JPH0292575A - Printing plate and printing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable the repeated use of a printing plate by a method wherein a molecular film layer consisting of molecules each having a lipophilic group on one side and a hydrophilic group on the other side and changing in molecular orientation according to an electric field is formed on an electrified element group. CONSTITUTION:In a printing plate 1, electrified elements 3 are provided in matrix form on a substrate 2, and thereon a molecular film layer 4 is provided in a film form. The molecular film layer 4 consists of organic compound molecules each having a basic structure with a hydrophilic group COOH and a lipophilic group CH3 as represented by CH3-R-COOH and being oriented in a fixed direction. Furthermore, this organic compound molecule has a polarity causing an offset in electric charge. Therefore, the electric charge of the CH3 group is offset positive, and that of the COOH group is offset negative. An image signal is inputted between the electrified elements 3 through signal electrodes Y1, Y2... and scan electrodes X1, X2.... In this case, switch elements 5 provided on the respective electrified elements 3 are actuated correspondingly to a part where an electric current has been passed through both the scan electrode and the signal electrode, and the electrified element 3 of the appropriate part is electrified.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] <Industrial application field> The present invention relates to a lithographic printing plate and a printing method thereof.

<Prior Art> Conventionally, as a printing method, a planographic printing method, a letterpress printing method, an intaglio printing method, etc. are known. In all of these methods, a printing plate is created for each printing item, and after printing is completed, a new printing plate is usually created when printing another printing item.

<Problem to be solved by the invention> However, in printing methods such as lithography, letterpress, and intaglio, once a printing plate is created, the same printing plate material cannot be used to print a different pattern after printing is completed. However, there is a problem in that it is necessary to create a new printing plate, which increases the time and cost of printing plate materials. Furthermore, although it is desired to develop an online printing process with a computer, this has not been realized.

Therefore, the present invention aims to provide a new printing plate that solves the above-mentioned problems and a new printing method using the printing plate. It is an object of the present invention to provide a new printing plate that can be used repeatedly and can also be printed online with a computer.Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new printing method using this new printing plate. shall be.

<Means for Solving the Problems> The present invention, which was made to achieve the above object, arranges a group of charging elements in which a large number of fine charging elements are arranged regularly over almost the entire surface of a substrate, and The printing plate is a printing plate formed by forming a molecular film layer on the charging element group, which is made of molecules oriented in the direction of the charging element, and has a lipophilic group on one side and a hydrophilic group on the other side, and the orientation of the molecules is changed by an electric field. , each of the charging elements is provided with a switching element, and the ON/Off of the switching element is controlled.
The charging element can be selectively charged by F, and transistors, cyrisks, etc. can be used as switching elements, and in particular, in the case of transistors, TPT, MOSFET, etc. can be used.
Semiconductors such as ET and Ml- can be used. Furthermore, each of the charging elements can be provided with a capacitor element.

Furthermore, by charging the charging elements of the printing plate in a pattern, the orientation of the molecules is changed in the pattern, and the molecular film layer having patterned lipophilic groups arranged on the surface is wetted. This is a printing method in which water and ink are supplied, and the ink adhering to the lipophilic groups of the molecular film layer is transferred to the printing material.

<Function> According to the present invention, a charging element group in which a large number of fine charging elements are regularly arranged over almost the entire surface of a substrate for forming a charging portion on the surface of a printing plate, and this charging element group are provided. There is a molecular film layer on top of the charged element group consisting of molecules that are oriented in a certain direction and have lipophilic groups on one side and hydrophilic groups on the other side, and whose orientation changes depending on the charge. By charging the charging element in the area where the ink should be attached, a pattern-shaped charged area to be printed is formed, and this changes the orientation of the molecules corresponding to the charged area, resulting in the formation of the pattern to be printed. A molecular membrane layer is formed by a combination of lipophilic and hydrophilic groups. In other words, if the charging part is, for example, the hydrophilic groups of the molecules in the molecular film layer on the charging element group are arranged toward the surface, the charging of the charging element reverses the orientation of the molecules, causing the lipophilic groups to face the surface. By supplying ink to this printing plate, the ink adheres to the surface of the printing plate in a pattern. Furthermore, the orientation of the molecules in the molecular film layer may be such that either the hydrophilic group or the lipophilic group faces the printing plate surface. Printing is performed by transferring the ink adhered in a pattern onto the printing material.

In this case, each of the charging elements is provided with a switch element, and a current based on an image signal to be printed is inputted to a corresponding one of the charging elements, so that the charging elements are arranged in a pattern to be printed. You can make a charger.

In this case, by providing each of the charging elements with a capacitor element, it is possible to improve retention of the charged charge of the charged element by the charging element.

As the above-mentioned charging element, for example, a matrix type pixel electrode used in liquid crystal displays and the like can be used.

In addition, the molecular film layer is formed in the form of a film, and the lipophilic groups and hydrophilic groups in the molecule can be arranged in a certain direction, and by reacting to electric charge, it is possible to accurately reproduce the pattern of the charged part. Can be done.

<Example> Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a schematic partially enlarged cross-sectional view showing the basic structure of the printing plate according to the present invention. The printing plate (1) has charging elements (3) formed in a matrix on a substrate (2), For example, the basic structure is formed into a film with a hydrophilic group coo as represented by CHs RCOOH.
n and a lipophilic group C1 (, and forms a molecular film layer (4) arranged in a certain direction. The molecular film layer (4) is arranged in a monomolecular film shape. It is desirable that the film has multiple layers or more and has particularly excellent water retention properties.Furthermore, this organic compound molecule has polarity and the charge is biased, so the charge is CH, the group is positive, and the 00011 group is negative. It's off to one side.

Therefore, by positively or negatively charging the charging element (3), the COOH group or CH3 group is oriented toward the charging element (3), and the orientation of the molecules changes.

Figure 2 shows a printing plate (1) with the molecular film layer removed, in which a large number of charging elements (3) for forming charging parts on the substrate are arranged regularly over almost the entire surface at minute intervals. , a signal amount ti (
Yl), (Yf) ... and scanning electrodes Cx+), (x
An image signal is input through t>--. In this case, a switch element (5) is provided in each charging element (3), and the switch element (5) corresponding to the part where current flows through both the scanning electrode and the signal electrode is activated, A charging element (3) is charged.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged explanatory diagram of the switch element part, and the fourth
The figure is an explanatory diagram of a portion taken along line B-B in FIG. 3. The switch element consists of a thin film transistor (TPT), which includes a gate electrode (20), a source electrode (21), a drain electrode (22), an insulating layer (23), and an amorphous Si layer (24).
).

The gate electrode (20) is insulated from other electrodes by insulation N (23). The drain electrode (22) is connected to the charging element (3), and the source electrode (21) is connected to the signal electrode (Yl). Furthermore, the gate electrode (2
o) is connected to the scan Et8i(Y,). In this way, the charging element (3) can be selectively charged depending on the presence or absence of current in the scanning electrode and the signal electrode.

The material for the charging element may be any material with high conductivity, regardless of whether it is transparent or opaque, but metals such as copper, aluminum, silver, and gold, ITO (indium oxide, tin oxide), etc. may be selected as appropriate. Can be hired.

Further, for the purpose of preventing a decrease in the amount of charge charged on the charging element, each element may be provided with a capacitor element (25), and this capacitor element may have a conductive layer placed facing the charging element. .

The material for the capacitor element is A1, which has high wear resistance.
．． ! os, Sto! Ceramic insulating materials such as fluorine resin, silicone resin, and other polymer insulating materials can be used.

Note that the printing plate consisting of the circuit configuration including the charging element and the above-mentioned molecular film layer may be formed on a flexible base material such as a synthetic resin sheet and wrapped around the same cylindrical cylinder. , or formed on a plate-shaped base material,
Of course, it is also possible to use a lithographic printing plate.

The printing plate of the present invention having the above structure is charged with a charging element according to the image pattern of the original, and the molecular film layer (4
) changes in response to the charging element, so if it is a molecular film in which the molecules are arranged so that the hydrophilic groups face the surface of the printing plate, a positive charge is applied, and the molecules corresponding to the image pattern are By supplying dampening water and ink with the oil base facing the surface and the other hydrophilic groups facing the surface, the ink adheres only to the lipophilic part on the molecular film layer and the adhered ink to the printing material. Printing is done by transfer to.

In the molecular film layer, either the hydrophilic group or the lipophilic group may face the surface of the printing plate, but it is necessary to reverse the charging portion of the charging element so that it is positive and negative.

FIG. 5 shows a printing system using the printing plate of the present invention,
The original (11) is scanned by a color separation device such as a scanner (12) to distinguish yellow (Y), red (M), eye (C), and black (B).
k) into four colors, and these color-separated signals are converted into cp
input to the arithmetic unit (13) including u. In this case, the information can also be stored in the external storage device (14). In addition, if necessary, red (1?) green (G) for monitor TV may be selected based on color-separated signals.
Switch to blue (B) signal and monitor TV (15
), the zero-order color separated Y, M, C, and Bk signals are input to the printing plates of each color. In the case of FIG. 5, the state in which the Y signal is input to the printing plate (1) for the 7th edition is shown, and the cases of the other M, C, and Bk signals are omitted. The case of the 7th edition printing plate (1) will be briefly described below, but the same can be applied to printing plates of other colors.

Next, as mentioned above, the image signal manually applied to the printing plate (1) charges the molecular film layer on the surface of the printing plate (1) in a pattern with respect to the original image, and changes the orientation of the molecules in the molecular film layer. dampening water and ink are supplied from the respective supply devices, and the ink is adhered to the lipophilic part (7) corresponding to the image. In this way, by passing the printing material (9) such as paper between the rotating printing plate (11) and the impression cylinder (8), the ink adhering to the printing plate is transferred to the printing material (9), and printing is performed. An image OI is obtained.

Practically speaking, printing is carried out on a printing material through a blanket cylinder on a plate cylinder to which ink is attached, as in offset printing.

By using this printing plate as described above, it is possible to print using normal offset ink.

Further, the molecular film layer provided on the printing plate may be one in which the orientation of the molecules is irreversibly changed by once applying an electric charge.

<Effects of the Invention> As explained above, the printing plate and printing method of the present invention provide the following effects.

The printing plate of the present invention is charged in an image pattern by charging the charging element, whereby the molecular orientation of the molecular film layer corresponding to the charged portion is changed in an image pattern so that the lipophilic groups are directed toward the surface of the printing plate, As a result, the lipophilic portion can be accurately formed on the original, and it is therefore unnecessary to separately prepare a printing plate.

In other words, after printing one image is completed, printing another image requires only inputting an image signal, so there is no need to create a new printing plate for each print item as in conventional printing methods. Since a printing plate that has been used once can be used repeatedly, it is possible to save costs for printing plate materials and shorten the time required to create printing plates.

Furthermore, it becomes possible to establish an online printing process with a combiator.

Therefore, direct printing by image transmission from a remote location is also possible.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic partial enlarged sectional view showing the basic structure of the printing plate of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a partial enlarged explanatory view of the printing plate excluding the molecular film layer, and FIG. 3 is a partial enlarged sectional view of the printing plate of the present invention. FIG. 4 is an explanatory cross-sectional view taken along line B--B in FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of a printing system using the printing plate of the present invention. l...Printing plate 2...Substrate 3...Charging element 4...Molecular film N5...Switch element 7...Lipophilic portion corresponding to the image 8...Impression cylinder 9...・Printing material 10
...Print image 11...Manuscript 12...
・Scanner 13...Arithmetic unit 14...
・External storage device 15... Monitor TV 20... Gate electrode 22... Drain electrode 24... Alpha MOS 54 layer 21... Source electrode 23... Insulating layer 25... Capacitor element patent Applicant Toppan Printing Co., Ltd. Representative Kazuo Suzuki

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) A charging element group in which a large number of fine charging elements are arranged regularly over almost the entire surface of the substrate is arranged, and the charging element group is oriented in a certain direction on the charging element group, and one side of the charging element group has a lipophilic group. A printing plate characterized in that a molecular film layer is formed on the charging element group, the other surface of which is made of molecules having a hydrophilic group, and the orientation of the molecules is changed by an electric field. (2) The printing plate according to claim 1, wherein each of the charging elements is provided with a switch element, and the charging element can be selectively charged by turning on/off the switch element. (3) The printing plate according to claim 1 or 2, wherein each of the charging elements is provided with a capacitor element. (4) A molecular film layer in which the charging element group of the printing plate according to claim 1 is charged in a pattern to change its molecular orientation into the pattern, and a pattern of lipophilic groups is arranged on the surface. 1. A printing method comprising supplying dampening water and ink to a substrate to transfer the ink adhering to the lipophilic groups of the molecular film layer to a printing medium.