JP2001158077A - Printing device for bottle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printing device for a bottle, in which an inspector for inspecting printing deviation by visual observation is unnecessitated by automatically detecting printing deviation. SOLUTION: A scale gage is provided in the periphery of the mouthpiece for a bottle rotating means in a printing station. Further, both an optical scale sensor detecting transfer of the scale gage and a controlling means are provided. The controlling means measures the rotational amount of the scale gage by a signal outputted from the optical scale sensor and judges misalignment when the rotational amount is larger than the prescribed amount. Since the rotational amount of the bottle is detected by the optical scale sensor, such a case can be recognized because the rotational amount of the bottle is more than the prescribed amount that a rotary mechanism does not catch a mark of the bottle and the bottle is not positioned.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus for printing at a predetermined position in a circumferential direction of a bottle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a conveying means for conveying a bottle,
It has a pre-registration station provided in the middle of the conveying means and performs a rough correction of the rotational position of the bottle, and a printing station provided on the downstream side of the pre-registration station in the middle of the conveying means, and the printing station is provided in the bottle. 2. Description of the Related Art There is known a bottle printing apparatus including a rotating unit that rotates a bottle to a regular position based on a mark (usually a dimple) and a printing unit that rotates to a regular position and prints frequently.

The transport means transports the bottle by a so-called walking beam mechanism or the like. The walking beam mechanism includes a plurality of pairs of beams continuously provided in the longitudinal direction, beam driving means, bottle supporting means, and the like. As shown in FIG. By moving like B, C, D, bottle 20
Are sequentially conveyed to the next station (to the right in FIG. 3).

[0004] The pre-registration station is provided in the middle of the conveying means, and rotates the bottle at high speed to roughly correct the rotational position of the bottle (for example, -10 degrees to 10 degrees).
The position is corrected within the range of -60 degrees). By providing the pre-registration station, it is possible to shorten the time for positioning the bottles in the printing station, speed up the transport of the bottles, and perform printing efficiently. In the pre-registration station, as shown in FIG.
2, a bearing 23, a bottom chuck 24, a clutch / brake unit 25, a motor 26, and an optical sensor 27 are provided. The mouthpiece 22 supports the mouth of the bottle, and is rotatably mounted on a bearing 23. The bearing 23 can move in the horizontal direction (the direction of approaching or moving away from the bottle) as indicated by the arrow. The bottom chuck 24 supports the bottom of the bottle, and is rotated and stopped by a motor 26 and a clutch / brake unit 25.

When the bottle 20 is conveyed to the pre-registration station by the conveying means 2, the mouthpiece 22 on the opposite side of the drive moves in the direction of the bottle as shown in FIG. Press. Thereby, both ends (mouth and bottom) of the bottle 20 are supported by the mouthpiece 22 and the bottom chuck 24. Thereafter, the rotation of the motor 26 is transmitted to the bottom chuck 24 by the clutch / brake unit to rotate the bottle at a high speed up to 360 degrees. The position of the dimple 21, which is a mark of the bottle, is detected by the dimple detection optical sensor 27. The optical sensor 27 monitors a change in the light reflected from the surface of the bottle. When the dimple reaches a predetermined position due to rotation of the bottle and receives light from the dimple, the amount of received light decreases. At this time, the brake is applied by the clutch / brake unit 25 to stop the rotation of the bottle.

[0006] The printing station is located in the middle of the conveying means.
It is provided downstream of the pre-registration station,
A rotating unit and a printing unit; The rotating means holds and rotates both ends (mouth and bottom) of the bottle sent by the transport means with a mouthpiece and a bottom chuck, similarly to the pre-registration station described above. The dimple is detected by a claw that is brought into positive contact with the bottle. When the claw enters the dimple, the rotation of the bottle is stopped there, and the bottle is fixed in a proper position. Printing is performed by a printing means such as a silk printing machine on the outer surface of the bottle after the alignment is completed. In the case of multi-color printing, a plurality of such printing stations are provided in the middle of the conveying means.

[0007]

The above-mentioned conventional printing apparatus has a problem that, when the position of the dimple is slightly shifted in the vertical direction of the bottle, for example, when the claw slips and the dimple cannot be caught, The rotation means rotates the bottle by the set maximum rotation amount (for example, 120 degrees) and stops. In such a case, the bottle is not aligned at all, and printing is performed at a position that is significantly out of order. Therefore, a dedicated inspector who visually inspects such a print shift and removes the print shift bottle is required. It is an object of the present invention to automatically detect such a print shift and eliminate the need for an inspector who visually inspects the print shift.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a conveying means for conveying a bottle, a pre-registration station provided in the middle of the conveying means for roughly correcting the rotational position of the bottle, and a pre-registration station in the middle of the conveying means. A printing station provided downstream of the printer, the printing station rotating means for rotating the bottle to a proper position based on a mark provided on the bottle, and a printing means for rotating the bottle to a correct position and printing frequently Wherein the rotating means has a mouthpiece provided with a scale gauge around the periphery to hold and rotate the end of the bottle, and an optical scale sensor for detecting the movement of the scale gauge. Control that measures the amount of rotation of the scale gauge based on the signal from the scale sensor, and determines that the position is out of position when the amount of rotation is greater than a predetermined amount. It is a printing apparatus of a bottle, characterized in that stage is provided.

The rotation amount of the mouthpiece, that is, the rotation amount of the bottle can be detected by the optical scale sensor. For example, when the bottle is preliminarily positioned at a position between -10 degrees and -60 degrees with respect to the normal position by the pre-rotation means, the rotation amount detected by the optical scale sensor is 61 degrees.
If it is higher than the degree, it is understood that the bottle was not positioned because the claw could not catch the dimple.

In a control means such as a computer, the amount of rotation (for example, 61 degrees) when the bottle is not positioned is set as a set value in advance, and when the rotation of the bottle is equal to or more than the set value, it is displayed on the display device. It can be displayed to the staff, sounding an alarm, etc. It is also possible to send a rejection signal to the rejection means to automatically reject printing misaligned bottles without being positioned.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings relating to embodiments. 1 is an explanatory plan view of a printing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment, FIG. 2 is an explanatory front view of a printing station of the printing apparatus 1, FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of a conveying unit, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of a signal flow of the printing apparatus 1. FIG. 5 is an explanatory front view of the pre-registration station.

The printing press 1 includes a transporting means 2 for transporting bottles.
And a rotating unit for rotating the bottle to a regular position based on the dimple 21 provided on the bottle 20, and a printing unit 3 for rotating the bottle to the regular position and printing on the bottle 20.
The bottle 20 conveyed by the entrance conveyor 16 is conveyed in the printing apparatus by the conveying means 2 of the printing apparatus 1, and the bottle whose printing is completed is sent to the exit conveyor 17.

The conveying means 2 comprises beams 11 and 12, which are provided continuously in a plurality of sets in the longitudinal direction, driving means (not shown) for these, and supporting means (not shown) for bottles. As shown in FIG. 3, the beams 11, 12 are indicated by arrows A,
This is a so-called walking beam mechanism in which the bottles 20 are sequentially transported to the next station (rightward in FIG. 3) by moving as shown by B, C, and D. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 23 indicates the supporting height of the bottle. The control of the transport unit 2 is performed by the printing apparatus main body control unit 18.

A pre-registration station is provided in the middle of the transport means. At the pre-registration station, the bottles are roughly aligned as described in the above-mentioned prior art.

A printing station is provided on the downstream side of the pre-registration station on the way of the conveying means 2.
The printing station is provided with rotating means and printing means 3. The rotating means includes a mouthpiece 4 (opposite the drive side), a bearing 6, a bottom chuck 7 (drive side), a clutch / brake unit 8, a motor 9, a pawl 10, and the like. When the bottle 20 is conveyed to the printing station by the conveying means 2, the mouthpiece piece 4 moves in the bottle direction as shown in FIG.
Press against Thus, both ends (mouth and bottom) of the bottle 20 are supported by the mouthpiece 4 and the bottom chuck 7. Thereafter, the clutch of the clutch / brake unit 8 is engaged, and the bottom chuck 7 rotates by transmitting the rotation of the motor 9. Since the mouthpiece 4 on the opposite side to the drive is rotatably mounted on the bearing 6, the bottle 20 and the mouthpiece 4 rotate simultaneously. When the claw 10 catches the dimple 21 provided on the bottle 20,
The brake of the clutch / brake unit 8 is operated, the rotation of the bottle is stopped, and the bottle is positioned at a proper position. The control of the clutch / brake unit 8 is performed by the printing apparatus main body control unit 18.

When the bottle is fixed at the proper position, printing is performed on the outer surface of the bottle 20 by the printing means 3 such as a silk printing machine. The control of the printing unit 3 is performed by the printing apparatus main body control unit 1.
8.

Although the printing apparatus described above is well known, the present invention is an improvement on the above printing apparatus.
The features of the printing apparatus 1 of the embodiment are that the scale gauge 5 is provided on the outer periphery of the mouthpiece 4, and that the optical scale sensor 13, the exclusion unit 14, and the control unit 19 are provided.

A scale gauge 5 is wound around the outer periphery of the mouthpiece 4 on the opposite side of the drive, for example, at intervals of 1 mm. When the mouthpiece 4 rotates, that is, when the bottle 20 rotates, the optical scale sensor 13 detects the rotation of the scale gauge 5 and outputs one pulse each time one gauge line passes. The number of rotations of the bottle can be grasped by counting the number of pulses.

As shown in FIG. 4, a control means 19 such as a microcomputer counts pulses from the optical scale sensor based on a timing signal from the printing apparatus main body control unit 18 and calculates the amount of rotation of the bottle. As the timing signal, for example, a control signal for controlling the clutch / brake unit 8 by the printing apparatus main body can be used. That is, if the pulse counting is started by the control signal for engaging the clutch and the pulse counting is terminated by the control signal for activating the brake, the pulse output from the optical scale sensor 13 while the bottle is rotating (ie, the Rotation amount) can be counted.

A set value for judging whether the positioning of the bottle is good or not is input to the control means 19 in advance. If the rotation amount of the bottle is larger than the set value, the rejection signal is sent to the rejection means as a positioning failure. send. If the rotation amount of the bottle is smaller than the set value, it is determined that the positioning has been performed normally, and no exclusion signal is sent.

The elimination means 14 such as an air nozzle is provided toward the outlet conveyor 17. When an exclusion signal is sent from the control unit 19 to the exclusion unit 14, the exclusion unit 14 operates after a predetermined timing has elapsed, and sends the bottle with the printing position shift to the cullet chute 15. In this case, the pulse output from the printing apparatus main body control unit 18 is sent to the elimination unit 14, and the timing (from the time when the elimination signal is sent until the bottle moves to the exclusion unit 14 (the printing apparatus main body) (The number of pulses output by the control unit 18). When the exclusion unit 14 receives the exclusion signal from the control unit 19, the exclusion unit 14 starts counting the number of pulses output from the printing apparatus main body control unit 18 and operates when the set number of pulses is counted. At this time, the bottle with the misalignment has just reached the elimination means 14 and is eliminated by the elimination means.

In the present invention, it is also possible to connect a display device or an alarm to the control means 19, to display on the display device when a positioning error occurs, or to sound an alarm.

[0023]

According to the present invention, since the displacement of the printing position can be automatically detected, the labor of the inspector can be reduced, and the corrective action for the rotating means such as the adjustment and replacement of the nail can be quickly performed. In addition, the occurrence of defective products can be reduced. The provision of the elimination means eliminates the need for an inspector for print misalignment, thereby reducing labor and cost. Further, the present invention can be easily implemented by adding a scale gauge, an optical scale sensor, a control unit, and an exclusion unit to a conventional printing apparatus.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory plan view of a printing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory front view of a printing station of the printing apparatus 1;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of a conveying means 2.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a signal flow of the printing apparatus 1;

FIG. 5 is an explanatory front view of a pre-registration station.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printing apparatus 2 Transport means 3 Printing means 4 Mouthpiece 5 Scale gauge 6 Bearing 7 Bottom chuck 8 Clutch / brake unit 9 Motor 10 Claw 11 Beam 12 Beam 13 Optical scale sensor 14 Elimination means 15 Cullet chute 16 Inlet conveyor 17 Outlet conveyor 18 Printer control unit 19 Control means 20 Bottle 21 Dimple 22 Mouthpiece 23 Bearing 24 Bottom chuck 25 Clutch / brake unit 26 Motor 27 Optical sensor

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2C250 EB26 EB29 EB41 2F065 AA01 AA39 BB06 BB16 BB27 CC00 DD08 FF17 FF44 JJ05 JJ15 MM04 PP11 QQ25 TT03

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A conveying means for conveying a bottle, a pre-registration station provided in the middle of the conveying means for roughly correcting the rotational position of the bottle, and a printing apparatus provided on the downstream side of the pre-registration station in the middle of the conveying means. A printing station having a printing station, wherein the printing station includes a rotating unit configured to rotate the bottle to a proper position based on a mark provided on the bottle, and a printing unit configured to rotate the bottle to the correct position and perform printing every time. Wherein the rotating means has a mouthpiece provided with a scale gauge around the periphery for holding and rotating the end of the bottle, and an optical scale sensor for detecting movement of the scale gauge, and a scale gauge based on a signal from the optical scale sensor. Control means for measuring the amount of rotation of the motor and determining that the position is out of position when the amount of rotation is larger than a predetermined amount. Characterized bottle printing device 2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the printing apparatus has an exclusion unit, and outputs an exclusion signal to the exclusion unit when the control unit determines that the position is misaligned. Bottle printing device characterized by elimination