BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a printing position detection and correction method
for a printing device, wherein, with respect to a duplicator of the printing device
having a reciprocating printing impression roll, the construction is made to properly
adjust for the error of the printing position which occurs due to the deviation of
a printing paper sheet generated during contact of the impression face of the printing
impression roll with the printing paper sheet, the friction resistance during contact
of the printing impression roll with the printing paper sheet to perform forward or
backward movement, the fact that the printing paper sheet is not properly supplied
and arranged at a specified place on a base stand and the like; and control is made
extremely simple, rapid, and accurate so as to make the printing state of a strip-shaped
printed article and the downstream processing state by a downstream step processing
device to be regular within an acceptable range in relation to the printing device.
Prior art
[0002] With respect to a printing device comprising a duplicator for performing intermittent
printing onto a strip-shaped article subjected to printing supplied from a paper supply
device using a printing impression roll which performs positive or reversed rotation
when performing forward or backward movement in a direction perpendicular to a transmission
direction of the strip-shaped article subjected to printing; a die cutting device
for punching a strip-shaped printed article printed by the duplicator into a suitable
shape; and a punched residue winding device for winding a punched residue after punching
by the die cutting device; in the case of the duplicator, an application roller for
applying ink during the forward step onto a printing impression face of the printing
impression roll which performs positive or reversed rotation while performing forward
or backward movement, and an application roller for applying ink during the backward
step, are allowed to contact each of the individual ink rolls which rotate in the
reverse direction with respect to the rotation direction of each of the application
rollers, so as to adhere ink onto each of the application rollers; and in the conventional
duplicator, for example, as shown in Figs. 2A, 2B, and 2C, a plurality of ink rolls
are interposed between a bottling roll 46 for sending ink from an ink tank 45 and
the application roller 48 for applying ink onto the printing impression roll 47.
[0003] By disposing such a plurality of ink rolls therebetween, the adhesion of ink onto
the application roller for applying ink onto the printing impression roll has been
equalized.
[0004] Additionally, in contrast, with respect to a duplicator in which a printing impression
roll is allowed to perform positive or reversed rotation with forward or backward
movement, and in which a printing paper sheet is intermittently supplied and stopped
by a certain length in a direction perpendicular to the forward or backward movement
direction to perform printing, a phenomenon has occurred in which the printing paper
sheet deviates slightly during contact of the printing impression roll with the printing
paper sheet.
[0005] The applicant has made various improvements for devices for adjusting such deviation
of the printing paper sheet, and for example, has filed a patent application as Japanese
Patent Application No. 59-162505.
[0006] This patent application applies to a duplicator having a reciprocating printing impression
roll which is formed such that a rack mechanism is formed in parallel with the moving
direction of a reciprocating printing impression roll, a gear is attached to one end
of a rotation shaft of the printing impression roll, and the gear is allowed to engage
with a rack of the rack mechanism; thereby the printing impression roll is allowed
to perform positive or reversed rotation in accordance with the reciprocating movement;
characterized in that an operation control mechanism is arranged for controlling operation
of the above-mentioned printing impression roll; the operation control mechanism comprises
a preceding positive or reversed rotation mechanism which permits rotation in which
the positive or reversed rotation in accordance with the reciprocating movement of
the above-mentioned printing impression roll is faster than the standard positive
or reversed rotation when the engagement of the above-mentioned gear with the rack
of the rack mechanism is the engagement of a standard gear with a standard rack engaging
therewith, and a slip driven rotation mechanism which rotates the printing impression
roll to slip the forced positive or reversed rotation to simulate the rotation due
to the engagement of the above-mentioned gear with the rack of the rack mechanism
to some extent when the printing impression roll is applied with forced positive or
reversed rotation force to rotate faster than the standard positive or reversed rotation;
the above-mentioned rack mechanism is formed such that a first rack and a second rack
arranged in parallel are allowed to approach or contact so as to simultaneously engage
the above-mentioned gear with the first rack and the second rack; tooth grooves of
the first rack and the second rack are formed to have a groove width wider than that
of the standard rack; the formation is made to suitably deviate phases of the tooth
grooves of the first rack and the second rack; the formation is thereby made such
that an engagement state of simultaneous engagement of the gear with the first rack
and the second rack is controlled to give forced positive or reversed rotation so
as to slightly precede the rotation in accordance with the reciprocating movement
of the printing impression roll with respect to the above-mentioned standard positive
or reversed rotation.
[0007] Furthermore, the present state of the art in the printing device with respect to
the control of a printing state of the strip-shaped printed article and a downstream
processing state by the downstream step processing device is such that trial printing
is performed several times, a skilled person observes it visually so as to judge whether
the error is within an acceptable range or exceeds the range, and correction is made
by manual work in accordance with the perception of the skilled person.
[0008] Additionally, a die cutting device in such a printing device is formed to have a
sliding mechanism for detaching its upper chase plate in which, between an upper frame
and a lower frame of the die cut of the printing device, items such as labels, seals
and the like are inserted into the upper chase plate made of thick steel attached
with a punching blade at its lower face in a detachable manner via suitable rails
at both sides in a manner simply capable of free insertion and detachment in forward
and rearward directions, and when the punching blade is exchanged or the punching
blade is inspected, the upper chase plate is slid forwardly to once remove the upper
chase plate from the rails, and thereafter the upper chase plate is turned.
[0009] In addition, a printing production device for labels and the like is provided for
various markets in which a strip-shaped printed article on which a pattern or letters
is continuously and suitably printed by a duplicator, is suitably and continuously
punched by a die cutting device at a portion containing the pattern or letters as
a predetermined product in the next step, and such a printing production device for
labels and the like is necessarily added and provided with a punched residue winding
device after punching the product with respect to the strip-shaped printed article
as having a reeling device for automatically winding the continuous punched residue
generated during the operation period.
[0010] Such a punched residue winding device has a general structure in which the continuous
punched residue, after suitably and continuously punching a predetermined product
from the strip-shaped printed article by means of the die cutting device, is simply
and automatically wound by means of the reeling device.
[0011] However, in the conventional duplicator, with respect to its ink supply mechanism,
a plurality of ink rolls is interposed between the bottling roll for supplying ink
and the application roller for applying ink onto the printing impression roll, and
it has therefore taken a long time to allow ink to arrive at the printing impression
roll from the ink tank.
[0012] In addition, a plurality of ink rolls rotate, so that ink adhered to each of tee
rolls has scattered. At the same time, a plurality of ink rolls are in rotating abutment,
so that each of the ink rolls has been easily heated.
[0013] Furthermore, because of the presence of a plurality of ink rolls therebetween, a
plurality of ink rolls should be exchanged when the color of the ink is changed, and
it has taken a long time to do the exchanging work or washing work for the roll.
[0014] In addition, in the patent application in relation to the above-mentioned Japanese
Patent Application No. 59-162505, although the deviation of the printing paper sheet
generated during the contact of the impression face of the printing impression roll
with the printing paper sheet can be adjusted, it has been impossible to adjust the
deviation of the printing paper sheet generated during the reciprocating movement
on the printing paper sheet after the contact of the printing impression roll with
the printing paper sheet.
[0015] This deviation of the printing paper sheet occurs due to frictional resistance during
reciprocating movement with the contact of the printing impression roll with the printing
paper sheet, and due to the fact that the printing paper sheet is not accurately supplied
and arranged at a specified place on a base stand and the like.
[0016] As a result, for example, when a printed portion is punched by a press machine or
the like after the completion of printing during the production of labels and the
like, the print position deviates from a predetermined position, -so that problems
have occurred in which the pattern of a label or the like cannot be accurately punched
during the punching process.
[0017] In addition, in order to avoid such a situation, a lock bolt which fixes the printing
impression roll and its gear is loosened, and the change of the phase of the printing
impression roll must be set by manual rotation; the adjustment of the contact face
between the impression face of the printing impression roll and the printing paper
sheet has therefore been extremely troublesome.
[0018] Furthermore printing operation should be interrupted one by one so as to perform
such an adjustment, and this has consumed time in the printing operation.
[0019] On the other hand, with respect to the printing device, in relation to the control
of the printing state of the strip-shaped printed article and the downstream processing
state by the downstream step processing device, a long time is required for correction,
even in the case of being performed by a skilled person, or the correction cannot
be made accurately due to dependency on the perception of the operator, or the labor
costs become high because of the requirement of a skilled person; therefore, it has
been regarded as completely impossible to contemplate lowering the cost of printing,
which has been a large problem in printing work.
[0020] In addition, with respect to the die cutting device, due to a combination of the
facts that the punching blade is attached to the lower face of the upper chase plate
and the upper chase plate is made of thick steel, the upper chase plate is extremely
heavy, and it is therefore troublesome to exchange the punching blade or inspect the
punching blade, and there is a fear of accidental dropping, which is extremely dangerous.
[0021] Furthermore, in the case of the structure of the abovementioned punched residue winding
device, the continuous punched residue is highly likely to be cut, and the punched
residue itself is a strip-shaped article after the punching of the product, so that
it is cut during winding, or it is almost impossible to tightly wind, and the continuous
punched residue cannot be wound in a regular manner, resulting in occurrence of various
inconveniences.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0022] In accordance with the invention, the problem mentioned above is solved in accordance
with the fact that with respect to a printing position detection and correction method
for a printing device comprising a duplicator for performing intermittent printing
onto a strip-shaped article subjected to printing supplied from a paper supply device
using a printing impression roll which performs positive or reversed rotation while
performing forward or backward movement in a direction perpendicular to a sending
direction of the strip-shaped article subjected to printing, a die cutting device
for punching a strip-shaped printed article printed by the duplicator into a suitable
shape, and a punched residue winding device for winding a punched residue after punching
by the die cutting device, when a pattern or letters are continuously and suitably
printed onto the strip-shaped printed article by means of the duplicator to form a
print portion, a matchmark for position determination of printing is formed beforehand
at a proper position around the print portion to be printed; and at first, a regular
positional relationship when the print portion is printed at a regular position is
registered as data beforehand; next, a CCD camera or a sensor is installed at a proper
position through which the strip-shaped printed article passes after printing, the
matchmark formed at the proper position around the print portion is monitored by means
of the CCD camera or the sensor so as to detect the regular positional relationship
of the matchmark; and data obtained thereby are compared with the regular positional
relationship of the matchmark, and correction instructions are not given to a downstream
step processing device which performs downstream processing of the strip-shaped printed
article when the error is within a range of setting of the standard, or instruction
of correction is given to the downstream step processing device when the error is
outside the range of setting of the standard so as to correct and adjust the positional
deviation corresponding to the error.
[0023] In addition, in the case of the detection and correction of the printing position
for the printing device, when a pattern or letters is continuously and suitably printed
onto the strip-shaped printed article by means of the printing device to form the
printed portion, the matchmark for position determination of printing is formed beforehand
at the proper position around the print portion to be printed; and at first, the regular
positional relationship when the print portion is printed at the regular position
is registered as data beforehand; next, the CCD camera or the sensor is installed
at the proper position through which the strip-shaped printed article after printing
passes; the matchmark formed at the proper position around the print portion is monitored
by means of the CCD camera or the sensor so as to detect the regular positional relationship
of the matchmark; and data obtained thereby are compared with the regular positional
relationship of the matchmark, and instruction of correction is not given to the downstream
step processing device which performs downstream processing of the strip-shaped printed
article when the error is within a range of setting of the standard, or alternatively,
instruction of correction is given to the downstream step processing device when the
error is outside the range of setting of the standard so as to correct and adjust
the positional deviation corresponding to the error, thereby the positional relationship
of the matchmark it self is compared with the position in the regular case to judge
the error thereof, so that in the same manner as the case of the above-mentioned printing
state detection and correction, automatic, rapid, and accurate control can be carried
out.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0024] Fig. 1 is an illustrative front view of an example of a printing device.
[0025] Fig. 2A is a side view showing an installation example of rolls in a conventional
duplicator.
[0026] Fig. 2B is a side view showing an installation example of rolls in a conventional
duplicator.
[0027] Fig. 2C is a side view showing an installation example of rolls in a conventional
duplicator.
[0028] Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a part of a strip-shaped printed article in an example
of the present invention.
[0029] Fig. 4 is an illustrative side view of a monitoring portion in an example of the
present invention.
[0030] Fig. 5 is a chart in the case of printing position detection and correction in an
example of the present invention.
PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION
[0031] An example of the present invention will be explained hereinafter on the basis of
the drawings.
[0032] As shown in Fig. 1, a printing device 1 comprises a duplicator 3 which performs intermittent
printing onto a strip-shaped article subjected to printing S1 supplied from a paper
supply device 2 using a printing impression roll which performs positive or reversed
rotation while performing forward or backward movement in a direction perpendicular
to a sending direction of the strip-shaped article subjected to printing S1, an image
processing mechanism 7 which detects and corrects deviation of a printing position
of a printed article and the like, a laminating mechanism 4 which laminates a transparent
adhesive film onto a print face of the printed strip-shaped printed article S2, a
die cutting device 5 which punches the strip-shaped printed article S2 printed by
the duplicator 3 into a suitable shape, a punched residue winding device 6 which winds
a punched residue A after punching by the die cutting device 5, and a product winding
device 8 which winds the punched product. In the figures in this case, it is not shown
that in the rearward direction of the duplicator 3, a drying mechanism is arranged
for drying ink printed by the duplicator 3.
[0033] The above-mentioned duplicator 3 comprises a bottling roll 13 for sending ink from
an ink tank 12, an access roll 15 which rotates with a support arm 14 to suitably
abut against the bottling roll 13, and a fixed metal roll 18 and a kneading roll 19
for adhering ink supplied by the bottling roll 13 and the access roll 15 onto ink
rolls 16 and 17 as an ink applying device 11.
[0034] The access roll 15 which constitutes the ink applying device 11 has such a structure
that it abuts against the bottling roll 13 when it tilts upward, and it abuts against
the fixed metal roll 18 when it tilts downward. In addition, the kneading roll 19
which abuts against the fixed metal roll 18 comprises two rolls 20 and 21 which rotate
while being provided with a driving device. The two rolls which constitute the kneading
roll 19 abut against the ink rolls 16 and 17 and supply ink to the rolls 16 and 17.
[0035] The ink applying device 11 shown in Fig. 1 is constituted such that to a sliding
base stand 24 attached in a manner capable of sliding in the horizontal direction
via a rail 23 arranged in the lateral direction of a duplicator main body 22 are fixed
the bottling roll 13 for sending ink from the ink tank 12, the access roll 15 which
rotates with the support arm 14 to suitably abut against the bottling roll 13, and
the fixed metal roll 18 and the kneading roll 19 for adhering ink supplied by the
bottling roll 13 and the access roll 15 onto the ink rolls 16 and 17.
[0036] When a pattern or letters is continuously and suitably printed onto the strip shaped
article subjected to printing S1 by means of the duplicator 3 as described above so
as to form a print portion 82, the detection of a printing state and a printing position
is performed, and the correction thereof is performed, if necessary.
[0037] Among these, in the detection and correction method of the printing state and position,
at first, as shown in Fig. 3, a variable density indicating portion 83 to serve as
the standard of the variable density judgement for color is printed at a proper position
around the printed print portion 82.
[0038] In the case of the figure, standard implantation for 4 colors in total is formed
as two individuals in a thin band shape at both sides of print portion 82 beforehand.
[0039] In addition, at a proper position at the side of the print portion 82, a matchmark
84 is provided one by one for the print portion 82 beforehand.
[0040] The strip-shaped printed article S2 thus printed is allowed to pass through the image
processing mechanism 7 shown in Fig. 4.
[0041] This image processing mechanism 7 is arranged at the downstream step side of the
duplicator 3, which is formed by fixing a CCD camera 93 to a moving frame 92 supported
by a base column 91. In this case, the CCD camera 93 may be provided as one individual;
however, the variable density indicating portions 83 are arranged at both sides of
the print portion 82, so that two individuals are desirable.
[0042] In the case of the detection and correction of the printing position in the printing
device, as in a chart shown in Fig. 5, after the start of detection, the regular positional
relationship of the matchmark 84 when the print portion 82 is printed at the regular
position is registered as data beforehand, and next, the CCD camera 93 is installed
at a monitoring portion through which the strip-shaped printed article S2 after printing
passes as described above, the matchmark 84 formed at the proper position around the
above-mentioned print portion 82 is monitored by means of the CCD camera so as to
detect the positional relationship of the matchmark 84, and data obtained thereby
are compared with the regular positional relationship of the matchmark 84, and when
the error is within the set range of the standard, instruction of correction is not
given to the downstream step processing device for performing downstream processing
of the strip-shaped printed article S2, for example, the die cutting device 5, or
when the error is outside the set range of the standard, correction instructions are
given to the downstream step processing device so as to correct and adjust the positional
deviation corresponding to the error. In this case, instead of the CCD camera 93,
it is also possible to use a sensor (not shown), and in such a case, the error is
corrected in accordance with the positional relationship of a passing state of the
matchmark 84.
[0043] Incidentally, in this case, it is unnecessary to say that there is no limitation
to the above-mentioned example, and it is even possible that only the standard variable
density indicating portion 83 may be formed around the above-mentioned print portion
82, or only the matchmark 84 may be formed; however, it is desirable to provide both
at the same time.
[0044] In addition, in the case of the printing position detection and correction in the
duplicator 3, when a pattern or letters is continuously and suitably printed onto
the strip-shaped article subjected to printing S1 by means of the duplicator 3 to
form the print portion 82, the matchmark 84 for position determination of printing
is formed beforehand at a proper position around the print portion 82 to be printed;
and at first, the regular positional relationship when the print portion 82 is to
be printed at a regular position is registered as data beforehand; next, the CCD camera
93 or the sensor is installed at a proper position through which the strip-shaped
printed article S2 after printing passes, the matchmark 84 formed at the proper position
around the print portion is monitored by means of the CCD camera 93 or the sensor
so as to detect the regular positional relationship of the matchmark 84, and data
obtained thereby are compared with the regular positional relationship of the matchmark
84, and correction instruction is not given to the downstream step processing device
which performs downstream processing of the strip-shaped printed article S2 when the
error is within a range of setting of the standard, or instruction of correction is
given to the downstream step processing device when the error is outside the range
of setting of the standard so as to correct and adjust the positional deviation corresponding
to the error, thereby the positional relationship of the matchmark 84 itself is compared
with the position in the regular case to judge its error; so that in the same manner
as the abovementioned printing state detection and correction, control can be performed
automatically, rapidly, and accurately.
[0045] Therefore, in order to make the printing position of the strip-shaped printed article
and the downstream processing state by the downstream step processing device to be
regular within an acceptable range, anyone can perform the control extremely easily,
rapidly, accurately, and without training.
[0046] Thus, according to this invention, there are provided various excellent effects such
if the printing paper sheet is not accurately supplied and arranged at a specified
place on the base stand and the like, it can be adjusted by an extremely-simple operation,
and in order to make the printing state of the strip-shaped printed article and the
downstream processing state by the downstream step processing device to be regular
within an acceptable range, the control can be performed extremely easily, rapidly,
and accurately.