JPS63236649A - Method and device for making original plate - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable a light-transmitting image part corresponding to information to be made on a printing sheet in a simple and rapid manner, by a method wherein respective heat-generation parts on a thermal head are controlled so as to selectively generate heat and, thereby, the light-transmitting image part on the basis of an input electric recording signal is formed on a light reflecting film layer due to heat generation. CONSTITUTION:A printing sheet 16 is fixedly wound round a process drum 11 so that a metal deposition layer A1 thereof turns outside. A thermal head 12 is disposed opposedly to the metal deposition layer A1 so as to be in contact therewith. When a desired character, etc. is inputted by operating a keyboard part 14, a thermal head scanning travel control signal X and a drum rotation control signal Z are outputted from a controller 13 and the thermal head 12 is scanned. On the other hand, a light- transmitting image part forming control signal Y is outputted from the controller 13 due to an input electric recording signal R and, for example, a heating element 20' in a heat-generation part 19' of the thermal head 12 is selected so as to form the image of the aforesaid character, etc. and electrically energized and heated. In this manner, a light-transmitting image part 22 is formed by removing only a corresponding part A3 of the metal deposition layer A1, and an original plate 23 is completed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a plate-making method for a printing original plate suitable for thermal transfer printing and a plate-making apparatus therefor.

[Background Art] Recently, the applicant of the present invention has proposed a new printing plate making method and a thermal transfer printing method, which have been published (for example, Japanese Patent Application No. 81-312769).

In this type of plate-making method, a printing sheet on which a light-reflecting PM film layer is formed is used as a printing original plate material. The plate-making method is broadly divided into the steps up to forming an ink image area on the light-reflecting thin film layer of the printing sheet, and the process of forming the transparent image area (by irradiating the light-reflecting thin film layer on which the ink image area is formed) with light.
forming a four part bordered by the outline of the ink image part.

The printing original plate made in this way is used in a thermal transfer printing process using irradiated light. That is, a thermal transfer ink sheet is sandwiched between a recording paper such as plain paper and a printing original plate, and the printing original plate is overlapped with light, and the printing original plate is irradiated with light. As a result, only the ink in the portion of the thermal transfer ink sheet corresponding to the transparent image area is melted and transferred onto the recording paper.

The method described above has the advantage that the plate-making device and the thermal transfer printing device can be configured as a common device, but there is a problem that it takes time and effort to make the printing original plate.

By the way, recently word processors etc. have become popular rapidly.
According to this type of word processor, which has come to be used even in homes, it is possible to print predetermined characters and symbols on plain paper by manually operating the keyboard section, and image league etc. can be printed manually. This makes it possible to transfer and record single figures, tables, pictures, etc. onto plain paper, which is extremely convenient.

However, it takes time and effort to transfer and print the same input characters, figures, etc. on a large number of sheets using a word processor.

Therefore, as a result of various experiments, the inventor of the present invention found that if the printing original plate used in the aforementioned thermal transfer printing process using light energy is made in advance using a word processor or the like, this printing original plate can be used. By using
We have discovered that it is possible to quickly and clearly thermally transfer the same content as characters and figures drawn on the original printing plate onto a large number of plain papers.

[Object of the Invention] That is, the present invention provides a printing method that can easily and quickly form a translucent image area corresponding to the information on a print sheet based on original image area information such as input characters and figures. The purpose is to provide a method for making original plates. Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a plate-making device for effectively carrying out the plate-making method for printing original plates.

[Summary of the Invention] In order to achieve the above object, the method for making a printing original plate for thermal transfer printing of the present invention has the following characteristics. That is, a thermal head arrangement step of arranging a thermal head having a plurality of heat-generating parts that are selectively heat-generating controlled facing the light-reflecting thin film layer forming the printing sheet; While scanning the top, each heat generating part of the thermal head is selectively controlled to generate heat using an electric recording signal based on the input original image part information, and a translucent image is formed on the light reflective thin film layer based on the input electric recording signal. The main point is that the plate-making process includes a plate-making process that generates heat to form the parts.

Furthermore, the present invention provides an apparatus for carrying out the above-described plate-making method, in which a face-to-face arrangement δ is applied to a light-reflecting thin film layer forming a printing sheet.
a thermal head having a plurality of heat generating parts that are selectively controlled to generate heat; a thermal head movement control mechanism that controls the movement of the thermal head along the light reflective thin film layer I; and input original image part information. Translucent image area formation control for selectively controlling each heat generating part of the thermal head to generate heat and forming a transparent image area corresponding to the original image area on the light reflective thin film layer using electrical recording signals based on the electrical recording signal. The main point is to have a mechanism.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a plate-making apparatus in which the present invention is implemented using a word processor with a thermal printer.

That is, the plate making apparatus of this embodiment uses a commercially available word processor with a thermal printer, and the platen drum 11. The thermal head 12, control device 13, keyboard section 14, and image reader 15 can be used as they are in the apparatus of the present invention. Note that the ink ribbon between the platen drum 11 and the thermal head 12 is removed.

Hereinafter, the 4I configuration of the present invention will be explained in detail.

The drum 11 is a plate-making drum that is rotated with a printing sheet 16 to be plate-made wrapped around it, and the printing sheet 16 wound around the drum 11 is fixed to the drum 11 by a presser par 17. As shown in FIG. 2, this printing sheet 16 functions as a light-reflecting thin film layer on a light-transmitting support A2 (or a support with good heat absorption) made of, for example, a transparent synthetic resin sheet, and locally Metallic materials that allow good heat transfer (e.g. nickel or aluminum)
A metal vapor deposited layer A1 is formed.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the thermal head 12 is disposed on the plate making drum 1 so as to face the metal vapor deposited layer A forming the printing sheet 1G. To this thermal,
A plurality of island-shaped heat-generating parts 19 are formed in the region where L'' 12 faces the metal vapor deposited layer AI, and each of these heat-generating parts 19 is divided into dots by notches 18. A heating element 20 made of an electric resistance photothermal body that generates heat by selectively applying an electric current is incorporated in each of the heating elements 20 .

21 supports the thermal head 12 and connects the thermal head 12 to the metal vapor deposited layer AI on the plate making drum 11.
The scanning movement is performed by controlling a thermal head scanning movement control mechanism 24 provided at a position facing the plate making drum 11 using a thermal head scanning movement control signal X, In use, the thermal head 12 is placed at a scanning start position on the printing sheet 16 wrapped around the plate-making drum 11.

Further, heat generation control of the heat generating elements 20 in each heat generating section 19 of the thermal head 12 is performed as follows. Control device 1
An electrical recording signal R based on the original image part information is inputted to the transparent image part formation control mechanism 13A having the main component 3 from the input operation part consisting of the keyboard part 14, the image reader 15, or other handwriting input means. Then, in response to this input electrical recording signal H, the control device fi13 outputs a transparent image portion formation control signal Y to selectively control heat generation of the heat generating elements 20 of each of the heat generating parts 19, thereby controlling the heat generation of the metal vapor deposited layer. A translucent image portion 22 is formed on A1 based on the input electrical recording signal.

Further, a drum rotation control signal Z is inputted from the control device 13 to the rotation drive section of the plate-making drum 11, and the drum 11 is rotated.

Therefore, in order to carry out the method of the present invention using the apparatus shown in FIG. Thermal head 1 for metal vapor deposition layer A1
2 are placed facing each other in contact as shown at 214. In this state, for example, when the keyboard unit 14 is operated to input desired characters, the control device 13 outputs a thermal head scanning movement control signal X and a drum rotation control signal Z, and the thermal head 12 is scanned. Meanwhile, the control device 13 outputs a transparent image portion formation control signal Y according to the input electric recording signal H generated by the input operation on the keyboard portion 14, and the transmission image portion formation control signal Y is outputted from the thermal head 12, for example, in the heat generating portion 19.
The heating element 20' of ``A!'' is selected to form an image of the desired character or the like inputted above and is energized to generate heat, and the metal vapor deposited layer A! Only part A3.

is removed to form a concave portion, that is, a transparent image portion 22,
The original printing plate 23 is completed. FIG. 3 shows a cross section of the original printing plate 23 made in this manner.

The reason why the transparent image area 22 is formed as described above is that, according to experiments, the heat of the heat generating part 19' is
The part An of the metal vapor deposited layer A1 corresponding to the metal vapor deposited layer A1 is matured, thereby the transparent support A corresponding to the part A3 of the metal vapor deposited layer A3.
This is thought to be due to the fact that portion Aa of No. 2 is partially melted and the metal vapor deposited layer portion A3 deposited thereon is removed from the metal vapor deposited layer A1.

In addition, on the metal vapor deposition layer Al of the printing sheet 16, a fourth
As shown in the figure, a thin .tau. film A5 with good heat conductivity may be formed to prevent rubbing during scanning movement of the thermal head 12.

FIG. 5 shows the process of performing thermal transfer printing on a recording medium using the printing original plate 23 made as described above. As shown in the figure, there is an ink support CI and a thermal transfer ink layer C2 between the printing original plate 23 and the recording medium D (for example, plain paper).
A flash of light (infrared rays in this case) is irradiated from a copying machine (not shown) while the ink sheets (thermal transfer ink sheets) C are placed one on top of the other. By this light irradiation, the remaining portion of the metal vapor deposited layer A is removed from the metal vapor deposited layer A1.
Light is reflected by the light reflecting moat as shown by arrow Y. However, in the area where the metal vapor deposited layer A1 has been removed and becomes the transparent image area 22, the light beam is transmitted through the transparent support A2 as shown by the broken arrow The corresponding ink layer 02 portion of the sheet C is locally melted and transferred to the recording medium. As a result, printing is completed as shown in FIG.

That is, after irradiating light as described above, as shown in FIG. 6, if the printing original plate 23 and the thermal transfer ink sheet C are separated from the recording body, a light-transmitting light is formed on the recording body.
The ink in the portion of the ink layer 02 corresponding to the image portion 22 is transferred, and a recording portion d having a shape corresponding to the erroneously input original image portion information is formed on the recording body. Note that the symbol C3 in the ffg6 diagram is an ink-deficit portion created when the ink runs out.

As is clear from the above explanation, the original printing plate 23 can be easily and quickly created by inputting desired characters, figures, etc. into a word processor with a reprint thermal printer, etc., and forming the transparent image portion 22 with a thermal head. Obtainable. Furthermore, by performing thermal transfer printing by light irradiation using this printing original plate 23, the same content as the characters, figures, etc. drawn on the transparent image area 22 of this printing original plate can be printed on a large number of plain papers. Copies can be made quickly and clearly.

Note that in the above example, the scanning process is drum scanning, but plane scanning may be performed instead.

Further, the support A2 of the printing sheet 16 may be made of any material that can transmit thermal energy due to light irradiation, and translucency is not an essential condition. For example, a material with good heat absorption can be used as the support A2.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, each heat generating part 19, 19 of the thermal head is
Although the heat generation control is not limited to this, for example, each heat generation section 19, 19' is controlled by an electric recording signal output from image section data in a storage means such as a floppy disk or a ROM card. Heat generation may also be controlled.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, the present invention generates an electric recording signal based on original image part information such as input characters and figures in the plate-making process of a printing original plate used for performing irradiation transfer printing by light irradiation. selectively controlling each heat generating section of the thermal head to form an image section corresponding to the input original image section information such as characters and figures as a translucent image section on the light reflective thin film layer of the printing sheet. By using this method, a printing original plate can be obtained easily and quickly, and by using the printing original plate obtained in this way and performing thermal transfer printing by light irradiation, it is possible to quickly and brightly copy print on a large number of plain papers etc. can be guaranteed.

Furthermore, a word processor with a reprint thermal printer or the like can be used to implement the present invention, and there is no need to prepare a special plate-making device, resulting in cost savings.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1rA is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a plate-making head embodying the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the rA relationship between a printing sheet and a thermal head in the plate-making process, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a plate-made printing original plate. , FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of the printing sheet, FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing the thermal transfer printing process, and FIG. 6 is an exploded sectional view showing the state after the thermal transfer printing is completed. 11... Plate making tram, 12... Thermal head, 13... J control device, 13A...
...transparent image section formation control mechanism, 14...keyboard section (input operation section), 15...image league (input operation section), 16...print sheet ,1
9.19'... Heat generating part, 20.20'...
... Heat generating element, 22 ... Translucent image section, 23 ...
...Printing original plate, 24...Thermal head scanning movement control mechanism, A1...Metal deposited layer (light reflective thin layer), A2...Transparent support Body, A5...
···Protective film. Figure 1 cr Figure 2

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) In a method of making a printing plate for use in a thermal transfer printing process in which thermal transfer printing is performed using the energy of irradiated light, a light-reflecting thin film layer forming a printing sheet is selectively heat-controlled. a thermal head arrangement step in which thermal heads having a plurality of heat generating parts are placed face to face; A printing original plate comprising: a plate-making process for selectively controlling each heat generating part of the thermal head to generate heat according to a recording signal to heat-form a transparent image part on the light reflective thin film layer based on the input electrical recording signal; plate-making method. (2) A thermal head having a plurality of heat-generating parts that are arranged facing the light-reflecting thin film layer forming the printing sheet and selectively controlling heat generation, and controlling the scanning movement of this thermal head along the light-reflecting thin film layer. A thermal head scanning movement control mechanism and electric recording signals based on original image part information such as input characters and figures selectively control each heat generating part of the thermal head to apply the input electricity to the light reflective thin film layer. A printing original plate making device comprising: a transparent image part formation control mechanism that controls the transparent image part to generate heat based on a recording signal;