CN112272616B

CN112272616B - Screen printing apparatus and screen printing method

Info

Publication number: CN112272616B
Application number: CN201980038962.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 一之濑孝一; 土肥克己; 松下俊宏
Original assignee: Toshin Kogyo Co Ltd
Current assignee: Toshin Kogyo Co Ltd
Priority date: 2018-06-08
Filing date: 2019-05-24
Publication date: 2022-04-12
Anticipated expiration: 2039-05-24
Also published as: CN112272616A; JP7199740B2; JPWO2019235265A1; TWI808187B; TW202002737A; WO2019235265A1

Abstract

The invention provides a screen printing apparatus with high printing precision. A screen printing device (10) is provided with: a conveying mechanism (12) for conveying the cloth (C); a screen printing unit (13) that performs screen printing on the fabric (C) by means of a screen (15) disposed on the conveyance path of the fabric (C); and a plate making section (14) which is provided at a position above the screen printing section (13), and which moves the ink head (50) relative to the screen of the screen original plate to perform ink jet printing on the screen to produce a screen (15).

Description

Screen printing apparatus and screen printing method

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a screen printing apparatus and a screen printing method for performing screen printing on a cloth, and more particularly to a screen printing apparatus and a screen printing method capable of performing plate making at a position where a screen original plate is arranged.

Background

Conventionally, as a screen printing apparatus for performing printing using a screen, for example, patent document 1 is provided. The screen printing apparatus described in patent document 1 includes: an endless belt for conveying a cloth, a drive roller for driving the endless belt, a screen positioned on a surface of the cloth, and a printing unit having a squeegee. The screen plate is formed with a plate making region composed of a region where ink is blocked and a hole through which ink passes. Ink is made to flow on the screen plate, and the ink is made to pass through the holes of the screen plate by moving the squeegee on the surface of the screen plate, thereby printing the cloth under the screen plate.

Documents of the prior art

Patent document

Patent document 1: japanese laid-open patent publication No. 2015-044330

Disclosure of Invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

The screen used in the invention described in patent document 1 is a screen plate in which a screen is fixed to a frame made of aluminum or the like with high tension, and a plate making area is formed on the screen. The plate making region is formed in the following order. The photosensitive film was coated on the screen by a coater and dried. Subsequently, the photosensitive film is subjected to inkjet printing using a masking ink in accordance with a printing pattern on the cloth by a plate making apparatus. When the screen is irradiated with light by the exposure machine, the photosensitive film not shielded by the shielding ink is cured. When the masking ink and the photosensitive film are washed by the washing machine, only the cured photosensitive film remains on the screen to form the areas where the ink is masked, and the areas where the washed photosensitive film is located form the holes through which the ink passes.

The screen produced by the above-described steps is produced by a plate making apparatus installed at a place different from the screen printing apparatus, and then transported to the screen printing apparatus and installed on a cloth conveyance path by an operator. However, when the screen plate is conveyed to the screen printing apparatus, the frame may be deformed by an impact during conveyance, and the tension of the screen may be changed. When printing is performed using such a screen, the printed pattern is shifted from the desired printing position of the cloth, and the printing accuracy is deteriorated.

Further, when the screen plate is disposed at a predetermined position on the cloth conveyance path of the screen printing apparatus, it is necessary to accurately position the screen plate in order to prevent printing misalignment with respect to the cloth, but it is extremely difficult for an operator to perform positioning manually.

In particular, when performing multi-color screen printing using a screen printing apparatus, a plurality of screens are arranged in parallel in the cloth conveyance direction, and inks of different colors are placed on the respective screens. Next, the cloth is intermittently moved by the width (print pitch) of each print area to be printed by each screen, and an area on the cloth printed by the screen located on the upstream side in the cloth conveyance direction is printed by the next screen, thereby performing multicolor printing.

In order to accurately overlap the printing of the screen positioned on the downstream side with the area on the cloth printed by the screen positioned on the upstream side, it is necessary to accurately position the screens, and the distance between the plate making areas of adjacent screens is accurately an integral multiple of the printing pitch, and the allowable positioning error is considered to be about 0.1 mm. However, it is extremely difficult for an operator to manually position and arrange the screen plates with high accuracy. When a screen is not arranged at a predetermined position, printing on the next screen cannot be accurately superimposed on the printing area of the preceding screen for the cloth, which causes a problem of occurrence of printing deviation and deterioration of printing accuracy.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a screen printing apparatus and a screen printing method with high printing accuracy.

Means for solving the problems

The screen printing apparatus of the present invention is characterized by comprising: a conveying mechanism for conveying the cloth; a screen printing section that performs screen printing on the fabric by a screen arranged on a transport path of the fabric; and a plate making section provided at a position above the screen printing section, and configured to move the ink head relative to the screen of the screen original plate and perform inkjet printing on the screen to produce a screen.

The screen printing apparatus of the present invention includes a plate making section for making a screen by arranging a screen original plate on a transport path of a fabric, and performing screen printing on the fabric by the screen through a screen printing section. Therefore, it is not necessary to carry and set a screen, and it is possible to prevent the problem that the impact during the carrying causes deformation of the frame and the tension of the screen changes, which causes deterioration of the printing accuracy.

In the case of performing multicolor screen printing using a plurality of screens, it is necessary to accurately set the distance between the plate making areas of adjacent screens to an integral multiple of the printing pitch, but the screen printing apparatus of the present invention is configured such that the screen is produced by ink-jet printing on the screen of the screen original plate by moving the ink head in the plate making section, and therefore the plate making areas can be formed at desired positions on the screen. Therefore, even if the screen plates are not accurately positioned by manual work by an operator as in the conventional technique, the positions of the plate making areas of adjacent screen plates can be accurately set to integral multiples of the printing pitch by adjusting the positions of the plate making areas to be formed, and screen printing can be performed with high accuracy.

In a preferred embodiment, the ink head of the plate making section includes: a nozzle unit for ejecting a photocurable ink onto the screen; and a light irradiation unit that irradiates the screen with light for curing the photocurable ink.

In the above embodiment, the ink head of the plate making section is provided with the light irradiation section on both sides with the nozzle section interposed therebetween.

In a preferred embodiment, the plate making section includes a moving mechanism for moving the ink head in two directions perpendicular to the screen.

In a preferred embodiment, a plurality of sets of the combination of the screen printing unit and the plate making unit are arranged at intervals along a cloth conveying path, the plate making unit of each set forms plate making regions having the same width by applying inkjet printing to the screens, and the distance between the plate making regions of adjacent sets is an integral multiple of the width of the plate making region.

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a screen printing method including: a preparation step of disposing a screen original plate on a cloth conveying path; a plate making step of moving an ink head relative to a screen of the screen original plate and applying inkjet printing to the screen to make a screen; and a screen printing step of performing screen printing on the fabric conveyed on the fabric conveying path by the screen.

Since the screen original plate is disposed on the cloth conveying path to produce the screen and the screen is used to perform the screen printing on the cloth, the screen printing can be performed without moving the screen, and the problems of deformation of the frame due to impact during conveyance and deterioration of printing accuracy due to changes in the tension of the screen can be prevented.

In addition, in the case of performing multi-color screen printing using a plurality of screens, it is necessary to accurately set the distance between the plate making areas of adjacent screens to an integral multiple of the printing pitch, but since the screen is produced by performing inkjet printing on the screen of the screen original plate by moving the ink head in the plate making step, the plate making areas can be formed at desired positions on the screen. Therefore, even if the screen plates are not accurately positioned by manual work by an operator as in the conventional technique, the positions of the plate making areas of adjacent screen plates can be accurately set to integral multiples of the printing pitch by adjusting the positions of the plate making areas to be formed, and screen printing can be performed with high accuracy.

Effects of the invention

According to the present invention, a screen printing apparatus and a screen printing method with high printing accuracy can be provided.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic plan view showing an overall configuration of a screen printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a schematic front view showing the entire configuration of the screen printing apparatus.

Fig. 3 is a schematic plan view showing a main part of the screen printing apparatus.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the screen printing portion of fig. 3 taken along line a-a.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the plate making section taken along line B-B of FIG. 3.

Fig. 6 is a side view of the plate making section.

Fig. 7 (a) is an explanatory view of the structure of the print head, and (B) is a top view of the screen plate.

Fig. 8 is an explanatory diagram of the arrangement of the screen plate with respect to the cloth.

Fig. 9 (a) and (B) are explanatory views of the operation of the plate making section.

Fig. 10 (a) and (B) are explanatory views of the operation of the plate making section.

Fig. 11 (a) and (B) are explanatory views of the operation of the plate making section.

Fig. 12 (a) to (C) are explanatory diagrams of printing regions of screen printing on a cloth.

Detailed Description

(Overall Structure)

Embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 to 12 show a screen printing apparatus 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the screen printing apparatus 10 includes, on a base 17: a conveying mechanism 12 for conveying the fabric C; a screen printing unit 13 for performing screen printing on the fabric C by a screen 15 disposed on a transport path of the fabric C; a plate making section 14 provided at a position above the screen printing section 13, for making a screen 15 by moving the ink head 50 relative to the screen 100 of the screen original plate 19 and applying ink jet printing to the screen 100; and a control device 18 for controlling the operations of the respective units. In the present embodiment, a combination of a plurality of sets (3 sets in the present embodiment) of the screen 15, the screen printing unit 13, and the plate making unit 14 is arranged on the conveyance path at predetermined intervals. Fig. 1 and 2 are schematic views showing the screen printing apparatus 10, and the configurations of a part of the base 17, the fabric C, the conveyance mechanism 12, and the like are omitted.

When the screen 15, the screen printing unit 13, and the plate making unit 14 of each group have to be separated, they are referred to as

screen

15A, 15B, and 15C,

screen printing units

13A, 13B, and 13C, and

plate making units

14A, 14B, and 14C, respectively. In the following description, the left-right direction in fig. 1 and 2 is referred to as the X direction, and particularly, the left-right direction indicated by an arrow a1 is referred to as the conveying direction of the fabric C, the left side is referred to as the upstream side, and the right side is referred to as the downstream side. In fig. 1, a direction orthogonal to the X direction is referred to as a width direction or a Y direction of the fabric C. In the present specification, the "screen original plate 19" refers to a screen 100 stretched and set on a frame 101, and is in a state where a plate making region P is not formed; the "screen 15" is a screen in which a plate making region P is formed on the screen 100 of the screen original plate 19.

(carrying mechanism 12)

The conveying mechanism 12 includes: an endless belt 20 for conveying the fabric C; drive

rollers

21A, 21B provided at both ends of the base 17 in the conveyance direction and on which an endless belt 20 is stretched; and a drive motor (not shown) connected to the drive roller 21A for driving the drive roller 21A. The fabric C is wound up by a roll not shown and guided onto the endless belt 20 by a guide roller 22. The surface of the endless belt 20 on which the fabric C is placed is treated with an adhesive, and the fabric C is pressed and bonded to the surface of the endless belt 20 by the bonding roller 23. After screen printing is applied to the fabric C on the conveyance path of the conveyance mechanism 12, the fabric C is peeled off from the endless belt 20 and wound around a not-shown roll by the guide roller 24 on the downstream side in the conveyance direction. The endless belt 20 is guided to the washing apparatus 16 and washed.

(Screen 15)

A screen 100 formed by weaving, for example, polyester threads is stretched and set on a rectangular frame 101 made of metal such as aluminum to produce a screen original plate 19. As shown in fig. 7 (B) and 8, a rectangular plate making region P is formed in the screen 100 of the screen original plate 19 by the plate making section 14, thereby producing the screen 15. The area of the screen 100 surrounding the plate-making area P around the plate frame 101 is a non-plate-making area NP to which ink-jet printing is not applied. The screen 15 is movable in the vertical direction with respect to the cloth C by a screen vertical movement mechanism (not shown).

(Screen printing part 13)

As shown in fig. 3 and 4, the screen printing section 13 performs printing on the fabric C by reciprocating the squeegee 32 in the width direction of the fabric C in a state where ink is put between the pair of squeegees 32 on the screen 15.

The screen printing unit 13 is supported by the base 17 and includes: two guide frames 30 extending in the width direction of the fabric C via the screen 15; a pair of blade carriers 31 that reciprocate in the width direction guided by the guide frames 30; and two scrapers 32 for forward movement and backward movement, which extend across between the pair of scraper holders 31, and both ends of which are supported by the scraper holders 31, and which print the fabric C by applying a scraper pressure to the screen 100 during the forward movement and the backward movement.

(scraper carrier 31)

As shown in fig. 4, the blade carrier 31 includes: a carrier cassette 33; a pair of blade holders 34 which are installed in the carrier case 33 so as to be able to ascend and descend and which detachably hold the blades 32; and a pair of pressing adjustment mechanisms 35 for adjusting the squeegee pressure to the screen 15. The pressure adjustment mechanism 35 includes, for example, a ball screw inserted into a screw hole of the squeegee support frame 34, a pressure adjustment handle attached to a tip end of the ball screw, and the like, and adjusts the squeegee pressure on the screen plate 15 by rotating the pressure adjustment handle by an operator and rotating the ball screw to move each squeegee support frame 34 up and down. In order to hold the two blades 32, a combination of two sets of a pair of blade support frames 34 and a pair of pressure adjusting mechanisms 35 is provided at intervals in the width direction of the fabric C.

The cassette 33 is accommodated inside the guide frame 30 having a U-shaped cross section. The carriage 33 is provided with slide members 36 on the upper and lower surfaces thereof, and rails 37 provided on the inner walls of the guide frames 30, 30 and corresponding to the shape of the grooves are fitted in the grooves formed by the slide members 36, so that the carriage 33 can slide along the guide frames 30.

The reciprocating movement of the carrying cases 33 is performed by timing belts 38 connected to the carrying cases 33 and accommodated in the guide frames 30, respectively, and the timing belts 38 are driven by timing pulleys 40 connected to output shafts of drive motors 39.

As shown in fig. 4, each of the two scrapers 32 includes: a pair of blade brackets 41 whose base end sides are supported by the blade support frames 34; a squeegee holder 42 attached to the leading end side of the squeegee holder 41; and a blade rubber 43 held by the blade holder 42. The squeegee rubber 43 is made of natural rubber, synthetic rubber, or the like, and pushes and disperses the ink for screen printing on the screen.

(plate-making section 14)

As shown in fig. 3, 5, and 6, the plate making unit 14 includes: an ink head 50 for applying ink jet printing to the screen 100; a first moving mechanism 51 for moving the ink head 50 in the width direction of the fabric C; a second moving mechanism 52 for moving the ink head 50 in the conveying direction of the fabric C; and an up-and-down moving mechanism 53 that moves the ink head 50 in the up-and-down direction. In fig. 6, only the structure of the plate making section 14 is shown, and the base 17 and the like are not shown. The plate making section 14 is provided above the screen printing section 13 across the screen printing section 13. The plate making section 14 is provided above the screen printing section 13, and when the screen printing apparatus 10 is viewed from the side, at least the second movement mechanism 52 of the plate making section 14 is provided above the squeegee 32 of the screen printing section 13 in the vertical direction.

(first moving mechanism 51)

As shown in fig. 3, 5, and 6, the first moving mechanism 51 is supported by the base 17, and includes: two guide rails 60 extending in the width direction of the fabric C through the screen printing section 13; and a pair of second moving mechanism supports 61 that support the second moving mechanism 52 and are guided by the guide rails 60 to reciprocate in the width direction.

As shown in fig. 3, a rail portion 63 for sliding the second moving mechanism support 61 is attached to the upper surface of each guide rail 60 in the longitudinal direction, and a timing belt 62 is disposed parallel to the rail portion 63. The timing belt 62 is turned along the side surface of the guide rail 60 by rollers 64 attached to both ends in the longitudinal direction of the guide rail 60, and is fixed to the guide rail 60 in a state in which tension is adjustable by a belt holding metal fitting, a tension adjusting bolt, or the like.

As shown in fig. 5, in the second moving mechanism support body 61, a slide fitting 65 is attached to a lower surface of the second moving mechanism support body 61 facing the rail portion 63 of the guide rail, and a groove having a concave sectional shape is formed in the slide fitting 65. By fitting the groove of this slide part 65 on the rail portion 63 of the guide rail 60 having a shape corresponding to the groove, the second moving mechanism support body 61 can slide along the guide rail 60.

As shown in fig. 3 and 6, a drive motor 67 is provided on the upper surface of the second moving mechanism support body 61, and a timing pulley 66 is attached to the drive motor 67. The timing pulley 66 has the timing belt 62 hung via a belt roller 68, and the timing pulley 66 is rotated by a drive motor 67, and the timing pulley 66 engages with the timing belt 62 to move the second moving mechanism support 61 along the rail portion 63.

(second moving mechanism 52)

As shown in fig. 5 and 6, the second moving mechanism 52 extends across the pair of second moving mechanism supports 61, and includes: a square tubular guide frame 71 attached to the pair of second moving mechanism supports 61 via legs 70; two guide rails 72 provided on one surface of the guide frame 71 and extending along the longitudinal direction (X direction) of the guide frame 71 at both ends in the vertical direction of the guide frame 71; and a vertical movement mechanism support plate 73 that reciprocates in the longitudinal direction of the guide frame 71 while being guided by the guide rail 72.

A timing belt 76 connected to the up-down moving mechanism support plate 73 is provided between the two guide rails 72. The timing belt 76 is stretched over timing pulleys 74, 75 provided at both ends in the longitudinal direction of the guide frame 71. The timing pulley 74 is connected to an output shaft of the drive motor 77, and the timing pulley 74 is rotated by the drive motor 77 to drive the timing belt 76, thereby moving the vertical movement mechanism support plate 73 in the longitudinal direction of the guide frame 71.

A total of four slide members 78 are attached to the surface of the vertical movement mechanism support plate 73 facing the guide frame 71 at positions facing the guide rails 72. The slide member 78 is formed with a groove having a concave cross-sectional shape. By fitting the groove of this slide member 78 on the guide rail 72 having a shape corresponding to the groove, the up-down moving mechanism support plate 73 can slide along the guide rail 72.

(Up-and-down moving mechanism 53)

As shown in fig. 5, the vertical movement mechanism 53 is provided on a vertical movement mechanism support plate 73, and includes: two guide rails 80 extending in the vertical direction at both ends in the horizontal direction in fig. 5; and an ink head supporting member 81 which reciprocates in the up-down direction guided by the guide rail 80. A ball screw 82 is disposed between the two guide rails 80, and one end of the ball screw 82 is connected to an output shaft of a drive motor 83, and the other end is supported by a bearing 84 provided in the vertical movement mechanism support plate 73. The ball screw 82 is inserted through a nut member 85 provided on a surface of the ink head support member 81 facing the vertical movement mechanism support plate 73, and the ball screw 82 is rotated by the drive motor 83, thereby moving the ink head 50 in the vertical direction.

Two and four sliding components 86 are attached to the surface of the ink head supporting component 81 facing the vertical movement mechanism supporting plate 73 at positions facing the guide rail 80. The slide member 86 has a groove with a concave cross-sectional shape. By fitting the groove of this sliding member 86 to the guide rail 80 having a shape corresponding to the groove, the ink head supporting member 81 can slide along the guide rail 80.

(ink head 50)

The ink head supporting part 81 is provided at its lower end with the ink head 50. The ink head 50 moves on the screen 100 of the screen original plate 19 by the first moving mechanism 51, the second moving mechanism 52, and the vertical moving mechanism support plate 73, and performs ink jet printing. As shown in fig. 7, the ink head 50 has: a print head 90 having a nozzle portion (not shown) for ejecting a photocurable ink to the screen 100; and a light irradiation unit 91(91A, 91B) that irradiates the screen 100 with light for curing the photocurable ink. The light irradiation units 91 are provided on both sides of the print head 90 in the moving direction of the ink head 50 (the direction of arrow a2 in fig. 7). The photocurable ink includes, for example, a UV curable ink, and is cured by polymerization when irradiated with Ultraviolet (UV) rays by the action of a photopolymerization initiator. Further, the UV curable ink is printable by inkjet printing. The light irradiation unit 91 is a light source that irradiates light that can cure the photocurable ink, for example, ultraviolet light.

Although not shown, the print head 90 is connected to the ink tank through a tube via a degassing module. The ink tank is filled with a photo-curable ink, and this photo-curable ink is supplied to the print head 90. The degassing module removes gas contained in the photocurable ink.

The photocurable ink S1 ejected from the print head 90 is irradiated by the subsequent light irradiation section 91 with respect to the direction of the ink head 50. In fig. 7 (a), when the ink head 50 moves from left to right in the direction of the arrow a2, the light irradiation unit 91A on the left side irradiates light. Thereby, the photocurable ink discharged from the print head 90 is cured to be the photocurable ink S2. When the ink head 50 moves in the right-left direction in fig. 7 (a), that is, in the direction opposite to the arrow a2, the light irradiation portion 91B on the right side irradiates light to cure the photocurable ink ejected from the print head 90 onto the screen 100. In fig. 7 (a), the photocurable inks S1 and S2 are shown above the screen 100 for the sake of explanation, but actually, the photocurable inks S1 and S2 are not located above the screen 100, but are entangled between the deep lines and the lines of the screen 100.

In this manner, the screen 15 is produced by performing inkjet printing on the screen 100 of the screen original plate 19 by the inkjet head 50 to form a plate making area P shown in fig. 7 (B). The plate making region P is formed by a shielding region P1 for shielding the passage of the ink for cloth and a hole P2 for the passage of the ink for cloth. The mask region P1 is formed of the cured photocurable ink S2, and is a region for masking the passage of the ink for cloth through the cloth C during screen printing; the hole P2 is a region where the photo-curable ink S2 is not printed on the mesh 100, and the photo-curable ink S1 is not printed on the hole P2.

(control device 18)

The drive motor of the conveyance mechanism 12, the

squeegee holders

31, 31 of the screen printing section 13, the screen vertical movement mechanism, the first movement mechanism 51, the second movement mechanism 52, the vertical movement mechanism 53, and the ink head 50 of the plate making section 14 are connected to the control device 18 via cables (not shown), and the operations are controlled by the control device 18. The control device 18 includes a control unit, a storage unit, and an interface unit, although not shown. The control unit is configured by, for example, a CPU or a memory as a work area, and executes a program stored in the storage unit to control the operation of each unit. The storage unit is configured by a storage device such as a flash memory or a nonvolatile memory, and stores a program executed by the control unit. The interface unit includes an input port for receiving a signal, an output port for transmitting a signal, an analog-digital converter, and the like, and transmits and receives a control signal to and from each unit. The control device 18 is connected to a display unit such as a display and an input unit such as a keyboard, and an operator can input values of setting items, print patterns, and the like for operating the screen printing apparatus 10.

(arrangement of plural screens 15)

As shown in fig. 8, the plate making areas PA to PC of the screens 15A to 15C made by the plate making units 14A to 14C are made in the following manner: the widths L1, i.e., the lengths of the plate-making regions PA to PC in the X direction are equal to each other, and the distance L2 between adjacent plate-making regions PA to PC is an integral multiple of the width L1 of each plate-making region PA to PC. In other words, the positions of the plate making areas PA to PC of the screens 15A to 15C formed by the plate making units 14 with respect to the screens 15A to 15C are adjusted so that the distance L2 between the adjacent plate making areas PA to PC is an integral multiple of the width L1 of the respective plate making areas PA to PC, and for example, the plate making area PB of the screen 15B is offset upstream of the center portion of the screen 15B in the X direction. For convenience of explanation, fig. 8 shows only the fabric C and the plurality of screens 15A to 15C arranged on the conveyance path of the fabric C.

(Screen printing method)

Next, a screen printing method using the screen printing apparatus 10 according to the above embodiment will be described.

(preparation step)

First, a preparation step is performed. In the preparation step, the screen original plate 19 is arranged at a predetermined position between the two guide frames 30 of the screen printing section 13. Each screen 100 is subjected to a process such as attaching a paper tape (masking tape) to the non-plate-making region NP in advance. In the preparation step, the screen printing section 13 is not equipped with the squeegee 32. As shown in fig. 3 and 9 (a), the ink head 50 of the plate making unit 14 is located at a preparation position outside the frame 101. In the preparation step and the subsequent plate making step, the cloth C is not disposed on the endless belt 20. Note that the screen printing unit 13 is not shown in fig. 9 to 11.

(plate-making step)

Next, the plate making step of the plate making section 14 is performed. In the plate making step, the controller 18 controls the ink head 50 to perform ink jet printing on the screen 100 of the screen original plate 19 based on the print image data stored in advance and the values of the setting items required for performing plate making, thereby making the plate making area P. In addition, the values of the setting items and the print image data may be stored in the storage unit in advance or may be input by the operator.

More specifically, the controller 18 controls the first movement mechanism 51 of the plate making section 14 to move the ink head 50 in the Y direction, and controls the second movement mechanism 52 to move the ink head 50 in the X direction, thereby moving the ink head 50 to a position above the ink jet printing start position on the screen 100 of the screen original plate 19 (fig. 9 (B)). The controller 18 controls the vertical movement mechanism 53 to lower the ink head 50 to a printable position (fig. 10 a).

Subsequently, the control device 18 performs inkjet printing. The controller 18 controls the second moving mechanism 52 to move the ink head 50 in the X direction, and causes the nozzle portion of the ink head 50 to eject the photocurable ink, and irradiates the photocurable ink ejected onto the screen 100 with light from the subsequent light irradiating portion 91 with respect to the traveling direction of the ink head 50. For example, in the embodiment of fig. 7, the ink head 50 is moved in the direction of the arrow a2 from left to right in fig. 7 (a) and irradiated with light from the left light irradiation part 91A. When the ink head 50 reaches the printing end position, the first moving mechanism 51 is controlled to move the ink head 50 only in the Y direction by the printing pitch of the inkjet printing. Next, the second moving mechanism 52 is controlled to move the ink head 50 in the opposite direction to the previous one, and the nozzle portion of the ink head 50 is caused to eject the photocurable ink. At this time, the photocurable ink ejected onto the screen 100 is irradiated from the light irradiation section 91 on the opposite side to the previous time (fig. 10B). For example, the ink head 50 moves in the direction opposite to the arrow a2 from left to right in fig. 7 (a), and is irradiated from the right light irradiation part 91B.

The controller 18 repeats the above-described operation, and reciprocates the ink head 50 to perform ink-jet printing on all regions of the screen 100 of the screen original plate 19 to be subjected to ink-jet printing, thereby forming a plate-making region P. Thereby, the screen 15 is produced. When the ink jet printing is completed, the controller 18 controls the vertical movement mechanism 53 to raise the ink head 50 ((a) of fig. 11), and controls the first movement mechanism 51 and the second movement mechanism 52 to return the ink head 50 to the standby position ((B) of fig. 11).

(Screen printing step)

Subsequently, a screen printing step is performed. First, the fabric C is conveyed on the endless belt 20. Next, the operator mounts the squeegee 32 to the pair of squeegee support frames 34 of each screen printing unit 13. At this time, the screen 15 is located at an upper position with respect to the cloth C and does not contact the cloth C. Further, the squeegee rubber 43 of the squeegee 32 does not contact the upper surface of the screen 15.

The operator inputs values of setting items required for performing a screen printing process, such as a squeegee pressing amount and a squeegee speed, into the control device 18 through a display not shown. In addition, the parameter can also be stored in the storage part in advance.

Next, the operator injects the ink for cloth between the pair of squeegees 32 on the screen 15 of each screen printing unit 13. In fig. 3, when the upward direction is the forward movement direction of the squeegee carriage 31 and the downward direction is the backward movement direction of the squeegee carriage 31, the controller 18 moves the squeegee 32 by lowering the lower forward movement squeegee 32 to contact the screen 15 and raising the upper backward movement squeegee 32 to separate from the screen 15 during forward movement. Thereby, the ink for cloth enters the holes P2 formed in the screen 15. Next, the controller 18 lowers the screen 15 by the screen vertical movement mechanism to contact the cloth C, lowers the upper return movement squeegee 32 to contact the screen 15, and raises the lower forward movement squeegee 32 to separate from the screen 15. The controller 18 moves the return-stroke moving squeegee 32 back and forth to press the screen 15. Thereby, the cloth ink entering the holes P2 of the screen 15 is transferred to the cloth C and screen-printed, and a print area corresponding to the plate making area P of the screen 15 is formed on the cloth C.

In the present embodiment, 3 screen printing portions 13A to 13C are provided on the conveyance path of the fabric C. Inks of different colors are put into the respective screen printing portions 13. The conveying mechanism 12 intermittently conveys the fabric C by a distance corresponding to the width L1 of the plate making areas PA to PC of the screens 15A to 15C. Since the distance L2 between the adjacent plate making areas PA to PC is an integral multiple of the width L1 of each plate making area PA to PC, the cloth C is intermittently conveyed by the conveying mechanism 12, and the printing area Q1 or Q2 on the cloth printed by the

upstream screen

15A or 15B can be accurately conveyed to a position below the plate making area P of the subsequent screen 15, so that the subsequent screen printing unit 13 can accurately overlap the printing area Q1 or Q2, and the printing accuracy is good.

Referring to fig. 12, a printing area Q1 (fig. 12 a) on the cloth C printed by the screen 15A is accurately conveyed by the conveying mechanism 12 to a position below the plate making area PB of the screen 15B. By applying screen printing to the cloth C, the printing by the screen 15B is superimposed on the printing region Q1, thereby forming a printing region Q2 shown in fig. 12 (B) on the cloth. The printing area Q2 is accurately conveyed by the conveying mechanism 12 to a position below the plate making area PC of the screen 15C. By screen-printing the cloth C so that the printing by the screen 15C overlaps the printing area Q2, a printing area Q3 shown in fig. 12 (C) is formed on the cloth, thereby completing screen-printing of a predetermined area on the cloth. By intermittently conveying the fabric C by the conveying mechanism 12, screen printing is continuously applied to the fabric.

According to the above embodiment, the screen printing apparatus 10 includes the plate making section 14, the screen plate 15 is created by the plate making section 14 by disposing the screen plate original 19 on the transport path of the fabric, and the fabric C is screen-printed by the screen plate 15 through the screen printing section 13. Since screen printing can be performed without moving the screen 15, it is not necessary to convey the screen 15, and it is possible to prevent the problem that the impact during conveyance causes deformation of the frame 101 or the tension of the screen 100 changes, which leads to deterioration of printing accuracy.

In the plate making section 14, ink jet printing may be performed on a desired region on the screen 100 to make a plate making region P. By arranging the screen 100 at a position above a desired printing region on the fabric C, and by producing the plate-making region P by applying inkjet printing to a region on the screen 100 that coincides with the printing region on the fabric C in a plan view by the plate-making section 14, the production position of the plate-making region P on the screen 100 can be adjusted. It is possible to save the time and effort of the operator for manually placing the screen 100 at the designated position accurately and improve the accuracy of screen printing.

In addition, in the present embodiment, since the plate making is performed by printing the photo-curable ink on the screen 100 and irradiating and curing the photo-curable ink by the light irradiation section 91, there are no steps of coating the photosensitive film on the screen 100 and rinsing the photosensitive film as in the plate making of the conventional art, and the number of steps is reduced and equipment such as a coater and a water washer is not required.

Further, when the screen 15 is conventionally produced at a place different from the screen printing apparatus 10, there is a problem that a time interval is left between the plate making and the screen printing, and the tension of the screen 100 fixed to the frame 101 is lowered to cause a printing deviation at the time of the screen printing, thereby affecting the printing accuracy. However, in the present embodiment, since plate making is performed in the screen printing apparatus 10, screen printing can be performed immediately after plate making, and a problem of deterioration in printing accuracy due to a change in tension of the screen 100 can be prevented.

In the present embodiment, the combination of the plural sets of the screen 15, the screen printing unit 13, and the plate making unit 14 is arranged on the conveyance path at a predetermined interval, but only 1 set may be arranged.

The first moving mechanism 51, the second moving mechanism 52, and the vertical moving mechanism 53 of the plate making unit 14 are not limited to those of the present embodiment, and any mechanism may be used as long as the ink head 50 can be moved in the X, Y direction and the vertical direction. In the present embodiment, the ink head 50 ejects the photocurable ink while moving in the X direction, but may eject the photocurable ink while moving in the Y direction. In this case, the light irradiation sections 91 are provided on both sides in the Y direction with the print head 90 interposed therebetween.

In the present embodiment, the ink head 50 ejects the photocurable ink while reciprocating in the moving direction, but the photocurable ink may be ejected only during the forward movement or the backward movement. In this case, 1 light irradiation section 91 is provided on the side subsequent to the traveling direction of the print head 90 when the photocurable ink is ejected.

Further, a plurality of sets of the screen 15 and the screen printing unit 13, and one plate making unit 14 may be provided. In this case, the screen printing apparatus 10 further includes a moving mechanism for moving the plate making unit 14 in the conveying direction of the fabric C. In the plate making step, plate making is performed by sequentially moving the plate making section 14 by the moving mechanism with respect to the screen 100 fixed to the plurality of frames 101 arranged at the predetermined positions in the preparation step.

The above description has been made of an embodiment of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

The drawings illustrate:

10 … … a screen printing apparatus;

12 … … conveying mechanism;

13(13A, 13B, 13C) … … a screen printing section;

14(14A, 14B, 14C) … … plate making section;

15(15A, 15B, 15C) … … screen;

16 … water washing device;

17 … … base station;

18 … control device;

19 … … screen printing original plate;

20 … … endless belt;

21(21A, 21B) … … drive the rollers;

22. 24 … … guide rollers;

23 … … fitting roller;

30. 71 … … guide frame;

31 … … flight carriage;

a 32 … … flight;

33 … … carrying a cartridge;

34 … … a squeegee support frame;

35 … … pressurization adjustment mechanism;

36. 65, 78, 86 … … sliding parts;

37 … … orbit;

38. 62, 76 … … timing belts;

39. 67, 77, 83 … … drive motors;

40. 66, 74, 75 … … timing pulley;

41 … … a squeegee blade carrier;

42 … … scraper holder;

43 … … squeegee rubber;

50 … … ink head;

51 … … a first moving mechanism;

52 … … second moving mechanism;

53 … … vertical moving mechanism;

60. 72, 80 … … guide rails;

61 … … second moving mechanism support;

63 … … track section;

64 … … rollers;

68 … … belt press roll;

70 … … feet;

73 … … up and down moving mechanism supporting plate;

81 … … ink head support features;

82 … … ball screw;

84 … … bearings;

85 … … nut components;

90 … … print head;

91(91A, 91B) … … light irradiation section;

100 … … mesh screen;

101 … … chase;

c … … cloth;

p … … platemaking areas;

p1 … … shadow area;

a P2 … … pore;

NP … … non-platemaking region;

q (Q1, Q2, Q3) … … printed area.

Claims

1. A screen printing apparatus is characterized by comprising:

a conveying mechanism for conveying the cloth;

a screen printing section for performing screen printing on the cloth by a screen; and

a plate making section for making the screen plate;

a plate making section provided above the screen printing section, for moving an ink head relative to a screen of a screen original plate disposed on a cloth conveying path and performing inkjet printing on the screen to produce a screen;

the screen printing section performs screen printing on the fabric without moving the screen produced by the plate making section.

2. The screen printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ink head of the plate making section includes:

a nozzle unit for ejecting a photocurable ink onto the screen; and

and a light irradiation unit that irradiates the screen with light for curing the photocurable ink.

3. The screen printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the ink head of the plate making section is provided with the light irradiation section on both sides with the nozzle section therebetween.

4. The screen printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the plate making section includes a moving mechanism that moves the ink head in two directions orthogonal to each other on the screen.

5. The screen printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a plurality of sets of the combination of the screen printing unit and the plate making unit are arranged at intervals along a cloth conveyance path,

the plate making section of each group forms plate making regions having the same width by applying inkjet printing to the screens, and makes the distance between the plate making regions of adjacent groups an integral multiple of the width of the plate making region.

6. A screen printing method is characterized by comprising:

a preparation step of disposing a screen original plate on a cloth conveying path;

a plate making step of moving an ink head relative to the screen of the arranged screen original plate and applying ink jet printing to the screen to make a screen; and

and a screen printing step of performing screen printing on the fabric conveyed through the screen on a fabric conveying path without moving the screen created in the plate making step.