JP3414450B2 - Plate making system - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a plate making system most suitable for application to, for example, an electronic gravure printing system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2-1392.
As can be seen in Japanese Patent Publication No. 38-38, in an electronic gravure printing system, which is an example of intaglio printing, a sheet-like plate material having a thickness of about 200 μm (hereinafter, simply referred to as a plate material) formed of a thermoplastic resin such as polyethylene resin. Is described) is used.

In the plate making process by the plate making machine, the plate material is wound around the outer periphery of the plate cylinder and rotated at a high speed.
A laser beam of a semiconductor laser that is reciprocally moved in the axial direction of the plate cylinder is used to make (engrave) image data on the surface of the plate material due to unevenness such as a photograph.

Next, in the printing process by the printing press, the plate material made in the previous plate making process is rewound around the outer periphery of the plate cylinder of the printing press. Then, while rotating the plate cylinder at high speed, ink is applied to the image data due to the unevenness of the plate material with an ink roll, and at the same time, the paper, which is the material to be printed, is pressed onto the surface of the plate material by the impression cylinder and sent at high speed. Then, images such as photographs are printed at high speed on the surface of paper or the like.

At this time, in the case of color printing, cyan,
In addition to the three primary colors of magenta and yellow, multicolor overprinting using black or the like is performed if necessary.

Further, according to the electronic gravure printing system, image data due to unevenness can be engraved on the surface of the plate material with high precision by a submicron order by the laser beam emitted from the semiconductor laser, so that an image such as a photograph can be formed. It is possible to print with extremely high accuracy.

By the way, in this kind of electronic gravure printing system, in the plate making process, the surface of the plate material formed of a thermoplastic resin such as polyethylene resin is melted by irradiating the surface of the plate material with a laser beam of a semiconductor laser. By scattering or sublimating, the image data due to the unevenness of a photograph or the like is engraved. Therefore, in this plate-making process, a large amount of dust, smoke, and the like that are melted from the surface of the plate material and scattered or sublimated. Then, if these dust or smoke adheres to the objective lens of the laser block that irradiates the laser beam or floats between the objective lens and the plate material, the power of the laser beam decreases and the surface of the plate material is reduced. The accuracy of the engraved image data is reduced.

Therefore, in the prior art, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-163 is used.
As disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 19, a method of blowing dust, smoke, or the like floating between the objective lens of the laser block and the plate material with a cross flow fan. In addition, Japanese Examined Japanese Patent Publication Sho 62-55
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 501, a cylindrical dust removing cylinder is attached on the front surface of the objective lens of the laser block on the optical axis of the laser beam, and an air flow that traverses the inside of the dust removing cylinder is supplied to the air ejection port and the air. A method has been considered in which it is formed between the suction port and the dust or smoke that has entered the dust removal cylinder is sucked into the air suction port by its air flow.

[0009]

However, the former (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-16319) merely disperses dust, smoke, etc., and has a problem of odor, which is very unhygienic. is there. Further, the scattered dust or the like adheres to the surface of the plate material due to static electricity, and the accuracy of the image data is easily deteriorated.
In the latter case (Japanese Patent Publication No. 62-55501), since a gap must be formed between the surface of the plate material rotated by the plate cylinder and the tip of the dust removing cylinder, dust, smoke, etc. It cannot be completely removed. Further, since the objective lens is located at a recessed position in the dust removing cylinder and has no lens cleaning function, dust, smoke, etc. that have entered the dust removing cylinder will eventually adhere to and be deposited on the objective lens. Furthermore, by attaching a dust removing cylinder, which is an obstacle, to the front surface of the objective lens, the distance between the objective lens and the surface of the plate material becomes long, and power loss of the laser beam occurs.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and it is possible to completely collect dust, smoke, etc. generated during plate making, and moreover, the objective lens of the laser block is used as a plate material. It is an object of the present invention to provide a plate making system capable of being brought sufficiently close to a surface.

[0011]

The plate making system of the present invention for achieving the above object comprises a plate cylinder around which a sheet-shaped plate material is wound around an outer periphery, and a plate cylinder substantially perpendicular to the axial direction of the plate cylinder. A laser block for irradiating the surface of the plate material with a laser beam from different directions, and a laser block transfer mechanism for transferring the laser block in the axial direction of the plate cylinder, while rotating the plate material by the plate cylinder. While irradiating a laser beam on the surface of the plate material by the laser block, the laser block is transferred in the axial direction of the plate cylinder in the plate making area of the plate material by the laser block transfer mechanism, In a plate making system in which image data is formed by unevenness on the surface of the plate material, an air curtain formed by a blower means and an air intake means is provided on the surface of the plate material. In the tangential direction of the plate cylinder between the surface of Zaburokku objective lens, and is obtained by forming over the entire width of the plate-making area of the plate material.

[0012]

According to the plate making system of the present invention having the above-mentioned structure, the air curtain formed by the air blowing means and the air sucking means is used to irradiate the surface of the plate material wound around the outer periphery of the plate cylinder with the laser beam. Since it is formed between the surface of the block and the objective lens along the tangential direction of the plate cylinder and over the entire width of the plate making area of the plate material, dust and smoke generated in the plate making area at the time of plate making can be removed by air. It can be taken into the curtain and completely recovered in the intake means, and since there is no obstacle in front of the objective lens, the objective lens can be brought sufficiently close to the surface of the plate material.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an electronic gravure printing system will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0014]

[Description of Sheet-Shaped Plate Material] First, a sheet-shaped plate material (hereinafter simply referred to as a plate material) will be described with reference to FIGS. 19 and 20.

The plate material 1 is a sheet having a thickness of about 200 μm, which is formed into a substantially rectangular shape with a thermoplastic resin such as polyethylene resin. Then, on the surface 1a of the plate material 1,
Image data 2 such as a photograph is stored in a sub-micron area in a substantially square plate-making area A indicated by diagonally hatched hatching in FIG.
It is plate-making with high precision (that inscribe) by unevenness of over da. Then, sprocket holes 3 having a constant pitch are formed in parallel along the left and right sides of the plate material 1.

[0016]

[Description of Plate Material Jacket] Next, the plate material jacket will be described with reference to FIGS.

The plate material jacket 6 has a substantially rectangular shape and is formed in a flat bag shape in which three sides 6a, 6b and 6c are closed in a substantially U shape and a plate material inlet / outlet 7 is opened on one side 6d. There is.

At this time, a base sheet 8 and a cover sheet 9 having a thickness of about 200 μm, which are molded in a substantially rectangular shape with a thermoplastic resin such as polyethylene resin, are vertically overlapped with each other and these three sides 6a, This plate material jacket 6 is easily manufactured by heat-sealing 6b and 6c in a substantially U-shape with a predetermined width (pressing while heating to heat-bond the base sheet 8 and the cover sheet 9). can do.

The heat-sealed left and right side edges of the plate material jacket 6 are formed in a pair of left and right parallel roller press-bonding portions 10 each having a predetermined width.

The cover sheet 9 of the plate material jacket 6 has three sides 6a, 6b heat-sealed in a substantially U shape,
A horizontal top plate 9b is integrally formed via a substantially U-shaped rising portion 9a that is vertically raised upward along the inside of 6c, and the top plate 9b of the cover sheet 9 and the base sheet 8 are formed. A flat and substantially U-shaped plate material storage space 11 having a height equal to or greater than the thickness of the plate material 1 is formed between and.

The plate material 1 is housed with its surface 1a facing upward in the plate material inlet / outlet 7 of the plate material jacket 6 into the plate material storage space 11 so that it can be freely inserted and removed in the directions of arrows a and a '. .

At this time, the height of the plate material storage space 11 is adjusted by the substantially U-shaped rising portion 9a of the cover sheet 9.
The plate material storage space 1 can be made higher than the thickness of
The plate material 1 can be smoothly taken in and out in the direction of the arrows a and a '.

A notch 12 is formed from the center of the opening end 9c, which is the end of the cover sheet 9 on the plate material inlet / outlet 7 side, to both left and right ends, and the opening / closing lid is formed at substantially the center of the notch 12. 13 is integrally molded.

The opening / closing lid 13 is attached to the base sheet 8
The opening / closing lid locking hole 14 formed in the elongated hole formed at a substantially central portion near the opening end 8a of the plate is closed to close the plate material inlet / outlet 7 of the plate material jacket 6.
The plate material 1 stored inside is locked in the stored state (to prevent the plate material 1 from popping out).

A pair of left and right slits 15 cut in parallel from the open end 9c side of the cover sheet 9 are formed on both left and right sides of the plate material inlet / outlet 7 of the cover sheet 9, and the open end of the cover sheet 9 is formed. 9a is constructed so that it can be easily opened and closed in the directions of arrows b and b'over the entire width along the fold line connecting the deepest portions of the pair of left and right slits 15.

On both the left and right sides of the plate material inlet / outlet 7, from the deepest part of the pair of left and right slits 15 to the rising portions 9a on the left and right sides, a tapered shape is formed in the plate material insertion direction (arrow a'direction). The pair of left and right tapered plate portions 17 for guiding the plate material insertion are integrally formed.

Therefore, the plate material inlet / outlet 7 of the plate material jacket 6
When the plate material 1 is inserted into the plate material storage space 11 from the direction of the arrow a ′, the left and right ends of the plate material 1 can be guided by the pair of left and right tapered portions 17, so that the plate material storage space 11 The inserting operation of the plate material 1 in the direction of the arrow a ′ can be smoothly performed.

The plate material inlet / outlet 7 of the plate material jacket 6
The pair of left and right roller crimping parts 10 are biased to the side.
Further, a pair of left and right jacket fixing holes 18 is formed to vertically penetrate the base sheet 8 and the cover sheet 9.

The plate material inlet / outlet 7 of the plate material jacket 6
A pair of left and right sides vertically penetrating the top plate 9b and the base sheet 8 of the cover sheet 9 at positions just above and below the sprocket holes 3 on both the left and right sides of the plate material 1 stored inside at a position biased to the side. The slotted sprocket insertion hole 19 is formed.

The plate material inlet / outlet 7 of the plate material jacket 6
At a position asymmetrical with respect to the center in the horizontal direction in the vicinity of the
The erroneous loading (erroneous insertion) detection holes 21 and 22 forming the detected portion of the erroneous loading (erroneous insertion) detecting means are formed. One erroneous loading (erroneous insertion) detection hole 21 is formed in the lateral vicinity of the opening / closing lid 13, and the other erroneous loading (erroneous insertion) detection hole 21 is formed.
The detection hole 22 is arranged on the center of one sprocket hole 3 of the plate material 1.

A bar for identifying the type of the plate material 1 accommodated in the plate material jacket 6 (identifying whether or not the plate material is a new plate material, what image data 2 and what color was used for plate making). The code label 23 is the cover sheet 9 of the plate jacket 6.
It is attached to the best. It should be noted that the cover sheet 9 of the plate material jacket 6 is provided with a visual inspection hole 24 for visually identifying the type of the plate material 1 as needed.

[0032]

[Outline of Plate Making and Printing System] Next, an outline of the plate making and printing system will be described with reference to FIGS. 21 and 22.

In this plate making and printing system, first, the plate making machine 27 makes (engraves) the image data 2 on the surface 1a of the plate material 1 of 1 to 4 by the unevenness of a photograph or the like. However, at this time, the image data 2 for each color such as cyan, magenta, yellow, and black is separately prepared on one to four plate materials 1.

Next, the 1 to 4 plate materials 1 thus prepared are supplied to the printing machine 37, and the cut paper 47 is formed on the surface 1a of the 1 to 4 plate materials 1 by the image data 2 for each color. Overprinting is performed 1 to 4 times to perform color printing in which 1 to 4 colors of a photograph or the like are combined.

In this plate making and printing system, consistently before plate making, after plate making, before printing and after printing,
By storing the plate material 1 in the plate material jacket 6 and handling it, adhesion of dust or the like to the surface 1a of the plate material 1 and generation of scratches are prevented.

[0036]

[Outline of Plate Making Machine] As shown in FIG.
A jacket loading table 28 and a plate material feeding / discharging device 29 arranged above the jacket loading table 28 are attached to the table. Inside the plate making machine 27, the plate cylinder 30 for plate making and the plate cylinder 3 are provided.
A laser block 34 that irradiates the laser beam LB emitted from the semiconductor laser 31 through the collimator lens 32 and the objective lens 33 is arranged on the surface 1 a of the plate material wound around the outer periphery of 0. The laser block 34 is configured to reciprocate in the axial direction of the plate cylinder 30 [direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. 21 (B)].

[0037]

[Description of Printing Machine] As shown in FIG.
1 to 4 for loading 1 to 4 plate jackets 6
Four jacket loading tables 38 and plate material feeding / discharging device 3
9 is provided in the printing machine 37. Each color ink is composed of the same number of printing plate cylinders 40, impression cylinders 41 and ink pans 42, ink rolls 43, doctor blades 44 as the jacket loading table 38. The unit 45 is arranged. In addition, four to four inks 46 of four colors, such as cyan, magenta, yellow, and black, are supplied for each color into the one to four ink pans 42. Further, the printing machine 37 is provided with a paper feed tray 48 on which cut printing paper, that is, an object to be printed, that is, cut paper 47 is stacked, and the cut paper 47 is provided inside one to four impression cylinders 41. A cut sheet circulating device, which will be described later, for sequentially circulating the cut sheet is provided. Note that FIG. 22A shows a state in which two sets of the jacket loading table 38, the plate material feeding / discharging device 39, the plate cylinder 40, the impression cylinder 41, and the ink unit 45 are installed.

[0038]

[Outline of plate making process] As shown in FIG.
The plate material jacket 6 in which the plate material 1 before plate making is housed is loaded horizontally on the jacket loading table 28 of the plate making machine 27 from the direction of arrow a. Then, the plate material feeding / discharging device 29 automatically pulls the plate material 1 out of the plate material jacket 6 in the direction of the arrow a, and is shown on the outer periphery of the plate cylinder 30 in the plate making machine 27 as shown in FIG. To be automatically wrapped.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 21B, the semiconductor laser 31 irradiates the surface 1a of the plate material 1 with the laser beam LB while rotating the plate material 1 in the direction of arrow c at high speed by the plate cylinder 30. At the same time, the laser block 34 is reciprocated in the axial direction of the plate cylinder 30, and the image data 2 for each color such as a photograph is directly and accurately formed on the surface 1a of the plate material 1 by the laser beam LB by the unevenness of the submicron order. The so-called direct plate making with engraving is sequentially performed on 1 to 4 plate materials 1.

At this time, a photo scanner or a digital VTR
Digital information of images such as photographs taken from multimedia such as electronically edited by an image processing computer etc.,
Obtain digital information of four colors such as cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. Then, the semiconductor laser 31 is driven by a laser drive circuit based on the digital information for each of the four colors while sequentially exchanging 1 to 4 plate materials 1, and 1
Directly plate-making the image data 2 for each of the four colors on the four plate materials 1 separately.

Then, the plate material 1 which has been plate-made is automatically sent back from the outer periphery of the plate cylinder 30 in the direction of arrow a'by the plate material feeding / discharging device 29 and is stored again in the plate material jacket 6 to perform the plate-making process. finish. After that, the plate material jacket 6 is pulled out from the jacket loading table 28 in the direction of arrow a ′ and loaded into the next printing machine 37.

[0042]

[Outline of printing process] As shown in FIG.
A printing machine 3 is provided with 1 to 4 plate jackets 6 containing plate-made plates 1 of different colors that have been plate-formed in the plate-making process.
7 to 1 to 4 jacket loading tables 38 are loaded horizontally from the direction of arrow a. Then, each plate material feeding / discharging device 39 causes each plate material 1 to be removed from within each plate material jacket 6.
22 is automatically pulled out in the direction of the arrow a, and is automatically wound around the outer circumference of the one to four plate cylinders 40 in the printing machine 37 as shown in FIG.

Therefore, the cut paper 47 in the paper feed tray 48 shown in FIG. 22A is supplied to the one to four impression cylinders 41 so as to be sequentially circulated, and shown in FIG. Print like this.

That is, while rotating each plate cylinder 40 at high speed in the direction of arrow d, each ink roll 43 brought close to the surface of each plate material 1 is rotated at high speed in the direction of arrow e in synchronization with each plate cylinder 40. Then, the ink 46 for each color in the ink pan 42 is applied to the unevenness of the image data 2 for each color of each plate 1, and the unnecessary ink 46 is scraped off by each doctor blade 44.
Then, the cut paper 47 is fed at high speed while being pressed against the surface 1a of each plate material 1 by each impression cylinder 41 that is rotated at high speed in the direction of arrow f in synchronization with each plate cylinder 40. Cut paper 4 according to image data 2 for each color such as
The image 4 for each color is sequentially printed at 7 at high speed.

Then, the cut paper 47 is attached to one to four impression cylinders 4
1 by sequentially circulating the image data 2 for each color of the plate material 1 by color,
It is possible to print one color printed matter on which the image 4 such as a color photograph in which four colors such as cyan, magenta, yellow, and black are combined is printed. However, one-color printing, two-color printing, three-color printing, and printing of four or more colors are also possible,
The number of plate making steps and the number of printing steps increase or decrease according to the number of colors to be printed.

[0046]

[Outline of Plate Material Supply and Discharge Device] First, the plate making machine 27 described above.
And the jacket loading tables 28, 38 of the printing machine 37.
The plate material feeding / discharging devices 29, 39 and the plate cylinders 30, 40 have the same structure. Therefore, an outline of the jacket loading table 28, the plate material feeding / discharging device 29, and the plate cylinder 30 of the plate making machine 27 will be described with reference to FIG.

First, the horizontal jacket loading table 28
The table cover 51 is horizontally loaded on the upper part of the
A horizontal jacket loading space 52 formed between them
Inside the jacket loading table 28, the plate material jacket 6
Is configured to be horizontally loaded (inserted) in the direction of arrow a with the plate material inlet / outlet 7 side facing forward. A pair of left and right jacket stoppers 71 are formed on the upper end of the jacket loading table 28 in the direction of the arrow a, and the left and right sides of the table cover 51 guide the left and right sides of the plate material jacket 6 in parallel. Both left and right side guides are formed.

The plate material supplying / discharging device 29 is installed on the table cover 51 of the jacket loading table 28. The plate material supplying / discharging device 29 has a pair of left and right symmetrical jackets and plate material drawing-in devices. A device 55 and a jacket fixing device 56, and a jacket central and both side lid opening device 57 are provided.

The pair of left and right jacket and plate material retracting devices 55 are driven to rotate forward and backward by a motor (not shown) and reversibly by a cam mechanism (not shown) driven by the motor. It has a pair of left and right drive rollers 77 and a sprocket 82 that are vertically moved up and down, and the pair of left and right drive rollers 77 are pressure-bonded to and separated from the upper portions of a pair of left and right pinch rollers 79 that are rotated at fixed positions. Is configured.

Also, a pair of left and right jacket fixing devices 56
Has a pair of right and left vertical fixing pins 96 which are vertically moved up and down by a cam mechanism (not shown) driven by a motor.

Further, the lid opening device 5 at the center and both sides of the jacket 5
Reference numeral 7 denotes a central and both-sided open suction pad 117 which is rotationally driven in the vertical direction by a cam mechanism (not shown) driven by a motor, and a central and both-side fixed suction pad 121 fixed at a fixed position. Have The suction pads 117 and 121 are vacuum suction pads connected to a vacuum pump (not shown).

[0052]

[General operation of plate material feeding / discharging device]
As shown in FIG. 3, the operator manually loads (inserts) the plate jacket 6 from the plate inlet / outlet 7 side into the jacket loading space 52 between the jacket loading table 28 and the table cover 51 in the direction of arrow a. .

At this time, when it is detected by a sensor (not shown) that the plate material jacket 6 has been inserted under the pair of left and right driving rollers 77 of the jacket and plate material drawing device 55, a pair of left and right driving rollers is detected. 23 is rotated counterclockwise in FIG. 23 and driven downward,
These drive rollers 77 press the pair of right and left roller pressing portions 10 of the plate material jacket 6 onto the pair of left and right pinch rollers 79, as indicated by a dashed line at 0.

Then, the pair of left and right driving rollers 77 automatically draws the plate material jacket 6 to a predetermined position in the jacket loading space 52 in the direction of the arrow a, so that the right and left ends of the plate material inlet / outlet 7 of the plate material jacket 6 are pulled. The pair of left and right jacket stoppers 71 are brought into contact and stopped.

At this time, a sensor (not shown) is provided to detect the presence or absence of erroneous loading (erroneous insertion) detection holes 21 and 22 formed at the left and right asymmetrical positions of the plate material jacket 6 while the plate material jacket 6 is being automatically pulled in. ), It is possible to detect erroneous loading (erroneous insertion) of the front and back of the plate material jacket 6 and the front and back. In the case of erroneous loading (erroneous insertion), the pair of left and right drive rollers 77 are immediately reverse-rotated to automatically eject the plate material jacket 6 in the direction of arrow a ', or erroneous loading (erroneous insertion). Notify operators by displaying such things.

Then, when it is detected by a sensor (not shown) that the plate material jacket 6 is automatically pulled in to a predetermined position, the center of the jacket and the both-side lid opening device 5
The center and both side open suction pads 117 are rotated in the downward arrow b'direction to be vacuum-sucked onto the center and both sides of the opening end 9c of the cover sheet 9 of the plate material jacket 6, and are fixed to the center and both sides. The center and both sides of the opening end 8a of the base sheet 8 of the plate material jacket 6 are vacuum-adsorbed on the adsorption pad 121. Then, subsequently to this, the central and both-sides open suction pads 117 are rotated in the upward arrow b direction, the open end 9c of the cover sheet 9 is lifted upward, and the plate material inlet / outlet 7 of the plate material jacket 6 is raised. The lid is opened (opened).

A pair of left and right jacket fixing devices 5
The pair of right and left fixing pins 96 of 6 are vertically lowered as shown by the one-dot chain line in FIG. 20, and are inserted into the pair of left and right jacket fixing holes 18 of the plate material jacket 6, so that the plate material jacket 6 is at a fixed position. Fixed.

The pair of left and right jackets and the pair of left and right drive rollers 77 of the plate material retracting device 55 are separated above the pair of left and right roller crimping portions 10 of the plate material jacket 6, and the pair of left and right sprockets 82 are shown. 23, the sprocket 82 is lowered while being driven to rotate counterclockwise by 23, and these sprocket 82 are inserted through the pair of left and right sprocket insertion holes 19 of the plate material jacket 6 as shown by the one-dot chain line in FIG. The left and right sprocket holes 3 are engaged with each other.

Then, the plate material 1 is automatically pulled out from the plate material jacket 6 in the direction of arrow a by the pair of left and right sprockets 82, as shown in FIG. And FIG.
The plate material 1 is automatically wrapped around the outer periphery of the plate cylinder 30, as indicated by a chain line in FIG.

When the plate is discharged, the plate material 1 unwound from the plate cylinder 30 in the direction of the arrow a'by the reverse operation of the plate feeding described above.
Is automatically drawn into the plate material jacket 6 by the pair of left and right sprockets 82 in the direction of the arrow a ', and then the plate material jacket 6 is vacuum-adsorbed by the center and both side open suction pads 117 and the center and both side fixed suction pads 121. And the fixing of the plate material jacket 6 by the pair of left and right fixing pins 96 is released. Then, the pair of left and right drive rollers 77 automatically ejects the plate jacket 6 from the jacket loading space 52 in the arrow a'direction.

[0061]

[Description of Printing Section of Printing Machine] Next, the printing section of the printing machine will be described with reference to FIG.

Inside the printing machine 37, two upper and lower printing units 12 are provided.
4 and 125 are installed, and the upper and lower printing units 124 and 125 are respectively provided with one plate cylinder 40 and impression cylinder 41, and two inking units 45A and 45B for each color. The two inking units 45A and 45B in each of the printing units 124 and 125 are separated from each other by one inking unit 40 by an inking unit exchanging device 126 described later.
Is configured to be freely exchangeable.

Therefore, this printing machine 37 has two plate cylinders 4.
0 and a total of four ink units 45A and 45B, and four color inks 46 such as cyan, magenta, yellow, and black are supplied to the four ink pans 42 of the four ink units 45A and 45B by color. Is configured to be able to.

[0064]

[Description of Cut Paper Circulation Device of Printing Machine] Next, the cut paper circulation device of the printing machine will be described with reference to FIG.

The cut sheet circulating device 127 includes a sheet feeding conveyor 128 for feeding the cut sheet 47 from the sheet feeding tray 48 to the lower printing section 124 in the direction of arrow g, and an arrow for feeding the cut sheet 47 between the upper and lower printing sections 124, 125. The reversing cylinder 129 that transfers in the h direction, and the discharge conveyor 130 that discharges the cut sheet 47 from the upper printing unit 125 to the discharge tray 49 in the arrow i direction.
And have.

[0066]

[Four-color printing process] First, two image plates 2 out of four plate materials 1 in which image data 2 due to unevenness of a photograph or the like are made in four colors such as cyan, magenta, yellow, and black The material 1 is placed on the plate cylinders 4 of the upper and lower two printing units 124 and 125.
Wrap around the outer circumference of 0.

Next, one of the two inking units 45A and 45B for each color of the upper and lower two printing units 124 and 125 is set in the lower portion of each plate cylinder 40.

Next, the sheet feeding conveyor 128 of the sheet cutting device 127 continuously feeds the sheet cutting sheets 47 from the sheet feeding tray 48 to the lower printing unit 124 in the direction of arrow g, and the first printing step is performed. To do.

In this first printing process, the lower printing unit 1
24 in 4 such as cyan, magenta, yellow, black
The image 4 such as a photograph of the first color among the colors is sequentially and continuously printed on the cut sheet 47. Then, subsequently, the cut sheet 47 is sequentially and continuously supplied to the upper printing unit 125 in the direction of the arrow h by the reversing cylinder 129, and the upper printing unit 12
5, the image such as the photograph of the second color is continuously cut paper 47.
Are continuously overprinted.

Then, the cut sheets 47 on which the two colors are sequentially and continuously overprinted are sequentially and continuously discharged in the direction of the arrow i by the discharge conveyor 130 and are sequentially accommodated in the discharge tray 49. The second printing process (two-color overprinting) is completed.

Next, the plate material 1 for each color wrapped around the outer periphery of each plate cylinder 40 in the upper and lower two printing sections 124 and 125 is replaced with the remaining two plate materials 1 of the above four sheets.

Further, the two inking units 45A and 45B for each color of the upper and lower two printing units 124 and 125 are exchanged by the inking unit exchanging device 126, and the other inking unit 45B is placed under each plate cylinder 40. set.

In addition, the two colors are overprinted and the discharge tray 4
The cut sheets 47 printed in the first time and sequentially accommodated in the sheet 9 are set again in the sheet feeding tray 48.

Then, in the first printing step, the cut sheet 47 on which the two colors are overprinted is printed and the cut sheet circulating device 1 is used.
In the same manner as described above, 27 sequentially and continuously supplies the paper from the paper feed tray 48 to the lower printing unit 124 and the upper printing unit 125,
The second printing process (two-color overprinting) is performed.

Then, by this second printing step,
Images 4 such as photographs of the third color and the fourth color of the four colors of cyan, magenta, yellow, black and the like are successively and continuously overprinted by the upper and lower printing units 124 and 125, and the paper output tray 4
Sequentially stored in 9.

Therefore, according to the printing machine 37, two inking units 45 are provided for each of the two plate cylinders 40.
By performing the printing process twice while sequentially exchanging A and 45B, an image 4 such as a color photograph in which four colors such as cyan, magenta, yellow and black are overprinted on one sheet of cut paper 47 is obtained. Can be printed. However, one-color printing, two-color printing, three-color printing, and the like are also possible.

[0077]

[Description of Ink Unit] Next, referring to FIGS. 1 to 9, 13, and 14, two inking units 45A, 45
B will be described.

First, the two ink units 45A, 45
B is arranged in parallel at the lower part of one plate cylinder 40 in a symmetrical shape. Each of the ink pans 42 has an upper surface entirely opened by an opening 42a, and has a substantially boat shape parallel to the plate cylinder 40. In each of these ink pans 42, a horizontal ink roll 43 and a substantially vertical doctor blade 44 are housed in parallel with the plate cylinder 40 and symmetrically. Then, a water-based ink 46 for each color is supplied into each ink pan 42.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, each ink roll 43 and doctor blade 44 are housed in a state of being immersed together in the ink 46 in each ink pan 42. Both ends in the length direction of the roll shaft 43a of each ink roll 43 are rotatably supported by both side walls 42b in the length direction of each ink pan 42 by a pair of bearings 43b, and a doctor blade 44 will be described later. It is supported by a holder.

It should be noted that arc-shaped notches 42c for escape from the plate cylinder 40 are formed symmetrically at the upper ends of both side walls 42b in the length direction of each ink pan 42. A recess 42e and a notch 42f are formed in the upper half of one of the side walls 42d of the ink pan 42, which is disposed outside the one of the side walls 42d in the width direction. In addition, each ink pan 42
Inside the ink roll 43 and the doctor blade 44, a roll prevention plate 42g for the ink 46 is arranged.

[0081]

[Explanation of Ink Unit Replacement Device] Next, FIGS.
The inking unit exchanging device for exchanging the two inking units 45A and 45B for one plate cylinder 40 of the printing machine will be described below.

The ink unit exchanging device 126 includes a rotary table support mechanism 135 for supporting a rotary table 134, which is a mounting table, on the base 133 so as to be vertically movable and horizontally rotatable, and two ink units 45a. A pair of four parallel quadruple link mechanisms 136A and 136B for supporting the two ink pans 45B of 45B on the upper left and right sides of the rotary table 134 so as to be vertically movable, and two of the two ink units 45A and 45B. Doctor blade 44
Pair of doctor blade support mechanism which rotatably supports vertically on both right and left sides of the turntable 134 to 137A, 1
37B and one lifting drive mechanism 138 that drives the two ink pans 42 and the doctor blade 44 up and down.
And one ink roll drive mechanism 139 that alternately drives the two ink rolls 43 of the two ink units 45A and 45B, and one doctor blade lateral swing mechanism 140 that simultaneously vibrates and drives the two doctor blades 44.
And two rotary base fixing mechanisms 141 for fixing the rotary base 134 in a fixed position.

Hereinafter, the ink unit exchanging device 126 will be described.
Each of the mechanisms will be sequentially described.

[0084]

[Rotating Table Supporting Mechanism] As shown in FIGS. 9 to 11, the rotating table supporting mechanism 135 includes a supporting table 142 vertically fixed to a central portion of the base 133, and a bearing 1 in the supporting table 142.
43 is vertically supported via 43, is vertically movable along a vertical rotation center P, and is vertically movable in the directions of arrows j and j ′, and is horizontal around the rotation center P. Rotating support shaft 144 configured to be rotatable in the k'direction
And a compression spring 145 that urges the rotation support shaft 144 upward in the direction of arrow j. The lower frame 134 has a substantially rectangular planar shape.
A central portion of a lower frame 134a of a horizontal rotary base 134 which is vertically formed in two stages by a and an upper frame 134b is detachably fixed to an upper end of a rotary support shaft 144 by a set screw 134c.

[0085]

[Parallel Quadruple Link Mechanism] As shown in FIGS. 1 to 10, each pair, a total of four parallel quadruple link mechanisms 136A, 136.
B is a pair of left and right fulcrum shafts 147, 14 fixed horizontally and in parallel by a plurality of set screws 146 on the upper portions of the left and right end edges of the rotary table 134 along the length direction of the lower frame 134a.
8 and a pair of left and right fulcrum shafts 150, 151 fixed horizontally and in parallel to the bottom frame 149 of each ink pan 42 of the two ink units 45A, 45B, and a pair of left and right fulcrum shafts 147, 148 and 150, 151. Is rotatably attached between both ends in the direction of the arrow, and is an up-and-down arrow m around a pair of left and right fulcrum shafts 147, 148.
Each pair of left and right rotatably arranged in the m'direction, and a total of four left and right symmetric parallel links 152, 153 are provided. The pair of left and right fulcrum shafts 147, 14
Eight intervals and 150 and 151 are equal, and each pair of parallel links 152 and 153 are equal in length.

[0086]

[Doctor blade support mechanism] Figs. 1 to 10 and 12
As shown in, a pair of left and right doctor blade support mechanisms 1
A pair of left and right doctor blade holders 155, which are substantially L-shaped when viewed in the axial direction of each ink roll 43 and are formed symmetrically, are used for 37A and 137B. As shown in FIG. 14, these doctor blade holders 155 include a pair of L-shaped arms 155a, and an upper end connecting portion 155b, an intermediate connecting portion 155c, and a lower end connecting portion that horizontally connect the pair of L-shaped arms 155a. 155
It is framed by d. These doctor blade holders 155 have a pair of L-shaped arms 155a.
A pair of left and right fulcrum shafts 14 on the turntable 134 are arranged so as to straddle the parallel four-link mechanism 136A, 136B at the lower end of
7, 148 have vertical arrows n at both ends in the longitudinal direction,
The fulcrum shaft 14 is rotatable in the n'direction.
7, 148 are slidably mounted in the direction of the arrow o, which is the axial direction. Then, from the upper end connecting portion 155b of these doctor blade holders 155 to each ink pan 4
The lower end of each doctor blade 44 is supported almost vertically over the entire width at the tip inside each ink pan 42 of the bending arm portion 155e that extends inwardly in a substantially inverted L-shape and is symmetrical. . Each bent arm portion 155e can be inserted into the notch 42f of each ink pan 42 and has a narrow width portion 155.
It is integrally connected to each upper end connecting portion 155b by f. A roller receiver 155g having a fixed length is fixed to the doctor blade holder 155 at a substantially central portion in the lengthwise direction of the intermediate connecting portion 155c.

[0087]

[Elevating / Driving Mechanism] As shown in FIGS. 2, 5, 6 and 8, the ascending / descending driving mechanism 138 includes a plate cylinder 40 on the base 133.
It is located directly below. The lift drive mechanism 138 includes an ink pan lift drive means 157 that drives the ink pan 42 up and down with respect to the plate cylinder 40, and a doctor blade lift drive means 158 that drives the doctor blade 44 up and down with respect to the plate cylinder 40. Have

Then, the ink pan lifting drive means 157
Is a roller 159 which is a bearing that pushes up a substantially central portion of the bottom frame 149 of the ink pan 42 in the longitudinal direction from below, a slider 160 to which the roller 159 is rotatably attached, and an obliquely attached to the base 133. An inclined guide 161 that guides the slider 160 in the direction of the arrows p and p ′, which are diagonally vertical directions along the length direction of the ink pan 42, and a mounting shaft 163 whose one end is horizontal to the bracket 162 on the base 133. And an air cylinder 164 along the length direction of the ink pan 42, which is rotatably attached to the slider 160 and drives the slider 160 along the tilt guide 161 in the directions of arrows p and p ′. The tip of the cylinder rod 164a of the air cylinder 164 is rotatably attached to the slider 160 via a horizontal connecting shaft 164b.

Then, the doctor blade lifting / lowering drive means 1
Reference numeral 58 denotes a roller 166 which is a bearing that pushes up the roller receiver 155g of the doctor blade holder 155 from below at a position substantially equivalent to the central portion in the length direction of the doctor blade 44, and a slider 167 to which the roller 166 is rotatably attached. , A slanting guide 168 that is obliquely attached on the base 133 and guides the slider 167 along the length direction of the roller receiver 155g in the directions of the slanting vertical directions q and q ', and one end of the bracket 169 on the base 133. Is rotatably mounted in the vertical direction via a horizontal mounting shaft 170, and the slider 16
7 is constituted by an air cylinder 171 extending in the length direction of a roller receiver 155g that drives 7 in the directions of arrows q and q ′ along the tilt guide 168. The tip of the cylinder rod 171a of the air cylinder 171 is rotatably attached to the slider 167 via a horizontal connecting shaft 164b. Further, the tilt guide 168 and the air cylinder 171 of the doctor blade up-and-down driving means 158 are arranged in a reverse tilt and reverse direction with respect to the tilt guide 161 and the air cylinder 164 of the ink-pan up-and-down driving means 157.

[0090]

[Ink Roll Drive Mechanism] As shown in FIGS. 4 to 8, the ink roll drive mechanism 138 includes a drive motor 173 that is a geared motor laterally attached to an upper portion of one end side of the upper frame 134b of the turntable 134. The drive motor 173 is composed of a gear train 174 for selectively rotating the pair of left and right ink rolls 43. The gear train 174 is the drive motor 1
The drive gear 176 fixed to the output shaft 175 of the reference numeral 73 is rotatably attached to the side surface on one end side of the turntable 134 so as to be constantly meshed with each other, and one of the pair is always meshed with the upper side of the drive gear 176. Intermediate gear 177, 178
And a pair of driven gears that are fixed to one end of the roll shaft 43a of each ink roll 43 outside the pair of left and right ink pans 42, mesh with the pair of intermediate gears 177, 178, and are removable. 179 and 180.

[0091]

[Doctor Blade Lateral Shaking Mechanism] As shown in FIGS. 7, 8 and 12, the doctor blade lateral shaking mechanism 140 first moves the pair of left and right doctor blade holders 155 in the axial direction of the pair of left and right fulcrum shafts 147, 148. By vibrating in the direction of arrow o, a pair of left and right doctor blades 4
4 is configured to vibrate in a pair of left and right ink pans 42 in the arrow o direction which is the axial direction of the plate cylinder 40.

Then, the doctor blade lateral swing mechanism 1
Reference numeral 40 denotes a drive motor 182 that is a geared motor vertically and downwardly attached to an upper portion of the other end side of the upper frame 134b of the rotary table 134, and a rotation spindle of the rotary table 134 on the upper frame 134b of the rotary table 134. Between the vibrating disc 184 rotatably attached to the position just above 144 via a vertical rotating shaft 183, and the vibrating disc 184 and the left and right lower end connecting portions 155d of the left and right doctor blade holders 155. Are arranged under a pair of left and right connecting rods 186, which are connected to each other via a pair of universal joints 185, and an upper frame 134b of the rotary table 134, and the output shaft 187 of the drive motor 182 causes the vibrating disk 184 to move in the direction of arrow r. Disk 18 that vibrates and rotates
8, a connecting arm 189, a disc 190, a transmission mechanism 193 including a small gear 191 and a large gear 192.

[0093]

[Rotating Table Fixing Mechanism] As shown in FIGS. 3 to 8 and 10, the rotating table fixing mechanism 141 includes a plurality of setscrews 195 between both ends of a pair of left and right fulcrum shafts 147 and 148 of the rotating table 134.
A pair of fixing brackets 196 fixed at a right angle by
A pair of fixed bases 1 mounted vertically on the base 133
97, a pair of fixing screws 198 vertically attached downward to the center of the pair of fixing fittings 196, and a pair of screw holes 19 formed in the center of the upper ends of the pair of fixing bases 197.
9 and 9. In addition, a pair of fixing brackets 1
Reference numeral 96 has a substantially U-shaped cross section, and the pair of fixing screws 198 are movably held in the vertical direction within a certain range by the pair of fixing fittings 196 and are upwardly moved by the pair of compression springs 200. Is being urged to rise. Further, on the upper surface of the pair of fixed bases 197, the stepped portion 201 for positioning the pair of fulcrum shafts 147, 148 of the rotary base 134 and the V are provided.
The groove 202 is formed.

[0094]

[Ink Unit Replacement Operation] Next, the operation of the ink unit replacement device 126 configured as described above will be described.

First, in the state shown in FIGS. 1 to 8, the pair of fixing metal fittings 196 of the rotary base fixing mechanism 141 are fixed on the pair of fixing bases 197 on the base 133 by the pair of fixing screws 198 to rotate. The base 134 is fixed in parallel with the plate cylinder 40 in a horizontal shape.

Then, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, one of the ink units 45A is raised by one elevating drive mechanism 138 on the base 133 and is set parallel to the lower portion of the plate cylinder 40. The other ink unit 45B
Is retracted to one side of the plate cylinder 40.

That is, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, the air cylinder 164 of the ink pan raising / lowering means 157 drives the slider 160 to move upward along the tilt guide 161 in the direction of arrow p, and the roller 159 causes the ink unit 45 of one side to move.
The bottom frame 149 of the A ink pan 42 is pushed up in the direction of arrow j from below. Therefore, the parallel links 152 and 153 of the pair of parallel quadruple link mechanisms 136A are rotated about the pair of fulcrum shafts 147 and 148 in the direction of arrow m, and one ink pan 42 is raised in the direction of arrow m,
The surface 1a of the plate material 1 that is wound around the outer periphery of the plate cylinder 40 while being close to the plate cylinder 40 by the arcuate notch 42c and with one of the ink rolls 43 kept parallel to the plate cylinder 40. It is set in a state of being close to a close distance of several mm.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 6, the air cylinder 171 of the doctor blade lifting drive means 158.
Moves the slider 167 along the tilt guide 168 with the arrow q
Driven upward, the roller 166 pushes up the roller receiver 155g of the doctor blade holder 155 of the one ink unit 45A from below in the direction of arrow j.
Therefore, one doctor blade holder 155 is rotated around the one fulcrum shaft 147 in the direction of arrow n, and one doctor blade 44 is wound around the outer periphery of the plate cylinder 40 while maintaining parallelism with the plate cylinder 40. The plate 1 is pressed against the surface 1a of the plate 1 from the direction of arrow n.

At this time, the roller 166 pushes up the substantially central portion of the doctor blade 44 in the lengthwise direction in the direction of arrow j, and moves the doctor blade 44 to the surface 1a of the plate material 1 by the arrow n.
Since it is pressed from the direction, the doctor blade 44 can be pressed uniformly on the surface 1a of the plate material 1 over the entire length without adjustment.

Then, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the plate cylinder 4
The other inking unit 45B, which is retracted to one side of 0, is lowered by the other parallel quadruple link mechanism 136B by its own weight in the direction of the arrow m ', and the other pair of parallel quadruple link mechanisms 136B is in parallel. The link 153 abuts on the other fulcrum shaft 148 and is stopped.

Then, as shown in FIG. 4, one ink pan 42 of one ink unit 45A is raised in the direction of arrow m, and the other ink pan 42 of the other ink unit 45B is lowered in the direction of arrow m '. Thus, one driven gear 179 in the gear train 174 of the ink roll driving mechanism 139 is meshed with one intermediate gear 178, and the other driven gear 180 is engaged with the other intermediate gear 17.
A gap G is formed between the gears 177 and 180 so as to be separated from the gear 7.

When the above-described first printing process is started in this state, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, when the plate cylinder 40 rotates the plate material 1 in the direction of arrow d at a high speed. At the same time, the intermediate gear 1 of the gear train 174 is driven by the drive gear 176 of the output shaft 175 of the drive motor 173 of the ink roll drive mechanism 139 shown in FIGS.
One ink roll 43 in one ink pan 42 of one ink unit 45A is rotationally driven at a high speed in the direction of arrow e via 77, 178 and the driven gear 179.

As shown in FIG. 4, the driven gear 180 of the other ink pan 42 of the other ink unit 45B.
Since there is a gap G between and the intermediate gear 177, the other ink roll 43 in the other ink pan 42 is not rotated at all.

Then, the ink 46 in one ink pan 42 of the one ink unit 45A is applied to the surface 1a of the plate material 1 by the one ink roll 43, and one doctor blade 44 of the one ink pan 42 is applied to the plate. The unnecessary ink 46 on the surface 1a of the material 1 is scraped off.

During this printing process, the vibration disk 184 is moved in the direction of arrow r by the transmission mechanism 193 driven by the drive motor 182 of the doctor blade lateral vibration mechanism 140 shown in FIGS. 7, 8 and 12. The pair of doctor blades 44 are vibrated and rotated, and the pair of doctor blades 44 vibrate in the direction of the arrow o along their lengths via the pair of connecting rods 186 and the pair of doctor blade holders 155 (so-called lateral vibration).
Driven.

Next, when the second printing process is started after the completion of the first printing, first, as shown by the alternate long and short dash lines in FIGS. 5 and 6, a pair of air cylinders of one lifting drive mechanism 138. The pair of sliders 160 and 167 are lowered by the pair of guides 164 and 171 along the pair of tilt guides 161 and 168 in the directions of arrows p ′ and q ′, and the pair of rollers 1 and
59, 166 are lowered in the direction of arrow j ', and one of the ink units 45A is lowered in the direction of arrow m'to the lowered position as shown by the one-dot chain line in FIG.

Next, the pair of fixing screws 198 of the rotary base fixing mechanism 141 are removed upward from the pair of fixed bases 197, and the rotary base 134 as a whole is indicated by the arrow j by the compression spring 145 as shown by the one-dot chain line in FIG. In a certain direction to a certain height.

Next, the rotary table 134 is rotated by 180 ° in the direction of arrow k or k ′ about the rotary support shaft 144, and the two inking units 45A and 45B are moved in the direction of arrow k or k ′ by 1 direction.
Invert by 80 °. Then, the other ink unit 45
B is moved to the lower part of the plate cylinder 40, and one of the inking units 45A is retracted to one side of the plate cylinder 40.

Then, the pair of fixing screws 198 of the rotary base fixing mechanism 141 are connected to the pair of screw holes 19 of the pair of fixing bases 197.
Then, the rotary base 134 is fixed onto the pair of fixed bases 197 by the pair of fixed metal fittings 196. At this time, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the pair of fulcrum shafts 147 and 148 of the rotary base 134 are positioned by the positioning step 201 and the V groove 202 of the pair of fixed bases 197. The plate 134 can be fixed in parallel with the plate cylinder 40 with high precision.

Then, after this, one lifting drive mechanism 13
8, the other inking unit 45B as described above.
The other ink pan 42 and the doctor blade holder 155 are raised in parallel with the directions of the arrows m and n, and the other ink unit 45B is set on the lower portion of the plate cylinder 40 from below.

At this time, the two inking units 45
By the above 180 ° inversion of A and 45B, as shown in FIG.
The driven gear 180 of the other ink pan 42 of the other ink unit 45B is meshed with the intermediate gear 177, and the driven gear 179 of the one ink pan 42 of the one ink unit 45A is separated from the intermediate gear 178. A gap G similar to the above is formed between the same and G.

Therefore, in the second printing step, the other ink roll 43 of the other ink unit 45B is moved to the arrow d.
Is rotated at a high speed in one direction, and the other inking unit 4
The ink 46 in 2 is the surface 1a of the plate material 1 on the outer periphery of the plate cylinder 40.
Then, the unnecessary ink 46 on the surface 1a of the plate 1 is scraped off by the other doctor blade 44 of the other ink unit 45B.

According to the ink unit exchanging device 126 configured and operated as described above, 18 of the rotary table 134 is used.
0 ° inversion operation and two inking units 45A, 45B
By the raising and lowering operation of (2), the two inking units 45A and 45B can be replaced with respect to one plate cylinder 40 reasonably, quickly, easily and stably.

Then, the two inking units 45
By performing the exchange operation of A and 45B, the ink pan 4
2 and the doctor blade 44 need not be washed and replaced with the ink 46 each time, the color change printing of the two colors of ink 46 can be easily and quickly performed with one plate cylinder 40, and the cleaning can be performed. Dirt does not occur.

Since the two inking units 45A and 45B are inverted by 180 ° by the turntable 134, the two inking units 45A and 45B are alternately arranged on one elevating drive mechanism 138 on the base 133. It is possible to selectively drive the two inking units 45A and 45B up and down by the single up-and-down drive mechanism 138, which can simplify the structure.

Then, the two inking units 45A, 4
5B of two ink pans 42 is a turntable 13 which is a mount.
4 parallel link mechanisms 136A, 13
While maintaining parallelism with the plate cylinder 40 by 6B,
Since the ink can be stably moved up and down, there is no risk of accidentally spilling the ink 46 when the ink pans 42 are moved up and down, and when the ink pans 42 are set on the lower part of the plate cylinder 40, the ink rolls 43 are It can be set parallel to the plate cylinder 40 without adjustment.

Then, the doctor blade holder 155 is pushed up from below by one roller 166 to move the doctor blade 44 to the surface 1 of the plate material 1 on the outer periphery of the plate cylinder 40.
When the doctor blade 44 is pressed from below, the roller blade 166 pushes up a portion corresponding to a substantially central position in the length direction of the doctor blade 44, so that the doctor blade 44 is evenly adjusted on the surface 1a of the plate material 1 over the entire length. Since the pressure is applied to the doctor blade 44, the doctor blade 44 can uniformly scrape off the ink 46 on the surface 1a of the plate 1 over the entire length of the doctor blade 44 during printing. Therefore, the coating thickness of the ink 46 on the cut paper 47 becomes uniform, and high-quality gravure printing can be performed.

Since the ink roll 43 and the doctor blade 44 are both housed so as to be immersed in the ink 46 in the ink pan 42, it is not necessary to wash the ink pan 42 and the doctor blade 44 after printing. It is not necessary to wash the ink pan 42 and the doctor blade 44 after printing, and it is possible to provide the ink units 45A and 45B that do not require washing.

Since the ink roll 43 and the doctor blade 44 are both housed in the ink pan 42,
The ink 46 scraped off the surface 1a of the plate 1 by the doctor blade 44 can be easily and surely collected in the ink pan 42, and the ink 46
There will be no inconvenience such as spilling around the area.

In particular, during printing, the doctor blade 44 is vibrated in the direction of arrow o by the doctor blade lateral vibration mechanism 140. However, since the doctor blade 44 is vibrated in the direction of arrow o while being accommodated in the ink pan 42, The vibration (lateral vibration) of the doctor blade 44 prevents the ink 46 from scattering outside the ink pan 42. Also,
Since the doctor blade 44 can be vibrated (laterally shaken) in the direction of the arrow o while the doctor blade 44 is immersed in the ink 46 during printing, the ink 46 in the ink pan 42 can always be automatically stirred and the ink 46 can be dried. Viscosity deterioration due to can be prevented, and high-quality gravure printing can be performed.

By accommodating the ink roll 43 and the doctor blade 44 together in the ink pan 42, the size of the entire ink units 45A and 45B can be greatly reduced.

[0122]

[Ink Pan Closure Device] Next, the ink pan closure device when not in use will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 8, 13 and 14.

In the ink pan closing device 205, when the ink units 45A and 45B are not used, the ink rolls 43 and the doctor blade 44 are housed so as to be immersed in the ink 46 in the ink pans 42,
Each ink pan 42 is closed by a lid 206 from above each ink roll 43 and doctor blade 44.

At this time, a pair of downward facing four side walls 206a, 206b on one side of each lid 206, and one projecting piece 206c horizontally projected from one side wall 206b to a substantially central portion of one side wall 206b. Are integrally formed. Therefore,
The side walls 206a and 206b of each lid 206 are connected to each ink pan 4
Each pair of two, a total of four side walls 42b and 42d, are fitted to the outer side of each ink pan 42, and each lid 206 is horizontally attached to the upper opening 4 of each ink pan 42.
2a, the pair of arcuate notches 42c are closed, and the small width portion 155 of the doctor blade holder 155 is inserted from above the notches 42f of each ink pan 42 by the protrusion 206c.
Close the top of f. In addition, each lid 206 corresponds to each ink pan 42.
The positioning pins 207 provided on the pair of side walls 42b are engaged with the positioning notches 208 for positioning.

When the ink units 45A and 45B are used, the lids 206 are removed and the ink pans 4 are removed.
The upper part of 2 is opened.

In this way, the ink pan closing device 205
When the ink units 45A and 45B are not used, the ink pans 42 are closed by the lids 206, and the lids 206 are removed to open the ink pans 42 when using the ink units 45A and 45B.
It is possible to prevent the ink 46 in each ink pan 42 from being dried and solidified when not in use, and the ink 46 from being contaminated by dust or the like that has entered the ink pan 42. Therefore, at the time of the next use, it is possible to prevent inconveniences such as scratches and stains during printing due to ink clogs and dust mixed in the ink 46, and high-quality gravure printing can be performed, and the durability of the plate material 1 can be improved. Can be improved.

In addition, at this time, since the ink roll 43 and the doctor blade 44 are accommodated in the respective ink pans 42, the lids 206 can be attached to the respective ink pans 42 from above, so that the respective lids for the respective ink pans 42 can be mounted. Since 206 can be easily attached and detached, and the ink rolls 43 and the doctor blades 44 can be completely closed together with the ink pans 42, the ink rolls 43 and the doctor blades 44 can be reliably stored in a cleaning-free state. .

[0128]

[Description of Ink Circulation Device] Next, referring to FIG. 15, an ink circulation device attached to each ink pan 42 will be described.

This ink circulation device 211 is provided for each of the four ink pans 42 of the printing machine 37 shown in FIG. 16, one for each of the four ink pans, and a total of four inks are provided for each of four colors such as cyan, magenta, yellow and black. However, in FIG. 15, one of them will be described.

First, the ink pan 42 and the ink tank 21.
2, an ink supply path 213 is formed between the ink pan 42 and the waste liquid tank 214.
5 is formed. An ink circulation path 216 is formed by connecting the ink supply path 213 and the ink discharge path 215 in a bypass shape. An ink return path 217 to the ink tank 212, a cleaning liquid tank 219 to which the cleaning liquid 218 is supplied, and the like are connected in the middle of the ink circulation path 216.

In the ink circulation path 216, the main pump P ₁ (sub-pump P ₂ if necessary), the ink filter F _1, etc., the valves V ₁ , V ₂ , V ₃ , V ₄ , V _{5 are provided.}
Etc. are provided. Then, in the ink pan 42, a liquid surface sensor S ₁ for keeping the liquid surface WL of the ink 46 constant.
Is provided.

The main pump P ₁ and the sub pump P ₂ in the ink circulation path 216 are the two air cylinders 164 of the ink unit exchanging device 126 described above.
The air cylinder driving circuit 220 that drives 171 with air is commonly driven. In this air cylinder drive circuit 220, A ₁
Is an air compressor, CV ₁ and CV ₂ are check valves, F
₂ is an air filter, R ₁ , R ₂ and R ₃ are regulators,
SP ₁ , SP ₂ , SP ₃ are speed control, RV ₁ is relief
Valves SL ₁ , SL ₂ are silencers, V ₇ , V ₈ , V ₉ ,
V ₁₀ and V ₁₁ indicate valves.

[0133]

[Operation of the ink circulation device] Next, together with the driving of the two air cylinders 164 and 171, the ink circulation device 211
The operation of will be described.

[0134]

[Air cylinder ON] A ₁ → V ₇ → CV ₁ → F ₂ → R
₁ → V ₁₀ → CV ₂ → SP ₁ → R ₂ → V ₁₁ → SP ₂ and S
P ₃ → Air cylinders 164 and 171 are turned on,
As described above, the ascending drive of the ink pan 42 and the doctor blade 44 in the directions of arrows m and n is performed.

[0135]

[Air cylinder OFF] SP ₂ and SP ₃ → V ₁₁ → The air cylinders 164 and 171 are turned off by the atmosphere, and as described above, the ink pan 42 and the doctor blade 44 are lowered by their own weight in the directions of arrows m'and n '. Be seen.

[0136]

[Pump ON] A ₁ → V ₁ → CV ₁ → F ₂ → R ₁ → V ₉
→ R ₃ → Main pump P ₁ or sub pump P ₂ is turned on.

[0137]

[Ink supply to the ink pan] Main pump P ₁ ON
Causes the ink 46 in the ink tank 212 to change from V ₂ → F
It is automatically supplied into the ink pan 42 through ₁ → V ₅ . Then, the liquid level WL of the ink 46 in the ink pan 42
Reaches a certain amount, it is detected by the liquid level sensor S ₁ and the main pump P ₁ is turned off.

[0138]

[Maintaining the liquid level during printing] Then, during printing, the liquid level sensor S
₁ constantly monitors the liquid level WL of the ink 46 in the ink pan 42 may stabilize the amount of ink 46 in the ink pan 42, as it can be performed automatically supply ink 46 so as to maintain a constant, ink roll Surface 1 of plate material 1 by 43
It is possible to perform high-quality gravure printing while keeping the amount of ink 46 applied to a constant, and to automatically control the amount of ink in the ink pan 42.

[0139]

[Ink circulation during printing] During printing, by turning on the main pump P ₁ , the ink 46 can be automatically circulated in the order of ink pan 42 → V ₃ → F ₁ → V ₅ → ink pan 42.

By the automatic circulation action of the ink 46, dust and ink lumps in the ink 46 can be removed by the ink filter F ₁ and the ink 46 can be purified. It is possible to prevent the material 1, the doctor blade 44, and the cut paper 47 from being scratched or soiled, so that the durability of the plate material 1 and the doctor blade 44 can be improved and high-quality gravure printing can be performed.

[0141]

[Storage of Ink] When the main pump P ₁ is turned on, the ink 46 in the ink pan 42 is automatically returned to the ink tank 212 through V ₃ → F ₂ → V ₄ , and the ink 46 is placed in the ink tank 46. Can be saved. When the sub pump P ₂ is turned on, the ink pan 4
It is also possible to return the ink 46 in 2 directly from V ₃ to the ink tank 212.

[0142]

[Ink discharge to the waste liquid tank] Main pump P ₁ ON
The ink 46 in the ink pan 42 to V ₃ → F ₁ →
It can be automatically discharged into the waste liquid tank 214 through V ₆ . When the sub pump P ₂ is turned on, the ink 46 in the ink pan 42 is changed from V ₆ to the waste liquid tank 214.
It can also be discharged directly to.

[0143]

[Supply of cleaning liquid] When the main pump P ₁ is turned on, the cleaning liquid 218 in the cleaning liquid tank 219 is automatically supplied into the ink pan 42 through V ₁ → F ₁ → V ₅ , and the inside of the ink pan 42, the ink roll 43 and the doctor are supplied. Blade 44
Can be washed automatically.

[0144]

[Discharging of the cleaning liquid] After cleaning the ink pan 42, the main pump P ₁ is turned on to clean the cleaning liquid 2 in the ink pan 42.
18 can be automatically discharged into the waste liquid tank 214 through V ₃ → F ₁ → V ₆ . The sub pump P ₂
Is turned on, the cleaning liquid 218 in the ink pan 42 is discharged to V ₆
Can be directly discharged to the waste liquid tank 214.

[0145]

[Circulation of Cleaning Liquid] When the main pump P ₁ is turned on, the cleaning liquid 218 can be automatically circulated in the order of ink pan 42 → V ₃ → F ₁ → V ₅ → ink pan 42.

Then, the cleaning liquid 21 in the ink pan 42
8 by the automatic supply action and the automatic circulation action of the cleaning liquid 218, the automatic cleaning of the ink pan 42, the ink roll 43 and the doctor blade 44, and most of the ink passages of the ink supply route 213, the ink discharge route 215 and the ink circulation route 216. Since it can be washed, it is possible to save a large amount of labor in the washing work.

[0147]

[Description of Laser Block Transfer Mechanism of Plate Making Machine] Next, referring to FIG.
The laser block transfer mechanism of the plate making machine will be described with reference to FIG.

The laser block moving mechanism 223 causes the laser block moving table 224 to which the laser block 34 is attached to slide on the pair of horizontal sliding guides 225 to drive the laser block moving table 224. By the feed screw 227 that is rotationally driven by 226, an arrow s parallel to the axial direction of the plate cylinder 30,
It is configured to be transferred in the s'direction. The plate cylinder drive mechanism 229 is configured to drive the plate cylinder 30 to rotate at a low speed in the direction of arrow c by the drive motor 230 via the transmission mechanism 231.

[0149]

[Direct plate making] At the time of plate making, the plate cylinder driving mechanism 229 rotates the plate material 1 integrally with the plate cylinder 30 at a high speed in the direction of arrow c, and the semiconductor laser 31 of the laser block 34 collimator lens 32 and objective lens 33. While irradiating the surface 1a of the plate material 1 with the laser beam LB through the laser block transfer device 223, the laser block 34 is moved in the plate making area A of the plate material 1 by the arrow s,
The laser beam L is reciprocally moved in the s'direction.
By B, the image data 2 for each color such as a photograph is directly engraved on the surface 1a of the plate material 1 with high accuracy by the submicron order unevenness (direct plate making).

At this time, as shown in FIG. 21B , by irradiating the surface 1a of the plate material 1 formed of a thermoplastic resin such as polyethylene resin with the laser beam LB,
The surface 1a of the plate material 1 is melted and scattered or sublimated, so that the image data 2 with unevenness on the order of submicrons is directly printed on the surface 1a of the plate material 1.

Therefore, during this direct plate making, the plate material 1
A large amount of dust D, smoke, and the like that are melted and scattered or sublimated from the surface 1a of the above is generated.

[0152]

[Description of Dust and Smoke Removal Device of Plate Making Machine] Next, a dust and smoke removal device for removing a large amount of dust D, smoke, and the like generated during direct plate making will be described with reference to FIGS. 17 and 18.

The dust / smoke removing device 234 is used in the plate cylinder 30.
In the gap G ₁ between the surface 1a of the plate material 1 wound around the outer periphery of the plate 1 and the surface 33a of the objective lens 33 of the laser block 34 along the tangential direction of the plate cylinder 30 and Air curtain 235 over the entire width of plate-making area A
Is formed.

Therefore, a cross flow fan 236, which is a blowing means having a length equal to or greater than the entire width of the plate-making area A, is horizontally arranged downward on the laser block 34, and a length equal to or larger than the entire width of the plate-making area A is provided. An intake unit constituted by an upward and horizontal intake duct 237 having a certain height, an intake pipe 238 and an intake pump 239 is arranged below the laser block 34.

The cross flow fan 236 has a cylindrical impeller 236 which is long in the axial direction inside the fan case 236a.
b is rotatably attached, and impeller 236b
Is driven to rotate at a high speed in the direction of arrow t by the motor 236c, and extends in the direction of arrow u, which is downward from the air outlet 236d formed at the lower end of the fan case 236 over the entire length thereof, to the entire width of the plate making area A. Generate a discharge air flow of. Further, the intake duct 237 has an intake port 237a formed at the upper end over the entire length thereof.
The intake pump 2 is connected to the intake pipe 238 connected to the lower end of the intake pump 2.
39 is attached. And the intake pump 239
By the operation of, the belt-shaped suction air flow in the direction of arrow v, which is downward, is generated over the entire width of the intake port 237a of the intake duct 237 through the intake pipe 238.

The intake pump 2 of the intake pipe 238
A dust collector 241 equipped with a dust collecting filter 240 as dust collecting means is connected to the downstream side of 39.

[0157]

[Dust and Smoke Removal Operation] As described above, the band-shaped discharge air flow in the direction of arrow a by the cross flow fan 236, the intake pump 239, the intake pipe 238, and the intake duct 237.
By a band-shaped suction air flow in the direction of arrow v due to the gap G ₁ between the surface 1a of the plate material 1 and the surface 33a of the objective lens 33 of the laser block 34 along the tangential direction of the plate cylinder 30, and , With the air curtain 235 in the directions of arrows u and v formed over the entire width of the plate-making area A of the plate material 1,
The above-mentioned direct plate making is performed.

Then, irrespective of the change of the plate making position in the direction of the arrows s and s'by the laser beam LB, all the dust D, smoke, etc., which are generated in a large amount at the time of direct plate making, are all air curtain 2.
35 into the intake duct 237a from the intake duct 23
It can be completely recovered within 7. Then, the dust D, smoke, and the like collected in the intake duct 237 are collected in the intake pipe 23.
8 to collect dust in the dust collector 241 and to collect the dust collecting filter 24
Recovered by 0.

Therefore, the dust and smoke removing device 234 is
It is possible to completely collect dust D, smoke, and the like, which are generated in large amounts during direct plate making, without scattering them around. Therefore, it is possible to eliminate the influence of dust D, smoke, and the like on other mechanisms and devices due to being scattered around, and the human body such as odor, and to maintain a clean environment. Further, since the scattered dust D and the like never adhere to the surface 1a of the plate material 1 due to static electricity, the image data 2 can be engraved on the plate material 1 with high accuracy and stability, and high-quality graphia printing can be performed. It is possible.

Since there is no obstacle in front of the objective lens 34, the objective lens 33 is placed on the surface 1a of the plate 1 about 1 times.
It is possible to make them extremely close to 0 mm, and it is possible to perform high-power direct plate making with reduced power loss of the laser beam LB.

Further, the air curtain 235 can exert a lens cleaning function of constantly cleaning the surface 33a of the objective lens 33, and the dust D and the like adhering to the surface 33a of the objective lens 33 is automatically cleaned by the air curtain 235. Therefore, the surface 33a of the objective lens 33 can be prevented from being contaminated, and the power loss of the laser beam LB due to the contamination of the surface 33a of the objective lens 33 can also be prevented.

Therefore, high-power direct plate making with less power loss of the laser beam LB can be performed, so that the image data 2 can be directly and accurately plate-made on the surface 1a of the plate material 1 with high accuracy.

The above is a description of one embodiment of the present invention.
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made based on the technical idea of the present invention.

For example, in a printing machine, three or more inking units such as four are mounted on one turntable, and the three or more inking units are rotated with respect to one plate cylinder by the rotation of the turntable. You may make it exchange sequentially.

[0165]

The printing system of the present invention configured as described above has the following effects.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, the air curtain formed by the air blowing means and the air sucking means is provided between the surface of the plate material wound around the outer periphery of the plate cylinder and the surface of the objective lens of the laser block for irradiating the laser beam. To form along the tangential direction of the plate cylinder and over the entire width of the plate making area of the plate material,
Since dust and smoke generated in the plate making area during plate making can be collected inside the air curtain and completely collected in the air intake means, dust and smoke can be collected completely without being scattered around. Therefore, it is possible to maintain a clean environment by eliminating the influence of dust, smoke, and the like on other mechanisms, devices, etc. and the human body such as odor due to being scattered around. And since scattered dust and the like never adhere to the surface of the plate material due to static electricity, it is possible to engrave image data on the plate material with high accuracy and stability.
High-quality gravure printing is possible.

According to the first aspect, the objective lens of the laser block can be brought sufficiently close to the surface of the plate material, so that the power loss of the laser beam is small. Since the air curtain can perform the function of cleaning the lens surface of the objective lens, the power loss of the laser beam due to the dirt on the surface of the objective lens can be prevented, and the image data can be enhanced on the surface of the plate material by the high power laser beam. High-quality gravure printing is possible because it can be engraved with high accuracy and stability.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the air blowing means is arranged above the laser block and the air suction means is arranged below the laser block, a natural and vigorous air curtain that runs from top to bottom is simple. Can be formed into
It is possible to effectively collect dust and smoke and clean the objective lens.

According to the third and fourth aspects of the invention, the blower means is constituted by a cross flow fan, and the intake means is constituted by an intake duct and an intake pump, so that the air curtain can be easily formed.

According to the fifth aspect, since the suction means is connected to the dust collecting means, it is possible to easily collect and discard dust and the like.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 8 illustrating an ink unit replacement device of a printing machine in an electronic gravure printing system that is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional side view taken along the line BB of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a side view taken along the line CC of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a side view taken along the line DD of FIG.

5 is a cross-sectional side view taken along the line EE of FIG.

6 is a cross-sectional side view taken along the line FF of FIG.

7 is a sectional side view taken along the line GG in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the ink unit replacement device.

FIG. 9 is a schematic perspective view of an ink unit replacement device.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a turntable of the ink unit replacement device.

FIG. 11 is a sectional side view showing a support structure of a turntable of the ink unit exchanging device.

FIG. 12 is an exploded perspective view showing a doctor blade lateral swing mechanism.

FIG. 13 is an exploded perspective view showing an ink pan closing device.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of a closed state of the ink pan closing device.

FIG. 15 is a piping diagram illustrating an ink circulation device of an ink pan.

FIG. 16 is a schematic side view illustrating a cut sheet circulation device of a printing machine.

FIG. 17 is a perspective view showing a dust and smoke removing device of the plate making machine.

FIG. 18 is a partially cutaway side view of FIG.

FIG. 19 is a perspective view showing a plate material used in this electronic gravure printing system and a plate material jacket accommodating the plate material.

FIG. 20 is a perspective view showing a plate material jacket accommodating a plate material.

FIG. 21 (A) is a schematic side view of a plate making machine, and FIG. 21 (B) is a schematic side view illustrating the plate making principle.

22A is a schematic side view of the printing machine, and FIG. 22B is a schematic side view illustrating the printing principle.

FIG. 23 is a partially cutaway side view showing a plate material feeding / discharging device provided in a plate making machine and a printing machine.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Plate material 1a Plate surface 2 image data 27 Plate making machine 30 plate cylinder 31 Semiconductor laser 33 Objective lens 33a Surface of objective lens 223 Laser block transfer mechanism 234 Dust and smoke removal device 235 air curtain 236 Cross Flow Fan (Blower) 237 Intake duct (intake means) 238 Intake pump (intake means) 240 Dust collection filter (dust collection means) 241 Dust collector (dust collecting means) A plate making area LB laser beam

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A plate cylinder around which a sheet-shaped plate material is wound, a laser block for irradiating the surface of the plate material with a laser beam from a direction substantially perpendicular to the axial direction of the plate cylinder, A laser block transfer mechanism for transferring a laser block in the axial direction of the plate cylinder, and while irradiating a laser beam on the surface of the plate material by the laser block while rotating the plate material by the plate cylinder, In the plate making system, the laser block is moved in the axial direction of the plate cylinder in the plate making area of the plate material by the laser block transfer mechanism to form image data due to unevenness on the surface of the plate material. And an air curtain formed by the suction means along the tangential direction of the plate cylinder between the surface of the plate material and the surface of the objective lens of the laser block. And plate making system characterized in that formed over the entire width of the plate-making area of the plate material. 2. The plate making system according to claim 1, wherein the blower means is arranged above the laser block, and the suction means is arranged below the laser block. 3. The plate making system according to claim 1, wherein the blower means is a cross flow fan. 4. The plate making system according to claim 1, wherein the intake means is composed of an intake duct and an intake pump. 5. The plate making system according to claim 1, 2, 3 or 4, wherein the suction means is connected to a dust collecting means.