JPH10260598A - Fixing device for wet system electrophotographic plate making device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a fixing device for a wet system electrophotographic plate making device possible of producing at a low cost with a simple structure with a simple structure, and reducing the maintenance cost. SOLUTION: A heat carrier metallic blade 41 is heated by halogen lamps 45a and 45b as a radiant heat source from one side surface. While, by making the electrophotographic photoreceptive material held in contact with the other side surface while transported, the image being developing processed succeeding the exposure processing is heat fixed on the electrophotographic photoreceptive material. On one side of the heat carrier metallic blade 41 namely, the side surface opposite to the radiant heat source, the black color coating 41a is applied for raising the heating efficiency by improving the heat absorption, and reflection blades 47a and 47b are provided to the radiant heat source for making the radiant heat reflected.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a wet electrophotographic plate making machine suitable for making an original plate for offset printing, for example, and more particularly to heating a wet-developed electrophotographic photosensitive material in a wet electrophotographic plate making machine. The present invention relates to a fixing device for fixing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. Sho 61-6862 discloses an example of a conventional wet electrophotographic plate making machine as a "plate making machine". Hereinafter, the outline of the "plate making machine" will be described. An original placed on a platen is irradiated with a light source, and reflected light is condensed into an electrophotographic photosensitive material (hereinafter referred to as a master paper). (Abbreviated as “abbreviated”), and the exposed master is wet-developed and then heat-fixed by a fixing device.

Various types of fixing devices have been proposed as described below. First, a first example of a conventional fixing device will be described with reference to FIG. 4. The fixing device 71 includes a plate-shaped panel heater 73 and a panel heater 7.
3, rollers 75 a and 75 b for bringing a master (not shown) into full contact, an intake fan 77 for supplying fresh air, and a master conveyed from the upstream side as indicated by an arrow a into the fixing device 71. It is composed of a pair of rollers 79a for transport and a pair of rollers 79b for transporting the heat-fixed master to the next step. As shown in an enlarged manner in FIG. 4, the panel heater 73 covers the heater 81 with an insulating coating material 83 and integrates a metal plate 85 for a heat medium on an upper surface thereof with an adhesive 87 to be integrated. Configuration.

Next, the heat fixing operation of the master will be described. The master is wet-developed in a process preceding the fixing device 71, and is conveyed into the fixing device 71 by a pair of rollers 79a as shown by an arrow a. The master is pressed against the upper surface of the heat medium metal plate 85 by rollers 75a and 75b by soft touch, and is conveyed to the downstream side at high speed by the rotation of the rollers 79a and 79b. During this time, the entire surface of the master is in contact with the heat medium metal plate 85, so that the entire surface of the master is uniformly heated and heat-fixed. Then, the heat-fixed master is pulled out of the fixing device 71 by the action of the roller pair 79b, and is conveyed to the next step.

Next, a second example of a conventional fixing device will be described with reference to FIG. The fixing device 91 includes a master P by a pair of rollers 93a on the upstream side and a pair of rollers 93b on the downstream side.
Is heated and fixed by the radiant heat of the halogen lamps 95a and 95b while the nip is conveyed from the arrow a to the arrow b. The halogen lamps 95a and 95b are covered by the reflectors 97a and 97b, and are designed so that the radiant heat irradiates the master P efficiently.

[0006]

However, the fixing device 71 has the following problems. That is, the panel heater 75 covers the heater 81 with the insulating coating 83,
In addition, the structure is such that the heat medium metal plate 85 is adhered, and the structure is complicated and expensive. Therefore, the fixing device using the panel heater 73, and consequently, the cost of the wet electrophotographic plate making machine are increased. Further, when the heater 81 is disconnected, the heater needs to be replaced, and in some cases, the heater 81 and the metal plate 85 for the heat medium must be replaced.
There have been problems such as troublesome maintenance and high costs.

On the other hand, the fixing device 91 has a configuration in which an interval is set between the halogen lamps 95a and 95b and the master P, and the master P is heated by radiant heat generated from the halogen lamps 95a and 95b. Therefore, a panel heater is unnecessary, and there is no problem associated with the panel heater. However, the master P and the halogen lamp 95a,
Since it is not in contact with 95b, the heating efficiency is poor. In addition, since the master P is transported at a high speed, it must be set to a standard that can generate high heat in order to increase the heating efficiency. In this case, the halogen lamps 95a, 95
Since the surface of b becomes high heat, it is necessary to pay sufficient attention to ensuring safety, and it is necessary to take new measures.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems, and provides a wet electrophotographic plate making machine which has a simple structure, can reduce production costs and maintenance costs, and is excellent in heat efficiency at the time of heat fixing. Is what you do.

[0009]

The above objects of the present invention can be achieved by the following means (1) and (2). (1) The electrophotographic photosensitive material being transported is sequentially subjected to an exposure process for exposing an image, a wet development process for developing a latent image formed by the exposure, and a fixing process for fixing the developed image by heating. In a fixing device of a wet electrophotographic plate making machine configured to perform, a metal plate for a heat medium for transporting the electrophotographic photosensitive material while contacting a support surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive material subjected to the wet development processing; A heat absorbing layer provided on one side of the metal plate for use, which is different from a side in which the electrophotographic photosensitive material is in surface contact with the electrophotographic photosensitive material; and a heat absorbing metal disposed at a position facing the heat absorbing layer. A fixing device for a wet electrophotographic plate making machine, comprising a radiant heat source for heating a plate. (2) Near the radiant heat source, a reflecting plate for reflecting radiant heat generated from the radiant heat source toward the heat absorbing layer, or a reflecting surface for reflecting radiant heat generated from the radiant heat source toward the heat absorbing layer. 2. The fixing device for a wet electrophotographic plate making machine according to claim 1, further comprising a case having:

[0010]

According to the wet electrophotographic plate making machine having the above construction, the electrophotographic photosensitive material is conveyed while being in surface contact with one side surface of the heat medium metal plate, and the heat medium metal plate is heated by the radiant heat source. In addition, the other side surface of the heat medium metal plate, that is, the side surface facing the radiant heat source is provided with a heat absorbing layer of, for example, black color by coating or the like. The plate can be heated. Further, the radiant heat source is provided with a reflector and a case for reflecting radiant heat generated from the radiant heat source toward the heat medium metal plate. Therefore, a panel heater having a complicated structure is not required, and the metal plate for a heat medium can be efficiently heated by using a radiant heat source having a small heat output. In addition, since the electrophotographic photosensitive material to be heat-fixed is in direct surface contact with the metal plate for a heat medium, the heat-fixing can be performed well.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a first embodiment of a fixing device (hereinafter simply referred to as a fixing device) of a wet electrophotographic plate making machine according to the present invention will be described in detail. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional structure diagram schematically illustrating the configuration of a fixing device to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional structure diagram illustrating the configuration of a wet electronic plate making machine having the fixing device. In the description of the first embodiment, first, the overall configuration and operation of the wet electrophotographic plate making machine will be described, and then the configuration and operation of the fixing device will be described.

First, the configuration and the like of the wet electrophotographic plate making machine 1 will be described with reference to FIG. A document 5 is placed on the document table 3, and the document 5 is irradiated with light emitted from a light source (not shown). The reflected light of the original 5 is reflected by the mirror 7 and collected by the lens 9. The condensed photographing light is supplied to the master P supplied from the paper feeding unit 11 to the exposure unit 21.
Is imaged.

Here, the sheet feeding section 11 will be described. A master P which is an electrophotographic photosensitive material is wound around a roll 13. The master P is nipped by the roller pair 15 and pulled out, then cut by the cutter 17 to a desired length, guided to the charging unit 19 and uniformly charged by corona discharge. The master P charged in this way is exposed to the exposure unit 2
In 1, the original 5 is exposed by the photographing light, and the image of the original 5 is exposed. The master P to which the image has been exposed is transported
Is transported to the wet developing unit 25 by this. Wet developing unit 25
The master P, which has been subjected to the development processing in, is transported to the fixing device 31 by the transport unit 27.

The fixing device 31 heats the developed master P to fix an image. FIG. 2 shows a schematic configuration, but in the first embodiment, FIG. The structure configured as shown in Fig. 1 is applied. The fixing device 31 will be described later in detail with reference to FIG. The master P on which the image is fixed by the fixing device 31 is transported to the pre-etching section 29 in the next step, where the master P is subjected to a hydrophilic treatment and dried. Then, the master P on which the image of the original 5 has been photoengraved is discharged out of the prepress machine 1 from an outlet 29a provided downstream of the pre-etching section 29.

Next, the configuration and operation of the fixing device 31 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. The fixing device 31 has an intake fan 35 disposed above the case 33,
Heat medium metal plate 4 for heating master P in case 33
1. A pressing roller 43a that conveys the master P while pressing it against the surface of the heat medium metal plate 41 by soft touch.
43b, halogen lamps 45a and 45b, which are radiant heat sources for heating the heat medium metal plate 41, and reflectors 47a, which evenly reflect the radiant heat of the halogen lamps 45a and 45b to the lower side of the heat medium metal plate 41, 47b and the like. On the upstream side of the fixing device 31, a roller pair 51 for conveying the master P conveyed from the developing device 25 described with reference to FIG. Further, a roller pair 53 for transporting the heat-fixed master P to the pre-etching section 29 described with reference to FIG. 1 is provided downstream of the fixing device 31.

In the first embodiment, the master P
Travels while making surface contact with the heat medium metal plate 41 heated by the halogen lamps 45a and 45b, and is heated and fixed during traveling. Therefore, the surface of the heat medium metal plate 41, that is, the upper surface in FIG. 1 is subjected to a surface treatment such as Teflon coating in order to improve the lubricity of the master P and to prevent scratches during traveling. On the other hand, the lower surface of the heat medium metal plate 41 is provided with a black paint 41a for efficiently absorbing the radiant heat of the halogen lamps 45a and 45b and increasing the heating efficiency.

In the plate making machine 1, the exposure and the development on the master P are performed in the path described with reference to FIG. The developed master P is indicated by an arrow A in FIG.
When the sheet is conveyed to the fixing device 31 as shown by, heat fixing is performed as described below. That is, when the master P is nipped by the roller pair 51 and conveyed into the case 33, the master P slides on the heat medium metal plate 41 from the leading end portion,
Next, it is sandwiched between the roller 43a. Roller 43
a and 43b are rotationally driven so as to convey the master P to the downstream side. As a result, the master P is transported downstream while contacting the heat medium metal plate 41, and is brought into pressure contact with the heat medium metal plate 41 by the roller 43b following the roller 43a. Therefore,
The master P travels downstream while contacting the heat medium metal plate 41 entirely.

On the other hand, the heat medium metal plate 41 is heated from below by halogen lamps 45a and 45b. Since the black coating 41a is applied to the lower side of the heat medium metal plate 41, the heat absorption is improved, and the reflection plate 47a,
By the action of 47b, the whole is uniformly heated. Therefore, the entire surface of the master P traveling while contacting the heat medium metal plate 41 is uniformly heated at the time of traveling, and is in direct contact with the heat medium metal plate 41, so that the heating efficiency is good and good. Heat fixing is performed. The master P thus heat-fixed is discharged from the fixing device 31 as shown by an arrow B, and the leading end portion is nipped by the roller pair 53. As described with reference to FIG. It is transported to the unit 29.

As described above, the fixing device 31 in the first embodiment performs the heating and fixing by causing the master P to run while being in contact with the heated metal plate 41 for the heat medium. Heating efficiency is better than that of a conventional fixing device. Further, since an expensive and complicated plate heater is not required, there are effects such as low cost and low maintenance cost. That is, the panel heater 7 shown in FIG.
In 3, when the heater 81 is disconnected, the entire panel heater 73 needs to be replaced, whereas the panel heater of the present application only needs to replace the halogen lamp 45a or 45b.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The difference between the second embodiment and the first embodiment lies in the configuration in which the heat medium metal plate is heated. Are attached.

A fixing device 61 according to the second embodiment.
In this example, halogen lamps 45a and 45b are provided in a lamp box 63 which also serves as a reflector. The lamp box 63 covers the entirety of the halogen lamps 45a and 45b to prevent radiation of radiant heat, and has an inner peripheral surface that is mirror-finished or the like so that heat reflection is good. Therefore, the heat medium metal plate 41 is efficiently heated. When the master P that has been developed in the same manner as described above is conveyed to the fixing device 61 configured as described above,
The master P travels downstream while being in full contact with the heat medium metal plate 41 by the rollers 43a and 43b, and the heating and fixing of the master P is performed efficiently as in the first embodiment. Will be.

A fixing device 61 according to the second embodiment.
Has the same effects as those of the first embodiment, and further has various effects such as a reduction in the number of parts and the number of work steps and further simplification of maintenance, since a reflector is not required.

[0023]

As described above, in the wet electrophotographic plate making machine according to the present invention, the electrophotographic photosensitive material being conveyed is brought into surface contact with one side surface of the heat medium metal plate, and the heat medium metal plate is brought into contact with the radiant heat source. To heat. The other side surface of the heat medium metal plate, that is, the side surface facing the radiant heat source is provided with a heat absorbing layer of, for example, black, so that the heat medium metal plate and the electrophotographic photosensitive member can be formed without increasing the heat of the radiant heat source. The material can be efficiently heated. Further, the radiant heat source is provided with a reflector and a case for reflecting radiant heat generated from the radiant heat source toward the heat medium metal plate. Accordingly, a panel heater having a complicated structure is not required, and the metal plate for a heat medium can be efficiently heated by using a radiant heat source having a small heat output. The simplification, cost reduction, and improvement in maintainability of the electrophotographic plate making machine can be achieved at once. Moreover, the heat output of the radiant heat source, that is, the radiant heat, can be made lower than that of the fixing device with the conventional structure. Become.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional configuration diagram illustrating a first embodiment of a fixing device of a wet electrophotographic plate making machine to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional configuration diagram illustrating a configuration of a wet electrophotographic plate making machine.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional configuration diagram illustrating a second embodiment of a fixing device.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram schematically showing a first example of a conventional fixing device.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram schematically showing a second example of a conventional fixing device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 wet electrophotographic plate making machine 3 platen 5 original 9 condensing lens 21 exposure unit 25 wet development unit 27 transport unit 29 pre-etch unit 31, 61 fixing device 41 metal plate for heat medium 41a black coating 45a, 45b halogen lamp 47a, 47b Reflector 63 Case P Master

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An electrophotographic photosensitive material being conveyed is exposed to an image, exposed to light, wet-developed to develop a latent image formed by the exposure, and fixed to heat the developed image by heating. In the fixing device of a wet electrophotographic plate making machine configured to sequentially perform, a metal plate for a heat medium that transports the electrophotographic photosensitive material while contacting the support surface of the wet-developed electrophotographic photosensitive material, A heat absorbing layer provided on one side surface of the metal plate for a heat medium, which is different from a side surface with which the electrophotographic photosensitive material comes into surface contact; and a heat absorbing layer provided at a position facing the heat absorbing layer. A fixing device for a wet electrophotographic plate making machine, comprising a radiant heat source for heating a medium metal plate. 2. A reflection plate that reflects radiant heat generated from the radiant heat source toward the heat absorbing layer in the vicinity of the radiant heat source, or reflects a radiant heat generated from the radiant heat source toward the heat absorbing layer. 2. A fixing device for a wet electrophotographic plate making machine according to claim 1, wherein a case having a reflection surface is provided.