Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US6474236?ie=ISO-8859-1
Timestamp: 2015-01-25 15:42:00
Document Index: 156869226

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 265', 'art 261', 'art 265', 'art 261', 'arts 261', 'art 261', 'art 261', 'art 261', 'art 261', 'art 261', 'art 261', 'art 261', 'art 211', 'art 211', 'art 211', 'art 211', 'art 211', 'art 211']

Patent US6474236 - Plate material placement apparatus and method - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign inAdvanced Patent SearchPatentsA plate making apparatus of a flexible plate material 13, 22 being placed on a plate cylinder 7 for executing planographic printing in multiple colors. The plate making apparatus has a cutter 23 being placed between a storage section 21 of a roll-like plate material and an exposure section 25 for cutting...http://www.google.com/patents/US6474236?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US6474236 - Plate material placement apparatus and methodAdvanced Patent SearchPublication numberUS6474236 B1Publication typeGrantApplication numberUS 09/624,774Publication dateNov 5, 2002Filing dateJul 25, 2000Priority dateApr 13, 1998Fee statusPaidAlso published asEP0950925A2, EP0950925A3, EP1312474A1, US6112664Publication number09624774, 624774, US 6474236 B1, US 6474236B1, US-B1-6474236, US6474236 B1, US6474236B1InventorsMutsumi Naniwa, Hidefumi Sera, Takao NakayamaOriginal AssigneeFuji Photo Film Co., Ltd.Export CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (9), Referenced by (8), Classifications (16), Legal Events (4) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetPlate material placement apparatus and methodUS 6474236 B1Abstract A plate making apparatus of a flexible plate material 13, 22 being placed on a plate cylinder 7 for executing planographic printing in multiple colors. The plate making apparatus has a cutter 23 being placed between a storage section 21 of a roll-like plate material and an exposure section 25 for cutting the roll-like plate material like a sheet and punch means 30 for making plate cylinder engagement holes 14 a and 14 b in the left and right margins of the plate material along the transport direction thereof, the plate cylinder engagement holes to be engaged in protrusions 7 a an 7 b disposed in the circumferential direction of the left and right margins of the plate cylinder. Accordingly, it is possible to provide a plate making apparatus which reliably holds a plate material on a plate cylinder for enabling planographic printing and can use a roll-like plate material.
What is claimed is: 1. A plate material placement method for placing a flexible plate material on a plate cylinder which is provided with a plate front clamp mechanism and a plate back clamp mechanism each having an upper tooth portion and a lower tooth portion, said method comprising the steps of:
inserting a plate front of the plate material into a space between the upper tooth portion and the lower tooth portion of the plate front clamp mechanism; providing at least three positioning pins projected from the lower tooth portion; winding an intermediate portion of the plate material between said front plate and a back of the plate material onto said plate cylinder while said plate cylinder is rotated; inserting said plate back into a space between the upper tooth portion and the lower tooth portion of the plate back clamp mechanism while a portion adjacent to the plate back is bent; rotating said plate cylinder so as to make a peak:part of an outer peripheral surface of the plate cylinder pass by a press roller, while pressing the plate material against the outer peripheral surface of the plate cylinder by the press roller; and fixing the plate back between the upper tooth portion and the lower tooth portion the back clamp mechanism. 2. The plate material placement method according to claim 1, in which said winding step is conducted while the plate material is pressed against the outer peripheral surface of the plate cylinder by said press roller.
3. A plate material placement method for placing a flexible plate material on a plate cylinder which is provided with a plate front clamp mechanism and a plate back clamp mechanism each having an upper tooth portion and a lower tooth portion, the method comprising the steps of:
attaching a pin abutment member having higher rigidity than said plate material to two positioning pins projected from the lower tooth tooth portion; inserting a plate front of the plate material into a space between the upper tooth portion and the lower tooth portion of the plate front clamp mechanism, as well as securing the plate front of the plate material to the pin abutment member in such a manner that a plurality of fixation pins placed on the pin abutment member are respectively inserted into a plurality of fixation holes formed in the plate material; winding an intermediate portion of the plate material between the front plate and a plate plate of the back material onto the plate cylinder while the plate cylinder is rotated; inserting the plate back into a space between the upper tooth portion and the lower tooth portion of the plate back clamp mechanism while a portion adjacent to the plate back is bent; rotating the plate cylinder so as to make a peak part of an outer peripheral surface of the plate cylinder pass by a press roller, while pressing the plate material against an outer peripheral surface of a plate cylinder by the press roller; and fixing the plate back between the upper tooth portion and the lower tooth portion at the back clamp mechanism. 4. A plate material placement method for placing a flexible plate material on a plate cylinder which is provided with a plate front clamp mechanism and a plate back clamp mechanism each having an upper tooth portion and a lower tooth portion, the method further comprising the steps of:
attaching a pin abutment member having higher rigidity than the plate material to the plate front of the plate material in such a manner that a plurality of fixation pins placed on the pin abutment member are inserted into a plurality of fixation holes formed in the plate material; inserting the plate front of the plate material into a space between the upper tooth portion and the lower tooth portion of the plate front clamp mechanism; positioning and fixing the plate front to the clamp mechanism in such a matter that the pin abutment member is abutted against two positioning pins projected from the lower tooth portion; winding an intermediate portion of the plate material between the front plate and a plate back of the plate material onto the plate cylinder while the plate cylinder is rotated; inserting the plate back into a space between the upper tooth portion and the lower tooth portion of the plate back clamp mechanism while a portion adjacent to the plate back is bent; rotating the plate cylinder so as to make a peak part of an outer peripheral surface of the plate cylinder pass by a press roller, while pressing the plate material against an outer peripheral surface of a plate cylinder by the press roller; and fixing the plate back between the upper tooth portion and the lower tooth portion at the back clamp mechanism. 5. A plate material placement apparatus comprising:
a plate cylinder on which a flexible plate material is placed; a plate front clamp mechanism and a plate back clamp mechanism each having an upper tooth and a lower tooth, said clamp mechanisms being formed on said plate cylinder; a press roller for pressing the plate material against an outer peripheral surface of the plate cylinder; and at least three positioning pins against which a plate front of the plate material is abutted for positioning the plate front, in which said at least three positioning pins are placed on the lower tooth of the plate front clamp mechanism in a predetermined interval in an axial direction of the plate cylinder. 6. The plate material placement apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising:
guide mechanism for guiding the plate front of the plate material into the plate front clamp mechanism. 7. The plate material placement apparatus according to claim 5, wherein at least one of said positioning pins is wider than that of each of other positioning pins in the axial direction of the plate cylinder.
8. The plate material placement apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising:
means for rotating the plate cylinder; means for detecting a rotation position of the plate cylinder; and means for stopping a rotation of the plate cylinder at a predetermined position when the plate material is placed. 9. The plate material placement apparatus according to claim 5, in which said plate cylinder is provided with a packing sheet material which is wound around said plate cylinder, and said packing sheet material includes a sheet-like base substance with at least one coarse face which is exposed to the outside thereof.
10. The plate material placement apparatus according to claim 5, in which said plate cylinder is provided with a packing sheet material which is wound around said plate cylinder, and said packing sheet material includes a sheet-like base substance with an adhesive face which is exposed the outside thereof.
11. A plate material placement apparatus comprising:
a plate cylinder on which a flexible plate material is placed; a plate front clamp mechanism and a plate back clamp mechanism each having an upper tooth and a lower tooth, said clamp mechanisms being formed on said plate cylinder; a press roller for pressing the plate material against an outer peripheral surface of the plate cylinder; a pin abutment member having higher rigidity than the plate material, to which a plate front of the plate material is fixedly secured, for abutting at least three positioning pins placed on the lower tooth of the plate front clamp mechanism, thereby positioning the plate material; and a plurality of pins and holes for positioning and fixing the pin abutment member and the plate material. 12. The plate material placement apparatus according to claim 11, further comprising:
guide mechanism for guiding the plate front of the plate material into the plate front clamp mechanism. 13. The plate material placement apparatus according to claim 11, further comprising:
means for rotating the plate cylinder; means for detecting a rotation position of the plate cylinder; and means for stopping a rotation of the plate cylinder at a predetermined position when the plate material is placed. 14. The plate material placement apparatus according to claim 11, in which said plate cylinder is provided with a packing sheet material which is wound around said plate cylinder, and said packing sheet material includes a sheet-like base substance with at least one coarse face which is exposed to the outside thereof.
15. The plate material placement apparatus according to claim 11, in which said plate cylinder is provided with a packing sheet material which is wound around said plate cylinder, and said packing sheet material includes a sheet-like base substance with an adhesive face which is exposed the outside thereof.
This is a divisional of application Ser. No. 09/289,945 filed Apr. 13, 1999 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,112,664, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
On the other hand, hitherto, various techniques for placing a plate material on a plate cylinder of a printing apparatus, etc., have been known. FIGS. 23 and 24 show a printing plate placement apparatus 260 for placing a plate material on a plate cylinder of a printing apparatus. FIG. 24 is an X arrow view in FIG. 23 and FIG. 23 is a sectional view taken on line Y�Y in FIG. 24.
As shown in FIG. 23, a plate cylinder 261 of a printing apparatus has a shape such that a part of a column is cut in an axial direction of the column and that a groove part 265 is made in a roughly flat plane of the cut end, which will be hereinafter referred to as flat face part 261 a. Provided in the groove part 265 are a plate front clamp mechanism 262 for clamping the plate front of the front end of a printing plate 270 and a plate back clamp mechanism 263 for clamping the plate back of the rear end of the printing plate 270. The clamp mechanism 262 (263) comprises a lower tooth 262 b (263 b) with the top face forming roughly the same flat face as the flat face part 261 a and an upper tooth 262 a (263 a) being supported on the lower tooth for rotation and capable of clamping the plate front between the upper tooth and the top face of the lower tooth.
Peak parts 261 c are formed between the flat face part 261 a of the plate cylinder 261 and a curved surface part 261 b. With some plate cylinders, peak parts may be formed between the lower tooth top face of clamp mechanism in place of the flat face part and curved surface part although not shown Normally, the portion where the flat face part 261 a and the curved surface part 261 b cross each other is rounded as a curved surface having a radius of 10 to 20 mm, but such a portion will also be called peak part in the specification.
As shown in FIG. 24, the lower tooth 262 b of the plate front clamp mechanism is formed on the top with two positioning pins 264 spaced from each other in an axial direction of the plate cylinder 261. Notches 266 are formed at the positions of the upper tooth 262 a of the plate front clamp mechanism corresponding to the positioning pins 264. Notches 271 are also formed at the positions of a plate front 270 a of the printing plate 270 indicated by phantom lines in the figure corresponding to the positioning pins 264.
For example, in the printing plate placement apparatus 260, when the operator inserts the plate front 270 a of the flexible printing plate 270 shown in FIG. 24 between the upper tooth 262 a and the lower tooth 262 b of the plate front clamp mechanism while holding the plate back 270 b of the printing plate 270 and abuts the plate front against the two positioning pins 264, the plate front 270 a may become deformed and be fixed in this deformed state. That is, in a plate cylinder on which a printing plate of a royal octavo or larger can be placed, the spacing between two positioning pins 264 becomes considerably wide and at the printing plate placing time, if the operator over pushes the flexible printing plate 270 even a little, the printing plate 270 becomes deformed so that the plate front 270 a projects in the push direction from between the two positioning pins 264. However, if the printing plate 270 is pushed insufficiently for avoiding such deformation, it cannot be positioned accurately.
As shown in FIG. 23, the flexible printing plate 270 is hard to be conformable to the outer peripheral surface of the plate cylinder 261 and tends to float up from the outer peripheral surface of the plate cylinder in the proximity of the peak part 261 c formed between the flat face part 261 a and the curved surface part 261 b of the plate cylinder 261.
Note that in the case where the surface roughness of the coarse face is equal to or more than 3 μm, projected portions formed on the coarse face can be eaten into the plate material, to thereby obtain an effect suppressing a strain/warp (extension) of the plate material.
FIG. 7 is a conceptual drawing to show still another form of the punch used with the punch section in the plate making apparatus shown FIG. 3;
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a multicolor planographic printing apparatus of one embodiment of the invention. This planographic printing apparatus is made up of a paper feed section 1, a print section 2, a paper discharge section 3, etc. Sheets of paper 4 piled on a pallet 1 a in the paper feed section 1 are transported one sheet at a time to print units 2 a, 2 b, 2 c, and 2 d of the print section 2 in order where printing is executed in four colors of black, cyan, magenta, and yellow. In each of the print units 2 a, 2 b, 2 c, and 2 d, ink is supplied from an ink device 5 via an ink roll 6 to a plate material (press plate) 13 placed on a plate cylinder 7 and is deposited on printing image areas and water is supplied to the plate material 13 via a moistening water roll (fountain solution roll) 9 from a wetting device 8 and is applied to a non-printing image area portion of the plate material 13. The ink on the printing image areas of the plate material 13 is transferred to a rubber cylinder 10 and paper 4 supplied to the nip between the rubber cylinder 10 and a press cylinder 11 is printed. At the termination of printing in one print unit, the paper 4 is transported to the next print unit by means of a paper passing cylinder 12. The paper 4 whose print is thus complete in the print section 2 is transported to the paper discharge section 3.
In the planographic printing apparatus of the embodiment, the plate cylinder 7 is formed in both side margins with protrusions 7 a and 7 b in the circumferential direction. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, the plate material (press plate) 13 used with the planographic printing apparatus is formed in left and right margins with plate cylinder engagement holes 14 a and 14 b along the transport direction. The plate cylinder engagement holes 14 a and 14 b in the plate material 13 are engaged in the protrusions 7 a and 7 b on the plate cylinder 7, whereby the plate material 13 is held on the plate cylinder 7.
Further, exposure reference holes 15 a and 15 b described later are made in the leading end part of the plate material 13.
FIG. 3 shows a plate making apparatus 20 of the plate material 13 and FIG. 4 shows a plate making procedure. In the plate making apparatus 20, a plate material 22 made of a photosensitive material like a roll, stored in a plate material (photosensitive material) storage section 21 is drawn out at step 101 and plate cylinder engagement holes 14 a and 14 b are punched in a punch section 23 and the plate material 22 is cut to desired dimensions at step 102. Next, the plate material 22 is transported to an exposure cylinder 25 of an exposure section 24, exposure reference holes 15 a and 15 b in the leading end part of the plate material 22 (see FIG. 2) are engaged in exposure reference pins 25 a and 25 a in the exposure cylinder 25, and registration is performed, then the plate material 22 is fixed and placed on the exposure cylinder 25 by a known method of clamp, vacuum, etc., at step 103. As the exposure cylinder 25 rotates, the plate material 22 is rotated and when it passes through a laser image output unit 26, printing image areas are drawn on the plate material 22 by laser light output based on image data from a DTP (desktop publishing) system 27 at step 104. The plate material 22 is stripped off from the exposure cylinder 25 at step 105 and is developed at step 106, then is discharged onto a plate discharge bed 28. The exposure and developing methods are not limited.
In the embodiment, two exposure reference pins 25 a and 25 a in the exposure cylinder 25 are provided, but the scope of the invention is not limited to the two exposure reference pins. For example, pins similar to the protrusions 7 a and 7 b on the plate cylinder 7 may be provided so as to engage the plate cylinder engagement holes 14 a and 14 b in the circumferential direction of the exposure cylinder 25.
FIG. 5 shows a punch 30 in the punch section 23 of the plate making apparatus 20. The punch 30 is placed on a transport passage of the plate material 22 and comprises a reception bed 31 forming a part of the transport passage and a frame bed 33 placed above the reception bed 31 and moved up and down by fluid pressure cylinders 32. The frame bed 33 has left and right frames 34 and 35, which are coupled with guide rails 36 and 37 in a dovetail groove manner as shown in FIG. 5 and are held in parallel and movable toward and away from the reception bed 31. The frames 34 and 35 are formed on the lower faces with pins 38 a and 38 b for punching the plate cylinder engagement holes 14 a and 14 b (see FIG. 2) at equal intervals along the length direction of the frames. A screw rod 39 is placed across the frames 34 and 35. It is supported on one frame 34 for rotation and is threadably engaged with the other frame 35. Therefore, the spacing between both frames 34 and 35 can be adjusted by turning the screw rod 39.
The punch 30 comprises a cutter 23 a in the rear end part of the guide rail 37. A pair of transport rolls 46 for supplying the plate material 22 to the reception bed 31, a pair of transport rolls 46 a for transporting the plate material 22 on the reception bed 31, and a pair of transport rolls 47 for discharging the plate material 22 from the reception bed 31 are disposed at the rear end, the middle, and the front end of the reception bed 31.
In the punch section 23 of the plate making apparatus 20 comprising the described punch 30, in the initial state of plate making work, the left and right frames 34 and 35 are moved up by the fluid pressure cylinders 32 and the paired transport rolls 46 a abut by the action of a fluid pressure cylinder (not shown)
In the state, when the plate material 22 is transported to the reception bed 31 by means of the transport rolls 46, it is sandwiched between the transport rolls 46 a and is transported. The plate material 22 stops at a constant position and is positioned by positioning means (not shown). Next, the fluid pressure cylinder (not shown) operates and moves the transport rolls 46 a up and down and the fluid pressure cylinders 32 are operated for moving the frames 34 and 35 down, thereby punching plate cylinder engagement holes 14 a and 14 b in the plate material 22 (plate material 13) by means of the pins 38 a and 38 b. Upon completion of the punching, the fluid pressure cylinders 32 are operated for moving the frames 34 and 35 up. Next, the plate material 22 is transported to the exposure cylinder 25 (see FIG. 3) by means of the transport rolls 46 a which come in contact with each other by the fluid pressure cylinder (not shown) and the transport rolls 47 which come in contact with each other by fluid pressure cylinder (not shown).
In the described punch 30, the transport rolls 46, 46 a, and 47 are disposed at the rear end, the middle, and the front end of the reception bed 31 for supplying the plate material 22 to the reception bed 31 and discharging the plate material 22 from the reception bed 31. However, if the reception bed 31 is formed of a belt conveyor or is placed at the punch position and a belt conveyor is disposed except at the punch position, the transport rolls 46, 46 a, and 47 are not necessarily required.
More than one set of the exposure reference pins 25 a of the exposure cylinder 25 may be provided corresponding to the used plate size (width), in which case pins other than those corresponding to the used plate size may be made to be able to be buried.
The exposure reference pins 25 a may be provided at positions not corresponding to the engagement holes; for example, they may be provided at the positions corresponding to the exposure reference holes 15 a and 15 b in the plate material as shown in FIG. 2, in which case exposure reference punch pins 40 a and 40 b may be provided at the guide rail 36 of the punch 30.
FIG. 6 shows another form of the punch 30. The punch 30 shown in FIG. 6 is made up of a punch roller 49 and a reception roller 50. Pins 51 a and 51 b are placed on left and right margins of the peripheral surface of the punch 30 at equal intervals in the circumferential direction for punching plate cylinder engagement holes 14 a and 14 b (see FIG. 2) in the left and right margins of the plate material 22 passing through the nip between both the rollers 49 and 50. Pins for punching exposure reference holes 15 b (see FIG. 2) may be placed on the punch roller 49.
FIG. 7 shows still another form of the punch 30. In the punch 30 shown in FIG. 7, pins 53 a and 53 b for punching plate cylinder engagement holes 14 a and 14 b (see FIG. 2) are placed on the peripheral surface of the exposure cylinder 25 and a reception roller 54 is provided facing the exposure cylinder 25. Further, a suction nozzle 55 is disposed in the proximity of the abutment part of the exposure cylinder 25 and the reception roller 54 for sucking chips of the punched plate material 22, and the remaining chips are scraped in a vessel 57 by a blade 56. Also in the punch 30 like that shown in FIG. 6, pins for punching exposure reference holes 15 b (see FIG. 2) may be placed on the exposure cylinder 25. In the punch 30 in FIG. 7, a cutter 58 for cutting the rear end of the plate material 22 is disposed separately from the exposure cylinder 25.
By the way, in the planographic printing apparatus of one embodiment of the invention, at least either of a surface 107 a of the plate cylinder 107 and a rear face 113 a of the plate material 113 is made a coarse face, as shown in FIG. 8. The surface roughness of the coarse face is set in the range of 3 μm to 12 μm as center line average roughness Ra, because if the surface roughness is less than 3 μm, a warp (extension) suppression effect of a plate material cannot be provided and if the surface roughness is larger than 12 μm, protrusions affect the plate surface, causing an image defect to occur on print matter.
Note that a center line average roughness(centerline average height) Ra of a seat material can be measured in accordance with JIS B0601. For example, the center line average roughness designated �Ra� with a micrometer unit/order can be calculated in accordance with a following equation (1): Ra = 1 L  ∫ 0 L   f  ( x )     x ( 1 ) where L is a measurement length of selected portion in a center line direction thereof which is selected from a measured sectional curve, and a roughness curve is represented by �y=f(x)� when x is a value on a X-axis corresponding to a center line of the selected portion, and y is a value on a Y-axis corresponding to a direction of a height magnification.
Available as a formation method of such a coarse face is a method of applying and drying a liquid comprising minute particles dispersed in a binder, a method of pushing minute particles into a binder by mechanical pressure after binder film formation, a method of electrode positing minute particles after binder film formation, a method of forming a coarse face by blasting and rolling by a rolling roll formed with minute protrusions, a method of forming a coarse face by metal spraying, electric discharge machining, laser beam machining, photo-resist application, exposing of a minute protrusion pattern, developing, removing of the resist, and etching, or the like.
In the described offset printing apparatus, the front and rear ends of the plate material 113 are retained by claws 107 b of the plate cylinder 107 and the plate material 113 is placed on the plate cylinder 107. At printing, if the plate material 113 is pressurized by the press cylinder 11, it is held on the plate cylinder 107 without being shifted from the plate cylinder 107 because of the presence of the coarse face of at least either of the surface 107 a of the plate cylinder 107 and the rear face 113 a of the plate material 113.
The base substance used for the planographic plate material packing sheet material 114 may be a substance well fitted to the plate cylinder 107 of printing apparatus, such as plastic of polyethylene teiephthalate, polypropylene, polyethylene, etc., metal of aluminum, SUS, etc., paper, synthetic paper, or cloth.
Five types of glass balls listed in Table 2 with prescription listed in Table 1 (manufactured by Union Co., Ltd.) and an acrylic resin (manufactured by Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd.; Tg=37� C., 40% toluene solution) as a binding agent with the glass balls were dispersed on a lumilar film (manufactured by Tore Co. Ltd.) as abase substance in toluene with an excel auto homogenizer (manufactured by Nihon Seiki Co., Ltd.) for 15 minutes at 12,000 rpm, then were applied and dried with a wire bar to the dry application amount 10 g/m2, providing a packing sheet sample.
Used part No.
UBS-0020 L
UB-03 L
UB-34 L
UBS-0020 L: UB-34 L
To measure plate extension at the printing time, a DAIYA1F1 two-color offset sheet rotary press manufactured by Mitubishi Heavy Industry Co., Ltd. was used. A planographic printing plate with an aluminum support free of plate extension was placed on the first-color plate cylinder of the press by a standard method.
a) Spray paste (manufactured by 3M Co., Ltd.) was applied to the side opposite to the particle application side of each of samples (1) to (3) described above as a packing sheet material, then the packing sheet material was put on the plate cylinder and ELP-2X master 0.2 mm thick (manufactured by Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd.), which is a planographic printing plate with a laminate support of paper and polyethylene, was placed on the packing sheet material by the standard method.
11.5 ◯
12.0 ◯
16.0 ◯
Plate extension evaluation indication
0 mm to less than 0.04 mm
0.04 mm to less than 0.05 mm
Image loss evaluation indication
In the planographic printing apparatus according to the invention, as shown in FIG. 10, if the plate cylinder 107 is formed in both side margins with protrusions 107 c and 107 d in the circumferential direction and the plate material 113 is formed in left and right margins with plate cylinder engagement holes 113 b and 113 c along the transport direction and the plate cylinder engagement holes 113 b and 113 c are engaged in the protrusions 107 c and 107 d of the plate cylinder 107 for holding the plate material 113 on the plate cylinder 107, the plate material 113 can be positioned accurately and easily. A position shift caused by extension of the parts of the plate material 113, etc., can be prevented because of the presence of the coarse face of at least either of the surface 107 a of the plate cylinder 107 and the rear face 113 a of the plate material 113.
As shown in FIG. 12, a lower tooth 212 b of the plate front clamp mechanism is formed on the top with three or more positioning pins 214 (in this case, seven) spaced from each other at predetermined intervals in an axial direction of the plate cylinder 261. Only one of the positioning pins 214 at the right in the figure is circular in cross section and each of other positioning pins is shaped like a cross-sectional form such that both sides of a circle are cut in a direction orthogonal to the axial direction of the plate cylinder so that the width of the positioning pin in the axial direction of the plate cylinder is narrower than that of the positioning pin which is circular in cross section in the axial direction of the plate cylinder.
Notches 216 are formed at appropriate positions of an upper tooth 212 a corresponding to the positioning pins 214. Notches 271 are formed at appropriate positions of a plate front 270 a of the press plate 270 corresponding to the positioning pins 214.
To place the press plate 270 on the plate cylinder 211, first the operator pushes the press plate 270 so as to insert the plate front 270 a into the space between the upper tooth 212 a and the lower tooth 212 b of the plate front clamp mechanism while holding a plate back 270 b of the press plate 270 and abuts the inner peripheral surfaces of the notches 271 of the plate front 270 a against the positioning pins 214 shown in FIG. 12 for positioning the plate front 270 a. In this state, the operator closes the upper tooth 212 a and fixes the plate front 270 a. Next, in the state in FIG. 11, the plate cylinder 211 is rotated counterclockwise by the control means (not shown) for winding the press plate 270 around the plate cylinder. When the plate cylinder 211 is rotated and the control means senses the rotation position of the plate cylinder at which the press roller 217 can abut a flat face part 211 a of the plate cylinder, the control means stops rotating the plate cylinder 211.
As shown in FIG. 15, the press roller 217 is abutted against the flat face part 211 a of the plate cylinder for pressing the press plate 270 against the outer peripheral surface of the plate cylinder 211. Again, the plate cylinder 211 is rotated counterclockwise by the control means (not shown). Thus, the press plate 270 can be pressed against the outer peripheral surface of the plate cylinder before and after (in other words, in adjacent to) a peak part 211 c of the plate cylinder by means of the press roller 217. At this time, the press roller 217 urged toward the outer peripheral surface of the plate cylinder by the cylinder 218 moves in accordance with the shape of the outer peripheral surface of the plate cylinder.
At this point in time, the operator bends the neighborhood of the plate back 270 b of the press plate and inserts the plate back 270 b into the space between an upper tooth 213 a and a lower tooth 213 b of the plate back clamp mechanism, as shown in FIG. 17. At this time, the plate back 270 b floats up from the flat face part 211 a of the plate cylinder 211 and the top of the lower tooth 213 b. Again, the plate cylinder 211 is rotated counterclockwise by the control means (not shown). Thus, the press plate can be pressed against the outer peripheral surface of the plate cylinder before and after (in adjacent to) the peak part of the plate cylinder by means of the press roller 217 and as shown in FIG. 18, the plate back 270 b can be brought into intimate contact with the flat face part 211 a and the top of the lower tooth 213 b. Last, the upper tooth 213 a of the plate back clamp mechanism is closed and the plate back 270 b is fixed, then the press roller 217 is retreated from the press plate 270. Placing of the flexible print plate on the plate cylinder 211 is now complete.
In the described press plate placement apparatus 210, the plate front 270 a of the flexible press plate 270 is abutted against the seven positioning pins 214 placed on the lower tooth 212 b of the plate front clamp mechanism and is positioned. Therefore, the spacing between the positioning pins becomes narrow as compared with that in the related art and even a press plate of a royal octavo, etc., does not become deformed in such a manner that the plate front 270 a projects from between the positioning pins 214.
In the press plate placement apparatus 210, the press roller 217 presses the press plate against the outer peripheral surface of the plate cylinder before and after the peak part 211 c of the outer peripheral surface of the plate cylinder (peak part on the plate front clamp mechanism 212 side and peak part on the plate back clamp mechanism 213 side), so that the press plate 270 placed on the plate cylinder 211 does not float up from the outer peripheral surface of the plate cylinder. Therefore, the operator need not strongly pull the plate back 270 b to remove floating up of the press plate 270, thus the plate back 270 b of the flexible press plate 270 does not suffer deformation such as extension. A load can be taken off the operator.
In the embodiment, when the plate back 270 b is fixed to the plate back clamp mechanism 213, the operators bends the neighborhood of the plate back 270 b and inserts the plate back 270 b into the space between the upper tooth 213 a and the lower tooth 213 b of the plate back clamp mechanism, so that the plate back clamp mechanism 213 need not be of a structure for enabling the upper tooth 213 a to be opened largely. Therefore, there is no fear of rotating the plate cylinder in error with the upper tooth 213 a of the plate back clamp mechanism opened largely for causing damage to another member or injuring the operator.
FIG. 19 shows a flexible press plate 280 and pain abutment member 230 fixedly secured to a plate front of the press plate 280, used in the other embodiment. The press plate 280 is formed at the plate front with notches 281 each shaped like U in the peripheral margin at the positions corresponding to the two positioning pins 264 shown in FIG. 24. It is also formed at the plate front with a number of fixation holes 282 (in this case, seven) spaced appropriately from each other from side to side of the press plate 280 in FIG. 19.
FIG. 20A is an enlarged view of the neighborhood of the notch 281 of the press plate when the pin abutment member 230 shown in FIG. 19 is fixedly secured to the plate front of the press plate 280. FIG. 20B is a sectional view taken on line Y�Y in FIG. 20A. As shown in FIG. 20A, the fixation pins 232 of the pin abutment member 230 are inserted into the fixation holes 282 of the press plate 280, whereby the pin abutment member 230 is fixedly secured to the press plate 280. At this time, a part of the peripheral margin of each circular insertion hole 233 of the pin abutment member 230 matches the bend part of the U-shaped peripheral margin of the corresponding notch 281 of the press plate 280.
FIG. 21 shows a flexible press plate 280 and a pin abutment member 240 fixedly secured to a plate front of the press plate 280, used in the further other embodiment.
FIG. 22 is an enlarged view of the neighborhood of a notch 281 of the press plate when the pin abutment member 240 is fixedly secured to the plate front of the press plate 280. As the shown here, fixation pins 242 of the pin abutment member 240 are inserted into fixation holes 282 of the press plate 280, whereby the pin abutment member 240 is fixedly secured to the press plate 280. At this time, the peripheral margin of each notch 243 of the pin abutment member 240 matches the peripheral margin of the corresponding notch 281 of the press plate 280.
Note that although the above-mentioned embodiments according to the present invention were separately explained, it is possible to apply one to another (that is to combine two or more embodiments) so as to further improve an efficiency, a printing quality or the like
The present invention is based on three Japanese Patent Application Nos. Hei. 10-273745, Hei. 10-124865 and Hei. 10-101330, which are incorporated herein by reference.
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LabowMethod and apparatus for embedding ornamental objects into sheet materialUS20120067084 *Sep 15, 2011Mar 22, 2012Labow Edward DMethod and apparatus for embedding ornamental objects into sheet material* Cited by examinerClassifications U.S. Classification101/477, 101/415.1International ClassificationB41F13/10, G03F9/00, B41F27/12, G03F7/20Cooperative ClassificationB41F27/1206, B41F27/1281, B41F13/10, G03F9/00, G03F7/2055European ClassificationB41F13/10, G03F9/00, B41F27/12A, G03F7/20S2B, B41F27/12ELegal EventsDateCodeEventDescriptionJun 13, 2014REMIMaintenance fee reminder mailedApr 29, 2010FPAYFee paymentYear of fee payment: 8Feb 15, 2007ASAssignmentOwner name: FUJIFILM CORPORATION, JAPANFree format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:FUJIFILM HOLDINGS CORPORATION (FORMERLY FUJI PHOTO FILM CO., LTD.);REEL/FRAME:018904/0001Effective date: 20070130Owner name: FUJIFILM CORPORATION,JAPANFree format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:FUJIFILM HOLDINGS CORPORATION (FORMERLY FUJI PHOTO FILM CO., LTD.);US-ASSIGNMENT DATABASE UPDATED:20100203;REEL/FRAME:18904/1Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:FUJIFILM HOLDINGS CORPORATION (FORMERLY FUJI PHOTO FILM CO., LTD.);US-ASSIGNMENT DATABASE UPDATED:20100209;REEL/FRAME:18904/1Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:FUJIFILM HOLDINGS CORPORATION (FORMERLY FUJI PHOTO FILM CO., LTD.);US-ASSIGNMENT DATABASE UPDATED:20100211;REEL/FRAME:18904/1Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:FUJIFILM HOLDINGS CORPORATION (FORMERLY FUJI PHOTO FILM CO., LTD.);US-ASSIGNMENT DATABASE UPDATED:20100216;REEL/FRAME:18904/1Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:FUJIFILM HOLDINGS CORPORATION (FORMERLY FUJI PHOTO FILM CO., LTD.);US-ASSIGNMENT DATABASE UPDATED:20100223;REEL/FRAME:18904/1Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:FUJIFILM HOLDINGS CORPORATION (FORMERLY FUJI PHOTO FILM CO., LTD.);US-ASSIGNMENT DATABASE UPDATED:20100302;REEL/FRAME:18904/1Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:FUJIFILM HOLDINGS CORPORATION (FORMERLY FUJI PHOTO FILM CO., LTD.);US-ASSIGNMENT DATABASE UPDATED:20100309;REEL/FRAME:18904/1Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:FUJIFILM HOLDINGS CORPORATION (FORMERLY FUJI PHOTO FILM CO., LTD.);US-ASSIGNMENT DATABASE UPDATED:20100316;REEL/FRAME:18904/1Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:FUJIFILM HOLDINGS CORPORATION (FORMERLY FUJI PHOTO FILM CO., LTD.);US-ASSIGNMENT DATABASE UPDATED:20100323;REEL/FRAME:18904/1Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:FUJIFILM HOLDINGS CORPORATION (FORMERLY FUJI PHOTO FILM CO., LTD.);US-ASSIGNMENT DATABASE UPDATED:20100330;REEL/FRAME:18904/1Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:FUJIFILM HOLDINGS CORPORATION (FORMERLY FUJI PHOTO FILM CO., LTD.);US-ASSIGNMENT DATABASE UPDATED:20100406;REEL/FRAME:18904/1Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:FUJIFILM HOLDINGS CORPORATION (FORMERLY FUJI PHOTO FILM CO., LTD.);US-ASSIGNMENT DATABASE UPDATED:20100413;REEL/FRAME:18904/1Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:FUJIFILM HOLDINGS CORPORATION (FORMERLY FUJI PHOTO FILM CO., LTD.);US-ASSIGNMENT DATABASE UPDATED:20100420;REEL/FRAME:18904/1Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:FUJIFILM HOLDINGS CORPORATION (FORMERLY FUJI PHOTO FILM CO., LTD.);US-ASSIGNMENT DATABASE UPDATED:20100427;REEL/FRAME:18904/1Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:FUJIFILM HOLDINGS CORPORATION (FORMERLY FUJI PHOTO FILM CO., LTD.);US-ASSIGNMENT DATABASE UPDATED:20100504;REEL/FRAME:18904/1Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:FUJIFILM HOLDINGS CORPORATION (FORMERLY FUJI PHOTO FILM CO., LTD.);US-ASSIGNMENT DATABASE UPDATED:20100511;REEL/FRAME:18904/1Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:FUJIFILM HOLDINGS CORPORATION (FORMERLY FUJI PHOTO FILM CO., LTD.);US-ASSIGNMENT DATABASE UPDATED:20100518;REEL/FRAME:18904/1Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:FUJIFILM HOLDINGS CORPORATION (FORMERLY FUJI PHOTO FILM CO., LTD.);US-ASSIGNMENT DATABASE UPDATED:20100525;REEL/FRAME:18904/1Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:FUJIFILM HOLDINGS CORPORATION (FORMERLY FUJI PHOTO FILM CO., LTD.);REEL/FRAME:18904/1Apr 7, 2006FPAYFee paymentYear of fee payment: 4RotateOriginal ImageGoogle Home - Sitemap - USPTO Bulk Downloads - Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - About Google Patents - Send FeedbackData provided by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services