Printing – Print plate feeding or delivering
Reexamination Certificate
2003-10-01
2004-08-17
Hirshfeld, Andrew H. (Department: 2854)
Printing
Print plate feeding or delivering
C101S389100, C271S009080, C271S106000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06776097
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a plate supplying apparatus, and more particularly to a plate supplying apparatus for supplying a plate, which is transferred such that its faces are reversed, from a storage section in which a plurality of plates are piled such that each plate alternates with a slip sheet.
2. Related Art Statement
A conventional plate supplying apparatus automatically supplies a plate, such as a presensitized (PS) plate, to an image recording apparatus for irradiating that plate with a laser beam to directly record an image thereon. The plate used with such an image recording apparatus includes a support layer and an image recording layer. Since the image recording layer is easily damaged, the utmost caution is required when supplying the plate. In recent years, a variety of types of plates having a thickness between 0.15 millimeters (mm) and 0.50 mm have come into wide use.
The conventional plate supplying apparatus receives a cassette containing a plurality of plates each alternating with a slip sheet for preventing friction between plates. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2000-247489 discloses a plate supplying apparatus which includes a movable arm or the like having plate suction cups. In the state where the plate suction cups secure a support layer side of a plate via suction, the movable arm moves the plate suction cups to a prescribed position, so that the plate is taken out from a cassette, and then supplied to an image recording apparatus as described above. Each time the movable arm or the like takes a plate out from the cassette, movable slip sheet suction cups secure a slip sheet via suction. In this state, the slip sheet suction cups move to a prescribed position, thereby ejecting the slip sheet from the conventional plate supplying apparatus.
Referring to
FIGS. 23
to
26
, an operation of the above-described conventional plate supplying apparatus will be described.
FIGS. 23
to
26
are views used for explaining a series of operation of a plate transfer mechanism which is included in a plate supplying apparatus
200
and used for transferring plates P from a cassette
206
toward an image recording apparatus.
In
FIGS. 23
to
26
, the plates P to be supplied from the plate supplying apparatus
200
are stored in the cassette
206
such that an image recording layer of each plate P faces downwards. The plates Pare piled in the cassette
206
in a manner as described above, i.e., each plate P alternates with a slip sheet S. The plate transfer mechanism included in the plate supplying apparatus
200
transfers the plates P from the cassette
206
placed in a plate supply position to the image recording apparatus. The plate transfer mechanism includes a traveling member
204
which travels along a guide rail
210
by receiving drive from an endless synchronous belt
207
which is caused to move rotationally by drive of a motor
208
transmitted via a belt
209
. The traveling member
204
has a coupling member
205
secured thereon. The coupling member
205
holds the synchronous belt
207
by sandwiching the synchronous belt
207
between two separate portions so as to receive the drive therefrom. The traveling member
204
also includes a speed reducer
203
having a pinion to be engaged with a rack rail
211
provided in parallel with the guide rail
210
. The speed reducer
203
has an arm
202
secured on an output shaft thereof. The arm
202
has an end portion including a support board on which a plurality of suction pads
201
are provided for holding a plate P via suction. The plurality of suction pads
201
are provided so as to conform to the plates P stored in the cassette
206
.
In the case where the plate transfer mechanism having the above-described structure is in the state illustrated in
FIG. 23
, when the traveling member
204
is driven by the motor
208
so as to move toward a direction to the right (hereinafter, referred to as the “transfer movement direction”), as illustrated in
FIGS. 24-26
, the arm
202
pivots on the center of the output shaft of the speed reducer
203
in a clockwise direction (hereinafter, referred to as the “transfer turn direction”). Therefore, in the case where the suction pads
201
hold a support layer side of a plate P via suction in the state illustrated in
FIG. 23
, and then, as illustrated in
FIGS. 24-26
, the traveling member
204
is driven by the motor
208
so as to move toward the transfer movement direction, when the arm
202
pivots 180° in the transfer turn direction, the plate P held via suction by the suction pads
201
is turned, such that the plate's faces are reversed (i.e., the support layer of the plate P faces downwards), while experiencing bending stress. Thereafter, as illustrated in
FIG. 26
, a leading end of the plate P will be sandwiched between a pair of transfer rollers
212
and
213
for transferring the plate P to the image recording apparatus.
In some cases, when the arm
202
transfers the plate P, a slip sheet S adhering to a back face of the plate P can also be transferred together depending on the type of the slip sheet S and an environmental condition such as static electricity. In order to solve such a problem, the plate supplying apparatus
200
disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2000-247489 performs, for example, a so-called separating operation during transfer of the plate P held via suction by the suction pads
201
by causing the plate P to stand still, or vibrate, for a prescribed period, thereby peeling off the slip sheet S adhering to the back face of the plate P.
Referring to
FIG. 27
, described next is an exemplary operation of peeling off the slip sheet S by swinging the arm
202
for a prescribed time period.
FIG. 27
is a graph illustrating movements of the arm
202
swinging for a prescribed time period with respect to the speed of the traveling member
204
moving toward the transfer movement direction and the angle of the arm
202
in the transfer turn direction. In
FIG. 27
, the speed of the traveling member
204
moving from the position in
FIG. 23
toward the transfer movement direction is indicated by a positive value, and the angle of the arm
202
in the transfer turn direction is indicated on the assumption that the arm
202
in the state of
FIG. 23
is set at an angle of 0°.
In
FIG. 27
, when the arm
202
is placed at 0° in the transfer turn direction, a plate P is held via suction by the suction pads
201
(the state of FIG.
23
). Then, the traveling member
204
moves toward the transfer movement direction until the arm
202
reaches an angle a. Thereafter, in a section from the angle a to an angle b, the traveling member
204
repeatedly makes a slight movement toward the transfer movement direction and a pause. When the arm
202
reaches the angle b, the traveling member
204
moves backwards in an anti-transfer movement direction until the arm
202
returns to the angle a. Then again, in the section from the angle a to the angle b, the traveling member
204
repeatedly makes a slight movement toward the transfer movement direction and a pause. The plate supplying apparatus
200
repeats the above-described operation a prescribed number of times, and thereafter transfers the plate P held via suction by the suction pads
201
toward the image recording apparatus in a manner as described above.
However, in such a conventional plate supplying apparatus
200
which is configured to peel off the slip sheet S adhering to the back face of the plate P by causing the plate P to stand still for a prescribed time period during transfer, the reliability of peeling off the slip sheet S is low. In some cases, the slip sheet S adhering to the back face of the plate P can be transferred together with the plate P.
In the above-described case of peeling off the slip sheet S adhering to the back face of the plate P by swinging the arm
202
for a prescribed time period, it is necessary to increase the angle bin order to reliably peel off t
Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co,. Ltd.
Hirshfeld Andrew H.
Williams Kevin D.
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