JPH01191148A - Contact exposure device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To quickly execute exact positioning and a removal by providing additionally a suction groove which is connected to a suction means so that a photosensitive material and a document film can be allowed to adhere closely and held through a transparent sheet, in the periphery of an exposing base, and using it as a blowing-out means, as well, at the time of separating. CONSTITUTION:A suction groove 204 which is connected to a suction means so that a photosensitive material and a document film which are superposed and placed on the exposing surface can be allowed to adhere closely and held through a transparent sheet is provided additionally in the periphery of an exposing base, and the suction means is used as a blowing-out means, as well at the time of separating the photosensitive material and the document film. In such a way, the exposure device is simplified and goes to compact, and such operations as an adherence, positioning and a document conversion in case of a multiple exposure of each resolution document film to the photosensitive material on the exposing surface can be executed quickly and surely. Also, an adherence effect by the suction means of a suction blower and a separation effect due to a fact that the suction blower is switched to the blowing-out means operate smoothly and an image is formed quickly on a color photosensitive material, and an exact document inspection can be executed accurately.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a contact exposure device equipped with a means for accurately and quickly bringing an original film and a photosensitive material into close contact with each other in a plane on an exposure table and separating them. Concerning improvements to equipment.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, exposure devices have two methods: one method is to irradiate light source light onto the document surface and form an image on the photosensitive material using a projection lens that has the function of enlarging, reducing, or equal magnification, and the other method is to overlap the document and photosensitive material and irradiate the light source light. There is a method of contact exposure.

Furthermore, there are two methods of irradiating light from a light source: scanning exposure and static exposure. The former uses a relatively small light source to create a compact exposure device, while the latter generally uses a relatively high-brightness light source and Because of the need to achieve parallelism and uniformity, the distance from the light source to the exposure surface was large, resulting in large exposure equipment.

In the field of printing plate making, the process from continuous tone images such as reversal film, color negative film, and paper to creating printing plates consisting of images consisting of halftone dots uses a large amount of film to separate colors. , image composition, etc. Therefore, the work becomes complicated, and the characters,
Many mistakes occur, such as incorrect layout. Furthermore, since the client (orderer) requests changes in text such as prices, layout changes, color changes, etc., it is easy to forget to make changes. It is also necessary to check in advance whether the printed matter will be finished in the desired color tone and gradation. These are collectively called proofreading.

For this reason, various systems including trial printing called proof printing have been announced and sold for the purpose of these checks. Examples include those using CRT, those using non-silver salt photosensitive materials such as photopolymers and diazo, those using dry toner, and electrophotographic methods. However, these calibration systems generally require a long time to calibrate one sheet, and have problems such as high material cost and poor workability, and have not been a system that is sufficient for practical use.

On the other hand, as another method of obtaining a proof, there is a method of printing a separation mesh original onto a color photosensitive material using color-separated light. For example, JP-A-62-280746, JP-A No. 62-28074
No. 7, No. 62-280748, No. 62-280749
No. 62-280750, No. 62-280849, No. 60-42760, etc., describe a method of obtaining a calibration material on a color photosensitive material using a photographing system using a projection lens. Although these devices are large, they are so-called "bright room specifications" that allow work to be carried out in a normal room, and the exposure operation can be performed in a dark room while the photosensitive material itself remains inside the device. It can be done with a regular knife. Therefore, it is possible to perform color calibration easily, in a short period of time, and at low cost, and it has better characteristics than other calibration systems. However, since it is a photographic system, effects such as lens flare occurred, and there was a deterioration in gradation reproducibility. That is, due to 7-rea etc., the small dots of the net tended to fly and the large dots tended to collapse.

On the other hand, as another method for similarly obtaining a proof material using a color photosensitive material, Chesley F, Carlson Co.
The Carlson Proofm from mpany
aster System, Kreonite.

Co1or Proofing Syst from Inc.
There is a contact exposure method sold under the name EM. Since these methods involve exposing a color photosensitive material to a separation mesh original in direct contact with the light-sensitive material, they are much more sophisticated than photographic methods in terms of gradation reproducibility. On the other hand, since color photosensitive materials have a photosensitive region in the entire visible range, they have the disadvantage that they cannot be handled in a bright room and must be groped for work in a dark room.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

As mentioned above, when each separation mesh original is exposed multiple times to the same color photosensitive material, there are two cases: projection with a lens and contact exposure, but the latter has better reproducibility of halftone dots and tone.

However, although contact exposure has good quality performance, workability is poor if it involves operations in a dark room as in the past.

Therefore, it is necessary to realize work in a bright room. That is, it is necessary to hold the photosensitive material and the separation screen original in close contact with each other, and to perform the operations of attaching and detaching the exposure material as automatically as possible.

Further, the original film and the photosensitive material must be placed on the exposure surface of the multi-exposure medium at a reference position in a correct plane and in close contact with each other. Then, suction is used as a contact means to maintain the flatness and image exposure is performed, and then the original film is removed, replaced with a new original film, and the process is repeated as many times as necessary, each time. Accurate positioning and removal must be performed quickly. However, in the past, when a photosensitive material and an original film were brought into close contact by suction to achieve flatness, it was difficult to separate them when attempting to separate them.

An object of the present invention is to provide a contact exposure apparatus that solves these problems.

[Means for solving problems]

The purpose of this is to provide a suction groove around the exposure table connected to a suction means so that the photosensitive material and original film that have been superimposed on the exposure surface can be held in close contact with each other through a transparent sheet.
This is achieved by a contact exposure apparatus characterized in that the suction means is also used as a blowing means for separating the photosensitive material and original film.

[Embodiment] A printing plate inspection device equipped with a contact exposure device according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown in a front view in FIG. 1, a side view in FIG. 2, a top view in FIG. This will be explained with reference to a positional relationship diagram of the photosensitive material mounting table. However, the present invention is not limited to this example.

The printing plate inspection device checks whether there are any mistakes in the layout of the original film before creating the actual printing plate using each color-separated original film for 6th edition, M edition, Y edition, and black edition.
This is a device that inspects for color differences, character errors, etc., and obtains proofs to check the finish of printed matter in advance.The device positions the original film one or several sheets at a time and performs color printing. By creating a proof using color photosensitive material through multiple contact exposure on photosensitive material, it is possible to detect errors in the separation screen original, check the finish of the printed matter in advance, and take action to correct the separation screen original. This is what I did.

The main body 100 includes a document table 140 having an upper surface 141 and a lower surface 142 on which a document positioning binper 143 is installed above the main body frame 101 supported by legs 102.
A light-shielding cover 120 is provided above the light-shielding cover 120, which can be freely opened and closed to form a dark room as a first room.

Further, an exposure section 300 for scanning and exposing the contact exposure surface of the document table is provided in the first chamber. At the center of the exposure section, one or more (three in this embodiment) tubular light source lamps 302A are installed.
, 302B, and 302G are provided surrounded by a drum-shaped internal reflecting mirror 306 fixed to a housing 316 and a transmission window 304. Then, on the outside thereof, a polygonal tube 301 is rotatably provided with filters such as B, G, R, ND, etc. arranged on each tube surface of a polygonal tube 301 concentrically at the center, and the filter surface and the transmission window are arranged on the contact exposure surface. It is designed to face. A housing 316 is provided on the outside thereof, and includes a shielding plate 308, a solenoid 312 for operating the shielding plate, a return spring 314, and an exposure window 310. Then, the exposure section 30
0 allows travel on the rails 317A and 317B for scanning.

A photosensitive material mounting section 200 is provided inside the main body frame 101 as a second chamber. And the sensitive material mounting table 201 is
It is driven by a motor 214 and can be moved up and down.

On the other hand, an endless light-shielding belt 242 as a light-shielding member is wrapped around the rollers 241, 242A, 243, 244, and an exposure window having a size at least larger than the cross section of the moving area of the photosensitive material mounting table is opened approximately in the middle of the length. It is being In such a light-shielding member 240, the light-shielding belt runs on a surface slightly lower than the lower surface 142 of the document table, that is, the boundary area between the first chamber and the second chamber. The first chamber is provided so as to be able to switch between forming and releasing light tightness to the first chamber.

Further, a long roll 402 of silver halide color photosensitive material is loaded into a magazine 401 to form a photosensitive material loading section 400, the leading end of the long roll of photosensitive material is sent out by a nipping roller 511, and the leading end is placed in a cutter section. They line up at 510 and wait. Then, the tip is further fed to the left end of the fixed base 527 by the pinching roller 511, the tip is sucked by the suction cup 523, and the traveling head 522 having the suction cup guides the rollers 525 and 526 to the traveling rails 521 on both sides. The measuring device moves to a position where a predetermined length of the photosensitive material is measured and stops. The photosensitive material is cut by the cutter section 510 and further moved so that the leading end of the photosensitive material is located at a predetermined position on the photosensitive material mounting table 201. After the suction of the suction cup of the traveling head is removed, the traveling head 522 returns to its original position.

Here, solenoids 535 are attached to both sides of the traveling head 522 via brackets 534, and the movable iron core 53
A frame 531 is fixed to 6, and the traveling head 522,
A suction cup 5 coupled to the hose 524 on the frame 531
23 is attached, and the holding pipe 537 of the suction cup is provided penetrating through a guide hole drilled in the head and the 7th frame, fixed to the frame in the thrust direction, and slidable along the hole to the head. It is suspended from the exposure table surface via a helical spring 532 inserted between the rad 522 and the frame 531 so that it can travel. When the solenoid is energized and the suction valve is opened, the suction cup descends to attract the photosensitive material, and then, when the solenoid is de-energized, the suction cup lifts up and the photosensitive material is conveyed.

When the photosensitive material is transported and placed on the photosensitive material mounting table 201 in this manner, suction pressure is applied to the suction hole formed on the photosensitive material placing table by driving the blower 204A via the flexible hose 205. The photosensitive material is closely fixed on the photosensitive material mounting table.

This tightly fixed state is maintained until multiple exposures are completed and the photosensitive material begins to be transported to the developing section.

Furthermore, in this state, the light-shielding curtain 242 is in a light-shielding position, so that the second chamber in which the photosensitive material mounting table is located remains in a state where a dark room is formed.

Here, the upper light-shielding cover 120 is peeled off, the first chamber is brightened with external light, and a resist pin (pin bar) 143 set on the upper surface part 141 is attached to the separated mesh original (black version, Y, M).

One of C, e.g. Y version, or Y, M, C, B
A reference hole is inserted into one of the L plates, some or all of these sheets, and most of the document is placed on the light-shielding screen.

In this state, the light-shielding cover 120 is closed to make the first room a dark room and light-tight, and the light-sensitive material mounting table is raised slightly below the surface of the light-shielding curtain belt, and then the light-shielding curtain belt 242 is moved to open it. Then, in a state where both the first room with the upper surface of the document table and the second room with the photosensitive material placement table become a common dark room, the photosensitive material placement table 201 is raised to match the exposure surface, that is, the separation screen original reference surface. At this time, the airtight gasket 201c provided on the abutment surface around the photosensitive material mounting table in the second chamber is attached to the document table 1 in the first chamber.
0, the gap created by the fitting surface of the photosensitive material mounting table into the opening forms a suction channel groove 204, and is sandwiched between the document table surface, the photosensitive material mounting table surface, and the transparent cover sheet. The airtightness between the original document and the photosensitive material is maintained.

That is, a transparent cover sheet roll 274 is wound around a shaft 273, and its tip passes through a squeeze roller 276, and the end 271 of the cover sheet device 270, which is stopped by a stopper 272, is guided by rails 281A and 281B and Cover sheet roll 2 by moving to the right in Figure 2.
The cover sheet 275 unwound from the cover sheet 74 is pressed by a spring 278 and squeezed by a squeeze roller 276 which is rotatably fixed to a shaft 277, and the document and photosensitive material are covered with the cover sheet until the right end is reached by the head. At this point, the blower 206 as a pressure reducing device operates and the photosensitive material mounting table 2
Through the suction hose 207 connected to the suction hole 201f drilled in 01, air is sucked through the flow path groove 204 and interposed between the exposure table, the upper surface, and the cover sheet, and the photosensitive material and each original are sucked out. The cover sheet and the cover sheet are overlapped and held in close contact with each other in a planar shape. However, the suction hole 201f may be a hole bored in the original table.

At this time, as shown in FIG.
The abutting surface 2-01b, the airtight gasket 201c attached thereto, and the lower surface 14 of the document table 140 are arranged so that the upper surface 201a of the photosensitive material mounting table 2 and the former are on the same plane, that is, the exposure surface.
This is by adjusting the dimensional relationship between the two. By doing this, air can flow smoothly between the transparent cover sheet, the document table and the photosensitive material mounting table through the flow channel grooves,
The cover sheet, the document and the photosensitive material are brought into close contact in a proper planar manner. Further, the photosensitive material mounting table may be located at a slightly lower position than the document table.

In this state, the exposure section 300 is connected to the guide rail 317A.
, 317B to perform scanning exposure, and complete the first color exposure using the filter.

Next, in order to perform a second image exposure using a filter of a different color, the suction side of the blower 206 is switched to the blowing side, air is blown into the flow path groove 204, the photosensitive material and the original film are separated, and the cover sheet is replaced again. When the photosensitive material mounting table is lowered to a position slightly below the travel path of the light-shielding curtain and the light-shielding curtain is closed, the document and the photosensitive material are easily and completely separated.

The blowing by the blower and the lowering of the photosensitive material mounting table may be performed in the reverse order or at the same time. When the light-shielding cover 120 is opened, the first room becomes a bright room, but the second room is light-dense compared to the first room, forming a dark room.

In this state, write the second manuscript (black version and one of Y, M, C, for example, M version, or one of Y, M, C, BL version)
Set some or all of these sheets on the resist pins, cover with a light-shielding cover, open the light-shielding curtain, raise the photosensitive material table to the original platen surface to form an exposed surface, and cover Cover the sheets again and apply suction to bring each sheet into close contact.Turn the polygonal tube 301, make the cylindrical surfaces provided on another filter face each other, and perform scanning contact exposure using a second color filter for a second exposure. finish.

Similarly, the third manuscript (black version and one of Y, M, C, e.g. 0 version, or any one of Y, M, C, BL version, or several or all of these) and its corresponding Exposure using a filter is also performed in the same procedure to complete the third exposure. In this way, exposure is repeated one to several times as necessary.

Finally, the photosensitive material mounting table is lowered to the lowest position, the suction is released to release the photosensitive material, and the tip of the photosensitive material is fed to the nipping roller 552 by a device (not shown).

The photosensitive material whose tip has reached the nipping roller 552 is guided by the guides 561, 562, 563, 56 of the conveyance chute section 550.
4.565 and switching chute 566 and guide roller 5
52,553° 554.555.556, and then the swinging shaft 5 of the switching chute 566
By switching around 68, the sheet is conveyed by guide rollers 556, 557, 558, and 559 between guides 564.565.degree. When using an internal latent image type direct positive photosensitive material, a color developing tank 601
While being transported in the second exposure section 350, fog exposure is applied by an exposure box 356 consisting of an exposure lamp 351, a filter device 352, reflectors 353, 354, and an exposure window 355.

The photosensitive material then passes through a bleach-fixing tank and a stabilizing tank, and is dried while being slowly transported through a drying section 680 by transport rollers 681 and 682, and the developed photosensitive material is collected at the right end of the apparatus.

It should be noted that as the exposed photosensitive material begins to be conveyed through the conveyance chute section 550, the subsequent photosensitive material is transferred to the photosensitive material mounting table 2.
The process of being conveyed onto the 01, measured, cut by the cutter section 510, and set in close contact is repeated as described above.

When using an internal latent image type direct positive, the photosensitive material is the second
Although exposure is necessary, when using a negative color photosensitive material or a solarization type direct positive photosensitive material, the second exposure is not necessary and the light remains off. In addition, when using other dye-bleached color photosensitive materials, color reversal photosensitive materials, diffusion transfer photosensitive materials, etc., it is possible to perform exposure and development processing in the same system by providing processing baths suitable for each type of material.

Of course, regarding exposure to direct positive light-sensitive materials, each Y, M, and 0 version of the original is overlaid with a black version, and the Y version and the black version are 0% 0% for the BSM version and the black version. The printing plate and the black printing plate are exposed to light three times with corresponding R filters, but for exposure of negative color photosensitive materials, each Y, M, and 0 version of the manuscript is individually applied to the photosensitive material. Overlap the G filter on the Y version, the G filter on the 81M version, and the R filter on the 0 version.
Exposure is carried out twice, and a black plate is overlaid for the fourth time, and exposed using a color filter for color correction if necessary.

Furthermore, if necessary, in addition to the above-mentioned separate color exposures, further exposures using light corresponding to different color separations may be added to produce basic colors suitable for the printing ink. Furthermore, in order to blend light equivalent to different color separations in advance, processing such as blending BGR colored light or exposing using a combination of filters may be performed. Similarly, in order to reproduce colors that are compatible with special inks other than standard inks such as Y, M, C, and BL, which are generally referred to as spot colors, repeated exposure, blending of colored light, or combination of filters may be performed. In this case, depending on the case, it may be necessary to use a separation net film called a special color film, or to combine the separation net film for special colors with other films, and in some cases, it may be necessary to use a separation net film called a special color screen. It is necessary to perform contact baking in this condition.

The exposed photosensitive material once enters the guide chute 565, is turned over, and enters the developing device with the emulsion side facing up; however, it can also be directly turned over into the developing device without entering the Neat Neat 565. However, when using an internal latent image type direct positive photosensitive material, the light source position for the second exposure must be placed from above the developing device to below the photosensitive material transport path, which makes maintenance and installation somewhat difficult. However, it is not preferable because it requires an exposure window to be opened on the side of the developer tank, which is difficult in terms of leakage and cleaning.

There are two types of photosensitive materials: those with high sensitivity and those without. When using a photosensitive material with low sensitivity, the exposure area 30
A plurality of light source lamps 302 of the 0 polygonal tube 301 may be provided and a large number of them may be turned on to make the exposure more powerful.

In addition, by using the measures of lowering the scanning speed and the measures of making the opening/closing of the exposure window 310 variable, in combination or alone, it is possible to perform high-quality exposure without worsening the reciprocity law failure condition.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, the exposure device is simplified and made compact, and operations such as contacting, positioning, and document conversion during multiple exposure of each separation mesh original film to the photosensitive material on the exposure surface can be performed quickly and reliably. The close contact effect of the suction means and the separation effect of switching the suction blower to the blowing means work smoothly, and images equivalent to printed matter can be quickly formed on color photosensitive materials without damaging the original or the photosensitive materials, resulting in accurate image formation. Manuscript inspection can now be performed accurately.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a printing plate inspection device equipped with an exposure device of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a side view of the exposure apparatus of the present invention. The third factor is shown in FIG. 1, which is a top view of the printing plate inspection device. FIG. 4 is a side sectional view showing the positional relationship between the document table and the photosensitive material mounting table. 100... Printing plate inspection device main body 120... Light shielding cover 140... Document table 14
1...Top surface 142...Bottom surface 200...
・Sensitive material mounting section 201...Sensitive material mounting table 201a.
...Top surface 201b...Abutment surface 201c
... Airtight packing 204 ... Suction channel groove 206 ... Blower 240 ... Light shielding member 2
42... Shading curtain belt 270... Cover sheet device 275... Cover sheet 300... Exposure section 350...
...Second exposure section 400...Sensitive material loading section 510.
...Cutter section 550...Sensitive material transport chute section 600...Development processing section 680...Drying section Applicant Kuchinika Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A suction groove connected to a suction means is provided around the exposure table so that the photosensitive material and original film, which have been superimposed on the exposure surface, can be held in close contact with each other through a transparent sheet, and the suction means is connected to the photosensitive material. A contact exposure device characterized in that it also serves as a blowing means for separating the film from the original.