Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
  • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
  • B41J3/00—Typewriters or selective printing or marking mechanisms characterised by the purpose for which they are constructed
  • B41J3/54—Typewriters or selective printing or marking mechanisms characterised by the purpose for which they are constructed with two or more sets of type or printing elements
  • B41J3/543—Typewriters or selective printing or marking mechanisms characterised by the purpose for which they are constructed with two or more sets of type or printing elements with multiple inkjet print heads
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B28—WORKING CEMENT, CLAY, OR STONE
  • B28B—SHAPING CLAY OR OTHER CERAMIC COMPOSITIONS; SHAPING SLAG; SHAPING MIXTURES CONTAINING CEMENTITIOUS MATERIAL, e.g. PLASTER
  • B28B11/00—Apparatus or processes for treating or working the shaped or preshaped articles
  • B28B11/001—Applying decorations on shaped articles, e.g. by painting
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B28—WORKING CEMENT, CLAY, OR STONE
  • B28B—SHAPING CLAY OR OTHER CERAMIC COMPOSITIONS; SHAPING SLAG; SHAPING MIXTURES CONTAINING CEMENTITIOUS MATERIAL, e.g. PLASTER
  • B28B11/00—Apparatus or processes for treating or working the shaped or preshaped articles
  • B28B11/04—Apparatus or processes for treating or working the shaped or preshaped articles for coating or applying engobing layers
  • B28B11/048—Apparatus or processes for treating or working the shaped or preshaped articles for coating or applying engobing layers by spraying or projecting
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
  • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
  • B41J3/00—Typewriters or selective printing or marking mechanisms characterised by the purpose for which they are constructed
  • B41J3/28—Typewriters or selective printing or marking mechanisms characterised by the purpose for which they are constructed for printing downwardly on flat surfaces, e.g. of books, drawings, boxes, envelopes, e.g. flat-bed ink-jet printers
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
  • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
  • B41J3/00—Typewriters or selective printing or marking mechanisms characterised by the purpose for which they are constructed
  • B41J3/407—Typewriters or selective printing or marking mechanisms characterised by the purpose for which they are constructed for marking on special material

Definitions

• the object of the present invention is a decorating plant for decorating by ink-jet technology.
• the invention relates to the technical field of the industrial decoration of ceramic tiles, but the adopted solution can be used to print any serially produced item requiring a decorating or printing operation.
• Ink-jet printing technology is now a mature and widely used technology used for printing and/or decorating various materials, including paper, plastics, textiles, wood and also ceramic tiles .
• the number of tiles to be decorated in the unit of time is thus determined by kiln capacity.
• a type of decorating plant for decorating ceramic tiles by ink-jet printing is known on the market, which plant provides performance that is compatible with the supplying needs of modern ceramic kilns.
• a plant of this type is also known from European patent EP
• Such plant in order to reach the desired speed, uses a considerable number of heads aligned on and transverse to the tile-conveying line.
• the tiles are decorated whilst they move along the conveying line at a speed of approximately 20-30 metres per minute (the printing heads are fixed whilst the tiles move) .
• Such plant nevertheless has some drawbacks due to: the constructional complexity of controlling the hundreds of printing heads used in such configuration; the need to clean periodically the heads by means of complex mechanisms to be positioned underneath the heads to collect the purging ink; waste of expensive ceramic ink at each purging step; production downtime due to most trivial drawback, also due to a single printing head of the tile-decorating plant .
• the main object of the present invention is to solve the problems disclosed here in relation to plant for decorating ceramic tiles by ink-jet technology.
• an important object of the present invention is to provide a decorating plant for decorating by ink-jet technology, particularly for ceramic tiles, that has low structural complexity and at the same time enables great productivity.
• a further important object of the present invention is to provide a decorating plant for decorating by ink-jet technology, particularly for ceramic tiles, that has a high degree of operating flexibility.
• Still an important object of the present invention is to provide a decorating plant for decorating by ink-jet technology, particularly for ceramic tiles, that enables an undesired production stop to be avoided.
• a decorating plant for decorating by ink-jet technology particularly for decorating tiles, characterised in that it comprises: a plurality of independent stations for decorating tiles, but arranged for working together in parallel, each said decorating station being crossed by a respective movement line for the product being decorated, a common supply line of the product to be decorated for said movement lines, a common removing line of the decorated product exiting from said movement lines, each said decorating station further providing a stopping zone for a single product to be decorated, above said stopping zone there being arranged at least one ink-jet printing head associated with movement means suitable for moving the at least one head on the product, stationary in said zone, to perform the decoration.
• Figure 1 is an axonometric , schematic view of a single decorating station of a decorating plant for decorating ceramic tiles according to the invention, shown during the tile decorating step;
• Figures from 2 to S show various decorating steps of decorating a single tile in the station in Figure 1;
• Figure 6 is an axonometric overall view of a decorating plant according to the invention, using the decorating station illustrated in the preceding figures;
• Figure 7 is a plan and side view of a different solution for implementing a decorating plant according to the invention, using the decorating station illustrated in the preceding figures.
• a ceramic tile decorating plant is indicated overall by the number 10.
• the plant 10 comprises a plurality of decorating stations 11 arranged for working together in parallel.
• each decorating station 11 can apply a complete decorative pattern to a tile 13.
• a single tile 13 is thus decorated in a corresponding decorating station 11, without interacting with the other decorating stations Ii that work in parallel.
• Each decorating station 11 is traversed by a respective movement line 12 for the product being decorated, which, in this example, consists of ceramic tiles indicated by the number 13.
• the supply line 14 and the removing line 15 are parallel to one another, whilst the single movement lines 12 are transverse thereto; not shown in the Figures, at the head of the movement lines 12 there is removal means for removing the tiles from the supply line 14.
• the decorating stations 11 are positioned substantially at the same height as a respective movement line 12.
• each decorating station Ii provides a stopping zone and/or passage zone 16 for at least one tile to be decorated.
• At least one ink-jet printing head 17 associated with movement means 18 suitable for moving the at least one head 17 on the stationary and/or passing tile 13 in the zone for performing the decoration.
• the decorating station 11 is stationary, whilst the movement line 12 passes through decorating station 11.
• the movement means 18 of the at least one printing head 17 becomes concrete in two guides 19, arranged on opposite sides of the stopping zone 16 parallel to the advance direction of the tile 13.
• the guides are arranged on opposite sides of the stopping zone 16 parallel to the advance direction of the tile 13.
• the plant 1OA comprises a plurality of decorating stations 11A arranged for working together in parallel.
• a movement line 12A suitable for moving the product to be decorated, passes through the decorating stations HA.
• the product to be decorated consists of ceramic tiles indicated by the number 13.
• a common supply line is indicated that supplies tiles 13 to the movement line 12A
• a common removing line is indicated that removes the decorated tiles 13 exiting from the movement line 12A.
• the supply line 14A, the supply line 12A and the removing line 15A are continuous in relation to one another and extend in the same advance direction.
• the tiles 13 arrive on the supply line 14A, preferably becoming deposited first in a store 21, they are conveyed toward the decorating stations HA, so that the first tile stops in the decorating station HA that is further from the supply line 14A, the second tile stops at the decorating station adjacent to the one further from the supply line 14A, and so on until the last tile is deposited in the decorating station HA nearer the supply line 14A.
• the decorating stations HA are positioned substantially in series, one after the other.
• the tiles 13 are conveyed to successive decorating stations HA so that the stations can decorate in parallel different tiles 13.
• each decorating station HA provides a stopping zone and/or passage zone for a single tile to be decorated.
• an ink-jet printing head 17 associated with movement means 18 suitable for moving the head 17 on the tile 13 that is stationary and/or moving in the zone 16 for making the decoration.
• the decorating station HA is stationary, whilst the movement line 12A passes through the decorating station HA.
• Stopping zone and/or passage zone 16 the movement line 12A stops or slows.
• the tiles positioned on the various decorating stations HA are pushed onto the removing line 15A, preferably being first deposited in an outlet store 22.
• Figures 2-3-4-5 the various steps for printing a single tile 13 are illustrated: in Figure 2 the at least one printing head 17 is positioned at a corner of a tile 13 and starts a translation movement along the bridge element 20, decorating a transverse strip of the tile ( Figure 3) ; then the bridge element 20 is translated forwards on the guides 19 by a distance substantially equal to the width of the strip that has just been decorated ( Figure 4) ; at this point the at least one printing head 17 translates again, but in an opposite direction, along the bridge element 20, decorating a new strip ( Figure 5) ; this is followed by a new forward translation of the bridge element 20, and so on until the entire surface of the tile 13 has been completed.
• the supply line 14 of the tiles to be decorated and the removing line 15 of the decorated tiles are of the continuous movement type, whilst, as now disclosed, the movement lines
• the plant 10 comprises a minimum number of decorating stations 11 substantially directly proportional to the stop time of the tiles 13 to be decorated in the respective decorating stations 11.
• a plant consisting of a parallel system of decorating stations, so that they can decorate in parallel the tiles necessary for supplying a ceramic kiln at maximum productive capacity.
• This work in parallel of the decorating stations enables to provide a decorating system the dimensions of which are configurable, but above all enables the redundancy to be obtained that is necessary for overcoming a possible jamming of one or more decorating stations.
• This plant has at the inlet to the movement lines of the tiles a mechanism that accepts the tiles at the rate that is typical of the presses, which, also by means of a possible store, is capable of returning the tiles at a different rate, even with the same quantity in terms of tiles per unit of time.
• Making the decorating step discontinuous enables a very simple decorating station to be used, based on a printing system consisting of an ink jet head for each ink, moved by a system with Cartesian axes on the tile, which remains substantially stationary during decoration.
• the qualifying features of the new plant can thus be summarised as: optimising the resources necessary (number of heads and relative piloting circuitry) , to reduce total number of heads required; scalability of the number of decorating stations,- redundancy of the decorating stations,- connection between continuous arrival of the tiles and discontinuous decorating.
• the possibility of decorating the tile when the tile is stationary (and not moving, as occurs with known plants) enables the quality of the decorating result to be increased, for example by enabling the definition to be increased by means of a double number of strokes .
• the greater time required for decorating tiles of greater dimensions is compensated by the fact that a smaller number of pieces have to be decorated in the unit of time.
• the present plant enables printing capacity to be distributed over several stations, thus enabling the system to be sized gradually.
• the parallel system of decorating stations employs approximately a quarter of the number of printing heads required by traditional ink-jet printing systems using fixed heads, with significant constructional saving.
• each of said decorating stations being traversed by a respective movement line for the product being decorated, each of said stations further providing at least one ink- jet head associated with movement means suitable for moving the head on the product being decorated, underneath the head.
• system further comprises at least one common supply line of the product to be decorated for said movement lines.
• the system further comprises at least one common removing line of the decorated product exiting from said movement lines.
• each decorating station provides a stopping zone for at least one product to be decorated, above said stopping zone there being arranged at least one ink-jet printing head associated with movement means suitable for moving at least one same head on the product, stationary in said zone, to perform the decoration.
• the system is carried out in particular with a plant.
• the invention concerns a decorating plant for decorating by ink-jet technology, particularly for decorating tiles, comprising: a plurality of decorating stations arranged for working together in parallel, each of said decorating station being traversed by a respective movement line for the product being decorated, each of said stations further providing at least one ink- jet head associated with movement means suitable for moving the head on the product being decorated, underneath the head.
• the plant further comprises at least one common supply line supplying the product to be decorated for said movement lines.
• the plant further comprises at least one common removing line of the decorated product exiting from said movement lines.
• each decorating station provides a stopping zone for at least one product to be decorated, above said stopping zone there being arranged an ink-jet printing head associated with movement means suitable for moving the head on the product, stationary in said zone, to perform the decoration.
• said supply line supplying the product to be decorated and/or said removing line removing the decorated product are of the continuous movement type, whilst said movement lines have a discontinuous movement dictated by the stopping of the products in the decorating stations.
• the plant comprises a number of decorating stations proportional to the time, in seconds, of the stop of the products to be decorated in the respective decorating stations.
• the plant comprises, at the inlet to said supply line, at least one store for accumulating the products to be decorated.
• the plant comprises, at the inlet to said movement lines on which there are said decorating stations, respective stores accumulating the products to be decorated coining from said supply line.
• the plant comprises, at the outlet from said removing line, at least one store for accumulating the decorated products .
• the plant comprises, at the outlet from said movement lines on which there are said decorating stations, respective stores accumulating the decorated products intended for said removing line.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Structural Engineering (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Ceramic Engineering (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Ink Jet (AREA)
• Ink Jet Recording Methods And Recording Media Thereof (AREA)
• Application Of Or Painting With Fluid Materials (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=39284154

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (3)

Families Citing this family (5)

Family Cites Families (3)

• 2006
  • 2006-11-08 IT IT000122A patent/ITPI20060122A1/it unknown
• 2007
  • 2007-11-07 WO PCT/IB2007/003414 patent/WO2008056241A2/en active Application Filing
  • 2007-11-07 EP EP07825630A patent/EP2079591A2/de not_active Withdrawn

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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