JPH04344657A - Electrophotographic engraving device and method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make a direct printing plate which does not cause the deterioration in the quality of a printed matter. CONSTITUTION:An applying part 120 is provided between the exposing part of a plotting part and a developing and fixing processing part 18 in an electrophotographic engraving device. Applying devices 130 and 132 are provided in the applying part 120. End face processing agent 137 which is solid and water soluble is stored in the applying devices 130 and 132 so that it may rotate around an axial line and the agent 137 is applied to the side end face 15 of the direct printing plate 14. The agent 137 is washed together with the agent 137 in an eluting processing part 22.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

TECHNICAL FIELD This invention relates to an electrophotographic apparatus and method for developing a printing plate with a liquid developer and subjecting it to fixing and elution processing.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a direct plate-making apparatus, there is an electrophotographic plate-making apparatus which charges, exposes, develops, fixes and elutes an electrophotographic printing plate. In this type of electrophotographic engraving apparatus, an electrophotographic printing plate is developed in a development processing section with a liquid developer consisting of toner particles and a carrier liquid. In this development step, toner particles adhere to the image area of the electrophotographic printing plate, and the electrostatic latent image is visualized. The developed electrophotographic printing plate is heated in a fixing section to melt and fix the toner particles to the electrophotographic printing plate. The electrophotographic printing plate that has been subjected to the fixing process undergoes elution of non-image areas in the next elution processing section.

By the way, in this type of electrophotographic engraving apparatus, excess liquid developer adhering to the non-image area of the electrophotographic printing plate is blown away by air jetted from a blower after the development process. The liquid developer adhering to the side edges of the photographic printing plate may not be completely blown away by the air from the blower. The toner used in electrophotographic engraving equipment is oleophilic so that the ink easily adheres to it during printing, so if you print with an electrophotographic plate with toner attached to the side edges, the ink will form on the toner image. It also adheres to the toner adhering to the side end surfaces. For this reason, when printing on a printed matter that is larger than the printing plate, such as in newspaper printing, there is a problem that the ink adhering to the toner on the side edge surface is transferred to the printed material, creating linear stains and reducing print quality. arise.

[0004] In order to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks, a plate-making device (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-26166/1993) is equipped with a removing means for removing toner adhering to the side edges of the printing plate between the development processing section and the fixing processing section.
0 Publication), a method in which a water-soluble polymer layer is formed on the side end surface of an electrophotographic printing plate, and the water-soluble polymer layer is removed together with the toner in an elution treatment section (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-62654), etc. is proposed.

However, in plate-making apparatuses that are provided with toner removal means between the development processing section and the fixing processing section, when removing the toner from the side surface of the printing plate, powdered toner (since the fixing processing has not yet been performed) There is a risk that some of the material (which has a shape of a shape) may scatter and adhere to the image surface of the printing plate. When the printing plate in this state is conveyed to the fixing processing section, the toner scattered during the fixing processing process is melted and fixed on the image surface. Therefore, during printing, ink adheres to the scattered toner, causing the printed matter to become smudged.

There is also a method of forming a water-soluble polymer layer on the side edges of the printing plate to prevent toner from adhering to the side edges of the printing plate, but in this method, after coating the photosensitive layer, the printing plate is The common method of painting is to spray water-soluble polymer material onto the side surfaces of printing plates in a stacked state, but it is difficult to reliably apply water-soluble polymer material to the side edges of printing plates, and it is difficult to apply water-soluble polymer material to the side edges of printing plates. In some cases, the water-soluble polymer material may seep out onto the surface of the photoreceptor layer of the printing plate, and there is a risk that poor development will occur at the portion of the photoreceptor layer surface to which the water-soluble polymer material is attached in the subsequent development process.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-mentioned facts, the present invention aims to provide an electrophotographic printing apparatus and an electrophotographic printing method capable of making a direct printing plate without causing any deterioration in the quality of printed matter. It is.

[0008]

[Means for solving the problem] The invention according to claim 1 includes:
An electrophotographic device that is installed in an electrophotographic device for charging, exposing, developing, fixing, and dissolving a direct printing plate, and for applying an edge treatment agent to a side edge surface of the direct printing plate, The present invention is characterized in that a coating means for applying a solid, water-soluble edge treatment agent to the side edge surfaces of the direct printing plate is provided between the processing section and the development section.

[0009] Furthermore, the invention according to claim 2 provides a method for applying an edge treatment agent to the side end surface of the direct printing plate in an electrophotographic engraving apparatus that performs charging, exposure, development, fixing, and elution processing on the direct printing plate. The electrophotographic engraving method is characterized in that a solid, water-soluble edge treatment agent is applied to the side edge surface of the direct printing plate between the exposure treatment and the development treatment.

0010

[Operation] In the electrophotographic printing apparatus according to the invention as claimed in claim 1,
A solid water-soluble edge treatment agent is applied to the side edge surface of the direct printing plate by a coating means provided between the exposure processing section and the development processing section. Therefore, when the electrostatic latent image is developed with toner in the development processing section, the toner adhering to the side edge surface of the direct printing plate can be removed together with the water-soluble edge treatment agent by subsequent washing with water. For this reason,
During printing, ink does not adhere to the toner adhering to the side edge surface of the direct printing plate and the printed matter is not smudged, preventing image staining, and making it possible to make a direct printing plate that does not cause deterioration in the quality of the printed matter. . In addition, since a solid edge treatment agent is applied to the side edges of the direct printing plate between the exposure processing section and the development processing section, it is possible to ensure that the edge treatment agent is applied to the side edges of the direct printing plate. At the same time, adhesion of the edge treatment agent to the photosensitive surface of the direct printing plate can be minimized.

[0011] Furthermore, in the electrophotographic engraving method according to the second aspect of the invention, a solid and water-soluble edge treatment agent is applied to the side edge surface of the direct printing plate between the exposure treatment and the development treatment. Therefore, when developing an electrostatic latent image with toner in the development process, the toner attached to the side edge surface of the direct printing plate is
By subsequent washing with water, it can be removed together with the water-soluble edge treatment agent. Therefore, during printing, ink does not adhere to the toner adhering to the side edge surface of the direct printing plate and the printed matter is not smeared, preventing image staining, and making a direct printing plate that does not cause quality deterioration of the printed matter. be able to. In addition, using a solid edge treatment agent,
Since the edge treatment agent is applied to the side edge surface of the direct printing plate between the exposure treatment and the development treatment, it is possible to ensure that the edge treatment agent is applied to the side edge surface of the direct printing plate. adhesion can be minimized.

0012

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7.

As shown in FIG. 4, the direct printing plate 14 used in this embodiment is a thin plate-shaped electrophotographic printing plate,
A photoconductive photosensitive layer 30 as a photoreceptor layer is formed on one side of the conductive support 28 . The conductive support 28 is made of aluminum and has a thickness of about 0.3 mm. Further, the conductive support 28 is the photoconductive photosensitive layer 3
Hydrophilic treatment is performed on the interface with 0. As the photoconductive photosensitive layer 30, for example, an organic photoconductive photoreceptor is used.

As shown in FIG. 5, the electrophotographic engraving apparatus 10 to which the present invention is applied includes a plate feeding section 12, a drawing section 16, a coating section 120, a developing and fixing section 18, an elution section 22, and a standby section. 118, a puncher section 24, and a plate bending section 26.

The plate feeding section 12 is disposed on the upstream side of the electrophotographic engraving apparatus 10 (on the side opposite to the direction of arrow A in FIG. 5). This plate feeding section 12 is equipped with a conveyor device (not shown), and conveys the unexposed plate material 14 in the direction of arrow A in FIG. In addition,
In this electrophotographic engraving apparatus 10, the direct printing plate 14 is arranged with its longitudinal direction along the arrow A direction and the opposite arrow A direction in FIG. 5, and various processes are performed.

As shown in FIG. 6, the drawing section 16 is equipped with a conveyance table 32 on which the direct printing plate 14 is placed.
This conveyance table 32 can be moved in the direction of arrow A and in the opposite direction of arrow A in FIG. 6 by means of a conveyance means (not shown). A charger 34 for positively charging the photoconductive photosensitive layer 30 of the direct printing plate 14 is provided in the upper middle part of the drawing section 16 in the direction of the arrow A and the direction opposite to the arrow A. An exposure section 36 serving as an exposure processing section is arranged on the A direction side. The exposure section 36 is equipped with a semiconductor laser (not shown), and irradiates a laser beam onto an image section of the charged photoconductive photosensitive layer 30 to scan and expose the image. Note that the direct printing plate 14 after exposure is stored in the drawing unit 16 as shown in FIG.
A clamping claw (not shown) is provided that discharges the master in the direction of arrow A.

As shown in FIG. 5, the exposure section 3 of the drawing section 16
An applicator 120 is arranged on the arrow A direction side of 6.

As shown in FIG. 1, the coating section 120 is provided with a belt conveyor 126 on the main body base 122, which conveys the direct printing plate 14 conveyed from the exposure section 36 in the direction of arrow A in FIG. The width dimension of the belt conveyor 126 is made smaller than the width dimension of the direct printing plate 14 by a predetermined dimension. Therefore, when the direct printing plate 14 is placed on the belt conveyor 126, the widthwise side edge 15 of the direct printing plate 14 protrudes outward by a predetermined distance beyond the side edge of the belt conveyor 126.

An optical sensor 127 is provided above the upstream side of the belt conveyor 126, and the direct printing plate 1
4 is carried into the coating section 120 from the exposure section 36, and transmits a detection signal to a control device (not shown).

Four guide rollers 128 are supported on the main body base 122 near the sides of the belt conveyor 126 with their axes perpendicular to each other. These guide rollers 128 are in contact with the side end surfaces 15 on the width direction side of the direct printing plate 14, respectively, and are in contact with the side end surfaces 15 on the width direction side of the direct printing plate 14 (FIG.
This is used to prevent movement in the direction of arrow B and the direction opposite to arrow B).

Furthermore, coating devices 130 and 132 are provided on both sides of the belt conveyor 126 in the width direction of the main body base 122.
is provided.

As shown in FIG. 2, an edge treatment agent support stand 134 is provided on the belt conveyor 126 side of the base 136 of the coating device 130. The upper part of this support stand 134 is a cylindrical end surface treatment agent storage part 135 whose axis is directed toward the belt conveyor 126 side.
Inside is a cylindrical solid water-soluble end treatment agent 1.
37 (for example, Wachsmalkreiden 228M10D, C manufactured by STAEDTRER (Germany)
ARAN D'ACHE (Switzerland) neocolor
-II Aquarelle, FABER CASEL
Water-soluble crayons such as L Company Coldfarber Aquawacks and Pentel Co., Ltd. graffiti crayons, or
KARAT Aquarel manufactured by STAEDTRER
p, CARAN D'ACHE (Switzerland) PRIS
MAlOII watercolor pencil, STABILO (Germany) Swan-Stabilo watercolor pencil, Farber
-Castell ALBRECHT DURERku
nsteraquarellstifte und-m
(inen) Contains water-soluble colored pencils such as watercolor colored pencils.

As shown in FIG. 3, the upper and lower parts of the end surface of the housing section 135 on the belt conveyor 126 side are provided with the housing section 1
Stoppers 135A and 135B are formed toward the inner circumferential side of 35, and the application surface 137A of the end surface treatment agent 137 comes into contact with these stoppers 135A and 135B. A cap 138 is provided at an end 135C of the housing section 135 opposite to the belt conveyor 126 side, and the end surface treatment agent 137 is inserted into the housing section 135 by removing the cap 138. . Also,
A through hole 140 is bored in the center of the cap 138, and a shaft 142 is rotatably inserted into the through hole 140. Housing portion 135 of shaft 142
The end portion 142A inserted therein has a non-slip prevention portion 14.
4, and this anti-slip portion 144 fits into a recessed portion 137B recessed on the side opposite to the surface 137A to which the end surface treatment agent 137 is applied. Therefore, the edge treatment agent 1
37 rotates integrally with the shaft 142.

A standing wall 144 is provided at the end of the base 136 opposite to the belt conveyor 126 side, and the other end of the shaft 142 is inserted into the through hole 146 formed in the standing wall 144 A portion 142B is rotatably inserted. Further, a knob 148 is provided at the tip of the end portion 142B of the shaft 142.

Support stand 134 of base 136 and standing wall portion 14
4, a motor support section 150 is provided upright. A drive motor 152 is fixed near the base 136 on the side surface of the vertical wall portion 144 of the motor support portion 150 by a bracket (not shown), and the rotation of the drive motor 152 is controlled by a control device (not shown). It has become. That is, the control device uses the optical sensor 127
Based on the detection signal, the direct printing plate 14
20, the drive motor 152 is energized for a predetermined period of time. A drive shaft of the drive motor 152 passes through the motor support section 150. In addition, the drive motor 152
A drive gear 154 having a collar portion 154A at the end opposite to the drive motor 152 is fixed to the drive shaft.

A bearing hole 156 is bored in the motor support portion 150, and the shaft 14 is inserted into the bearing hole 156.
A ring-shaped spring stopper 158 fixed to 2 is rotatably supported. This spring stopper 1
58 and the vertical wall portion 144 is a compression coil spring 160.
is inserted, and the shaft 142 is coated with an end surface treatment agent 137.
direction (direction of arrow C in FIG. 3). In addition, the support base 134 of the spring stopper 158 of the shaft 142
A driven gear 162 is spline-coupled to the side.
The shaft 1 is rotated by the drive gear 154 and
42 in the axial direction of the shaft 142.

The coating device 132 has the same configuration as the coating device 130, and is arranged symmetrically with respect to the axis of the belt conveyor 126.The coating device 132 has the same configuration as the coating device 130, so a description thereof will be omitted. do. Also,
The coating device 132 and the coating device 130 each have the same cover 1.
It is covered with 66.

As shown in FIG. 5, arrow A of the application section 120
A developing and fixing processing section 18 is arranged on the direction side. The development and fixing processing section 18 includes a development section 38 as a development processing section;
Squeeze section 40, drying section 42, fixing section 44, cooling section 46
and a conveying device (not shown) for conveying the direct printing plate 14.

The developing section 38 is arranged upstream of the developing and fixing section 18, and applies a liquid developer to the exposed direct printing plate 14 to make the electrostatic latent image on the direct printing plate 14 visible. The liquid developer used here is generally made by dispersing in a carrier liquid toner particles adsorbed with a resin that imparts properties such as dispersibility, polarity control, and fixability to a pigment such as carbon black. Note that the development in the developing section 38 is performed by reversal development, in which the positively charged direct printing plate 14 is developed with a positively charged toner. Note that the portion of the direct printing plate 14 to which the toner particles are attached becomes lipophilic.

A squeeze section 4 is located downstream of the developing section 38 in the conveying direction of the direct printing plate 14 (in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 5).
0 is placed. This squeeze section 40 is equipped with a blower (not shown), which blows air out to both sides of the direct printing plate 14.

Direct printing plate 14 rather than squeeze section 40
A drying section 42 is arranged on the downstream side in the conveyance direction (the side in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 5). The drying section 42 is equipped with a dryer (not shown), and the direct printing plate 14 is dried with warm air from the dryer.

A fixing section 44 is located downstream of the drying section 42 in the direction of conveyance of the direct printing plate 14 (in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 5).
is located. The fixing unit 44 includes a plurality of heating lamps (not shown), and uses the heat of the heating lamps to melt and fix the toner particles attached to the direct printing plate 14.

A cooling section 46 is located downstream of the fixing section 44 in the direction of conveyance of the direct printing plate 14 (in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 5).
is arranged, and the direct printing plate 14 heated in the fixing section 44 is cooled by air being blown in the cooling section 46.

As shown in FIG. 5, an elution processing section 22 is disposed downstream of the development and fixing processing section 18 in the direction of conveyance of the direct printing plate 14 (in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 5). As shown in FIG. 7, the elution processing section 22 includes a direct printing plate 1.
4, an elution section 48 applies an alkaline solution to the direct printing plate 14 to elute the photoconductive photoreceptor layer in the non-image area of the direct printing plate 14 (i.e., the non-image area other than the area where the toner image is formed); A squeezing unit 50 that removes adhering excess alkaline solution, a water washing unit 52 that washes the squeezed direct printing plate 14 with water to remove the alkaline solution, and a gum liquid application unit that applies gum liquid to the washed direct printing plate 14. 5
4. A drying section 114 that dries the direct printing plate 14 coated with gum liquid, and a plurality of conveyance rollers 56, 58, 60, 62, 64, 6 that sandwich and convey the direct printing plate 14.
6 is provided.

The conveyance roller 56 is disposed upstream of the elution processing section 22 (in the direction opposite to arrow A in FIG. 7), and downstream of this conveyance roller 56 in the direction of conveyance of the direct printing plate 14 (in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 7). The elution part 48 is arranged on the A direction side). The elution unit 48 is equipped with an elution tank 68 , and the elution tank 68 is provided with transport rollers 58 , 60 and a plurality of guide rollers 88 . The direct printing plate 14 is conveyed by these conveyance rollers 58 and 60 and the guide roller 88, and is immersed in the alkaline solution in the elution tank 68. A circulation pump 84 is connected to the elution tank 68, which sucks the alkaline solution in the tank and sprays the alkaline solution onto the direct printing plate 14 from a nozzle 86.

In addition, the direct printing plate 14 in the elution tank 68
A roller-shaped brush 90 is disposed at a position corresponding to the photoconductive photosensitive layer 30 . The brush 90 is connected to a rotation drive means such as a motor (not shown), and this rotation drive means rotates the brush 90. A drain pipe 82 is connected to the lower end of the elution tank 68, and the degraded alkaline solution inside the tank can be discharged to the outside of the tank via the drain pipe 82.

A squeeze section 50 is disposed downstream of the elution tank 68 in the direction of conveyance of the direct printing plate 14 (in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 7), and a conveyance roller 62 is disposed in this squeeze section 50. There is. The squeeze portion 50 has a receiving portion 9.
4, and the direct printing plate 14 is held between conveyance rollers 62 to remove the alkaline solution adhering to the surface. A roller 96 is disposed on the receiving portion 94 side of the conveyance roller 62 in close contact with the conveyance roller 62, and the alkaline solution removed by the conveyance roller 62 is transferred to the roller 9.
6 and falls to the receiving part 94. Further, a pump 98 for returning the removed alkaline solution to the elution tank 68 is connected to the receiving portion 94 .

A water washing section 52 is located downstream of the elution section 48 in the direction of conveyance of the direct printing plate 14 (in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 7).
A transport roller 64 is arranged in this washing section 52 . A roller-shaped brush 1 is provided in the water washing section 52.
00 and a water tank 102 are provided. Water tank 102
Washing water is stored in the pump 10, and this washing water is pumped to the pump 10.
4 and is sprayed from the nozzle 106 onto the direct printing plate 14. The brush 100 is disposed at a position corresponding to the photoconductive photosensitive layer 30 of the direct printing plate 14, and can clean the photoconductive photosensitive layer 30 of the direct printing plate 14.

A gum liquid application section 54 is arranged downstream of the water washing section 52 in the direction of conveyance of the direct printing plate 14 (in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 7). This gum liquid application section 54 includes
A gum liquid tank 110 is provided, and gum liquid is stored in the gum liquid tank 110. The gum liquid in the gum liquid tank 110 is sucked up by a pump 112 and sprayed onto the direct printing plate 14 from a nozzle 114.

Direct printing plate 1 from the gum liquid coating section 54
A drying section 114 is disposed on the downstream side in the conveyance direction of 4 (the side in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 7). The drying section 114 is equipped with a dryer 116, and the dryer 116 dries the direct printing plate 14 after the gum treatment.

As shown in FIG. 5, a standby section 118 is disposed on the downstream side of the elution processing section 22 in the direction of conveyance of the direct printing plate 14 (in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 5). The direct printing plate 14 is transported to this standby section 118. The standby section 118 is equipped with a conveyor device (not shown), and this conveyor device conveys the direct printing plate 14 in the direction of arrow A in FIG.

A puncher section 24 is arranged downstream of the standby section 118 in the direction of conveyance of the direct printing plate 14 (in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 5). The puncher section 24 is equipped with a punch (not shown) that forms a notch in the direct printing plate 14 for positioning during printing.

Direct printing plate 1 from the puncher section 24
A plate bending section 26 is disposed on the downstream side in the conveyance direction of 4 (the side in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 5). The plate bending section 26 is equipped with a bending device (not shown) that bends both longitudinal ends of the direct printing plate 14 by a predetermined length.

The operation of this embodiment will be explained below. As shown in FIG. 5, the unexposed direct printing plate 14 is placed with the photoconductive photosensitive layer 30 facing upward and its longitudinal direction along the conveyance direction, and is transferred to the drawing unit 16 by a conveyor device (not shown) of the plate feeding unit 12. transported. As shown in FIG. 6, in the drawing section 16, the conveyance table 32 on which the direct printing plate 14 is placed is moved in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 6 by a drive device (not shown). During this movement, the photoconductive photosensitive layer 30 of the direct printing plate 14 on the conveyor table 32 is positively charged by the charger 34 . When the direct printing plate 14 is transported directly below the exposure section 36, the surface of the photoconductive photosensitive layer 30 is irradiated with a laser beam corresponding to the original image emitted from a semiconductor laser (not shown). 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. .

Direct printing plate 14 on which an electrostatic latent image is formed
is held at its end by holding claws (not shown) and transported from the drawing section 16 to the application section 120.

As shown in FIG. 1, the direct printing plate 14 conveyed to the coating section 120 is moved by guide rollers 128 to the side end surfaces 1 on the side in the direction of arrow B and the side in the direction opposite to arrow B in FIG.
5 is guided and conveyed in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1 by a belt conveyor 126.

[0047] Furthermore, the direct printing plate 14 is connected to the coating section 120.
2, the direct printing plate 14 is detected by the optical sensor 127, and electricity is supplied from a control device (not shown) to rotate the motors 152 of the coating devices 130, 132 in the direction of arrow E in FIG.

When the motor 152 is rotated in the direction of arrow E in FIG. 2 and the driving gear 154 is rotated in the direction of arrow E in FIG. 2, the driven gear 162 is rotated in the direction of F in FIG. As a result, the shaft 142 spline-coupled to the driven gear 162 is rotated in the F direction in FIG. 2, and the end surface treatment agent 137 is integrally rotated in the F direction in FIG.

At this time, the shaft 142 is urged toward the direct printing plate 14 (in the direction of arrow C in FIG. 3) by the compression coil spring 160, and the side end surface 15 of the direct printing plate 14 is pressed against the edge treatment agent 137. The edge treatment agent 137 is applied to the side edge surface 1 of the direct printing plate 14.
5. Note that, since the edge treatment agent 137 is rotating, the entire surface 137A coated with the edge treatment agent 137 is worn away. In addition, if the end surface treatment agent 137 is worn out and shortened, hold the knob 148 and remove the shaft 1.
42 in the direction opposite to the direction of arrow C in FIG.
exchange.

The direct printing plate 14 on which the electrostatic latent image has been formed and the side end surface 15 coated with the edge treatment agent 137 is conveyed to the development and fixing processing section 18 by the belt conveyor 126.

In the development and fixing section 18 , the direct printing plate 14 is moved to a development section 38 in which positively charged toner particles in a liquid developer are deposited on the exposed portions of the photoconductive photosensitive layer 30 .

When the direct printing plate 14 reaches the squeeze section 40, air from a blower (not shown) is blown onto both sides of the direct printing plate 14, and excess liquid developer adhering to both sides is removed. After that, direct printing plate 14
The toner is transported to the drying section 42, where the moist toner is dried with warm air from a dryer (not shown).

The direct printing plate 14 that has been developed in this manner is conveyed to the fixing section 44. In the fixing section 44, the toner particles attached to the direct printing plate 14 are melted and fixed by the heat of a heat lamp (not shown). The direct printing plate 14 heated in the fixing section 44 is cooled by air being blown in the cooling section 46, and then conveyed to the elution processing section 22.

In the elution processing section 22, the direct printing plate 14 is held between transport rollers 56, transported into an elution tank 68, and immersed in an alkaline solution. When the direct printing plate 14 is immersed in the alkaline solution, the photoconductive photoreceptor layer 30 to which no toner image is attached, ie, the non-image area, is eluted. At this time, the photoconductive photoreceptor layer 30 of the direct printing plate 14 is rubbed by the brush 90 to promote the elution reaction. By this elution treatment, the hydrophilic surface of the conductive support 14 is exposed in the region of the direct printing plate 14 to which the toner image is not attached. Also,
The toner attached to the side end surface 15 of the direct printing plate 14 is
It is removed together with the water-soluble edge treatment agent 137 applied to the side edge surface 15 of the direct printing plate 14.

After the elution treatment, the direct printing plate 14 is held between conveyance rollers 62 in the squeeze section 50, and the alkaline solution adhering to the surface is squeezed out. The squeezed alkaline solution falls to the receiving portion 94 via the roller 96 and accumulates therein. Further, the alkaline solution accumulated in the receiving portion 94 is returned to the elution tank 68 by the pump 90.

The squeezed direct printing plate 14 is conveyed to the water washing section 52, and washing water is sprayed from the nozzle 106. Furthermore, the direct printing plate 14 is rubbed by the brush 100 to completely remove the attached alkaline solution.

When the direct printing plate 14 is transported and reaches the gum liquid applying section 54, the gum liquid is ejected from the nozzle 114 onto the image forming area. This protects the surface of the non-image area.

When the direct printing plate 14 after the gum treatment is transported and reaches the drying section 114, the gum liquid adhering to the direct printing plate 14 is dried by hot air from the dryer 116.

The direct printing plate 14 that has been processed in the elution processing section 22 is then temporarily held in a standby section 118, undergoes plate inspection, etc., and is sent to the puncher section 24 where it is punched by a punch (not shown) for positioning during plate loading. A notch is formed.

[0060] The direct printing plate 14 in which a notch for positioning has been formed by the puncher section 24 is bent by a bending device (not shown) of the plate bending section 26 at both longitudinal ends of the direct printing plate 14 by a predetermined dimension. With this, the plate making process of the direct printing plate 14 is completed.

In this way, the exposure section 36 of the drawing section 16 and
Coating section 120 between development and fixing processing section 18 and development section 38
As a result, a water-soluble edge treatment agent 137 is applied to the side edge surface 15 of the direct printing plate 14, so when printing is performed with this direct printing plate 14, the toner adhering to the side edge surface 15 of the direct printing plate 14 is removed. In the elution processing section 22, it can be washed with water together with the end surface treatment agent 137. Therefore, ink does not adhere to the side end surface 15 of the direct printing plate 14, and high quality printed matter is printed. In addition, a solid edge treatment agent 137 is used to treat the side edge surface 1 of the direct printing plate 14 between the exposure section 36 of the drawing section 16 and the development/fixing processing section 18.
5, it is possible to ensure that the edge treatment agent 137 is applied to the side edge surface 15 of the direct printing plate 14, and to minimize adhesion of the edge treatment agent 137 to the photosensitive surface of the direct printing plate 14. can.

[0062] Since the edge treatment agent 137 is rotating, the entire surface 137A to which the edge treatment agent 137 is applied is worn away. In addition, if the end surface treatment agent 137 is worn out and shortened, hold the knob 148 and remove the shaft 142.
in the direction opposite to the direction of arrow C in Fig. 3, and remove cap 1.
38 from the housing portion 135, and the end surface treatment agent 137 can be replaced.

Further, in this embodiment, a cooling section 46 for cooling the direct printing plate 14 is provided downstream of the fixing section 44, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a structure may be adopted in which the cooling section 46 is omitted. . In this case, by slowing down the conveyance speed of the direct printing plate 14 in the coating unit 120, the direct printing plate 14 can be naturally cooled in the coating unit 120. Further, although the cooling unit 46 is configured to cool the direct printing plate 14 by blowing air, the cooling unit 46 may be configured to cool the direct printing plate 14 by cooling water.
In this case, toner adhering to the side end surface 15 of the direct printing plate 14 can be washed away with water together with the end surface treatment agent 137 at this portion.

In addition, in this example, the cylindrical end surface treatment agent 1
37 as the coating surface 137A, the direct printing plate 1
4, but instead of this, as shown in FIG. The edge treatment agent 137 is relatively moved in the direction (arrow G direction in FIG. 8) intersecting the conveying direction (arrow A direction in FIG. 8), and the edge treatment agent 137 is applied to the side edge surface 1 of the direct printing plate 14.
5 may be applied.

Further, in this embodiment, when the direct printing plate 14 is detected by the optical sensor 127, the motor 152 rotates for a predetermined period of time for the direct printing plate 14 to pass through the application section 120. Alternatively, the motor 152 may be configured to constantly rotate when the electrophotographic engraving apparatus 10 is energized. Further, the motor 152 may be configured to rotate intermittently for a predetermined period of time when the optical sensor 127 detects the direct printing plate 14.

[0066]

As explained above, the electrophotographic printing apparatus of the present invention has the excellent effect of being able to make a direct printing plate without causing any deterioration in the quality of printed matter.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a coating section to which an electrophotographic engraving apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a coating device of an electrophotographic engraving apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing the structure of a direct printing plate.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the arrangement of each processing section of the electrophotolithography apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a sectional view showing the drawing section of FIG. 5. FIG.

7 is a sectional view showing the elution processing section of FIG. 5. FIG.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a coating section of an electrophotolithography apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Electrophotographic engraving equipment 14 Direct printing plate 15 Side end surface 16 Drawing section 18 Development and fixing processing section 36 Exposure section 38 Developing section 120 Application part 130 Coating device 132 Coating device 137 Edge treatment agent

Claims (2)

[Claims] [Claim 1] Direct printing plate is charged, exposed, developed,
An electrophotographic engraving device is provided in an electrophotographic engraving device that performs fixing and elution processing, and is used to apply an edge treatment agent to the side edge surfaces of the direct printing plate, the electrophotographic engraving device having a portion between an exposure processing section and a development processing section. 1. An electrophotolithography apparatus, characterized in that it is provided with a coating means for applying a solid and water-soluble edge treatment agent to the side edge surfaces of the direct printing plate. [Claim 2] Direct printing plate is charged, exposed, developed,
An electrophotolithography method for applying an edge treatment agent to the side edge surface of the direct printing plate in an electrophotography apparatus that performs fixing and elution processing, wherein a solid and water-soluble agent is applied between the exposure treatment and the development treatment. 1. An electrophotographic process, comprising applying a chemical edge treatment agent to the side edges of the direct printing plate.