JPH0748104B2 - Opaque method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION "Purpose of Invention" (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention provides a necessary light transmitting portion or reflecting portion or an unnecessary portion (non-image portion) which is an image portion in a plate-making film or the like. Detected, all or part except image part,
Alternatively, the present invention relates to an opaque method in which an unnecessary portion is instructed to a light shielding means and a light shielding layer is provided. In particular, the present invention relates to a method capable of opaque an object such as a plate-making film or an image-formed film as it is.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, in plate making work, work for shielding unnecessary light transmitting parts or reflecting parts (defective parts) caused by stains on the glue used, the plate mount, and the exposing device. Or, it is the work of dividing the lines by color. As a light-shielding method (opaque) for a plate-making film or the like, a mask sheet use method and a correction liquid application method are known. In the method of using a mask sheet, a peelable red layer or the like is formed on a polyethylene terephthalate film, and the light is shielded by cutting or the like. In the method of using a mask sheet, the sheet is cut so as to fit the size of a plate-making film or the like to be shaded, and pin holes for registering both of them are provided for use in the work. This method of using a mask sheet is very simple. Unnecessary light-transmitting parts or reflecting parts are cut out by cutting out and peeling off the red layer part while holding a pin hole at the register position for the necessary parts such as plate making film. Can be shielded relatively quickly.

On the other hand, the correction liquid application method uses a light shielding liquid (correction liquid) in which a light shielding agent such as carbon black is contained in a vehicle. This method is superior to the mask sheet method in that the applied light shielding layer is thin. As this correction liquid coating method, for example, JP-A-56-91236,
Nos. 57-6850 and 57-108853.

Furthermore, devices for automating the opaque work such as those disclosed in JP-A-62-275265 and JP-A-63-32552 are being studied.

In consideration of the drawbacks of the conventional method, we have developed a device for plate making work that shields unnecessary light transmitting or reflecting parts of the plate making film. For example, a device for shielding the image forming plate or photographic printing paper or the like other than the necessary light-transmitting portion or reflecting portion of the image portion of the object, such as means for detecting the presence of the object, the object Means for conveying, means for exposing a conveyed object, means for receiving transmitted light or reflected light from the exposed object, means for storing information from the light receiving means in a desired area of the object, and the storage A means for detecting an image portion or an unnecessary portion based on the information stored in the means; a means for detecting an object being conveyed passing through the detecting means; a means for shielding light other than the detected image portion or the unnecessary portion. It is an automatic opaque device having. With this device, opaque work is automated, which enables labor saving and quality stabilization.

Although various opaque methods as described above are known, the opaque method is a method of directly applying a light-shielding liquid or forming a light-shielding layer on an object such as a plate-making film. However, there is a desire to keep the target as it is. In other words, in the process of plate making and printing, the user returns the object such as the film for plate making without any processing, or trims the object, and according to the image portion from one object. When making a plate with a different color, it is not possible to opaque directly onto that one object.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention conveys an object such as an image-formed plate-making film, photographic paper, etc., and eliminates the need for an image portion or a pinhole of the object. In a method of detecting a part and forming a light shielding layer on a part other than an image part of the object or an unnecessary part,
An opaque method in which a transparent film is brought into close contact with an object and a light-shielding layer is formed on the transparent film.
An object that is in contact with the transparent film being conveyed is exposed to light, the transmitted light or the reflected light from the exposed object is received, and the information obtained by the light reception is stored. The present invention relates to an opaque method of detecting an unnecessary portion and forming a light-shielding layer on a transparent film at a portion other than the detected image portion or an unnecessary portion. Further, it is an opaque method in which the light shielding layer is formed by thermal transfer using a thermal transfer material.

According to the present invention, an object such as a plate-making film and a transparent film are brought into close contact with each other, and an opaque operation is performed on the transparent film, so that the opaque work can be performed with the object as it is. The object is not subjected to any processing by peeling off the transparent film and the object after the necessary post-treatment, for example, after the completion of plate making, while keeping them in close contact with each other.

The close contact means a layering or a layering in which the object and the transparent film do not cause a positional shift between the images of the transparent film and the object in the opaque post-process such as opaque and plate making processes. Therefore, for example, a method of stacking and fixing the peripheral portion with an adhesive tape, an adhesive or the like may be used. Furthermore, it is sufficient that the object and the transparent film do not shift during processing, and means other than adhesive bonding or a device for sandwiching the peripheral part can be used.

As the transparent film, various plastic films such as polyester film, polyethylene film, polypropylene film, polycarbonate film, polyimide film and the like can be used. It is desirable to use a film that is thin and has little expansion and contraction even if it is thin.

In the present invention, it is possible to apply the light-shielding liquid to the adhered transparent film, but with a more automated device,
It is preferable to opaque.

An example of the opaque device is described in Japanese Patent Application No. 63-99559, "Automatic opaque device and method", filed on April 22, 1988, which will be briefly described below.

A device for shielding the image portion of an object such as a plate-making film or photographic paper on which an image is formed, other than the necessary light-transmitting portion or reflecting portion, which is a means for detecting the presence of the object and conveys the object. Means, means for exposing a conveyed object, means for receiving transmitted light or reflected light from the exposed object, means for storing information from the light receiving means in a desired area of the object, and the storage means Means for detecting an image portion or an unnecessary portion based on the stored information, means for detecting an object which has passed through the detecting means and is being conveyed,
It is an opaque device having means for blocking light other than the detected image portion or unnecessary portions.

The detecting means stores the information from the transmitted light or the reflected light of the desired area of the object, and the means for performing detection by comparing the adjacent pixels at the detection pitch according to the pixel unit based on the obtained information. The opaque device is capable of blocking light without presetting a reference position by means of a target object provided in front of the light blocking means.

Using the above-mentioned device, the position to be shielded from light is determined in advance by the information by means for detecting the existence of the object and the information by the detecting means, the information by means for detecting the object passing through the detecting means, and the transport distance and / or the transport speed. You can automatically opaque the areas that should be shielded without the need for.

Focusing on the fact that the formed image (required portion) can be detected and the other portion, that is, the unnecessary portion, can be shielded, in order to shield unnecessary light transmitting or reflecting portions of the plate-making film etc. , Or an unnecessary portion such as a pinhole is detected and the unnecessary portion is shielded from light. Compared with the conventional method of using a mask sheet or the correction liquid coating method, the plate making is easy, quick and accurate (Opaque). ) Yes,
In addition, it is a device that can be operated without the need for a skilled person.

The opaque device is a device that detects, conveys, exposes, receives light, stores information, detects, detects, and shields a light-shielded object. That is, the object is detected, the image portion or the unnecessary portion is detected to obtain the light shielding portion, and the transparent film in the portion to be light shielded is filled.

As the detection means, a means for blocking the light by an object by a combination of a small light source and a phototransistor, a means for activating the microswitch by touching the object, or a means for activating the microswitch by pushing the roller up by the object. Etc.

Examples of the transporting means include a roller driven by a driving means such as a pulse motor, and a means by a facing roller that forms a nip with the roller and transports an object. The motor is not limited to the pulse motor and may be a motor drive using a rotary encoder.

The exposure means may be any means capable of performing exposure with desired accuracy and obtaining information by the exposure. For example, a slit may be provided between the light source and the object for exposure, or the light from the light source may be sharpened. The exposure is performed with a desired width. The exposure means is not particularly limited as long as it can be received by the light receiving element, and for example, an LED array, a tungsten lamp, a fluorescent lamp, a xenon lamp or the like can be used.

A commonly used light receiving element can be used as the light receiving means. Various types of light receiving elements can be used. For example, a CCD contact image sensor, a photomultiplier, a photoconductive image pickup tube represented by a vidicon, a photodiode, a phototransistor, a solar cell, etc. can be used. In particular, a CCD contact image sensor, such as Toshiba CIPS304MS1, is an excellent light receiving element because it can realize a high speed at which a plate-making film or the like passes through a preset detection part.

At the time of detection, a lens system that is appropriately enlarged or reduced can be used as needed, and the detection capability can be improved and the device can be simplified. Thus, the resolving power of the light receiving element, that is, the degree of detection of a necessary portion can be variously set depending on the combination with the lens system used.

Detection of pixels such as a plate-making film may be performed by using a plurality of light receiving elements, or by using a single or a plurality of light receiving elements and moving to receive transmitted light or reflected light.

As the means for storing the information obtained by the light receiving means in the desired area of the object, any memory capable of writing and reading may be used.

A computer can be used as the detection means.

As the image forming apparatus which is a light shielding means, a thermal transfer device,
Examples include electrophotographic devices and ink jet devices.

Examples of the object of the plate-making film or the like according to the present invention include negative or positive monochrome or color film, printing paper, plate mount, etc. in addition to the plate-making film.

The detected image part or unnecessary part becomes position information,
A portion other than this position or an unnecessary portion, that is, a non-image portion is shielded by a thermal transfer device. It should be noted that when shading is performed, the image portion and the non-image portion can be accurately divided, and the light can be shaded according to this division, but the shading image formation is generally a portion that requires sharpness as compared with an image on a plate-making film or the like. It is preferable that the image portion is thickened, and then the light-shielding portion which is the non-image portion is slightly thinned to shield the light. In addition, when detecting an unnecessary portion, it is possible to make it lighter in anticipation of safety and slightly thicken it so as not to cover the image portion.

The configuration of the opaque device is a means for detecting the presence of an object,
An integrated device including means for conveying an object, means for exposing the conveyed object, light receiving means, storage means, detecting means, detecting means, and light shielding means, and including these means. Of course, for example, the detecting means or the apparatus including the detecting means may be combined with the detecting means and the light shielding means, and further, the apparatus including the respective means may be combined.

In addition, if necessary, the pixel size and the detection pitch are not set in advance, but the input means for changing them is used.
You may be able to set it each time. Although the pixel size is usually determined by the light receiving element, it may be changed, or simply adjusted in multiples of the size of the light receiving element. Also,
It is also possible to perform the detection pitch for each pixel, or to detect every few pixels. The detection pitch may be fixed or may be variable.

The input means is not particularly limited as long as it can input the pixel size, but a keyboard or the like can be used.

The information obtained by this scanning is held by at least one scanning line or more by some means, and for example, by setting in advance that non-independent pixels in the scanning three lines are the necessary light transmission or reflection portions, It becomes possible to detect.
Therefore, it is possible to make a decision as a necessary portion by investigating and verifying the pixel information of one line or more than one line by a proper method. That is, in the image that is originally a necessary part, the pixels of the original image part do not exist independently, and those that exist independently are unnecessary parts. It can be judged from.

Further, in a plate-making film or the like composed only of unit images, for example, images of a certain size such as characters, an unnecessary portion larger than the unit image is when the unit images exist as continuous images, that is, pixels are When it continuously exists in more than the unit image, it can be recognized as an unnecessary part.

It should be noted that the original image portion of the plate-making film or the like is continuous, and in printing plates made from the plate-making film or the like, they are halftone dots, but to put it roughly, it is a plate-making film. Alternatively, pixels on photographic paper or the like correspond to halftone dots on a printing plate.

In addition, the memory is stored at the timing of an image scanner or the like and read at the timing of the light shielding device. further,
Data read out from the memory at the timing of the shading device is converted into, for example, a control signal for the head of a thermal printer, which is an example of the shading device, and the pulse width is controlled to control the temperature of the thermal head.

When making a decision in detection, it is possible to investigate and verify by 4-connection or 8-connection of pixels by simple computer processing. By this connection method, it is possible to detect pixels that are necessary light transmitting portions or reflecting portions of a plate-making film or printing paper. Of course, other methods may be used for the determination.

As the detection means according to the present invention, there are a case of detecting a portion that is an original image and a case of detecting an unnecessary portion. However, in the case of detecting an image portion, as compared with the case of detecting an unnecessary portion, There is an advantage that the storage capacity is small. Generally, the ratio of the image area of the plate-making film is smaller than that of the non-image area, and the detection target is larger than the pinhole, so a light-receiving element (sensor) that is a detection means must have a small density. Without
Therefore, the detection means according to the present invention can be performed with a storage capacity of about 1/5 to 1/20.

The detected image portion is held in the storage device as position information, and the portion other than this position, that is, the position of the non-image portion is shaded. When shading, the image part and the non-image part can be accurately divided and the light can be shaded according to this division. However, since the image of the plate-making film or the like often needs sharpness, it is the necessary part. It is preferable that the portion is thickened, and then the light-shielding portion which is the non-image portion is slightly thinned to shield the light. For this operation, for example, the gradient of the brightness of 4 pixels is verified, or the value of Laplacian of 9 pixels is verified, and if the absolute value of 4 pixels is positive and the value of Laplacian is negative, for example, There is an edge of the required pixel at the center position of the verification, and it is possible to increase the thickness by setting a predetermined number of pixels around the required pixel.

After detecting the necessary light transmitting portion or reflecting portion by the detecting means, a light shielding layer can be immediately provided on the plate-making film or the like except for this portion. Generally, the detection means and the light shielding means are separated. Therefore, without causing misalignment,
You need to block light. It is possible to block light without performing positioning in advance, that is, by performing detection and processing up to detection in advance, accumulating the detected position in any means, and performing alignment or registering, not necessarily. It is desirable and necessary for continuous treatment.

According to the present invention, the object detection means and the detection means
The distance or position of the portion to be shielded from the detection of the object can be automatically determined from the transportation distance and / or the transportation speed. Further, the detection means provided in front of the light-shielding means automatically determines the distance or position at which the light-shielding should be started from the distance or position already obtained, and requires no special processing such as alignment. Can be shielded without

To detect the necessary light transmission part or reflection part of the plate-making film, etc., and to provide the light-shielding material on the transparent film other than this part, or to detect the unnecessary part and to provide the light-shielding material on this part, From the determination of the position,
It must be finished before the plate-making film or the like to be detected passes through and reaches the light-shielding layer providing means. The processing speed of the processing language (eg, assembler, etc.) used is not limited.

It is preferable that the light-shielding layer has the necessary resistance in the work environment that the plate-making film or the like receives after being transferred or applied to an unnecessary portion of the plate-making film or the like, and the light-shielding layer suitable for each work environment is selected. be able to. As the means for forming the light shielding layer, means such as thermal transfer, electrophotography, ink jet and the like can be applied.

Next, an example of the light shielding material will be described. As a thermal transfer material,
Contains a pigment or dye and a heat-meltable film-forming material, 50
The support is provided with a transfer material capable of thermal transfer at about 130 ° C. The pigment or dye satisfies the light-shielding condition in the exposure operation which is a post-process using a plate-making film or printing paper. The heat-meltable film forming material is wax or other material.

As the thermal transfer device, an ordinary thermal transfer printer may be used, and the light shielding layer is formed immediately or after a predetermined time that can be changed according to the position information.

As the light-shielding layer, the light-shielding layer is formed by transfer from a heat-melting type heat-sensitive transfer sheet, but as a heat-sensitive transfer material, a heat-sensitive transfer layer containing a wax and a pigment or dye is formed on a commonly used support. The heat-meltable layer and the ink layer are laminated on the support, and the heat-sensitive transfer material having the heat-meltable layer, the ink layer and the heat-meltable layer formed on the support is used.

Next, the present invention will be described with reference to one embodiment, but it is clear from the above description that the present invention is not limited to this embodiment.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view for schematically explaining the apparatus and method of the present invention.

The object 1 which is a film for plate making is an automatic opaque device 10
Is inserted at the entrance 11 of the. When inserted, the detection means 12 starts detection and conveyance of the object. The drive for transporting can be always activated after the power is turned on, but desirably the transport is started from the insertion of the object. Reference numeral 21 denotes a roller which is one of the transporting means. Reference numeral 13 is a detection means (sensor) that serves as a reference for determining the position. First
Although the automatic opaque device 10 shown in the figure is provided with detecting means 12 and 13, it is also possible to use the detecting means as one. The detection by the detection means 13 has a function for positioning. That is, the information on the start of detection can serve as a reference for the position information by the next exposure, light reception, and detection. It should be noted that a mark indicating the reference position, which is provided in advance on the object, may be used.

The exposed object is exposed. In the example shown in the drawing, the exposure means comprises an illumination light source 14 and a slit 15.

As the light receiving means, a mirror 16 for making the light from the exposure means (the transmitted light is shown in FIG. 1 but it may be reflected light) to the light receiving element and the camera 17 which is the light receiving element. Is.

As the storage means and the light receiving means, the detection controller 3
1, arithmetic unit (CPU) 32, storage means 34 and auxiliary storage means 35
Have.

The object 1 that has passed through the light receiving means is detected by the detecting means 18 provided in front of the light shielding means. This detection also serves as a reference for determining the light shielding position.

The information from the detection by the detection means 13 serves as a reference, and the position of the detected image information can be automatically set from the transport distance or the transport speed based on this reference. That is, the detection means
The distance from the start point by 13 can be obtained, and this position information is stored and combined with the coordinate information of the object from the detection means and input to the light shielding means without performing positioning in advance, Can be shielded from light. By the detection by the detection means 18 provided in front of the light shielding means,
The processing can be automatically performed based on the reference information and the detected position information. It should be noted that the distance between the detection means 13 and the exposure location and the distance between the detection means 18 and the light shielding means 40 do not necessarily have to be the same.

The light-shielding means is a thermal transfer printer 40 for shielding light based on position information. Thermal transfer printer
The thermal head 41 and the heat-sensitive transfer material 42 are the main components 40. The position information is used to instruct the thermal head 41 of the heat-sensitive transfer printer to form a light-shielding layer. That is, the thermal head 41 provides a light-shielding layer from the heat-sensitive transfer material 42, which is a light-shielding material, to the inspection object 1 according to the position information. Reference numeral 43 denotes an unwinding roller for supplying the thermal transfer material 42, and 44 denotes a roller for winding the used thermal transfer material 42. In addition, the roller 23 is a conveying means and also serves as a platen of the thermal transfer means.

After the transfer using the heat-sensitive transfer material is performed, the conductive roller 50, which is an example of the static electricity removing means, is moved to match the conveyance speed,
The static electricity of the object 1 is removed by bringing it into contact with the plate-making film.

For light shielding, the thermal head 41 is heated according to the position information, the transfer material (light shielding material) is thermally melted, and a light shielding layer is formed on a portion other than the detected image portion or an unnecessary portion.

The plate-making film or the like shielded from light by the heat-sensitive transfer material according to the present invention has good adhesiveness and abrasion resistance of the light-shielding layer and is completely shielded from light. Therefore, even in the post-process, peeling does not occur even in the same handling as the conventional light-shielding of the manual work.

An object 1 such as a plate-making film is exposed to a detecting means by a conveying means including a belt and rollers. As the exposure and detection means, a fluorescent lamp, an LED array (for transmission), a reflection, that is, for photographic paper is used as an illumination light source (exposure means), and a CCD light receiving element (detection means) is arranged at right angles to the conveyance direction. The input means 33 is connected to the CPU 32, and the detection controller 3 is connected via the CPU 32 based on the input size and the detection pitch.
The exposure means is activated by the instruction from 1. The image information of the object, which is the information from the detection means, is sequentially stored in the memory 34 under the control of the CPU (arithmetic unit) 32. In the device of the present invention, the CPU 32 is not always essential,
In some cases, a device without a CPU can be used.

The transport means operates to hold the object, and in this example, a rotary encoder is used to confirm the operation. When the amount of information stored in the memory 34 reaches the value equivalent to three lines in the direction perpendicular to the conveyance, the information of four connected pixels shown in FIG. 3 is compared by the comparator 50, and the necessary characters or patterns are predetermined. Determined by value. When it is determined as a necessary part by this comparison-determination, corresponding coordinate information is stored in the sub memory 35.

In the device of the present invention, the detection pitch can be set in advance for each pixel or every other pixel.

The number of pixels referred to for the determination may be the same, for example
When a character to be detected becomes large, the number of coarse pixels, that is, the number of pixels per character, etc., may be the same as when detecting a small character. Even if the size is different from the normal size, the processing time required for detection and light shielding is the same as in the normal case. That is, the processing time or the like does not change regardless of whether a small image unit (drawing line, character, etc.) or a large image unit. That is, the number of pixels to be referred to is the same.

Further, in the present invention, the size of the pixel can be set in advance, but the size of the character forming the image, such as a series or a point, is compared with the character such as a plate-making film which is normally processed by visual inspection. Although it is possible to automate by using the comparison etc., it is not necessarily limited to these, and it is also possible to input the pixel size and the detection pitch using a keyboard. For normal characters, the pixel size may be about 400 μm. Further, in image detection, exposure intensity and periodic changes in exposure intensity can also be set, and this exposure change condition is effective in speeding up detection and identification of a necessary portion. The pixel size and detection pitch are input from a keyboard or the like. The entered size is
It is set to the detection means via the CPU. The pixel size setting in the present invention is based on the size input from the keyboard, and C
Calculated in PU. Furthermore, the CPU can change the reference pitch and store the size. Usually, the detection is performed by changing the detection pitch (width) of the opaque device.

As an example of changing the detection pitch, the detection pitch can be set by the input means 33, and the CPU 32 can be operated.

Further, the change of the exposure condition to the detecting means is mainly due to the change of the exposure intensity in the time (conveyance of the object to be inspected), and the difference in the detection degree for the detecting element such as the pinhole due to the change of the brightness of the light source. Has the effect of causing That is,
The detection threshold of the detection element is determined by the intensity of light entering the detection element and the time, and the exposure intensity can be changed (dimming) according to preset conditions by using this intensity and time. This makes it easier to determine original images such as holes and letters.

The light-shielding section 40 is mainly composed of a thermal head 41 and a thermal transfer material 42. The thermal head 41 is arranged at a right angle to the carrying direction, and the thermal head is heated and the transfer material is melted by the result of the logical product of the positional information of both the sub memory 35 and the inspection object, which is detected as unnecessary. A light shielding layer is formed on the part.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing one embodiment of the device of the present invention. The reference numerals in the figure are 1-object, 10-automatic opaque device, 11-entrance, 12,13,18-detection means, 14,15-exposure means, 16,17-light receiving means, 19-exit, 21, 22,23,24-conveying means, 31-detection controller, 32-calculator, 33-input means, 34-storage device, 35-
An auxiliary storage device, 40-shading means, 50-static electricity removing means, respectively.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An object such as a plate-making film or photographic printing paper on which an image is formed is conveyed while an image portion of the object or an unnecessary portion such as a pinhole is detected, or a portion other than the image portion of the object or A method of forming a light-shielding layer on an unnecessary portion, wherein a transparent film is brought into close contact with an object, and the light-shielding layer is formed on the transparent film. 2. An object which is in contact with a transparent film being conveyed is exposed to light, transmitted light or reflected light from the exposed object is received, and the information obtained by the light reception is stored and stored. The opaque method according to claim 1, wherein an image portion or an unnecessary portion is detected by information, and a light-shielding layer is formed on the transparent film at a portion other than the detected image portion or an unnecessary portion. 3. The opaque method according to claim 1, wherein the light shielding layer is formed by thermal transfer using a thermal transfer material.