JPH0560854B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a photosensitive material developing device for developing an imagewise exposed photosensitive material with a developer, and particularly to a photosensitive material developing device for developing an imagewise exposed photosensitive lithographic printing plate. The present invention relates to a developing device suitable for

[Prior art]

The currently common method of developing photosensitive planographic printing plates (hereinafter referred to as PS plates) using an automatic developing machine is to
PS plate is immersed in developer or PS is being transported
A method is adopted in which a developer is sprayed onto the surface of the photosensitive layer of the plate, the exposed or unexposed areas are dissolved or swollen, and then removed by rubbing with a brush. In this developing method, a fixed amount of developer is charged and used repeatedly by circulating it with a pump, so the developing ability of the developer deteriorates with the amount of processing, and eventually the non-image areas of the photosensitive layer are completely removed. A so-called "development failure" occurs in which the ability is lost. Factors that cause this development defect include processing fatigue deterioration caused by components eluted from the photosensitive layer consuming the effective components in the developer, and air over time that occurs when the developer is an alkaline solution. Absorbs carbon dioxide gas inside
Over time fatigue deterioration occurs due to a decrease in alkalinity due to neutralization reaction, or in cases where the active ingredient of the developer is alcohol, over time fatigue deterioration occurs due to the alcohol evaporating over time. There is. As a method for recovering from this processing fatigue deterioration and aging fatigue deterioration, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Nos. 50-144502 and 54-
As shown in Japanese Patent No. 62004, No. 55-115039, and No. 56-12645, there is a known method of continuously or intermittently replenishing the developer replenisher depending on the processing amount and/or processing time. There is. however,
In these methods, since the developer is used repeatedly, processing fatigue deterioration and aging fatigue deterioration of the developer are recovered by adding a developer replenisher. The developer composition after processing the material will be different.

Therefore, strictly speaking, different development is performed each time, and there is a problem that the performance of the photosensitive material after development is not constant.

On the other hand, as described in US Pat. No. 4,222,656, a method is known in which a required amount of developer is applied to the image-exposed photosensitive material each time, and non-image areas are removed by rubbing with a sponge. However, this method had problems such as uneven development due to the developer not being applied uniformly over the entire surface of the PS plate, and areas around the PS plate not being sufficiently developed. Moreover, since the developer impregnated into the sponge remains even after development is completed, the next photosensitive material cannot be developed with fresh developer, resulting in different sheets of photosensitive material. There was a problem with the development process.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the applicant first provided a first supply means for supplying a developer to the image-exposed surface of the photosensitive material, and a predetermined amount of the supplied developer to the exposed surface of the photosensitive material. The first having metering means that leaves only
a second area for developing the photosensitive material with the predetermined amount of developer remaining; and a circulation means for supplying the developer supplied by the first supply means and removed by the metering means to the first supply means again. (Japanese Patent Application No. 60-200067).

However, it has been found that when a PS plate is developed using a developing device, there is a problem in that the leading edge of the photosensitive material in the transport direction is not sufficiently developed.

[Purpose of the invention]

An object of the present invention is to provide a photosensitive material developing apparatus that can provide high quality and always constant quality. Another object of the present invention is to provide a labor-saving developing device that can efficiently perform development using as little developer as possible and does not require replacement of the developer.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a developing device that can efficiently perform development using as little developer as possible and can uniformly develop the entire surface of a photosensitive material.

[Summary and operation of the invention]

In the photosensitive material developing device according to the present invention, there is provided a first supply means for supplying a developer to the image-exposed surface of the photosensitive material, and a predetermined amount of the developer supplied by the first supply means is left on the exposed surface of the photosensitive material. a first area having a measuring means and a second supplying means capable of supplying a developer only to the leading end of the photosensitive material that has passed through the measuring means; and a second area for developing the photosensitive material with the developer supplied in the first area. It is characterized by having two zones, and a circulation means for supplying the developer supplied by the first supply means and removed by the metering means to the first supply means again.

In the first zone of the developing device of the present invention, a developer is supplied to the surface of the photosensitive layer of the image-exposed photosensitive material by the first supply means, and then the supplied developer is left in a predetermined amount by the metering means. However, since only the leading part of the photosensitive material that has passed through this measuring means has less developer than the predetermined amount remaining, a second developer is added only to the leading part in order to compensate for this shortage. A developer is supplied from the supply means. The length of the first zone in the transport direction is set to a length that does not substantially allow development using the supplied developer to proceed. Therefore, the developer removed by the metering means in the first zone does not suffer from fatigue due to development, and can be recycled for use.

The photosensitive material that has passed through the first zone in this manner reaches the second zone with a predetermined amount of developer film uniformly covering and remaining on the surface of the photosensitive layer, including the leading edge. In the second area, the photosensitive material is developed using a predetermined amount of developer remaining. Since the developer used in the development process in this second area has developed fatigue and fatigue due to contact with air,
Will be scrapped.

As a result, the developer that is circulated in the first zone does not become fatigued, and the developer that is used for development in the second zone is disposable, so that a fatigue-free developer is always supplied. , stable development is performed.

Further, since the developer supplied onto the PS plate surface in the first zone and removed by the metering means is recycled and used, the amount of developer consumed can be reduced.

Furthermore, since a certain amount of developer is supplied to the leading portion of the photosensitive material that has passed through the metering means, it is possible to solve the problem of poor development at the leading portion.

As the measuring means, various types such as a wire bar with a thin wire of a constant diameter wound around an axis, a grooved roller, a blade, etc. can be used.

Further, as a means for supplying a fixed amount of developer only to the leading portion, a photosensitive material detecting means is installed near the photosensitive material insertion part of the developing device, and the length from the position of this detecting means to the measuring means is measured. Then, a length measuring device or a timer is activated by the signal from the photosensitive material detection means, and when the length reaches a predetermined value (i.e.,
(When the leading edge of the photosensitive material reaches the metering means), a pump is activated to supply a second supply means such as a wire bar, a grooved roller, a sprayer, etc. equipped with a rectifying plate before or after the metering means, such as a brood. A method can be applied in which the developer is supplied for a certain period of time to the leading portion of the photosensitive material that has passed through the metering means.

Next, the developing device of the present invention will be specifically explained with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a developing device to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

This developing device uses a photosensitive material such as a PS plate.
After the image is exposed, it is sent in the direction of arrow A to perform a developing operation.

The photosensitive material 10, which is conveyed while being held between a pair of guide rollers 12, passes through a first area 14, a second area 16, and a third area 18, and is automatically developed.

In the first area 14, a pair of guide rollers 20 pinch and feed the photosensitive material 10, and a wire bar 22
The structure is such that the photosensitive material 10 is held between the guide roller 24 and the guide roller 24 that it comes into contact with.

In this first area 14, a sprayer 26 equipped with a rectifying plate is placed immediately after the guide roller 20, and the developer 30 in the stock tank 28 is transferred to a pipe 3.
The photosensitive material 10 is supplied to the exposed surface of the photosensitive material 10 by a pump 34 provided in the photosensitive material 2 and the piping 32.

Further, a spray 27 equipped with a rectifying plate is arranged after the wire bar 22, and a timer (not shown) is activated by the photosensitive material detection means 11.
When the tip of the photosensitive material reaches the wire bar 22, the pump 41 is activated, and the developer 30 in the stock tank 28 passes through the pipe 33 and is sprayed from the spray 27 at a constant flow rate (preferably 4/min or less, more preferably 400ml). /min) for a certain period of time (preferably
10 seconds or less, more preferably 1 to 5 seconds).

A tray 36 is disposed below the first area 14, and stores the developer removed from the photosensitive material 10 passing through the first area 14, and also stores the developer removed from the piping 38.
The removed developer is circulated and supplied to the spray 26 via the piping 32 by a pump 40.

A pipe 44 is connected to the pipe 38 through a valve 42, and the developer in the tray 36 is returned to the stock tank 28 at the end of the work. A heater 46 is provided within the stock tank 28 to maintain the developer 30 at a predetermined temperature as required.

The wire bar 22 has a structure in which a wire 50 of a predetermined diameter is tightly wound spirally around a shaft 48, and the outer periphery of the wire 50 and the guide roller 2
A gap formed between the photosensitive material 4 and the photosensitive material 10 is used to measure the amount of developer to be applied to the photosensitive material 10. That is, the photosensitive material 10 is held between the wire bar 22 and the guide roller 24 and sent to the second area 16.
By this measuring means, only a predetermined amount of developer (liquid film of 300 μm or less) remains, and the remaining developer is removed and falls into the tray 36.

This first area 14 has a length such that the developing solution applied onto the photosensitive material 10 does not start developing the exposed surface of the photosensitive material 10 before reaching the wire bar 22, and has a length that prevents the developing solution applied onto the photosensitive material 10 from starting to develop the exposed surface of the photosensitive material 10. The length is such that the developer applied to the photosensitive material 10 can be spread over the entire area in the width direction of the photosensitive material 10 (direction perpendicular to the plane of the paper in FIG. 1). On the other hand, the reduced amount in the stock tank 28 is sent from the replenishment water tank 100 to the stock tank 28 via the pump 98, and together with the replenishment developer sent from the replenishment developer tank 112 through the pump 110, it is brought to a predetermined concentration.

In the second zone 16 , the photosensitive material 10 sent from the first zone 14 is guided by a guide roller 52 and placed on a guide plate 54 .
The paper is placed on the guide plate 58 through the paper, and then sent to a pair of squeeze rollers 60.

A tray 62 is arranged below the guide roller 52 and the guide plate 54, and a tray 64 is arranged below the squeeze roller 60. Pipes 66 and 68 are connected to these trays 62 and 64, respectively, and by opening valves 70 and 72, the developer stored in these trays 62 and 64 after development can be discharged.

Rotating brush rollers 74 and 76 that can be raised and lowered are arranged above the guide plates 54 and 58, and when necessary, they approach the guide plates 54 and 58 and rotate to remove these guide plates 54 and 5.
The photosensitive material 10 on the photosensitive material 8 can be rubbed to facilitate removal of non-image areas after development.

Sprayers 78 and 80 are arranged upstream of the rotating brush rollers 74 and 76, respectively, so that the rotating brush rollers 74 and 76 can be cleaned as needed.

Also, a spray 8 is provided upstream of the squeeze roller 60.
2 is provided so that the squeeze roller 60 can be cleaned.

A plurality of heaters 55 (not shown) whose longitudinal direction is perpendicular to the direction of conveyance of the photosensitive material 10 are arranged below the guide plate 54 . These heaters 55 are provided to heat the developer applied to the photosensitive material 10 moving on the guide plate 54, and are designed to improve development efficiency. The developer is heated to 25 to 35°C by the heater 55. If the temperature is further increased, the developer tends to condense due to evaporation and deteriorate due to fatigue over time. However, since the developer in the second zone 16 is disposable, even if scale occurs due to concentration due to evaporation after development, the developer Therefore, there are no problems. Therefore, in this embodiment, it is possible to heat the film to 40 to 50°C, and the development efficiency can be further improved.

When the photosensitive material 10 to be fed is a PS plate having an aluminum plate as a support, the heater 55 has a small specific heat, so that the temperature can be easily raised.

Instead of this heater 55, a grid heater, panel heater, high frequency heater, electromagnetic induction heater, ceramic heater, etc. can be used.
Furthermore, these heaters can also be provided above the photosensitive material 10. By arranging the heater above the photosensitive material 10 in this way, the far-infrared heater can be provided at a slight distance from the photosensitive material 10.

Note that the guide plate 58 portion shown in FIG. 1 may also have the same structure as the guide plate 54, and may also be provided with a heater.

The photosensitive material 10 fed from the squeeze roller 60 to the third area 18 is adapted to be subjected to finishing processing after development. In this third zone 18, the photosensitive material 10 is conveyed between a pair of guide plates 84 and 86, and a spray nozzle 88 is located in the middle of this conveyance path.
is arranged so that the photosensitive material 10 passing therethrough can be finished.

Trays 90 and 92 are arranged below this third area 18. Tray 90 is connected to stock tank 116 via piping 94 and valve 96.

Further, in the tray 92, the piping 106 is the valve 104,
It is connected to a stock tank 116 via a pump 118. This pump 118 is the valve 11
3. The finishing agent in the stock tank 116 is also sent to the spray nozzle 88 via the pipe 111.

The stock tank 28 has a pump 11 in the middle part.
Plumbing 1 from replenishment developer tank 112 with 0
14 are connected.

Further, in each of the above configurations, the guide roller and squeeze roller facing the conveyance path of the photosensitive material 10 are rotated by receiving a driving force from a driving means (not shown).

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained.

After exposure, the photosensitive material 10 is conveyed in the direction of arrow A and passed through guide rollers 12 and 20 to the first area 1.
Leading to 4. In this first zone 14 the spray 26
A developer 30 is applied to the photosensitive material 1 due to the short length of the first area 14.
The exposed surface of 0 is not developed and is removed by the wire bar 22.

Further, the developer 30 is applied only to the leading edge of the PS plate by the spray 27, and the excess developer falls into the tray 36 and is collected.

Therefore, the developer 30 is supplied to the piping 38, the pump 40,
41, spray 2 again via piping 32, 33
Although the photosensitive material 10 is reapplied from 6 and 27, developing fatigue does not occur.

Since the circulating developer 30 has a small contact area with the atmosphere, there is little fatigue over time due to carbon dioxide absorption.

The wire bar 22 may be rotated, or the weighing operation can be properly performed even when the wire bar 22 remains stationary.

Further, the length of the first area 14 is such that the developer 30 applied from the spray 26 is spread over the entire area of the photosensitive material 10, so that the developer 30 applied from the spray 26 is applied to the photosensitive material 10 after being sent out from the wire bar 22. A uniform amount of developer 30 is applied over the entire surface of the plate using a wire bar 22.

Note that when the tail end of the photosensitive material 10 is detected by a sensor (not shown), the supply of developer from the spray nozzle 26 is stopped.

The photosensitive material 10 that has reached the second area 16 is gradually developed until it reaches the squeeze roller 60.

The time taken to reach the squeeze roller 60 can be adjusted by the rotation speed of each guide roller.

In particular, since a heater 55 is disposed on the guide plate 54 to heat the developer, the developing effect is high. Further, the developer solution heated at the same time is subject to severe fatigue, but since the developer solution in the second area 16 is disposable, there is no problem.

The further advanced photosensitive material 10 is Squeeze Row 6
0, it is surely removed and falls into the tray 64.
This fallen developer is discharged via piping 68 and valve 72.

The squeeze roller 60 is maintained in a clean state with washing water from the shower 82 which is sprayed as needed or all the time, so that reliable removal of the developer is ensured, and the photosensitive material is delivered to the third area 18 without any residual developer. 1
0 is sent.

The developer solution discharged through the pipes 66 and 68 has become exhausted due to the development process, but since these are disposable, the exhausted developer solution is not circulated back to the spray 26.

In this way, stable development is carried out in the second zone 16 by the developer applied in the first zone 14 without causing fatigue, and this developer is accurately metered by the wire bar 22, so that high Precision development is performed.

The photosensitive material 10 fed out from the squeeze roller 60 and reaching the third area 18 is treated with a finishing agent by a spray nozzle 88, and the finishing agent is removed by a guide roller 86 and fed out, thereby completing the development process.

If the photosensitive material 10 is a PS plate, the third area 18
The parts are subjected to a desensitization treatment, a water washing treatment, or a rinsing treatment with an aqueous solution containing a surfactant.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, the photosensitive material developing apparatus according to the present invention includes a first supplying means for supplying a developer to the exposed surface of the photosensitive material, and a measuring means for leaving a predetermined amount of the supplied developer on the exposed surface of the photosensitive material. a first section having a second supply means capable of supplying a developer only to the leading end of the photosensitive material that has passed through the metering means; The present invention is characterized by having two zones and a circulation means for again supplying the developer supplied by the first supply means and removed by the metering means to the first supply means, thereby eliminating development using exhausted solution and achieving stable development. It has the excellent effect of performing high-quality development and reducing the amount of disposable developer consumed.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an embodiment of a photosensitive material developing apparatus according to the present invention. 10...Photosensitive material, 14...First area, 16...Second
Area, 18... Third area, 22... Wire bar, 24
...Guide roller, 26, 27...Spray, 28...
Stock tank, 30...Developer, 54...Guide plate, 60...Squeeze roller.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A first supplying means for supplying a developer to the image-exposed surface of the photosensitive material, a measuring means for leaving a predetermined amount of the developer supplied by the first supplying means on the exposed surface of the photosensitive material, and a sample that has passed through the measuring means. a first supply means having a second supply means capable of supplying a developer only to the leading portion of the photosensitive material;
a second zone for developing the photosensitive material with the developer supplied in the first zone; and a circulation system for supplying the developer supplied by the first supply means and removed by the metering means back to the first supply means. 1. A photosensitive material developing device comprising: means.