JPH07146559A - Heating device and thermal polymerizable photosensitive material treating device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To uniformly heat a material to be heat-treated such as a photosensitive material by controlling the distribution of the temp. of a heater itself with high accuracy, even in an integrated type heater. CONSTITUTION:A heating plate 30 is arranged in a position along a carrying path between carrying rollers 22 and 24. The heater 32 composed of a self- temperature control type heating element is installed in the heating plate 30. The Curie temperature of the heater 32 corresponding to the treatment temp., of a printing plate 14 is set 140 deg.C. An upper electrode 122 covering the full surface of the front side of the heater 32 is arranged on a side opposite to the carrying path of the printing plate 14 of the heater 32 and a lower electrode 124 covering true full surface of the rear side of the heater 32 is arranged on its lower side. Then, the full surface of the heater 32 generates the heat so that a constant temp. is always maintained by the supply of electric power from a power source to the upper and lower electrodes 122 and 124.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a heating device and a heat-polymerizable photosensitive material processing device for heating and heat-treating a material to be heat-treated, and to heat-develop a photosensitive material, a heat-polymerizable photosensitive material, a printing plate and the like. It is applicable to a heating plate, a plate making device, and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a light-sensitive material in which a photosensitive curable layer containing a silver halide, a reducing agent, a polymerizable compound and a color image forming substance is provided on a support is disclosed in JP-B-3-123.
08 (US Pat. No. 4,629,676) is known and known.

According to the image forming method described in this publication,
After the latent image of silver halide is formed by imagewise exposure, the polymerizable compound in the portion where the latent image is formed is cured by heating, thereby fixing the color image forming substance, and then the uncured portion is fixed. By removing, a color image is formed on the photosensitive material. Alternatively, after fixing the color image forming substance, the photosensitive material is pressed together with the image receiving material, and the uncured portion of the color image forming substance is transferred to the image receiving material to form a color image on the image receiving material.

When heating the photosensitive material as described above,
A heating method of a type in which a photosensitive material is conveyed and passed over a heating member is generally used. Then, in this heating method, in order to uniformly heat the photosensitive material, it is considered to control the temperature distribution of the heater itself constituting the heating member with high accuracy.

On the other hand, when an attempt is made to use a material having a wide aluminum support as a base material as a photosensitive material,
Since a very large amount of heat is required to heat the heater, sufficient electric power for raising the temperature of the photosensitive material must be supplied to the introduction side of the heater for introducing the photosensitive material into the heater. On the other hand, on the discharge side of the heater, which discharges the photosensitive material from the heater, since the temperature of the photosensitive material is simply maintained, a large amount of heat is not required, and a small amount of power supply is sufficient.

Therefore, for example, when an integrated heater is adopted in the heat treatment apparatus, a temperature difference occurs between the side for introducing the photosensitive material that needs to be heated at a constant temperature and the side for discharging the photosensitive material to uniformly heat the photosensitive material. However, it has a drawback that the non-image portion of the light-sensitive material is fogged.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In consideration of the above facts, the present invention controls the temperature distribution of the heater itself even with an integrated heater so as to uniformly heat a heat-treated material such as a photosensitive material. It is an object of the present invention to provide a heating device and a heat-polymerizable photosensitive material processing device that can be used.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a heating device which is composed of a self-temperature control type heating element and has a length sufficient to heat and heat a material to be heat-treated which is conveyed and moved. A heating member having along the conveying direction of the heat-treated material,
The heating is performed by the first electrode arranged so as to cover the entire front surface side of the heating member facing the material to be heat-treated and the first electrode arranged so as to cover the entire rear surface side of the heating member. A second electrode that energizes the member, a heat transfer member that is disposed on the front surface side of the heating member with the first electrode interposed therebetween, and that transfers heat from the heating member to the heat-treated material, And a heat insulating member that covers the side surface and the back surface to prevent heat from being emitted from the heating member.

A heating device according to a second aspect of the present invention comprises a self-temperature control type heating element, and has a length sufficient for heating and heat-treating a material to be heat-treated which is conveyed and moved in the conveying direction of the material to be heat-treated. And a first electrode arranged to cover the entire front surface side of the heating member facing the material to be heat-treated, and a first electrode arranged to cover the entire rear surface side of the heating member. A second electrode for energizing the heating member with the first electrode so as to increase the power supply amount to the introduction side where the material to be heat treated is introduced with respect to the discharge side where the heat treatment material is discharged. It is characterized by having.

A heat-polymerizable photosensitive material processing apparatus according to a third aspect of the present invention has the heating apparatus of the first aspect in which the material to be heat-treated heated by the heating member is a heat-polymerizable photosensitive material, and is heat-treated by the heating apparatus. And a post-processing device for post-processing the heat-polymerizable photosensitive material.

In the heat-polymerizable photosensitive material processing apparatus according to the fourth aspect, the Curie temperature of the self-temperature control type heating element is 100 °.
It is characterized by having a heating member set to C to 200 ° C.

[0012]

The operation of the heating device according to the first and second aspects will be described below.

The heating member having a length sufficient to heat and heat-treat the heat-treated material along the conveying direction of the heat-treated material is composed of a self-temperature control type heating element. Then, the first electrode arranged so as to cover the entire front surface side of the heating member facing the material to be heat treated and the second electrode arranged so as to cover the entire rear surface of the heating member, this heating member. Is energized to heat the heating member.

Here, the self-temperature control type heating element has a resistance value that sharply rises above the Curie temperature and becomes infinite and does not generate heat, but below the Curie temperature, the resistance value decreases and current flows and heat is generated. A heating element with properties
For example, a fired compact such as barium titanate may be used.

If the Curie temperature is set in accordance with the processing temperature of the material to be heat-treated in order to utilize the characteristics of the heating element, the following operation is achieved.

For example, on the introduction side of the heating member, the material to be heat treated is heated to raise its temperature, so that a very large amount of heat is required and the temperature tends to decrease. Therefore, the resistance value of this portion remains low, the necessary electric power is sufficiently supplied, and the temperature is maintained.

On the other hand, on the discharge side of the heating member, there is no need to raise the temperature of the material to be heat treated, so the amount of heat radiated from the heating member to the material to be heat treated decreases, and the temperature of this portion tends to rise. Along with this, the resistance value of this portion sharply rises. For this reason, the amount of heat generated on the discharge side of the heating member is drastically reduced, and the temperature rise of this portion is suppressed. That is, the heating member is energized so that the discharge side from which the material to be heat treated is discharged has a large power supply amount to the introduction side into which the material to be heat treated is introduced.

As described above, even if the integrated heating member is adopted, the pair of electrodes are arranged so as to cover the entire front surface and the entire back surface of the heating member, and thus face the material to be heat-treated of the heating member. The entire surface side has a uniform temperature, and a large temperature difference does not occur between the introduction side and the discharge side of the material to be heat treated, which requires heating at a constant temperature. Therefore, the entire surface of the material to be heat treated can be uniformly heated, and not only the direction intersecting the transport direction of the material to be heat treated but also the direction along the transport direction of the material to be heat treated.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, it further operates as follows. That is, the heat transfer member arranged on the surface of the first electrode facing the material to be heat-treated surely transfers the heat from the heating member to the material to be heat-treated, while covering the side surface and the back surface side of the heating member. The insulating member that is present prevents heat from being dissipated from the heating member. Therefore, the amount of heat for heating the material to be heat-treated is consumed without consuming unnecessary amount of heat, so that efficient heating can be performed.

The operation of the heat-polymerizable photosensitive material processing apparatus according to claim 3 will be described below. The heating device according to claim 1, wherein the material to be heat-treated by the heating member is a heat-polymerizable photosensitive material, and a post-processing device for post-processing the heat-polymerizable photosensitive material heat-treated by the heating device. Therefore, not only the material to be heat-treated is subjected to thermal polymerization treatment, but also the material to be heat-treated which is a finished product after the treatment is finished by e.g. elution processing in the post-treatment device More discharged.

The operation of the heat-polymerizable photosensitive material processing apparatus according to claim 4 will be described below. The heat-polymerizable photosensitive material processing apparatus according to claim 3 has a Curie temperature of 100 ° C to 200 °.
By having the heating member composed of the self-temperature control type heating element set to C, the temperature of the heating member is adapted to the processing temperature of the heat-polymerizable photosensitive material which is the heat-treated material to be applied. It will be.

[0022]

1 to 4 show one embodiment of a plate making apparatus to which a heating device and a heat-polymerizable photosensitive material processing device according to the present invention are applied, and this embodiment will be described based on these drawings.

First, a printing plate, which is a photosensitive material used in the plate making apparatus of this embodiment, will be described.

As shown in FIG. 4, the printing plate 14 used in this embodiment, which is a heat-polymerizable photosensitive material formed into a sheet and serving as a material to be heat-treated, has a thin plate shape and is arranged in the vertical direction. A rectangular printing plate having a length H and a length B in the horizontal direction, and one side of a support substrate 16 which is a support body made of an aluminum material and having a thickness of about 0.3 mm, The printing plate 14 is formed by providing the image forming layer 18 configured by sequentially stacking the curable layer 18A, the photosensitive layer 18B, and the image formation promoting layer 18C. In addition, the support substrate 16
The boundary surface between the hardenable layer 18A and the hardenable layer 18A is subjected to a hydrophilic treatment by graining.

The above layers will be described in detail below. First, the following curable layer coating liquid is applied to the surface of the supporting substrate 16,
It was dried to form a curable layer 18A having a film thickness of 1.3 μm. [Curable layer coating liquid] Dipentaerythritol hexaacrylate 2.5 g 20% by weight propylene glycol monomethyl ether solution of allyl methacrylate / methacrylic acid copolymer (copolymerization ratio = 83/17) 37.5 g Reducing agent having the following chemical formula 2.0 g Pigment dispersion below 13.0 g Methyl ethyl ketone 74.0 g Chemical formula of reducing agent

[0026]

[Chemical 1]

Pigment Dispersion Liquid Pigment: Chromophtale Red A2B 18 g Dispersion Polymer: Allyl Methacrylate / Methacrylic Acid Copolymer (Copolymerization Ratio = 83/17) 12 g Solvent: Cyclohexanone 30 g Propylene Glycol Monomethyl Ether 40 g The photosensitive layer coating solution was applied and dried to form a photosensitive layer 18B having a film thickness of about 1.2 μm. [Photosensitive layer coating solution] 10% by weight aqueous solution of polyvinyl alcohol (trade name: PVA-420, manufactured by Kuraray Co., Ltd.) having a saponification degree of 79.5% 10.5 g 0.11 of an additive represented by the following chemical formula: Weight% methanol solution 0.83 g Silver halide emulsion below 0.5 g 5% by weight aqueous solution of a surfactant having the following chemical formula 0.4 g Water 7.8 g Chemical formula of additive

[0028]

[Chemical 2]

Silver Halide Emulsion After adding gelatin, potassium bromide and water to a reaction vessel heated to 55 ° C and adding an appropriate amount of ammonium, the pAg value in the reaction vessel was maintained at 7.60. An aqueous solution of silver nitrate and an aqueous solution of potassium bromide to which hexachloroiridium (III) salt was added so that the molar ratio of iridium to silver was 10 ^-7 mol were added by the double jet method to give an average particle size of 0. A 3 μm monodisperse silver bromide emulsion was prepared. Then the pH of this emulsion was 6.2, pAg
Was adjusted to 8.7 and then gold-sulfur sensitization was performed with sodium thiosulfate and chloroauric acid, and then the spectral sensitizing dye (Dy
e-1) was added and maintained at 55 ° C. for 20 minutes, and an unpost-ripened silver iodide emulsion having an average grain size of 0.08 μm was further added and stirred for 15 minutes, followed by desalting and cooling. The silver iodide content is 2 mol%, 98% of the total number of grains exists within ± 40% of the average grain size, and (100) faces / (111)
The surface ratio was about 10.

Chemical Formula of Surfactant

[0031]

[Chemical 3]

Next, the following image forming accelerating layer coating liquid was applied and dried to provide an image forming accelerating layer 18C as an oxygen barrier layer having a thickness of about 3.3 μm. [Image forming acceleration layer coating solution] 100.0% by weight aqueous solution of polyvinyl alcohol (trade name: PVA-205, manufactured by Kuraray Co., Ltd.) having a saponification degree of 98.5% 200.0 g The following base precursor dispersion 1.25 g A 5 wt% aqueous solution of a surfactant having the following chemical formula: 4.0 g Base precursor dispersion 250 g of a base precursor powder having the following chemical formula was used as a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA-205 manufactured by Kuraray Co., Ltd.) using a Dynomill disperser. 3% by weight aqueous solution 750
dispersed in g. The particle size of the base precursor was about 0.5 μm or less.

Chemical Formula of Base Precursor

[0034]

[Chemical 4]

Chemical Formula of Surfactant

[0036]

[Chemical 5]

Next, the construction of the plate making apparatus and the plate making operation of the printing plate 14 using this plate making apparatus will be described.

First, in an exposure device (not shown), an original film is brought into close contact with the image forming layer 18 side of the printing plate 14 and a band pass filter for passing light of 500 nm is interposed, and a 500 watt tungsten lamp is used. 1.
The plate is exposed for 5 seconds to obtain the exposed printing plate 14.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 1, on the left end side of the plate making apparatus 10 which is the heat-polymerizable photosensitive material processing apparatus of the present invention,
A heat developing unit 20 which is a heat treatment device is disposed so as to be surrounded by the casing 112, and as shown in FIG. 2 which is an enlarged view of the heat developing unit 20, the conveying direction in the heat developing unit 20 (arrow A
A pair of upper and lower carrying rollers 22 are arranged on the upstream side (direction), and the carrying rollers 22 are driven and rotated by driving means such as a motor (not shown).

Further, at a position along the conveying path formed by these conveying rollers 22, as shown in FIG. 2, a heating plate which is a heating device which is formed in an arc shape and whose central portion projects upward in the drawing. 30 are arranged. The plate length, which is the length along the upper surface of the heating plate 30, is the length along the transport direction (arrow A direction).
Of the printing plate 14 that is shorter than the vertical dimension H of the printing plate 14 and that the dimension of the heating plate 30 shown in FIG. 3 in the width direction (the direction perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. 2) is the direction orthogonal to the transport direction. It is larger than the lateral dimension B.

Further, the inside of the heating plate 30 is made thin by a sintered body of barium titanate, which is a self-temperature control type heating element, and the printing plate 14 is heated and kept warm for heat development processing. A heater 32, which is a heating member having a sufficient length for the printing plate 14, is installed. Then, in order to utilize the characteristics of the heater 32 constituted by this heating element, the printing plate 14
The Curie temperature of the heater 32 corresponds to the processing temperature of 14
It is set to 0 ° C.

The Curie temperature is set to an optimum temperature depending on the characteristics of the target photosensitive material, the structure of the heater, the structure of the photosensitive material conveying means, and the like. In the case of an optical material, it is necessary to set the Curie temperature preferably to 100 ° C to 200 ° C.

An upper electrode 122, which is a first electrode, is arranged on the upper side of the heater 32, which is opposed to the conveyance path of the printing plate 14, so as to cover the entire front surface of the heater 32. A lower electrode 124, which is a second electrode, is arranged on the lower side of 32 so as to cover the entire back surface of the heater 32.

A plate-shaped heat transfer plate 130 is fixed to the upper side of the upper electrode 122 through an insulating material 126 formed in a thin plate, and the heat transfer plate 130 is the heating plate 30. Constitutes the upper surface of. Also, the lower electrode 1
A bottom wall 134A of a heat insulating material 134, which is formed in a box shape and serves as an outer frame of the heating plate 30, covers the lower side of 24 through an insulating material 132 formed in a thin plate shape.
A side wall 134B extending upward from a bottom wall 134A of 34 covers all four sides of the heater 32.

These upper electrode 122 and lower electrode 124
A wire extending from a power source (not shown) is connected to the. Therefore, the upper electrode 122 and the lower electrode 124
Is supplied with electric power from a power source, so that a constant temperature (14
The heater 32 will generate heat so that the temperature becomes 0 ° C. Then, this heat is transferred to the heat transfer plate 130 to heat the heat transfer plate 130.

Further, on the upper part of the heating plate 30, a peripheral speed of the motor (not shown) is rotated at a speed substantially equal to the peripheral speed of the carrying roller 22, and the axial direction of the carrying roller 22 and the axial direction of the carrying roller 22 are rotated. Two rotating shafts 34, 36 extending so as to be parallel to each other are arranged at symmetrical positions on the left and right sides of the central portion of the heating plate 30.

An endless belt 38 having a dimension in the width direction (horizontal direction in FIG. 3) larger than the dimension B in the lateral direction of the printing plate 14 is wound around these four rotating shafts 34, 36. At the same time, the heating plate 30 is hung along the arc-shaped upper surface of the heating plate 30 and rotated in the direction of arrow D in FIG. A rotary shaft 37 is arranged at a position intermediate between the rotary shaft 34 and the rotary shaft 36 and in contact with the outer peripheral side of the sliding belt 38 to assist the rotation of the sliding belt 38. Also, this endless belt 3
The material 8 is made of, for example, a material having elasticity and not air permeability such as a rubber material.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG.
Motors (not shown) rotate the peripheral speeds of the lower part of the heating plate 30 at the center of the heating plate 30 at a speed substantially equal to the peripheral speed of the transfer roller 22 and transfer the same. Two rotating shafts 152 and one rotating shaft 154 that extend so that the axial direction of the roller 22 is parallel to the axial direction are arranged.

A sliding belt 158 having a widthwise dimension (horizontal direction in FIG. 3) larger than the lateral dimension B of the printing plate 14 is formed by these three rotary shafts 152, 1.
54, and also along the arc-shaped projecting upper surface of the heating plate 30, as shown by arrow E in FIG.
It is designed to rotate in the direction. These rotary shafts 1
52, which is intermediate between the rotary shaft 154 and the sliding belt 158.
A rotary shaft 155 is arranged at a position in contact with the outer peripheral side of, and assists the rotation of the sliding belt 158. Above the rotary shaft 154, the rotary shaft 154 and the sliding belt 158.
The transport roller 24 is disposed at a position facing each other through
It is rotated at a speed that substantially matches the peripheral speed of the transport roller 22. The sliding belt 158 is made of, for example, PTFE.
It is formed of a material having a low friction coefficient such as (polytetrafluoroethylene).

That is, the endless belt 38 is the sliding belt 1.
The endless belt 38 and the sliding belt 158 come into contact with the heating plate 30 via 58, and move in the same direction while contacting on the heat transfer plate 130 constituting the upper surface of the heating plate 30. .

Therefore, the rotary shafts 34, 36, 152, 15
4 is driven and rotated, the endless belt 38 and the sliding belt 158 are accordingly rotated, and the above-described exposed printing plate 14 is moved toward the upstream side transport roller 22. This printing plate 14
Will be introduced between the sliding belt 158 and the endless belt 38. Then, the printing plate 14 brings the image forming layer 18 into contact with the endless belt 38 and the support substrate 16 side into contact with the sliding belt 158, while being shielded from the outside air by the endless belt 38, the conveying roller 22. As a result, it slides on the upper surface of the heating plate 30, and is guided while being sandwiched between the rotating shaft 154 and the transport roller 24 and is transported downstream in the transport direction.

While being transported and moved on the heating plate 30, the printing plate 14 is heated by the heater 32 via the heat transfer plate 130 and the sliding belt 158 while being shielded from the outside air. The exposed portion exposed by the tungsten lamp in the curable layer 18A constituting the image forming layer 18 is cured. At this time, the endless belt 3
Since 8 rotates at the same speed as the conveying speed of the printing plate 14, the surface of the image forming layer 18 is not scratched.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 1, a pair of upper and lower cooling rollers 42 is arranged downstream of the heat developing section 20 in the conveying direction of the printing plate 14, and the cooling roller 42 serves as the printing plate. While sandwiching 14 and cooling, 14 is conveyed to the elution part 44 located on the downstream side (arrow A direction side) in the conveying direction.

An elution section 44 is arranged downstream of the cooling roller 42 in the conveying direction of the printing plate 14 (on the side of arrow A). A pair of upper and lower conveying rollers 56 is arranged at a position in the elution portion 44 on the upstream side in the conveying direction, and the conveying roller 56 nips and conveys the printing plate 14.

The printing plate 14 is attached to the carrying roller 56.
A spray nozzle 48 is arranged at a position facing the image forming layer 18 on the downstream side (the direction of the arrow A direction) in the transport direction, and a circulation pump 52 is connected to a lower portion of the elution unit 44 to elute. A tank 50 is provided. Therefore, the eluate in the elution tank 50 (for example, P manufactured by Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd.
The circulation pump 52 sucks the S plate developer DP-4) and sprays it from the spray nozzle 48 onto the image forming layer 18 of the printing plate 14.

A roller-shaped brush roll 54 is provided at a position facing the image forming layer 18 on the downstream side (the arrow A side) in the transport direction of the printing plate 14 with respect to the spray nozzle 48.
Are arranged. The brush roll 54 is connected to a rotation driving unit such as a motor (not shown), and the rotation driving unit rotates the brush roll 54.

A pair of upper and lower squeeze rollers 58 are disposed downstream of the brush roll 54 in the conveying direction of the printing plate 14 (direction of arrow A), and the printing plate 14 is nipped by the squeeze roller 58. Thus, the eluate adhering to the surface is removed. Further, the eluate removed by the squeeze roller 58 falls on the tray 60 installed in the elution section 44 and is collected in the elution tank 50.

A water washing section 62 is arranged downstream of the elution section 44 in the conveying direction of the printing plate 14 (on the side of arrow A). A pair of upper and lower conveying rollers 70 and 72 are arranged at positions near the upstream side and the downstream side of the printing plate 14 in the water washing section 62, respectively. Are sandwiched and conveyed.

A spray nozzle 64 is arranged between the conveying rollers 70 and 72 at a position facing the image forming layer 18 of the printing plate 14, and a washing water ( For example, tap water) is stored and a water receiving tank 66 to which a circulation pump 68 is connected is provided. Therefore, the circulation pump 68 sucks the cleaning water in the water receiving tank 66 and sprays it onto the printing plate 14 from the spray nozzle 64, so that the image forming layer 18 of the printing plate 14 can be cleaned. Then, the wash water that has dropped from the printing plate 14 drops to the tray 74 installed in the water washing unit 62, and the water receiving tank 66.
Will be recovered in.

A gum solution application section 80 is arranged downstream of the water washing section 62 in the conveying direction of the printing plate 14 (direction of arrow A). The printing plate 14 in the gum solution applying section 80
A pair of upper and lower transport rollers 90 and 92 are arranged at positions closer to the upstream side and the downstream side in the transport direction, and the printing plate 14 is nipped and transported by the transport rollers 90 and 92, respectively.

A spray nozzle 82 is arranged between the conveying rollers 90 and 92 at a position facing the image forming layer 18 of the printing plate 14, and a gum solution applying section 80 is provided.
A gum solution (for example, Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd.)
A gum solution tank 84 for storing a PS plate gum solution GU-7) and a circulation pump 86 is provided.
Therefore, the circulation pump 86 sucks the gum solution in the gum solution tank 84 and sprays it onto the printing plate 14 from the spray nozzle 82. Then, the gum solution dropped from the printing plate 14 falls on the tray 94 installed in the gum solution application section 80 and is collected in the gum solution tank 84.

A drying unit 100 is arranged downstream of the gum solution applying unit 80 in the conveying direction of the printing plate 14 (direction of arrow A). A pair of upper and lower transport rollers 104 and 106 are disposed at positions in the drying unit 100, which are located upstream and downstream of the printing plate 14 in the transport direction. Are sandwiched and conveyed.

Four dryers 10 for blowing warm air to the printing plate 14 are provided between the transport rollers 104 and 106.
2 are provided, and by these dryers 102,
The printing plate 14 after the gum treatment is dried.

A tray 110 for accumulating the printing plates 14 is arranged on the right end side of the plate making apparatus 10 which is the downstream side (the direction of the arrow A direction) of the printing plates 14 with respect to the drying section 100. The printing plate 14 after drying is sent to the tray 110 by the carrying roller 106.

From the above, these elution section 44 and water washing section 6
2, the gum solution application unit 80, the drying unit 100, and the like serve as a post-processing device that performs post-processing of the printing plate 14 that is heat-treated by the heating plate 30.

The operation of this embodiment will be described below. A light beam corresponding to the image on the original film is applied to the surface of the image forming layer 18 from a tungsten lamp of an exposure device (not shown). As a result, a latent image of silver halide corresponding to image information is formed on the image forming layer 18 of the printing plate 14.

Exposed printing plate 14 having a latent image formed thereon
By an operator or a carrier device (not shown)
The plate making apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1 is loaded into the heat developing section 20 from the left end side.

In addition, the endless belt 38 and the sliding belt 15
When the printing plate 14 is loaded while the drive plate 8 is rotated, the printing plate 14 is heated from the upstream side in the transport direction.
0 is to be introduced between the sliding belt 158 and the endless belt 38. As a result, the printing plate 14 is moved while the endless belt 38 sandwiches the printing plate 14 with the sliding belt 158 to cover the printing plate 14. Along with the movement of the printing plate 14, the heater 32 of the heating plate 30 heats and heats the printing plate 14 via the heat transfer plate 130 and the sliding belt 158, and the printing plate 14 is subjected to heat development processing. It

At this time, the upper electrode 12 is arranged so as to cover the entire front surface side of the heater 32 facing the printing plate 14.
Since the heater 32 is energized by the lower electrode 124 arranged so as to cover the entire back surface of the heater 32 and heats the heater 32, the entire surface of the heater 32 is heated.

In order to utilize the characteristics of the heater 32 composed of this self-temperature control type heating element, the printing plate 1
Since the Curie temperature is set corresponding to the processing temperature of No. 4, it operates as follows.

For example, on the introduction side of the heater 32 (the left end side in FIG. 2), the printing plate 14 is heated to raise its temperature, so that a very large amount of heat is required and the temperature tends to decrease. Therefore, the resistance value of this portion remains low, the necessary electric power is sufficiently supplied, and the temperature on the introduction side of the heater 32 is maintained.

On the other hand, the discharge side of the heater 32 (see FIG.
On the upper and right end sides), since it is not necessary to raise the temperature of the printing plate 14, the amount of heat radiated from the heater 32 to the printing plate 14 is reduced, and the temperature of this portion tends to rise. The resistance value of the part will rise sharply. Therefore, the amount of heat generated on the discharge side of the heater 32 drops sharply, and the temperature rise in this portion is suppressed.

Therefore, even if the integrated heater 32 is adopted as in the present embodiment, since the pair of electrodes 122 and 124 are arranged so as to cover the entire front surface side and the entire rear surface of the heater 32, the heater is The entire surface of the surface 32 facing the printing plate 14 has a uniform temperature, and a large temperature difference does not occur between the introduction side and the discharge side of the printing plate 14 which require heating at a constant temperature. Therefore, the entire surface of the printing plate 14 can be heated uniformly, and not only in the width direction of the printing plate 14 (the left-right direction in FIG. 3) intersecting the transport direction of the printing plate 14, but also the printing plate. Even in the direction along the transport direction of 14 (left and right direction in FIG. 2), heating is performed uniformly.

Further, the heat transfer plate 130 arranged on the surface of the upper electrode 122 facing the printing plate 14 surely transfers the heat from the heater 32 to the printing plate 14, while the heater 32.
The heat insulating material 134 covering the side surface side and the back surface side of the heater prevents heat from being emitted from the heater 32. Therefore, a larger amount of heat is transferred from the heat transfer plate 130 to the printing plate 14, so that the printing plate 14 is heated more uniformly and efficiently.

Therefore, the printing plate 14 sandwiched between the heating plate 30 and the endless belt 38 via the sliding belt 158 is subjected to heat development while being shielded from the outside air, and when exposed to oxygen, Image forming layer 18 in which polymerization is inhibited
The supply of oxygen to the film is cut off to accelerate the polymerization, and the latent image portion which is the exposed portion of the curable layer 18A is sufficiently cured.
Therefore, a good relief image is finally obtained on the printing plate 14.

After the heat development treatment, the elution section 4 shown in FIG.
The printing plate 14 conveyed to No. 4 is nipped by the conveyance rollers 56, and the eluate is applied. The printing plate 14 coated with the eluate has an image formation promoting layer 18C and a photosensitive layer 18
B and the non-image area which is the uncured portion of the curable layer 18A are eluted. At this time, the elution reaction is promoted by being rubbed by the brush roll 54. By this elution treatment, the image forming layer 18 is removed except for the cured portion of the curable layer 18A of the printing plate 14, and the surface of the support substrate 16 which has been subjected to the hydrophilic treatment is exposed.

After the elution treatment, the printing plate 14 is sandwiched by the squeeze rollers 58 to squeeze out the eluate adhering to the surface thereof, and is then conveyed to the water washing section 62 where the washing water is sprayed from the spray nozzle 64. , The attached eluate is completely removed.

When the printing plate 14 is further conveyed and reaches the gum solution applying section 80, the gum solution is jetted from the spray nozzle 82, and the gum solution is applied to the printing plate 14 for gum treatment. When the printing plate 14 after the gum treatment is conveyed and reaches the drying section 100, the gum liquid attached to the printing plate 14 is dried by the hot air of the dryer 102.

The printing plate 14 processed by the gum solution applying section 80 is accumulated on the tray 110 located at the right end of the plate making apparatus 10.

After that, through plate inspection work and the like, a notch for positioning at the time of plate hanging is formed by a punch (not shown), and the printing plate 14 having the notch for positioning is formed.
At the end, the plate making process of the printing plate 14 is completed by bending both ends of the printing plate 14 by a predetermined size by a folding device (not shown).

Here, the present invention can be applied to a heat-polymerizable light-sensitive material including a heat-polymerization process in the image forming process described in the above-mentioned embodiment and other heat-polymerizable light-sensitive materials.

In the above embodiment, the self-temperature control type heating element is a barium titanate fired compact, but other known materials having similar characteristics may be used.

In the above embodiments, the printing plate using an aluminum material as a support has been described, but the present invention can be applied to a printing plate using a resin film as a support and other photosensitive materials. Needless to say,
It goes without saying that the present invention can also be applied to heat treatment of sheet materials other than photosensitive materials.

On the other hand, the present invention is not limited to the heating temperature, the size of the heating plate, etc. described in the examples,
Further, by providing a preheating device in front of the heating plate, it is possible to increase the transportation speed.

[0085]

As described above, in the heating device and the heat-polymerizable photosensitive material processing device of the present invention, the temperature distribution of the heater itself can be controlled with high accuracy even if it is an integrated heater, so that the photosensitive material, etc. It has an excellent effect that the material to be heat treated can be uniformly heated.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall schematic view of a plate making apparatus to which a heating device and a thermopolymerizable photosensitive material processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention are applied.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a heat developing portion of a plate making apparatus to which a heating device and a heat-polymerizable photosensitive material processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention are applied, in which a printing plate is subjected to heat development processing. FIG.

3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic structure of a printing plate used in a plate making apparatus to which a heating device and a heat-polymerizable photosensitive material processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention are applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Plate Making Device (Thermopolymerizable Photosensitive Material Processing Device) 14 Printing Plate (Material to be Heated) 18 Image Forming Layer 20 Thermal Development Section 30 Heating Plate (Heating Device) 32 Heater (Heating Member) 122 Upper Electrode (First Electrode) ) 124 lower electrode (second electrode) 130 heat transfer plate (heat transfer member) 134 heat insulating material (heat insulating member)

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A heating member composed of a self-temperature control type heating element and having a length sufficient for heating and heat-treating a material to be heat-treated conveyed and moved along the conveyance direction of the material to be heat-treated. A first electrode arranged to cover the entire front surface side of the heating member facing the material to be heat treated, and a first electrode arranged to cover the entire rear surface side of the heating member. A second electrode for energizing the heating member; a heat transfer member disposed on the front surface side of the heating member with the first electrode interposed therebetween; and a heat transfer member for transferring heat from the heating member to a material to be heat treated; And a heat insulating member that covers the side surface and the back surface of the member to prevent heat from being emitted from the heating member. 2. A heating member comprising a self-temperature control type heating element and having a length sufficient for heating and heat-treating a heat-treated material which is conveyed and moved along the conveyance direction of the heat-treated material. A first electrode arranged so as to cover the entire front surface side of the heating member facing the material to be heat treated, and a first electrode arranged so as to cover the entire rear surface side of the heating member and the material to be heat treated is discharged. A second electrode for energizing the heating member with the first electrode so as to increase the amount of electric power supplied to the introduction side where the material to be heat treated is introduced to the discharge side. Heating device. 3. The heating device according to claim 1, wherein the material to be heat-treated which is heated by the heating member is a heat-polymerizable photosensitive material, and post-treatment of the heat-polymerizable photosensitive material heat-treated by the heating device is carried out. A heat-polymerizable photosensitive material processing apparatus having a post-processing apparatus. 4. The heat-polymerizable photosensitive material processing apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a heating member in which the Curie temperature of the self-temperature control type heating element is set to 100 ° C. to 200 ° C.