CN111038095B

CN111038095B - Information processing apparatus, printing system, and information processing method

Info

Publication number: CN111038095B
Application number: CN201910899060.4A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 三好清人
Original assignee: Sumitomo Heavy Industries Ltd
Current assignee: Sumitomo Heavy Industries Ltd
Priority date: 2018-10-12
Filing date: 2019-09-23
Publication date: 2021-11-09
Anticipated expiration: 2039-09-23
Also published as: JP7139211B2; JP2020059246A; CN111038095A

Abstract

The invention provides a technique capable of realizing high-level information management in a printing system. An information processing device of the present invention is used in a printing system for printing a base material continuously conveyed by a printing unit, and the information processing device is provided with a printing information storage unit for holding printing information (50). When the base material is divided into a plurality of unit areas in the conveying direction, the printing system is configured to acquire, as image information, an image of each of the plurality of unit areas printed by the printing unit, and the print information includes: operation information (A2-A4) relating to a printing operation performed by the printing unit on the unit area; and image information of the unit area. The motion information (A2-A4) corresponding to the same unit area is associated with the image information of the unit area.

Description

Information processing apparatus, printing system, and information processing method

The present application claims priority based on japanese patent application No. 2018-193345, filed on 12/10/2018. The entire contents of this Japanese application are incorporated by reference into this specification.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus used in a printing system, and an information processing method.

Background

Conventionally, in a printing system such as a gravure printing system, information on the quality of a base material such as a web is sometimes used in order to manage the quality of the base material. For example, in the technique of patent document 1, when a color shift occurs in a web in the case of multicolor printing, data indicating the position of the color shift is generated and used for inspection of the web.

Patent document 1: japanese patent laid-open publication No. 2003-72037

The technique of patent document 1 is limited to providing a substrate in which range an abnormality such as color shift occurs, and cannot grasp information on a printing operation of each printing unit. Further, it is difficult to grasp the correspondence between the information on the print quality and the printed portion actually printed. For example, there is a case where a base material to be printed is photographed and displayed on a display, and a print state of an actual printed matter is confirmed based on the display to determine the quality. Further, image processing may be performed on the captured image data to detect a defect in printing such as dust adhesion. However, if a printing abnormality is found at this stage, the image data and the color shift information are not correlated with each other, and therefore, there is a problem that it is difficult to compare and analyze the image data and the color shift information. Thus, the present inventors have recognized that the prior art has room for improvement in achieving a high level of information management.

Disclosure of Invention

One embodiment of the present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a technique capable of realizing high-level information management in a printing system.

In order to solve the above problem, an information processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is used in a printing system that prints on a continuously conveyed base material by a printing unit, and includes a print information storage unit that holds print information. When the base material is divided into a plurality of unit areas in the conveying direction, the printing system is configured to acquire, as image information, an image of each of the plurality of unit areas printed by the printing unit, and the print information includes: operation information relating to a printing operation performed on the unit area by the printing unit; and image information of the unit area. The motion information corresponding to the same unit area is associated with the image information of the unit area.

Another embodiment of the present invention relates to a printing system including: a printing unit for printing the base material which is continuously conveyed; and the information processing apparatus.

Still another embodiment of the present invention is an information processing method. In an information processing method for a printing system for printing on a base material continuously conveyed by a printing unit, when the base material is divided into a plurality of unit areas in a conveying direction, print information obtained by associating operation information on a printing operation of the printing unit corresponding to the same unit area with image information of the unit area is stored in a print information storage unit.

Any combination of the above-described constituent elements and mutual replacement of the constituent elements or expressions of the present invention between a method, a system, and the like are also effective as embodiments of the present invention.

According to the present invention, high-level information management can be achieved in a printing system.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a printing system using a control device according to an embodiment.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of a part of fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing functions of the printing system according to the embodiment.

Fig. 4 (a) is a view when the base material is viewed from the direction of the arrow Pb in fig. 1, and fig. 4 (b) is an enlarged view of the range Pc in fig. 4 (a).

Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of information held in the operation information storage unit and information held in the image information storage unit according to the embodiment.

Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of information held in the print information storage unit according to the embodiment.

Fig. 7 is a diagram for explaining processing performed by the data processing unit according to the embodiment.

Fig. 8 is a graph showing registration shift amounts of the 2 nd to 4 th printing units in the unit areas of the respective numbers.

Fig. 9 is a graph showing the cumulative registration shift amount from the 1 st detection mark to another detection mark in each unit area of the number.

In the figure: 10-printing system, 12-substrate, 14-printing unit, 18-information processing device, 20-transfer roller, 34-data processing section, 35-image acquisition control section, 38-output section, 40-abnormality determination section, 42-action information storage section, 44-printing information storage section, 45-image information storage section, 46-unit region, 50-printing information, 54-identification information printing section, 56-identification information, 58-image information acquisition device.

Detailed Description

[ embodiment ]

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the embodiment and the modifications, the same or equivalent constituent elements and components are denoted by the same reference numerals, and overlapping description is appropriately omitted. In the drawings, the dimensions of components are shown enlarged or reduced as appropriate for ease of understanding. In the drawings, parts that are not essential to the description of the embodiments are omitted.

Further, the terms including the

numbers

1, 2, and the like are used to describe various constituent elements, but the terms are used only to distinguish one constituent element from other constituent elements, and the terms are not used to limit the constituent elements.

In the following description, "parallel" and "perpendicular" include not only perfect parallel and perfect perpendicular but also a case where the deviation from parallel and perpendicular is within an error range.

Next, the main structure of the present embodiment will be described with reference to fig. 1 to 4. Fig. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a printing system 10 using a control device 16 according to an embodiment. Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of a part of fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing the function of the printing system 10. Fig. 4 is a diagram showing the base material 12 after printing, in which (a) is a diagram when the base material 12 is viewed from the direction of the arrow Pb in fig. 1, and (b) is an enlarged view of the range Pc of (a) in fig. 4. Fig. 4 (a) shows the detection marks 28 and the identification information 56 printed on the base material 12, and fig. 4 (b) shows the detection marks 28-a to 28-D in an enlarged manner. The detection mark 28 and the identification information 56 will be described later

The printing system 10 is used to sequentially print a continuously conveyed substrate 12 through a plurality of printing units 14-a-14-D. The term "printing" in the present specification includes not only the case where ink is transferred so as to intermittently form a predetermined pattern such as characters and patterns, but also the case where ink is transferred uniformly and continuously. The former is performed by gravure printing or offset printing, for example, and the latter is performed by a coater, for example. In the present embodiment, an example in which the gravure printing system is applied to the printing system 10 will be described.

In the present embodiment, the base material 12 is a roll material, but a box-making sheet, a flat sheet, or the like may be used as the base material 12. The base material 12 is supplied by a base material supply mechanism, not shown, and is continuously conveyed by a conveying means such as a guide roller, not shown.

The printing system 10 mainly includes a plurality of printing units 14-a to 14-D, an image information acquisition device 58, a control device 16, an information processing device 18, a start signal sensor 52, and an identification information printing unit 54.

(printing unit)

The plurality of printing units 14-A to 14-D are arranged in order along the conveyance direction Pa of the base material 12. In the present embodiment, four printing units 14-A to 14-D are arranged. Hereinafter, the plurality of printing units 14-A to 14-D are distinguished by adding "1 st, 2 nd, 3 rd, and 4 th" to their names and adding "-A, -B, -C, -D" after the symbols in the order of the conveying direction Pa of the base material 12. They are omitted when they are referred to collectively. The same applies to the distinction of the constituent elements relating to the respective printing units 14-A to 14-D.

The printing unit 14 transfers ink from the transfer roller 20 to the substrate 12 to print on the substrate 12. In the printing unit 14 of the present embodiment, inks of different colors are transferred to the base material 12 in the respective printing units 14. In each printing unit 14, the transfer rollers 20 are set to the same circumferential length Ls. The printing unit 14 mainly includes a drive motor 22 and a rotation detection device 24 in addition to the transfer roller 20. The printing units 14-B to 14-D are also provided with sensors 26.

(drive motor)

The drive motor 22 is used to drive the transfer roller 20. In the printing system 10 of the present embodiment, a sectional drive (sectional drive) system is adopted in which the transfer rollers 20 are independently driven by separate drive motors 22.

(rotation detecting device)

The rotation detecting device 24 is connected to a rotation shaft of the drive motor 22. The rotation detecting device 24 is used to detect the rotation angle of the transfer roller 20. The rotation detecting device 24 may be, for example, an encoder, a resolver, or the like. The rotation detecting device 24 of the present embodiment functions as an incremental rotary encoder. The rotation detection device 24 can output an origin pulse signal of one pulse per rotation and an encoder pulse of a plurality of pulses (for example, 1000 pulses) per rotation at a predetermined rotation angle of the transfer roller 20.

(detection marker)

Before the description of the sensor 26, the detection mark will be described. As shown in fig. 4 (a), the detection mark 28 is printed together with one print image such as a pattern every time the transfer roller 20 rotates one revolution. The detection mark 28 of the present embodiment is a registration mark used in registration control described later. The detection marks 28 according to the present embodiment are printed so as to be sequentially arranged in the conveyance direction Pa corresponding to each printing unit 14. For example, the 1 st printing unit 14-A prints the 1 st detection mark 28-A, and the 2 nd printing unit 14-B prints the 2 nd detection mark 28-B at a position adjacent to the 1 st detection mark 28-A on the downstream side. The 3 rd printing unit 14-C prints the 3 rd detection mark 28-C at a position adjacent to the 2 nd detection mark 28-B on the downstream side of the 2 nd detection mark 28-B, and the 4 th printing unit 14-D prints the 4 th detection mark 28-D at a position adjacent to the 3 rd detection mark 28-C on the downstream side of the 3 rd detection mark 28-C. The 1 st to 4 th detection marks 28-a to 28-D are not necessarily printed in this order at the positions, and may be printed in other orders at other positions. For example, the 1 st to 4 th detection markers 28-A to 28-D may be arranged in this order from the downstream side toward the upstream side.

(sensor)

The sensor 26 detects operation information related to the printing operation of the printing unit 14. The sensor 26 of the present embodiment detects the registration shift amount as the operation information of the printing unit 14. As shown in fig. 4 (b), the registration offset here refers to: distances a2 to a4 from a specific point on the detection mark 28 printed on the upstream-side adjacent printing unit 14 to a specific point on the detection mark 28 printed on the present printing unit 14. The distances a2 to a4 may be labeled as operation information a2 to a 4. As shown in fig. 1, the sensor 26 of the present embodiment is provided on the downstream side (hereinafter, simply referred to as "downstream side") in the conveyance direction Pa of the transfer roller 20 of the printing unit 14 to which it belongs. The sensors 26 of the present embodiment are provided individually in the 2 nd to 4 th printing units 14-B to 14-D, respectively. The sensor 26 is not necessarily provided at the above-described position, and the sensor 26 may be provided at any position as long as it can detect the registration shift amount.

As shown in fig. 4 (a), the base material 12 and the base material 12 printed by the printing unit 14 (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as "printed base material 12 p") are divided into a plurality of unit areas 46 in the conveyance direction Pa, and are managed for each unit area 46. Therefore, the operation information detected by the sensor 26 includes information on the printing position thereof, particularly, the operation information of this example includes information on the relative position with respect to another mark printed by another printing unit, with the detection mark 28 printed on each unit region 46 shown in fig. 4 (a) as a reference mark.

(image information acquiring apparatus)

As shown in fig. 2, the image information acquiring device 58 is used to acquire an image of a predetermined range of the printing substrate 12 p. The image information acquisition device 58 of the present embodiment functions as an imaging device. The image information acquisition device 58 of the present embodiment acquires the range of each unit region 46 as a still image. Specifically, a flash lamp (not shown) is irradiated to the continuously transported printing base material 12p at a predetermined timing, and an image of the printing base material 12p at that timing is captured by a camera (not shown). Therefore, the image information acquisition means 58 can acquire the still images of the respective unit areas 46.

The image information acquisition device 58 in this example is connected to the control device 16, and captures the image of the unit area 46 at a timing based on the control of the image acquisition control unit 35 of the control device 16. The image information acquiring device 58 outputs the acquired image to the control device 16 as image information. The image acquisition control unit 35 sequentially stores the image information acquired by the image information acquisition device 58 in the image information storage unit 45 of the information processing device 18. Therefore, the image information storage unit 45 stores time-series image information arranged in chronological order. The image information acquiring device 58 of fig. 2 is also connected to a display (not shown), and can display image information on the display. The operator can perform visual detection based on the still image displayed in the unit area 46 of the printed base material 12p on the display. That is, the image information acquisition device 58 constitutes a still image imaging device.

The image information acquiring device 58 may transmit the acquired image to the defect detecting device as image information. At this time, the defect detecting device can detect a defect in the printing such as dust adhering to the unit area 46 by performing image processing on the image information from the image information acquiring device 58.

(function frame)

Each functional block such as the control device 16 and the information Processing device 18 shown in fig. 3 can be realized by an element or a mechanical device represented by a cpu (central Processing unit) of a computer in terms of hardware, and can be realized by a computer program or the like in terms of software. Accordingly, those skilled in the art who have the benefit of this description will appreciate that the functional blocks can be implemented in a variety of forms through a combination of hardware and software. The structure of each functional block of the control device 16 and the operation thereof will be described below. The information processing device 18 will be described later.

(control device)

The control device 16 controls the printing unit 14, the image information acquisition device 58, the identification information printing unit 54, and the mark applying device (not shown). The control device 16 shown in fig. 3 includes a control unit 30, a control information storage unit 32, an identification information printing control unit 33, an image acquisition control unit 35, and a marking control unit 37. The control unit 30 controls the plurality of printing units 14. The control information storage unit 32 holds information used for control by the control unit 30.

(image acquisition control section)

The image acquisition control unit 35 controls the image information acquisition device 58 to acquire an image of a predetermined unit area 46 of the printed base material 12p conveyed from the printing unit 14 that prints on the continuously conveyed base material 12 in a predetermined cycle. However, the image information acquiring device 58 may acquire the image of the printing substrate 12p at a timing when the phase is shifted from the printing position of the unit region 46, and when the image of the printing substrate 12p is acquired at this timing, the image in the middle of the continuous unit region 46 is acquired, and the entire unit region 46 cannot be displayed, which may hinder visual inspection. Therefore, the image acquisition control unit 35 of the present embodiment detects the print cycle of the printing unit 14 and controls the image information acquisition device 58 to acquire the image of the print base material 12p at a timing corresponding to the detection result.

A print cycle of the print unit 14 may be detected by acquiring a period of repetitive movement of each portion of the print unit 14. In the present embodiment, since the printing unit 14 includes the transfer roller 20 that transfers ink to the base material 12 and the transfer roller 20 prints one unit region 46 per rotation, the rotation cycle of the transfer roller 20 can be set to the printing cycle. In particular, in the present embodiment, the image information acquisition device 58 is controlled so as to acquire an image of the printing substrate 12p at a timing set based on the rotational phase of the transfer roller 20. That is, in the present embodiment, the rotational phase of the transfer roller 20 is detected, and the strobe light is emitted at a timing in a certain phase relationship with the detected rotational phase, and imaging is performed. The phase relationship may be set by experiments, or may be set by calculation based on the size, distance, and conveyance speed of the base material 12 at each location.

In the present embodiment, the origin pulse signal from the rotation detecting device 24 is used as a predetermined phase signal based on the rotational phase of the transfer roller 20. The origin pulse signal in this example is a signal having one pulse (i.e., one cycle) per one rotation of the transfer roller 20, and is a pulse signal having an edge that rises or falls at a predetermined rotation angle per one rotation of the transfer roller 20.

(identification information printing part)

Next, the identification information printing unit 54 will be described. The identification information printing unit 54 is configured to print identification information 56 on each unit region 46 under the control of the control device 16. Fig. 4 (a) shows an example of the printed identification information 56. As shown in fig. 1, the identification information printing portion 54 of the embodiment is disposed immediately behind the sensor 26 of the 4 th printing unit 14-D. The identification information printing portion 54 may be disposed at another position within a range from the upstream side of the 1 st printing unit 14-a to the downstream side of the 4 th printing unit 14-D. The identification information printing portion 54 of this example is an ink jet type printing apparatus that ejects ink that has been made into droplets onto the base material 12. The identification information printing unit 54 may be a printing device of another printing method such as laser printing.

The identification information 56 is information printed on each unit region 46 to identify the plurality of unit regions 46. The identification information may be any information that can identify each unit region 46 included in the base material 12, and may include numbers, letters, figures, symbols, patterns, bar codes (including two-dimensional codes), or a combination thereof. The identification information 56 of the present embodiment may be generated based on the numbers assigned to the respective unit areas 46 in ascending order from the downstream side toward the upstream side of the base material 12. The identification information printing section 54 is disposed immediately behind the sensor 26 of the unit 14-D, and the identification information 56 is generated based on the serial number associated with the operation information (registration shift amount) from the sensor 26 of the unit 14-D. The identification information 56 may be information converted from a serial number by prescribed data processing, but in this example, the serial number is directly used as the identification information 56. The operation information and the serial number will be described later.

(identification information printing control section)

The identification information printing control unit 33 acquires the identification information 56 and controls the identification information printing unit 54 to print the identification information 56 at a predetermined position. The identification information printing control unit 33 of the present embodiment acquires the serial number from the information processing device 18 and controls the identification information printing unit 54 to print the acquired serial number on the corresponding unit region 46. The identification information 56 may be printed at a position avoiding the detection mark 28.

(Mark control section)

The mark control unit 37 controls the mark applying device to apply a mark in a visually recognizable form to the printed base material 12p when the operation information (registration shift amount) acquired from the printed base material 12p exceeds a predetermined reference value (for example, 100 μm) and the abnormality determination unit 40 determines that the abnormality has occurred. The mark may be any mark that can be visually recognized and removed later, and in the present embodiment, a releasable adhesive tape sheet is attached to the printing substrate 12p as a mark. The abnormality determination unit 40 will be described later.

The control unit 30 is connected to the drive motor 22, the rotation detection device 24, and the sensor 26. The control unit 30 receives operation information (registration deviation amount) detected by the sensor 26 and the rotation angle of the transfer roller 20 detected by the rotation detecting device 24. When the control unit 30 receives the operation information detected by the sensor 26, the operation information is stored in the control information storage unit 32.

The control section 30 performs registration control for controlling the registration adjustment mechanism so as to make the registration shift amount smaller in accordance with the registration shift amount of the printing unit 14. In the present embodiment, the drive motor 22 of the printing unit 14 serves as a registration adjustment mechanism that corrects the rotational phase of the transfer roller 20 so as to reduce the amount of registration shift to thereby perform registration control. This registration control is well known, and therefore, the explanation is omitted.

(information processing apparatus)

The information processing device 18 includes a data processing unit 34, a storage unit 36, an output unit 38, and an abnormality determination unit 40. The storage unit 36 includes an operation information storage unit 42, a print information storage unit 44, and an image information storage unit 45. The data processing unit 34, the output unit 38, and the abnormality determination unit 40 will be described later.

Refer to fig. 4 (a). As described above, in the present embodiment, information is managed for each unit area 46 of the base material 12. In fig. 4 (a), the boundary lines between the respective unit regions 46 are indicated by two-dot chain lines. Each unit region 46 is defined as a region having a constant length in the conveyance direction Pa with respect to the state in which the base material 12 is conveyed. When the base material 12 is long in the conveyance direction Pa like a web, each area of a single base material 12 divided by a certain length in the conveyance direction Pa is regarded as a unit area 46. When the base material 12 is short in the conveyance direction Pa like a flat sheet, each base material 12 can be regarded as a unit area 46.

In the present embodiment, the length La of the unit region 46 in the conveyance direction Pa corresponds to the circumferential length Ls of the transfer roller 20 when it rotates one revolution. The unit area 46 of the present embodiment can be regarded as an area including the entire single printing substrate obtained by printing by the printing system 10. The printed substrate was obtained as follows: the web after printing by the printing system 10 is cut at a predetermined position by a cutter not shown.

Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of information held in the operation information storage unit 42 and information held in the image information storage unit 45. The operation information storage unit 42 holds operation information of each printing unit 14. In fig. 5, registration shift amounts a2 to a4 are indicated as operation information of the 2 nd to 4 th printing units 14-B to 14-D, respectively. The image information storage unit 45 holds the acquisition result of each unit region 46 by the image information acquisition device 58 as the image information 49.

The operation information storage unit 42 holds time-series data 48 in which operation information for each cycle of the printing unit 14 is arranged in a cycle order (time series). Here, in each printing unit 14, the operation of rotating the transfer roller 20 of the printing unit 14 at a predetermined rotation angle is a single cycle. In each printing unit 14, the rotation angle of the transfer roller 20 required for one cycle is set to the same magnitude. Since the transfer rollers 20 have the same circumferential length Ls in each printing unit 14, the cycle time required for one cycle is the same in each printing unit 14. The "predetermined rotation angle" is set so that the circumferential length Ls of the transfer roller 20 corresponding to the rotation angle coincides with the length La of the unit region 46 in the conveyance direction Pa. In the present embodiment, the operation in which the transfer roller 20 rotates at a rotational angle of one rotation is a single cycle. The operation information storage unit 42 holds a plurality of time-series data 48 that are obtained by integrating operation information for each cycle of the printing unit 14 for each printing unit 14.

The image information storage unit 45 holds image information 49 in which acquired images for each cycle of the printing unit 14 are arranged in a cyclic order (time series). The image information 49 may be image data of a still image obtained by imaging the unit area 46, or may be character information such as a file name that can be linked to the image data. As an example, the image information 49 in fig. 5 is image data in jpeg format.

Next, the time-series data 48 and the image information 49 of the operation information of the same unit area 46 will be described. The 3 rd printing unit 14-C is disposed at a position corresponding to the amount of circulation from the 2 nd printing unit 14-B toward the downstream side S, the 4 th printing unit 14-D is disposed at a position corresponding to the amount of circulation from the 3 rd printing unit 14-C toward the downstream side T, and the image information acquiring device 58 is disposed at a position corresponding to the amount of circulation from the 4 th printing unit 14-D toward the downstream side Q. At this time, each time series data of one and the same unit area 46 is shifted by the number of cycles. That is, the time-series data 48 of the 3 rd printing unit 14-C is data before the T-cycle of the time-series data 48 of the 4 th printing unit 14-D, and the time-series data 48 of the 2 nd printing unit 14-B is data before the S + T-cycle of the time-series data 48 of the 4 th printing unit 14-D.

The image information 49 of the image information acquiring device 58 is data after the Q cycle of the time-series data 48 of the 4 th printing unit 14-D for one and the same unit area 46. Therefore, the arrangement interval of each printing unit and the image information acquiring device 58 is divided by the circumferential length Ls of the transfer roller 20 to convert the number into the number of cycles, and each time-series data is shifted according to the number of cycles, thereby making it possible to correlate the data as data of the same unit area 46.

Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of information held in the print information storage unit 44. In fig. 6, the operation information (registration shift amount), the identification information, and the image information of each printing unit 14 corresponding to the same unit area 46 are arranged in the order of the number of the unit area 46 to be described later. The print information storage unit 44 holds print information 50 related to the print content of the printing system 10. The print information 50 includes: the plurality of pieces of operation information (registration shift amounts a2 to a4) relating to the printing operation of each printing unit 14 on the unit area 46, the serial numbers indicating the order of the unit areas 46 in the conveying direction Pa, the identification information 56 for identifying the unit areas 46, and the image information acquired by imaging the unit areas 46. In this example, the serial number is directly used as the identification information 56.

Refer to fig. 2. In fig. 2, Po, Pe, Pf, Gp indicate positions in the conveyance direction Pa. Po represents the position of the print dot of the 4 th printing unit 14-D, Pe represents the position of the sensor 26, Pf represents the position of the print dot of the identification information printing section 54, and Gp represents the center position of the imaging range of the image information acquiring device 58. Lo, Le, Lf denote the distances from Gp to Po, Pe, Pf, respectively. In the example of FIG. 2, Lo ≧ Le ≧ Lf is specified.

Next, the number Q of cycles for shifting the image information 49 in order to associate the image information 49 with the time-series data 48 of the 4 th printing unit 14-D will be described. The image information acquiring device 58 of FIG. 2 is disposed downstream of the sensor 26 of the 4 th printing unit 14-D. The image information acquiring device 58 acquires an image of the printing substrate 12p in a range centered on a position distant from the information acquiring position Pe of the sensor 26 by a distance Le in the conveying direction Pa. The number of cycles Q is expressed by equation (1) assuming that the circumferential length of the transfer roller 20 is Ls.

Q＝INT(Le/Ls)……(1)

Wherein INT () represents an integer of a numerical value in parentheses, which is a truncated decimal point or less. That is, the cycle number Q may be an integer part of a quotient obtained by dividing the distance Le by the circumferential length Ls. The information processing device 18 of the present embodiment associates the image information 49 with the operation information acquired in a cycle before the Q cycle compared to the cycle in which the image information 49 is acquired. In the example of fig. 2, the cycle number Q is set to 2.

(Serial number)

Next, the numbers will be described. The plurality of pieces of operation information include operation information corresponding to the respective unit areas 46 for each printing unit 14. As described above, the serial numbers are assigned to the respective unit areas 46 in an ascending order in the direction opposite to the conveying direction Pa of the base material 12. The direction opposite to the conveying direction Pa here means: a direction from the downstream side toward the upstream side. The number of the unit area 46 in the present embodiment indicates: a plurality of printed base substrates 12p resulting after printing of the base substrate 12 by the printing system 10 are positioned several in the printing sequence. In the print information 50, the operation information of each print unit 14 corresponding to the same unit area 46, the serial number of the unit area 46, the identification information 56 of the unit area 46, and the image information of the unit area 46 are associated with each other.

(data processing section)

Next, the data processing unit 34 will be explained. The data processing unit 34 performs processing for associating the operation information, the identification information 56, and the image information of the same unit area 46 for each printing unit 14 using the serial number from the time-series data 48 in which the operation information of the plurality of printing units 14 is arranged in the cyclic order. The data processing unit 34 generates the print information 50 from the operation information, the identification information 56, and the image information associated with the same unit region 46, and stores the generated print information in the print information storage unit 44. The data processing unit 34 of the embodiment performs the following processing to obtain the print information 50. The basic concept of this process will be described below.

Fig. 7 is a diagram for explaining the processing performed by the data processing unit 34 according to the embodiment. In fig. 7, the operation information of the xth cycle of the pth printing unit 14 in the conveyance direction Pa is denoted as Ap-X. X is a natural number of 1 or more.

The length in the conveyance direction Pa from the printing position of the printing unit 14 located on the upstream side (hereinafter referred to as an upstream unit) to the printing position of the printing unit 14 located on the downstream side (hereinafter referred to as a downstream unit) is referred to as a path length Lc [ m ]. The printing position of the printing unit 14 here means: the transfer roller 20 of the printing unit 14 transfers ink to a location on the substrate 12. The transport distance of the base material 12 per cycle is defined as a unit transport distance Ld [ m/cycle ]. Then, as shown in the following equation (2), the integer part of the quotient of the path length Lc divided by the unit transport distance Ld is the number of shifts S. The number of displacements S is a number similar to the number of cycles required for the transport path length Lc of the base material 12. The circumferential length Ls of the transfer roller 20 corresponding to the rotational angle of one cycle coincides with the length Lb of the unit region 46, and therefore the unit transport distance Ld is the same as the length Lb [ m ] of the unit region 46. Therefore, the number of shifts S is represented by the following formula (3).

S＝INT(Lc/Ld)……(2)

S＝INT(Lc/Lb)……(3)

For example, as shown in fig. 7, the number of displacements S corresponding to the path length from the 2 nd printing unit 14-B to the 4 th printing unit 14-D is set to 4, and the number of displacements S corresponding to the path length from the 3 rd printing unit 14-C to the 4 th printing unit 14-D is set to 2. At this time, there is a high possibility that the unit region 46 passing through the printing position of the 2 nd printing unit 14-B in the 14 th cycle passes through the printing position of the 4 th printing unit 14-D after 4 cycles. Likewise, the possibility that the unit area 46 passing through the printing position of the 3 rd printing unit 14-C in the 16 th cycle passes through the printing position of the 4 th printing unit 14-D after 2 cycles.

This indicates that there is a high possibility that the action information a2-14 of the 14 th loop of the 2 nd print unit 14-B, the action information A3-16 of the 16 th loop of the 3 rd print unit 14-C, and the action information a4-18 of the 18 th loop of the 4 th print unit 14-D, which are indicated by the black frame at the lower left of fig. 7, are action information of the same unit area 46. From another point of view, it is highly likely that the operation information of the X-th loop of the 4 th printing unit 14-D, the operation information of the X-2 th loop of the 3 rd printing unit 14-C, and the operation information of the X-4 th loop of the 2 nd printing unit 14-B are the same operation information of the unit area 46. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the operation information of the specific cycle number of each printing unit 14 is regarded as the operation information of the same unit area 46, and the operation information is associated with each other. The following description will be made in more detail.

The data processing unit 34 of the embodiment performs a correlation process including the following steps (a), (b), and (c). In step (a) of the present embodiment, the operation information of the nth printing unit 14 (hereinafter, referred to as a reference unit) counted from a preset start time in the X-th cycle is acquired. Where N represents the number of all print units 14. In the present embodiment, since N is 4, the operation information of the X-th cycle is acquired in step (a) with the 4 th printing unit 14-D as the reference unit.

In step (b), operation information in a cycle of the mth (m ≠ N) th printing unit 14 in the conveyance direction Pa that is displaced by the predetermined displacement number S from the start time point in the xth cycle is acquired. Here, m is a natural number other than N among 1 to N. In the present embodiment, in step (B), the operation information of the 2 nd printing unit 14-B or the 3 rd printing unit 14-C is acquired. That is, the operation information of the other printing units 14 except the nth printing unit among the 2 nd to nth printing units 14 is acquired.

The "predetermined number of displacements S" is set to a value corresponding to the mth printing unit 14. The displacement number S of the mth printing unit 14 is obtained from the path length Lc from the reference unit 14 to the mth printing unit 14 and the length Lb of the unit area 46 by using the above equation (3). These path lengths Lc and Lb are held in the storage unit 36 in advance.

(sensor for start signal)

Next, the start signal sensor 52 will be described. The start time in the present embodiment is: the data processing unit 34 receives a start signal output from another device. As shown in fig. 1, the printing system 10 according to the embodiment includes a start signal sensor 52 for generating the start signal. The start signal sensor 52 according to the embodiment is capable of detecting a connection point which becomes a joint between a plurality of base materials 12 (web materials), and is disposed in front of the sensor 26 of the 4 th printing unit 14-D. The control unit 30 of the control device 16 outputs a start signal to the data processing unit 34 of the information processing device 18 at the time when the start signal sensor 52 detects the connection point of the base material 12.

In steps (a) and (b), the data processing unit 34 determines the number of cycles of operation of each printing unit 14 by the rotation detection device 24. The data processing unit 34 determines the number of cycles of the operation of the printing unit 14 by the rotation detection device 24 of the printing unit 14. More specifically, the data processing unit 34 includes a counter (not shown) that counts every time the rotation detection device 24 reads that the transfer roller 20 has rotated by a predetermined rotation angle.

The counter resets the count value to an initial value (for example, 1) at the above-described start time. The data processing unit 34 reads the count value of the counter as the number of cycles of the operation of the printing unit 14. The data processing unit 34 of the present embodiment includes a counter corresponding to each of the printing units 14, and acquires the count value of the counter as the number of cycles of the operation of the corresponding printing unit 14. The data processing unit 34 of the present embodiment determines the number of cycles of operation of the printing unit 14 independently for each printing unit 14.

In step (c), the operation information of each printed unit 14 acquired in step (a) and step (b) is associated with each other to be the operation information of each printed unit 14 in the same unit area 46. Through the above-described association processing, the operation information of each print unit 14 with respect to the same unit area 46 is associated from the time-series data 48 in which the operation information of the plurality of print units 14 is arranged in the cyclic order.

The data processing unit 34 associates the operation information of each printing unit 14 with respect to the unit area 46 obtained by the above-described association process with the number corresponding to the unit area 46, and associates the operation information with the identification information 56 and the image information by the number to generate the print information 50. There is a correspondence between the sequence number and the number of cycles. For example, in the present embodiment, when the connection point of the base material 12 is detected, the 1 st unit area 46 in the entire base material 12 passes through the printing position of the 4 th printing unit 14-D. Thus, the motion information output by the sensor 26 of the 4 th printing unit 14-D in the 1 st cycle is the motion information corresponding to the 1 st unit area 46 in the entire base material 12. That is, the actual number of the unit areas 46 of the base material 12 matches the number of cycles. Therefore, the operation information of the X-th cycle of the 4 th printing unit 14-D may be associated with the same number of cycles as the number of cycles.

The method of associating the operation information with the sequence number is not limited to this. For example, a table or an expression specifying the correspondence relationship between the number of cycles and the number may be stored in the storage unit 36, the number may be calculated from the number of cycles using the table or the expression, and the calculated value may be used as the number.

Next, an example of an information processing method performed by using the information processing device 18 according to the present embodiment will be described.

The control unit 30 of the control device 16 controls the drive motor 22 and the like so that the plurality of printing units 14 sequentially print on the base material 12 while performing the registration control described above. The sensor 26 sequentially detects motion information (registration shift amount) of the substrate 12 being conveyed, and outputs the motion information to the control device 16 every time the motion information is detected.

The control unit 30 of the control device 16 sequentially stores the operation information output from the sensor 26 in the control information storage unit 32. Each time the operation information of the sensor 26 is stored in the control information storage unit 32, the control unit 30 outputs a strobe signal corresponding to the printing unit 14 to which the sensor 26 belongs to the data processing unit 34 of the information processing device 18. In the present embodiment, the strobe signals corresponding to the 2 nd to 4 th printing units 14-B to 14-D are output to the data processing unit 34. The sensor 26 of the printing unit 14 outputs the motion information (registration shift amount) about the unit area 46 once per one cycle (i.e., once per one rotation of the transfer roller 20 of the printing unit 14 to which the sensor 26 belongs). Accordingly, the control unit 30 outputs the strobe signals corresponding to the 2 nd to 4 th printing units 14-B to 14-D to the data processing unit 34 every cycle.

The data processing unit 34 acquires the operation information of the latest cycle of the printing unit 14 corresponding to the strobe signal every time the strobe signal outputted from the control unit 30 is received. The data processing unit 34 reads the control information storage unit 32 of the control device 16, and acquires the operation information of the latest cycle of the printing unit 14. The data processing unit 34 associates the acquired operation information of the printing unit 14 with the number of cycles, and stores the operation information in the operation information storage unit 42. The data processing unit 34 associates the operation information of the latest cycle of the printing unit 14 with the cycle number and stores the operation information once in the operation information storage unit 42 for each cycle of the operation of the printing unit 14. In the present embodiment, the data processing unit 34 generates time-series data 48 in which the operation information of the printing unit 14 is arranged in the order of cycles, and stores the data in the operation information storage unit 42.

The data processing unit 34 associates the identification information 56 with the operation information stored in the operation information storage unit 42 for each cycle of the printing unit 14. In particular, the data processing unit 34 performs the above-described association processing based on the operation information held in the operation information storage unit 42, and performs processing for associating the operation information with the image information and the identification information 56 held in the image information storage unit 45 by the number corresponding to the same unit area 46. The data processing unit 34 may perform the above-described association process each time the operation information is stored in the operation information storage unit 42, or may perform the association process at another timing.

Next, the effects of the information processing device 18 will be described.

The print information storage unit 44 of the information processing device 18 holds print information 50 in which the operation information of each print unit 14 corresponding to the same unit region 46, the serial number of the unit region 46, the identification information 56, and the image information are associated with each other. Therefore, the operation information, the identification information 56, and the image information of each printing unit 14 can be managed in units of the number of the unit area 46, and high-level information management can be realized.

For example, when the operation information of the printing unit 14 is the registration deviation amount, there are the following advantages. The print information 50 includes registration offsets a2 to a4 for each printed unit 14 in the unit region 46 of each serial number. As shown in fig. 4 (b), this indicates that the print information 50 includes information for specifying the relative positions of all the detection marks 28 in each unit area 46 in the conveyance direction Pa thereof. Therefore, by using these registration shift amounts a2 to a4, the distance from a specific point of an arbitrary detection marker 28 to a specific point of another arbitrary detection marker 28 can be calculated.

For example, FIG. 8 is a graph showing registration offsets A2-A4 for each of the printed units 14-B-14-D in each of the numbered unit areas 46. Fig. 9 is a graph showing the cumulative registration shift amounts a1 → 2, a1 → 3, and a1 → 4 from the 1 st detection mark 28-a to the other detection marks 28-B to 28-D in the unit region 46 of each index. These graphs are obtained using the above-described print information 50. These graphs can be used to analyze the tendency of variation in the printing position, and the like.

In addition, by using the abnormality determination unit 40 described later, it is possible to specify which printing unit 14 the cause of the abnormality occurs in, or in which number range the abnormality occurs. In this way, by obtaining the print information by associating the operation information of each print unit 14 corresponding to the same unit area 46 with the serial number of the unit area 46, it is possible to diversify the analysis method of the operation information of the print unit 14.

The data processing unit 34 defines the operation of the transfer roller 20 for one rotation as one cycle, and stores the operation information of the plurality of printing units 14 in the operation information storage unit 42 for each cycle. Normally, the operation information (registration shift amount) is output from the printing unit 14 at a cycle extremely shorter than the cycle. Therefore, the amount of data stored in the operation information storage unit 42 can be further reduced as compared with the case where the operation information output from the printing unit 14 is sequentially stored.

In addition, in the information processing device 18, since the operation information corresponding to the same unit area and the identification information printed on the unit area are associated and stored in the print information storage unit 44, it is possible to match the operation information (registration shift amount) with the actual printing substrate orientation and confirm the same. For example, even when the unwinding connection point is unwound and a part of the unwinding connection point is lost and the information of the second few sheets is lost, since the identification information is printed, the operation information (registration shift amount) can be easily matched with the actual printing substrate orientation. Further, since the two pieces of information can be confirmed at a glance by the identification information, the confirmation of the operation information (registration shift amount) and the actual printing substrate can be easily performed in a short time. For example, by using the printed identification information, it is possible to easily find a unit region in which the registration shift amount is larger than the reference value. The unit area can be confirmed again by visual inspection or the like of the actual printing state, thereby facilitating the secondary determination of shipment availability in a short time.

In particular, by using the marks provided to the unit areas by the mark providing device together, the print state can be reconfirmed in a shorter time. For example, a base material having motion information (registration shift amount) exceeding a reference value is selected from among the print base materials with a mark, and the corresponding motion information (registration shift amount) can be confirmed from the printed identification information for the selected print base material. Since it is only necessary to confirm the operation information (registration shift amount) for the selected printing substrate, the working time can be shortened.

Further, regarding the printed matter on which the user has requested improvement in the shipped printed matter, the corresponding operation information (registration shift amount) can be confirmed by confirming the printed identification information, and therefore, the degree of acceptance of the operation information (registration shift amount) by the user can be estimated. By adjusting the reference value of the operation information (registration deviation amount) based on the estimated acceptance level, reasonable shipment quality can be achieved.

In addition, in the information processing device 18, since the operation information and the image information are associated with each other and stored in the print information storage unit 44, the operation information (registration shift amount) and the image information of the actual printed matter can be confirmed in accordance with each other. Therefore, the motion information (registration shift amount) and the image information can be compared with each other for the same unit area, and the correlation between these can be easily checked in a short time.

In particular, by using the marks provided to the unit areas by the mark providing device together, the print state can be reconfirmed in a shorter time. For example, the correlation between the operation information (registration shift amount) and the image information can be checked in a short time for the print substrate selected with the mark. The second determination of the availability of shipment can be facilitated in a short time by reconfirming the image information by visual inspection or the like.

Next, other features of the information processing device 18 according to the embodiment will be described. As shown in fig. 3, the information processing device 18 includes the data processing unit 34, an output unit 38, and an abnormality determination unit 40.

The output unit 38 outputs the print information 50 held in the print information storage unit 44 in a visible manner. In the present embodiment, the output unit 38 is a printer, but the output unit 38 may be a display or the like. The output unit 38 outputs the print information 50 in the form of a table, a graph, or the like.

The abnormality determination unit 40 performs a determination process for determining whether or not there is an abnormality in the printing operation by the printing unit 14. The abnormality determination unit 40 performs the determination process not based on the operation information held in the control information storage unit 32 of the control device 16 but based on the operation information held in the print information 50 of the print information storage unit 44.

The abnormality determination unit 40 performs determination processing by comparing a determination threshold set for the numerical value (registration shift amount) of the operation information of the print information 50 with the numerical value of the operation information. The determination threshold may be set in advance before the association processing is performed by the data processing unit 34, or may be set after the association processing. When the numerical value of the operation information exceeds the determination threshold, the abnormality determination unit 40 generates abnormality information indicating that there is an abnormality in the printing unit 14 and the unit area 46 of the serial number corresponding to the operation information. As shown in fig. 6, the abnormality determination unit 40 of the present embodiment updates the print information 50 by associating the generated abnormality information with the print information 50 held in the print information storage unit 44. Thus, even after the printing operation on the base material 12 is completed, the presence or absence of an abnormality can be determined by changing the determination conditions, and thus, the analysis method for the presence or absence of an abnormality can be diversified.

The abnormality determination unit 40 performs the determination process described above based on the operation information of the plurality of printing units 14 in the unit area 46 of each serial number. This makes it possible to determine the presence or absence of an abnormality in the printing operation by the plurality of printing units 14 in units of the number of the unit area 46. For example, in the example of fig. 6, it is possible to specify a case where the generation site of the abnormality having a large registration shift amount is located in the 14 th to 16 th unit areas 46 and a case where the cause of the abnormality is the 2 nd printing unit 14-B.

The above description explains an example of the embodiment of the present invention in detail. The above embodiments are merely specific examples for carrying out the present invention. The contents of the embodiments do not limit the technical scope of the present invention, and various design changes such as changes, additions, deletions, and the like of the constituent elements can be made without departing from the scope of the inventive concept defined in the claims. In the above-described embodiments, the description has been given with the addition of expressions such as "in the embodiments" and "in the embodiments" to the contents in which such a design change is possible, but the contents without such expressions do not mean that the design change is not permitted.

Although the printing system 10 is described above as an example of the gravure printing system, specific examples thereof are not particularly limited. For example, a coater system, a box making machine system, a flat sheet printer system, or the like may be used. The above description has been made of an example in which the driving method of the transfer roller 20 in the printing system 10 is the stepwise driving method. However, the driving method is not particularly limited, and, for example, a compensation driving method may be employed.

Although the above description has been given of an example in which the operation information is the registration shift amount of the printing unit 14, a specific example thereof is not limited to this. For example, the operation information may be detected values of the speed, rotational position, and torque of the drive motor 22 of the printing unit 14, or may be a deviation between a target value and the detected value.

Although the above description has been given of the example in which the length of the unit region 46 in the conveyance direction Pa corresponds to the circumferential length of the transfer roller 20 when it rotates one revolution, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the length of the unit region 46 in the conveyance direction Pa may correspond to the circumferential length of the transfer roller 20 when it rotates by half a revolution.

The above description has been given of an example in which the data processing unit 34 acquires the operation information of the 2 nd to nth printing units 14 in the conveyance direction Pa. In addition, the operation information of the 1 st printing unit 14 may be acquired and associated with the operation information of the other printing units 14.

The data processing unit 34 may associate the print information 50 stored in the print information storage unit 44 with defect information regarding the presence or absence of a print defect. The printing defects here mean: contamination of the substrate 12, foreign matter, lack of characters, and the like. In this case, the data processing unit 34 may associate the defect information of each unit area 46 with the number of the unit area 46. In addition, the data processing unit 34 may associate the print information 50 with information relating to the quality of the base material 12, which is used in units of the numbers of the unit areas 46.

The above description has been given of an example in which the data processing unit 34 uses the time-series data 48 in which the operation information of the printing unit 14 is arranged in the order of cycles, shifts the operation information of the mth printing unit 14 by the amount of S cycles, and associates the shifted operation information with the operation information of the other printing unit 14. In addition, the motion information of the mth printing unit 14 may be shifted by the amount of S cycles by using a shift register of serial input-serial output type, and the shifted motion information may be associated with the motion information of the other printing unit 14.

In the embodiment, an example in which the number of cycles of the other printing unit 14 is shifted with respect to the number of cycles of the nth printing unit 14 is described. However, the reference unit 14 serving as the reference of the number of cycles may be a printing unit 14 other than the nth printing unit. The reference cell 14 is an nth (N is any natural number from 1 to N) printing cell. In this case, the operation information of the X-th cycle of the nth printing unit may be acquired in step (a), and the operation information of the X-S-th cycle of the m-th (m ≠ n) printing unit may be acquired in step (b). In this case, in step (b), the operation information of only one printing unit 14 other than the nth printing unit 14 may be acquired, or the operation information of each printing unit 14 other than the nth printing unit 14 may be acquired.

In the embodiment, an example in which a start signal for specifying the start time of the steps (a) and (b) is output to the data processing unit 34 at the time when the connection point of the base material 12 is detected is described. The output timing of the start signal is not particularly limited, and for example, the output may be performed at the timing when a switch for resetting the number of cycles is operated. The position of start signal sensor 52 is not particularly limited, and may be disposed in front of sensor 26 of print unit 4-D or in front of sensor 26 of print unit 2-B, in addition to being disposed in front of sensor 26 of print unit 4-D.

In the embodiment, an example in which the detection mark 28 is a linear pattern is described. The detection mark 28 may be any mark as long as it can detect information on the printing position, and may be a mark having a shape different from a straight line, such as a right triangle.

Claims

1. An information processing apparatus used in a printing system that prints on a continuously conveyed base material by a printing unit, the information processing apparatus being characterized in that,

the information processing apparatus includes a print information storage unit for holding print information,

the printing system is configured to acquire, as image information, an image of each of the plurality of unit areas printed by the printing unit in a case where the base material is divided into the plurality of unit areas in the conveying direction,

the printed information includes:

operation information relating to a printing operation performed on a unit area by the printing unit; and

the image information of the unit area is displayed,

further, the motion information corresponding to the same unit area is associated with the image information of the unit area.

2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,

the operation information includes information on printing positions of predetermined reference marks printed in the plurality of unit regions, respectively.

3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,

the printing unit has a transfer roller that transfers ink to the substrate,

the information processing device uses the operation of the transfer roller rotating once as a primary cycle, stores the operation information of the printing unit in an operation information storage unit for each cycle, and associates the operation information with the image information based on the stored operation information.

4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3,

the printing system includes an image information acquiring device for acquiring the image information,

the image information acquiring device is configured to acquire an image of a range centered on a position that is a distance Le downstream in the conveying direction from an acquisition position of the action information,

the information processing apparatus associates the image information with action information acquired in a cycle preceding a Q-cycle of a cycle in which the image information is acquired,

the number of cycles Q is expressed by the equation (1) where Ls is the circumferential length of the transfer roller,

Q＝INT(Le/Ls)……(1)

wherein INT () represents an integer of a numerical value in parentheses, which is a truncated decimal point or less.

5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,

the printed information further includes identification information printed on the unit area for identifying the unit area,

the operation information corresponding to the same unit area is associated with the identification information of the unit area.

6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,

the printing apparatus includes an abnormality determination unit that determines whether or not there is an abnormality in a printing operation by the printing unit based on the print information.

7. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,

the printing apparatus includes an output unit that outputs the print information in a visible manner.

8. A printing system is characterized by comprising:

a printing unit for printing the base material which is continuously conveyed; and

the information processing apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 7.

9. An information processing method used in a printing system that prints on a continuously conveyed base material by a printing unit, the information processing method being characterized in that,

when the base material is divided into a plurality of unit areas in the conveying direction, print information obtained by associating operation information related to a printing operation of a printing unit corresponding to the same unit area with image information of the unit area is stored in a print information storage unit.