JP2008142983A - Stencil printing equipment and ultraviolet fixation device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide stencil printing equipment which enables suppression of power consumption due to unnecessary irradiation with ultraviolet rays and reduction of consumed power. <P>SOLUTION: In the stencil printing equipment having an ultraviolet fixation means 40 which fixes ultraviolet curable ink to paper P printed by a means 3 for printing with the ink by irradiation with ultraviolet rays by an ultraviolet irradiation means 41, a control means conducts control to execute the irradiation with ultraviolet rays only when it is detected by a paper front edge detecting sensor 55 and a paper rear edge detecting sensor 56 that the paper P is present in the field of irradiation by the ultraviolet irradiation means 41. Thereby the unnecessary irradiation with the ultraviolet rays can be prevented in printing of small-size paper, lengthy paper or in other cases and therefore the suppression of wasteful power supply and the reduction of consumed power are enabled. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a stencil printing apparatus that performs printing using ultraviolet curable ink, and more specifically, irradiates ultraviolet rays onto a sheet printed using ultraviolet curable ink to cure the ink. The present invention relates to a stencil printing apparatus having ultraviolet fixing means for fixing to a sheet, and an ultraviolet fixing apparatus used in the stencil printing apparatus.

  As an example of a printing apparatus, a stencil printing machine is known. In this stencil printing machine, a master (plate) on which an image is formed by perforation is wound around the outer periphery of the plate cylinder, and then the plate cylinder is rotated to obtain a plate cylinder. The printing paper fed from the paper feeding unit at a predetermined timing in synchronization with the rotational movement of the paper is transported between the plate cylinder and a pressing member (such as an impression cylinder and a press roller), and the paper is printed by the pressing member. A printed matter is obtained by press-contacting the master on the cylinder and allowing ink (also referred to as ink) supplied into the plate cylinder to ooze out from the perforations of the screen and the master and transfer it to paper. Then, the paper (printed material) on which the image is transferred is separated from the plate cylinder by the separating unit, conveyed to the paper discharge unit, discharged onto the paper discharge table, and sequentially stacked.

  In a general stencil printing machine, the ink is an emulsion ink, and the ink does not fix immediately after transfer to paper. For this reason, the drying of the ink of the printed matter relies on absorption of the ink into the paper and natural drying. In other words, when stencil printing is performed, if normal printing ink is used, the ink penetrates into the paper and is dried, so that settling and penetration occur, so that it is generally difficult to obtain a good double-sided printed material. Since glossy art paper and coated paper do not dry easily, it is difficult to obtain a good printed matter even with single-sided printing.

Therefore, in order to solve the above-described problems, there has been proposed a printing apparatus that uses ultraviolet curable ink and ultraviolet irradiation means to perform double-sided printing with a stencil, or stencil printing on art paper or coated paper.
Examples of such a printing apparatus that performs printing and fixing using ultraviolet curable ink are described in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, for example.

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 4-35188 JP 2004-136672 A JP 2001-232922 A

  As mentioned above, stencil printers are printers that aim to penetrate and dry ink, so printing on paper that does not penetrate ink, such as art paper and coated paper, uses UV-curable ink and UV light. Using irradiation means was also disadvantageous. For example, if the image area to be printed is large or the image density is high, the printing paper is printed and sent at 60 to 130 rpm (sheets / minute). If printing paper is loaded on the printer, it will be set off.

  In order to fix the ink on the printing paper, it is conceivable to increase the paper transport distance or use an ultraviolet lamp with high irradiation energy. However, it is possible to lengthen the paper transport distance or use an ultraviolet lamp with high irradiation energy. If is used, the entire apparatus becomes large or the cost becomes high. In addition, in order to fix the ink on the printing paper, it is conceivable to reduce the printing speed in order to increase the irradiation time. However, if the printing speed is reduced, the stencil printing system system is used, for example, the paper. Will increase the amount of UV curable ink adhering to the paper, and the UV curing of the ink will require more radiation energy, which is counterproductive. End up.

Further, the stencil printing machine is provided with a “skip paper feed function” for feeding a long paper or the like (see, for example, Patent Document 3). This is to feed paper and print every other sheet or several sheets, and as shown in FIG. 4, the interval between the sheets is larger than the interval between the normal sheets so that long sheets can be printed. It is.
However, if the “skip paper feed function” is used when printing on long paper, or the normal paper prints, the distance between the papers may be increased depending on the length of the small size paper, as shown in FIG. Unnecessary irradiation time of ultraviolet rays occurs, and unnecessary power supply is performed.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and suppresses power consumption due to unnecessary irradiation of ultraviolet rays, and a stencil printing apparatus capable of reducing power consumption, and ultraviolet irradiation time is controlled by controlling paper conveyance to control ink. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a stencil printing apparatus that improves the fixing property, and further, an ultraviolet fixing device that is used in the stencil printing apparatus and can save energy by reducing power consumption and improve the fixing property of ink. The purpose is to provide.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention adopts the following means.
The first means of the present invention has ultraviolet fixing means for fixing the ink onto the paper by irradiating the paper printed by the printing means for printing using ultraviolet curable ink with ultraviolet rays by the ultraviolet irradiation means. The stencil printing apparatus is characterized by comprising control means for controlling the irradiation of the ultraviolet rays only when the paper is within the irradiation range of the ultraviolet irradiation means.
According to a second means of the present invention, in the stencil printing apparatus of the first means, a paper leading edge detecting means for detecting a paper leading edge of the paper on the upstream side of the paper conveying method of the ultraviolet radiation means, and the ultraviolet radiation means. A sheet trailing edge detecting unit for detecting a sheet trailing edge of the sheet on a downstream side of the sheet conveying method, and the control unit is configured to detect the ultraviolet ray by the sheet leading edge detecting unit and the sheet trailing edge detecting unit. Only when it is detected that the light is within the irradiation range by the irradiation means, control is performed so that the ultraviolet ray is irradiated.
Further, according to a third means of the present invention, in the stencil printing apparatus of the first or second means, when the paper is not in an irradiation range by the ultraviolet irradiation means, the control means supplies irradiation energy during the irradiation. It is characterized by being controlled to be smaller than energy.

The fourth means of the present invention has ultraviolet fixing means for fixing the ink on the paper by irradiating the paper printed by the printing means for printing using the ultraviolet curable ink with ultraviolet rays by the ultraviolet irradiation means. In the stencil printing apparatus, the ultraviolet irradiation time is reduced by reducing the conveyance speed of the conveyance means for conveying the paper within the irradiation range by the ultraviolet irradiation means only until the next paper is fed and conveyed in the stencil printing apparatus. And a control means that takes a long time.
According to a fifth means of the present invention, in the stencil printing apparatus of the fourth means, when the fixing mode is selected in accordance with the image area ratio of the printed paper and the strong fixing mode is selected, the control means Is controlled so as to increase the fixing degree by the skip sheet feeding function and the low-speed conveyance.

According to a sixth means of the present invention, in the stencil printing apparatus of the fourth or fifth means, the control means irradiates the ultraviolet rays only when the paper is in an irradiation range by the ultraviolet irradiation means. It is characterized by controlling.
According to a seventh means of the present invention, in the stencil printing apparatus of the sixth means, a paper front end detecting means for detecting a paper front end of the paper on the upstream side of the paper conveying method of the ultraviolet irradiation means, and the ultraviolet irradiation means. A sheet trailing edge detecting unit for detecting a sheet trailing edge of the sheet on a downstream side of the sheet conveying method, and the control unit is configured to detect the ultraviolet ray by the sheet leading edge detecting unit and the sheet trailing edge detecting unit. Only when it is detected that the light is within the irradiation range by the irradiation means, control is performed so that the ultraviolet ray is irradiated.

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ultraviolet fixing apparatus for fixing an ink on a paper sheet by irradiating the ultraviolet ray by an ultraviolet ray irradiating means on a paper printed by a printing means for printing using an ultraviolet curable ink. Item 8. Used in the stencil printing apparatus according to any one of Items 1 to 7, wherein the ultraviolet fixing unit is provided.

The stencil printing apparatus of the first and second means of the present invention is provided with a control means for controlling the irradiation of ultraviolet rays only when the paper is within the irradiation range of the ultraviolet irradiation means. Since unnecessary irradiation of ultraviolet rays can be prevented during printing or the like, wasteful power supply can be suppressed and power consumption can be reduced, so that energy saving can be achieved.
Further, in the stencil printing apparatus of the third means, in addition to the configuration of the first or second means, when the paper is not in the irradiation range by the ultraviolet irradiation means, the control means compares the irradiation energy with the energy at the time of irradiation. By controlling it to be small, the irradiation energy does not have to be completely reduced, so the startup time of the next ultraviolet irradiation is improved, and UV curable ink can be fixed without reducing the irradiation efficiency. In addition, since unnecessary irradiation of ultraviolet rays can be prevented even when printing on small-size paper, wasteful power supply can be suppressed and power consumption can be reduced, so that energy saving can also be achieved.

In the stencil printing apparatus of the fourth means, the skip paper feed function and the transport speed of the transport means for transporting the paper within the irradiation range of the ultraviolet light irradiating means only until the next paper is fed and transported are slowed down. And control means that takes longer UV irradiation time, it can take longer UV irradiation time for printing paper, so that ink can be reliably fixed even when the image area is large or the density is high It becomes possible to make it.
In the stencil printing apparatus of the fifth means, in addition to the configuration of the fourth means, when the fixing mode is selected in accordance with the image area ratio of the printed paper and the strong fixing mode is selected, the control means Since the skip feeding function and the low-speed transport control the fixing degree to be high, the fixing mode is automatically selected simply by operating the plate making key or the printing key of the operation unit. Even a large area or a high density can be reliably fixed.

  In the stencil printing apparatus of the sixth and seventh means, in addition to the configuration of the fourth or fifth means, the control means controls to irradiate ultraviolet rays only when the paper is within the irradiation range by the ultraviolet irradiation means. By doing so, it is possible to prevent unnecessary irradiation of ultraviolet rays even in the strong fixing mode that combines the skip paper feeding function and low speed conveyance, so it is possible to reliably fix even those with a large image area or high density, In addition, wasteful power supply can be suppressed, power consumption can be reduced, and energy saving can be achieved.

  In the ultraviolet fixing device of the eighth means of the present invention, it is used in the stencil printing device of any one of the first to seventh means, and the ultraviolet fixing device is provided, thereby saving energy by reducing power consumption. Ink fixability can be improved.

  The stencil printing apparatus according to the present invention includes a stencil printing machine as printing means. As described above, an ordinary stencil printing machine uses emulsion ink and is a printing machine that aims to penetrate and dry the emulsion ink onto the paper. Therefore, the emulsion ink is not fixed immediately after transfer to the paper. Therefore, the stencil printing machine is provided with a “skip paper feed function” as described above. The “skip paper feed function” that idles the plate cylinder and feeds and prints every one to several sheets is used to feed long sheets of paper as shown in FIG. By making the interval between papers larger than the normal paper interval, the next paper is delayed from being stacked on the paper output tray, and the emulsion ink drying time is extended as much as possible to prevent the occurrence of set-off. Can also be used.

Therefore, in the present invention, by utilizing the functions of the stencil printing machine as described above, using an ultraviolet curable ink as the ink, and combining it with an ultraviolet fixing device (ultraviolet fixing means), We are trying to save energy.
In other words, if the fixing performance is low in normal printing (such as back-off), the skip paper feed function is used to increase the paper feed interval and the next paper is conveyed. If the conveying speed of the ultraviolet fixing device is slowed for a long period of time and the irradiation time of the ultraviolet rays is made longer, the printed matter can be irradiated with sufficient ultraviolet rays, and the fixing of the ultraviolet curable ink can be improved. it can.
Also, when using the skip paper feed function with long paper, or when printing small-size paper even with normal printing, as shown in FIG. 5B, an ultraviolet irradiation lamp is used in accordance with the conveyance of the paper. If the control is performed so as to turn on and off (for example, the ultraviolet irradiation lamp is turned on only when the paper comes under the ultraviolet irradiation lamp), the power consumption is reduced, and energy saving can be achieved.

  Based on the above points, the present invention has ultraviolet fixing means for fixing the ink on the paper by irradiating the paper printed by the printing means for printing using the ultraviolet curable ink with ultraviolet rays by the ultraviolet irradiation means. The stencil printing apparatus is provided with a control unit that controls to irradiate ultraviolet rays only when the paper is within the irradiation range of the ultraviolet irradiation unit. More specifically, in the stencil printing apparatus of the present invention, the paper leading edge detecting means for detecting the paper leading edge of the paper on the upstream side of the paper conveying method of the ultraviolet irradiation means, and the paper of the paper on the downstream side of the paper conveying method of the ultraviolet irradiation means. A paper trailing edge detection means for detecting the trailing edge, and the control means detects the ultraviolet ray only when the paper leading edge detection means and the paper trailing edge detection means detect that the paper is within the irradiation range of the ultraviolet irradiation means. Control to perform irradiation. That is, the control means turns on and off the ultraviolet irradiation lamp according to the paper size (or lowers the ultraviolet irradiation energy) and turns on the ultraviolet irradiation lamp only when the paper comes under the ultraviolet irradiation lamp. Alternatively, by controlling the irradiation energy to 100%, it is possible to prevent unnecessary irradiation of ultraviolet rays when printing on a small size paper, etc., so that useless power supply can be suppressed and power consumption can be reduced. Therefore, energy saving can be achieved.

  Further, in the present invention, a stencil printing apparatus having an ultraviolet fixing means for fixing an ink on the paper by irradiating the paper printed by the printing means for printing using ultraviolet curable ink with ultraviolet rays by the ultraviolet irradiation means. In this case, the ultraviolet ray irradiation time is increased by slowing the conveyance speed of the conveyance means for conveying the paper within the irradiation range by the ultraviolet irradiation means only until the skip paper feeding function and the next paper is fed and conveyed. By providing the control means, it is possible to extend the time for which the printing paper is irradiated with ultraviolet rays, so that it is possible to reliably fix ink even when the image area is large or the density is high.

  The ultraviolet fixing device of the present invention used in the above stencil printing apparatus is provided with the ultraviolet fixing unit described above, so that it is possible to save energy by reducing power consumption and improve ink fixing properties.

Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a stencil printing apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention. This stencil printing apparatus includes a heat-sensitive digital stencil printing machine and an ultraviolet fixing device as ultraviolet fixing means. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a control system of the stencil printing apparatus, and FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation panel. First, the overall configuration and operation of this stencil printing apparatus will be described.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes a stencil printing apparatus main body (hereinafter referred to as apparatus main body) composed of a stencil printer, and reference numeral 40 denotes an ultraviolet fixing device.
A document reading unit 11 for reading document information is disposed on the upper part of the apparatus main body 10.
Although not shown, the document reading unit 11 includes a fluorescent lamp and a carriage having a reflecting mirror for scanning the document surface of the document on the contact glass, and a document image scanned by the carriage. An image reading unit (scanner) having an image reading unit that forms an image on an image sensor (an image sensor such as a CCD) with a focusing lens, photoelectrically converts the image, and outputs image data is provided. Then, the image data of the document read by the image sensor (image sensor such as a CCD) of the document reading unit 11 is temporarily stored in a memory of an image processing unit (not shown), and then via the control unit 110 of the apparatus body 10. It is sent to the plate making and supplying section 12.

  A plate cylinder 1 as a printing drum constituting the printing unit 3 is disposed in the center of the apparatus main body 10. The plate cylinder 1 is constructed by winding a porous support plate around the outer peripheral surfaces of a pair of flanges (not shown) rotatably supported by a support shaft 1a which also serves as an ink supply pipe. During plate making and printing, it is rotated in the clockwise direction. The tip of the spindle 1a is supported by a side plate (not shown) of the apparatus main body 10, and a plurality of small holes for supplying ultraviolet curable ink to the ink supply means are formed on the surface thereof. Each flange (not shown) is rotatably supported by the support shaft 1a via a bearing (not shown).

  The porous support plate formed of a stainless steel thin plate or the like constituting the plate cylinder 1 has an aperture portion in which a large number of apertures are formed and a non-open aperture portion, and the circumferential direction of the aperture portion. For example, the length is formed such that printing can be performed on B4 size (or A3 size) printing paper. A stage portion having a plane parallel to one generatrix of the plate cylinder 1 is disposed in the non-opening portion, and an openable / closable clamper 1e for locking the front end of the master is disposed on the upper surface of the stage portion. Further, on the outside of the porous support plate, a mesh screen (not shown) made of polyester or stainless fine wire is wound about 1 to 3 layers.

  An ink supply apparatus having an ink roller 1b as an ink supply member, a doctor roller 1c as an ink amount regulating member, and the like as ink supply means in a portion located inside the plate cylinder 1 and below the support shaft 1a. Is arranged. The ink roller 1b is rotatably supported between a pair of side plates (not shown) fixed on the shafts between flanges (not shown), and the rotational force from a plate cylinder driving means (not shown) is applied to the gears. It is transmitted by a rotational force transmitting means such as a belt and rotates in the same direction as the plate cylinder 1. The doctor roller 1c is rotatably supported between the side plates at a position where a slight gap is formed between the outer peripheral surface of the doctor roller and the outer peripheral surface of the ink roller 2, and the rotational force from the plate cylinder driving means (not shown) is not shown. It is transmitted by the rotational force transmitting means and rotates in the opposite direction to the ink roller 1b. In the vicinity of the ink roller 1b and the doctor roller 1c, a wedge-shaped ink reservoir 1d is formed by the ultraviolet curable ink supplied from the support shaft 1a.

On the left side of the printing unit 3 is disposed a plate discharging unit 13 that peels off the master MA wound around the outer peripheral surface of the plate cylinder 1 from the plate cylinder 1 and discards it. The plate removal unit 13 includes a plate release roller pair 13a, a plate release box 13b, a compression member 13c, and the like.
Further, on the right side of the plate cylinder 1, there is provided a plate making and feeding section 12 for making a stencil image corresponding to the image read by the document reading section 11 on an unmade master MA and sending it to the plate cylinder 1. Yes. The plate-making plate feeding unit 12 includes a master roll 12a, a platen roller 12b, a thermal head 12c, a cutting means 12d, a master conveying roller pair 12e, and the like, in which an unmade master MA is wound in a roll shape. The master roll 12a is obtained by winding a master MA in which a thermoplastic resin film and a porous support are bonded together in a roll shape, and the core portion of the master roll 12a is a side plate (not shown) of the plate-making plate feeding section 12. It is supported so as to be rotatable and detachable between them.

A platen roller 12b and a thermal head 12c are disposed downstream of the master roll 12a in the master conveyance direction. The platen roller 12b is rotatably supported on a side plate (not shown) of the apparatus main body 10 and is driven to rotate by a stepping motor (not shown).
A thermal head 12c having a large number of heating elements is attached to a side plate (not shown) of the apparatus main body 10 and is pressed against the platen roller 12b by a biasing force of a biasing means (not shown). The thermal head 12c selectively heats the heating element while making contact with the thermoplastic resin film surface of the master MA, and performs hot melt perforation for the master MA.
Cutting means (cutter) 12d is disposed downstream of the platen roller 12b and the thermal head 12c in the master conveyance direction. The cutting means 12d is composed of a fixed blade and a movable blade, and is configured such that the movable blade rotates and moves with respect to the fixed blade fixed to a side plate (not shown) of the apparatus main body 10 to cut the master MA.

A master conveying roller pair 12e and a guide plate (not shown) are disposed downstream of the cutting means 12d in the master conveying direction, and constitute a plate feeding means for feeding the master MA made to the plate to the plate cylinder 1. The master transport roller pair 12e includes a driving roller that is rotationally driven in synchronization by a driving unit (not shown), and a driven roller that is pressed against the driving roller by a biasing unit (not shown). Further, the guide plate is fixed to a side plate (not shown) of the apparatus main body 10, guides the master MA transported by the master transport roller pair 12 e, and guides the leading end of the master MA to the outer peripheral surface of the plate cylinder 1.
The leading end of the master MA guided to the outer peripheral surface of the plate cylinder 1 is clamped by the clamper 1e of the plate cylinder 1, and the plate cylinder 1 rotates in accordance with the supply of the master MA from the plate making unit 12, and the master MA It is wound around the outer peripheral surface of the plate cylinder 1.

  On the lower right side of the apparatus main body 10, the printing paper P stacked on the paper feed tray 21 is separated one by one by a paper feed roller 22, a separation roller 23, and a separation pad 24, and disposed below the plate cylinder 1. A paper feeding unit 20 that feeds paper toward the printing pressure unit 3a is provided. Further, a registration roller pair 25 is disposed between the separation roller 23 and the printing pressure unit 3a to feed the fed printing paper P to the printing pressure unit 3a at a predetermined timing. A pressure drum 2 as a pressing member is disposed in the printing pressure portion 3 a of the printing portion 3. The impression cylinder 2 is provided with a paper clamper (not shown) that holds the leading edge, and the impression cylinder 2 is pressed against the printing drum while holding the leading edge of the printing paper P sent from the registration roller pair 25. Yes. In addition to the impression cylinder, a known press roller or the like may be used as the pressing member.

  In the lower left portion of the apparatus main body 10, a porous paper is wound around a pair of rollers 31 and 32 that rotate counterclockwise around the printing paper P that has passed through the printing pressure section 3 a of the printing section 3 and onto which ink has been transferred. The paper discharge unit 30 is disposed so as to be sucked by the transport belt 33 and discharged to the ultraviolet fixing device 40 by the suction force of the transport belt 33 and the suction fan 34 provided therebelow. A paper detection sensor 35 that detects that the trailing edge of the printing paper P is discharged from the printing unit 3 is provided on the printing unit 3 side of the paper discharge unit 30.

  The ultraviolet fixing device 40 is provided with an ultraviolet irradiation conveying unit 50. The ultraviolet irradiation conveying unit 50 is provided with a porous conveying belt 53 wound around a pair of rollers 51 and 52 rotating counterclockwise, and an adsorption fan 54 provided below the porous conveying belt 53. An ultraviolet irradiation unit 41, which is an ultraviolet irradiation means for irradiating ultraviolet rays, is installed on the belt 53. A paper leading edge detection sensor 55 that is a paper leading edge detecting means for detecting the leading edge of the printing paper P is disposed upstream of the paper conveying method of the ultraviolet irradiation unit 41, and the leading edge of the printing paper P has been conveyed. When the paper leading edge detection sensor 55 detects this, an ultraviolet lamp (UV lamp) (not shown) inside the ultraviolet irradiation unit 41 is irradiated with 100% irradiation energy. In this ultraviolet irradiation transport unit 50, the print paper P transferred with the ink transported from the paper discharge unit 30 is irradiated and transported by the transport belt 53 while being irradiated with ultraviolet light from the upper ultraviolet irradiation unit 41, and is UV curable. The ink is cured and fixed. Further, a paper trailing edge detection sensor 56 that is a paper trailing edge detection means for detecting the trailing edge of the printing paper P is disposed downstream of the ultraviolet irradiation unit 41 in the paper conveying method. When the sheet trailing edge detection sensor 56 detects, a UV lamp (not shown) inside the ultraviolet irradiation unit 41 is turned off, or the irradiation energy is reduced to about 50 to 80%. Here, as a UV lamp, a discharge tube type lamp is generally used. However, if irradiation and extinction or irradiation energy reduction is repeated, the life may be shortened. Therefore, an LED type UV lamp should be used. May be.

  In the lower left part of the ultraviolet irradiation conveying section 50, a porous conveying belt 63 wound around a pair of rollers 61, 62 rotating the printing paper P, on which ultraviolet curable ink is fixed, counterclockwise, A paper discharge unit 60 that is sucked by the conveyance belt 63 and discharged onto the paper discharge tray 70 by a suction force provided by the suction fan 64 provided below is provided.

  Next, FIG. 2 shows an example of a control system used in the printing apparatus shown in FIG. 1. The apparatus main body control unit 110 disposed inside the apparatus main body 10 includes a CPU 111 and a memory ( A known microcomputer comprising a ROM 112, a RAM 113) and the like, a clocking means (not shown), a timer, etc., a counting means, such as a counter (not shown), and the like. The ROM 112 stores a program for controlling operations of the document reading unit 11, the printing unit 3, the plate making plate feeding unit 12, the plate discharging unit 13, the paper feeding unit 20, the paper discharging unit 30, and the like of the stencil printing apparatus 10. Stores the plate making conditions such as the document type or variable magnification, the printing conditions such as the number of printed sheets or the printing speed, and the like. The apparatus main body control unit 110 is connected to an operation panel 80 for displaying various information to the user and for performing various settings by the user. Further, the apparatus main body control unit 110 includes a driving unit (not shown) for each part of the apparatus such as the document reading unit 11, the printing unit 3, the plate making plate feeding unit 12, the plate discharging unit 13, the paper feeding unit 20, and the paper discharging unit 30. Various sensors (not shown) provided in each part are connected.

  Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 1, when the ultraviolet fixing device 40 is attached to the apparatus main body 10, the apparatus main body control unit 110 and the control unit 120 of the ultraviolet fixing device 40 are electrically connected via a connector, a cable, or the like. Connected to. The ultraviolet fixing device control unit 120 includes a CPU 121 which is an arithmetic processing unit and a known microcomputer including a memory (ROM 122, RAM 123), clocking means (not shown) such as a clock and timer, and counting means such as a counter (not shown). Have. Then, the ultraviolet irradiation is performed based on the printing information and the paper conveyance information from the apparatus main body control unit 110 and the detection signals from the respective sensors such as the paper leading edge detection sensor 55, the paper trailing edge detection sensor 56, and the paper discharge detection sensor 65. The operations of the transport unit 50, the ultraviolet irradiation unit 41, and the paper discharge unit 60 are controlled. 2 shows an example in which the control unit 120 is also provided on the ultraviolet fixing device 40 side. However, the apparatus main body control unit 110 does not provide the ultraviolet fixing device control unit 120 and the ultraviolet fixing device 40 performs ultraviolet irradiation conveyance. The operation of the unit 50, the ultraviolet irradiation unit 41, and the paper discharge unit 60 may be controlled.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of the operation panel of the stencil printing apparatus shown in FIG. An operation panel 80 provided on the upper front surface of the apparatus main body 10 has a plate making start key 81, a printing start key 82, a test printing key 83, a continuous key 84, a clear / stop key 85, a numeric key 86, an enter key 87, Program key 88, mode clear key 89, printing speed setting key 90, four-direction key 91, display device 92 composed of 7-segment LED, display device 93 composed of LCD, repeat key 102 and aggregation key 103 for performing image division printing Etc.

  The plate making start key 81 is pressed when the stencil printing apparatus performs the plate making operation. When various plate making conditions are set and the plate making start key 81 is pressed, the plate making operation is performed after the plate discharging operation and the image reading operation are performed. After that, a stencil printing operation is performed, and the stencil printing apparatus enters a printing standby state. The printing start key 82 is pressed when the stencil printing apparatus performs a printing operation. The printing operation is performed by pressing the printing start key 82 after the stencil printing apparatus enters a print standby state and various printing conditions are set. . The trial printing key 83 is pressed when the stencil printing apparatus performs the trial printing, and only one sheet is printed by pressing the trial printing key 83 after various conditions are set. The continuous key 84 is pressed before pressing the plate-making start key 81 when performing the plate-making operation and printing operation continuously. After pressing the continuous key 84, the plate-making start key 81 is input after the plate-making conditions and printing conditions are input. When pressed, a printing operation is performed following the plate removal operation, the document reading operation, the plate making / plate feeding operation, and the plate making operation.

  The clear / stop key 85 is pressed when the operation of the stencil printing apparatus is stopped or when the numerical value is cleared, and the numeric keypad 86 is used for numerical value input. The enter key 87 is pressed to determine a numerical value or the like at various settings, and the program key 88 is pressed to register or call an operation frequently performed, and the mode clear key 89 is used to clear various modes to be initialized. Pressed when returning to the state. The printing speed setting key 90 is pressed when setting the printing speed prior to the printing operation. When a darker image is desired or when the ambient temperature is low, the printing speed is slowed down and a thinner image is desired. If the ambient temperature is high, set the printing speed fast. The four-direction key 91 has an up key 91a, a down key 91b, a left key 91c, and a right key 91d. When adjusting the image position during image editing or when selecting a value or item at various settings, etc. Is pressed.

  A display device 92 composed of a 7-segment LED mainly displays numbers such as the number of printed sheets. As shown in FIG. 3, the display device 93 composed of an LCD displays an original type setting display, a scaling setting display, a paper type setting display, and a position adjustment setting display as shown in FIG. Selection setting keys 94, 95, 96, and 97 corresponding to the display are provided. The display device 93 has a hierarchical display structure. When the selection setting key 94 is pressed from the state shown in FIG. 3, the document type setting mode for setting the character mode, the photo mode, etc. as the document image mode is selected and set. When the key 95 is pressed, a standard paper, a thick paper, or a paper size (normal paper) is used as a paper to be used when the selection setting key 96 is pressed in a scaling setting mode in which automatic scaling or independent scaling is selected and set. , Small size paper, long paper) and the like, and when the selection setting key 97 is pressed, the mode is set to the position adjustment setting mode for adjusting the print position, and the display on the display device 93 is displayed. Each changes according to the mode. The display device 93 also has various error information and warning display functions, various settings and selection information display functions, and the like.

  The repeat key 102 and the aggregation key 103 are pressed before pressing the plate making start key 81 when performing image division printing. The repeat key 102 is pressed when repeat printing is performed to form a plurality of images of one document on one sheet, and the aggregation key 103 is an aggregation that forms a plurality of images of a plurality of documents on one sheet. Pressed when printing.

[Example 1]
Next, an example of the operation of the stencil printing apparatus having the above configuration will be described.
1 to 3, when the plate making start key 81 of the operation panel 80 is operated, the operation of the printing unit 3 is started by the apparatus main body control unit 110 until the clamper 1 e of the plate cylinder 1 comes near the plate discharging unit 13. The plate cylinder 1 rotates clockwise. Next, simultaneously with the opening of the clamper 1e of the plate cylinder 1, the tip of the used master MA on the outer peripheral surface of the plate cylinder 1 is pushed out in the direction of the plate discharge unit 13. Then, when the leading end of the master MA is added to the discharge plate peeling roller pair 13a, the plate cylinder 1 starts to rotate clockwise, and the master MA is peeled off from the outer peripheral surface of the plate cylinder 1 by the discharge plate peeling roller pair 13a. 13b.

  Here, in FIG. 1, the position of the clamper 1e is in the vicinity of the plate making and feeding unit 12, and when the plate making start key 81 is pressed, the plate cylinder 1 is rotated to the vicinity of the plate discharging unit 13. The position of the clamper 1e may be in the vicinity of the plate removal unit 13 from the beginning, and the plate release position = home position may be set.

  In parallel with the plate removal, the document reading unit 11 reads an image of the document, and an electrical signal photoelectrically converted by an image sensor (not shown) is converted into an analog / digital (A / D) of an image processing unit (not shown) in the apparatus body 10. ) It is input to the conversion device and converted into a digital image signal. In parallel with this image reading, a plate making and plate feeding process is performed by the plate making plate feeding unit 12 based on the image information converted into a digital signal, and a master MA after plate making is formed. The leading end of the master MA having been subjected to plate making is sent out toward the outer peripheral side of the plate cylinder 1 by the master conveying roller pair 12e, and hangs down toward the clamper 1e which is expanded in the plate cylinder 1 in the plate feeding position state shown in FIG. . Then, the leading end of the master MA is clamped by the clamper 1e at a fixed timing, and the plate cylinder 1 rotates in the clockwise direction. As a result, the master MA is wound around the outer peripheral surface, and when the predetermined length is sent out, the cutting is performed. The master MA is cut into a fixed length by means (cutter) 12d.

  When the master MA of one plate is wound around the outer peripheral surface of the plate cylinder 1, the plate making and plate feeding steps are finished, and printing is started. First, the uppermost one of the printing sheets P stacked on the sheet feeding table 21 of the sheet feeding unit 20 is sent out toward the registration roller pair 25 by the sheet feeding roller 22 and the separation roller 23, and is further registered. The roller pair 25 is sent to the printing pressure unit 3 a of the printing unit 3 at a predetermined timing synchronized with the rotation of the plate cylinder 1. When the fed printing paper P comes between the plate cylinder 1 and the impression cylinder 2, a leading edge clamper (not shown) of the impression cylinder 2 holds the leading edge of the printing paper P sent from the registration roller pair 25. Press against the printing drum. By this operation, the printing paper P is pressed against the master MA wound around the outer peripheral surface of the plate cylinder 1. Thus, ink oozes out from the opening portion of the plate cylinder 1 and the piercing portion of the master plate master MA (both not shown), and the oozing ink is transferred to the surface of the printing paper P to form a printed image. The

  The printing paper P on which the printing image is formed in the printing pressure unit 3 a is sucked by the suction fan 34 of the paper discharge unit 30 and is rotated by the ultraviolet fixing device 40 by the rotation of the conveying belt 33 in the counterclockwise direction. It is conveyed toward the unit 50.

  When the control unit 120 of the ultraviolet fixing device 40 detects the carry-in of the printing paper P based on the information from the apparatus main body control unit 110, the control unit 120 starts the operations of the ultraviolet irradiation transport unit 50 and the paper discharge unit 60. The printing paper P is sequentially sucked and transported by the transport belt 53 and the transport belt 63 of the paper discharge unit 60 and discharged to the paper discharge tray 70. An irradiation unit 41 for irradiating ultraviolet rays is installed on the upper part of the conveyance belt 53 of the ultraviolet irradiation conveyance unit 50. When the leading edge of the printing paper P is detected by the paper leading edge detection sensor 55, the control unit 120 controls the ultraviolet irradiation unit 41. The ultraviolet light is irradiated with 100% irradiation energy from an ultraviolet irradiation lamp (UV lamp) (not shown) in the ultraviolet irradiation unit 41 to cure and fix the ink on the printing paper P. When the trailing edge detection sensor 56 detects the trailing edge of the printing paper P, the control unit 120 turns off the UV lamp (not shown) inside the irradiation unit 41 or reduces the irradiation energy as compared with the above irradiation time. (For example, the irradiation energy is reduced to about 50% to 80%). In this way, so-called trial printing (also referred to as plate printing) is completed.

  After the trial printing, the number of prints is set with the numeric keypad 87 arranged on the operation panel 80 shown in FIG. 3, and when the print start key 82 arranged on the operation panel 80 is pressed, printing is performed in the same process as the trial printing. The paper feeding, printing, fixing, and paper discharge processes are repeated for the set number of printed sheets, and all the stencil printing processes are completed.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the paper length and paper interval of normal paper, small size paper, and long paper when the above printing is performed.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the ultraviolet irradiation timing of normal paper, small size paper, and long paper, where (a) shows the conventional irradiation timing described above, and (b) shows an example of the irradiation timing according to the present invention. It is.

  In the ultraviolet fixing device 40 of this embodiment, the control unit 120 detects the ultraviolet ray only when the paper leading edge detection sensor 55 and the paper trailing edge detection sensor 56 detect that the printing paper P is within the irradiation range of the ultraviolet irradiation unit 41. Control to perform irradiation. As a result, as shown in FIG. 5 (b), unnecessary irradiation of ultraviolet rays can be prevented when printing on small-size paper or printing on long paper. Since power can be reduced, energy saving can be achieved.

  Further, when the printing paper P is not within the irradiation range by the ultraviolet irradiation unit 41, the control unit 120 reduces the irradiation energy relative to the energy at the time of irradiation (for example, the irradiation energy is reduced to about 50% to 80%). ), So that the irradiation energy does not have to be completely reduced (OFF), so that the start-up at the time of the next ultraviolet irradiation is improved, and the ultraviolet curable ink is not reduced without reducing the irradiation efficiency. Can be fixed, and unnecessary irradiation of ultraviolet rays can be prevented even when printing on small size paper, etc., so it is possible to suppress wasteful power supply and reduce power consumption. Can be achieved.

[Example 2]
Next, another embodiment of the operation of the stencil printing apparatus will be described.
1 to 3, when the plate making start key 81 of the operation panel 80 is operated and the area ratio of the image read by the document reading unit 11 that reads the document image exceeds 30%, the apparatus main body control unit 110 transmits the information to the ultraviolet ray. The ultraviolet fixing device 40 is automatically set to the strong fixing mode by the control unit 120. The setting of the area ratio of the printed paper can be changed in the range of “about 0 to 80%”, and the strong fixing mode can be forcibly set by setting from the operation panel 80. In this case, it is necessary to set before the plate making start key 81 (or printing start key 82) is operated.

  When the strong fixing mode is set, the sheet feeding mode is automatically set to a skip sheet feeding mode in which the plate cylinder 1 is automatically rotated idly to feed and print every other sheet or several sheets. Here, the strong fixing mode means that “the skip sheet feeding is performed, the speed of the ultraviolet irradiation transport unit 50 is decreased until the next sheet feeding, and the ultraviolet irradiation time to the printing paper P is lengthened. To make it up. " That is, the strength of the strong fixing mode can be set depending on the paper feed interval of skip paper feed. Normally, the initial value of skip sheet feeding is “one sheet” (the plate cylinder is idled once), but the setting can be changed to “1 to 5 sheets”. Accordingly, when the set number of skip sheets is increased, the conveyance speed of the ultraviolet irradiation conveyance unit 50 can be further reduced, and the ultraviolet irradiation time to the printing paper P can be lengthened.

  In the same manner as in the first embodiment, plate removal, plate making, and plate feeding are executed, and when a single master MA is wound around the outer peripheral surface of the plate cylinder 1, the plate making and plate feeding steps are completed and printing is started. First, the uppermost one of the printing sheets P stacked on the sheet feeding table 21 of the sheet feeding unit 20 is sent out toward the registration roller pair 25 by the sheet feeding roller 22 and the separation roller 23, and is further registered. The roller pair 25 is sent to the printing pressure unit 3 a of the printing unit 3 at a predetermined timing synchronized with the rotation of the plate cylinder 1. When the fed printing paper P comes between the plate cylinder 1 and the impression cylinder 2, a leading edge clamper (not shown) of the impression cylinder 2 holds the leading edge of the printing paper P sent from the resist roller pair 25. Press against the printing drum. By this operation, the printing paper P is pressed against the master MA wound around the outer peripheral surface of the plate cylinder 1. Thus, ink oozes out from the opening portion of the plate cylinder 1 and the piercing portion of the master plate master MA (both not shown), and the oozing ink is transferred to the surface of the printing paper P to form a printed image. The

  The printing paper P on which the printing image is formed in the printing pressure unit 3 a is sucked by the suction fan 34 of the paper discharge unit 30 and is rotated by the ultraviolet fixing device 40 by the rotation of the conveying belt 33 in the counterclockwise direction. It is conveyed toward the unit 50. At this time, the conveyance speeds of the paper feeding unit 20, the printing unit 3, and the paper discharging unit 30 are substantially constant.

Next, when the paper detection sensor 35 of the paper discharge unit 30 of the apparatus main body 10 detects that the trailing edge of the printing paper P has been discharged from the printing unit 3, the apparatus main body control unit 110 transfers to the control unit 20 of the ultraviolet fixing device 40. The information is transmitted, the transport speed of the paper discharge unit 30, the ultraviolet irradiation transport unit 50, and the paper discharge unit 60 is switched to a low speed, and the printing paper P is transported through the ultraviolet irradiation transport unit 50 at a low speed. Will pass.
When the trailing edge detection sensor 56 detects the trailing edge of the printing paper P, the conveyance speeds of the paper discharge unit 30, the ultraviolet irradiation conveyance unit 50, and the paper discharge unit 60 are increased, and the conveyance speed at the time of printing is almost recovered. .

  Here, the ultraviolet irradiation timing of the ultraviolet irradiation unit 41 is the same as in the first embodiment. When the leading edge of the printing paper P is detected by the paper leading edge detection sensor 55, the control unit 120 controls the ultraviolet irradiation unit 41 to detect the ultraviolet irradiation unit. Ultraviolet rays are irradiated from an unillustrated ultraviolet irradiation lamp (UV lamp) 41 in the area 41 with 100% irradiation energy, and the ink on the printing paper P is cured and fixed. When the trailing edge detection sensor 56 detects the trailing edge of the printing paper P, the control unit 120 turns off the UV lamp (not shown) in the irradiation unit 41 or reduces the irradiation energy as compared with the irradiation time. (For example, the irradiation energy is reduced to about 50% to 80%). In this way, so-called trial printing (also referred to as plate printing) is completed.

  After the trial printing, the number of prints is set with the numeric keypad 87 arranged on the operation panel 80 shown in FIG. 3, and when the print start key 82 arranged on the operation panel 80 is pressed, printing is performed in the same process as the trial printing. The paper feeding, printing, fixing, and paper discharge processes are repeated for the set number of printed sheets, and all the stencil printing processes are completed.

  The setting of the strong fixing mode does not affect the plate making. Therefore, after the plate making and the trial printing are performed in the normal mode, or when the fixing property is poor during printing, the printing is temporarily stopped and the operation panel 80 is operated. It is possible to restart the printing by setting to the strong fixing mode.

In the ultraviolet fixing device 40 of this embodiment and the stencil printing apparatus 10 including the same, the control units 110 and 120 print only during the skip paper feeding function and until the next printing paper P is fed and conveyed. By providing a function (strong fixing mode) for slowing the conveyance speed of the paper P and increasing the ultraviolet irradiation time, it is possible to increase the ultraviolet irradiation time to the printing paper P. Even if the density is high, the ink can be reliably fixed.
Further, when the fixing mode is automatically selected according to the image area ratio of the paper to be printed and the strong fixing mode is selected, the control units 110 and 120 have the fixing degree by the skip paper feeding function and the low speed conveyance. By making the height higher, the fixing mode is automatically selected simply by operating the plate making start key 81, the print key 82, etc. of the operation panel 80. Therefore, even if the image area is large or the density is high, it is ensured. It can be fixed.
Note that the paper type may be detected (including an input operation on the operation panel 80), and the fixing mode may be automatically selected according to the paper type. For example, in the case of paper that is difficult to fix, such as coated paper, the strong fixing mode is automatically selected.

  Further, in the ultraviolet fixing device 40 of this embodiment and the stencil printing apparatus including the same, the control units 110 and 120 are configured such that the printing paper P is fed by the ultraviolet irradiation unit 41 by the paper leading edge detection sensor 55 and the paper trailing edge detection sensor 56. Only when it is detected that the light is within the irradiation range, control is performed so that ultraviolet rays are emitted. As a result, even in the strong fixing mode that combines the skip paper feeding function and low-speed conveyance, unnecessary irradiation of ultraviolet rays can be prevented, so it is possible to reliably fix even a large image area or a high density, In addition, wasteful power supply can be suppressed, power consumption can be reduced, and energy saving can be achieved.

  Further, when the printing paper P is not within the irradiation range by the ultraviolet irradiation unit 41, the control unit 120 reduces the irradiation energy relative to the energy at the time of irradiation (for example, the irradiation energy is reduced to about 50% to 80%). ), So that the irradiation energy does not have to be completely reduced (OFF), so that the start-up at the time of the next ultraviolet irradiation is improved, and the ultraviolet curable ink is not reduced without reducing the irradiation efficiency. Can be fixed, and unnecessary irradiation of ultraviolet rays can be prevented even when printing on small size paper, etc., so it is possible to suppress wasteful power supply and reduce power consumption. Can be achieved.

In the above description, an example of single-sided printing has been described, but the same can be said for a stencil printing apparatus that performs double-sided printing, although not particularly illustrated.
In the above embodiment, the ultraviolet fixing device 40 is externally attached to the apparatus main body (stencil printing machine) 10. However, the ultraviolet fixing device is built in the stencil printing machine 10. Alternatively, an integrated stencil printing apparatus may be used.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a stencil printing apparatus including an ultraviolet fixing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the control system used for the stencil printing apparatus shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the operation panel of the stencil printing apparatus shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the paper length and paper space | interval of a normal paper, a small size paper, and a long paper. It is a figure which shows the ultraviolet irradiation timing of a normal paper, a small size paper, and a long paper, (a) is a conventional irradiation timing, (b) is a figure which shows an example of the irradiation timing by this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1: Plate cylinder (printing drum)
2: Impression cylinder (pressing member)
3: Printing unit 3a: Printing pressure unit 10: Stencil printing machine body (stencil printing machine)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11: Document reading part 12: Plate making plate feeding part 13: Plate discharging part 20: Paper feed part 21: Paper feed stand 22: Paper feed roller 23: Separation roller 25: Registration roller 30: Paper discharge part 33: Conveying belt 34: Suction Fan 35: paper detection sensor 40: ultraviolet fixing device (ultraviolet fixing means)
41: Ultraviolet irradiation part (ultraviolet irradiation means)
50: Ultraviolet irradiation conveyance unit 53: Conveyance belt 54: Suction fan 55: Paper leading edge detection sensor (paper leading edge detection means)
56: Paper trailing edge detection sensor (paper trailing edge detection means)
60: Paper discharge unit 63: Conveyor belt 64: Suction fan 65: Paper discharge detection sensor 70: Paper discharge tray 80: Operation panel 110: Device main body control unit 120: UV fixing device control unit MA: Master P: Printing paper

Claims (8)

In a stencil printing apparatus having ultraviolet fixing means for irradiating ultraviolet rays by ultraviolet irradiation means on a paper printed by printing means for printing using ultraviolet curable ink and fixing the ink on the paper,
A stencil printing apparatus comprising: a control unit that controls to irradiate the ultraviolet ray only when the paper is within an irradiation range of the ultraviolet ray irradiating unit. In the stencil printing apparatus according to claim 1,
A sheet leading edge detecting means for detecting a sheet leading edge of the sheet on the upstream side of the sheet conveying method of the ultraviolet irradiation means, and a sheet trailing edge detecting means for detecting the sheet trailing edge of the sheet on the downstream side of the sheet conveying method of the ultraviolet irradiation means. And the control means irradiates the ultraviolet ray only when the paper leading edge detection means and the paper trailing edge detection means detect that the paper is within the irradiation range of the ultraviolet irradiation means. A stencil printing apparatus, characterized in that it is controlled. In the stencil printing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
The stencil printing apparatus, wherein when the paper is not within an irradiation range by the ultraviolet irradiation means, the control means controls the irradiation energy to be smaller than the energy at the time of irradiation. In a stencil printing apparatus having ultraviolet fixing means for irradiating ultraviolet rays by ultraviolet irradiation means on a paper printed by printing means for printing using ultraviolet curable ink and fixing the ink on the paper,
Skip feeding function and control means for slowing down the conveying speed of the conveying means that conveys the paper within the irradiation range by the ultraviolet irradiation means only until the next paper is fed / conveyed to increase the ultraviolet irradiation time And a stencil printing apparatus. In the stencil printing apparatus according to claim 4,
When the fixing mode is selected in accordance with the image area ratio of the printed paper and the strong fixing mode is selected, the control unit controls the fixing degree to be high by the skip paper feeding function and the low-speed conveyance. A stencil printing apparatus characterized by that. The stencil printing apparatus according to claim 4 or 5,
The stencil printing apparatus, wherein the control means controls to irradiate the ultraviolet rays only when the paper is in an irradiation range by the ultraviolet irradiation means. In the stencil printing apparatus according to claim 6,
A sheet leading edge detecting means for detecting a sheet leading edge of the sheet on the upstream side of the sheet conveying method of the ultraviolet irradiation means, and a sheet trailing edge detecting means for detecting the sheet trailing edge of the sheet on the downstream side of the sheet conveying method of the ultraviolet irradiation means. And the control means irradiates the ultraviolet ray only when the paper leading edge detection means and the paper trailing edge detection means detect that the paper is within the irradiation range of the ultraviolet irradiation means. A stencil printing apparatus, characterized in that it is controlled. In the ultraviolet fixing device for fixing the ink to the paper by irradiating the ultraviolet ray by the ultraviolet ray irradiating means on the paper printed by the printing means for printing using the ultraviolet curable ink,
An ultraviolet fixing device used in the stencil printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ultraviolet fixing device is provided.

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