JP2000141603A - Embossing apparatus for printed matter - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain an embossing apparatus capable of embossing a printed matter using toner and a printed matter in which a printing ink is dried. SOLUTION: A resin is discharged from a resin powder coating unit 300 to a printing sheet 10 printed by using a developing medium made of a toner or an ink. The overall printing surface of the sheet 10 is uniformly coated with the resin. A light including an infrared ray is illuminated from a light illuminating unit 400 to melt only a resin material adhered to the medium. Then, the resin material is solidified. A thin layer of the residual resin material is removed by a cleaning unit 50. The sheet is embossed by a protrusion of the resin material melted and solidified on the medium.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a post-processing apparatus for printed matter, and more particularly to an embossing apparatus for forming a resin layer on a printed image portion of a printed matter, embossing the printed matter, and giving the printed matter a decorative effect by embossing the image. About.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art After a resin layer is formed on printed matter produced by a printing machine by utilizing the adhesive strength of the printing ink to remove unnecessary resin, the remaining resin is melted by heat to perform printing. Embossing technology that gives a sense of quality and gives a decorative effect by forming the image part on the raised image part,
For example, business card printing, invitation printing, postcard printing, and the like are conventionally performed.

An embossing device according to the prior art is
This will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. FIG. 6 schematically shows a configuration of an embossing device incorporated in a printing machine according to the conventional technique, and FIGS. 7 to 10 show an embossing process according to the conventional technique.

First, referring to FIG. 6, according to the prior art, an embossing device incorporated in a printing machine includes a printed material conveying device 100, a printing device 600, a resin powder coating device 700, a cleaning device 500, and a heating device 800. The embossing process is performed while the printing paper 10 is conveyed and moved along a certain conveyance path by the printed material conveying device 100 so that a desired printed material 200 can be obtained.
It is arranged along the above-mentioned transport path.

[0007] Next, referring to FIGS. 7 to 10 together with FIG. 6, when the printed material conveying device 100 introduces the printing paper 10 before printing from a predetermined entrance, and conveys and positions it to a position below the printing device 600, The printing apparatus 600 causes the ink 50 to adhere to the printing paper 10 according to the print image, and the state shown in FIG. 7 is obtained. The printing paper 10 to which the ink 50 has been adhered in this way is again conveyed by the printed material conveying device 100 and is conveyed below the resin powder coating device 700. At this time, the resin powder coating device 700 is
0, the ink 50 is applied and the ink 50
Was sprayed with the resin powder 30 having an appropriate adhesive property between the printing paper 10 in an undried state and the ink 50, and the uppermost layer was covered with the resin powder 30 sprayed as shown in FIG. The printing paper 10 is formed.

The printing paper 10 on which the resin powder 30 has been sprayed in this way is then caused to reach the cleaning device 500 by the printed material transport device 100. In the cleaning device 500, a cleaning process is performed in which the resin powder adhered to the undried ink 50 is removed from the resin powder sprayed on the printing paper 10 and the resin powder sprayed on other areas on the printing paper 10 is removed. Perform The state shown in FIG. 9 in which the resin powder 30 adheres only to the ink 50 is formed on the printing paper 10 subjected to the cleaning process. Then, the printing paper 10 further reaches the area of the heating device 800 after passing through the cleaning device 500 by the transport of the printed material transport device 100. At this time, the heating device 800
Heats the resin powder 30 on the printing paper 10 in which the resin powder 30 adheres to the undried ink 50, and melts the resin powder 30 to form a raised portion of the resin on the ink 50 as shown in FIG. I do.

The embossed portion 40 is formed by drying and solidifying the raised portion of the molten resin. That is, first, the ink 5 is applied to the print image area of the printing paper 10.
0, and when the ink 50 is not dried, the resin powder 3
After the spraying process of 0 and the cleaning process, the resin powder 30 is melted by heating, and a raised portion of the resin is formed.
By solidification, an embossed portion 40 is formed in the printing area on the printing paper 10, and the printed material 2 in which the printed image is raised
00 can be obtained.

The above-described formation of the embossed portion 40 on the printing paper 10 is performed for a printing machine, and therefore, for printed matter output from a widely used copying machine, printer or the like. Since the adhesive force of the ink cannot be used, only in a specific copying machine or printer using a special toner, a processing method of expanding the resin contained in the toner to be heat-fixed to form a raised embossed portion is adopted. Was.

[0009]

However, when embossing is performed on a printed material copied or printed by a copying machine, a printer, or the like, special toner must be used, which lacks versatility. Disadvantages are inconvenient and costly. Therefore, the object of the present invention is to copy or print with a general-purpose toner in a copier or a printer that cannot use so-called sticky ink in a printing machine, and to output printing paper. It is another object of the present invention to provide an embossing device capable of easily performing an embossing decoration process using a resin material to achieve a high-grade printing grade.

[0010] Another object of the present invention is to provide a printing paper that has lost its tackiness due to drying of the ink after the printing process has been performed on the printing paper that has been output after the printing processing using ink by the printing press. It is another object of the present invention to provide an embossing apparatus capable of easily performing an embossing decoration processing using a resin material.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-mentioned object, the present invention relates to a paper conveying apparatus for conveying and introducing a printing paper which has been copied or printed with a developing medium made of at least toner or ink and output to a printing paper emboss processing area. Means, a resin material discharging means for discharging a resin material over the entire printing surface of the printing paper which is conveyed, introduced and moved by the paper conveying means to form a uniform thin layer of the resin material; and Light irradiation for covering a printing surface with a thin layer and arranging the print surface conveyed by the sheet conveying means at a predetermined position, and irradiating light containing infrared rays toward the thin layer of the resin material Means for irradiating light containing the infrared rays to selectively melt the resin thin layer only in the surface area of the paper having the developing medium absorbing the infrared rays, Wherein the resin material is fixed, a thin layer of the resin material is not melted remained after fixation Cleaning, embossing processing apparatus to obtain a printed material subjected to embossing processing is provided to the printing part by removing.

It is preferable that the light irradiating means is constituted by a xenon flash lamp or the like. Further, the heat-meltable resin material is made of a resin powder material that reflects or transmits light containing infrared light, and the resin powder material generates heat even when irradiated with light containing infrared light only on the resin powder material. Preferably, it does not melt. That is, the toner or ink absorbs infrared light in the print processing area where the developing medium such as toner or ink adheres, and reflects or transmits light containing infrared light in other areas even if the resin layer is covered. No heat is generated, so that the resin layer remains as a powder material. Therefore, such a residual resin powder material layer can be subjected to a cleaning treatment by using the same cleaning means as in the conventional case, in which case the non-molten resin powder material removed from the printed matter is subjected to the cleaning process. And recycled for embossing.
And such a resin powder material may be a thermosetting resin material.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail based on embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a mechanism diagram showing a configuration of a printed material embossing device according to the present invention,
2 to 4 show a state on the printing paper during the embossing process, and FIG. 2 shows a state in which toner, which is an example of a developing medium, adheres to the printing area on the printing paper with respect to the conveyance direction of the printing paper. FIG. 3 is a view showing a state in which resin powder or a uniform thin layer is further discharged and applied to the printing paper of FIG. 2, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a side view similar to FIG. 2 showing a state in which a thin layer of the adhered resin powder material has been melted. FIG. 5 is a side view of a printed matter showing a state in which the resin powder layer that has not been melted and fixed has been removed and embossing has been completed. It is.

Referring now to FIG. 1, the apparatus for embossing printed matter according to the present invention performs a printing process using a copying machine or printer using a general-purpose toner as a developing medium or a printing machine using ink as a developing medium. It is configured as an apparatus that performs an embossing process on the printed paper, and may be disposed at a subsequent stage of these copying machines, printers, and printing machines, or may be separately provided. This embossing device conveys the printing paper 10 on which the printing process has been performed, and conveys the printing paper 10 in a predetermined direction from an entrance area for the embossing area to an exit area for outputting the printed matter 200 after the embossing processing. Conveying device 100 and resin powder coating device 3 for discharging and applying a resin powder material to the entire print processing surface of printing paper 10 to form a thin layer of the resin powder material
00 and printing paper 10 on which a thin layer of resin powder material is formed.
The printing paper 10 is irradiated with light containing infrared rays
The light irradiating device 400 for fixing only a thin layer of the resin powder material adhered to the developing medium by melting to obtain an embossed decoration-treated portion with a resin and remaining in other paper areas except for the embossed decoration-treated portion to which the resin material is fixed And a cleaning device 500 that cleans and removes the thin layer of the resin powder material and finishes the post-processing of the embossing process to obtain the final printed matter 200.

Here, in further detail with reference to FIGS. 2 to 5, the printing paper 10 conveyed to the entrance area of the emboss processing area by the printed material conveying apparatus 100 is used to form an image as shown in FIG. The portion has a portion where the developing medium 20 made of toner or ink is fixed. When the printing paper 10 reaches the operation area of the resin powder coating device 300, the resin powder coating device 300 releases the resin powder material toward the printing paper 10, and as a result, as shown in FIG. , A uniform thin layer of the resin powder material 30
Formed on top. In order to form a uniform thin layer of the resin powder material 30, the resin powder material 30 may be discharged over the entire width of the printing paper 10 in conformity with the transport speed of the printing paper 10, and the discharge port may be used. By adjusting the diameter in advance, a uniform thin layer of the resin powder material 30 can be easily formed.

In this case, as the resin powder material 30, a powder of an epoxy resin material having properties of reflecting or transmitting light including infrared rays and having thermosetting properties is selected in advance.
When the printing paper 10 on which the thin layer of the resin powder material 30 is formed is further conveyed by the printed material conveying device 100 and reaches the operation area of the light irradiation device 400, the light irradiation device 400 Or ink) to cover the entirety of the print processing surface.
The printing paper 10 having a uniform thin layer is irradiated with light including infrared rays. As a result, infrared rays are absorbed at the surface portion of the printing paper 10 on which the developing medium 20 is fixed, so that
The temperature in this region will increase. Therefore, the thin layer of the resin powder material 30 covering the fixing area of the developing medium 20 is melted by heat. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the molten resin material 40 is formed on the developing medium 20 of the printing paper 10. When the molten resin material 40 subsequently exits the light irradiation area and is no longer exposed to light, or when the irradiation by the light irradiation device 400 is stopped, the temperature decreases because there is no heat absorption, and the molten resin material 40 melts. The resin material 40 is used for the developing medium 2
It will be fixed to the 0 part.

The molten resin material 40 exerts a gloss by being fixed, and forms an embossed decoration processing area in which the area of the fixed developing medium 20 is raised. On the other hand, in the area of the other printing paper surface, the light is not absorbed in spite of the irradiation of the light including the infrared rays, so that the temperature does not rise and the thin layer of the resin powder material 30 remains. ing. That is, FIG. 4 shows that only the resin powder material attached to the developing medium 20 is melted and fixed.

The printing paper 10 on which the thin layer of the remaining resin powder material 30 is placed is further conveyed to the working area of the cleaning device 500 by the printed material conveying device 100, and the resin powder material 30 remaining on the printing paper 10 in the same working area. Is removed by, for example, a brushing action, as clearly shown in FIG. 5, the portion of the developing medium 20 to which the molten resin material 40 adheres rises sharply, and the embossing process ends. The printing paper 10 on which the embossing process has been completed is conveyed out of the exit area of the embossing device by the printed material conveying device 100 and output.

According to the above-described structure, the developing medium 20 capable of absorbing heat including infrared rays and exhibiting heat and temperature rise performance.
Then, without using the conventional ink tackiness,
By forming a swelling due to the adhesion of the thermosetting resin material,
Embossing treatment can be performed. Therefore, for example, it is also possible to perform embossing decoration processing on the company name portion of the stationery paper on which the company name is printed in advance. On the other hand, in this case, if a thermoplastic resin is used as the resin powder material, when the embossed stationery paper is printed from a page printer, the resin used for the embossing process is exposed to light during the printing process. There is a risk of melting and destroying the embossing process. Therefore, in order to prevent such inconvenience, it is desirable to use a thermosetting resin such as an epoxy resin as the resin used for the embossing process as the resin powder material.

[0020]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, according to the prior art, the powder resin is placed on the ink by utilizing the adhesive strength of the ink that has not been dried immediately after printing.
Since the embossing effect was obtained, there was a disadvantage that the embossing process could not be performed unless the ink immediately after printing was in an undried state.Therefore, the toner was naturally output from a copying machine, a printer, or the like that uses toner as a developing medium. Although it was impossible to perform embossing on printed matter, the present invention has solved such disadvantages. That is, the present invention provides a method for printing a printed material on a printing press using ink,
It is possible to freely form a uniform thin layer of resin material on the entire printed surface, irradiating light including infrared rays to the entire surface of the thin resin layer, regardless of whether it is dried or printed by a copier or printer using toner. As a result, the resin material thin layer placed on the portion where the developing medium made of ink or toner is fixed is selectively melted and fixed, so that embossing can be freely performed regardless of the time elapsed after the printing process. It has the advantage that it can be treated.

The toner used as a developing medium does not require any special property, and a general-purpose toner can be used.
The cost reduction effect can also be exhibited. In addition, since the embossing process can be arbitrarily performed by being provided independently of a print processing device such as a printing machine, a copying machine, and a printer, the embossing process can be used at any location as a use site. ing.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a mechanism diagram showing a configuration of an embossing apparatus for printed matter according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a toner, which is an example of a developing medium, adheres to a print area on a print sheet when viewed from a side in a conveyance direction of the print sheet.

3 is a view showing a state in which resin powder or a uniform thin layer is further discharged and applied to the printing paper of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a side view similar to FIG. 2, showing a state where a thin layer of a resin powder material attached to a developing medium by being irradiated with light including infrared rays is melted.

FIG. 5 is a side view of a printed material showing a state in which a resin powder layer that has not been melted and fixed has been removed and embossing has been completed.

FIG. 6 is a mechanism diagram showing a configuration of a printed material embossing apparatus according to a conventional technique.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing a state immediately after printing using ink on printing paper in the related art.

8 is a side view showing a state where a thin layer of resin is formed on the printing paper shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a side view showing a state in which the resin on the ink in the thin resin layer formed on the printing paper shown in FIG. 8 is melted.

FIG. 10 is a side view showing a state of a printed material in which an embossing process is completed by a resin placed and fixed on ink of a printing paper.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Printing paper 20 ... Development medium 30 ... Resin powder material 40 ... Molten resin material 100 ... Printed matter conveying device 200 ... Printed matter 300 ... Resin powder coating device 400 ... Light irradiation device 500 ... Cleaning device

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Kiyoshi Uchida F-term (reference) 2C020 CA05 2H113 AA05 BA47 BB22 CA00 DA56 FA38 FA40 FA44 1-41 Kugayama, Suginami-ku, Tokyo

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A paper transporting means for transporting and introducing printing paper, which has been subjected to copying or printing with a developing medium made of at least toner or ink, to an emboss processing area, and transported, introduced and moved by the paper transporting means. Resin material discharging means for discharging a resin material over the entire printing surface of the printing paper to be formed to form a uniform thin layer of the resin material; and a sheet transport means for covering the printing surface with the thin layer of the resin material Light irradiation means for irradiating light containing infrared rays toward a thin layer of the resin material is provided at a predetermined position with respect to the printing paper conveyed by,
By the irradiation of the light containing the infrared rays, the resin thin layer only in the surface area of the sheet having the developing medium absorbing the infrared rays is selectively melted to fix the resin material to the developing medium, and the remaining unmelted portion after the fixing is applied. The printed material embossing apparatus characterized in that the thin layer of the resin material is cleaned and removed to obtain a printed material in which a printed portion is embossed. 2. The embossing apparatus for printed matter according to claim 1, wherein said light irradiating means comprises a xenon flash lamp. 3. The resin material is made of a resin powder material that reflects or transmits light containing infrared light. Even when only the resin powder material is irradiated with light containing infrared light, the resin powder material generates heat and melts. 3. The embossing device for printed matter according to claim 1, wherein the embossing device does not perform the embossing. 4. The embossing apparatus for printed matter according to claim 1, wherein the resin powder material is made of a thermosetting resin material.