JPH02190378A - Printing plate printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To operate stencil printing plate printing means in case of printing of many sheets, and to operate nonstencil printing plate printing means in case of printing of a few sheets by providing direct printing means for printing directly a sheet without a stencil original sheet and connecting signal supply means directly to the printing means. CONSTITUTION:A heat transfer printer 45 of nonstencil plate printing means (direct printing means) is placed on the top of an original reader 30. In order to obtain a few printed matters, an original is read by the original reader 30 similarly to the case of stencil plate printing in case of nonstencil printing by the heat transfer printer 45, and the read write image signal is output to a second thermal head 46. In this case, a heat transfer is inserted from a feeding base 56 between a second thermal head 46 and a second platen roller 47, and a heat transfer sheet is brought into pressure contact with the second thermal head 46 through an ink film 49 fed from a feed reel 50. Accordingly, the write image of an original is transfer printed on the heat transfer sheet.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (A) Industrial Application Field The present invention is a stencil printing apparatus, which is particularly characterized in that it is equipped with a stencil printing means and a non-stencil printing means (direct printing means). It is something.

(b) Conventional technology The conventional plate making and printing apparatus is, for example, the applicant of the present application (
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 62-257777), a manuscript reading means for reading a calligraphy image of a manuscript, a plate-making means for making a stencil from the calligraphy image read by the manuscript reading means, and a plate-making means for making a stencil from the calligraphy image read by the manuscript reading means. The plate cylinder is equipped with a winding means for wrapping the stencil paper produced by the process on the stencil paper, and a printing cylinder.
A calligraphy image is printed on the printing paper via the stencil paper.

Therefore, a stencil paper and a plate-making process are always required.

By the way, in recent years, due to the diversification of printing formats, there are many cases where printing in small quantities is required, but if stencil paper is used to print just a few pages, the plate-making costs will increase. In addition, since the plate-making operation takes some time, there is a risk that the printing time per sheet of printing paper may become longer.

Therefore, when printing a small number of sheets, for example, an electrostatic copying machine or various printers have been used instead of using the prepress printing apparatus. Also, when using stencil paper,
Due to the unique characteristics of the stencil paper, there is a limit to its precision, and when printing detailed calligraphic images, electrostatic copying machines and various printers as mentioned above have been used. Therefore,
In addition to the plate-making printing device, it was necessary to separately prepare an electrostatic copying machine and various printers.

(C) Problems to be Solved by the Invention As mentioned above, in the conventional technology, when printing a small number of sheets or when printing detailed calligraphic images, a plate-making printing device cannot be used, and a separate static printing device is required. Although electronic copying machines and various printers had to be used, it was necessary to have all of the above-mentioned devices in stock even if they were used infrequently, which was not economically desirable.

The present invention has been made in view of the problems of the prior art, and includes: - A stencil printing means and a non-stencil printing means (direct printing means) such as a thermal transfer means are organically combined inside a device of the stand; The present invention aims to realize a stencil printing apparatus capable of operating a stencil printing means when printing a large number of sheets, and operating a non-stencil printing means when printing a small number of sheets.

(d) Means for Solving the Problems The first main invention consists of a plate-making means for making a calligraphy image onto a stencil paper, a signal supply means for supplying a calligraphy image signal to the plate-making means, and a stencil paper on which the stencil paper is wound. In a plate-making printing apparatus, the plate-making and printing apparatus is equipped with a plate cylinder, a winding means for wrapping the stencil paper made by the plate-making means around the plate cylinder, and a pressure-contact means for press-contacting the printing paper to the plate cylinder, The present invention is characterized in that it is equipped with direct printing means for printing directly onto paper without using a stencil, and that the signal supply means is connected to the direct printing means.

The second main invention is the above-mentioned plate making printing apparatus, wherein the direct printing means is any one of a thermal transfer printer, a thermal printer, a milaser printer, an LED printer, and a liquid crystal printer.

The third main invention is a manuscript reading means for reading a calligraphy image of a manuscript, a plate making means for making a stencil from the calligraphy image read by the manuscript reading means, and a stencil paper made by the said plate making means. This stencil printing device is equipped with a stencil printing device that prints onto printing paper via a stencil, and a direct printing device that prints the calligraphic image read by the document reading device directly onto the paper without going through a stencil. .

The fourth main invention is the above-mentioned stencil printing apparatus that is configured to operate either the stencil printing means or the direct printing means selectively or simultaneously.

(E) Effect The first main invention is provided with a direct printing means for directly printing on paper without using a stencil sheet, and the signal supply means is connected to the direct printing means, so that the signal supply means is not connected to the signal supply means. The output calligraphy image signal is supplied to the plate making means and the direct printing means simultaneously or separately, and stencil printing and non-stencil printing are executed simultaneously or separately.

In the second major invention, since the direct printing means is constituted by one of a thermal transfer printer, a thermal printer, a laser printer, an LED printer, and a liquid crystal printer, it is possible to obtain printed matter in a desired printing form. .

The third main invention includes a manuscript reading means, a stencil printing means for printing a calligraphy image read by the manuscript reading means onto printing paper via a stencil paper, and a direct printing means for printing the calligraphy image directly on the paper through a stencil paper. Since the image forming apparatus is provided with a printing means, the calligraphic image of the manuscript is printed by the stencil printing means or the direct printing means (non-stencil printing means).

In the fourth main invention, the calligraphic images of the manuscript are printed simultaneously or separately by a stencil printing means or a direct printing means (non-stencil printing means). Therefore, it is possible to obtain stencil prints and non-stencil prints on which the same calligraphy image is printed simultaneously or separately.

(f) Example FIG. 1 shows a configuration diagram of a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 shows a configuration diagram of a second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 shows a configuration diagram of a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the first embodiment.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a main body of the apparatus, and a support shaft 2 is inserted through the approximate center of the main body, and a plate cylinder 3 is rotatably mounted on the support shaft 2.

A heat-sensitive stencil paper 5 wound into a roll on a reel 4 is mounted on the upper left side of the apparatus main body 1 .

This heat-sensitive stencil paper 5 is a well-known one in which a heat-shrinkable film and a porous thin film are laminated.

A tension roller 6 is provided on the downstream side of the reel 4 along the moving direction of the heat-sensitive stencil paper 5, and further downstream of the tension roller 6, a desired calligraphy image is formed on the heat-sensitive stencil paper 5. The support shaft 2 for forming a hole
A thermal head 7 is provided which extends in the same direction as the direction in which the thermal head 7 extends, and a platen roller 8 is lightly pressed against the thermal head 7 from below.

On the downstream side of the thermal head 7, a cutter device 10 having a rotary circular blade 9 for cutting the roll-shaped thermal stencil paper 5 into a predetermined size (for example, slightly larger than B4 size) is provided. On the downstream side of the cutter device 10, there is provided a pair of paper transport rollers 11, 12 which are pressed against each other.

On the downstream side of the pair of paper transport rollers 11 and 12, a damper 13 is provided which brings the downstream edge of the thermal stencil paper 5 to the lower part of a clamper 13 which is swingably mounted on the non-printing area of the plate cylinder 3. A base paper supply roller 14 is pressed onto a guide plate 15 for this purpose.

At the lower right side of the apparatus main body 1, there is provided a paper feed table 17 which is swingably held by a holding shaft 16 at its protruding end.
A portion corresponding to the swing locus of the free end of the paper feed table 17 is located at a portion opposite to the free end of the paper feed table 17 (the end on the downstream side along the moving direction of the printing paper, not shown). An arc-shaped side wall 18 is formed. Reference numeral 58 denotes a side guide plate that guides the sides of the unprinted printing paper stacked on the paper feed table 17 (see FIG. 3).

At the upper part of the arc-shaped side wall 18, there is a paper feeder for separating the unprinted printing paper stacked on the paper feeder 17 one by one and feeding it toward the lower part of the plate cylinder 3. A roller 19 is provided, and a roller 19 is provided on the downstream side of the paper feeding port 19 for temporarily stopping the printing paper fed by the paper feeding roller 19 and then refeeding it at the appropriate timing. , a pair of registration rollers 20 and 21 are pressed against each other.

Further, on the downstream side of the registration roller pair 20.21, the printing paper fed by the registration roller pair 20.21 is placed in the printing area of the printing cylinder 3 (heat-sensitive stencil paper) in the lower part of the plate cylinder 3. A pressure roller 22 is provided for contacting the winding area of No. 5). The pressure roller 22
is provided so as to be able to approach and separate from the plate cylinder 3 so as to be in pressure contact only with the printing area of the plate cylinder 3.

On the downstream side of the pressure roller 22, a paper discharge tray 23 for stacking and holding printed sheets is swingably mounted on a support shaft 24 fixed to the main body l of the apparatus. A side guide plate 24 and an end guide plate 25 for defining three outer sides of the paper discharge tray 23 are attached to the paper discharge tray 23 so as to be able to be closed inwardly.

Note that the end guide plate 25 is configured to be horizontally expandable and contractible and foldable when in use. Therefore, when the apparatus is not in use, the paper output tray 23 is
As shown by the dotted chain line, it can be folded into the main body l of the device.

Above the paper feed roller 19 and paper feed table 17,
A pair of plate discharge rollers 2 for separating and storing the heat-sensitive stencil paper 5 that is no longer needed after printing a predetermined number of sheets from the plate cylinder 3.
6.27 and a plate discharge box 28 are provided. Of the pair of discharge rollers 26 and 27, the movable roller 26 is attached to the free end of the swing lever 29, and the movable roller 26 peels off the downstream edge of the thermal stencil paper 5 from the plate cylinder 3. It is configured so that it is pressed against the plate cylinder 3 (at the position indicated by the two-dot chain line) when it starts peeling, and is pressed against the fixed roller 27 after it starts peeling. Therefore, after the peeling is started, the heat-sensitive stencil paper 5 is compressed by the pair of plate discharge rollers 26 and 27 and sequentially stored in the plate discharge box 28.

Note that the master discharge box 28 is configured so that it can be pulled out horizontally from the apparatus main body l, and the master discharge box 28 is
When the box 8 is filled with used thermal stencil paper 5, if the box 28 is pulled out horizontally from the apparatus main body l,
The heat-sensitive stencil paper 5 after use can be easily disposed of.

A document reading device 30 is provided above the plate discharge box 28 for reading a document image formed on the lower surface of a document (not shown).

The document reading device 30 is equipped with a contact type charge transfer device (CCD) 31 as document reading means 2, and the CCD
On the upstream side (left side) of the CD 31, there are transmission type photocouplers 32 and 33 for detecting the document and the downstream edge.
Further upstream of the photo couplers 32, 33, a pair of document feeding rollers 34, 35 are arranged in pressure contact with each other. Further, a feeding/discharging roller 36 is provided on the upstream side of the pair of document feeding rollers 34 and 35.
A paper feed roller 37 is pressed against the lower part of the paper feed roller 6 . A top cover 38 of the apparatus main body 1 is located to the left of the feeding/discharging roller 36 and paper feeding roller 37, and a recess 39 is formed in the upper surface of the top cover 38. A document is placed in a recess 39 on the top surface of the top cover 38, the document image of which has not yet been read.

On the downstream side (right side) of the CCD 31, a first pair of document discharge rollers 40, 41 and a second pair of document discharge rollers 42, 43, which are in pressure contact with each other, are arranged horizontally.
A document discharge tray 44 is removably attached to the downstream side of the second pair of document discharge rollers 42 and 43 to discharge the document after the document image has been read.

The original supplied from the recess 39 on the upper surface of the top cover 38 is first pinched by the feeding/discharging roller 36 and the paper feeding roller 37, and then the original feeding roller pair 34.
It is pinched at 35 and fed to the left. Then, the downstream edge of the document is detected by the photo couplers 32 and 33, and when a predetermined period of time has elapsed, the CCD 31 starts reading the document, and the upstream edge of the document is detected by the photo couplers 32 and 33.
2. A predetermined period of time has passed after the document was detected in 33, and the document is CC-coded.
The document reading operation is controlled to end when the document has moved completely to the right from the top of D31.

The calligraphy image signal of the original is configured to be outputted to the thermal radar 7 as it is or after being temporarily stored in the memory, and when the calligraphy image of the original is read by the CCD 31. Almost simultaneously, the heat-sensitive stencil paper 5 is made into a plate by the thermal head 7.

Therefore, during plate making, both the original document and the thermal stencil paper 5 move in the same direction (to the right).

A thermal transfer printer 45 is mounted on the upper part of the document reading device 30 as a non-stencil printing means (direct printing means). This thermal transfer printer 45 is equipped with a second thermal head 46 similar to that described above in the center, and a second platen roller 4 on the lower surface of the second thermal head 46.
7 is lightly pressed.

On the upstream side (right side) of the second platen roller 47,
A reflective photosensor 48 is provided to detect transfer paper (plain paper similar to the printing paper). In this thermal transfer printer 45, the ink film 49 and the transfer paper are transferred from the right side to the left side.

A feed reel 5 is located to the right of the second thermal head 46.
0, and a take-up reel 51 is installed on the left side.
The ink film 49 is wound from a feed reel 50 to a take-up reel 51 via the lower part of the second thermal head 46 .

On the downstream side of the second thermal head 46, there is provided a paper ejecting roller 52 that is pressed from above against the feeding/ejecting roller 36, and on the upstream side, a pair of registration rollers 53 and 54 similar to those described above are provided. and the corresponding registration roller pair 53.5
A sector roller 55 for paper feeding is provided on the upstream side of 4.

Incidentally, on the upstream side of the sector roller 55, the transfer paper feeding table 56 is swingably mounted on a support shaft 57. Therefore, when the feed table 56 is not in use, it may be closed to the position shown by the two-dot chain line, and when in use, it may be rotated clockwise.

Further, the thermal transfer printer 45 itself is configured to be able to swing by a support shaft 57, and in order to replace the ink film 49, the thermal transfer printer 45 is rotated clockwise about the support shaft 57 to a position indicated by a two-dot chain line. If you let
The paper feed path is opened in a so-called taramusiel shape. Note that the second thermal head 46 is connected to the CCD 31 similarly to the thermal head 7.

Therefore, in order to obtain a large number of printed sheets, heat-sensitive stencil paper 5 is used.
When performing normal stencil printing using the stencil printer, the original to be printed is placed rightward from the recess 39 on the upper surface of the top cover 38, and the original is placed between the feeding and discharging rollers 36 of the original reading device 30 and the paper feeding roller 36 of the original reading device 30. When the document is inserted between the rollers 37 and 37, the document is transported to the right by the wandering roller 36, the paper feed roller 37, and the pair of document feed rollers 34 and 35, and the image of the document is read by the CCD 31. The read image signal is sent to the thermal head 7 as described above.
is output to. Then, in accordance with the calligraphy image signal, the calligraphy image is made into a stencil 5 by the thermal heater.

After the document image has been read, the original is transferred to the first original ejection roller pair 40, 41 and the second original ejection roller pair 42.
．． 43 to the right, and the document is transferred to the right by the document output tray 4.
4 is discharged on top.

Further, the stencil paper 5 that has been made is wound around the printing cylinder 3 in the same manner as in the conventional apparatus, and stencil printing is normally performed on the printing paper using printing ink.

Next, in order to obtain a small number of prints, the thermal transfer printer 4
The operation when performing non-stencil printing (direct printing) using No. 5 will be explained. The document is read by the document reader ff30 as in the case of stencil printing described above, and the read document image signal is output to the second thermal radar 46.

At this time, the thermal transfer paper is transferred from the feeding table 56 by the sector roller 55 and registration roller pair 53,54.
The thermal transfer paper is inserted between the second thermal head 46 and the second platen roller 47, and is pressed against the second thermal head 46 via the ink film 49 fed out from the feed reel 50. Therefore, the calligraphy image of the original is transferred and printed on the thermal transfer paper.

The thermal transfer paper after transfer printing is discharged onto the recess 39 on the upper surface of the top cover 38 by the supply/discharge roller 36 and the paper discharge roller 52, and the ink film 49 after thermal transfer is discharged onto the recess 39 on the upper surface of the top cover 38. It is wound onto the reel 51. Furthermore, without using the CCD 31, output from a personal computer or word processor can be printed as is. As mentioned above, if the original is configured to move from left to right and the thermal transfer paper moves from right to left, the original after being read and the thermal transfer paper after printing will not mix. The space of the recess 39 on the upper surface of the top cover 38, which serves as a document supply table, can be made larger. Furthermore, only one feeding/discharging lid roller 36 is required to transport the original and the thermal transfer paper. As the thermal transfer paper,
In addition to paper with a special surface treatment, ordinary plain paper and transparent film for overhead browsers can be used.

In addition, although not shown, a selection switch is provided that can select from three types of printing modes, and by operating this selection switch, a stencil printing mode that performs only normal stencil printing, and a stencil printing mode that performs only thermal transfer printing. The printer is configured to be able to select either a thermal transfer printing mode or a multi-printing mode in which stencil printing and thermal transfer printing are performed simultaneously.

The main body 1 of the apparatus is equipped with a well-known number of prints setting means for setting the number of prints, and when the number of prints set by the number of prints setting means is less than a predetermined value of 10 or less (for example, 5 sheets). The stencil printing mode may be automatically selected in some cases.

Furthermore, the document reading device 30 and the thermal transfer printer 45,
The document reading device 30 and the thermal transfer printer 45 do not necessarily need to be integrally installed in the device main body 1, and the document reading device 30 and the thermal transfer printer 45 may be provided separately and independently from the device main body 1, and the document reading device 30 and the thermal transfer printer 45 may be installed as necessary. 45 can also be selectively adopted.

In particular, when document image information is manually generated using external manual means such as a personal computer, word processor, facsimile, etc., the document reading device 30 is not required. Therefore, the cost will be low.

In addition to thermal transfer printers, non-stencil printing means (direct printing means) include thermal printers, laser printers,
LED (light emitting diode) printer, LCD printer,
Various printers such as an inkjet printer can be employed.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

In this embodiment, the same parts as those in the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals in the drawings, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

This second embodiment is basically different from the first embodiment in that only the document reading device 30 is fixed to the upper right of the main body l, and the thermal transfer printer 45 is installed below the pressure roller 22. This is what is happening.

In this second embodiment, the original in the original reading bag W30! & The placing table 9 is formed protrudingly on the right side of the upper end of the apparatus main body 1, and the document is fed to the left from above the document placing table 59, and the document image is read by the CCD 31. The read document image signal is amplified as in the first embodiment and supplied to the thermal head 7 for plate making or the second thermal head 46 for the thermal transfer printer 45.

After reading, the original is discharged and placed on the recess 39 on the upper surface of the top cover 38.

In this second embodiment, since the thermal transfer printer 45 is provided at the 'F end of the main body l of the apparatus, the roller 36 used for both feeding and discharging in the first embodiment is not provided, and the first original supplying roller 36 is not provided. A roller 60 and a second pair of original supply rollers 61 and 62 that are in pressure contact with each other are provided, and the original before being read is fed to the lower part of the CCD 31 by these rollers 60, 61 and 62.

On the other hand, the paper feed roller 1 located above the downstream side of the paper feed table 17
On the downstream side (left side) of 9, a first paper feed guide 64 is swingably mounted on the support shaft 63 of the lower registration roller 21.
A second paper feed guide 65 is provided below the first paper feed guide 64 and is swingably attached to the apparatus main body 1 at its downstream end. The second paper feed guide 65
A fixed guide 66 extending substantially parallel to the second paper feed guide 65 is provided at the bottom of the paper feed guide 65 .

An island-shaped guide drive lever 67 is swingably attached to the side of the fixed guide 66.
One end of the guide drive lever 67 is configured to come into contact with the lower surface of the second paper feed guide 65, and a solenoid 68 is connected to the other end of the guide drive lever 67.

Therefore, when the solenoid 68 is in an inactive state (non-suction state), the first paper feed guide 64 and the second
The paper feed guide 65 is in the lower position (solid line position) due to its own weight, and when printing paper is fed by the paper feed roller 19 in this state, the printing paper moves toward the first paper feed guide 6.
4 and is fed between the pressure roller 22 and the plate cylinder 3, and normal stencil printing is performed.

On the other hand, when the solenoid 68 operates, the guide drive lever 67 rotates slightly counterclockwise, and accordingly, the second paper feed guide 65 and the first paper feed guide 64 also rotate slightly counterclockwise and move upward. located (double-dashed line position),
When the printing paper is fed by the paper feeding roller 19 in this state, the printing paper takes its course downward, and
The printing paper is fed to the second paper feed guide 65 and the fixed guide 6.
6. Then, according to the timing of the photosensor 48, the pair of paper feed rollers 53 and 54
Second thermal head 46 and second platen roller 47
As in the case of the first embodiment described above, thermal transfer printing, which is non-stencil printing (direct printing), is performed.

In this way, in this second embodiment, printing paper is supplied from the same paper feed table 17 and discharged from the same paper regardless of whether stencil printing is performed or non-stencil printing (direct printing) is performed. The paper will be discharged onto the paper tray 23.

Therefore, in this second embodiment, unlike the first embodiment, it is not possible to perform stencil printing and non-stencil printing (direct printing) at the same time. Since the LiF is provided in the same place, the space can be used effectively and the entire LiF can be made compact.

In FIG. 3, a control panel 69, a display panel 70, and a work panel 71 are arranged along the front side edge of the upper surface of the apparatus main body l.

FIG. 4 shows the document reading device 3 in the first embodiment.
0 and the thermal transfer printer 45 are separated from the apparatus main body l, and the personal computer 72 and word processor 73
shows that it is connected. In addition, in this figure, each device is equipped with an interface (1/F),
It is also possible to use one interface (1/F).

In this way, when the personal computer 72 and the word processor 73 are connected, settings such as the print mode and the number of copies to be printed can be made via the personal computer 72 and the word processor 73.

(G) Effects of the Invention In the present invention, since a stencil printing means and a non-stencil printing means (direct printing means) are provided, when printing a small number of sheets, non-stencil printing can be performed without using stencil paper. If a large number of sheets are to be printed, printing can be performed efficiently by using a stencil printing means that uses stencil paper.

Therefore, it is not necessarily necessary to separately prepare an electrostatic copying machine or various independent printers (it is economical. Furthermore, since it is possible to combine it with various printers, its usage is further expanded. .

In addition, it is possible to use stencil printing and non-stencil printing depending not only on the number of prints but also on the printing format. When printing a calligraphy image that is not precise, a stencil printing means can be used.

Therefore, there is an effect that the printing form can be changed depending on the type of printed matter.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is an external perspective view of the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the first embodiment of the present invention.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A plate-making means for making a calligraphy image onto a stencil sheet, a signal supply means for supplying a calligraphy image signal to the plate-making means, a plate cylinder around which the stencil paper is wound, and a plate-making means for the plate-making means. In a stencil printing apparatus that is equipped with a winding means for wrapping a stencil paper made by a stencil around a plate cylinder, and a pressure contact means for pressing a printing paper against the plate cylinder, direct printing can be performed on the paper without using a stencil paper. What is claimed is: 1. A prepress printing apparatus, comprising: direct printing means, and said signal supply means being connected to said direct printing means. 2. The prepress printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the direct printing means is a thermal transfer printer. 3. Claim 1, wherein the direct printing means is a thermal printer.
The plate-making printing device described. 4. The prepress printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the direct printing means is a laser printer. 5. The prepress printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the direct printing means is an LED printer. 6. The prepress printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the direct printing means is a liquid crystal printer. 7. The prepress printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, to which a document reading means for reading a calligraphy image of a document can be connected. 8. The prepress printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the direct printing means is detachably attached to the main body of the apparatus. 9. A manuscript reading means for reading a calligraphy image of a manuscript, a plate making means for making a stencil from the calligraphy image read by the manuscript reading means, and a printing paper via the stencil paper made by the said plate making means. A stencil printing apparatus comprising a stencil printing means for printing, and a direct printing means for printing a calligraphic image read by the document reading means directly onto paper without using a stencil. 10. The stencil printing apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising a selection means for selecting and operating either the stencil printing means or the direct printing means. 11. A print number setting means for setting the number of print sheets is provided, and when the number of print sheets set by the print number setting means is less than a predetermined number, the direct printing means is operated, and the print number is set to a predetermined number. 11. The stencil printing apparatus according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the stencil printing means is configured to operate when the number of sheets exceeds the number of sheets. 12. The prepress printing apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the predetermined number of sheets is set to an integer of 10 or less. 13. The stencil printing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the stencil printing means and the direct printing means are configured to operate simultaneously. 14. Claim 9, wherein the plate-making means and the direct printing means are each equipped with a thermal head, and are also equipped with signal supply means for supplying the same document image signal to both thermal heads.
The plate making printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 13.