JPH0644155B2 - Original film loading / unloading device for automatic exposure machine - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial field of application) The present invention draws an original film for printing plate into an exposure section from an original film storage cassette of an automatic exposure machine and returns the exposed original film to the original film storage cassette. A document film loading / unloading device.

(Prior Art) Recently, most of printing plates such as offset printing and letterpress printing are produced by a photoengraving method. In such a photomechanical process, the plate material is placed on a mounting plate such as a vacuum platen so that the photosensitive layer is on the upper surface, and the original film is overlaid on the upper surface of the mounted plate material, and exposed from above in this state. When, for example, a negative photosensitive material is used for the photosensitive layer, light is applied only to the photosensitive layer overlapping the image area (transparent area) of the printing plate original film to cure this area, The non-image area which was not exposed to light is eluted in a subsequent step to obtain a printing plate having a convex image area and a concave non-image area.

In the prior art, the work of stacking the plate material and the original film on the mounting board is performed only by hand.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, since the plate material and the original film for printing plate are manually overlapped with each other in the related art, they cannot be overlapped at an accurate position. The alignment work takes time, and especially printing can be performed on the exposure unit even if each process such as loading the plate material into the automatic exposure machine, conveying to the exposure unit, unloading from the exposure unit, washing with water and post-exposure can be automated. If the drawing of the plate original film and the drawing of the printing plate original film from the exposure section cannot be automated, the whole process cannot be automated, and other processes will be hindered.

(Means for Solving Problems) In order to solve the above problems, according to the present invention, a storage cassette for a printing plate original film is arranged adjacent to an exposure unit, and a movable plate can be horizontally moved in the exposure unit. One end of the moving plate is located near the original film take-out position of the original film storage cassette, and the moving plate has a chuck for holding a hanger portion of a holder for holding one end of the original film for printing plate. A king device was installed.

(Example) Below, the Example of this invention is described based on an accompanying drawing.

FIG. 1 is an overall plan view of an automatic exposure machine to which an original film loading / unloading device according to the present invention is applied. The automatic exposure machine (1) includes a plate material supply section (2), a plate material transport section (3) and an exposure section. The main part is composed of (4), and the interleaf paper box is located on the side of the plate material supply part (2).
(5) and a cassette (6) for accommodating the original film for printing plate is attached in front of the exposure section (4).

A large number of stacked plate materials (7) are carried into the plate material supply section (2) via interleaving paper from the front while being placed on a trolley, and this plate material (7) is gradually raised by a lifter (not shown). Then, the plate material (7) sequentially passes from the uppermost one through the transport section (3) to the exposure section.
Plate material that is always in the uppermost position when sent to (4) (7)
Is set to a fixed position.

In addition, a support plate (8) is provided above the upper one end of the plate material supply section (2).
Cylinder unit installed on the support plate (8)
At (9), the interleaf paper ejecting device (10) can be moved in the left-right direction in the figure. This interleaf sheet discharging device (10) is provided with a roller (11) that comes into contact with the interleaf sheet, and when the supporting plate (8) descends, it comes into pressure contact with the interleaf sheet on the plate material (7), and the roller ( The interleaf sheet is ejected into the interleaf sheet receiving box (5) by rotating 11) and moving the interleaf sheet ejecting device (10) to the left in the figure.

On the other hand, guide rods (12), (12) extending in the left-right direction are provided in front of and behind the upper portion of the plate material supply section (2).
Moving member (13), (13) is attached to (12), (12)
The motor (14) can move the motor (13) along the guide rod (12). Further, a support plate (16) that moves up and down by the cylinder unit (15) is attached to the moving member (13), and a bracket (that extends toward the center of the plate material supply section (2) of the support plate (16) ( Vacuum pads (18) and (18) are attached to 17 and (17). Then, the support plate (16) is attached to the cylinder unit (15).
The plate material (7) from which the interleaving paper has been removed is adsorbed by the vacuum pads (18) and (18), and then the support body (16) is raised by the cylinder unit (15). ), Move the moving member (13) to the right in the figure, and move the plate material (7) to the transport section (3).
To the conveyor belt (19), the suction state is released here, and the plate material (7) is transferred onto the conveyor belt (19). The conveyor belt (19) is driven by a motor (20), and a detection switch (21) arranged on the flow side (right side in the figure) of the conveyor belt (19) detects the plate material (7). As a result, the conveying roller provided in the exposure section (4) is activated, and the plate material (7) is drawn into the exposure section (4).

As shown in the side view of FIG. 2, the exposure unit (4) is a light source upward.
A vacuum platen (23) is arranged below (22), and support plates (24), (24) extending in the left-right direction are provided on the cylinder unit (57) in front of and behind the vacuum platen (23). The guide rod (25) and the bar screw (26) are horizontally installed between the support plates (24) and (24), and the bar screw (26) is fixed to the support plate (24). It is designed to be rotated by the motor (27). The guide rods (25) and (25) are inserted into both ends of the moving plate (28),
The female screw hole formed in the moving plate (28) has the bar screw (26).
Are screwed together. Then, by rotating the motor (27) forward and backward, the moving plate (28) moves in the front-back direction in a horizontal state. The forward limit of the moving plate (28) is near the original film take-out position of the original film storage cassette (6).

In addition, a pair of chucking devices (29), (2
9) is attached. This chucking device (29) is the sixth
As shown in the figure in detail, a pair of upper and lower support plates (30) and (30) are projected from the moving plate (28) forward, and a solenoid (31) is fixedly mounted on the rear surface of the moving plate (28). Between the supports (30) and (30), the rod (3
2) and (32) are installed, and a pair of fingers (33) and (33) are slidably fitted on the rods (32) and (32), and the fingers (33) and (33) are linked. The link parts (34) are connected to each other, and the pivot parts of these link parts (34) are connected to the shaft (35) of the solenoid (31).
It has a configuration provided in. Thus, the solenoid shaft (3
The fingers (33) and (33) are opened by the protrusion of (5) and the shaft (3
The fingers (33) and (33) are closed by retracting the (5), and the holding rectangular hole (33a) is formed in the closed state.

Further, the moving plate (28) is provided with a retractable piece (36). As shown in FIG. 7 which is a side view and FIG. 8 which is a plan view, the projecting and retracting piece (36) is located in front of the moving plate (28) of the solenoid (37) fixed to the rear surface of the moving plate (28). It is fixed to the protruding shaft (38), and a protrusion (36a) is formed at the lower end of the tip thereof. Support plates (39) and (39) are provided above and below the moving plate (28), and guide plates (40) and (40) are attached between these support plates (39) and (39) to guide plate (40). ), (40) are used to guide the forward and backward movement of the retractable piece (36).

On the other hand, the details of the original film storage cassette (6) attached in front of the exposure section (4) are as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.
A plurality of locking portions (42) are arranged on the frame body (41) at equal intervals in the vertical direction.
And the locking plate (42) ...
(43) (hereinafter, abbreviated as "original film (43)") holds both ends of a holding body (44) holding one end thereof, and a bracket (45) is provided to project laterally from the frame body (41). )… Is fitted onto the vertical guide rods (46), (47), and the bracket (45a) is fitted with a pipe (48) having an internal thread engraved on its inner peripheral surface.
The frame screw (50) is screwed into the motor (49) by screwing it into the motor (49), and the motor (49) rotates in the forward and reverse directions. I am going to move up and down along.

Further, a support plate (51) is provided in parallel with the guide rod (46), and a plurality of limit switches (52) are attached to the support plate (51) in the vertical direction at equal intervals with the engaging portions (42). , The limit switch (52) ... with the operation piece (5
The on / off operation is performed in 3) so that the frame (41) can be moved up and down step by step.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the structure of the holder (44) of the original film (43) is composed of a rod-shaped portion (54) and a fastening plate (55).
Part of (54) is a small-diameter rectangular bar hanger part (54a), and the size of this hanger part (54a) is such that it fits into the square hole (33a) formed by the fingers (33), (33). Further, the end portion of the original film (43) is fixed to the fixing plate (55) with screws (56) or the like.

The operation of the automatic exposure machine (1) having the above structure will be described below.

First, the plate material (7) is fed from the supply section (2) through the transport section (3) to the exposure section (4).
The original film (43) is drawn into the exposure section (4) in parallel with the loading onto the vacuum surface plate (23), which will be described in detail below.

First, the motor (27) is driven to move the moving plate (28) forward to near the original film storage cassette (6). in this case,
Solenoid (31), (37) shaft (35) fixed to the moving plate (28),
Both (38) are projected, the fingers (33) and (33) are opened, and the retractable piece (36) is projected forward. Then, when the movable plate (28) reaches the forward limit in this state, the protrusion (36a) of the projecting and retracting piece (36) hits the fastening plate (55) of the holding body (44) as shown in FIG. The contact fixing plate (55) is rotated from the vertical state shown by the imaginary line in the figure to the horizontal position shown by the solid line.
By this rotation, the original film (43) is curved so that its upper end is pushed forward, and the original film (43) (the original film at the uppermost stage) is different from other original films (43) located at the lower stage. Leave. On the other hand, when the moving plate (28) reaches the forward limit, the tips of the fingers (33) and (33) which are expanded vertically are located above and below the hanger portion (54a) of the holding body (44), respectively.

Next, the solenoid (31) is retracted to close the fingers (33) and (33), and the hanger part (54a) is attached to the finger (3).
It is held by the square hole (33a) formed by 3) and (33).

After that, the motor (27) is driven in the opposite direction to the above, and the moving plate (28) is moved backward while keeping the horizontal state. Then, the original film (43) is drawn into the exposure space between the light source (22) and the vacuum platen (23) while being held by the chucking devices (29) and (29). Then, when the original film (43) is drawn into the exposure space, the peripheral edge of the original film (43) is sucked by a vacuum pad (not shown) arranged around the vacuum surface plate (23), and the vacuum surface plate ( 23) Wait while maintaining a predetermined space between and.

Then, while the original film (43) is on standby on the vacuum platen (23), the plate material (7) is fed from the transport section (3) onto the vacuum platen (23) and positioned.

In parallel with this positioning, the cylinder unit (57) is actuated to operate the support plates (24), (24) and the moving plate (2) attached thereto.
While lowering 8), the vacuum pad adsorbing the peripheral edge of the original film (43) is also lowered, and the original film (43) is superposed on the upper surface of the plate material (7).

After that, exposure is performed, and light is selectively applied to the photosensitive layer of the plate material (7) corresponding to the image area of the original film (43) to cure only the exposed part. When the exposure is completed, the cylinder unit (57) is activated and the support plates (24), (2
4) and the moving plate (28) are raised, the plate material (7) is discharged from the exposure section (4), and sent to the next step, a phenomenon, a water washing step or the like.

On the other hand, the exposed original film (43) is returned to the uppermost stage of the storage cassette (6) by the operation opposite to the above. Then, when the original film (43) is returned to the uppermost stage, the solenoid (31) protrudes and the holding state by the fingers (33) and (33) is released, and the solenoid (37) retracts. The infestation piece (36) returns to the rear. And the moving plate (28) situation also returns slightly to the rear.

After this, the frame body (41) of the cassette (6) rises until the second-stage limit switch (52) from the bottom is activated, and the second-stage original film (43) from the top comes to the take-out position.

By repeating the same operation as above, the cassette
The original films (43) held by (6) are sequentially exposed from the top.

(Effect of the Invention) As described above, according to the original film loading / unloading device of the present invention, the printing plate original film held in the printing plate original film storage cassette is automatically drawn into the exposure unit, and Since the exposed original film for printing plate can be automatically returned to the cassette, it is possible to automate everything from the supply of plate material to the steps of exposure and post-exposure, and perform the photoengraving work extremely efficiently. be able to.

In addition, since the retractable device according to the present invention is provided with the projecting and retracting piece on the moving plate, when the printing plate original film is drawn into the exposure portion, the printing plate original film is pulled in horizontally without bending. Since it can be turned on and returned, it is less likely to cause burning blur in exposure,
Moreover, it is possible to prevent the original film for printing plate from being damaged. Further, when the original plate film for a printing plate is pulled in, it is separated from other original plate films for a printing plate, so that it is possible to prevent the inclusion of other original plate films for a printing plate due to static electricity.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an automatic exposure machine to which an original film loading / unloading device for a printing plate according to the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is a side view of an exposure unit, and FIG. 3 is a front view of an original film storage cassette.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the main part of the original film storage cassette for the printing plate, FIG. 5 is a front view of the main part of the original film, FIG. 6 is a side view of the chucking device, and FIG. FIG. 8 is a side view of the mechanism, and FIG. 8 is a plan view of the mechanism for operating the retractable piece. In the drawing, (1) is an automatic exposure machine, (2) is a plate material supply section, (3) is a transport section, (4) is an exposure section, (6) is a document film storage cassette, and (7) is plate material. , (22) a light source, (23) a vacuum surface plate, (28) a moving plate, (29) a chucking device, (31) and (37) solenoids, (33) fingers, (43) An original film for a printing plate, (44) a holder, (54a) a hanger, and (55) a fastening plate.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An original film storage cassette attached to an automatic exposure machine stores a plurality of original plates for printing plates in a vertical orientation, and a printing plate original is placed between the original film storage cassette and the exposure section. In a device for loading and unloading a film, this device is provided so that the movable plate can be moved horizontally in the exposure unit and its moving limit is near the original film take-out unit of the original film storage cassette, and the movable plate is provided with a printing plate. A chucking device for holding a hanger of a holding body for holding one end of the original document film for printing, a holding plate for fixing one end of the original film for printing plate to the holding body, and An original film loading / unloading device for an automatic exposure machine, wherein a movable plate is provided with a projecting / retracting piece for rotating the fastening plate until it becomes horizontal.