EP2008816A2

EP2008816A2 - Multipurpose printing machine

Info

Publication number: EP2008816A2
Application number: EP07253106A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Jesus Francisco Barberan Latorre
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2007-06-25
Filing date: 2007-08-08
Publication date: 2008-12-31
Anticipated expiration: 2027-08-08
Also published as: EP2008816B1; ES2283242A1; EP2008816A3; ES2645094T3; ES2283242B1

Abstract

The invention relates to a multipurpose printing machine that can be applied to print on panels (6) intended for forming packaging boxes, comprising a conveyor for transporting the panels along a path through one or more print heads, each of which includes a print applicator roller (5), and related thereto an arrangement for selectively holding on one and the same support (16) different inking modules (7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4) to define different application systems according to the printing to be carried out.

Description

Field of the Art

The present invention relates to printing on panels intended for forming packaging boxes, proposing a machine for such a function with which the process of printing said panels can be carried out without the common limitations of a specific printing system, such as flexography, intaglio or ink projection, also allowing to carry out supplementary operations on such panels, such as dying, background application, painting, etc., without having to use multiple devices or facilities for such purpose.

State of the Art

Printing on panels intended for forming packaging boxes for fruits, vegetables, perfumes, wines, etc., with graphic representations and texts usually arranged on said panels, often requires the need to apply multiple techniques, because the surfaces to be printed on generally do not have suitable conditions for obtaining good print quality, requiring the prior application of a layer of coating to adapt the surface to the necessary printing conditions.
Thus, for example, MDF panels have a color and an absorption capacity that make it impossible to print with quality if a layer of background paint is not first applied so that the colors of the printing ink appear with the corresponding tone when they are applied.
Likewise there is a problem for printing irregular surfaces, such as on plywood surfaces, on which the irregularities prevent the possibility of printing flat colors in flexography or intaglio, since in both systems the amount of ink is limited and does not cover the irregularities.
In addition, surfaces with photographic quality cannot be printed by means of flexography given that the technique has not obtained up until now resolutions exceeding 60 dpi (dots per inch) for plywood or MDF substrates, while the intaglio system reaches resolutions of up to 300 dpi.
Furthermore, in certain applications the amount of product applied is key to obtaining correct results with competitive costs, as is the case of special effects inks (gold, silver and other metallic colored inks), the high cost of which requires correct metering, which is only possible with ink jet heads, which afford precision in the range of picoliters in the applied ink volume.
Ink jet printing allows in the same manner variable data that can be changed from piece to piece, for example bar codes, part number, manufacturing batch, packager, weights, etc.
In addition, depending on the type of product (varnish or shellac) used for the protective finish for the print, the techniques and cost can range considerably.
Facilities and machines have been developed in the attempt to cover the needs for obtaining the most perfect print possible on panels intended for packaging boxes, focused according to the particular requirements of specific application, the following being known, for example:

Patent ES 2,016,535 , corresponding to an ink gun projection facility.
Patent documents US 2002/0053293 , EP 0 726 221 and US 5,383,392 , which describe flexographic printing machines provided with vacuum tables for conveying the pieces along a path by successive print heads.

And in the same sense, patents EP 1 364 783 and ES 2,204,290 describe machines with successive print heads and a transfer conveyance of the pieces to be printed along a path with regard to the different heads, incorporating the application of a vacuum through the conveyor means itself for holding the pieces and adapting them against the mentioned conveyor means.
These solutions are provided in any case for a specific printing system, such that when it is necessary to change the printing system due to the application to be carried out it is necessary to use a different machine or to make costly changes.

Object of the Invention

The invention proposes a machine developed with constructive and functional features that allow overcoming in a practical manner the drawbacks of the use needs of different printing techniques, achieving very important advantages for performing printing processes to be carried out.
This machine object of the invention comprises transporting the pieces to be printed along a path through the position of one or more print heads with the pieces being fed to said conveyor from an automatic feeder and the pieces being held on the conveyor means by means of applying a vacuum therethrough.
According to the invention, each print head of the machine is formed with an applicator roller, which can be of the direct printing type or by means of a blanket incorporated thereon, a holding system of an inking module being arranged in relation to said applicator roller, by means of a support on which it is possible to incorporate different types of inking modules, with an easy to assemble and disassemble holding.
The assembly support for the inking module consists of two parallel blocks, between which the print applicator roller and the component elements of the inking module are incorporated, said blocks of the assembly support being provided for such purpose with anchors for holding the component elements of different types of inking modules, allowing the inking module to be easily changed.
A machine is thus obtained with a modular concept in terms of the inking system of the print applicator roller, such that it allows using different types of inking modules according to the printing process to be carried out by means of a fast and easy replacement of the inking module in each print head, being able to use flexography, intaglio, ink jet or single roller application modules in order to combine any technique depending on the desired print.
Different types of inks needed to print can thus be applied by the same machine, and the treatment of the surfaces to be printed on and the protective finish on the print can also be applied, affording a much faster and less expensive process than with conventional facilities in which it is necessary to use different machines to carry out the printing process.
Said machine object of the invention therefore has clearly advantageous features having its own identity and preferred nature in relation to conventional solutions for the application function it is intended for.

Description of the Drawings

Figure 1 shows a side view of a machine with multiple successive print heads.
Figure 2 shows a diagram of the system for replacing inking modules in a print head according to the invention.
Figure 3 shows a diagram of a print head with a flexographic inking unit.
Figure 4 shows a diagram of a print head with an intaglio inking unit.
Figure 5 shows a diagram of a print head with a single roller application inking unit.
Figure 6 shows a diagram of a print head with a projection inking unit.
Figure 7 shows an exploded perspective view of the assembly embodiment of the head in Figure 3.
Figure 8 shows an exploded perspective view of the assembly embodiment of the head in Figure 4.
Figure 9 shows an exploded perspective view of the assembly embodiment of the head in Figure 5.
Figure 10 shows an exploded perspective view of the assembly embodiment of the head in Figure 6.

Detailed Description of the Invention

The object of the invention relates to a machine intended for printing such types of print applied on panels used to form packaging boxes for fruits, vegetables, bottled products, etc., being carried out such that it allows applying different printing techniques by means of simply changing the inking modules of the print applicator roller.
Said object of the invention can be applied in printing machines like the one shown in Figure 1, formed by an automatic feed (1) feeding the panels to be printed to a conveyor (2) taking them along a path through one or more print heads (3), a vacuum bin (4) being arranged in relation to the conveyor (2) which provides a suction through perforations of the conveyor (2) itself for holding the panels to be printed thereon.
According to the invention, each print head (3) consists, as shown in Figure 2, of an applicator roller (5) by means of which the application panels (6) are printed on either directly or by means of a blanket incorporated on the roller, a holding arrangement for holding the different types of inking modules (7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4) being provided in relation to said applicator roller (5), which inking modules can be replaced according to the printing technique involved in each case.
Said arrangement allows determining, for example, a flexographic printing system, incorporating an inking module (7.1), as shown in Figure 3, wherein the ink (8) is fed from a closed chamber (9) by means of an engraved roller (10) in contact with the applicator roller (5), which in turn makes contact with the panels (6) to be printed.
An intaglio printing system can likewise be provided, incorporating an inking module (7.2), as shown in Figure 4, wherein the ink (8) is fed by means of an engraved roller (11) on which a metering blade (12) is supported due to the contact of said engraved roller (11) with the applicator roller (5), which in turn makes contact with the panels (6) to be printed.
It is also possible to establish a single roller application system, incorporating an inking module (7.3), as shown in Figure 5, wherein the ink, paint or shellac (8) to be applied is fed by means of a transfer roller (13) in contact with a metering roller (14), the transfer roller (13) making contact with the applicator roller (5), which in turn makes contact with the panels (6) to be printed.
And another possibility is to provide a projection application system, incorporating an inking module (7.4), as shown in Figure 6, wherein the ink or shellac to be applied is projected by means of projecting heads (15) on the applicator roller (5), which makes contact with the panels (6) to be printed.
A system can be easily replaced by another one in any of the print heads (3) of the machine by means of removing the inking module that is incorporated and assembling the inking module of the system to be applied, a support (16) being provided for such purpose, according to Figure 2, which can hold any of the inking modules (7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4) for the different application systems.
According to Figures 7 to 10, which correspond with the systems of Figures 4 to 6, the support (16) for holding the inking modules is envisaged formed by two blocks (16.1, 16.2) arranged parallel to one another, the applicator roller (5) being arranged between said blocks by means of inserting the ends of its axle (5.1) in respective holes (17) of the mentioned blocks (16.1, 16.2) forming the support (16).
Said blocks (16.1, 16.2) of the support (16) further have rods (18) for holding the ink chamber (9) of the system of Figure 3, as can be seen in Figure 7, or for holding the projecting heads (15) of the system of Figure 6, as can be seen in Figure 10, said blocks (16.1, 16.2) likewise defining gaps (19) in which the roller (11) of the system of Figure 4 can be held by means of supports (20), as shown in Figure 8, or in which the rollers (13 and 14) of the system of Figure 5 can be held by means of supports (21), as shown in Figure 9, guides (22) being formed in said gaps (19) for the assembly of the roller (10) of the system of Figure 3 by means of respective supports (23), as shown in Figure 7.

Claims

A multipurpose printing machine for carrying out the type of printing applied on panels intended for forming packaging boxes, comprising a conveyor for transporting the panels to be printed on along a path through one or more print heads, characterized in that each of the print heads (3) comprises a print applicator roller (5), and in relation thereto an arrangement for holding inking modules (7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4), which can be assembled and removed from one and the same support (16) in order to define, by means of replacing said inking modules (7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4), different systems depending on the printing to be carried out.
A multipurpose printing machine according to claim 1, characterized in that by selectively incorporating different inking heads (7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4), flexographic, intaglio, ink jet or single roller application systems can be combined in each print head (3) in relation to the applicator roller (5).
A multipurpose printing machine according to claim 1, characterized in that the support (16) for holding the different inking modules (7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4) consists of two blocks (16.1, 16.2) arranged parallel to one another, the applicator roller (5) being arranged between them, said blocks (16.1, 16.2) having shapes in the form of rods (18), gaps (19) and guides (20) for holding the elements of said inking modules in the assembly arrangement.