JPH0455859A - Method and apparatus for developing photosensitive planographic printing plate - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To unnecessitate the control and exchange of a developing soln. and to enable always stable development at a high speed by setting a means of feeding the developing soln. into the gap between upper and lower guide plates arranged at a narrow interval after feeding to a photosensitive planographic printing plate. CONSTITUTION:A developing soln. in a tank 12 is sent to developing soln. feeding nozzles 6, 8a by working a pump 15a for a prescribed time and the soln. sent to the nozzle 6 is spread on a photosensitive planographic printing plate from a developing soln. feeding member 5. The soln. fed from the nozzle 8a into the gap 10 between upper and lower guide plates 9 fills the gap 10. At the same time, a replenisher (concd. soln.) for the developing soln. and water for dilution are supplied from tanks 13, 14 to the tank 12 by working a pump 15b. The printing plate is conveyed to the right on the rolls 9a of the lower guide plate 9. Development can be kept always stable with a small amt. of the developing soln., the control and exchange of the developing soln. are unnecessitated to increase work efficiency and the developing speed can be increased.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a developing method and a developing device using an automatic developing machine for photosensitive planographic printing plates.

[Conventional technology]

When developing a large number of exposed photosensitive lithographic printing plates, an automatic developing machine is generally used. Development methods using an automatic developing machine include a method in which the photosensitive lithographic printing plate is conveyed horizontally and the developing solution is sprayed while being circulated and reused, and a developing method in which a large amount of developer is stored. A method is used in which a photosensitive lithographic printing plate is immersed in a processing tank while being conveyed in a curved manner, and then developed.

However, with all of these processing methods, it is necessary to prepare a large amount of developer even when processing a small number of photosensitive lithographic printing plates, and in order to use the developer economically, it is necessary to reuse it. During this time, in addition to deterioration of the developer due to processing, the developer also deteriorates due to the absorption of carbon dioxide gas from the air, and it is often necessary to replace the deteriorated developer, making management of the development work extremely troublesome. be.

In addition, in order to improve the above-mentioned drawbacks, when processing a photosensitive lithographic printing plate with a large amount of circulating and reusing developer, a method is known in which a replenisher is replenished to keep the development process stable.
It is disclosed in JP-A-50-144502, JP-A-55-115039, and JP-A-5G-95349. Even in such a replenishment method, although the frequency of liquid exchange is reduced, liquid exchange is necessary, and problems of replenishment accuracy and replenishment fluctuations due to differences in types of photosensitive planographic printing plates cannot be solved. In addition, a replenishment device is required, and not only is the replenishment device itself expensive, but it also requires adjustment and maintenance of the replenishment device.

Further, a method for eliminating the troublesome replenishment method and saving developer is described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 55-32044. This device is equipped with a developer diffusion plate close to the transport path of the photosensitive lithographic printing plate in an automatic developing machine, and stretches the developer applied on the photosensitive lithographic printing plate. The method of processing photosensitive lithographic printing plates with a small amount of developer has the problem that the transported photosensitive lithographic printing plate is not necessarily flat and is slightly distorted, so the amount of developer tends to be uneven, resulting in uneven development. be.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 63-23160 aims to solve various problems related to developer replenishment as described above, and to provide a stable and economical method for developing photosensitive lithographic printing plates. After applying an unused developer solution onto the photosensitive lithographic printing plate, the developer solution filled between the upper guide plate and the lower guide plate, which are arranged vertically close to each other at a very small distance, is poured into the developer solution. A method of development through a photosensitive lithographic printing plate is disclosed.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, in this method, as a means for filling the gap between the upper guide plate and the lower guide plate with the developer, the developer coated on the photosensitive planographic printing plate before entering the gap is used to fill the gap between the upper guide plate and the lower guide plate. Since this is done by entering the gap as the printing plate is transported, the developability is not sufficient and there is a problem with the development speed.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for developing a photosensitive lithographic printing plate, which are stable, economical, and have an improved development speed, without the above-mentioned problems regarding developer replenishment. The purpose of this is to be able to always maintain stable development processing using a small amount of developer, to improve workability by eliminating the need for developer management and solution replacement, and to improve workability even when using a small amount of developer. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for developing a photosensitive planographic printing plate, which can provide a uniform finish and improve the development speed.

[Means for solving problems]

The above-mentioned object of the present invention is to automatically convey a photosensitive planographic printing plate using an automatic developing machine, and after supplying a substantially unused developer onto the photosensitive planographic printing plate at each processing time. , in a method of developing the photosensitive planographic printing plate by passing it through a developer filled between an upper guide plate and a lower guide plate which are arranged vertically close to each other at a small distance; A method for developing a photosensitive lithographic printing plate, characterized in that a means for supplying a developer is provided on a guide plate, and a method for developing a photosensitive lithographic printing plate while automatically conveying the photosensitive lithographic printing plate. means for applying substantially unused developer solution for each
and a developing device for a photosensitive lithographic printing plate, comprising means for passing the photosensitive lithographic printing plate between an upper guide plate and a lower guide plate that are arranged vertically close to each other at a small distance after the means, This is achieved by a developing device for a photosensitive planographic printing plate, characterized in that the upper guide plate is provided with means for supplying a developer.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail based on the drawings.

In addition, in the following description, the same components may be given the same reference numerals and repeated explanations may be omitted.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an automatic developing machine including an embodiment of the developing device according to the present invention, where Dl is the developing device according to the present invention, W is a water washing device, and P is a photosensitive lithographic printing plate or its transport path. .

In the developing device, 1 is a pair of transport rollers, 2.3 is a transport roller, and 4 is a squeeze roller which also serves as a transport roller. Reference numeral 5 denotes a developer supplying member used as a means for supplying substantially unused developer onto the photosensitive planographic printing plate each time it is processed. 75-17
A slit formed from a polyethylene terephthalate plate (5 μm thick) is provided at the lower end, and the gap between the slits is increased or decreased depending on the amount of developer flowing out from the developer supply nozzle 6. Regarding the developer supply member 5 and its related devices, reference can be made to the descriptions in JP-A-62-238564, JP-A-1-200257, and the like. 8 is an upper guide plate, and 9 is a lower guide plate, which are arranged vertically close to each other with a small distance between them, sandwiching the conveyance path P, with a gap s.
It forms IO. 8a is a developer supply nozzle provided on the upper guide plate 8, which is a means for supplying the developer to the gap lO. It is preferable to apply means for reducing conveyance resistance, such as providing rollers for conveyance or planting nylon single yarn or the like on the surface of the lower guide plate 9 on the side of the gap 10. 9a is a gap 10 in the lower guide plate 9 for conveying photosensitive planographic printing.
This is a roller rotatably mounted in a groove provided on the surface of gj.

Both sides of the gap 10 in the transport width direction are closed to prevent developer from leaking. 12 is a developer tank containing a repeatedly used developer, 13 is a developer replenisher tank, 14 is a dilution water tank, 15a and 15b are pumps for feeding the solution, and 16 is for heating the developer to a predetermined temperature. A heater heats the developer to be sent to the liquid supply nozzle 6.8a to a predetermined temperature using a temperature sensor and a temperature control device (not shown).

17 is a brush roller for promoting development, and 8 is a developer tank for cleaning the roller. The developer flowing out from the outlet of the gap 10 enters the developer tank 18, and the developer overflowing from the developer tank 18 is not shown in the figure. It is designed to be sent to a waste liquid tank.

In the washing device W, 20 is a washing water tank, 21 is a shower nozzle, and 22 is a pump.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the upper guide plate 8, the lower guide plate 9 of FIG. 1, and the main part of the gap lO formed by these two guide plates. Reference numeral 8b denotes a liquid supply path for feeding the developer from the developer supply pipe 8a to the gap 10, which is comprised of slits in the transport width direction, holes with circular cross sections arranged in the transport width direction, and the like.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the arrangement of the rollers 3b in FIG. 1. The rollers 3b are usually spaced 5 times apart in the transport width direction.
−20 cm, and the interval B in the conveying direction is 5 to 30 cm.

The diameter of the roller may be approximately 5 to 20 ma+.

In the present invention, the means for applying substantially unused developer to the photosensitive lithographic printing plate is not limited to the method shown in FIG. 1, but any method can be applied.
Preferred means include the method shown in FIG.
2241), a method of stretching the developer using a diffusion plate (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 55-32044, JP-A No. 63-13723)
(Refer to each publication No. 3).

The amount of developer supplied to the #L section is 10~4QOmff/
The range of mfa is preferable, and it is preferable that the gap formed by the upper guide plate and the lower guide plate is closed on both sides in the transport width direction to prevent the developer from leaking as described above.

In addition, it is preferable that the conveying surface in the gap be horizontal or sloped downward in the direction of conveyance, since the moving speed of the developer in the gap increases, thereby increasing the development speed. The angle I of the surface with respect to the horizontal plane is O
It is preferable that "<j≦30". Also, the distance between each surface of the upper guide plate and the lower guide plate forming the gap is 1-1
A range of 0 mm is preferred.

The upper guide plate and the lower guide plate are preferably made of a material that does not easily deform, such as hard vinyl chloride or stainless steel. The position at which the developer is supplied to the gap is preferably close to the entrance of the gap, as shown in FIG. Further, additional supply may be made from the middle of the gap.

Next, the method of the present invention will be explained based on FIGS. 1 to 3.

First, when a photosensitive planographic printing plate is inserted from the left end of the apparatus with the surface to be processed facing up, a plurality of sensors detecting the loading of the photosensitive planographic printing plate and the area of the photosensitive planographic printing plate are installed. A control device (not shown) that controls driving based on a detection signal from a sensor rotates conveyance rollers 1 to 3, aperture roller 4, and brush roller 17, and the photosensitive planographic printing plate is conveyed to the right in the figure. The pump 15a operates for a predetermined period of time, and the developer in the developer tank 12 is sent to the developer supply nozzles 6 and 8a. The developer flowing down from the developer supply nozzle 6 is applied to the photosensitive planographic printing plate by the developer supply member 5. At the same time, the developer supplied from the developer supply nozzle 8a into the gap 10 formed by the upper guide plate 8 and the lower guide plate 9 fills the inside of the gap slO. At the same time, a sensor for detecting the area of the photosensitive lithographic printing plate (not shown) and a control device supply developer replenisher (concentrate) and dilution water in amounts corresponding to the area of the inserted photosensitive lithographic printing plate to the developer replenisher tank 13. and pump 15b from dilution water tank 14
Supplied by the operation of The photosensitive planographic printing plate is conveyed to the right in the figure on the rollers 9a of the lower guide plate 9 in the gap 10 filled with developer. Although the roller 9a is not driven and rotated, the distance between the conveying roller 1 and the squeezing roller 24 is 28
Since it is smaller than the minimum regular size of the plate, it is pinched by at least one of these and passes through the gap 10. The surface of the photosensitive planographic printing plate coming out of the gap IO is rubbed by a brush roller 17, and then squeezed by a squeezing roller 4 to complete development, and then transported to a washing device W. The lower portions of the transport rollers 3 and 4 are immersed in the developer tank, and the transport roller 3 is in contact with the brush roller 17, so their rotation causes these rollers to be immersed in the developer solution. Washed by.

The photosensitive planographic printing plates to which the present invention is applied include, for example, negative photosensitive planographic printing plates having a photosensitive layer using a diazo compound as a photosensitive component on an anodized aluminum support, and - A positive photosensitive lithographic printing plate using a quinonediazide compound, a photoconductive layer is formed on the support as described above, a toner image is formed by an electrophotographic method, and then the photoconductive layer is formed in the non-image area by an elution process. The developer includes a lithographic printing material that can remove the static layer, and the developer includes a developer containing PI (an alkali silicate of 12 to 13.5, an organic solvent, a surfactant, an inorganic reducing agent, a chelating agent, etc.). is included.

More specifically, photosensitive lithographic printing plates such as those described in JP-A-62-175757, page 5, lower left column, line 18 to page 7, upper right column, line 11, are used, for example, in JP-A-62-175757.
-24263, 62-24264, 62-25
No. 761, No. 62-35351, No. 62-73271
No. 62-75535, No. 62-89060, No. 62-125357, No. 62-133460, No. 6
No. 2-159148, No. 62-168160, No. 62
-175757, 62-175758, 63-
200154 and 63-200154, and their developers; for example, electrophotographic photosensitive materials as described in JP-A-58-25477; lithographic printing plates are included.

Furthermore, as described in JP-A-1-149043, JP-A-1-150142, JP-A-1-154157, JP-A-1-154158, etc., silicone can be used as a photosensitive layer and an ink repellent layer on a substrate. Those having a structure in which layers are laminated and their developers are included.

[Effect]

The present invention provides a method for supplying a developer to a photosensitive planographic printing plate, in which a developer is supplied to a gap formed by an upper guide plate and a lower guide plate in the method described in JP-A No. 63-23160. Since the developer is supplied separately, the developer is renewed in the gap, thereby increasing the development speed.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in more detail with reference to Examples.

Embodiment A developer 5D is placed in the developer tank 12 of the processing apparatus shown in FIG.
A photosensitive lithographic printing plate SMP-N (Konica Co., Ltd.) was prepared by adding a 6-fold diluted solution of SMP-32 (manufactured by Konica Corporation) and exposing it for 30 seconds from a distance of 60cm using a 3kW metal halide lamp as a light source with a step tablet closely attached. Co., Ltd.) was developed at a development temperature of 30° C. and a development time of 12 seconds. The amount of developer supplied is 150 n/win from the developer supply member 5,
The developer supply nozzle 8a was set at 150+aff/win. Under these conditions, the photosensitive lithographic printing plates of 1003 mm x 8800 mm could be processed continuously at 110 plates/h.

A comparative example processing apparatus shown in FIG. 4 was used, and the same experiment as in the above example was conducted except that the developer was supplied from the developer supply nozzle 6 at only 300 mff/sin. In the figure, 23 is an upper guide plate, and 24 is a gap. As a result, the number of clear stages of the step tablet was lower than that of the example. Also, unlike in the first embodiment, from the supply nozzle 6, 1
A developing solution of 300 mI2/+oin was discharged from the location, but the amount of the solution was too large and flowed down to the side, resulting in poor efficiency. Therefore, in order to obtain the same number of clear stages as in the example, a similar experiment was conducted with the developing speed changed to 18 seconds. In this case, the number of photosensitive planographic printing plates that could be processed was 80 plates/h.

Therefore, it can be seen that according to the present invention, the processing amount per unit time can be increased for the same development result.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, in the development process of photosensitive planographic printing plates, there is no need to manage or replace the developer, and stable development is always achieved using a relatively small amount of developer, and development is faster than conventional methods. Can be done at speed.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of the processing device according to the present invention, Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of the main parts thereof, Figure 3 is a perspective view showing the arrangement of the rollers in Figure 1, and Figure 4 is a comparison. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the processing device used in the example. p,,D,...Developing device P...Conveyance path 5 for photosensitive planographic printing plate...Developer supply member 6.8a...Developer supply nozzle 8...Upper guide plate 9...・Lower guide plate 10... Gap 12... Developer tank 13... Developer replenisher tank 14... Water tank for dilution

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) The photosensitive planographic printing plate is automatically conveyed using an automatic developing machine, and after supplying substantially unused developer onto the photosensitive planographic printing plate each time it is processed, In a method of developing by passing the photosensitive lithographic printing plate through a developer filled between an upper guide plate and a lower guide plate that are arranged close to each other at a small distance, the upper guide plate is developed. A method for developing a photosensitive lithographic printing plate, comprising providing a means for supplying a liquid. (2) means for automatically conveying the photosensitive lithographic printing plate and applying substantially unused developer onto the photosensitive lithographic printing plate each time it is processed; In a developing device for a photosensitive lithographic printing plate having means for passing the photosensitive lithographic printing plate between an upper guide plate and a lower guide plate that are arranged closely at a small distance, a developer is applied to the upper guide plate. A developing device for a photosensitive planographic printing plate, characterized in that it is provided with a supplying means.