JPH05107771A - Method and device for processing photosensitive lithographic printing plate - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the processing method and device that stably develops the photosensitive lithographic printing plate which has photosensitive layers on both surfaces of a base without any problem regarding the replenishment of a liquid developer. CONSTITUTION:The processing method and device for the photosensitive lithographic printing plate horizontally convey the photosensitive lithographic printing plate which is exposed to an image and pass it through a substantially unused liquid developer supplied to the gap between an upper guide plate 10 and a lower guide plate 11 arranged across the conveyance path at a fine distance to develop the printing plate. The photosensitive lithographic printing plate is supplied with the liquid developer from above and below and at least the lower guide plate 11 between the upper and lower guide plates is provided with a mechanism 35 which holds the conveyed photosensitive lithographic printing plate so that the printing plate contacts either of the guide plates.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a processing method and a processing apparatus for developing a photosensitive lithographic printing plate while conveying it.
In particular, the present invention relates to a processing method and a processing apparatus suitable for developing a photosensitive lithographic printing plate having photosensitive layers on both sides of a support.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When developing a large number of exposed photosensitive lithographic printing plates, it is common to use an automatic processor. Examples of the development processing method using an automatic developing machine include a method in which a photosensitive lithographic printing plate is conveyed horizontally and sprayed in the form of a spray while circulating and reusing the developing solution, or a developing method containing a large amount of developing solution. A method of curving a photosensitive lithographic printing plate in a processing tank and immersing the photosensitive lithographic printing plate in the processing tank while carrying out development processing is performed.

However, in such processing methods, it is necessary to prepare a large amount of developing solution even when processing a small number of photosensitive lithographic printing plates, and in order to use the developing solution economically, it is necessary to recycle the developing solution. During use, deterioration of the developing solution due to absorption of carbon dioxide gas from the air occurs in addition to deterioration of the developing solution due to processing, and often the deteriorated developing solution must be replaced. It is extremely troublesome.

When the photosensitive lithographic printing plate is treated with a large amount of recycle developer for the purpose of improving the above-mentioned drawbacks,
A method of replenishing a replenisher to keep the developing process stable is known. JP-A-50-144502, JP-A-55-115039 and JP-A-58-95349
It is disclosed in each publication. Even with such a replenishment method, the frequency of liquid exchange is reduced, but liquid exchange is necessary, and the problem of replenishment accuracy and the replenishment fluctuation due to the difference in the types of photosensitive lithographic printing plates cannot be solved. Further, a replenishing device is required on top of it, and not only the replenishing device itself is expensive, but also the replenishing device needs to be adjusted and maintained.

In order to solve various problems associated with such a replenishing system and to provide a stable and economical developing method and apparatus for a photosensitive lithographic printing plate, the photosensitive lithographic printing plate is conveyed horizontally, A method of supplying an unused developing solution to the plate surface and then developing by passing through a developing solution filled in a gap between an upper guide plate and a lower guide plate which are vertically adjacent to each other (JP-A-63
No. -23160), a photosensitive lithographic printing plate is substantially unused in a gap between an upper guide plate and a lower guide plate, which are arranged at a small distance in the vertical direction with a conveying path for horizontally conveying the same. A developing method and apparatus for supplying a developing solution has been disclosed (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Sho 62-62)
-288845). As shown in FIG. 9, these devices supply a developing solution from a developing solution supply port 73 to a gap 72 between an upper guide plate 70 and a lower guide plate 71, which are arranged at a minute distance from each other, The photosensitive lithographic printing plate is passed through the gap 72 filled with the developing solution as shown by the one-dot chain line to develop.

[0006]

However, the above technique has no problem when a photosensitive lithographic printing plate (single-sided plate) having a photosensitive layer on only one side of a support is processed.
When processing a photosensitive lithographic printing plate (double-sided printing plate) having photosensitive layers on both sides of the support, there is a problem in the stability of the processing on the lower side.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a development processing method and a development processing apparatus for a photosensitive lithographic printing plate which can stably perform development processing on a double-sided plate without the above-mentioned problems related to replenishment of a developing solution. It is to be.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object of the present invention, the processing method of the present invention conveys an image-exposed photosensitive lithographic printing plate using an automatic developing machine, Photosensitive lithographic printing plate that develops by passing through a substantially unused developer supplied to a gap between an upper guide plate and a lower guide plate that are sandwiched and closely arranged with a minute distance from each other vertically In the processing method of, the developer is supplied to both the upper surface and the lower surface of the photosensitive lithographic printing plate that is conveyed,
And at least the lower guide plate of the upper guide plate and the lower guide plate, a mechanism for holding a photosensitive lithographic printing plate to be processed so as not to contact the guide plate, characterized in that,
The processing apparatus of the present invention comprises a means for conveying a photosensitive lithographic printing plate, an upper guide plate and a lower guide plate which are arranged close to and close to a conveying path of the photosensitive lithographic printing plate by the means and are vertically spaced from each other by a minute distance. Side guide plate, means for supplying substantially unused developer from above and below into the gap between the upper guide plate and the lower guide plate, at least the lower guide of the upper guide plate and the lower guide plate The plate is provided with a mechanism for holding the photosensitive lithographic printing plate to be processed so as not to contact the guide plate.

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the same components will be assigned the same reference numerals and overlapping description will be omitted.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing the overall configuration of an automatic processor having an embodiment of a processing apparatus of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a developing section for performing the process according to the present invention, 2 is a water washing section for washing with water, 3 is a rinse / gum section for performing a rinsing treatment or a desensitizing treatment (treatment with a gum solution), and PS is a photosensitive layer. It is a conveyance path for the planographic printing plate. In the developing unit 1, 4 is a preheating roller for preheating the photosensitive lithographic printing plate sent to the developing unit 1 to a predetermined temperature, 5 is a conveying roller pair, 6 is a conveying roller, and 7 is a plate surface to rub to accelerate development. A brush roller 8 and a diaphragm roller 8 are provided. The preheating roller 4 is composed of a roller pair including at least one roller in which a heat generating means is internally provided, and the roller in which the heat generating means is internally provided is a hollow pipe made of a metal (aluminum, iron, etc.) having high thermal conductivity. It is possible to use a structure in which a nichrome wire or the like is embedded as a heating element in the inside, and the outside of the metal pipe is covered with polyethylene, polystyrene, Teflon, or the like. For details, see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 64-80962. Can be referred to.

On the downstream side of the conveying roller pair 5 of the developing unit 1 in the conveying direction, a gap is formed by an upper guide plate 10 and a lower guide plate 11 which are vertically close to each other with a conveying path PS interposed therebetween and are arranged at a minute distance. The part 12 is formed. And these guide plates 1
0 and 11 are configured such that the developing solution is injected toward the carrying path PS from the developing solution supply ports 13 and 14 that are opened in the shape of slits that are close to the entrances and that extend over the carrying width. At least one of the surfaces (guide surfaces) of the upper and lower guide plates 10, 11 on the side of the gap 12 (guide surface), in particular, the upper side surface of the lower guide plate 11, should be arranged so that the photosensitive lithographic printing plate to be conveyed does not contact the guide plates. A mechanism for holding the photosensitive lithographic printing plate is provided on the upper and lower guide plates 1
The photosensitive lithographic printing plate conveyed in the gap 12 of 0, 11 forms a sufficient amount of developer between each guide surface of the upper and lower guide plates 10, 11, particularly the guide surface of the lower guide plate 11. It can be held and smoothly slid for transportation.

The end portion of the gap portion 12 in the width direction of conveyance has a structure that is blocked so that the developer does not leak.
Each of the upper and lower guide plates 10 and 11 has heat retaining means 15 and 16 made of a heat insulating material for keeping heat. It is preferable that the heat retaining means of the upper and lower guide plates 10 and 11 has a structure capable of keeping the upper and lower guide plates at a predetermined temperature by a heater, a cover made of a heat insulating material, a temperature control mechanism and the like.

A gap 12 formed by the upper and lower guide plates 10 and 11
The developing solution sent to the developing solution supply ports 13 and 14 that are opened to is configured so that the concentrated developing solution is diluted with diluting water and sent as a developing solution (use solution). That is, the concentrated developer in the concentrated developer tank 17 and the diluting water in the dilution water tank 18 are sent to the developer mixing tank 19, and are stirred and mixed by the stirrer 20 to be sent to the developer supply tank 21. Is becoming 22a,
22b, 22c and 22d are metering pumps. Injecting and mixing dilution water and concentrated developer into the developer mixing tank 19,
A control mechanism for the transfer of the developer from the developer mixing tank 19 of the mixed developer to the developer supply tank 21 is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
The structure is described in 64-81959, page 3, lower left column, line 20 to lower right column, line 17. A temperature adjusting device (not shown) is provided in a pipe line connecting the developing solution supply ports 13 and 14 and the metering pumps 22a and 22b so that the developing solution to be sent is adjusted to a predetermined temperature. In FIG. 1, * n and * n (n is a positive integer) are connected by a pipe line.

In the washing section 2 and the rinse gum section 3,
24 and 30 are shower nozzles, 25 and 31 are squeezing rollers, 26 is a washing water tank, 32 is a rinse / gum solution tank for containing a rinse solution or a desensitizing solution (gum solution), and 27 and 33 are pumps.

Further, the apparatus shown in the figure detects the carry-in of the photosensitive lithographic printing plate and the length of the carried-in photosensitive lithographic printing plate in the carrying direction, and the carrying roller pair 5, the brush roller 7, and the squeezing rollers 8, 25. , 31, the metering pumps 22a, 22b, etc. are provided with a sensor 34 and a control mechanism (not shown) for controlling the timing pumps 22a, 22b etc. to operate at proper timing and for an appropriate time.

An example of a mechanism which is provided on at least the lower guide plate of the upper guide plate and the lower guide plate and holds the photosensitive lithographic printing plate so that the conveyed photosensitive lithographic printing plate does not contact the guide plate. Is shown in FIGS. 2 (a), 2 (b) and 2 (c). FIG. 2A is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a portion composed of the upper guide plate 10, the lower guide plate 11 and the gap 12 formed by these in FIG. 1, and as shown in FIG. Side guide plate 11
The upper side surface has a rolling guide structure using balls 35 as rolling elements. FIG. 2B is a partial perspective view of the rolling guide surface. 2C is a partial perspective view of a guide surface showing an example in which a roller is used as the rolling guide mechanism, 36 is a lower guide plate, and 37 is a roller. The ball 35 or the roller 37 of such a rolling guide mechanism has a diameter of 3 to 20 mm,
Interval A in the transport direction is 2 to 20 cm, and interval B in the transport width direction is 2
Appropriately about 30 cm.

Next, the operation of the automatic processor shown in FIG. 1 will be described. First, when the photosensitive lithographic printing plate is inserted from the left end of the drawing, the sensor 34 for detecting the carry-in of the photosensitive lithographic printing plate and the length of the photosensitive lithographic printing plate in the conveying direction, and the detection signal by the sensor A preheating roller 4, a pair of conveying rollers 5, a conveying roller 6, a brush roller 7, by a control device (not shown) for controlling the operation of the conveying mechanism, the pump, etc.
The squeezing rollers 8, 25, 31 are rotated to convey the photosensitive lithographic printing plate to the right in the figure, and the metering pumps 22a, 22b are operated for a predetermined time and at a predetermined timing to develop the developer supply tank.
The developing solution in 21 is supplied to the upper and lower surfaces of the photosensitive lithographic printing plate carried from the developing solution supply ports 13 and 14. The photosensitive lithographic printing plate has its lower surface supported by the sphere 35,
An appropriate space is formed between the lower guide plate 11 and the lower surface of the photosensitive lithographic printing plate, and a sufficient amount of the developing solution is supplied to the lower guide plate 11, and the liquid smoothly slides through the space 12. Since the distance between the conveying roller pair 5 and the squeezing roller 8 of the developing section 1 is smaller than the minimum standard size of the photosensitive lithographic printing plate, the photosensitive lithographic printing plate is conveyed in the gap 12 at least one of these. It is pinched by and transported. The photosensitive lithographic printing plate from the gap 12 is rubbed on both upper and lower sides by a brush roller 7, then squeezed by a squeezing roller 8 to finish development, and then conveyed to a water washing unit 2 and then a rinse gum unit 3, respectively. Is applied.

3 and 4 are partial cross-sectional views showing an example in which a rolling guide mechanism is also provided on the upper guide plate as a mechanism for holding the photosensitive lithographic printing plate so as not to contact the guide surface.
By providing such a mechanism also on the upper guide plate,
It is possible to prevent the wavy photosensitive lithographic printing plate from coming into contact with the upper and lower guide plates. In FIG. 3, 39 is an upper guide plate, 40 is a lower guide plate, 41 is a gap portion, 42 and 43 are developer supply ports, and 44 is a ball or roller. In FIG. 4, 46 is an upper guide plate,
47 is a developing solution supply port.

5 (a), 5 (b) and 5 (c) show examples of a ball and roller mounting mechanism in the rolling guide.
(A) is a structure in which a sphere or a roller is fitted in a groove provided according to the shape, (b) is a structure in which it is fitted in a deep groove so that the sphere or the roller does not come out, (c) is an axis in the ball or the roller. Is attached, and the shaft is attached to the guide plate. In these figures, 40 is a lower guide plate, 44 is a ball or roller,
49 and 50 are upper guide plates or lower guide plates, and 51 is a shaft.

FIGS. 6A, 6B, and 6C are examples in which protrusions are provided instead of the spheres or rollers shown in FIGS.
(A) is a partial cross-sectional view showing an upper guide plate, a lower guide plate and a gap portion formed between them, and (b) is a partial perspective view showing the guide surface of the lower guide plate. Is a lower guide plate, and 54 and 57 are protrusions provided on the respective guide surfaces of the lower guide plates 53 and 56. A suitable height of the protrusion is 0.5 to 2.5 mm. The intervals A and B between the protrusions may be about the same as A and B in FIG.
Also, such a protrusion may be provided on the upper guide plate.

FIG. 7 is a partial cross-sectional view of an essential part showing an example in which hair is planted on the guide surface of the lower guide plate. Hair 61 is planted on the guide surface of the lower guide plate 60. 62 is a developing solution supply port. Hair 61
Preferably has a diameter of 0.1 to 1.0 mm and a length of 0.5 to 2.5 mm. The material of the hair is preferably synthetic fiber (single yarn) such as nylon. Flocking may be applied to the upper guide plate.

FIG. 8 shows an example in which a belt conveying device is provided on the guide surface of the lower guide plate. In the figure, a belt transport device
Reference numeral 64 denotes a plurality of threads stretched in parallel between the driving roller 65 and the driven roller 66 and wound so as to convey the photosensitive lithographic printing plate along the guide surface of the lower guide plate 67, or The photosensitive lithographic printing plate is composed of an endless belt 68 formed of a net, and is passed through a gap portion 69 between the upper guide plate 10 and the lower guide plate 67 by the belt conveying device 64. .. The material of the endless belt is synthetic fiber, carbon fiber, glass fiber,
Metal fibers (including boron fibers) are good. Reference numeral 70 is a developer supply port, and 71 is a guard plate for preventing the end of the photosensitive lithographic printing plate from hitting the endless belt 68 and being cut. Such a belt transport device may also be provided on the upper guide plate.

Preferred embodiments of the treatment method and treatment apparatus of the present invention are listed below.

Set the gap between the upper and lower guide plates (minimum gap) to 1.3
~ 5 mm, more preferably 1.3 ~ 3 mm.

Provision of means for keeping the upper and lower guide plates at a predetermined temperature.

The developer supply port is integrated with the upper and lower guide plates.

The upper and lower guide plates should be removable.

To have a mechanism for preheating the photosensitive lithographic printing plate to be developed.

The supply of the developing solution is started before the leading edge of the photosensitive lithographic printing plate comes into contact with the developing solution supply port, or the supply is started at the same time when the developing solution is supplied.

The supply amount of the developing solution is 70 to 700 ml, more preferably 9 ml, per 1 m ² of one side of the photosensitive lithographic printing plate to be treated.
It should be 0 to 500 ml, more preferably 100 to 300 ml.

The photosensitive lithographic printing plate to which the present invention is applied includes, for example, a negative type photosensitive lithographic printing plate having a photosensitive layer using a diazo compound as a photosensitive component on an anodized aluminum support, and also a photosensitive lithographic printing plate. A positive photosensitive lithographic printing plate using an o-quinonediazide compound as a component, a photoconductive layer is formed on a support as described above to form a toner image by an electrophotographic method, and then a non-image portion of the non-image area is formed by elution treatment. A lithographic printing material capable of removing the photoconductive layer is included, and the developer includes a developer containing an alkali silicate having a pH of 12 to 13.5, an organic solvent, a surfactant, an inorganic reducing agent, a chelating agent and the like. To be done.

More specifically, for example, JP-A-62-175757
JP-A No. 62-2, page 5, lower left column, line 18 to page 7, upper right column, line 11, for example, JP-A-62-2.
4263, 62-24264, 62-25761, 62-35351,
62-73271, 62-75535, 62-89060, 62-125
No. 357, No. 62-133460, No. 62-159148, No. 62-168160
No. 62, No. 62-175757, No. 62-175758, No. 63-200154,
No. 63-205658, a photosensitive lithographic printing plate as described in JP-A No. 63-205658 and its developer, for example, an electrophotographic photosensitive lithographic printing plate as described in JP-A-58-25477. Included.

Furthermore, for example, JP-A-1-149043,
JP-A-1-150142, JP-A-1-154157, and JP-A-1-154
Nos. 158 and the like, those having a constitution in which a photosensitive layer and a silicone layer as an ink repellent layer are laminated on a substrate, and a developer thereof are included.

Next, examples of the method of the present invention will be described.

Example 1 A JIS-1050 aluminum plate having a thickness of 0.24 mm was immersed in a 2% sodium hydroxide aqueous solution for degreasing treatment, and the front and back surfaces thereof were electrochemically roughened in a dilute nitric acid solution. And wash well and then anodize in dilute sulfuric acid solution to 2.5g / m
The oxide film ² was formed on the front and back surfaces of the aluminum plate. The aluminum plate treated in this manner was washed with water and dried, and then a photosensitive solution having the following composition was dried on the front and back surfaces to give a dry weight of 2.5 g / m ²
To obtain a positive photosensitive lithographic printing plate.

(Photosensitive Solution) Naphthoquinone-1,2-diazide (2) -5-sulfonic acid ester of pyrogallolacetone resin (synthesized by the method described in Example 1 of JP-B-43-28403) 1 Parts by weight m, p-cresol-formaldehyde resin 2 parts by weight tert-butylphenol-formaldehyde resin 0.3 parts by weight Oil Blue # 603 (trade name, manufactured by Orient Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., dye) 0.03 parts by weight Crystal Violet (manufactured by BASF) Dye) 0.03 parts by weight Ethylene glycol monoethyl ether 20 parts by weight Prepare a large number of positive-working photosensitive lithographic printing plates obtained in this way, contact them with a transparent positive film, and expose for 60 seconds from a distance of 70 cm with a 2 kW metal halide lamp. I went.

On the other hand, a JIS-1050 aluminum plate having a thickness of 0.24 mm was immersed in an aqueous solution of 20% sodium phosphate to degrease it,
The front and back surfaces are electrochemically roughened in a dilute hydrochloric acid solution, thoroughly washed, and then anodized in a dilute sulfuric acid solution 1.
An oxide film of 5 g / m ² was formed on the front and back surfaces of the aluminum plate. The aluminum plate thus treated was further immersed in an aqueous solution of sodium metasilicate for sealing, washed with water and dried, and then a photosensitive solution having the following composition was dried on the front and back surfaces to a dry weight of 2.0 g / m ² . It was applied so as to obtain a negative photosensitive lithographic printing plate.

(Photosensitive Solution) Hexafluorophosphate 1 part by weight of a condensation product of p-diazodiphenylamine and paraformaldehyde N- (4-hydroxyphenyl) methacrylamide copolymer (Example of JP-B-57-43890) 1) 10 parts by weight Victoria Pure Blue BOH (trade name, dye by Hodogaya Chemical Co., Ltd., dye) 0.2 parts by weight Ethylene glycol monomethyl ether 100 parts by weight Negative-type photosensitive lithographic printing plate thus obtained A large number of plates were prepared, a transparent negative film was adhered to the plate, and exposure was performed for 30 seconds from a distance of 70 cm with a 2 kW metal halide lamp.

As the upper and lower guide plates 10 and 11 of the automatic processor shown in FIG. 1, those shown in FIG. 2 (a) were attached. The size of the guide plate was 90 cm in the width direction, 25 cm in the conveying direction, and the gap between the upper and lower guide plates was 3 mm. A sphere having a diameter of 3 mm was used as the holding mechanism, and A = B = 3 cm.

A developing machine SD-32 (manufactured by Konica Corporation, negative / positive common developing solution) is charged in the concentrated developing solution tank 17, diluted 6 times with water in the developing solution mixing tank 19, and the developing solution supply port 13 , 14 to be supplied to both upper and lower sides of the photosensitive lithographic printing plate processed. The supply amount of the developing solution was 200 ml on the upper side and 200 ml on the lower side per 1 m ^{2 of the} photosensitive lithographic printing plate to be treated.

The developer temperature is set to 27 at the developer supply ports 13 and 14.
Adjust to a temperature of ℃ by a heater (not shown),
As the heat retaining means 15 and 16, the temperature of the upper guide plate 10 and the lower guide plate 11 was adjusted to 27 ° C. by a heater.
Further, the temperature of the preheating roller 4 was adjusted to 40 ° C., and the conveying speed of the photosensitive lithographic printing plate was set so that the developing time was 20 seconds.

Fifteen liters of water was placed in the washing water tank 26, and 10 liters of the rinse / gum solution tank 32 were prepared by doubling the gum solution SGW-2 (manufactured by Konica Corp.) with water.

Under the above conditions, several 1003 mm × 800 mm negative-working photosensitive lithographic printing plates and positive-working photosensitive lithographic printing plates as described above were processed. A quality printing plate was obtained.

Example 2 The developer SDP-12 (Konica Corporation) was placed in the concentrated developer tank 17.
Manufactured, positive type photosensitive lithographic printing plate developer) was prepared, and the same experiment as in Example 1 was carried out except that only the positive type photosensitive lithographic printing plate was processed. A quality printing plate was obtained.

Example 3 The developer SDN-21 (Konica Corporation) was placed in the concentrated developer tank 17.
Made into a negative photosensitive lithographic printing plate developer), diluted with water 4 times, and then supplied to the plate surface of the photosensitive lithographic printing plate to be treated. As a result of conducting the same experiment as in Example 1 except that only the printing plate was treated, a high quality printing plate was obtained as in Example 1.

Example 4 The parts of the upper and lower guide plates of the automatic processor are shown in FIG.
The same experiment as in Example 1 was carried out except that the printing plate was replaced with the same), and a high-quality printing plate was obtained as in Example 1.

Example 5 The upper and lower guide plates of the automatic processor are shown in FIG. 6 (a) (the size of the guide plate is the same as in Example 1. The height of the protrusion is 1.3 m.
m. When the same experiment as in Example 1 was conducted except that A = B = 3 cm) was replaced, a high quality printing plate was obtained as in Example 1.

Example 6 The upper and lower guide plates of the automatic processor are shown in FIG. 7 (the size of the guide plate is the same as in Example 1. Nylon monofilament having a diameter of 0.2 mm and the length of the bristle is 1.3 mm. (Flocked so that
When the same experiment as in Example 1 was carried out except that the printing plate was replaced with a new one, a high-quality printing plate was obtained as in Example 1.

Example 7 The upper and lower guide plates of the automatic processor are shown in FIG. 8 (the size of the guide plate is the same as in Example 1. Nylon monofilaments having a diameter of 0.2 mm are arranged at intervals of 3 cm in parallel with the conveying direction. 30 with roller 65
The one stretched between 66. The same experiment as in Example 1 was performed, except that the printing plate was replaced with a), and a high quality printing plate was obtained in the same manner as in Example 1.

Comparative Example The upper and lower guide plates of the automatic processor were replaced with those shown in FIG. 9 (the size of the guide plates was the same as in Example 1), and the metering pump 20 was used.
The same experiment as in Example 1 was conducted except that b was stopped and the supply amount of the developing solution from the developing solution supply port 13 was set to 400 ml per 1 m ^{2 of the} photosensitive lithographic printing plate to be processed. The lower surface of the lithographic printing plate had poor development.

[0051]

According to the present invention, it is possible to stably process a photosensitive lithographic printing plate having photosensitive layers on both sides of a support.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an automatic processor having an embodiment of a processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2A is a partial cross-sectional view showing a main part in FIG.
(B), (c) is a partial perspective view of the principal part of (a).

FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view showing another embodiment of the guide mechanism of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view showing still another embodiment of the guide mechanism of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a partial cross-sectional view showing an example of a ball or roller attachment mechanism.

FIG. 6A is a partial cross-sectional view showing still another embodiment of the guide mechanism of the present invention, and FIGS. 6B and 6C are partial perspective views of a main part thereof.

FIG. 7 is a partial cross-sectional view showing still another embodiment of the guide mechanism of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a partial sectional view showing still another embodiment of the guide mechanism of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional example of an apparatus for developing by passing through a gap between upper and lower guide plates.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 developing section 2 water washing section 3 rinse / gum section 10, 39, 46 upper guide plate 11, 40, 53, 60, 67 lower guide plate 49, 50 upper guide plate or lower guide plate 13, 14, 42, 43 , 47, 55, 62 Developer supply port 17 Concentrated developer tank 18 Dilution water tank 19 Developer mixing tank 21 Developer supply tank PS transport path

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An upper guide plate and a lower side which convey an image-exposed photosensitive lithographic printing plate using an automatic developing machine, and which are sandwiched by and close to each other with a minute distance between them. In a method for processing a photosensitive lithographic printing plate, which is developed by passing through a substantially unused developer supplied to a gap of a guide plate, an upper surface and a lower surface of a conveyed photosensitive lithographic printing plate A mechanism for supplying the developing solution to both of the above and at least a lower guide plate of the upper guide plate and the lower guide plate for holding the processed photosensitive lithographic printing plate so as not to contact the guide plate. A method for treating a photosensitive lithographic printing plate characterized by being provided. 2. A means for conveying a photosensitive lithographic printing plate, and an upper guide plate and a lower guide which are arranged close to and close to a conveying path of the photosensitive lithographic printing plate by the means and are vertically spaced from each other by a minute distance. Plate, means for supplying substantially unused developer from above and below into the gap between the upper guide plate and the lower guide plate, and at least the lower guide plate of the upper guide plate and the lower guide plate ,
A photosensitive lithographic printing plate processing apparatus comprising a mechanism for holding the photosensitive lithographic printing plate to be processed so as not to contact the guide plate.