close the shutter 132. Note that an air motor using an air, an air cylinder, or the like may be used as a drive source of the actuator 140, or an electric motor driven by an electric signal may be used.

As shown in FIG.
An opening 150 through which an opening from which the light from the mercury lamp 122 passes is formed at a lower portion of the frame mask 120.
Is inside. Therefore, by retracting the shutter 132 from below the mercury lamp 122 and opening the opening of the opening 150, the mercury lamp 122 passes only through the frame mask 120 to a desired area on the surface plate 52.
It can be irradiated with light from

As shown in FIGS. 3, 6, and 7, the casing 100 of the light source unit 54 has a pin 152 protruding from the longitudinal end. Below this pin 152, a bracket 154 protruding from the surface plate 52 is provided.
Are facing each other.

As shown in FIG.
Is formed in a substantially U-shape with an opening directed upward, and a receiving portion 156 curved in an arc shape is formed in the opening. Therefore, by raising the bracket 154 and holding the pin 152 in contact with the receiving portion 156, the light source unit 54 can be held at a predetermined position even when the angle 98 of the fixing block 96 is removed. Is available.

The bracket 154 is a pair of guide rods 1 arranged in parallel with each other and projecting from the inside of the surface plate 52.
It is attached to the tip of 58,160. An intermediate portion of the guide rods 158 and 160 is inserted into a guide bracket 164 attached to a frame (not shown) via a base plate 162, and a lower end portion is connected by a block 166. For this reason, the guide rods 158, 1
The bracket 154 can be moved in the vertical direction by sliding the unit 60 relative to the slide block 164 and moving the bracket relative to the slide block 164.

On the other hand, a rack gear 168 is attached to an intermediate portion of one of the guide rods 158, and a pinion gear 170 meshes with the rack gear 168. The pinion gears 170 are respectively provided at the distal ends of shafts 170 provided so as to bridge between the guide rods 158 of one bracket 154 and the other bracket 154 provided in pairs with the light source unit 54 interposed therebetween. And rotates integrally with the shaft 172.

A speed reduction box 174 is provided adjacent to the intermediate portion of the shaft 172. A worm gear 176 that meshes with each other is provided between the speed reduction box 174 and the shaft 172 so that one rotational force can be transmitted to the other. A rotary shaft 178 is protruded from the deceleration box 174, and a handle 180 is provided at the tip of the rotary shaft 178. The handle 180 is protruded from the burner 10 outside the machine. And rotate from outside the machine (see FIG. 3).

The speed reduction box 174 provided as described above
Is a rotating shaft 1 rotated by a handle 180.
The rotation speed of the worm gear 176
To be communicated to. For this reason, the handle 18
Continuous light rotation of 0 makes the deceleration box 17
4, the shaft 172 having a large torque is rotated. The rotation of the shaft 172 causes the pinion gear 170 and the rack gear 168 to relatively move while meshing with each other, so that the bracket 164 gradually moves up and down.

That is, the light source unit 54 can be moved up and down by a small rotational force. When the bracket 154 is about to be pushed down due to the weight of the light source unit 54, the speed reduction mechanism inside the speed reduction box 174 acts as a load to prevent the rotation of the shaft 172, so that the bracket 154 does not descend. I have.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 7, when the bracket 164 accommodates the pin 152 and holds it at a predetermined height, the light source unit 54 can be easily rotated about the pin 152. This allows the downwardly directed opening 150 to be directed laterally or upwardly. Thus, for example, maintenance inside the light source unit 54 such as replacement of the mercury lamp 122 from the opening 150 is enabled.

As shown in FIG. 6, when the light source unit 54 is rotated in a predetermined direction with the pin 152 as an axis, the bracket 154 and the side wall of the casing 100 are coaxial with each other. The through holes 184 and 186 into which the 182 can be inserted are provided, so that the light source unit 54 can be held in a state rotated in a predetermined direction. Also, this bracket 154
When the light source unit 54 is moved by the driving of the driving unit 88, the light source unit 54 is moved downward to be in a retracted state so as not to hinder the movement.

As shown in FIG. 3, the light source unit 54
Near the calibration marker 2 covered by the cover 202.
00 is provided. 8 to 10 show the outline of the calibration marker 200. FIG. 8 to 10, the cover 202 is omitted.

As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the calibration marker 200 is provided at an intermediate portion in the longitudinal direction of the frame mask 120, and the base plate 206 having the guide rail 204 attached to the lower surface side is attached to the frame mask 120. Fixed. As shown in FIG. 10, a slide block 208 is slidably engaged with the guide rail 204 toward the frame mask 120, and the slide block 208 has a rectangular calibration mark mask ( Hereinafter, referred to as a “calibration mask 210”). The calibration mask 210 has a rectangular plate shape,
The side (lower side) is provided on the same plane as the lower surface of the frame mask 12, and the front end can protrude into the baking opening 120 </ b> A along the lower surface of the frame mask 120.

As shown in FIG. 9, the base plate 206 has a bracket 2 provided on the frame mask 120 side.
A pulse motor 214 is attached via the power supply 12.
The pulse motor 214 is driven to rotate accurately in accordance with the number of supplied pulses, and a drive shaft 214A projects vertically from the pulse motor 214. A pulley 216 is attached to a drive shaft 214A (not shown) projecting downward from the pulse motor 214. A pulley 220 is rotatably attached to an end of the base plate 206 opposite to the frame mask 120 via a bracket 218.
Between the endless timing belt 222 and the
Is wrapped around.

As shown in FIG. 10, a bracket 224 attached to the calibration mask 210 is connected to an intermediate portion of the timing belt 222. Therefore, the timing belt 222 is rotated by the rotation of the pulse motor 214.
Is driven, the calibration mask 210 connected to the timing belt 222 moves along the guide rail 204 in the direction of arrow B and in the direction opposite to the direction of arrow B. By this movement, the tip of the calibration mask 210 moves by an accurate movement amount, and the baking opening 120A of the frame mask 120 is moved.
It will come and go inside.

As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, brackets 224, 226, and 228 are provided on the base plate 206 near the pulse motor 214 and at the end opposite to the frame mask 120. Sensors 230, 232, 234 are attached to brackets 224 to 228.
Is installed. Further, the calibration mask 210 has sensors 230 and 2 at the end opposite to the frame mask 120.
A plate 236 facing the sensor 32 and a plate 238 facing the sensor 234 are attached.

In the sensors 230 and 232, each of the calibration mask 210 and the frame opening
The sensor 234 is arranged so as to detect the plate 236 when the plate 236 is moved to the limit position in the protruding direction and the retreat direction to 0A.
The plate 238 is arranged to be detected when the calibration mask 210 is located near the original position, which is a reference position when projecting to the baking opening 120A, at the retracted position from A.

On the other hand, a disc-shaped slit plate 240 is connected to the tip of the drive shaft 214A projecting above the pulse motor 214. The slit plate 240 has one slit hole (not shown) formed in the outer peripheral portion. In addition, the slit plate 2
The sensor 24 is provided so as to sandwich the outer periphery of the sensor 40 up and down.
2 is attached via a bracket 244, and the sensor 242 detects a slit hole (not shown) provided in the slit plate 240.

In the calibration marker 200, the sensor 234
After detecting the plate 238 by the sensor 242,
The position at which the slit hole of the slit plate 240 is detected by the calibration mask 2 is defined as an original position, and the calibration mask 2 is determined based on the original position.
When the projection 10 projects into the baking opening 120A, it can be accurately moved to a desired position.

The operation of the calibration marker 200 is such that the PS plate 20 image-exposed by the printing plate machine 16 is
When the PS plate 20 is placed on the top and the PS plate 20 is a positive type and the peripheral portion needs to be burned off, when the picture area ratio measuring device 32 calculates the amount of ink necessary for printing,
It is used when forming a calibration mark that is a reference for an image portion. This calibration mark is burned out in a state where the calibration mask 210 is projected by a predetermined amount, and is set to a non-exposed state, so that when the development processing is completed, it is formed so as to have a predetermined area, and The image portion and the non-image portion can be accurately identified on the PS plate 20.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. In the automatic reproduction system 12, a PS plate 20 having a predetermined size is previously mounted on each tray 36 of the PS plate supplier 22. Here, when the original film is loaded on the intaglio machine 16 and the required size of the PS plate 20 is input, the intaglio machine 16 sends the PS plate of the required size to the control device 44 of the automatic intaglio system 12. Request. Automatic breeding system 1
In the second control device 44, the PS plate 20 of the requested size is
Is pushed out of the casing 34, the transport robot 18 is moved, the suction frame 42 is opposed to the PS plate 20 stacked on the tray 36, and the PS plate 20 is suction-held and taken out. .

The P taken out by the transfer robot 18
The S plate 20 is conveyed to the punch table 24, and when a punch hole is formed in a predetermined position, the S plate 20 is loaded into the printing plate machine 16 and image exposure is performed. The PS plate 20 after the image exposure is completed
The plate is taken out of the plate-making machine 16 by the transfer robot 18 and placed on the surface plate 52 of the burning-off device 10.
The PS plate 20 needs to be burned out, and when data relating to the burned-out area is input, the burned-out processing is performed and sent out to the barcode attaching device 28.

In the bar code attaching device 28, the PS plate 20
After a barcode is attached to a predetermined position and sent out, and the development process and the calculation of the picture area are continuously performed, the barcode is discharged to a stocker (not shown) and accumulated.

By the way, in the burnout apparatus 10, the surface plate 5
When the predetermined positioning pins 82A to 82C are protruded from the upper side 2 and the PS plate 20 is received from the transport robot 18, the PS plates 20 are sucked and held by the negative pressure supplied to the suction grooves 80A to 80C on the turntable 50.

On the other hand, the PS plate 20 manually image-exposed
When placing on the surface plate 52, one of the positioning pins 84A to 84C is projected by manual operation, and the projected positioning pins 84A to 84C can be inserted into the punch holes and placed. It has become. In the burning-out apparatus 10, since the positioning pins 84A to 84C are provided at positions where the positioning pins 82A to 82C are shifted by 90 ° about the rotation center of the turntable 50, the positioning is substantially performed by the positioning pins 82A to 82C. In the same way as described above, positioning can be performed manually.

Further, when the PS plate 20 is manually placed, the PS plate 20 is positioned using the positioning pins 82A to 82C.
When the PS plate 20 is to be positioned, the PS plate 20 needs to go round toward the rail 14 in a state of being lifted horizontally, and a gap for the operator to be provided between the rail 14 and the burning device 10. And the space between the burning devices 10 must be widened. When the distance between the rail 14 and the burning device 10 is increased, the transfer robot 18
It is necessary to lengthen the arm portion 40 of this. However, in this case, the amount of movement of the suction frame 42 holding the PS plate 20 by suction is increased, and the driving force for driving each part of the transfer robot 18 is increased. And the smooth and accurate transfer of the PS plate 20 is hindered.

On the other hand, the PS plate 20 is viewed from a plurality of directions.
Is not required, it is not necessary to increase the distance between the rail 14 and the burning-off device 10. In addition, the positioning of the PS plate 20 by manual operation is facilitated, and the operator does not need to go around to the rail 14 side while holding the PS plate 20.

In the burning apparatus 10 in which the PS plate 20 is sucked and held at a predetermined position on the turntable 50, the driving unit 88 is driven to move the light source unit 54 to a predetermined position on the periphery of the PS plate 20. Move. Here, by driving the air cylinder 114 to lower the frame mask 120 and bring it into close contact with the peripheral surface of the PS plate 20, the P
A desired area on the periphery of the S plate 20 can be burned off.

At this time, since the air cylinder 114 raises and lowers only the frame mask 120 and holds the light source unit 54 at a predetermined height, the driving force is extremely smaller than when the light source unit 54 is moved integrally. Can be moved up and down. In addition, when the frame mask 120 is brought into close contact with the surface of the PS plate 20, a large load is not applied to the surface of the PS plate 20, and the surface of the PS plate 20 can be prevented from being damaged during burn-out exposure.

The mercury lamp 122 is in a lighting state with stable luminance until the light source unit 54 moves to a predetermined position, and the actuator 132 is operated to operate the shutter 132 below the mercury lamp 122 for a predetermined time. By retreating from, the burning-out process with a stable light amount becomes possible, and the shortage of exposure does not occur.

When it is necessary to record a calibration mark on the periphery of the PS plate 20, prior to lowering the frame mask 120, the pulse motor 214 of the calibration marker 200 attached to the frame mask 120 is driven to drive the calibration mask 210. Is made to protrude through the baking opening 120A by a predetermined amount. At this time, the pulse motor 214 is accurately driven from the original position detected by the sensor 242 to protrude the tip of the calibration mask to a predetermined position.

As described above, since the calibration mask 210 is provided on the frame mask 120, and the lower surface of the calibration mask 210 is made to coincide with the lower surface of the frame mask 120, the calibration mask 210 can be easily moved to the PS by simply lowering the frame mask 120. The plate 20 can be brought into close contact with a predetermined position.

By performing such a burning process on each of the four sides of the PS plate 20 in accordance with the data from the printing plate machine 16, there is no need to perform the burning process on the printing plate machine 16. Further, since the PS plate 20 is positioned on the platen 52 with the same punch holes as the positioning of the PS plate 20 in the plate machine 16, it is substantially equivalent to performing the burning-out process in the plate machine 16. Burn-out processing can be accurately performed with the precision described above.

In the burn-off device 10, the PS plate 20
Since the calibration mark can be recorded at an arbitrary position in the above, it is possible to accurately calculate the ink amount and the like appropriate for the printing process using the PS plate 20 by the pattern area ratio measuring device 32 arranged downstream. It becomes possible.

In this embodiment, the frame mask 12
Although the calibration marker 200 is fixed at a predetermined position of 0, the calibration marker 200 may be attached movably along the longitudinal direction of the frame mask 120. Thus, the calibration mark can be recorded at an arbitrary position on the periphery of the PS plate 20 required by the picture area ratio measuring device 32.

Next, when the brightness of the mercury lamp 122 becomes unstable in the burning-out apparatus 10, it is necessary to replace the mercury lamp 122, of course. Here, a case where maintenance in the light source unit 54 such as replacement of the mercury lamp 122 in the burning apparatus 10 applied to the present embodiment will be described.

In this operation, first, the block 154 is raised by rotating the handle 180, and the pins 152 projecting from the casing 100 of the light source unit 54 are moved up.
Is accommodated in the receiving portion 156 of the bracket 154. In this state, the angle 98 connecting the fixing block 96 and the casing 100 of the light source unit 54 is removed. At this time, it is more preferable to remove the wiring and the like connecting the inside of the surface plate 52 and the light source unit 54,
If a margin is provided for the length of the wiring and the like, this operation can be made unnecessary.

Next, the handle 180 is rotated again to raise the light source unit 54 to a position where the support shaft 102 and the like do not interfere even when the light source unit 54 is rotated about the pin 152. At this time, since the rotation of the handle 180 is greatly reduced by the deceleration box 174, even if the upstream of the light source unit 54 is heavy, the handle 180 can be lifted by a light rotation operation.

With the light source unit 54 raised to a predetermined height, the casing 152 is rotated by rotating the pin 152 as an axis.
00 through hole 186 and bracket 154 through hole 184
The locking pin 182 is inserted at the position where the positions match, and the light source unit 54 is locked to the bracket 154. Thus, the opening 150 of the light source unit 54 is directed to the side or upward, and the mercury lamp 122 in the casing 100 can be easily taken out and inserted from the opening 150.

In the case where such a lifting mechanism for the light source unit 54 is not provided, the casing 100 is disassembled and
The mercury lamp 122 needs to be exposed. In particular, when trying to expose the PS plate 20 efficiently, it is necessary to closely surround the mercury lamp 122 with a reflector, and in order to expose the mercury lamp 122, it is necessary to remove these reflectors as well. By allowing the mercury lamp 122 to be exposed from the side of the opening 150 not blocked by the reflector, the light source unit 54 can be exposed.
Maintenance becomes extremely simple. When the maintenance of the light source unit 54 is completed, the light source unit 54 can be easily returned to the normal use state by performing the reverse operation.

The burning apparatus 1 applied to the present embodiment
0 does not limit the configuration of the printing plate burning device to which the present invention is applied. Further, the automatic printing system 12 applied to the present embodiment does not limit the application of the printing plate burning device of the present invention, and the present invention can be applied to various printing systems and can be replaced with a printing machine. In order to burn off the non-image portion of the peripheral edge of the PS plate 20, only the exposure process of the image recorded on the original film by the printing plate machine need be performed.
The efficiency of the duplication operation in the duplication step can be achieved.

[0099]

As described above, in the printing plate burning apparatus of the present invention, by rotating the rotation holding means, the four sides of one printing plate can be burned continuously by one positioning operation. . In addition, since the first positioning means and the second positioning means can perform positioning in different directions, the printing plate is accurately placed at a predetermined position on the surface plate, for example, automatically or manually, and smoothly printed. Skip processing can be performed.

Further, since the pins of the first or second pin group are inserted and positioned in the holes to be used as references when printing the image on the printing plate, the same precision as when performing the burn-out processing by the printing plate machine is used. There is an excellent effect that a desired region can be burned off.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an automatic reproduction system applied to the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing a connection between a burning device and a barcode attaching device applied to the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view showing a burning apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 4 is a schematic side view showing a driving unit for a light source unit of the burning-off device.

FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view showing the inside of a light source unit.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view schematically showing an elevating mechanism of the light source unit.

FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view showing a state where the light source unit is lifted.

FIG. 8 is a schematic plan view showing a calibration marker provided in the burning device.

FIG. 9 is a schematic side view of a calibration marker.

FIG. 10 is a schematic sectional view taken along line 10-10 of FIG. 9;

[Explanation of symbols]

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 10 Burn-out device 12 Automatic plate system 16 Plate plate 20 PS plate (printing plate) 50 Turntable (rotation holding means) 52 Surface plate 54 Light source unit 82A to 82C, 84A to 84C Positioning pins (first and second) (Positioning means, first and second pin groups) 88 Driving unit (driving means) 116 Air cylinder 120 Frame mask

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-3-89354 (JP, A) JP-A-1-291254 (JP, A) JP-A-5-190448 (JP, A) JP-A-5-190448 45886 (JP, A) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G03F ^7/ 20-7/24 G03F 9/00-9/02

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A platen on which a printing plate on which an image has been printed is placed, first positioning means for positioning the printing plate at a predetermined position on the platen, and a platen placed on the platen. A long light source unit capable of exposing a non-image portion along any one side of the periphery of the printing plate, and holding the printing plate formed at the center of the surface plate and positioned on the surface plate. A rotation holding means for sequentially rotating the respective sides of the printing plate to the light source unit by rotation, and a drive for moving the light source unit in parallel with any one side of the printing plate toward a rotation center of the rotation holding means. Means for burning out a printing plate. 2. The printing plate is positioned at a position different from the positioning by the first positioning unit, and the printing plate is rotated by a predetermined amount by the rotation holding unit, whereby the printing plate is positioned by a first positioning unit. 2. The printing plate burning device according to claim 1, further comprising a second positioning means which can be arranged at a positioning position according to (1). 3. A platen on which a printing plate on which an image is printed is placed, and is inserted into a hole provided along one side of the printing plate in a protruding state and capable of protruding and retracting on the platen. A first group of pins for positioning the printing plate in a first predetermined direction on the surface plate, and the first plate group is provided along one side of the printing plate in a protruding state so as to be able to protrude and retract on the surface plate. The printing plate is placed on the platen by inserting
A second pin group positioned in a second direction different from the predetermined direction, and an exposure unit for exposing a portion along any one side of the periphery of the printing plate placed on the surface plate. A first portion provided on a center portion of the surface plate,
After holding the printing plate positioned by the pin group or the second pin group, and immersing the first or second pin group in the surface plate, the printing plate is rotated to rotate the light source. A rotation holding unit that faces each peripheral edge of the printing plate to the unit; and a driving unit that moves the light source unit in parallel with any one side of the printing plate toward the rotation center of the rotation holding unit. Characteristic printing plate burner. 4. The printing plate burning apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a mask that moves up and down so that the light source unit comes into contact with and separates from the surface plate.