JPS6146317B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention provides a method of plating the outer periphery of a cylindrical screen (including a metal screen or a non-metal screen coated with metal, hereinafter referred to as a sleeve) as an image support. The patent application filed by the inventor of the present application in 1973 relates to a method for manufacturing a rotary screen printing sleeve in which a thin metal film is formed as an image forming layer by a method (including chemical plating method and electroplating method). This invention relates to an improvement method for the invention of No. 052804.

To be more specific, the sleeve is manufactured using the matsuki method based on a master roll prepared in advance, or is made of metal wire or non-conductive material (synthetic fiber, synthetic fiber, etc.).
When forming a thin metal film as an image forming layer on the outer periphery of a sleeve (hereinafter referred to as a sleeve made of metal wire, etc.), which is knitted into a cylindrical shape using a sleeve (including natural fibers) and then fixed using a plating method to prevent the knitting from moving, The desired image can be created by applying external pressure to adhere the sleeve alone, or by stacking the sleeve and a thin metal film as an image forming layer and using a roll, doctor, or heat shrinkable film alone, or by using a combination of these to bring them into close contact by applying external pressure. It is intended to produce a rotary screen printing sleeve with a thin metal layer as a forming layer.

[Prior art]

The details of the method disclosed in the earlier application, Japanese Patent Application No. 53-052804, are as follows. Due to its structure, the method of the prior invention uses a plate-making process to form three layers: an image forming layer, a sleeve layer as an image support layer, and a fixing layer that brings the two into close contact with each other and fixes them. There is.

To produce the image forming layer, the inside of a stainless steel or iron cylinder h is cut and polished to the required circumference as shown in Figure 1-a, and the surface is chrome plated as shown in Figure 1-b. . The outside of the cylinder is coated with a non-conductive resin. The chrome layer is used to add hardness and withstand impact, and to serve as a release layer.
The purpose of the non-conductive resin coating is to eliminate excess plating metal deposition. A metal cylinder h having such a structure is immersed in a nickel plating bath k, for example, as shown in FIG. The appropriate plating thickness m is 10 to 50μ. This plating layer is referred to as an image forming layer m as shown in FIG. 1-d. The image forming layer m is not peeled off from the cylinder made up of h, i, and j, and enters the next step as it is. As a result, the image forming layer m is endless and its surface can be made smooth. Copper, nickel, etc. can also be used as the release layer. When copper is used, its surface is treated with silver or chromic acid, and when nickel is used, it is used as is. For the image forming layer, other than nickel, such as Copper can be used alone or as a layer.

Sleeves used as image supports are manufactured not only by the Lutzker method using a master roll, but also by seamlessly knitting thin metal wires, such as stainless steel, or chemically synthesized resin threads, such as Tetoron threads, into a cylindrical shape. It is also possible to use chemical plating in the case of chemical synthetic resin, electroplating in the case of metal, or a combination of both to fix the sleeve, etc., so that the material does not move. This cross-sectional view is shown in Figure 2-a. Second-
Figure a is a cross-sectional view of a screen obtained by the Metsuki method, and a shows nickel. Figure 2-b shows a cross-sectional view of a screen in which braided metal wire or synthetic resin thread (usually 40 to 400 meshes) is plated and fixed. n indicates metal wire or synthetic resin thread, o
indicates plating metal. Sleeve thickness is 40~
Set to 120μ. After plating is completed, or after knitting, plating is performed to fix the subsequent stitches, and after the plating is completed, the sleeve is pulled out from the master roll or the like.

Next, the pulled-out sleeve as an image support is inserted inside a metal cylinder having a metal layer as an image forming layer. This state is shown in FIG. 3. In FIG. 3, h indicates a metal cylinder, i on the inside thereof indicates a release layer, such as a chrome plating layer, and m on the inside thereof indicates a metal, such as nickel, as an image forming layer obtained by an inward plating method. shows. Then, a sleeve as an image support, for example, sleeve a obtained by a plating method, is inserted inside the metal as an image forming layer obtained by plating. FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the contact portion after insertion. Next, the entire metal cylinder with the sleeve inserted is immersed in a chemical plating bath for chemical plating, or the entire metal cylinder with the sleeve inserted is immersed in an electroplating bath, and the metal that will become the anode is inserted into the center of the cylinder. Then perform electroplating. As a result, as shown in FIG. 5, the image forming layer m and the sleeve layer a serving as an image support are fixed together by the metal o deposited by plating.

Next, the fixed metal as the image forming layer and the sleeve as the image support are pulled out from the metal cylinder with the chrome layer inside the metal cylinder as the boundary. For example, the chrome layer can be easily peeled off by inserting a knife between the image forming layer and the chrome layer, partially peeling it off, and then squeezing the lifted portion with a rubber roll or the like. This state is shown in FIG. 6.

In the rotary printing sleeve manufactured through the above process and having an endless metal image forming layer with a smooth surface, unnecessary metal as an image forming layer is removed using the currently used metal photolithography method. Remove. In this method, end rings are fixed to both ends of the sleeve, tensioned, and then set in a rigid ring coater, degreased, washed with water, neutralized, washed with water, dried, coated with a photosensitive resin solution, and dried. After drying, remove from the rigid ring coater and remove the end ring. Next, insert it into a balloon-like rubber roll and fill it with compressed air to prevent any dents. Next, a film prepared in advance is placed in close contact with the film and placed in an exposure machine for exposure. After exposure, the film is removed, developed and washed with water to remove the photosensitive resin in the unexposed areas and expose the metal surface as the image forming layer. This state is shown in FIG. 7. Next, only the image forming layer in which the metal is exposed is etched by an etching method.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

When manufacturing by the method of the prior application as described above, the method of adhering the sleeve and the metal foil as the image forming layer is a method that applies only the expansion force of the sleeve (metal) toward the outside of the cylinder. Since the sleeve is slightly flexible, it can be in close contact with the metal foil as an image forming layer formed by the plating method on the inside of the metal cylinder, which has no flexibility at all. Although it has characteristics, it may deform in response to local external pressure. Sleeves with deformations that can be sufficiently detected by the naked eye are rejected as defective products in advance, but defective products with deformations that cannot be detected by the naked eye often occur. This deformation often occurs during the sleeve manufacturing process, particularly during the drawing process and during movement of the sleeve. Even if the deformation is such that it cannot be seen with the naked eye, if the expansion force of the sleeve is used alone to bring the sleeve into close contact with the metal foil serving as the image forming layer, the contact will be uneven. If the two are bonded together using the plating method with uneven adhesion, when the thickness of the bonded metal is thin, the portions with insufficient adhesion will not be able to be bonded, resulting in what is commonly referred to as a "lifting" phenomenon. In this case, if the thickness of the fixed metal is increased, the "floating" will be eliminated, but as a result, an image forming layer with a thin film thickness cannot be obtained. This is illustrated in Figures 9 and 1.
It will look like Figure 0. FIG. 9a shows a cross section of the sleeve, and FIG. 9b shows a metal foil as an image forming layer. and c is sleeve a and metal foil b as an image forming layer.
Indicates the fixing metal for fixing. Also, the arrow indicates the plating direction. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the state shown in FIG. 9 in which plating was performed for a longer period of time to make the bonded metal layer thicker. As a result, the "floating" portion is filled with the fixed metal c, and the fixed metal c is also located between the sleeve a and the metal foil b serving as the image forming layer. As a result, the metal layer d as a substantial image forming layer (thickness of the previously formed metal foil d as an image forming layer plus the fixed metal c deposited on the metal foil d) becomes thicker, and the opening of the sleeve increases. There are many disadvantages, such as lower rates.

The drawbacks of the prior art method described above are all due to incomplete adhesion between the sleeve and the metal foil serving as the image forming layer.

[Means to solve problems]

The present invention provides a method that eliminates all of the imperfections in adhesion of the prior methods and provides a more complete object, a sleeve having a metallic imaging layer. That is, in the previous application, an attempt was made to use only the slight expansion force of the flexible sleeve toward the outside of the cylinder to bring it into close contact with the inside of the metal cylinder, which has no flexibility at all, but the method of the present invention uses only a slight expansion force toward the outside of the cylinder. In addition to the expanding force of the flexible sleeve toward the outside of the cylinder, pressure is further applied from the outside to the inside of the sleeve in order to achieve a complete seal. and,
As means for this purpose, a roll, a doctor, and a heat-shrinkable film are used alone or in combination.

The details of the present invention will be described below.

When using a roll: In this case, the convex curved surface of the roll is applied from the outside of the sleeve to further strengthen the adhesion. That is, as shown in FIG. 11, if only the part to be plated is mechanically shown, three rolls are required. One of the three rolls has the role of applying pressure from the outside to the inside of the sleeve, and the other two have the role of crimping the sleeve. The former will be used as a pressure roll 1 and the latter will be used as auxiliary rolls 2 and 3. A sleeve a having slight flexibility and expanding force toward the outside of the cylinder and a metal foil b serving as an image forming layer having more flexibility than the sleeve are stacked and placed on a pressure roll 1. Next, auxiliary rolls 2 and 3 are inserted on both sides, and the sleeve a and the metal foil b as the image forming layer are brought into close contact with the pressure rolls. As a result, the expanding force of the sleeve a tries to deform into a concave shape due to the pushing force of the press roll 1 from the outside of the sleeve a through the metal foil b as a flexible image forming layer, but this deformation By applying a force to the sleeve a using the auxiliary rolls 2 and 3 to prevent this as much as possible, poor adhesion caused by deformation that cannot be detected with the naked eye can be completely eliminated. In this case, the pressure roll 1 can be either conductive or non-conductive depending on the purpose described later, but the auxiliary rollers 2 and 3 must be non-conductive. When the pressure roll is non-conductive, it is required to only apply pressure, and as can be seen in Fig. 11, the sleeve a and the metal foil b as the image forming layer are used.
must be prepared in advance. Examples of non-conductive rolls include materials with relatively soft hardness such as natural rubber, nitrile rubber, styrene rubber, neoprene rubber, Hypalon, polyacrylate rubber, urethane rubber, silicone rubber, and fluorine rubber, as well as materials with hardness such as phenolic resin and epoxy resin. It is possible to use all kinds of resins, up to relatively expensive ones. All of the above-mentioned materials can be used for the auxiliary roll, but it is better to use a material with relatively low hardness. When the pressure roll is electrically conductive, a metal foil is created as an image forming layer and fixed to the sleeve at the same time as pressure is applied. This is illustrated in FIG. 12. As a result, only sleeve a is manufactured in advance, and sleeve a and conductive pressure roll 1 are replaced by auxiliary rolls 2 and 3 (non-conductive rolls).
Use it as a support and do the plating. By plating from the upper surface of the sleeve a, the plating metal, that is, the metal as the image forming layer, is also deposited on the surface of the pressure roll 1 exposed through the mesh hole, and simultaneously adheres to the side wall of the mesh hole. Any metal can be used as the conductive roll used in this method, and in order to improve the peelability of the deposited metal, for example, create an oxide film on the roll surface with chromic acid, etc., or coat the roll surface with silver salt, etc. The best material to use is chrome-plated or stainless steel; a chrome-plated roll or a stainless steel roll is used.

When using a doctor: In this case, it is used in place of the auxiliary roll mentioned above. That is, a doctor is used to press down the sleeve that is trying to escape from the pressure roll to ensure complete contact. This state is shown in FIG. 14.
Sleeve a and metal foil b as an image forming layer are stacked on pressure roll 1, auxiliary roll 3 and doctor 4
Press to make it stick. As for the rotation method, the roll 1 is rotated clockwise. As a result, the pressure roll 1 and the auxiliary roll 3 are synchronized by starting the auxiliary roll 3, but since the doctor 4 acts in the direction of applying the brake, the sleeve a and the metal foil b as the image forming layer are pulled back in the direction. Force is also applied to the surface, which allows for more reliable adhesion. Similar results can also be obtained by replacing all two auxiliary rolls with doctor rolls. Any doctor can be used in this method as long as it is non-conductive. For example, nylon 6, nylon 66, urea resin, carbonic acid resin, Bakelite, etc. can be used.

When using a heat-shrinkable film: In this case, a flexible metal foil as an image forming layer is wrapped around the outer circumference of the sleeve, and pressure is applied from the entire outer circumference to bring the flexible metal foil into close contact with the sleeve. It is. This method is illustrated in FIG. 13. A flexible metal foil b serving as an image forming layer is layered on the outer periphery of the sleeve a, and a heat-shrinkable film e is further layered on the outer periphery. Next, the entire structure is heated with a heater or the like to cause thermal contraction, thereby perfecting the adhesion between the sleeve a and the metal foil b as the image forming layer. The heat-shrinkable film used in this method can be of any type as long as it has heat-shrinkable properties, and the film may be cylindrical or sheet-like. In the case of a sheet, the cut surfaces may be adhered with adhesive tape or the like. The heat-shrinkable film used is, for example, one made of polyethylene, polyvinyl acetate or polyvinyl chloride.

The image forming layer of the sleeve with the image obtained through the above process is made entirely of metal, and the contact surface with the printing medium is smooth and seamless, making it an endless roll, so there is no pattern selectivity. Since the image is created using the etching method, the etching edges are sharp, and there is no swelling or expansion or contraction caused by the solvent in the ink during printing, making it possible to print sharply. Also, since the material that fixes the image forming layer and the sleeve is metal, it will not be affected by the solvent in the ink, and as a result, the image will not fall off or the printed material will change during printing. There is no need to worry about washing and storage (for example, resin deterioration), and a rotary screen sleeve that is sharp, does not have endless printing durability, and has excellent printing durability can be obtained.

Examples will be shown below, but these are not intended to limit the scope of the claims.

Example 1 On the surface of a roll with a circumference of 638.05 m/m and a surface length of 400 m/m, 80 recesses per 2.54 cm were engraved using an engraving method, and the entire surface was plated with chrome in a chromic acid plating bath to a thickness of 2 μm. I went. Next, a non-conductive resin (thermosetting epoxy resin) was filled in the recesses, dried, and polished to obtain a master roll. This master roll was plated to a nickel thickness of 80μ in a sulfamic acid nickel plating bath, a knife was inserted into one end of the roll, the nickel layer was peeled off from the master roll, and then the entire surface was lifted with a rubber roll and the nickel layer was pulled out from the master roll to form a sleeve. And so. Next, the entire surface of an iron cylinder with an inner circumference of 640.19 m/m, a length of 400 m/m, and a wall thickness of 5 m/m is plated with 2μ thick chrome, and the outside of the cylinder is coated with non-conductive resin (thermosetting epoxy). resin) was applied and dried. A chrome-plated iron roll was vertically placed in a nickel plating bath, a nickel rod was placed in the center of the roll, and the iron cylinder was rotated while nickel plating was performed to a thickness of 30 μm, and the image forming layer was extracted. Next, the previously made sleeve as an image support was layered. Next, use a silicon roll with a surface length of 500m/m and a diameter of 100m/m as a pressure roll.
While pressing with two silicone rolls (auxiliary rolls), nickel plating was performed in the same plating bath as described above so that the plating thickness for fixing was 5 μm, thereby fixing the two. After plating, it was washed with water and dried to obtain a sleeve for printing. Next, end rings were fitted to both ends of the sleeve, and the sleeve was set in a rigid ring coater and washed, degreased, washed with water, neutralized, washed with water, and dried repeatedly, after which a photosensitive resin liquid (polyvinyl cinnamate) was applied and dried. Next, the end ring was removed, a printing sleeve was inserted into the balloon-like rubber roll, and the sleeve was stretched with compressed air. Next, a previously prepared film was brought into close contact with the photosensitive resin film and exposed using an exposure machine. After exposure, the film was removed, developed and washed with water to expose the metal (nickel) surface as the image forming layer in the last exposed area. Next, a spray etching machine was set in which an aqueous solution of 6.2% nitric acid and 7% hydrogen peroxide was used as an etching solution, and the exposed nickel portion as an image forming layer was etched while stopping halfway for inspection. After etching, it was washed with water and pulled out from the balloon-like rubber roll to peel off the exposed resin film. When this printing sleeve was thoroughly inspected, it was found that the screen portion serving as the support was somewhat damaged by the etching, but in the printing test, endless and clear printing was possible without any problems.

Example 2 The surface of an iron roll with a circumference of 700 m/m and a length of 400 m/m was made into a mirror surface and then chrome plated.The roll surface was then nickel plated in the same plating bath as in Example 1 to a thickness of 20μ. It was made into the cambium layer. Next, the thin nickel foil was peeled off, and then the nickel sleeve as an image support was pulled out to a thickness of 50 μm using the plating method in the same manner as in Example 1. The adhesion of nickel as an image forming layer to a nickel sleeve as an image support was carried out in the same manner as in Example-1. However, the adhesion thickness was set to 20μ. Next, it was taken out from the plating solution, washed with water, dried, and then an image was formed and etched in the same manner as in Example-1. As a result, even though the nickel foil was used in the form of a plate as the image forming layer and was wrapped around the outer circumference of the sleeve and fixed, it was possible to print in such a way that the seam was completely invisible when the metal thickness for fixing was 20 μm. .

Example 3 A nickel sleeve as an image support having a thickness of 80 μm was prepared and pulled out in the same manner as in Example-1. Next, the surface of an iron roll with a diameter of 100 m/m and a length of 400 m/m was polished to a mirror finish and then chrome plated. This was used as a pressure roll, and a sleeve was placed on top of it. After the sleeve was brought into close contact with the pressure roll using two silicone rolls for pressing and an auxiliary roll, it was plated using the same plating liquid as in Example 1 to a plating thickness of 20μ, and an image was formed on the outside of the sleeve as an image support layer. The formation layer was deposited and fixed. Next, an image was created in the same manner as in Example 1, and the exposed nickel as an image forming layer was etched in the same etching method. As a result, clear printing was possible without any problems.

Example 4 A metal foil as an image forming layer manufactured in the same manner as in Example-2 was wrapped around the outer periphery of the sleeve manufactured in the same manner as in Example-1, and one silicone roll as an auxiliary roll was made of 66 nylon. (Thickness of the cutting edge
0.5 m/m, cutting edge length 6 m/m, width 400 m/m, hardness 40°, doctor load 2 Kg/cm ² ) Plating and fixation were performed in the same manner as in Example 1 except for using a doctor. The plate was made and printed in the same manner as in Example 1, and clear printing was achieved.

Example 5 A metal foil as an image forming layer manufactured in the same manner as in Example-2 was wrapped around the outer periphery of a sleeve manufactured in the same manner as in Example-1, and a heat-shrinkable polyvinyl chloride tube ( It was rolled with a wall thickness of 0.1 m/m and a shrinkage rate of 25% in length and 45% in width) and exposed to hot air at 200℃ for about 30 seconds to make it sufficiently shrink and adhere. Next, an anode rod was inserted into the center of the hard mold in the plating bath, and nickel plating was performed to a fixed thickness of 20 μm. After the plating was completed, the tube was inserted into a rubber balloon-like tube similar to that used in Example 1, the PVC coating was removed, and plate making and printing were performed in the same manner as in Example 1, with the same results being obtained. Ta.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1-a is a perspective view of a metal cylinder used in the method of the prior invention of Japanese Patent Application No. 53-52804. FIG. 1-b is an explanatory view showing the plating layer, metal cylindrical layer, and non-conductive resin layer of the image forming layer used in the method of the invention of the prior application. FIG. 1-c is an explanatory cross-sectional view of a battery case showing that the image forming layer is formed by plating according to the method of the invention of the prior application. FIG. 1-d is a cross-sectional view of an image forming layer formed by the method of the present invention. Figure 2-a is a schematic cross-sectional view of a screen obtained by the Metsuki method. FIG. 2-b is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a state in which plated metal is fixed to a knitted metal wire or synthetic resin thread. FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the image support sleeve inserted inside a metal cylinder having an image forming layer. FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of the contact portion after the insertion. FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing fixation of the image forming layer and the sleeve layer as an image support by plating. FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a state in which the image forming layer has been peeled off. FIG. 7-a is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a photosensitive resin layer is attached and developed on the image forming layer. FIG. 7-b is a sectional view showing a state in which the photo-exposed resin has been adhered and developed on the image forming layer and has been etched. FIG. 8-a is a sectional view showing that both the image forming layer and the image support are etched with nickel, but the fixing plating layer and copper are not etched. FIG. 8-b is a sectional view showing a state in which only copper is etched and nickel is not etched. 9th
Figure 10 is a cross-sectional view showing that a lifting phenomenon occurs due to insufficient adhesion between sleeve a and metal foil b as an image forming layer. FIG. Figure 11 is a sectional view of a device that applies pressure to the convex curved surface of the roll from the outside to the inside of sleeve a with one roll and uses the other two rolls as auxiliary rolls to ensure close contact between the sleeve and the image forming layer. be. 1st
Figure 2 shows that a prefabricated sleeve a is plated from above a using a conductive press roll 1 and a non-conductive auxiliary roll as support, and metal is also applied to the surface of the press roll 1 as an image forming layer of plating metal. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of an apparatus for depositing and simultaneously fixing to the side wall of a mesh hole. FIG. 13 shows a sectional view of an apparatus for wrapping a metal foil as a flexible image forming layer around the outer periphery of a sleeve and applying pressure from the entire outer periphery to bring the two into close contact. 1st
FIG. 4 shows a sectional view of the device when a doctor is used in place of the auxiliary roll. a...Nickel as an image support, i.e., a sleeve, b...hardened photosensitive resin layer as an image forming layer, c...adhesive metal, d...metal foil,'...pressure roll, 'and'...auxiliary rolls, 4 ...Doctor, h...
Stainless steel or iron cylinder, i...chrome plating, j
... Non-conductive resin, l... Nickel anode, k... Nickel plating bath, m... Nickel image forming layer, o... Metal precipitated by plating, p, q, r... Opening diameter,
x, y, z, w... dimensions of each part.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. When forming a metal image forming layer on the outer periphery of a cylindrical metal screen or a non-metallic screen made of conductive material, the cylindrical screen and the outer periphery of the screen are separately manufactured in advance. Methods of adhering the metal image forming layer placed on the metal image forming layer include (a) pressing between rolls, (b) pressing between a roll and a doctor, and (c) using a heat shrink film attached around the metal image forming layer. A smooth metal image forming layer is fixed to the outer periphery of the cylindrical screen by plating while bringing the two into close contact using at least one of the pressing means of inwardly pressing the cylindrical screen by heat shrinkage. A method for manufacturing a cylindrical screen having a metal image forming layer, characterized by: 2. When adhesion is performed using only rolls, multiple rolls are used, all rolls are non-conductive, and used to adhere a cylindrical screen and a metal image forming layer that have been manufactured separately in advance. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that: 3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that a non-conductive doctor is used in combination with a roll or a heat-shrinkable film. 4. By using a cylindrical or sheet-shaped heat-shrinkable film and overlaying a metal image forming layer on the outer periphery of a cylindrical screen that has been separately manufactured in advance, and then overlaying this heat-shrinkable film on the outer periphery and heating it. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the cylindrical screen and the metal image forming layer are brought into close contact. 5. When forming a metal image forming layer on the outer periphery of a cylindrical metal screen or a conductive non-metallic screen, only the cylindrical screen is manufactured in advance, and the outer periphery of the cylindrical screen is in contact with the conductive roll surface. Place the cylindrical screen on a conductive roll, press the cylindrical screen between one or more non-conductive rolls or doctor, and heat the cylindrical screen in a plating bath while keeping the cylindrical screen in close contact with the conductive roll. A method characterized by forming and fixing a metal image forming layer on the outer periphery of a cylindrical screen by performing plating on the surface of a conductive roll while rotating the roll. 6. The method according to claim 5, in which pressing is performed at two adjacent points using two auxiliary rolls.