JPH04248567A - Plate-making device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate the need of placing a container for housing an unexposed printing plate, etc., on the side of a device and to miniaturize the entire installation space by providing a housing part housing the unexposed printing plate on the lower part of a plotting part. CONSTITUTION:A space part (housing part) 17 is provided on the lower part of the supporting conjunction 33 of the plotting part 16, in the device, so that a skid 58 housing the unexposed printing plate 14 can be housed in the space part 17. Therefore, it is unnecessary that a place to house the unexposed printing plate 14 is separately provided on the side of the device and the floor space of a dark room can be minimized, as well.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a plate-making apparatus, and more particularly to a direct plate-making apparatus for making a direct printing plate.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIG. 6, a direct plate making device 1 for making electrophotographic plates is conventionally used as a direct plate making device for making plates for printing plates used in rotary presses for printing newspapers, etc.
There are 20. This direct plate making device 120 includes a drawing unit 126 that charges an electrophotographic plate 122 with a charger 123 and then scans and exposes it with a laser beam scanning device 125, and a drawing unit 126 that charges an electrophotographic plate 122 with a charger 123 and then scans and exposes it with a laser beam scanning device 125. a developing section 128 that performs development with the electrophotographic printing plate 122; and a fixing section 13 that heats the electrophotographic printing plate 122 and melts and fixes the toner.
0. Of the electrophotographic printing plate 122, an elution part 132 that elutes the non-image area of the photoreceptor, a puncher part 134 that forms a positioning part for positioning the electrophotographic printing plate 122, and a plate that forms a folded part for plate hanging. The bent portion 136 is indicated by arrow A in FIG.
A plate feeding unit 12 is arranged in a straight line along the direction and the counter-arrow A direction, and on the side of the drawing unit 126 in the direction of the arrow B in FIG.
4 is placed.

On the side of the plate feeding unit 124 in the direction opposite to arrow A in FIG.
A container 138 containing a plurality of unexposed electrophotographic printing plates 122 stacked one on top of the other with the photosensitive surface facing upward is arranged. The reason why the electrophotographic printing plate 122 is stored with the photosensitive surface facing upward is because the electrophotographic printing plate 122 is sent to the drawing section 126 in a horizontal state and is irradiated with a laser beam from above, and the container When the electrophotographic printing plate 122 is taken out from the electrophotographic printing plate 138 and supplied to the drawing section 126, the electrophotographic printing plate 1
This is because there is no need to turn over 22. The unexposed electrophotographic printing plate 122 taken out from the container 138 is placed in the plate feeding section 1.
The printing plate is fed to the drawing unit 126 by a transport device 24 (not shown).

By the way, during plate making, a container 138 containing unexposed electrophotographic printing plates 122 must always be placed on the side of the plate feeding section 124, and space is required to place this container 138. Become. In particular, when using large printing plates such as 2-page or 4-page plates, container 1
38 becomes larger and requires even more space. In addition, a plate feeding section 124, a drawing section 126, and a developing section 128
The container 13 is surrounded by a darkroom 140 to prevent unnecessary exposure of the electrophotographic printing plate 122.
8, the floor area of this darkroom 140 becomes large.

[0005]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In view of the above-mentioned facts, the present invention is designed to accommodate printing plates within the installation space of a direct plate-making device, and to provide a place for storing printing plates other than the installation location of the direct plate-making device. It is an object of the present invention to provide a direct plate-making device that does not require a separate device and can reduce the overall installation space.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems] A plate making apparatus of the present invention includes a drawing section for exposing an image to a printing plate, and a storage section provided at a lower part of the drawing section for accommodating the printing plate to be supplied to the drawing section. , a developing section that develops the printing plate, and a developing section disposed between the drawing section and the developing section, which takes out the printing plate from the storage section of the drawing section and supplies the printing plate to the drawing section, and from the drawing section. The invention is characterized by comprising a plate feeding section that conveys the printing plate to the developing section.

[0007]

[Function] In the plate-making apparatus of the present invention, since the storage section for storing the unexposed printing plates is provided at the lower part of the drawing section, the container etc. for storing the unexposed printing plates is placed on the side of the plate-making apparatus. There is no need to place the device on the computer, and no special installation space is required. The unexposed printing plate accommodated in the storage section is fed to the drawing section by the plate feeding section. This drawing section exposes the image onto the printing plate. The exposed printing plate is transported from the drawing section to the developing section by the plate feeding section, and is subjected to development processing in the developing section.

[0008]

[Embodiment] [First Embodiment] A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4.

The printing plate 14 used in this embodiment is a thin plate-like electrophotographic printing plate, and is made of an aluminum plate with a photoconductive layer formed on one side. , for example, an organic conductive photoreceptor is used. This printing plate 14 has a thickness of about 0.3 mm, and its planar dimensions are 400 mm x 1100 m, which is a vertical 2-page version for newspaper printing.
It is about m.

As shown in FIG. 1, the direct plate making apparatus 10 to which the present invention is applied includes a plate feeding section 12, a drawing section 16 for recording an image on the printing plate 14, and a developing and fixing process for the printed printing plate 14. A developing and fixing processing section 18 for performing elution processing, an elution processing section 22 that performs elution processing on the fixed printing plate 14, a preparation position section 118 that prepares and positions the printing plate 14 that has been subjected to elution processing, and a printing plate 14 that has been subjected to elution processing. A puncher section 24 that forms a notch for positioning and a plate bending section 26 that bends the printing plate 14 for printing are provided.

As shown in FIG. 2, the drawing section 16 is connected to the printing plate 14.
A transport table 32 on which is placed, a support table 33 that supports the transport table 32, a charger 34 that charges the printing plate 14, an exposure section 36 that draws images on the image area of the charged printing plate 14, and a plate discharging the printing plate 14. It is equipped with clamping claws (not shown) that can be used. The transport table 32 can be moved in the direction of arrow B and in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 2 by a drive device (not shown). Note that, on this conveyance table 32, the printing plate 14 is placed with its longitudinal direction along the conveyance direction of the conveyance table 32. A charger 34 is fixedly arranged above the drawing section 16, and this charger 34 positively charges the photoconductive photosensitive layer of the plate material 14. An exposure section 36 is arranged on the opposite side of the charger 34 in the direction of arrow B in FIG. The exposure unit 36 includes a semiconductor laser and a scanning optical system (not shown) that scans the laser beam.
A laser beam is irradiated onto the image area of the photoconductive photosensitive layer of the charged printing plate 14 to scan and expose the image. Further, below the support stand 33 is a space 17 serving as a storage section.
In this space 17, there is a skid 58 which will be described later.
can be placed.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, skid 58
A trapezoidal block 62 is provided on a flat base 60, and is movable by casters 64 attached to the base 60. A plurality of unexposed printing plates 14 are stacked and stacked against both slopes of the trapezoidal block 62 of the skid 58 with the photoreceptor layer side facing. As shown in FIG. 3, protrusions 66 are provided at both ends of the base 60 in the direction of arrow A and in the direction opposite to arrow A in FIG. It is said to be used for

As shown in FIG. 1, the conveyor table 3 of the drawing section 16
A plate feeding section 12 is disposed on the side of 2 in the direction of arrow A in FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the plate feeding section 12 includes belt conveyors 68, 70, 72 for conveying the printing plates 14.
A suction cup 74 for suctioning the printing plate 14 placed on the skid 58 is also provided. The belt conveyor 68 is arranged horizontally above the plate feeding section 12, and as shown by the imaginary line in FIG. 16
The sides are designed to go down. As shown in FIG. 4, the belt conveyors 70 and 72 are spaced apart from each other on the side opposite to the arrow A in FIG. 4 from the belt conveyor 68, and the side opposite to the arrow A in FIG.

The suction cup 74 is disposed between the belt conveyor 70 and the belt conveyor 72, and can move forward and backward in the direction of arrow A and the direction of arrow A in FIG. 4 by a drive mechanism (not shown).

As shown in FIG. 3, the suction cup 74 has a plurality of printing plates 1 placed on the skid 58 and facing the suction cup 74.
It has the role of attracting the printing plate 14 on the uppermost layer of the plate 4 and housing its lower end into the support angle 78. The separation bar 80 disposed on the developing and fixing processing section 18 side of the support angle 78 is capable of being raised, and its lower end is attached to the support angle 78.
It has the role of moving the intermediate and upper end portions of the printing plate 14 stored in the skid 58 to the belt conveyors 70, 72.

A developing and fixing processing section 18 is arranged on the side of the plate feeding section 12 in the direction of arrow B in FIG. As shown in Figure 1,
The printing plate 14 is conveyed in the direction along the arrow A in FIG. The dimension in the direction of arrow B) is the length dimension of the printing plate 14 (dimension 1100
mm).

The developing and fixing processing section 18 includes a developing section 38, a squeezing section 40, a drying section 42, a fixing section 44, and a conveyance device driven by a motor or the like that conveys the printing plate 14 at a constant speed.
(not shown) is provided.

The developing section 38 is disposed upstream of the developing and fixing section 18, and applies a liquid developer to the printing plate 14 to make the electrostatic latent image on the printing plate 14 visible. The liquid developer used here generally includes a carrier liquid, a colorant that forms toner particles, a coating agent made of a polymeric resin that provides fixation properties for the colorant, and a coating agent that promotes and stabilizes the dispersion of toner particles. It consists of a dispersant, which functions as a toner particle, and a charge control agent, which controls the polarity and charge amount of toner particles. Note that the development in the developing section 38 is performed by reversal development, in which the positively charged printing plate 14 is developed with toner having a positive charge. Although this example uses reverse development, it is also possible to select normal development in which the printing plate 14 is developed with toner having a negative charge.

A squeeze section 40 is arranged downstream of the developing section 38 in the conveying direction of the printing plate 14 (in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1). The squeeze section 40 is equipped with a blower (not shown) that removes unnecessary liquid developer adhering to the printing plate 14 by jetting air. Incidentally, the unnecessary liquid developer may be removed using a nipple roll, or may be used in combination with the above-mentioned removal using air.

On the downstream side of the squeeze unit 40 in the transport direction of the printing plate 14 (in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1), the printing plate 14 from which unnecessary liquid developer has been removed is heated with hot air from a dryer (not shown). A drying section 42 for drying is arranged.

Note that the drawing section 16 and plate feeding section 12 are located upstream of the drying section 42 of the developing and fixing processing section 18 (on the side opposite to the direction of arrow A in FIG. This prevents unnecessary exposure.

A fixing section 44 is arranged downstream of the drying section 42 in the conveying direction of the printing plate 14 (in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1). The fixing unit 44 includes a plurality of heating lamps (not shown) that heat and fix the toner image on the printing plate 14.

A cooling unit 46 is disposed downstream of the fixing unit 44 in the conveying direction of the printing plate 14 (in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1), and blows air to the printing plate 14 heated in the fixing unit 44 to cool it. ing. Note that in order to increase cooling efficiency, it may be brought into contact with cooling water.

The elution processing section 22 is disposed downstream of the cooling section 46 in the conveying direction of the printing plate 14 (in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1). The elution processing section 22 includes an elution process that applies an alkaline solution to the printing plate 14 to elute the photoconductive photoreceptor layer in the non-image area of the printing plate 14 (i.e., the non-image area other than the area where the toner image is formed). section 48, squeeze section 50 for removing excess alkaline solution adhering to the printing plate 14, squeezed printing plate 1;
a water washing section 52 that washes the plate 14 with water to remove the alkaline solution; a gum solution application section 54 that applies a gum solution to the washed printing plate 14;
Drying section 114 that dries the printing plate 14 coated with gum liquid
and a conveying device (not shown) for conveying the printing plate 14.

A preparation position section 118 is arranged downstream of the elution processing section 22 in the conveyance direction of the printing plate 14 (in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1), and the printing plate 14 after the elution processing is placed in this preparation position section. 118. The preparation position 118 is equipped with a conveyor device (not shown), which can convey the printing plate 14 in the direction of arrow A in FIG. Note that the preparation position section 118 may be provided with a plate inspection device equipped with a CCD sensor or the like and capable of pattern recognition.

A puncher section 24 is located downstream of the preparation position section 118 in the conveying direction of the printing plate 14 (in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1).
is located. This puncher section 24 has a printing plate 1
4 is provided with a punch (not shown) for forming a hole as a positioning part for positioning when printing the plate.

A plate bending part 26 is arranged downstream of the puncher part 24 in the conveying direction of the printing plate 14 (in the direction of arrow A in FIG. A folding device (not shown) is provided for folding the portion to a predetermined dimension.

Note that the elution processing section 22 and the preparation position section 118
, the width dimensions of the puncher section 24 and the plate bending section 26 (dimensions in the direction of arrow B and counter-arrow B in FIG. 1) correspond to the length dimension of the printing plate 14 (dimension 1100 mm).

The operation of this embodiment will be explained below. First of all,
A case will be described in which an unexposed printing plate 14 is supplied from the skid 58 to the drawing section 16.

As shown in FIG. 3, the uppermost printing plate 14 of the unexposed printing plate 14 placed against the skid 58 is sucked by the suction cup 74, and the lower end thereof is accommodated in the support angle 78. Note that since the back surface (the surface opposite to the photoconductive photosensitive layer) of the printing plate 14 is suctioned, there is no fear that the photoconductive photosensitive layer will be damaged by the suction cup 74. Also, printing plate 14
are stacked against each other with their backs facing outward, so there is no risk of dust etc. adhering to the photoconductive photosensitive layer, and even if the photoconductive photosensitive layer accidentally comes into contact with the printing plate 14, the photoconductive photosensitive layer There is little risk of damage.

When the separation bar 80 is raised with the lower end of the printing plate 14 accommodated in the support angle 78, the printing plate 14
are delivered to belt conveyors 70 and 72. Then,
Belt conveyor 68 is tilted, belt conveyor 70,
72 and the belt conveyor 68 are operated, and the printing plate 14 is placed in the middle of the belt conveyor 68. Next, after the belt conveyor 68 is returned to the horizontal state, the printing plate 14 is conveyed to the belt conveyor 68 and transferred to the conveyor table 32 of the drawing section 16.
It will be placed on.

As shown in FIG. 2, the conveyor table 32 on which the printing plate 14 is placed is moved to the exposure section 36 by a drive device (not shown).
direction (the opposite direction of arrow B in FIG. 2). During this movement, the photoconductive photosensitive layer 30 of the printing plate 14 on the conveyor table 32 is positively charged by the charger 34 . After charging, the 32nd conveyor
A laser beam corresponding to the original image emitted from a semiconductor laser is applied to the printing plate 14, which is positioned directly below the exposure unit 36 while being moved by a drive device (not shown) in the opposite direction to that described above (in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 2). is irradiated onto the surface of the photoconductive photosensitive layer 30. As a result, the incident area where the laser beam is incident becomes conductive, and positive charges move from the surface of the incident area of the photoconductive photosensitive layer 30, forming an electrostatic latent image corresponding to image information. . After drawing the image, the conveyance table 32 is returned to its original position.

As shown in FIG. 1, the printing plate 14 processed in the drawing section 16 is ejected from the drawing section 16 to the plate supply section 12 with the end thereof being held by clamping claws (not shown). The image is transported into the developing and fixing processing section 18 by a belt conveyor 68 .

In the development and fixing section 18 , the printing plate 14 is moved to a development section 38 where positively charged toner particles in a liquid developer adhere to exposed portions of the photoconductive photosensitive layer 30 . The area to which the toner particles are attached becomes lipophilic. When the printing plate 14 reaches the squeeze section 40, unnecessary liquid developer is squeezed from the printing plate 14 in the squeeze section 40, and then it is dried in a drying section 42. Furthermore, since the drawing section 16 is separated from the developing and fixing processing section 18 by the plate supplying section 12, the motors that drive the conveyance device, blower, dryer (not shown), etc. in the developing and fixing processing section 18 rotate. The generated vibrations are not directly transmitted to the drawing section 16. In addition, the vapor of the liquid developer generated in the development and fixing processing section 18 is transferred to the drawing section 16.
There is little risk of it entering.

The plate 14 that has been developed is then transferred to a fixing section 44.
transported to. In this fixing section 44, the toner image is fixed on the printing plate 14 by heat from a heating lamp.

The printing plate 14 after fixing is conveyed to the elution processing section 22. In the elution processing section 22, the photoconductive photoreceptor layer of the printing plate 14 to which the toner image is not attached is eluted by an alkaline solution in the elution section 48. After the elution treatment, the printing plate 14 is squeezed with an alkaline solution in a squeeze section 50. The squeezed printing plate 14 is conveyed to the washing section 52,
The alkaline solution adhering to the surface is completely removed.

When the printing plate 14 reaches the gum liquid application area 54, the printing plate 14 is coated with gum liquid to protect the surface of the non-image area. When the printing plate 14 after the gum treatment is conveyed and reaches the drying section 114, the gum liquid adhering to the printing plate 14 is dried by hot air from a dryer 116.

The printing plate 14 processed in the elution processing section 20 is
Thereafter, it is positioned in the preparation position section 118, and plate inspection work is performed.

The printing plate 14 that has been subjected to plate inspection is sent to the puncher section 24, and a punch (not shown) forms a notch for positioning during plate loading.

[0041] The printing plate 14 in which positioning notches have been formed by the puncher section 24 is bent at both longitudinal ends by a predetermined length by a bending device (not shown) of the plate bending section 26.

[0042] With the above steps, the plate making process for the printing plate 14 is completed. In this manner, in the direct plate making apparatus 10, the space 17 is provided below the support stand 33 of the drawing section 16, so that the skid 58 containing the unexposed printing plates 14 can be accommodated in the space 17. Therefore, there is no need to separately provide a place to accommodate the unexposed printing plates 14 on the side of the direct plate-making apparatus 10, and the floor space of the darkroom 13 can also be minimized. [Second Embodiment] FIG. 5 shows a direct plate making apparatus 10 according to a second embodiment of the present invention. Note that the same components as those in the first embodiment are given the same reference numerals, and the explanation thereof will be omitted.

In the direct plate making apparatus 10 of the second embodiment, a preparation position section 90 is provided on the side of the plate feeding section 12 in the direction of arrow A in the figure. The preparation position section 90 is a table-like platform on which the printing plate 14 conveyed from the plate feeding section 12 is temporarily placed, and the printing plate 14 is conveyed in the opposite direction of arrow B in the figure by a conveyor device (not shown).

A developing and fixing processing section 18 is located downstream of the preparation position section 90 in the conveyance direction of the printing plate 14 (on the side opposite to the direction of arrow B in FIG. 5).
, elution processing section 22, preparation position section 118, puncher section 2
4 and a plate bending part 26 are arranged in this order (the puncher part 24 and the plate bending part 26 are not shown in FIG. 5). In addition, the width of the elution processing section 22 after the development and fixing processing section 18, the preparation position section 118, the puncher section 24, and the plate bending section 26 (dimensions in the direction of arrow B and the direction opposite to arrow B in FIG. 5)
differs from the first embodiment in that it has dimensions corresponding to the width of the printing plate 14.

In the direct plate making apparatus 10 of the second embodiment, the drawing section 16, the plate feeding section 12, and the developing and fixing section 18 are arranged close to each other on the upstream side of the drying section 42, so that the planar shape of the darkroom 13 is The shape is close to a square, so it can be compacted.

In this embodiment, the printing plates 14 are placed against the skid 58 and stored in the space below the drawing section 16, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the printing plates 14 are stacked vertically. It is also possible to adopt a structure in which a stand or the like accommodated therein is accommodated in a space below the drawing section 16.

[0047]

Effects of the Invention As explained above, the plate-making device of the present invention can accommodate printing plates within the installation space of the plate-making device, and does not require a separate place to accommodate the printing plates other than the installation location of the plate-making device. It has an excellent effect of reducing the installation space.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the arrangement of processing sections of a direct plate making apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a drawing unit and skid corresponding to the left side view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front view showing a part of the drawing section, plate feeding section, skid, and development and fixing processing section, corresponding to the bottom view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing part of a drawing section, a plate feeding section, a skid, and a developing and fixing processing section.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the arrangement of each processing section of a direct plate making apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention. (However, the punching part and plate bending part are omitted.)

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the arrangement of processing sections of a conventional direct plate making apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Direct plate making equipment 12 Plate supply department 14 Printing version 16 Drawing section 17 Space part (accommodation part) 38 Developing section

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A drawing section that exposes an image to a printing plate; a storage section provided below the drawing section that stores the printing plate to be supplied to the drawing section; and a developing section that develops the printing plate. A feeder disposed between the drawing section and the developing section, which takes out the printing plate from the storage section of the drawing section, supplies the printing plate to the drawing section, and transports the printing plate from the drawing section to the developing section. A plate-making device characterized by comprising a plate section.