JP2002079652A - Drum unit and mimeographic printing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mimeographic printing apparatus which can perform a printing operation in a short time by solving a trouble caused by the loosening of ink generated by the leaving of a printing drum, set proper printing conditions for each drum unit, indicate various pieces of information on the printing drum clearly, reduce operation errors, and curtail a printing time. SOLUTION: A drum unit which supports the printing drum 1 and has a storage part 3 which can read and write specific information on the drum is fitted attachably/detachably to an apparatus main body 100, and an information exchange means 91 for exchanging information with the storage part 3 and a control means 90 for judging the state of the printing drum 1 based on the information communicated by the means 91 are installed on the side of the printing apparatus 100, so that the state of the printing drum 1 is controlled.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a drum unit having a printing drum and a storage unit capable of reading and writing information specific to the drum, and a stencil printing apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a stencil printing apparatus, ink is supplied from inside the drum to a stencil master wound around an outer peripheral surface of a printing drum, and paper is pressed against the stencil to form a stencil image of the master. The corresponding image is being printed. The printing drum has one color per drum in order to hold ink inside the drum, and is configured such that the drum unit can be attached to and detached from the apparatus main body. The stencil printing apparatus is configured such that when printing of a desired color is performed, an unused drum unit is removed from the apparatus main body, and a drum unit having a printing drum having ink of a desired color is mounted on the apparatus main body.

In a multi-color stencil printing machine in which a plurality of drum units are mounted on the apparatus main body, when printing is performed in a color other than the ink color of the mounted drum, the drum unit is appropriately replaced with a drum unit having ink of a desired color. Has been replaced. The ink used in the stencil printing machine is difficult to dry if left for a short period of time, and after being transferred to the paper, the oil and moisture that make up the ink permeate the paper or evaporate into the air to quickly permeate and dry. Emulsion inks are mainly used.

[0004]

In the stencil printing apparatus having such a configuration, when changing the color of ink, a drum unit having a desired color of ink is purchased and the drum unit is replaced with respect to the main body of the apparatus. There must be. In addition, since the printing drum enters the inside of the stencil printing apparatus, once the printing drum is mounted on the apparatus, it is not easy to confirm the printing drum-specific information such as the ink color, the type of ink, and the drum size. Further, it is difficult to accurately determine which printing drum has not been used for printing for how long, that is, the elapsed time since the end of the previous printing. Further, if the printing drum is left for a long time after printing, the water contained in the ink gradually evaporates, and the ink is softened (loose). When the ink softens, it easily passes through the openings of the printing drum, the mesh screen, and the perforated portion of the master, and is transferred to a large amount of paper when printing after being left unattended. This makes it easy to cause a plate-discharge error or unevenness in the image.

[0005] In order to reduce such problems, some stencil printing apparatuses are provided with a mode in which only the printing drum is arbitrarily idled to adjust the ink inside the drum. Since this mode is set and executed by the apparatus operator's own judgment, the idle time is short, and even the print drum that does not need to be idle may be rotated, which is not preferable from the viewpoint of the print time. Was.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves problems caused by loosening of ink caused by leaving a printing drum unattended in a shorter period of time, sets appropriate printing conditions for each drum, and further adjusts the printing drum. It is an object of the present invention to provide a drum unit and a stencil printing apparatus capable of clearly displaying important information to reduce operation errors and shorten the time until printing is completed.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention proposes a drum unit which supports a printing drum and has a storage unit capable of reading and writing information specific to the drum.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the drum unit according to the first aspect, the storage unit stores information on the color and type of the ink inside the drum, information on the remaining amount of the ink, and a time during which the printing drum is not used for printing. Information, information on the type of master wound around the outer peripheral surface of the print drum,
It is characterized in that at least one of the movement amount information of the printing drum, the size information of the printing drum, and the identification signal for distinguishing the image data is stored.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, information is transmitted and received between the storage unit and a drum unit which is detachable from the apparatus main body, supports the printing drum, and has a storage unit capable of reading and writing information specific to the drum. There is proposed a stencil printing machine having information communication means for performing the operation and control means for determining the specific information or state of the printing drum based on information transmitted and received by the information communication means.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the stencil printing apparatus according to the third aspect, further comprising a display unit for displaying information of the storage unit, wherein the control means controls the storage unit when the power is turned on or the print drum is mounted. It is characterized in that information is controlled to be displayed on a display unit.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the stencil printing machine of the third aspect, a printing pressure member provided so as to be able to abut against the outer peripheral surface of the printing drum, and a pressing device for pressing the printing pressure member against the outer peripheral surface of the drum. Printing pressure adjusting means for adjusting the pressure, wherein the control means controls the printing pressure adjusting means based on the thickness information of the wound master to adjust the pressing force by the printing pressure member. . As an example of the control, when the control means determines that the master is thin and has no stiffness based on the information of the wound master, the control means controls the printing pressure adjusting means so that the pressing force by the printing pressure member is weakened. Alternatively, when it is determined based on the information of the wound master that the master is thicker and stiffer than the standard thickness, the printing pressure adjusting means may be controlled so as to increase the pressing force by the printing pressure member.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the stencil printing apparatus of the third aspect, the control means sets a plurality of reference periods for the idle time according to the information on the color and type of the ink. When the information to be transmitted and received is the color and type of the ink, it is characterized in that it is determined whether or not it is the idle time according to the color and type of the ink based on the reference period and controlled.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the stencil printing machine according to the third aspect, the stencil discharging member is pressed against a master wound around the outer peripheral surface of the printing drum and used for printing from the outer peripheral surface of the drum. The printing apparatus has plate discharging means for discarding the used master, and when the information transmitted / received by the information communication means is the idle time information, the control unit determines whether the printing drum has been idle for a predetermined time based on the idle time information. It is characterized in that it is determined whether or not there is, and based on the result of the determination, the number of plate discharging operations by the plate discharging means and / or the pressing force of the plate discharging member is controlled.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the stencil printing apparatus according to the third aspect, there is provided a driving source for driving the printing drum to rotate, and the control means transmits / receives the information transmitted / received by the information communication means as idle time information. At one time, it is determined whether or not the printing drum is a leaving drum that has been left for a predetermined time based on the leaving time information, and when the printing drum is a leaving drum that has been left for a predetermined time, the drive source is driven to drive the printing drum. Is controlled by the number of times corresponding to the conditions of the color and type of the ink.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the stencil printing apparatus of the eighth aspect, there is provided an ink supply member which is capable of coming into contact with and separating from the inner peripheral surface of the printing drum and rotatably provided inside the printing drum. Drive means for bringing the ink supply member into contact with the inner peripheral surface of the drum, and when the print drum is a leaving drum, controlling the drive means by the control means so as to bring the ink supply member into contact with the inner peripheral surface of the drum. It is characterized by:

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the stencil printing machine according to the third aspect, a stencil making means for making a master for wrapping the master around the outer peripheral surface of the printing drum and a stencil wrapping around the outer peripheral surface of the drum for printing. Plate discharging means for discarding the master from the outer peripheral surface of the drum, and when the information transmitted and received by the information communication means is the number of printed sheets of the type of the master to be wound and the number of printed sheets, The limit of the number of printings is determined based on the number of printed sheets and the number of printed sheets. It is characterized by being executed.

According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the stencil printing apparatus of the tenth aspect, there is provided an automatic stencil mode for executing automatic stencil making by the stencil making means, and a display unit. After the determination is made, when the automatic plate making mode is set, the plate making means is controlled to execute a new plate making operation, and when the automatic plate making mode is not set, the display section is operated to display the contents. Features.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the stencil printing machine according to the eleventh aspect, the information transmitted and received by the information communication means is an identification signal, and the identification signal coincides with the identification signal set in the control means. In this case, image data is read out from the information communication means, and a plate making image is created by the plate making means using the called image data.

[0019]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The stencil printing machine shown in FIG.
Drum unit 2 having printing drum 1 and storage unit 3
0, an information communication unit 91 for transmitting and receiving information to and from the storage unit 3, and a control unit 90 for determining the state of the printing drum 1 based on information transmitted and received by the information communication unit 91. The drum unit 20 is provided at the center in the apparatus main body 100. The drum unit 2 is provided in the apparatus main body 100.
The plate making means 101 is located at the upper right of the plate 0, and the plate discharging means 10
2 are deployed respectively. A paper feed unit 60 is provided on the right side of the apparatus main body 100, a paper discharge unit 70 is provided on the left side, and a scanner 103 as an image reading unit is provided on the upper side. An operation panel 104 as an operation unit is provided at an upper portion of the apparatus main body 100. This operation panel 1
Reference numeral 04 denotes a plate making key (not shown) for starting a plate making operation,
A display unit 105 is provided together with a print key for starting a printing operation, a stop key for stopping the operation of the apparatus, and ten keys for inputting numerical information such as the number of prints. As shown in FIG. 12, the display unit 105 in this embodiment is configured by an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) and displays the state of the stencil printing apparatus, the state and contents of the printing drum 1, and various information.
The display unit 105 may be provided separately from the operation panel 104, or may be an LED or a sound generator instead of the LCD.

The paper supply unit 60 and the paper discharge unit 70 are provided so that the paper 61 loaded on the paper supply tray 64 disposed in the paper supply unit 60 can be transported substantially horizontally toward the paper discharge unit 70. 1
00 respectively. The paper feed unit 60 is provided with a paper feed roller 62 and a separation plate 63 for feeding out the paper 61 on the paper feed tray 64 one by one. Code 65
Indicates a side fence provided on the paper feed tray 64. The paper discharge unit 70 includes a paper discharge tray 71 that receives the printed paper 61, a side fence 72 provided on the paper discharge tray 71, and an end fence 73 where the leading edge of the paper collides.

A press roller 48 as a printing pressure member is disposed on a paper transport path 67 connecting the paper supply unit 60 and the paper discharge unit 70 at a position facing the print drum 1. The press roller 48 has a shaft portion 48a rotatably supported by a pair of press roller arms 22 fixed to an arm shaft 22a rotatably supported by a frame (not shown) of the apparatus main body 100. The press roller 48 is urged toward the printing drum 1 by a spring (not shown), and the outer peripheral surface of the printing drum 1 except when paper is being fed by a printing variable means 29 having an actuator for normal printing pressure and an actuator for low printing pressure (not shown). (Hereinafter referred to as "drum outer peripheral surface") is held at a position apart from 1c.

When the normal printing pressure actuator is turned on, the press roller 48 is pressed against the drum outer peripheral surface 1c by the spring force of a spring (not shown). When the low printing pressure actuator is turned on, the press roller 48 is normally pressed. Drum outer peripheral surface 1 with a smaller force than when the actuator is turned on.
It is pressed against c. Each actuator is appropriately selected and driven based on master thickness information set by a master thickness setting key (not shown) provided on the operation panel 104. In the present embodiment, the actuator for the standard printing pressure is selected when the master thickness is set to the standard thickness, and the actuator for the low printing pressure is selected when the master thickness is set to be smaller than the standard thickness. Is selected.

In this embodiment, when the master is thin, the actuator for low printing pressure is selected. However, when the thickness of the master is thicker than the standard thickness and the stiffness is strong, the printing pressure by the press roller 48 is set to the standard value. You may be made to be strengthened more. In this case, an actuator for high printing pressure may be added to the above configuration, or the printing pressure may be increased by increasing the rotation amount of the motor.

In the present embodiment, the facing portion between the press roller 48 and the printing drum 1 is a printing portion 49. Instead of the press roller 48, a well-known impression cylinder may be used as the printing pressure member. In the present embodiment, printing pressure control is performed using electromagnetic solenoids having different plunger strokes. As another form, for example, when a motor is used for the actuator, the moving stroke of the press roller 48 can be adjusted by the rotation of the motor, and the rotation amount of the motor is different between the normal time and the low printing pressure. The printing pressure may be adjusted by controlling. With such a configuration, only one actuator is required, and cost reduction and space saving can be easily achieved.

A pair of registration rollers 66 is provided on a paper transport path 67 located between the press roller 48 and the paper feed roller 62.
Is arranged. The registration roller pair 66 feeds the paper 61 sent out from the paper feed tray 64 at a timing when the leading edge of the plate-making image and the leading edge of the paper 61 coincide with each other in the printing unit 49.

Between the printing section 49 and the paper discharge section 70, an intermediate conveyance device 80 for conveying the paper 61 having passed through the printing section 49 to the paper discharge section 70 is arranged. The intermediate conveyance device 80 includes a pair of rollers 8, one of which is a driving side and the other is a driven side.
An endless perforated belt 83 is wound around 1,82. In the present embodiment, the endless perforated belt 83 rotates and moves in the counterclockwise direction. Below the endless perforated belt 83, a suction fan 84 for adsorbing the printed paper 61 onto the endless perforated belt 83 is arranged. Above the endless perforated belt 83, a separation claw 85 is provided for peeling off the paper 61 that adheres to the drum outer peripheral surface 1c due to the viscosity of the ink and rolls up from the drum outer peripheral surface 1c side.

The scanner 103 is a well-known scanner that reads a document surface of a document set on a document table (not shown) by an exposure optical system and converts the document surface into digital image information.
In the plate discharging means 102, a plate discharging roller pair 102A as a plate discharging member is brought into contact with and separated from a position where it comes into contact with the drum outer peripheral surface 1c and a position where it is separated from the drum outer peripheral surface 1c. The used master is peeled from the drum outer peripheral surface 1c and discarded. The plate discharging roller pair 102A is driven to rotate by a plate discharging roller motor described later, and the pressing force thereof can be adjusted by an actuator (not shown).

The plate-making means 101 transports a thermal head that generates heat in accordance with image information input from the scanner 103 and a platen roller that presses relatively to the thermal head, while holding a non-plate-making master and performing heat-perforating plate-making. When the predetermined length is reached, the cutter 40 is cut to a predetermined length by a cutter device (not shown) to produce a master 40 for one plate. The stencil making means 101 makes a stencil master based on an image signal corresponding to the original image read by the scanner 103. However, when an external input / output device such as a personal computer is connected to the stencil printing device, the image from the personal computer is output. An unprinted master may be made by a thermal head based on the signal.

The drum unit 20 is detachable from the apparatus main body 100, and both ends of the support shaft 4 of the printing drum 1 are fixedly supported by a pair of frames 2 positioned in the axial direction of the printing drum 1 (FIG. 1 indicates one frame).

The printing drum 1 has a cylindrical portion made of an elastic thin plate made of stainless steel or the like having an opening region 1a having a large number of minute through holes and a non-opening region 1b having no openings, and both sides of the cylindrical portion. And a flange for closing. The support shaft 4 is a hollow shaft, and is rotatably supported by a flange. The printing drum 1 is rotatably supported by the support shaft 4 by fixing both ends of the support shaft 4 with the frame 2. In the present embodiment, the opening area 1a is shown by a dot-shaped cross section, and the non-opening area 1b is shown by a hatched cross section. A drum drive motor 52 as a drive source is connected to the print drum 1 via a power transmission mechanism 54. The drum drive motor 52 is fixed to the apparatus main body 100 and is configured to rotationally drive the print drum 1 in a normal rotation direction indicated by an arrow a (hereinafter, referred to as “normal rotation direction a”) during printing. I have. An attachment / detachment sensor 15 for detecting the attachment / detachment state of the drum unit 20 is attached to the apparatus main body 100. In this embodiment, the detachable sensor 15 is turned on when the drum unit 20 is mounted on the apparatus main body 100, and is turned off when the drum unit 20 is not mounted.

On the outer peripheral surface 1c of the drum, in order to diffuse ink supplied from the inner peripheral surface 1d of the printing drum 1 (hereinafter referred to as "drum inner peripheral surface 1d"), it is woven with polyester (not shown) or the like. The screen is wound. On the drum outer peripheral surface 1c of the non-opening area 1b, a clamper base 5 extends in the drum axis direction. On the clamper base 5, a master clamper 6 for clamping the tip 40a of the master 40 perforated and made by the plate making means 101 is supported on the clamper base 5 by a shaft 6a so as to be openable and closable. The master clamper 6 is configured to be appropriately opened and closed by an opening / closing device (not shown) at the time of plate feeding or plate discharging, so that the master tip 40a is additionally locked and the locked state of the master tip 40a is released. .

An ink roller 8 and a doctor roller 9 serving as ink supply members are provided inside the printing drum 1. These members are supported by a subframe 11 slidably provided on a drum frame (not shown) provided inside the drum. The ink roller 8 is a metal roller that is rotatably supported on the sub-frame 11 by a shaft 8a, and is rotationally driven in the same direction as the printing drum 1 in the vicinity of the drum inner peripheral surface 1d by an ink roller driving source 30 described later. Is done. The ink roller motor 30 is mounted on the drum unit 20. The inner circumferential surface 1d of the drum and the outer circumferential surface 8b of the ink roller 8 are usually about 0.1 to 0.5.
They are arranged with a gap of about mm. An ink reservoir 10 is formed in the vicinity of the opposed portion between the ink roller 8 and the doctor roller 9.

The sub-frame 11 is configured to be moved by the driving means 12 between a position where the ink roller 8 is brought into contact with the drum inner peripheral surface 1d and a position where the ink roller 8 is separated therefrom. The driving means 12 is mounted on a frame (not shown).

The doctor roller 9 is disposed opposite to the outer peripheral surface 8b of the ink roller 8 with a small gap (about 0.06 to 0.1 mm), and is rotatably supported by the sub-frame. The doctor roller 9 is driven by the drum drive motor 52 to rotate in the direction of the arrow at a peripheral speed lower than the peripheral speed of the ink roller 8. Ink is supplied to the ink reservoir 10 from the inside of the support shaft 4. An ink pack (not shown) is connected to one end of the support shaft 4 via an ink pump (not shown). The ink pack contains emulsion ink for printing. The printing emulsion ink is sucked from the ink pack by an ink pump motor (not shown), sent out from the ink supply pipe to the support shaft 4, and dropped into the ink reservoir 10 through a supply hole 4 a formed in the support shaft 4. The ink pack and the ink pump motor are mounted on the drum unit 20.

The doctor roller 9 is provided on the upstream side of the rotation of the printing drum 1 in the normal rotation direction a with respect to the ink roller 8. The dropped ink is squeezed in the gap between the ink roller 8 and the doctor roller 9. The squeezed ink forms an ink film having a thickness substantially equal to the gap on the outer peripheral surface 8b of the ink roller 8. The ink whose thickness is regulated is supplied to the drum inner peripheral surface 1d by the pressing action of the press roller 48 by the rotation of the ink roller 8.

The apparatus main body 100 is provided with a well-known vertical and horizontal moving mechanism for moving the printing drum 1 in the circumferential direction and the axial direction. This mechanism operates by operating an adjustment key (not shown) arranged on the operation panel 104.
The adjustment keys include up / down direction keys and left / right direction keys. To move the printing drum 1 in the up-down (up-down) direction means
Moving the print drum 1 in the circumferential direction means moving the print drum 1 in the axial direction. Moving the print drum 1 in the left-right direction means moving the print drum 1 in the axial direction.

As shown in FIG. 1, the storage section 3 is mounted on the frame 2 located on the back side of the apparatus main body, and is detachably provided on the apparatus main body 100 integrally with the drum unit 20. As shown in FIG. 2, the storage unit 3 mainly includes a drum-side CPU 16 and a backup RAM 17.
And various drive systems 18 are connected. The drive source 18 includes an ink roller motor 30, an ink pump motor, and the like. In the backup RAM 17, information on the color and type of ink, information on the remaining amount of ink, information on the amount of ink remaining, information on the printing end date and time used as information on the idle time when the printing drum 1 is not used for printing, information on the type of master, Information on the amount of movement in the vertical and horizontal directions, information on the size of the printing drum 1, information on the number of printed sheets by the winding master, and identification signals for distinguishing image data are recorded in a readable / writable manner. The ink remaining amount information is the remaining amount of ink remaining in the ink pack, and is detected from the number of times the ink pump is driven in the present embodiment. The master type information is the thickness of the master 40. The storage unit 3 is connected to the control unit 90 by a serial cable (not shown), and information is transmitted and received by serial communication. For this reason, the storage unit 3 is provided with a connector that is detachable from a connector at one end of the serial cable.

The control means 90 has a function of judging the contents or state of the printing drum 1 based on the information transmitted and received by the information communication means 91, the operation of contacting and separating the ink roller 8, the operation of the plate discharge roller pair 102 A, and the display unit 105. 2 and a function of adjusting the pressing force (printing pressure) by the press roller 48. As shown in FIG. 2, the main body CPU 97 is provided with various drive sources 92, ROM 93, plate making image data or a fixed format such as a predetermined format. Hard disk (HDD) 94 for storing data, RAM 95, backup RAM 96
And the operation panel 104 are connected to each other. Various driving sources 92 include a driving unit 12 and a plate discharging roller pair 102.
Plate discharging roller motor and drum driving motor 5 for driving A
2, an actuator for printing pressure of the press roller 48 and the like are included. In the ROM 93, a reference period for each ink color and ink type used for detecting the idle time of the printing drum 1, a printing endurance number for each type of master, an automatic plate making mode, a reference signal, and the like are stored and read out as appropriate. It has become.

The operation of the stencil printing apparatus having such a configuration is described below.
This will be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. In FIG. 3, it is assumed that the master 40 has already been wound around the drum outer peripheral surface 1c, and the printing up to the plate has been completed. In step E1 of FIG. 3, the input A of the number of prints A is performed using the numeric keypad.
When the print key is pressed in step E2, step E3
It is determined whether or not the printing drum 1 mounted on the apparatus main body 100 is a neglected drum. The decision here is
The printing end date and time (time) stored in the storage unit 3 of the printing drum 1 and the reference time stored in the control unit 90 are used. If the printing end date and time exceeds a predetermined time, only the drum drive motor 52 is driven as the idle drum, and only the print drum 1 is rotated to turn on idling. In other words, the idle control of the printing drum 1 is performed. In this way, by controlling the idle rotation of the idle drum, that is, idle control, the ink accumulated in the lower portion inside the drum is extended along the inner peripheral surface 1d of the drum by centrifugal force, so that printing unevenness is eliminated.

When idling is completed, step E5
After the actuator selected in is turned on, one sheet of paper 61 is fed in step E6. At this time, of course, the printing drum 1 is rotationally driven in the normal rotation direction a in FIG. 1 at the printing speed, the ink roller motor 30 is also driven, the intermediate conveyance device 80 is also driven, and the endless perforated belt 83 rotates counterclockwise. Thus, the suction fan 84 is also driven.

For this reason, the fed paper 61 is printed by the printing unit 49 shown in FIG. 1 and is peeled off from the drum outer peripheral surface 1c side by the separation claw 85, and is attracted to the endless perforated belt 83 to be discharged. It is discharged to 71.

When the discharge sensor (not shown) detects that the sheet 61 has been discharged to the discharge tray 72, the number of prints A is decremented in step E7, and printing is performed until the number of prints A becomes 0 in step E8. The operation is performed. When the printing for the input number of prints is completed, the printing operation is stopped in step E9, and the process ends.

FIG. 4 shows a control flow concerning the leaving time according to the ink color and the type of ink. This flow starts after the drum unit 20 is mounted on the apparatus main body 100 and information is transmitted and received between the storage unit 3 and the main body side CPU 97, that is, after the backup memory 17 which is the drum side memory is checked. In step F1 of the figure, the idle time from the previous print end time is calculated. Next, in step F2, it is determined by communication with the backup memory 17 whether the ink color is A color. If the ink color is A in step F2, step F
Proceeding to 3, the calculated idle time is compared with the reference period (1 month). If the idle time has passed the reference period (one month), the control method corresponding to the idle time is reset in step F4.

In step F2, if the ink color of the printing drum 1 mounted on the apparatus main body 100 is not A,
Proceeding to step F5, it is determined whether the ink color is B color, and if not, proceeding to step F7 to determine whether it is E color. If the color is not E in step F7, the process returns to step F2 again to detect the ink color.

If the ink color is B in step F5, the process proceeds to step F6, where the calculated idle time and the reference period (2
Months). If the idle time has passed the reference period (two months), the control method corresponding to the idle time is reset in step F4. If the ink color is E in step F7, the process proceeds to step F8,
The calculated idle time is compared with the reference period (6 months). If the idle time has passed the reference period (6 months), the control method corresponding to the idle time is reset in step F4.

The components of the printing emulsion ink, that is, the pigments, generally differ depending on the ink color, and there are differences in ink characteristics such as ink viscosity and looseness of the ink. Therefore, by setting a short reference period for ink colors that have low viscosity and easy to loosen, set a long reference period for ink colors that have high viscosity and difficult to loosen. Control can be performed.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart relating to the control of the number of plate discharging operations according to the state of the printing drum 1. This control flow starts when the plate making key is pressed while the drum unit 20 is mounted on the apparatus main body 100. First, in step G1, the drum driving motor 52 is driven to rotate the printing drum 1 to the plate discharging position.
To open the master clamper 6, and in a step G3, it is determined whether or not the printing drum 1 is an idle drum. Step G3
Then, for example, similarly to step E3 in FIG. 3, the printing end date and time stored in the storage unit 3 of the printing drum 1 and the reference time stored in the control unit 90 are compared.

If the printing end date and time does not exceed the predetermined time, it is determined that the mounted printing drum 1 is not the idle drum, and the process proceeds to step G6 to set the number B of plate discharging retries in the plate discharging means 102 to one. Proceed to G7. If the drum is a neglected drum, the process proceeds to step G4, where the number B of plate discharge retries is set to, for example, three times.
To turn on the actuator of the plate discharging roller pair 102A, and then proceed to Step G7.

At step G7, the plate discharge roller motor is turned on to set the plate discharge roller pair 102 pressed against the used master.
A is rotated to execute a plate discharging operation. After the execution, in step G8, the number of plate discharging retries B is subtracted, and in step G9, the plate discharging operation is executed until the number of plate discharging retries B becomes zero. When the number B of plate discharge retries becomes 0, the process proceeds to step G10, where it is determined that the plate discharge sensor is ON. If the plate discharging sensor is not turned on in step G10, it is determined that plate discharging is not being performed properly and step G is performed.
The process proceeds to step S11, where the stencil jam display is displayed on the display unit 105, and the process ends.

In the case of the idle drum, the oil content of the ink permeates the master and is in close contact with the outer peripheral surface 1c of the drum, making it difficult to discharge the plate. To do more. By increasing the number of plate discharging operations in this way, plate discharging can be performed reliably. Further, in the present embodiment, in the case of the idle drum, since the pressing force of the plate discharge roller pair 102A is controlled to be higher than that in the case of not using the idle drum, the plate discharge roller pair 102A is strongly pressed against the used master. In addition, the plate discharging operation can be performed more reliably.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing writing and reading to and from the backup RAM 17 serving as a drum memory. In steps H1 and H2 in FIG. 6, it is determined whether or not the printing drum 1 exists in the apparatus main body 100. Here, when the drum unit 20 is mounted on the apparatus main body 100 and the drum presence / absence signal from the attachment / detachment sensor 15 changes from off to on, the drum unit 20
Step H
Proceed to 3. In step H3, the communication with the backup RAM 17 is performed to determine the presence or absence of data.
If there is data at 17, the process proceeds to step H4.

In step H4, if the prepress key has been pressed, the process proceeds to step H5. If the prepress key has not been pressed, the process proceeds to step H13 to determine whether the print key has been pressed. . If the print key has been pressed in step H13, the process proceeds to step H14.

In step H5, the backup RAM 1
7 and check its contents. Here, for example, the previous printing end time, ink color and ink type, master type such as master thickness and size, and identification signal are checked. Then, such a backup RAM 1
In step H6, it is determined from the information stored in 7 whether or not the drum is a neglected drum based on the previous printing end time. If the result of determination is that the drum is a neglected drum, the control after neglect is set in step H7, and the control proceeds to step H shown in FIG.
Proceed to 8. If it is not a left drum, step H7 is skipped and the process proceeds to step H8 shown in FIG.

In step H14, the backup RAM
17 and checks its contents. Here, for example, the last print end time, ink color and ink type,
The master type such as the thickness and size of the master, the identification signal, the number of printed sheets, and the like are checked. Then, from the information stored in the backup RAM 17, it is determined whether or not the drum is the idle drum at step H15 based on the previous printing end time. If the result of determination is that the drum is a neglected drum, the flow proceeds to step H16, where control after leaving is set, and the flow proceeds to step H17 shown in FIG.

In step H8 of FIG.
The plate making operation is executed by controlling the driving of the controller, and it is determined in a step H9 whether or not a continuous mode is set. The continuous mode is a mode in which a printing operation is performed following a plate making operation. When the continuous mode is set, the process proceeds to step H10 to execute a printing operation, and in step H11, the prepress image data is stored in the HDD 94 or the RAM 95 as the main unit side memory. If the mode is not the continuous mode, the process proceeds to step H11 assuming that only a prepress command has been issued, and prepress image data is stored. After storing the plate making image data, the process proceeds to step H12, where the backup RAM 17
In response to this, the printing end time, the ink color and the type of ink, the master type, the remaining amount of ink, the identification signal, the number of printed sheets, the amount of movement of the drum up and down, left and right, the drum size, and the like are stored, and the process ends.

In step H17 of FIG. 8, a printing operation is performed. In step H18, the endurance of the master wound around the printing drum 1 is determined from the number of endurable prints and the number of prints already printed depending on the type of the master 40. The limit of the number of prints is determined. In this step, until the number of prints exceeds the number of endurable prints, the process proceeds to step H30, where the HDD 9 is executed in step H31 as a main body side memory while executing a printing operation.
4 or stores the image data in the RAM 95. In step H32, the printing end time, ink color and ink type, master type, remaining ink amount, identification signal, number of printed sheets,
The amount of vertical and horizontal movement of the drum, the drum size, and the like are stored in the backup RAM 17.

If the number of printed sheets exceeds the number of printable sheets in step H18, the flow advances to step H19 to determine whether or not the automatic plate making mode is set. If the automatic plate making mode is not set, printing is performed in step H21. The operation is stopped, and the display unit 105 is driven in step H22 to display a warning on the limit of the number of printable sheets.

If the mode is the auto plate making mode, a plate discharging operation is executed in step H20, and in step H23, the backup RAM 17 and the HDD 94 or R
The identification signal stored in the AM 95 is compared with the identification signal. If the identification signals stored in both match,
Proceeding to step H24, the image data is called from the HDD 94 or the RAM 95 based on the identification signal.
At step 26, the drive of the plate making means 101 is controlled to execute a plate making operation. That is, a plate making image identical to the plate making image of the master discharged in step H20 is made into a new master. If the identification signals do not match in step H23, it is determined that there is no image for re-engraving, and the display unit 105 is driven in step H25 to display a warning indicating that the re-engraving operation is disabled.

After the plate making operation in step H26, it is determined in step H27 whether the continuous mode is set. If the continuous mode has been set, the process proceeds to step H28, where the reprinted master 40 performs a printing operation, and then proceeds to step H29. That is, in this step, printing of the same image as that of the master discarded for the number of printings is re-executed. If the continuous mode has not been executed, the data of the re-engraved image is stored in the HDD 94 or the RAM 95 in step H29, and the process proceeds to step H30, where the printing end time, ink color and ink type, master type, ink remaining amount, identification Signal, number of printed pages,
The amount of movement of the drum up, down, left, and right, the drum size, and the like are stored in the backup RAM 17, and the process ends.

As described above, when the limit of the number of printings is exceeded, the plate discharging means 102 is controlled to execute a plate discharging operation, and the plate making means 101 is controlled to execute a new plate making operation. The same image as the master can be printed. If the automatic plate making mode is not set even when the number of printings is limited, the display unit 105 is operated to display a warning, so that the printing drum 1 is notified to the apparatus operator.
And the status of the master 40 can be notified, and inappropriate printing can be prevented.

Even if the plate discharging operation in step H20 does not match the reference signal, the plate making operation is not performed, so that printing of an image different from the discharged master image can be prevented. can avoid. If the image data matches the reference signal, the image data in the HDD 94 or the RAM 95 is read out, and a re-printing operation is performed using the called image data, so that the same image as the discharged master image is continuously printed. be able to.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the processing after the master type information is called from the backup RAM 17 serving as the drum memory. Step J1 in FIG.
Then, the thickness of the master 40 wound around the drum outer peripheral surface 1c is determined. The operation panel 10 determines the thickness.
The information set by the master thickness setting key of No. 4 is used.
If the thickness of the master is thin in step J1, that is, if a thin master is set by the master thickness setting key, the flow proceeds to step J2, an actuator for low printing pressure is selected, and the flow proceeds to step J3 to perform a printing operation. Is executed and the processing ends. If the thickness of the master is not thin in step J1, that is, if the master of the standard thickness is set by the master thickness setting key, the flow proceeds to step J4, the standard printing actuator is selected, and the flow proceeds to step J3. And the printing operation is executed, and the processing ends.

As described above, when the thickness of the master wound around the drum outer peripheral surface 1c is small, an actuator for low printing pressure, which makes printing by the press roller 48 weak, is selected. In this case, an actuator whose printing pressure by the press roller 48 is the standard printing pressure is selected, so that the printing pressure can be set according to the thickness of the master, that is, in accordance with the conditions of the master. In the present embodiment, when the thickness of the master 40 is thin, an actuator for low printing pressure, in which the printing pressure by the press roller 48 is weakened, is selected. Therefore, the load on the thin master is reduced, and the durability of the master is improved.
The number of printings can be ensured.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an embodiment of a display process for the display unit 105. This display process is started by turning on the power of the stencil printing apparatus. In steps K1 and K2, it is determined whether or not the printing drum 1 exists in the apparatus main body 100. Here, the drum unit 20
Is mounted on the apparatus main body 100, and when the drum presence / absence signal from the detachable sensor 15 changes from off to on, it is determined that the drum unit 20 is mounted at a proper position of the apparatus main body 100, and the process proceeds to step K3. In step K3, the data is communicated with the backup RAM 17 which is the drum side memory to determine the presence or absence of data.
Proceeds to step K4. In step K4, the information stored in the backup RAM 17 is displayed on the display unit 105. FIG. 12 shows an example of the displayed information.

By displaying the information in the backup RAM 17 on the side of the printing drum 1 in this way, the operator of the apparatus can visually check the information and contents on the printing drum by viewing the display unit 105, thereby reducing operation errors and Operability is improved.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart showing two winding operations of the ink roller 8. In FIG. 11, it is determined whether or not the printing drum 1 is idling as shown in step E4 in FIG. 3. If the printing drum 1 is idle and idling, the driving means 12 is driven in step L2. You. When the driving means 12 is driven, the outer peripheral surface 8b of the ink roller 8 occupying the separated state from the drum inner peripheral surface 1d comes into contact with the drum inner peripheral surface 1d. When the idling of the predetermined number of times is completed in step L3, the driving of the driving means 12 is stopped, the ink roller 8 is returned to a position separated from the inner peripheral surface 1d of the drum, and the process returns to E5 in FIG.

As described above, when the printing drum 1 is a neglected drum, the ink adhering to the ink inner peripheral surface 1d shown in FIG. 1 is pushed out by the ink roller 8 toward the drum outer peripheral surface 1c in the opening area 1a. The ink is quickly supplied to the master 40 wound around the drum outer peripheral surface 1c. For this reason, the image printed on the paper 61 is printed well from an early stage, the image rises well, the occurrence of reprinting due to lack of ink is reduced, and the printing time can be shortened.

In the present embodiment, the outer peripheral surface 8b of the ink roller 8 is brought into contact with the inner peripheral surface 1d of the printing drum 1 during idling of the printing drum 1. By rotating the printing drum 1 in a state where the driving means 12 is driven to bring the outer peripheral surface 8b of the ink roller 8 into contact with the inner peripheral surface 1d of the ink roller 8, the rise of the image can be accelerated.

[0069]

According to the present invention, since a drum unit has drum-specific information, even if a plurality of drum units are provided, the information or state of each drum unit is known by displaying the information on a display unit. be able to. For this reason, it is possible to set and control suitable printing conditions for each drum unit, and it is possible to solve problems caused by loosening of ink caused by leaving the printing drums in a shorter time, and to shorten the time until printing is completed. It can be shortened.

According to the present invention, the information of the storage section is displayed on the display section when the power is turned on or the print drum is mounted by the control means, so that the operation error of the apparatus operator is reduced and the workability is improved.

According to the present invention, the pressing force of the printing member against the outer peripheral surface of the drum is adjusted by the control means based on the thickness information of the wound master, so that the pressing control suitable for the type of the master can be performed. It is possible to secure the number of printings for each master while suppressing the load on the master.

According to the present invention, it is determined by the control means whether or not the time period is left according to the ink color based on the reference period provided for each ink color or ink type. The inconvenience caused by the loosening of the ink which differs every time can be solved in a shorter time, and the time until printing is completed can be shortened.

According to the present invention, it is determined whether or not the printing drum is a leaving drum that has been left for a predetermined time based on the leaving time information, and the number of plate discharging operations by the plate discharging means is controlled based on the determination result. The plate discharging operation corresponding to the idle state of the print drum can be reliably performed while shortening the time until the end.

According to the present invention, when the printing drum is the idle drum that has been left for a predetermined time, the driving source is driven to control the idle rotation of the print drum. The ink inside the drum can be adapted to the inside of the drum by centrifugal force, and the density unevenness of the printed image can be reduced.

According to the present invention, when the printing drum is a neglected drum, the driving means is controlled so that the ink supply member which can contact and separate from the inner peripheral surface of the printing drum comes into contact with the inner peripheral surface of the drum. Ink is pushed out to the inner peripheral surface of the drum toward the outer peripheral surface of the drum, so that the rise of an image in the initial stage of printing is improved, reprinting due to insufficient ink can be reduced, and the time until printing is completed can be shortened.

According to the present invention, the limit of the number of printings corresponding to the type of the master wound on the print drum is determined based on the number of printings and the number of printed sheets. While performing the plate discharging operation by controlling the plate discharging means,
Since the new plate making operation is executed by controlling the plate making means,
While shortening the time until the end of printing, the master that has reached the number of prints is discarded, and printing can be performed by a new master, thereby obtaining a good printed matter.

According to the present invention, when the number of printings is limited and the automatic plate making mode is not set, the display section is operated and its contents are displayed, so that the time until printing is completed can be shortened. As a result, the operator of the apparatus can easily know the state of the apparatus without performing any special operation.

According to the present invention, when the identification signal of the printing unit matches the identification signal of the control means, the image data is read out from the information communication means, and the plate making means is used by the plate making means using the called image data. , It is possible to make a plate of the image corresponding to the discarded master image, and even if the plate is changed during printing, continuous printing is possible and the time until printing is completed can be shortened. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic overall configuration diagram of a stencil printing apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a storage unit, an information communication unit, and a control unit on the printing drum side and a connection relationship between elements connected to the storage unit, the information communication unit, and the control unit;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating one embodiment of a printing operation process.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a left drum determination process.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a pre-discharge operation.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process of reading and writing drum-specific information.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart leading to a terminal C of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart leading to a terminal D in FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating one form of pressing force control according to the type of master.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating one form of display control for a display unit.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating one embodiment of an operation of contacting and separating an ink supply member.

FIG. 12 is a plan view showing an example of display information content displayed on a display unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printing drum 1c Drum outer peripheral surface 1d Drum inner peripheral surface 3 Storage unit 8 Ink supply member 12 Driving means 20 Drum unit 29 Printing pressure adjusting means 30 Ink roller driving source 40 Master 48 Printing pressure member 52 Drive source 91 Information communication means 90 Control means REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100 apparatus main body 101 plate making means 102 plate discharging means 105 display unit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI theme coat ゛ (Reference) B41L 13/18 B41F 33/14 Z

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A drum unit that supports a printing drum and has a storage unit that can read and write information specific to the drum. 2. The drum unit according to claim 1, wherein the storage unit stores information on a color and a type of ink contained in the drum, information on a remaining amount of ink, information on an idle time when the print drum is not used for printing, information on a print drum. A drum unit that stores at least one of the type information of the master wound around the outer peripheral surface, the information on the number of printable sheets, the movement amount information of the print drum, the size information of the print drum, and the identification signal for distinguishing the image data. 3. A drum unit which is detachable from the apparatus body, supports a printing drum, and has a storage unit capable of reading and writing information specific to the drum, and information for transmitting and receiving information between the storage unit and the storage unit. A stencil printing machine comprising: communication means; and control means for determining the content or state of the printing drum based on information transmitted and received by the information communication means. 4. The stencil printing apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a display unit for displaying information in said storage unit, wherein said control means displays information in said storage unit when power is turned on or when a printing drum is mounted. A stencil printing device that controls display on a display unit. 5. A stencil printing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said printing pressure member is provided so as to be able to abut against the outer peripheral surface of said printing drum, and said pressing force adjusts the pressing force of said printing pressure member against the outer peripheral surface of the drum. A stencil printing apparatus, comprising: a pressure adjusting unit, wherein the control unit controls the printing pressure adjusting unit based on thickness information of the wound master to adjust the pressing force of the printing pressure member. 6. A stencil printing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said control means sets a plurality of reference periods for the idle time according to the information on the color and type of ink, and transmits and receives information transmitted and received by said information communication means. A stencil printing machine which determines whether or not the ink color or type is a leaving time according to the ink color or type based on the reference period, and controls the stencil printing apparatus. 7. A stencil printing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the master used for printing by being wound on the outer peripheral surface of the printing drum is pressed against the plate discharging member to remove the used master from the outer peripheral surface of the drum. When the information transmitted and received by the information communication unit is idle time information, the control unit determines whether the printing drum is an idle drum that has been idle for a predetermined time based on the idle time information. A stencil printing apparatus for controlling the number of plate discharging operations by the plate discharging means and / or the pressing force of the plate discharging member based on the result of the determination. 8. The stencil printing apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a drive source for driving the printing drum to rotate, wherein the control unit is configured to determine whether information transmitted and received by the information communication unit is idle time information. Based on the idle time information, it is determined whether the print drum is an idle drum that has been left for a predetermined time, and when the print drum is an idle drum that has been left for a predetermined time, the drive source is driven to drive the print drum. A stencil printing machine that controls idle rotation the number of times that meets the conditions of ink color and type. 9. A stencil printing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said ink supply member is detachable from an inner peripheral surface of said print drum, and is rotatably provided inside said print drum. A drive unit configured to contact the inner peripheral surface, wherein the control unit controls the drive unit to cause the ink supply member to contact the inner peripheral surface of the printing drum when the printing drum is an idle drum. Stencil printing machine. 10. A stencil printing machine according to claim 3, wherein a stencil making means for making a master wound around the outer peripheral surface of the printing drum, and a master wound around the drum and used for printing. And a plate discharging means for discarding the information. The control means, when the information transmitted and received by the information communication means is the number of printed sheets and the number of printed sheets of the type of master to be wound, the number of printed sheets and the number of printed sheets. The limit of the number of printings is determined based on the number of sheets, and when the number of printings is at the limit, the plate discharging means is controlled to execute the plate discharging operation, and the plate making means is controlled to execute a new plate making operation. Stencil printing machine. 11. A stencil printing apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising an automatic stencil mode for executing automatic stencil making by said stencil making means, and a display unit, wherein said control means determines that the number of printings is limited. After doing
A stencil printing machine for controlling the stencil making means to execute a new stencil making operation when the automatic stencil making mode is set, and activating the display unit to display the contents when not set; 12. The stencil printing apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the information transmitted and received by said information communication means is an identification signal, and when the identification signal matches an identification signal set in the control means, The stencil printing device reads out image data from the information communication means and creates a stencil image by the stencil making means using the called image data.