JP2003025546A - Pad printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a pad printer capable of easily printing an image of various contents without requiring a worker to execute a complicated work. SOLUTION: A changer 140 takes out one of printing plates 102 placed on a set base 101, and sets the one on a selector table 120. A pickup unit 160 takes out one of ink containers 111 housed in a container housing unit 110, and coats the ink on a surface of the plate 102 set on the table 120. A printing unit 180 transfers the ink existing on a recess part of the plate surface to a matter to be printed via a pad 181.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pad printing apparatus that performs printing by applying ink to a plate surface and transferring the ink that flows into the recesses formed in the plate surface onto a material to be printed through a pad.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A pad printing apparatus is an apparatus for printing images such as characters and designs. The pad printing device applies ink to a plate surface in which a concave portion is formed according to an image to be printed and causes the ink to flow into the concave portion to be printed by using a medium having elasticity for ink transfer called a pad. Printing is performed by transferring the image onto the surface. Since such a pad is used, the pad printing device can print not only on a flat surface but also on a curved surface, can print delicate patterns, soft objects (fruits and confectionery, etc.), and fragile objects (eggs, pottery,
It has the feature that it can be printed on glass products, etc.).

In the above pad printing apparatus, the shape of the image to be printed is determined by the plate surface, and the color of the image is determined by the color of the ink applied to the plate surface. In the conventional pad printing apparatus, the ink contained in the ink container set in the apparatus is applied to the plate surface set by the user in advance. As a result, unless a person changes the printing plate or ink, the same image is always printed on the substrate. Therefore, when the content of the image, that is, the pattern or color of the image is changed, the user who is the user himself / herself has to perform a troublesome work such as changing the printing plate or ink, which is a heavy burden on the operator. There was a point.

Nowadays, in order to assert individuality, there is an increasing demand for printing an image that is slightly different from a person, for example, an image that is different only in color. Along with this, the burden on the operator of the pad printing apparatus tends to increase. Due to such circumstances, there has been a strong demand for being able to print images of various contents without causing the operator to perform troublesome work.

An object of the present invention is to provide a pad printing apparatus which can easily print images of various contents without causing the operator to perform troublesome work.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A pad printing apparatus according to the present invention is intended to achieve the above-mentioned object.
Is a device that performs printing by applying ink to the plate surface on which the recesses are formed, transferring the ink present in the recesses on the plate surface to the pad, and retransferring the ink transferred to the pad to the printing material. Therefore, one ink container is selected from the container mounting means capable of mounting a plurality of ink containers accommodating the ink and the ink container mounted in the container mounting means, and the ink accommodated in the selected ink container is selected. To the printing plate by transferring the ink existing in the concave portion of the printing plate coated with the ink to the pad by applying the ink to the printing plate, and then re-transferring by contacting with the printing substrate. And a printing means for performing.

Further, in addition to the structure of the first aspect, the means of claim 2 is a medium mounting means capable of mounting a plurality of plate surface forming media, which is a medium having one or more plate surfaces, and medium mounting means. Further comprising a medium ejecting means for taking out one plate surface forming medium from the plate surface forming medium mounted on the means, the ink applying means, the container mounting means on the plate surface on the plate surface forming medium taken out by the medium ejecting means. The stored ink is applied to the ink container selected from the ink containers mounted on.

Further, the means of claim 2 has a plurality of printing plates,
When the medium ejecting means takes out the formed plate surface forming medium, the printing on the printing medium can be repeated while changing the plate surface used for printing with the taken out plate surface forming medium at any time.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the plate surface forming medium having a magnetic material applied to the back surface transferred from the medium mounting means by the medium ejecting means is moved to a table, and
The table is attracted and fixed by the magnetic lines of force of an electromagnet.

The means of claim 5 applies the ink dropped by the ink applying means to the plate surface forming medium fixed to the table by a squeegee, and the means of claim 6 is provided. Is equipped with a cleaning means for cleaning the pad.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view of the pad printing apparatus according to the present embodiment, FIG. 2 is a side view of the pad printing apparatus when viewed from the direction a indicated by an arrow in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a top view thereof. In FIG. 3, only one part is extracted and shown.

Reference numeral 101 in FIG. 1 is a stand for placing a circular plate (hereinafter, referred to as a plate) 102 having a plurality of plate surfaces having concave portions formed according to an image. The stand 1
As shown in FIG. 3, a large number of plate plates 102 can be placed on the screen 01 in a vertical arrangement. Plate 1
The back surface of 02 is coated with a magnetic substance that is attracted by the lines of magnetic force.

Reference numeral 110 in FIG. 1 denotes a container storage portion capable of storing a plurality of ink containers 111 containing ink. As shown in FIG. 3, the container housing 110 has a maximum of 21
(= 3 × 7) ink containers 111 can be stored.

In this embodiment, the stand 101 is prepared by preparing the stand 101 and the container storage section 110.
One of the plate plates 102 placed on the table is taken out and set on the selector table 120.
The ink of the ink container 111 taken out from the container storage unit 110 is applied to the plate surface of the plate plate 102 set in step 1 to print on the printing object.

When both the plate surface and the ink applied to the plate surface are automatically changed, the operator who is the user of the pad printing apparatus changes the content (design, color, etc.) of the image to be printed. It eliminates the need for troublesome work. For example, it is not necessary to replace the printing plate or ink with one's own hands. Therefore, it is possible to always easily print images of various contents. Hereinafter, the configuration and operation for realizing such printing will be described in detail with reference to the explanatory diagrams after FIG. 4 as needed.

On the plate 102, as shown in FIG.
For example, a total of eight printing plates 103 indicated by 103a to h are formed in a line on the circumference. On its outer circumference, there is one rounded notch 104 and two square notches 105.
Is formed. The portion where the plate surface 103 is formed is made of resin, for example, and the back side is made of metal. The plate 102 having such a shape and configuration is treated as an object to be set on the selector table 120. The plurality of printing plates 103 are arranged side by side on the circumference so that the printing plates 103 used for printing can be sequentially changed only by rotating the selector table 120.

On the selector table 120, the plate 1
The protrusions 121 and 122 are provided in accordance with the positions and shapes of the cutouts 104 and 105 formed in 02. As a result, the notches 104 and 105 and the protrusions 121 and 12
2 is used so that the plate 102 can be accurately set on the table 120. Further, in order to securely hold the plate plate 102 that has been set, the four electromagnets 12
3 is arranged to fix the plate 102 by magnetic force.

A protrusion matching the shape of the notch 104 is also provided on the stand 101. As a result, plate 1
02 is placed on the stand 101 in a predetermined state so that the operation of setting the plate 102 taken out of the stand 101 on the selector table 120 can be simply performed.

The stand 101 and the container storage 110
Are arranged on the stage 130. The stage 130 is in a state of being attached to two shafts 131 and one screw rod 132 having a thread. Power from the motor 133 is transmitted to the screw rod 132 via a belt and a pulley 134. As a result, the stage 130 becomes 2
The shaft 131 can be reciprocated in the longitudinal direction while being guided by the shaft 131.

Stand 101 or selector table 1
Movement of the plate 102 placed on the table 20, that is, from the stand 101 to the selector table 120 or the selector table 1
The changer from the 20 to the stand 101 is the changer 140.
Done by

The changer 140 is constructed so as to support the two shafts 141 and the hand portion 143 for holding the plate 102 by the cylinder 142. The cylinder 142 is, for example, a type of cylinder having two boats. As a result, the vertical movement of the hand portion 143 is performed using the cylinder 142.

The hand portion 143 uses the cylinder 144 as a power source and holds the plate plate 102 in such a manner that the plate plate 102 is sandwiched by two members to which the power is transmitted. The two notches 122 formed in the plate 102 are also used to ensure the grip.

The printing plate 102 is in a standing state on the stand 101 and is lying on the selector table 120. Cylinder 145 provided on the hand part 143
(See FIG. 3) is for dealing with the difference in the states.

As shown in FIG. 5, the cylinder 145 is pivotally supported by a fulcrum 146, and the end of the shaft is connected to the end of a member 147 rotatable about the fulcrum 148. A portion of the hand portion 143 that grips the plate 102 (hereinafter, referred to as a grip portion) is a member 147.
Is rotatably supported by the fulcrum 148 of the above, and is rotated according to the rotation of the member 147. As a result, FIG.
When the cylinder 145 is driven from the normal state shown in Fig. 5 to draw its shaft inward, the member 147 and the grip portion are rotated 90 degrees about the fulcrum 148 (here, the range before and after the fulcrum is included) toward Fig. 5. Turn left. As a result, the plate 102 is in a lying state when set on the selector table 120.

The changer 140 includes a moving part 150.
Thus, the shaft 131 can reciprocate in the direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the shaft 131 shown in FIG.

The moving part 150 includes two shafts arranged so as to be orthogonal to the shaft 131 shown in FIG. 3, and a threaded rod 152 having a thread, to which the changer 140 is attached. It has a shape. Power from the motor 153 is transmitted to the screw rod 152 via, for example, a belt and a pulley. As a result, the changer 140 is mounted on the stand 10.
1 can reciprocate in a direction orthogonal to the moving direction.

The plate 102 by the changer 140.
Is moved as follows, for example. Usually, the changer 140 is located above the stand 101. From this fact, description will be made with reference to that position.

From the stand 101 to the selector table 120
When moving to, the plate 130 to be taken out from the stand 101 is first moved, for example, by moving the stage 130.
2 is moved to a position where the hand portion 143 can hold. After moving to such a position, the cylinder 142 is driven to lower the hand portion 143, and the cylinder 144 is driven to cause the hand portion 143 to grip the plate 102. After gripping, the cylinder 142 is driven to drive the hand portion 143.
To drive the cylinder 145 to rotate its grip. Changer 140 in its rotated state
Is moved to the position of the selector table 120.

When moved to that position, the cylinder 14 is set to set the plate 102 on the table 120.
2 is driven to lower the hand portion 143 to release the grip of the plate 102 at a predetermined timing. For example, at this time, the electromagnet 123 arranged on the table 120 is energized to generate a magnetic force. After releasing, the hand portion 143 is raised, the grip portion is returned to the original state, and the changer 14
0 is moved above the stand 101. As a result, the series of operations is completed and the changer 140 is returned to the normal position.

On the other hand, when moving from the selector table 120 to the stand 101, for example, first, the changer 140 is used.
Is moved to a position above the selector table 120, and then the cylinder 145 is driven to rotate the grip portion of the hand portion 143. While maintaining the rotated state, the hand unit 143 is lowered to a position where the plate plate 102 on the table 120 can be gripped, and the cylinder 144 is driven to grip it. The power supply to the electromagnet 123 is released at this time, for example.

After gripping in this way, the hand portion 143 is raised and the driving of the cylinder 145 is released to rotate the gripping portion and cause the plate 102 to stand. Changer 1 while keeping that state
40 is moved to a position above the stand 101.
After moving to such a position, the plate 102 is placed on the stand 1.
The hand unit 143 is lowered to the position where the plate plate 102 is placed and the plate plate 102 is released. After that, the hand unit 143 is raised. As a result, the series of operations is completed and the changer 140 is returned to the normal position.

The plate 10 placed on the stand 101, for example
The position of 2 is predetermined for each plate 102. As a result, the required plate 102 can be automatically taken out from the stand 101 and stored therein.

The plate surface 10 of the plate 102 set on the selector table 120 by the changer 140.
The ink is poured into the ink cartridge 3 by the pickup unit 160.

The pickup section 160 vertically moves a pickup mechanism 161 that holds the upper end of the ink container 111 to hold and release the ink container 111. The vertical movement of the screw rod 1 causes the power from the motor 162 to pass through the belt 163 and the pulley 164.
The information is transmitted to 65.

The pick-up mechanism 161 will not be described in detail in detail, but once a force is applied in the pressing direction, if the ink container 111 is being held, it is released and held. If it is not present, it is operated by using an elastic member such as a spring so as to grip it.

The ink container 111 is constructed such that when pressure is applied from above the ink container 111 by air, ink is discharged from a nozzle provided at the lower end according to the pressure. An elastic member for covering the nozzle without damaging the nozzle is provided at the bottom of the container storage unit 110 so that the ink does not dry on the nozzle.

Like the changer 140, the pickup unit 160 is reciprocally moved by the moving unit 150. The ink is poured by the pickup unit 160 onto the plate surface 103 of the plate plate 102 set on the selector table 120, for example, as follows. Normally, the pickup unit 160 is the container storage unit 110.
It is located above. From this fact, description will be made with reference to that position.

First, the container 130 is moved by moving the stage 130 and then the pickup 160.
The ink container 111 to be taken out is moved to a position where the pickup mechanism 161 can hold. After moving to such a position, the mechanism 161 is lowered downward so that the pressure is applied by the ink container 111.
1 holds the ink container 111. After gripping, the mechanism 161 is raised and the pickup unit 160 is moved to the position of the selector table 120. When moved to that position, the mechanism 161 is lowered and the ink container 1
Air is applied to 11 to eject ink from the nozzle onto the plate surface 103.

After the ink is discharged, the mechanism 161 is raised and the pickup section 160 is moved to the position where the ink container 111 is taken out. When it is moved to that position, it is lowered until the mechanism 161 is pressed by the ink container 111, and the grip is released. After releasing the grip, the mechanism 161 is raised. Thereby,
The series of operations is ended and the pickup unit 160 is returned to the normal position.

As with the plate 102, the container storage 1
The position of the ink container 111 accommodated in 10 is the ink container 1
It is predetermined for each 11. Thereby, the container storage unit 11
The required ink container 111 can be automatically taken out and stored in it from 0.

Of the ink that has been poured onto the plate surface 103 as described above, the excess ink must be removed. That's Squeegee 170.

As shown in FIG. 3, the squeegee 170 has two
It is provided with two cylinders 171, 172 and a blade 173 for removing excess ink from the plate surface 103. The cylinder 171 is mainly a blade 173.
Is for moving the position in the horizontal direction, and both the cylinder 172 and the blade 173 are moved by the cylinder 171 in the horizontal position.
The other cylinder 172 is for adjusting the angle and the vertical position of the blade 173.

As shown in FIG. 6, the blade 173 is attached to the end of a member that rotates about a fulcrum 174, and the shaft of the cylinder 172 is connected to the other end of the member. The cylinder 172 is usually of a type that operates in such a manner that the shaft is exposed to the outside, in which a force for accommodating the shaft is exerted by an elastic member, for example. As a result, when the cylinder 172 is driven, the shaft is ejected from the inside, and the blade 173 moves toward the fulcrum 17 toward the fulcrum of FIG.
As a result of rotating counterclockwise about axis 4, its blade 173 is
It comes in contact with 02.

Cylinder 17 for shifting to such a state
The second driving is performed when the blade 173 is moved to the vicinity of the center of the plate 103 by the cylinder 171. Then, the blade 173 is moved outward from the vicinity of the center by the cylinder 171. Thereby, the ink on the plate surface 103 is scraped off by the blade 173 from the vicinity of the center toward the outside.

The blade 173 moved outward from the vicinity of the center of the plate 102 is cleaned on one side by a cleaning blade 175 arranged near the selector table 120. After driving the cylinder 171 to move the blade 173 to the position farthest from the table 120, the drive of the cylinder 172 is released. By the release, the blade 173 rotates rightward about the fulcrum 174 as an axis toward FIG. 6, and at that time, the remaining one surface is cleaned by the cleaning blade 176. The squeegee 170 is normally operated by maintaining the state after cleaning both surfaces in this manner, and based on the state. The cylinder 172 is driven when the cylinder 171 is driven from the reference state and the blade 173 is moved to the vicinity of the center of the plate 102. Reference numeral 177 in FIG. 6 denotes an ink pool for storing the ink removed from the blade 173 by the cleaning blades 175 and 176.

After the excess ink on the plate surface 103 is removed by the squeegee 170, the printing section 180 is used to print on the material to be printed.

The printing section 180, as shown in FIG.
The cylinder 182 vertically moves the pad 181. The pad 181 and a portion including a mechanism for moving the pad 181 up and down (hereinafter, referred to as a print execution unit) are configured to be supported by two shafts 183 and one screw rod 184. Shaft 183, screw rod 184
Are provided so as to be parallel to the shaft 131 shown in FIG. 3, and the power from the motor 185 is transmitted to the screw rod 184 via the belt 186 and the pulley 187. As a result, the pad 181 causes the printing table 200 on which the printing object is placed from the cleaning unit 190 shown in FIG.
You can move back and forth between.

Printing on the printing medium placed on the printing table 200 by the printing unit 180 as described above is performed as follows.

Normally, the pad 181 is the cleaning unit 1
It is located above 90. When excess ink on the plate 103 is removed by the squeegee 170, the pad 18 is removed.
1 is moved above the printing plate 103, and then the cylinder 182
The pad 1 by driving for a predetermined time.
81 is moved up and down. As a result, the pad 181 is brought into contact with the plate surface 103 and the ink remaining in the recess is transferred.

After the ink on the printing plate 103 is transferred to the pad 181, the pad 181 is moved above the printing table 200. When moved above the printing table 200,
By driving the cylinder 182 again for a predetermined time, the pad 181 is moved up and down. As a result, the ink transferred to the pad 181 is retransferred to the printing object placed on the printing table 200 to perform printing. After printing is performed in this manner, the pad 181 is moved above the cleaning unit 190 and returned to the normal position.

The cleaning unit 190 includes the pad 18
The purpose is to remove foreign matter such as dust, dust, or dust adhering to 1. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, a roller to which power from the motor 191 is transmitted is used to wind up the tape drawn from the winding tape 192 around which the adhesive tape is wound. The part of the tape pulled out from the winding tape 191 is exposed at the top with the adhesive surface facing upward. As a result, when the pad 181 is moved up and down while being located above the cleaning unit 190, the surface of the pad 181 comes into contact with the adhesive surface of the tape, and the foreign matter adhering to the surface is adhered to the tape. It is designed to be removed by sex.

The cleaning of the pad 181 using the cleaning section 190 is performed at a predetermined timing. The timing is, for example, when the power is turned on, when printing is performed a predetermined number of times, or when an operator who is a user gives an instruction.

By thus preparing the cleaning unit 190 for cleaning the pad 181, the worker does not have to clean the pad 181 by himself. As a result, the worker can more easily perform appropriate printing on the printing material.

Printing on an object to be printed with the above-mentioned structure
The overall procedure is as follows. When the content to be printed on the material to be printed is determined, first, the plate 102 used for printing is taken out of the plate 102 placed on the stand 101 and set on the selector table 120. Plate 102
When set, by rotating the table 120,
Printing is performed by selecting the printing plate surface 103 to be used for printing from the printing plate 102, pouring ink into the selected printing plate surface 103, removing excess ink, and transferring the ink on the printing plate surface 103 to the printing object via the pad 181. , In that order.
When the printing is completed, the printing plate 103 used for the next printing is selected, and the printing using the selected printing plate 103 is performed in the same manner. When this is repeated until there is no plate 103 to be selected, the plate 102 set on the selector table 120 is returned to the stand 101, the printing operation is terminated, and the process waits until the next printing is instructed.

FIG. 8 is a circuit configuration diagram of the pad printing apparatus according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 8, the pad printing apparatus according to the present embodiment is a CP that controls the entire apparatus.
U801, ROM 802 storing programs and various control data, RAM 803 used by CPU 801 for work, display device 804 for displaying information to be notified to a worker who is a user, and a worker gives various instructions A touch panel 805 that is an input device in the above, a cylinder group 806 that collectively represents the above-described various cylinders and solenoid valves for driving them, and a cylinder drive group that drives the cylinder group 806. 807
A motor group 808 that collectively represents the various motors described above, a motor drive unit 809 that drives the various motors that form the motor group 808, and a sensor group 810 that collectively represents the various sensors. And a sensor drive unit 811 that drives various sensors that form the sensor group 810 and monitors the output thereof.

Motors for the air compressor are also included in the motor group 808. The various cylinders described above are, for example, all air cylinders that are driven using electromagnetic valves.

The CPU 801 follows the instruction of the operator via the touch panel 805 and operates the sensor drive unit 81.
The cylinder drive group 807 and the motor drive unit 809 are controlled while monitoring the output signals of various sensors sent from the device 1. Thereby, the operation as described above is realized.

In this embodiment, the plate plate 102 for rotating or setting the selector table 120 is used.
It is possible to change the printing plate 103 used for printing by replacing the above, but the printing plate 103 may be changed using another method. The same applies to the method of applying ink to the plate surface 103.

[0059]

As described above, according to the present invention, one ink container is selected from the ink containers mounted on the container mounting means, and the ink contained in the selected ink container is applied to the plate surface, Printing is performed by using a pad to transfer the ink existing in the concave portion of the plate surface to the printing object. For this reason, the worker who is the user can print images of various colors on the substrate without changing the ink.

A plate surface forming medium, which is a medium having one or more plate surfaces formed thereon, is taken out from the plate surface forming medium mounted on the medium mounting means, and ink is applied to the plate surface on the taken out plate surface forming medium. In this case, the worker can change the content of the image such as the color and the pattern in various ways and print it on the material to be printed without changing the plate itself.

When the pad is automatically cleaned, printing on the printing material can always be properly performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a pad printing apparatus according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the pad printing apparatus according to the present embodiment as seen from the direction a shown by the arrow in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a top view of the pad printing apparatus according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a selector table and a printing plate set therein.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a configuration for rotating a printing plate held by a changer.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a squeegee operation.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a cleaning unit.

FIG. 8 is a circuit configuration diagram of the pad printing apparatus according to the present embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 Stand 102 plate 103, 103a to h 110 container storage 111 ink container 120 selector table 130 stages 140 Changer 150 moving parts 160 Pickup part 170 Squeegee 180 Printing department 181 pad 190 Cleaning section 801 CPU 802 ROM 803 RAM 804 display device 805 touch panel 806 cylinder group 807 cylinder drive county 808 motor group 809 Motor drive unit 810 sensor group 811 Sensor drive unit

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An ink is applied to a plate surface on which recesses are formed, and the ink existing in the recesses on the plate surface is transferred to a pad,
A device for performing printing by retransferring the ink transferred to the pad onto a printing object, the container mounting means capable of mounting a plurality of ink containers containing the ink, and the ink container mounted in the container mounting means. Out of 1
One ink container is selected, an ink applying means for applying the ink contained in the selected ink container to the plate surface, and the ink existing on the plate surface coated with the ink by the ink applying means is transferred to the pad. A pad printing apparatus comprising: a printing unit configured to print on the printing material by bringing the printing material into contact with the printing material and retransferring the printing material. 2. A plate mounting medium capable of mounting a plurality of plate surface forming media, which are formed on at least one plate surface, and one plate surface forming medium selected from the plate surface forming media mounted on the medium mounting means. Further comprising a medium ejecting means for ejecting the ink container, wherein the ink applying means is an ink container selected from the ink containers mounted on the container mounting means on the plate surface on the plate surface forming medium taken out by the medium ejecting means. The pad printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the stored ink is applied to the pad printing apparatus. 3. When the medium ejecting means takes out the plate surface forming medium having a plurality of the plate surfaces, the plate surface used for printing is taken out from the plate surface forming medium taken out at any time,
The pad printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the printing on the printing object can be repeatedly performed while changing. 4. A plate surface forming medium having a back surface coated with a magnetic material, which is transferred from the medium mounting means by a medium ejecting means, is moved to a table, and is attracted and fixed by magnetic lines of force of an electromagnet on the table. The pad printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the pad printing apparatus is a pad printing apparatus. 5. The pad printing according to claim 2, 3 or 4, wherein the ink dropped by the ink applying unit onto the plate surface forming medium fixed to the table is applied by a squeegee. apparatus. 6. The pad printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a cleaning unit that cleans the pad.