JPH0137731B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a proofing device for printing original plates.

(Prior art) Generally, at the offset master (halftone positive) stage, a proof print is created using a proof printing machine in order to check the color and tone of the printed finish, the presence of dust on the printing master, and check for misregistration. Although it is necessary, P.S.
Printing by creating a printing plate using a printing plate has the disadvantage that it is time consuming and costly.

In order to improve the above-mentioned drawbacks, there are methods that utilize electrophotography for multicolor printing.

Electrophotography generally consists of the following steps.

That is, first, zinc oxide paper is set in a charging device to charge the entire surface with static charge, and then a mesh positive is layered on the charged zinc oxide paper and exposed to light to eliminate the static charge in the exposed non-image areas. Then, toner is sprinkled onto the exposed zinc oxide paper for toning development.

A film or paper is then placed on the developed zinc oxide paper and a charge is applied to transfer the toner from the zinc oxide paper to the film or paper, and then the toner is fixed through the transferred film or paper in a molten vapor that has the property of dissolving the toner. It consists of processes.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) The conventional method of performing multicolor printing from a printing plate using the electrophotographic method described above is very complicated because the charging to fixing steps are repeated four times in the case of four-color printing. There are disadvantages in that workability is poor and each step must be performed manually.

In addition, a plate-making device using electrophotography was published in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 1983-
This can be seen in Publication No. 76105 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 49-39429.

According to the above methods, the charging to fixing steps can be performed automatically and continuously, but the former method directly transfers the image transmitted in the facsimile transmission system onto the printing plate material, and is It cannot be used as a proofing device for color printing original plates.

The latter type of electronic copying device is a multi-development type electronic copying device, which is used only to form a desired color image, and is not considered as a proofing device for printing original plates.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a printing original plate proofing device that can automatically perform the charging and fixing devices in succession.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above objects, the present invention provides the following printing original plate proofing device.

That is, an empty upper panel for storing exposed originals and a lower panel for storing unexposed multicolor originals are stacked one above the other, and these panels are integrated so that they can be set at the original loading/unloading position. An original storage unit that can be raised and lowered, a conveyance unit configured so that the zinc oxide paper passes through a charging unit, an exposure unit, a developing unit, and a transfer unit in sequence, and a desired original from the lower panel of the original storage unit. An original transport carrier section that sequentially takes out the film base and supplies it to the zinc oxide paper in the exposure section, and returns the original to the upper panel or empty panel after exposure; an upper chamber that temporarily stores the film base after transfer; The lower chamber for storing the transfer film base and the fixing section located above for fixing the transferred film base are integrally movable up and down, and the lower chamber is first converted into the transfer section. a film base storage section configured such that the upper chamber faces the transfer section each time one original is transferred until the transfer of all the originals is completed, and the fixing section faces the transfer section after the transfer is completed; , a film base transport carrier that transports the film base facing the transfer section from the film base storage section to the transfer section, and a film base transport carrier that transports the transferred film base to the upper chamber or fixing section, and is a proofing device for printing original plates. That is.

(Function) The original is fed from the lower panel of the original storage section onto the electrically charged zinc oxide paper by the original transport carrier and exposed. After exposure, the original is returned to the upper panel by the original transport carrier, forming one set of originals. When the exposure of the original is completed, the next set of originals is taken out from the lower panel and exposed, and the exposed original is returned to the empty panel in which the first original was stored.
The original version of the next set is returned to the empty panel in the same way.

Therefore, the supply and storage of original plates are performed in one storage section. As described above, the zinc oxide paper exposed with the original plate passes through the developing section and reaches the transfer section, where the film base is taken out by the film base transport carrier from the lower chamber in the film base storage section that stores the untransferred film base. The transferred film base is returned to the upper chamber. In the case of four-color printing, the film base returned to the upper chamber is fed onto the zinc oxide paper on the transfer section four times, so that the film base storage section first faces the transfer section with the lower chamber, and then the upper chamber faces the transfer section three times. The film base storage section is raised so as to face the rotating transfer section.

When the four-color transfer is completed, the film base storage section is raised so that the fixing section faces the transfer section, and the film base is transported to the fixing section by the film base transport carrier and fixed.

When the fixing is completed, the fixed film base is transported and discharged by the film base transport carrier.

According to the present invention, as mentioned above, multicolor proofs can be automatically produced, and several sets of original plates can be produced continuously, and the production cost of the proofs is low and the time required to produce the proofs is short due to continuous processing. It has various characteristics.

(Example) The embodiments shown in the drawings will be described below.

In the present invention, there is a zinc oxide paper conveyance section between the original plate storage section and the film base storage section, and the zinc oxide paper conveyed by this conveyance section is transferred to the charging section,
An original plate that passes through an exposure section, a development section, and a transfer section in sequence, takes out an original from an original storage section, places it on zinc oxide paper in the exposure section, and returns the exposed original to the original storage section. In addition to the transport carrier, there is a film base transport carrier that takes out a film base from a film base storage section, supplies it to a transfer section, and transports the film base after transfer to a fixing section.

Therefore, first, we will explain the original plate storage section 1.
As shown in the figure, a plurality of panels 2', 2'', 2...2n are stacked on a frame ^1a that can be raised and lowered, the top panel 2 is empty, and the panels 2' from the second stage onward are stacked. , 2''... ²ⁿ , several sets of multicolor master plates of each manuscript are stacked in order.

The frame 1a can be raised and lowered under the control of the control device 3, and a part of the endless wires 6, 6' stretched between the pulleys 4, 5, 4', 5' are connected to the fixing metal fittings 7, 7. ' is fixed to the frame 1a, and the pulleys 4, 5
A shaft 8 is driven by a motor 9 and a reduction gear 10.

Therefore, by driving the motor 9 in response to a command from the control device 3, each panel can be raised and lowered toward a predetermined position (a position facing the exposure section). When a desired panel stops at a predetermined position, a piston of a cylinder (not shown) works to move the panel in and out by a predetermined length using a pressing plate with a suction cup.

In the one shown in FIG. 2, the panel 2 is made to protrude.

Next, the zinc oxide paper a in the conveying section is rolled into roll 11.
The film is wound up onto a take-up roll 14 via guide rolls 12 and 13, and passes through a charger 15, an exposure section 16, a developing section 17, a transfer section 18, and a cleaning section 19 along the way.

Then, the original is taken out from the original storage part 1, and the original b is supplied onto the zinc oxide paper a in the exposure part 16,
The original transport carrier 20 that returns the exposed original to the original storage unit 1 has an original holder 24 consisting of a suction cup connected to a vacuum pump attached to a carrier 23 that moves on a guide rail 22 by a piston rod 21a of a cylinder 21. ing.

Therefore, when the original storage frame 1a moves up and down and a predetermined panel, for example, the second panel 2', stops at a predetermined position, a push-out plate (not shown) works to push out the panel 2', and the pushed-out panel 2 'As the original plate holder 24 moves upward by the piston rod 21a of the cylinder, it moves to the uppermost original plate b ₁ in the panel 2'.
is held and supplied onto the zinc oxide paper a charged by the charger 15.

In the exposure section 16, there is a light source 16a, and the glass plate 1
6b presses the original plate _b1 and exposes it to light. Then, the exposed original plate b ₁ is transferred to the original holding part 24 of the original plate conveying carrier 20 in the original storage part 1.
It works so that it returns to panel 2 at the top of the screen.

When one set of documents in one panel is printed in four colors, the originals b are taken out by the original transport carrier 20 in the order in which they are stacked, and the same operation as before is repeated to expose the originals on the zinc oxide paper a.

When there are several sets of manuscripts, use the third panel 2''
The original plate is taken out and returned to the empty second panel 2'.

Similarly, the original plate is taken out from the lower panel of the empty panel and returned to the empty panel.

Next, the exposed zinc oxide paper a moves at a constant pitch, and when it reaches the developing section 17, it is sprinkled with toner.

17a is a toner storage tank, and this toner is transferred from a roll 17b to a brush roll 17c and sprinkled onto the zinc oxide paper a.

Although not shown, there are four types of developing devices for Y, M, C, and BL in the case of four-color toner printing, and they are automatically switched.

The zinc oxide paper a sprinkled with toner in the developing section 17 is transferred to the next transfer section 18.

In this transfer section 18, a transfer film base c is superimposed on the zinc oxide paper a, and by applying an electric charge from above, the toner on the zinc oxide paper a is transferred to the film base c.

A film base transport carrier 24 is used to transport the transfer film base c toward the transfer section 18 as described above.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the film base storage section 25 consists of an upper chamber 25a for temporarily storing the transferred film base and a lower chamber 25b for storing the untransferred film base. A fixing section 26 is installed in the storage chamber, and the fixing section 26 and the storage chamber move up and down as one, and each of them faces the transfer section separately, so that the film can be freely taken out and returned by the film base transport carrier 24. It's becoming like that.

This elevating mechanism is similar to that of the original storage unit and is designated by the same number.

The fixing unit 26 includes a fixing tank 27 as shown in FIG. 4, and an evaporation tank 30 consisting of a constant temperature water tank 29 having a smooth metal plate 28 larger than the film base on the upper surface is provided on the lower surface of the fixing tank 27. metal plate 2
The solvent applied in Step 8 is evaporated.

The solvent is supplied from a solvent tank 31 provided on the side of the evaporation tank 30 by a solvent coating device.

The solvent coating device is composed of an applicator 32 having the same length as the width of the metal plate 28, a squeezing roll 33, and a drive device.

The applicator 32 is made of an absorbent material such as a film, and its upper left and right ends are held by a drive device consisting of two chain bodies 35 driven by a motor 34, and its unsupported ends are immersed in a solvent tank. do.

When the drive device is started, the applicator 32 advances and the amount of impregnating solvent is adjusted by the squeezing roll 33.
After sliding on the metal plate 28 and applying the solvent to the metal plate 28 and reaching the other end of the metal plate 28, the motor 34
As a result of the reversal, it similarly slides backwards on the metal plate 28, passes through the roll 33, reaches the solvent tank 31, and stops with one end immersed in the tank 31.

A discharge port 36 of the fixing tank 27 facing the solvent tank 31 is connected to an exhaust fan to remove the solvent after fixing.

Therefore, when the fixing section 26 reaches the position facing the transfer section 18, the cylinder 37 of the film base transport carrier 24 works, and the film base holder 39 at the tip of its piston rod 38 fixes the film base c while holding it in a vacuum. invades the tank 27,
A fixing operation is performed to fix the transferred image.

In order to supply the film base c to the transfer section 18 before fixing, the film base storage section 25 is used.
is raised to expose the lower chamber 25b containing the untransferred film base to the transfer section, so that the film base holder 39 of the film base transport carrier 24 described above holds one film base, and the lower chamber 25b containing the untransferred film base is held on the transfer section 18. Zinc oxide paper a can be supplied.

After the transfer, the film base c is transported to the upper chamber 25a where the film base is temporarily stored.
It looks like the next retransfer.

In addition to the above-mentioned solvent fixing method, heat fixing is also used.

Further, when the film base is returned to the upper chamber 25a by the transport carrier 24, the storage chamber 25 is raised and the upper chamber 25a faces the transfer section 18.

In the case of four-color printing, the film base c returned to the upper chamber 25a is supplied onto the zinc oxide paper on the transfer section 18 four times. Then, the upper chamber 25a is raised and lowered three times to face the transfer section 18, and the film base can be taken out using the base holder 39 of the film base transport carrier 24.

Therefore, the zinc oxide paper that was first exposed with the Y plate is developed with yellow toner in the development 17, and then transferred in the transfer section, and the same procedure is repeated for the next M plate, and the paper is exposed. The toner is developed with red toner, and the M color is superimposed on the Y color at the transfer section.

Then, for the C version, transfer is carried out on top of Y and M colors using the same procedure, and for the BL version, Y,
The BL color will be transferred onto the M and C colors.

When the four-color transfer is completed, the film storage section 25 is raised so that the fixing section 26 faces the transfer section 18, and the base holder 39 of the film base transport carrier 24 is moved upward.
The film base is then transported to the fixing section 26 and fixed thereon.

After fixing is completed, the film base transport carrier 2
The discharge part 4 is held by the base holder 39 of 4.
The film base is conveyed onto the film base 0, and the film base is removed from the adsorption and directed to the discharge section 40, where the film base is discharged.

After the transfer, the remaining toner is removed from the zinc oxide paper a by the rotating brush 19a of the cleaning section 19, and the paper is wound onto the take-up roll 14 in a clean state.

In the above description of the embodiment, a film base was used, but it goes without saying that paper may be used instead of a film base.

(Effects of the Invention) In any case, the present invention is characterized in that multicolor proofs can be automatically produced and can be produced continuously for several sets of manuscripts, and furthermore, the production cost of the proofs is low and continuous processing is possible. Therefore, it is characterized by short proof printing time.

In addition, the device of the present invention has a structure in which a zinc oxide paper conveying section is arranged between the original plate storage section and the film base storage section, so the device has a simple configuration, and the original plate storage section has an empty upper part. Since the panel and the lower panel, which store unexposed multicolor originals stacked one on top of the other, are stacked one above the other, exposed originals can be stored in empty panels, and therefore originals can be stored in one storage area. There is no need to arrange other storage areas, and the original storage area is designed so that several sets of multicolor proofing can be performed continuously.Furthermore, the film base storage area is Since there is an upper chamber for temporarily storing the film base after transfer and a lower chamber for storing the untransferred film base, one film base storage section can supply and store the film base until the multicolor transfer is completed. In combination with the original storage section, several sets of multicolor proofing can be performed continuously.

Moreover, in addition to the simple structure, a zinc oxide paper transport section is provided between the original plate storage section and the film base storage section, which passes through the charging section, exposure section, development section, and transfer section in sequence. Since both the transfer and fixing operations can be performed using a single transport carrier, the entire apparatus is simple and requires a small installation area.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the entire device of the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the original storage section, FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the film base storage section, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of the fixing section. 1... Original plate storage section, 2, 2'...2 ⁿ ... Palette, 15... Charger, 16... Exposure section, 17...
...developing section, 18...transfer section, 20...original transport carrier, 24...film base transport carrier,
25...Film base storage section, 26...Fixing section.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An empty upper panel that stores exposed originals and a lower panel that stores unexposed multicolor originals in order are stacked one above the other, and these panels are integrated so that they can be set at the original loading/unloading position. an original storage unit that can be raised and lowered; a conveyance unit configured so that the zinc oxide paper passes through a charging unit, an exposure unit, a developing unit, and a transfer unit in sequence; and a desired original from the lower panel of the original storage unit. an original transport carrier section that sequentially takes out the film base, supplies it to the zinc oxide paper in the exposure section, and returns the original to the upper panel or empty panel after exposure; and an upper chamber that temporarily stores the film base after transfer. A lower chamber for storing the untransferred film base, and a fixing section for fixing the transferred film base, which is located at the upper part of the two, are integrally movable up and down, and the lower chamber is first transferred. a film base storage section configured such that the upper chamber faces the transfer section each time one original is transferred until the transfer of all the originals is completed, and the fixing section faces the transfer section after the transfer is completed; and a film base transport carrier that transports the film base facing the transfer section from the film base storage section to the transfer section, and transports the transferred film base to an upper chamber or a fixing section.