JP2005096287A - Printing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent ink droplets that can be generated in a printing apparatus which carries out printing to containers for beer cans from drifting in an undesired region and adhering to a lens or the like of a printing inspection unit. <P>SOLUTION: There are set a conveyor 20 for transferring the container 10, a printing unit 30 for printing a production date or the like to the container 10, the printing inspection unit 50 for inspecting whether or not printing is carried out properly, and a fan 70 for driving downward the air including the ink droplets that can be generated by the printing unit 30. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus for printing information such as characters and symbols on a container, and a container manufacturing method for manufacturing a container on which information is printed.

  There is a printing device that prints information such as the date of manufacture or the date of canning on a can container filled with beverages such as beer, sparkling liquor, and soft drinks. As a printing method, an inkjet method in which printing is performed by discharging ink from nozzles toward a predetermined position such as the bottom of a container can be used. A print inspection unit for confirming that printing on the container has been properly performed is arranged downstream of the nozzle of the printing unit in the conveyance direction of the container, and a container having a printing defect can be discarded.

A basic configuration of the container printing apparatus is described in Patent Document 1.
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 7-55066

  In the ink jet method, as is well known, ink droplets are ejected from nozzles and printing is performed using the ink droplets. However, ink that is ejected from the nozzles but does not contribute to printing collides with, for example, a gutter for collecting ink, This collision may cause it to splash and float in the air. If such ink splashes adhere to the lens surface of the print inspection unit, the print inspection by the print inspection unit cannot be performed normally.

  The present invention has been made on the basis of the above problem recognition, and an object thereof is to prevent, for example, ink splashes that may be generated in a printing apparatus from drifting in an undesirable region.

  One aspect of the present invention relates to a printing apparatus that performs printing on a container. The printing apparatus discharges ink toward the container to perform printing on the container, and the ink discharged from the printing unit. An air flow forming unit that forms an air flow so as to expel ink droplets that do not contribute to printing on the container in a predetermined direction is provided. By ejecting ink droplets in a predetermined direction by such an air flow forming unit, for example, it is possible to prevent ink droplets from drifting in an undesired region and adhering to devices or parts arranged in the region. Can do.

  According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, it is preferable that the air flow forming unit includes a fan arranged to expel the ink splash in the predetermined direction.

  According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the printing apparatus can further include a conveyor that conveys containers. In this case, it is preferable that the air flow forming unit is configured to form an air flow in a direction away from the conveyor. Alternatively, in the case where the air flow forming unit includes a fan, the fan is disposed downstream of the position of the printing unit in the container transport direction by the conveyor, and air is moved away from the conveyor. It is preferably oriented to form a flow.

  According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, it is preferable that the printing apparatus of the present invention further includes a print inspection unit disposed on the downstream side in the container transport direction by the conveyor with respect to the position of the print unit. In this case, it is preferable that the air flow forming unit is configured to form an air flow in a direction away from the conveyor in a space between the nozzle and the print inspection unit.

  According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a printing apparatus according to the present invention, wherein ink splashes from a space on the print unit side to a space on the print inspection unit side between the print unit and the print inspection unit. It is preferable to further include a blocking member that blocks the diffusion of.

  Another aspect of the present invention relates to a container manufacturing method for manufacturing a container on which information is printed, and the method does not contribute to printing on a container among ink ejected from a printing unit for printing on the container. A step of performing printing on the container while forming an air flow so as to expel ink droplets in a predetermined direction. By ejecting ink droplets in a predetermined direction during printing in this way, for example, it is possible to prevent ink droplets from drifting to an undesired region and adhering to a device or component disposed in the region. it can.

  According to the present invention, for example, it is possible to prevent ink splashes from drifting in an undesirable region in a printing apparatus.

  Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a side view schematically showing a configuration of a printing apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The printing apparatus 100 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a conveyor 20 that sucks and holds containers 10 such as beer cans from above and conveys them in the lateral direction as indicated by an arrow A. A printing unit 30 for printing information such as the date of manufacture or the date of canning is disposed on the bottom of the container 10 below the conveyor 20. The printing unit 30 is supported on a support base (for example, a support table, a floor) 80 by a support body 40, for example.

  A print inspection unit 50 for inspecting whether or not proper printing has been performed by the print unit 30 is disposed on the downstream side (left side in the figure) of the conveyance direction of the container 10 by the conveyor 20 when viewed from the print unit 30. Yes. The print inspection unit 50 is supported on a support base 80 by a support body 60, for example.

When viewed from the printing unit 30, a fan 70 is disposed on the downstream side in the conveying direction of the container 10 by the conveyor 20 as an air flow forming unit that forms an air flow in a direction away from the conveyor 20 or the container 10.
The air around the conveyor 20 or the container 10 is sucked by the fan 70 as shown by an arrow B and exhausted in a predetermined direction, for example, below the conveyor 20 or the container 10 as shown by an arrow C. That is, the fan 70 has a function of expelling air around the conveyor 20 or the container 10, particularly air flowing from the direction of the printing unit 30 in a predetermined direction.

  As will be described later, the printing unit 30 records predetermined information (such as date of manufacture or date of canning) on the bottom of the container 10 by ejecting ink from the nozzles toward the bottom of the container 10. . If this ink only contributes to printing and does not scatter, there is no problem, but in reality, a part of the ink ejected from the nozzles does not contribute to printing and splatters into a mist, drifts or diffuses Yes.

  The ink splashes can diffuse along the flow of air in the transport direction that can be caused by transport of the containers 10 by the conveyor 20. Such ink splashes can adhere to the lens surface of the print inspection unit 50, for example. If the ink droplets adhere to the lens, the inspection by the print inspection unit 50 may be hindered. Therefore, the fan 70 described above is downstream in the container transport direction as viewed from the print unit 30 and upstream in the container transport direction as viewed from the print inspection unit 50, that is, between the print unit 30 and the print inspection unit 50. It is preferable to arrange in the space.

  Further, it is preferable to provide a blocking member 90 on the downstream side of the printing unit 30 in order to block ink droplets that can diffuse from the printing unit 30 to the downstream side in the container conveyance direction by the solid member. By providing such a blocking member 90, a part of the ink droplets that can diffuse from the printing unit 30 to the downstream side in the transport direction of the container can be adhered to the blocking member 90 and removed.

  Next, a specific configuration example of the printing unit 30 will be described with reference to FIG. The printing unit 30 shown in FIG. 2 is an inkjet printing unit that projects ink from a nozzle 302. The ink in the ink tank 318 is supplied to the nozzle 302 by the pump 320. A piezoelectric element driven by an excitation voltage source 308 is embedded in the nozzle 302, and ink is ejected from the nozzle 302 by mechanical vibration of the piezoelectric element.

  A charging electrode 304 is disposed near the outlet of the nozzle 302. A video signal (voltage signal) corresponding to a dot group constituting characters or symbols to be printed is serially applied between the nozzle 302 and the charging electrode 304 by the video signal source 306. As a result, the ink droplets ejected from the nozzle 302 are charged according to the pattern of the dot group constituting the characters, symbols, etc. to be printed.

  The charged ink droplets pass through the space between the pair of deflection electrodes 310 and are deflected according to the amount of charged charges. Ink is continuously ejected from the nozzles 302 regardless of whether or not the printing timing for the containers 10 continuously supplied by the conveyor 20 is reached. The ink droplets are not charged during a period that is not the printing timing for the container 10. Therefore, at this timing, as indicated by “330”, the ink droplet hits the ink collecting gutter 314 without being deflected by the deflection electrode 310, is sucked by the pump 316, and is collected in the ink tank 318. On the other hand, at the printing timing for the container 10, the ink droplet is charged by the charging electrode 304 in accordance with the pattern of the dot group constituting the characters, symbols, etc. to be printed. Accordingly, the ink droplet is deflected when passing through the deflection electrode 310 and hits the target position of the container 10 as indicated by “331”.

  Here, some of the ink droplets to be collected by the gutter 314 may be splashed when hitting the gutter 314. As described above, the ink sprayed in this manner diffuses along the air flow and can adhere to an undesired device or component. Therefore, as described above, it is desirable to provide an air flow forming unit constituted by the fan 70 or the like to drive out ink splashes to an appropriate place.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of a filter unit that filters air (air including ink droplets) discharged from the fan 70. The filter unit includes a filter 74 disposed on the downstream side of the fan 70, and a cover 72 that surrounds a space between the fan 70 and the filter 74 and prevents diffusion of ink splashes in the air discharged from the fan 74. . The filter 74 may be disposed on the suction port side (upstream side) of the fan 70.

1 is a side view schematically showing a configuration of a printing apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the specific structural example of a printing unit. It is a figure which shows schematically the structure of the filter unit which filters the air (air containing ink splash) discharged | emitted from a fan.

Explanation of symbols

10 Containers such as beer cans 20 Conveyor 30 Printing unit 40 Support body 50 Printing inspection unit 60 Support body 70 Fan (air flow forming unit)
72 Cover 74 Filter 80 Support base 302 Nozzle 304 Charging electrode 306 Video signal source 308 Excitation voltage source 310 Deflection electrode 312 Power source 314 Gutter 316 Pump 318 Ink tank 320 Pump 330 Collected ink path 331 Ink path during printing

Claims (7)

A printing device for printing on a container,
A printing unit that prints on the container by discharging ink toward the container;
An air flow forming unit that forms an air flow so as to expel droplets of ink that do not contribute to printing on the container out of the ink discharged from the printing unit;
A printing apparatus comprising:   2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the air flow forming unit includes a fan arranged to expel the ink droplets in the predetermined direction. Further comprising a conveyor for transporting the containers;
The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the air flow forming unit is configured to form an air flow in a direction away from the conveyor. Further comprising a conveyor for transporting the containers;
The fan is arranged on the downstream side in the container transport direction by the conveyor with respect to the position of the printing unit, and is directed to form an air flow in a direction away from the conveyor. The printing apparatus according to claim 2. A printing inspection unit disposed on the downstream side of the conveying direction of the container by the conveyor with respect to the position of the printing unit;
The air flow forming unit is configured to form an air flow in a direction away from the conveyor in a space between the nozzle and the print inspection unit. 5. The printing apparatus according to 4.   2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a blocking member configured to block diffusion of ink droplets from the space on the print unit side to the space on the print inspection unit side between the print unit and the print inspection unit. The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 5 to 5. A container manufacturing method for manufacturing a container on which information is printed,
Including a step of printing on the container while forming a flow of air so as to expel droplets of ink that do not contribute to printing on the container out of the ink discharged from the printing unit for printing on the container. A container manufacturing method.

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