JPS5918224B2 - How to create a matrix for relief images - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method for creating a matrix for relief images, and more specifically, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for creating a matrix for relief images using a photographic method.

Conventional relief image reproduction methods such as letterpress printing plates include:
There are things called paper-type lead plates, cast rubber plates, and plastic reproduction plates.

These plates are made by heating and pressing a matrix material such as paper pattern or phenolic resin onto the original plate to create a matrix, and then melting and injecting lead alloy, rubber, vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer, etc. into this matrix. It is created by

All of these methods require large equipment because they involve heating and pressure molding, and the process also requires three steps: creating an original, creating a matrix, and creating a printing plate.

Recently, a system called CTS system that uses photographic images such as negative or positive film has come into use in the field of letterpress printing instead of conventional typesetting.

This method simplifies the process of creating typesetting, which requires great skill, but when creating a reproduction board, the original plate is created from a photographic image, and then the process of creating a matrix and then a printing plate is necessary. There is a need.

The present inventors took these points into consideration and, as a result of various studies, discovered an epoch-making method of creating a template for letterpress printing directly from a photographic image, resulting in the present invention.

That is, in the present invention, actinic light is irradiated from one side of a layer made of a photocurable composition through a transparent image carrier having a positive image to correspond to the non-image area of the transparent image carrier of the layer of the composition. When selectively curing a portion and removing the uncured portion, at least when removing the uncured portion, the uncured portion is removed from the opposite side of the irradiated surface with a support adhered to the irradiated surface side of the layer. This is a method of creating a template for letterpress printing by removing parts.

The method of the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to the drawings.

1 and 2, actinic light 4 is irradiated from one side of a layer 1 made of a photocurable composition through a transparent image carrier 3 having a positive image, and the non-transparent image carrier 3 of layer 1 is irradiated with active light 4. The part corresponding to the image area is selectively hardened.
The shaded area is the cured photocurable composition.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 1, directly on the layer 1 of the photocurable composition,
In addition to the method of arranging the transparent image carrier 3, there is a method of arranging the transparent image carrier 3 on the layer 1 of the photocurable composition via the transparent support 2 as shown in FIG. 2, and irradiating it with actinic rays. You can also do that.

The method shown in FIG. 2 is particularly effective when the photocurable composition is liquid or has a sticky surface.

The layer 1 of the photocurable composition and the transparent image carrier 3 do not necessarily need to be placed in close contact with each other, but it is desirable that they be placed as close as possible in order to obtain faithful reproduction of an image.

Therefore, when a transparent support is used, it is desirable that the transparent image carrier be brought into close contact with the transparent support as thin as possible.

Various plastic films are effective as the transparent support used here, such as polypropylene, polycarbonate, polyethylene terephthalate, polyvinyl chloride, polyvinylidene chloride, polystyrene, polyvinyl alcohol, polyacrylonitrile, polymethyl methacrylate, nylon, acetyl cellulose. , butyl cellulose, flobyl cellulose, cellophane, etc.
Usually, a film with a thickness of 5μ to 200μ, preferably 10μ to 100μ is used.

Furthermore, it is effective to provide an adhesive layer on the side of the transparent support that is in contact with the photocurable composition layer.

When a transparent support is not used, after irradiation with actinic light and prior to removing the uncured portion, the irradiated surface may be adhered to the support 5 as shown in Figure 3, and then the uncured portion may be removed. is necessary.

This is to keep the hardened part in place.

Further, even when the transparent support 2 is used, if the transparent support is thin, it is often difficult to remove the uncured portion, and it is effective to adhere to the support 5.

The support used in the present invention is not particularly limited, and includes films, sheets, and plate-shaped supports made of various materials.

Further, it may be a support stand that is a part of a device used in an uncured portion removal process or a printing plate production process.

Furthermore, the transparent image carrier 3 can also be used as the transparent support 2.

In this case, the transparent image carrier 3 is placed in close contact with the layer 1 of the photocurable composition, and the photocured portion is directly adhered to the transparent image carrier 3.

As shown in FIG. 4, the uncured portion of the member having the layer of the photocurable composition selectively cured by the above method is dissolved and removed using developer 6 from the side opposite to the surface irradiated with actinic light.

This removal step can be carried out by the same method as the development or washout step commonly used in the production of sensitive resin plates.

The member from which the uncured portion has been removed is dried as necessary, and if necessary, it is re-irradiated with actinic light to be completely cured, thereby creating the master mold shown in FIG.

The photocurable composition used in this method is one whose solubility in various solvents is significantly reduced by irradiation with actinic rays compared to before photocuring or irradiation. Examples of such compositions include , those mainly composed of a compound having an addition polymerizable unsaturated group and to which a photopolymerization initiator is added can be mentioned.

Examples of compounds having addition polymerizable unsaturated groups include acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, or esters thereof, such as alkyl, cycloalkyl, tetrahydrofurfuryl, allyl,
Glycidyl, hydroxyalkyl acrylates and methacrylates, alkylene glycols, polyoxyalkylene glycol mono- or diacrylates and methacrylates, trimethylolpropane triacrylates and methacrylates, pentaerythritol tetraacrylates and methacrylates, etc., acrylamide,
Methacrylamide or derivatives thereof, such as N-methylolacrylamide and methacrylamide, N,N'-
Alkylene bisacrylamide and methacrylamide
Diacetone acrylamide, methacrylamide, etc., addition-polymerizable unsaturated groups such as styrene, vinyltoluene, divinylbenzene, diallyl phthalate, triallyl cyanurate, vinyl acetate, etc. unsaturated polyester and alkyd resin, unsaturated polyurethane resin, for example,
Examples include polyurethane resins modified with addition-polymerizable unsaturated monomers having active hydrogen, such as hydroxyalkyl acrylates or methacrylates.

Photopolymerization initiators include benzoin, benzoin alkyl ether, α-methylbenzoin and alkyl ether, α-phenylbenzoin, α-allylbenzoin, anthraquinone, chloroanthraquinone methylanthraquinone ethylanthraquinone benzyl diacetyl acetophenone, ω-bromoacetophenone, α-naphthalene Examples include sulfonyl chloride, diphenyl sulfide, dyes such as eosin, thionin, etc.

The photocurable composition is a composition containing one or more of the above-described addition-polymerizable unsaturated group-containing compounds and a photopolymerization initiator.

Furthermore, if necessary, thermal polymerization inhibitors such as hydroquinone, p-methoxyphenol, catechol, tert
-butylhytroquinone, benzoquinone, p-phenylenediaminepicric acid, phenothiazine, etc. are added.

Other polymer compounds soluble in water or alkaline aqueous solution,
For example, a polymeric compound such as polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl alcohol derivative, cellulose derivative, polyacrylic acid, polymethacrylic acid, polyacrylamide, etc., or alcohol-soluble polyamide, the addition polymerizable unsaturated polymer and a photopolymerization initiator, and Examples include a composition to which a thermal polymerization inhibitor is added, if necessary, and a composition comprising a polyene, a polythiol, and a photosensitizer as shown in Japanese Patent Publication No. 46-29525.

The photocurable composition as exemplified above is formed into a layer, and the first
They are arranged as shown in the figure or FIG. 2 and used for making a matrix.

To arrange the composition as shown in the figure, if the photocurable composition is solid at room temperature, it is formed into a sheet by an appropriate method such as pressing, casting, or calendaring, and if necessary, it is formed into a sheet using a transparent support. A layer of photocurable composition is obtained by gluing the body to one side of the sheet.

Therefore, a transparent image carrier can be placed in close proximity to a layer of this composition or a transparent support adhered to a photocurable composition and subjected to the method of the invention.

When the photocurable composition is in liquid form, various methods can be used.

For example, two plate-like bodies, at least one of which is transparent, are prepared, a transparent image carrier is placed in close contact with the transparent plate-like body, and the transparent image carrier is further covered with a transparent support.

Next, the two plate-shaped bodies are arranged so that the transparent image carrier is on the inside, and are set in parallel with an appropriate gap between them.

By injecting a photocurable composition into this gap, the arrangement as shown in FIG. 2 can be obtained.

Furthermore, a transparent plate-like object, such as a glass plate, is placed horizontally,
A transparent image carrier and a transparent support are placed on top of this.

Then, a method of coating the photocurable composition to a constant thickness with a doctor knife or the like may be used.

Conversely, a method can be used in which a photocurable composition coated to a constant thickness is covered with a transparent support and a transparent image carrier is placed on top of the transparent support.

In these methods, it is also possible to directly bring the transparent image carrier and photocurable composition into close contact without using a transparent support.

Various other methods are used, but in any case, the first
It is sufficient if they can be arranged in the order shown in the figure or FIG.

Although the transparent image carrier is shown at the bottom in the figure, it is not necessarily limited to this, it may be located at the top, and various other modifications may also be used.

In this case, the layer of photocurable composition has a thickness of 0.1 mm to 5 mr.
A range of n can be preferably used.

Transparent image carriers with positive images include not only positive films for photolithography using silver halide images, but also plastic films and sheets that are substantially transparent to actinic rays, glass sheets, cellophane, paper, etc. that are transparent to actinic rays. It is also possible to use a positive image provided by printing, printing with a typewriter, or hand-drawing to prevent transmission.

As the active light, arc lamps, mercury lamps, xenon lamps, fluorescent lamps, sunlight, etc. are used.

Various solvents and solutions capable of dissolving or dispersing the photocurable composition used can be used as the phenomenon liquid for removing the uncured portion.

For example, an aqueous solution such as water, an aqueous alkaline solution, an aqueous surfactant solution, or an organic solvent such as alcohol, acetone, benzene, etc. can be used.

According to the method of the present invention, the thickness of the cured portion of the photocurable composition changes depending on the size of the non-image area of the transparent image carrier, that is, the area corresponding to the cured portion of the photocurable composition, and The do part is thinner and the dog part is thicker.

This effect is similar to what is called a diaphragm in an optical system.

When a printing plate is prepared using such a matrix, the cured portion corresponds to the non-image area of the printing plate, and the cured thickness becomes the relief depth of the prepared letterpress printing plate.

In letterpress printing plates, this tendency is highly desirable since wide non-image areas are required to have as large a relief depth as possible.

On the other hand, instead of using the method of the present invention, it is also possible to create a matrix by using a transparent image carrier having a positive image and removing the uncured portion from the same side as the side irradiated with actinic rays.
In this method, the transparent support of the method of the present invention cannot be used, so it is necessary to provide a support on the side opposite to the actinic ray irradiation side in order to adhere the cured part, and furthermore, the area of the non-image part, that is, the cured part is large and small. Regardless, it is necessary to cure the photocurable composition by an amount corresponding to the thickness of the layer and adhere it to the support.

In this case, if the area of the cured portion is small, a larger amount of exposure is required than if the area is large.

Therefore, if an exposure amount is given such that a small area can be completely adhered to the support, a large area area will be overexposed and faithful reproduction of the image cannot be expected.

According to the method of the present invention, it is sufficient to cure small areas to a certain thickness, so this difficulty does not occur, and furthermore, a more preferable letterpress printing plate with relief depth varying depending on the size of the non-image area is possible. A letterpress printing plate matrix useful for producing printing plates can be provided.

The matrix obtained by the method of the present invention can be used in place of a conventional paper mold or Bakelite matrix to create a printing plate.

Furthermore, the matrix produced by the method of the present invention can be applied not only to letterpress printing plates but also to the production of seals and stamps, and furthermore, it can be used for dry offset printing where printing is performed with a plate having a relief image with a relatively small relief depth. It can also be applied to printing.

It can also be used as a matrix for various other molded products and ceramics.

Examples will be given below to clarify the embodiments of the present invention.

It should be noted that the following examples are merely illustrative and do not limit the method of the present invention in any way.

Example 1 Propylene glycol, diethylene glycol, adipic acid, fumaric acid, and isophthalic acid in a molar ratio of 0.301
100 parts by weight of a polyester resin (acid value 35) obtained by condensation at a ratio of 0.2010.1510.2510.10, 10 parts by weight of 2-human xymethacrylate, 20 parts by weight of diethylene glycol dimethacrylate, and 10 parts by weight of acrylamide. 1 part, benzoin isopropyl ether
parts by weight, add 0.1 parts by weight of p-methoxyphenol,
The mixture was thoroughly mixed to prepare a photocurable composition.

In addition, polyurethane adhesive (Nituboran 3002 manufactured by Nippon Polyurethane Industry Co., Ltd. and Coronate L in a ratio of 5:1) was coated on one side of a 30μ thick biaxially stretched polyurethane film using a gravure coater, and dried. A transparent support was created.

The amount of coachivated adhesive is 2 g/m.

Next, a positive film with a character image printed with a camera is placed on a horizontally placed glass plate, the transparent support is covered with the adhesive side facing up, and the transparent support is placed on top of it with the adhesive side facing up. Apply the curable composition to 0.8 mr using a doctor knife.
It was coated to a thickness of n and exposed to light from a distance of 50 cIrL from the glass plate for 15 seconds using a 2KW mercury lamp.

Next, the uncured composition was dissolved and removed using a 0.3% sodium hydroxide aqueous solution, and as a result, the photocured composition was deposited on the transparent support polypropylene film in the area corresponding to the non-image area of the positive film. It was glued together, and the composition in the character image area was completely removed.

The thickness of the layer of the photocured composition varies from about 20μ to a maximum of 0.5mm depending on the size of the cured area, that is, the non-image, and the thickness of the photocured composition layer is approximately 20μ to a maximum of 0.5mm. Obtained.

Example 2 200 parts by weight of ethylene oxide, propylene oxide copolymer (block copolymer diol containing 30% by weight of ethylene oxide, molecular weight 2000), 34.8 parts by weight of tolylene diisocyanate, and 0.0 parts by weight of dibutyltin dilaurate.
5 parts by weight were added and reacted at 70°C for 2 hours to obtain a copolymer having incyanate groups at both ends.Furthermore, 100 parts by weight of 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate was added and heated at 70°C for 2 hours. , after reacting with incyanate group, diethylene glycol dimethacrylate 2
0 parts by weight, 3 parts by weight of benzoin isobutyl ether, p
-0.5 parts by weight of methoxyphenol was added to obtain a photocurable composition.

Next, a mold with a thickness of 1.0 mm was placed on a horizontally placed glass plate, and the composition was poured into the mold, and then
The surface of the composition is completely covered with a μ-thick biaxially stretched polyethylene terephthalate film without introducing air bubbles.

Next, place the positive film used in Example 1 on top of it,
Furthermore, place a glass plate on top of it, and
Expose for 25 seconds with a 2KW mercury lamp from a distance of 0crrL.

After exposure, the glass plate and positive film on the positive film side are removed, and the adhesive tape side of a 27 ItrIL thick aluminum plate with double-sided adhesive tape adhered is pressed onto the polyethylene terephthalate film to adhere the aluminum plate.

Next, the uncured portion was removed with a 0.5% aqueous solution of sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate, dried with hot air at 60°C, and then re-exposed to the light source for 1 minute to obtain a printing plate matrix. .

Example 3 Polyvinyl alcohol (saponification degree 80%, average polymerization degree 5
00) A mixture consisting of 90 parts by weight, 30 parts by weight of 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate, 30 parts by weight of triethylene glycol dimethacrylate, 1 part by weight of benzoin ethyl ether, 0.1 part by weight of hydroquinone, and 150 parts by weight of water was placed on a glass plate. The mixture was poured into a vacuum and dried with hot air to obtain a sheet made of a photocurable composition.

The thickness of the sheet is 0.6 crrL.

The positive film used in Example 1 was layered on this sheet and exposed for 30 seconds using a 2KW high-pressure mercury lamp from a distance of 50 cr IL. After that, the positive film was removed and a synthetic rubber adhesive (Nisdyne A271 manufactured by Block Chemical Co., Ltd.) was applied. Glue a 0.2 urn PVC sheet to the exposed surface.

Next, the uncured portion was dissolved and removed from the opposite side of the exposed surface using warm water at 40° C., and dried to create a matrix for a letterpress printing plate.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 to 5 illustrate the method of the present invention. In FIGS. 1 and 2, 1 is a layer of photocurable composition, 3
4 is a transparent image carrier having a positive image, and 4 is actinic light. FIG. 5 shows the matrix obtained by this method.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Actinic light is irradiated from one side of the layer made of a photocurable composition through a transparent image carrier having a positive image to selectively target the portion of the layer of the composition corresponding to the non-image area of the transparent image carrier. When removing the uncured portion after curing, the uncured portion is removed from the opposite side of the irradiated surface with a support adhered to the irradiated surface side of the layer at least when the uncured portion is removed. A method for creating a matrix for relief images characterized by the following.