JP2015166133A - printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer which can print identification information or the like adequately even when a rotation position of an object changes.SOLUTION: A printer is structured of a linear conveying mechanism which linearly conveys an object T, a rotating conveying mechanism to which the object T is transferred from the linear conveying mechanism, a position detecting mechanism which detects a position of the object T, an angle detecting mechanism which detects an angle of the object T in a conveying surface, and a printing mechanism which prints on a surface of the object T, and the like. The printing mechanism includes two printer heads 87, 88, and a printing part 90 which executes printing processing to the object T. The printing part 90 includes a print pattern storage part 91, a rotational print pattern generation part 92 having a pattern conversion part 93 and a pattern arrangement part 94, a data table 95 for conversion, an arrangement position storage part 96, a buffer part 97, and a print control part 98.

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus that performs printing on the surface of an object to be transported, and more particularly to a printing apparatus that can perform appropriate printing according to the rotational position of the object.

  Identification information such as product name and product number is displayed on the surface of tablets such as pharmaceuticals for the purpose of preventing mistaking and improving identification when a pharmacist prescribes drugs. Known methods for displaying identification information on a tablet include a method of marking when forming a tablet, a method of printing on the surface of a tablet by offset printing, and a method of performing non-contact printing using an inkjet printer. As a method for performing non-contact printing on tablets, for example, a printing method using an automatic printing apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-81050 has been proposed.

  The automatic printing apparatus is provided with an alignment device that aligns objects such as tablets and capsules in a straight line, a supply conveyor that conveys the aligned objects, and a position of the object on the supply conveyor. A detection device for detecting the ink, and a control unit that controls the operation of a jet nozzle, a jet nozzle, and the like that are provided on the downstream side in the transport direction from the detection device and discharge ink from the tip portion, At the same time as receiving a signal that the tablet has reached the lower side of the detection device, a signal for ejecting ink after a predetermined time has elapsed since the tablet has reached the lower side of the detection device is transmitted to the inkjet printer.

  According to this automatic printing apparatus, first, the object is conveyed by the supply conveyor in a state where the object is aligned in a straight line by the alignment device. Then, when the object on the supply conveyor reaches below the detection device, a signal indicating that the tablet has reached below the detection device is input to the control unit, and the control unit receives the signal and simultaneously receives the signal for a predetermined time. After elapse of time, a signal for ejecting ink is transmitted to the ink jet printer. And after predetermined time progress, an ink is discharged toward a tablet and identification information is printed on a tablet.

  As described above, in the printing method using the automatic printing apparatus, the position of the tablet is detected by the detection apparatus, and based on this, the ink can be ejected at a predetermined timing. The identification information can be printed on.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-81050

  By the way, when the shape of the object is circular in plan view, the automatic printing apparatus can appropriately print the identification information on the tablet, but the shape of the target object is a shape other than circular in plan view, that is, a plane. The problem is that proper printing cannot be performed depending on the rotation position of the object when the shape is elliptical, polygonal, etc., or when the dividing surface is formed on the tablet surface even if it is circular in plan view. Occurs.

  Specifically, when the shape of the object is circular in plan view, even if the object rotates on the supply conveyor, there is no apparent difference, and the identification information is appropriately printed on the object. Can do. On the other hand, when the shape of the object is an ellipse in plan view, when the object rotates on the supply conveyor, a direction along the transport direction and a direction along the long axis of the ellipse are formed. If a difference occurs in the angle and the rotational position of the object changes, the identification information is printed in a state inclined with respect to the object. Even if the shape of the object is circular in plan view, if a secant is formed on the surface, a difference occurs in the angle formed by the direction along the conveying direction and the secant when the object rotates. Therefore, there arises a problem that the identification information is printed while being inclined with respect to the dividing line, and a problem that the identification information is unclear when the identification information is printed across the dividing line.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a printing apparatus capable of appropriately printing identification information and the like even when the rotational position of the object changes.

The present invention for solving the above problems is as follows.
A transport mechanism for transporting an object along the transport surface;
An angle detection mechanism for detecting an angle in a transport plane of an object transported by the transport mechanism;
A position detection mechanism for detecting the position of the object;
A printing mechanism that prints on the surface of the object conveyed by the conveyance mechanism;
The angle detection mechanism is
An imaging camera that images the surface of the object conveyed by the conveyance mechanism;
Based on an image captured by the imaging camera, an angle detection unit that detects an angle of the object,
The printing mechanism is
A printer head comprising a plurality of ink ejection nozzles arranged along a direction intersecting the conveyance direction of the object, and an ink tank connected to the ink ejection nozzles, downstream of the imaging camera in the conveyance direction;
It consists of a print section for executing print processing,
The printing unit
A print pattern storage unit in which a print pattern composed of double row and double column data is stored in advance;
Rotation print pattern generation that reads out a print pattern from the print pattern storage unit, generates a rotation print pattern obtained by rotating the read print pattern by the angle based on the angle detected by the angle detection unit, and outputs the rotation print pattern And
The printing control unit is configured to control the operation of the printer head based on the rotation printing pattern generated by the rotation printing pattern generation unit and the position of the object detected by the position detection mechanism. The present invention relates to a printing apparatus.

  According to this printing apparatus, first, the surface of the object conveyed by the conveyance mechanism is imaged by the imaging camera, and the image data of the captured image is transmitted to the angle detection unit, and the angle detection unit conveys the object. An in-plane angle is detected. Next, the rotation print pattern generation unit reads the print pattern from the print pattern storage unit, and based on the angle detected by the angle detection unit, the rotation print pattern is obtained by rotating the read print pattern by the angle. Is generated and output from the rotary print pattern generation unit.

  The operation of the printer head is controlled by the print control unit based on the rotation print pattern generated by the rotation print pattern generation unit and the position of the object detected by the position detection mechanism. Ink is ejected from a predetermined ink ejection nozzle toward the end, and printing is performed.

  As described above, in the printing apparatus according to the present invention, a rotated print pattern corresponding to the angle of the object is generated, and the object is printed based on the generated data of the rotated print pattern. Therefore, even if the angles of the objects to be conveyed in the conveyance plane are different, printing can be appropriately performed according to the angle of each object.

  Note that, as a specific method for generating the rotational print pattern in the rotational print pattern generation unit, a method of generating a rotational print pattern by converting the print pattern data according to a conversion data table, or the print pattern A method for generating a rotational print pattern by converting the polar coordinates of the image can be exemplified.

  By the way, in the above printing apparatus, there is a possibility that a slight difference occurs in the reading time of data related to the rotation printing pattern in the printing control unit, and there is a possibility that a difference occurs in the timing at which ink is ejected from each ink ejection nozzle. When printing is performed on the surface of the object to be printed, the printed display may be shifted although it is small.

  Therefore, in the printing apparatus of the present invention, the printing unit stores the rotational printing pattern output from the rotational printing pattern generation unit, and has a predetermined timing based on the position of the object detected by the position detection mechanism. It is preferable that the rotation printing pattern data is provided with a buffer unit that sequentially outputs the data to the printing control unit line by line.

  In this way, if the rotation print pattern data is output to the print control unit for each line, the data read time between the same lines is made the same, and the timing at which ink is ejected from each ink ejection nozzle is constant. The deviation that can occur in the printed display can be reduced as much as possible.

Furthermore, the printing apparatus according to the present invention includes:
A transport mechanism for transporting an object along the transport surface;
An angle detection mechanism for detecting an angle in a transport plane of an object transported by the transport mechanism;
A position detection mechanism for detecting the position of the object;
A printing mechanism that prints on the surface of the object conveyed by the conveyance mechanism;
The angle detection mechanism is
An imaging camera that images the surface of the object conveyed by the conveyance mechanism;
Based on an image captured by the imaging camera, an angle detection unit that detects an angle of the object,
The printing mechanism is
A printer head comprising a plurality of ink discharge nozzles disposed along a direction intersecting the transport direction of the object, and a tank connected to the ink discharge nozzle, downstream of the imaging camera in the transport direction; ,
It consists of a print section for executing print processing,
The printing unit
A rotational printing pattern storage unit comprising a plurality of rows and columns of data, and a plurality of rotational printing patterns corresponding to the angle of the object detected by the angle detection unit stored in advance;
A rotational printing pattern selection unit that reads out the rotational printing pattern corresponding to the angle of the object detected by the angle detection unit from the rotational printing pattern storage unit and outputs the read rotational printing pattern;
A printing control unit that controls the operation of the printer head based on the rotation printing pattern selected by the rotation printing pattern selection unit and the position of the object detected by the position detection mechanism; Also good.

  In this case, in the same manner as described above, first, the surface of the object is imaged by the imaging camera, and the angle in the conveyance surface of the object is detected by the angle detection unit that has received the image data of the obtained image. The Next, a rotational printing pattern corresponding to the detected angle is selectively read from the rotational printing pattern storage unit by the rotational printing pattern selection unit, and the read rotational printing pattern is output. Then, based on the rotation print pattern selected by the rotation print pattern selection unit and the position of the object detected by the position detection mechanism, the operation of the printer head is controlled by the print control unit, whereby the ink ejection nozzle Then, ink is ejected toward the surface of the object, and printing is performed on the surface of the object.

  Also in the printing apparatus configured as described above, the printing unit stores the rotational printing pattern output from the rotational printing pattern selection unit, and is based on the position of the object detected by the position detection mechanism. In addition, it is preferable that a configuration is provided that includes a buffer unit that sequentially outputs the data of the rotational print pattern to the print control unit for each line at a predetermined timing.

  In this case, similarly to the above, the data read time is the same between the same lines of the rotary print pattern, and the timing at which ink is ejected from each ink ejection nozzle can be made the same. Printing can be performed on the surface of an object.

  As described above, according to the printing apparatus according to the present invention, even if the angle of the object to be conveyed in the conveyance plane is different, printing can be appropriately performed according to the angle of each object.

1 is a front view illustrating a schematic configuration of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of a control apparatus. It is a front view which shows a conveyance mechanism. It is a top view which shows the conveyance mechanism seen from the arrow A direction in FIG. It is a side view which shows the conveyance mechanism seen from the arrow B direction in FIG. It is a rear view which shows the conveyance mechanism seen from the arrow C direction in FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows a rotation conveyance mechanism. It is a front view which shows a suction box. It is a figure which shows the state which the opening part of the suction box and the opening part of the disk shaped member connected. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the method to detect the angle of a target object. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the procedure which produces | generates a rotation printing pattern. It is the figure which showed the pattern before rotation. It is the figure which showed the pattern rotated 45 degrees. It is the figure which showed the pattern rotated 90 degrees.

  Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a printing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a supply mechanism 3 that supplies an object T in an aligned manner, a linear conveyance mechanism 10 that linearly conveys the supplied object T, A rotary transport mechanism 60 on which the object T is transferred from the linear transport mechanism 10, a position detection mechanism 75 that detects the position of the target T transported by the linear transport mechanism 10 and the rotary transport mechanism 60, and the linear transport mechanism 10. And an angle detection mechanism 80 that detects an angle of the object T conveyed by the rotation conveyance mechanism 60 in the conveyance surface, a printing mechanism 86 that performs a printing process on the surface of the object T, and the object T that has been printed. And a control device 101 that controls the operation of each mechanism. It is assumed that the object T in this example has an elliptical shape in plan view.

  Hereinafter, details of the supply mechanism 3, the linear conveyance mechanism 10, the rotation conveyance mechanism 60, the position detection mechanism 75, the angle detection mechanism 80, and the printing mechanism 86 will be described.

[Supply mechanism]
The supply mechanism 3 includes a hopper 4 into which a large number of objects T are charged, a vibration feeder 5 that imparts vibration to the object T discharged from the lower end portion of the hopper 4 and moves forward, and a conveyance end of the vibration feeder 5. A chute 6 that slides down the object T discharged from the chute, a horizontal rotation, an alignment table 7 that discharges the object T supplied from the chute 6 in a line, and a disk-like member that rotates in a vertical plane A rotating carrier 8 that attracts and conveys the object T discharged from the alignment table 7 to the outer peripheral surface of the disk-shaped member, and aligns a large number of objects T in a row, and sequentially Delivered to the linear transport mechanism 10.

[Linear transport mechanism]
As shown in FIG. 3 to FIG. 6, the linear transport mechanism 10 includes a pair of transport belts 11 and 12 that transport the object T, and four transport belts around which the transport belts 11 and 12 are wound. Pulleys 15, 16, 17, 18, a negative pressure mechanism 20 that applies a suction force due to negative pressure on the conveyor belts 11, 12, and two pulleys among the conveyor belt pulleys 15, 16, 17, 18 The drive mechanism 30 that rotates the transport belts 11 and 12 by rotating the transport belts 15 and 16 and the nip mechanism 40 that nips a predetermined position of the transport belts 11 and 12 are opposed to each other with a space therebetween. Two support plates 55 and 56, which are disposed as support bodies, and a fixing member 57 fixed to the support plate 56 and for fixing the linear transport mechanism 10 to a base (not shown).

  The conveyor belts 11 and 12 are endless circular belts arranged side by side in the width direction, and as shown in FIG. 3, the conveyor belts 11 and 12 have a substantially trapezoidal shape when viewed from the front. The upper part forming the forward path, that is, the part located between the two pulleys 15 and 16 is the transport unit 13, and the object T is placed on the transported object 13. It is like that. In FIGS. 4 and 5, the conveyance belts 11 and 12 are not shown.

  The negative pressure mechanism 20 includes a rectangular parallelepiped negative pressure box 21, a suction pump (not shown) that is connected to the negative pressure box 21 via pipes 22 and 23 and sucks air in the negative pressure box 21. The negative pressure box 21 has a slit 24 for sucking air from the outside in the upper surface member, and two guide grooves 25 and 26 for guiding the conveyor belts 11 and 12 on both sides of the slit 24. Is formed. The negative pressure box 21 is fixed to a surface (one surface) of the support plate 55 that does not face the support plate 56.

  Of the pulleys 15, 16, 17, 18 for the transport belt, the two pulleys 15, 16 have the same diameter (pulley diameter) and are spaced apart from each other on the upper edges of the support plates 55, 56. Are attached to one end portions of the connecting shafts 19 and 20 that are rotatably supported by the support shafts (end portions protruding to one surface side of the support plate 55). Further, the other two pulleys 17 and 18 are respectively disposed in the negative pressure box 21. The connecting shafts 19 and 20 have other end portions protruding from the surface of the support plate 56 not facing the support plate 55.

  The drive mechanism 30 includes an endless annular timing belt 31, three timing belt pulleys 32, 33, 34 around which the timing belt 31 is wound, and these three timing belt pulleys 32, 33, And a drive motor 35 that rotates one of the pulleys 34. The three timing belt pulleys 32, 33, and 34 have the same diameter (pulley diameter), and are provided with tooth surfaces that mesh with the inner peripheral surface of the timing belt 31 on the outer peripheral surface. 31 is wound around in a state in which a part of its inner peripheral surface meshes with a tooth surface formed on the outer peripheral surface of the timing belt pulleys 32, 33, 34. The tooth surfaces of the timing belt pulleys 32, 33 and 34 are not shown, and the timing belt 31 is not shown in FIGS.

  The drive motor 35 is disposed at a substantially central position in front view between the support plates 55 and 56. The timing belt pulley 34 is connected to the rotation shaft of the drive motor 35 for the other two timing belts. The pulleys 32 and 33 are attached to the other end portions of the connecting shafts 19 and 20, respectively, and are disposed on the upper edge portion of the support plate 56. The drive motor 35 is supported by a slide member 36 movably arranged in the vertical direction with respect to the support plate 56. By moving the slide member 36 in the vertical direction, the drive motor 35 and The position of the timing belt pulley 34 connected thereto can be adjusted.

  The nip mechanism 40 includes two nip rollers 41, 42 disposed at positions facing the respective conveyor belt pulleys 15, 16 across the conveyor belts 11, 12, and a connecting shaft connected to each of the nip rollers 41, 42. Two transmission rotors 45 and 46, which are connected by 43 and 44, respectively, and are disposed adjacent to the timing belt pulleys 32 and 33 in a state where the outer peripheral surface is in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the timing belt 31. The slide plate 47 is arranged on the surface of the support plate 56 so as to be movable in the vertical direction and rotatably supports the connecting shafts 43 and 44. The nip rollers 41 and 42 have the same diameter (roller diameter) as that of the conveyor belt pulleys 15 and 16, and the transmission rollers 45 and 46 have the same diameter (roller diameter) as the timing. It is the same diameter as the pulley diameter of the belt pulleys 32 and 33.

  According to the nip mechanism 40, the slide members 47 and 48 supporting the rotary shafts 43 and 44 are moved upward, and the nip rollers 41 and 42 and the transmission rollers 45 and 46 are conveyed upward, that is, respectively. The belt pulleys 15 and 16 and the timing belt pulleys 32 and 33 are moved closer to each other. Thus, the conveyor belts 11 and 12 are nipped with a predetermined clamping force by the cooperation of the nip rollers 41 and 42 and the pulleys 15 and 16 for the conveyor belts.

  Between the transmission roller 45 and the timing belt pulley 34 connected to the drive motor 35, two adjusting pulleys 49 and 50 for eliminating the looseness of the timing belt 31 are disposed. Also, one adjusting pulley 51 is disposed between the transmission roller 46 and the pulley 34, and these three adjusting pulleys 49, 50, 51 are moved in the vertical direction by the slide members 52, 53, 54, respectively. It is free.

[Rotary transfer mechanism]
As shown in FIGS. 7 to 9, the rotary transport mechanism 60 includes a rotary transport body 61 in which two transport belts 64 and 65 are wound on the outer peripheral surface, and the rotary transport body 61 is rotated in a vertical plane. A driving mechanism 66 that causes the suction to be applied to the conveyor belts 64 and 65 wound around the rotary conveyance body 61, and a negative pressure mechanism 70 that applies a suction force due to negative pressure. It is comprised from the fixing member 72 for fixing the rotation conveyance mechanism 60. FIG.

  The rotary transport body 61 includes two disk-like members 62 and 63 which are arranged to face each other with a space therebetween, and a space 61a is formed inside. The conveyor belts 64 and 65 are wound. A plurality of openings 62a are formed in one of the two disk-like members 62, 63 so as to communicate the internal space 61a with the outside.

  The drive mechanism 66 is supported by a bearing member 69 fixed to the fixing member 72, and is connected to a connecting shaft 67 having the one end side connected to the rotary conveyance body 61 and the other end side of the connecting shaft 67. And a drive motor 68 disposed in the internal space of the fixed member 72, and the rotary motor 61 is rotated in the vertical plane via the connecting shaft 67 by operating the drive motor 68. .

  The negative pressure mechanism 70 is disposed around the bearing member 69, and a pipe (not shown) is connected to a suction box 71 in which a space 71 a is formed and a connection portion 72 provided in the suction box 71. And a suction pump (not shown) for sucking the air in the suction box 71, and as shown in FIG. An arcuate opening 71b is formed. The opening 71 b of the suction box 71 and the opening 62 a formed in the disk-shaped member 62 are interposed via the opening 73 a of the plate 73 interposed between the suction box 71 and the disk-shaped member 62. As a result, the internal space 71a of the suction box 71 and the internal space 61a of the rotary conveyance body 61 are in communication with each other (see FIG. 9).

[Position detection mechanism]
The position detection mechanism 75 includes a first rotary encoder 76 attached to any one of the pulleys 15, 16, 17, and 18 of the linear conveyance mechanism 10 and a second motor attached to the drive motor 68 of the rotary conveyance mechanism 60. It is conveyed by a rotary encoder 77, a first object sensor 79a for detecting an object T conveyed by the conveying belts 11 and 12 of the linear conveying mechanism 10, and conveying belts 64 and 65 of the rotary conveying mechanism 60. It comprises a second object sensor 79 b that detects the object T that is present, and a timing generator 78 in the control device 101.

  The timing generator 78 detects the position of the target T from the pulse signal output from the first rotary encoder 76 and the detection signal of the target T output from the first target sensor 79a, and The position of the object T is detected from the pulse signal output from the second rotary encoder 77 and the detection signal of the object T output from the second object sensor 79b, and a signal related to the position of the object T is described later. To the pattern conversion unit 93, the pattern arrangement unit 94, and the buffer unit 97 of the printing unit 86.

[Angle detection mechanism]
The angle detection mechanism 80 is conveyed by a first imaging camera 81 that images the surface of the object T being conveyed by the conveyance belts 11 and 12 of the linear conveyance mechanism 10 and conveyance belts 64 and 65 of the rotary conveyance mechanism 60. The second imaging camera 82 that images the surface of the target T that is being held, and the angle detection unit 83 in the control device 101 are configured. The first imaging camera 81 is disposed downstream of the first object sensor 79a in the conveyance direction, and the second imaging camera 82 is disposed downstream of the second object sensor 79b in the conveyance direction.

  The angle detection unit 83 receives image data from the first and second imaging cameras 81 and 82, and calculates an angle in the transport plane of the target T based on the received image data. The angle storage unit 85 stores the angle calculated by the angle calculation unit 84.

  Next, a specific method for calculating the angle by the angle calculation unit 84 will be described. In this example, the transport posture serving as a reference for the object T is shown in FIG. First, the image processing using the received image data is performed to extract the target T, and it is detected whether the long axis of the extracted target T is tilted with respect to the direction along the transport direction. If so, it detects whether it is tilted to the left or right. Next, a minimum circumscribed rectangle (dotted line in FIG. 10) of the object T is generated by image processing, the length (H, W) of two orthogonal sides of the generated minimum circumscribed rectangle is calculated, and the ratio of the two sides is calculated. (H / W) is calculated.

  Then, assuming that the angle of the object T is 0 ° as the H / W value in the case of the reference transport posture in advance, the H / W value corresponding to 0 to 90 ° with a predetermined resolution is set. The angle at which the calculated H / W value is the closest value is determined as the angle of the object T. FIG. 10B illustrates the case where the angle of the object T is 45 °, and FIG. 10C illustrates the case where the angle is 90 °.

  As described above, the angle of the object T within the transport plane is calculated, and the calculated angle is stored in the angle storage unit 85.

[Printing mechanism]
The printing mechanism 86 includes a first printer head 87 disposed on the downstream side in the transport direction from the first imaging camera 81, and a second printer head disposed on the downstream side in the transport direction from the second imaging camera 82. 88 and a printing unit 90 that executes a printing process on the object T.

  The printer heads 87 and 88 include an ink tank (not shown) in which ink is stored, a plurality of ink discharge nozzles 89 connected to the ink tank, and an actuator for discharging ink from the ink discharge nozzle 89 (see FIG. (Not shown), and ink can be ejected from a predetermined ink ejection nozzle 89 by operating an actuator. The plurality of ink discharge nozzles 89 are arranged along a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the object T, and printing is performed by dropping ink onto the surface of the object T passing below. The

  The printing unit 90 includes a print pattern storage unit 91, a rotary print pattern generation unit 92 including a pattern conversion unit 93 and a pattern arrangement unit 94, a conversion data table 95, an arrangement position storage unit 96, and a buffer unit. 97 and a print control unit 98.

  The print pattern storage unit 91 stores in advance a print pattern composed of double row and double column data. In this example, a pattern in which three patterns (three regions surrounded by broken lines in FIG. 11) each consisting of data of 7 rows and 7 columns are arranged in a horizontal row is set as a print pattern (FIG. 11A )reference).

  The pattern conversion unit 93 refers to the angle of the object T output from the angle storage unit 85 and data stored in a conversion data table 95 described later, and reads the print pattern read from the print pattern storage unit 91. The three patterns to be configured are converted into rotation patterns that are rotated by the angle, and the three rotation patterns are output to the pattern placement unit 94.

  The pattern placement unit 94 refers to the data regarding the angle of the object T output from the angle storage unit 85 and the placement position of each pattern stored in the placement position storage unit 96 described later, and the pattern conversion unit 93. The rotation patterns output from are respectively arranged at positions corresponding to the angles, a rotation print pattern is generated, and the rotation print pattern is output to the buffer unit 97.

  In the conversion data table 95, conversion data used when the pattern conversion unit 93 converts each pattern into a rotation pattern corresponding to the angle is stored in advance.

  In the arrangement position storage unit 96, data related to the position where each pattern is arranged is stored in advance according to the angle of the object T.

  The buffer unit 97 is configured to store the rotational printing pattern generated by the pattern arranging unit 94, and the rotation is performed in accordance with a signal related to the position of the object T transmitted from the timing generation unit 78. The print pattern data is sequentially output to the print control unit 98 line by line.

  The print control unit 98 uses the first and second printer heads 87 so that ink is ejected from predetermined ink ejection nozzles 89 based on the data for each line of the rotational print pattern received from the buffer unit 97. , 88 actuators are driven.

  According to the printing mechanism 86, first, the pattern conversion unit 93 reads a printing pattern to be printed on the object T from the printing pattern storage unit 91 (see FIG. 11A). Next, the pattern conversion unit 93 converts the three patterns constituting the print pattern into rotation patterns corresponding to the angles read from the angle storage unit 85 (see FIG. 11B), and converts the three rotation patterns. The data is output to the pattern placement unit 94.

  A specific method for converting the pattern into the rotation pattern as described above will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIGS. 12 to 14 illustrate “A” which is one of the three patterns constituting the print pattern. FIG. 12 shows a pattern before rotation, and FIG. 13 shows a 45 ° rotation. FIG. 14 shows a pattern rotated by 90 °.

  That is, when the angle read from the angle storage unit 85 is 45 °, the pattern conversion unit 93 refers to the conversion data in the conversion data table 95 and the position before rotation is (0, 3). If a certain data a is converted to the position (0, 6), the positions of the data b to p are similarly converted, and the angle read from the angle storage unit 85 is 90 °, the data The position of a is converted from (0, 3) to (3, 6), the positions of data b to p are similarly converted, and the three patterns constituting the print pattern are respectively converted into rotation patterns.

  Next, the pattern placement unit 94 places the three input rotation patterns at predetermined positions based on the data regarding the placement positions of the patterns stored in the placement position storage unit 96 (FIG. 11 ( c)). In this way, a rotated print pattern is generated by rotating the print pattern by the angle of the object T.

  The generated rotational print pattern is stored in the buffer unit 97. Thereafter, the buffer unit 97 receives a signal indicating that the target T has arrived at a predetermined position, that is, below the printer heads 87 and 88, from the timing generation unit 78, and the rotation print pattern data for each line. The print control unit 98 drives the first and second printer heads 87 and 88 based on the input signal. In this way, the object T is printed.

  Next, a process of printing on the object T by the printing apparatus 1 having the above configuration will be described.

  In the printing apparatus 1 of this example, when printing on the object T, first, the linear transport mechanism 10 is adjusted.

  Adjustment of the linear transport mechanism 10 is performed first by the slide member 36 that moves the position of the drive motor 35 in the vertical direction and the slide members 52, 53, and 54 that move the positions of the adjustment pulleys 49, 50, 51 in the vertical direction. Each position is adjusted so that the timing belt 31 is not loosened excessively.

  Next, the connecting shafts 19 and 20 are moved upward by the slide members 47 and 48 to move the nip rollers 41 and 42 and the transmission rollers 45 and 46 in the same direction, so that the nip rollers 41 and 42 and the conveyor belt pulley 15, 16, the conveyance belts 11 and 12 on both sides of the conveyance unit 13 are nipped. As a result, a predetermined magnitude of tension is applied to the transport portions 13 of the two transport belts 11 and 12 in a state where slippage of the transport belts 11 and 12 in the transport portion 13 is prevented.

  Thereafter, the drive motor 35 is operated to rotate the timing belt pulley 34. As a result, the timing belt 31 rotates, and the three timing belt pulleys 32, 33, and 34 rotate in a synchronized state.

  When the timing belt pulleys 32 and 33 rotate in a synchronized state, the conveyor belt pulleys 15 and 16 connected to the pulleys 32 and 33 by the connecting shafts 19 and 20 respectively rotate in a synchronized state. Thereby, the conveyor belts 11 and 12 rotate in a predetermined direction.

  In the linear transport mechanism 10, the conveyor belt pulleys 15 and 16 are rotated in synchronization with each other, so that it is difficult for a difference in rotational speed between the conveyor belts 11 and 12.

  Moreover, in this linear conveyance mechanism 10, the conveyance belts 11 and 12 are nipped on both sides of the conveyance unit 13, thereby preventing the conveyance belts 11 and 12 from slipping in the conveyance unit 13 and being conveyed from the pulley 15 side. 11 and 12 are made equal to the amount of the conveyor belts 11 and 12 wound on the pulley 16 side, and a predetermined amount of tension is applied to the conveyor 13 of the conveyor belts 11 and 12. It is in the state. Accordingly, the rotational speeds of the two conveyor belts 11 and 12 can be made substantially the same in the conveyor unit 13 without being affected by the difference in elongation between the two conveyor belts 11 and 12. It has become.

  Thereafter, the target T is put into the hopper 4, the target T is supplied onto the transport unit 13 by the supply mechanism 3, and the supplied target T is transported by the linear transport mechanism 10, while being printed by the printing mechanism 86. Printing is performed.

  That is, one side of the object T being conveyed by the linear conveyance mechanism 10 is imaged by the first imaging camera 81 of the angle detection mechanism 80, and the angle is detected based on the image data of the captured image. Then, based on the detected angle, the rotational printing pattern generation unit 92 generates a rotational printing pattern corresponding to the detected angle. Then, the rotation print pattern data is sequentially output from the buffer unit 97 to the print control unit 98 line by line in accordance with a signal input from the timing generation unit 78, and the operation of the first printer head 87 is controlled by the print control unit 98. Then, printing is performed on one surface of the object T.

  Next, the target T is transferred from the linear transport mechanism 10 to the rotary transport mechanism 60, and the other surface of the target T is imaged by the second imaging camera 82. In the same manner as described above, the angle is detected based on the image data of the captured image, and a rotation print pattern corresponding to the angle detected by the rotation print pattern generation unit 92 is generated. Thereafter, based on the signal input from the timing generator 78, the data of the rotational print pattern is output from the buffer 97 to the print controller 98 for each line, and the print controller 98 operates the second printer head 89. Is controlled, and printing is performed on the other surface of the object T.

  Then, the printed object T is collected by the collection mechanism 100.

  According to the printing apparatus 1 of this example, a rotational printing pattern corresponding to the angle of the target T is generated, and printing is performed on the target T based on the generated rotational printing pattern. Even if the object T is transported in a different posture, the object T can be appropriately printed.

  Further, as described above, in the printing apparatus 1 of the present example, there is almost no difference in rotational speed between the conveyor belts 11 and 12 in the conveyance unit 13 on which the object T is placed. The object T placed on is prevented from rotating during transportation, and is transported in a stable posture. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the problem that the object T rotates when printing is performed and the printed identification information becomes unclear.

  As mentioned above, although one Embodiment of this invention was described, the specific aspect which this invention can take is not limited to these at all.

  In the above example, the rotational printing pattern is stored in the buffer unit 97, and the rotational printing pattern data is output from the buffer unit 97 to the first and second printer heads 87 and 88 for each line. The rotational print pattern may be output to the print control unit 98 without using the buffer unit.

  In the above example, the rotation print pattern generation unit 92 generates the rotation print pattern by referring to the data stored in the conversion data table 95 and the arrangement position storage unit 96. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Alternatively, the rotation print pattern may be generated by performing polar coordinate conversion on each pattern data constituting the print pattern with the center position of the print pattern as the center.

  In the above example, the rotation print pattern generation unit 92 generates the rotation print pattern. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the rotation print pattern storage unit previously stores a plurality of prints corresponding to a predetermined angle. The rotational printing pattern may be stored, and the rotational printing pattern conversion unit may replace the printing pattern with the rotational printing pattern corresponding to the detected angle based on the detected angle.

  Furthermore, in the above example, the target object T has an elliptical shape in plan view. For example, even if the target object is circular in plan view and has a secant on the surface, the target object can be appropriately printed. it can. In other words, the angle formed between the conveying direction and the secant line is detected, and based on the detected angle, a rotational printing pattern is generated, and printing is performed on the object based on the rotation pattern, thereby printing according to the angle of the object. Can be applied.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printing apparatus 3 Supply mechanism 10 Linear conveyance mechanism 11, 12 Conveyance belt 60 Rotation conveyance mechanism 64, 65 Conveyance belt 75 Position detection mechanism 76 1st rotary encoder 77 2nd rotary encoder 78 Timing generation part 79a 1st object sensor 79b 1st 2 object sensor 80 angle detection mechanism 81 first imaging camera 82 second imaging camera 83 angle detection unit 84 angle calculation unit 85 angle storage unit 86 printing mechanism 87 first printer head 88 second printer head 89 ink ejection nozzle 90 printing unit DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 91 Print pattern memory | storage part 92 Rotation print pattern production | generation part 93 Pattern conversion part 94 Pattern arrangement | positioning part 95 Conversion data table 96 Arrangement position memory | storage part 97 Buffer part 98 Print control part T Target object

Claims (6)

A transport mechanism for transporting an object along the transport surface;
An angle detection mechanism for detecting an angle in a transport plane of an object transported by the transport mechanism;
A position detection mechanism for detecting the position of the object;
A printing mechanism that prints on the surface of the object conveyed by the conveyance mechanism;
The angle detection mechanism is
An imaging camera that images the surface of the object conveyed by the conveyance mechanism;
Based on an image captured by the imaging camera, an angle detection unit that detects an angle of the object,
The printing mechanism is
A printer head comprising a plurality of ink ejection nozzles arranged along a direction intersecting the conveyance direction of the object, and an ink tank connected to the ink ejection nozzles, downstream of the imaging camera in the conveyance direction;
It consists of a print section for executing print processing,
The printing unit
A print pattern storage unit in which a print pattern composed of double row and double column data is stored in advance;
Rotation print pattern generation that reads out a print pattern from the print pattern storage unit, generates a rotation print pattern obtained by rotating the read print pattern by the angle based on the angle detected by the angle detection unit, and outputs the rotation print pattern And
The printing control unit is configured to control the operation of the printer head based on the rotation printing pattern generated by the rotation printing pattern generation unit and the position of the object detected by the position detection mechanism. A printing apparatus characterized by that.   The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the rotation print pattern generation unit is configured to convert the print pattern data according to a conversion data table to generate the rotation print pattern.   The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the rotation printing pattern generation unit is configured to generate the rotation printing pattern by performing polar coordinate conversion on the printing pattern.   The printing unit stores the rotational printing pattern output from the rotational printing pattern generation unit, and based on the position of the object detected by the position detection mechanism, the data of the rotational printing pattern at the predetermined timing. 4. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a buffer unit that sequentially outputs the print control unit for each line. A transport mechanism for transporting an object along the transport surface;
An angle detection mechanism for detecting an angle in a transport plane of an object transported by the transport mechanism;
A position detection mechanism for detecting the position of the object;
A printing mechanism that prints on the surface of the object conveyed by the conveyance mechanism;
The angle detection mechanism is
An imaging camera that images the surface of the object conveyed by the conveyance mechanism;
Based on an image captured by the imaging camera, an angle detection unit that detects an angle of the object,
The printing mechanism is
A printer head comprising a plurality of ink ejection nozzles arranged along a direction intersecting the conveyance direction of the object, and an ink tank connected to the ink ejection nozzles, downstream of the imaging camera in the conveyance direction;
It consists of a print section for executing print processing,
The printing unit
A rotational printing pattern storage unit comprising a plurality of rows and columns of data, and a plurality of rotational printing patterns corresponding to the angle of the object detected by the angle detection unit stored in advance;
A rotational printing pattern selection unit that reads out the rotational printing pattern corresponding to the angle of the object detected by the angle detection unit from the rotational printing pattern storage unit and outputs the read rotational printing pattern;
The printing control unit is configured to control the operation of the printer head based on the rotation printing pattern selected by the rotation printing pattern selection unit and the position of the object detected by the position detection mechanism. A printing apparatus characterized by that.   The printing unit stores the rotational printing pattern output from the rotational printing pattern selection unit, and based on the position of the object detected by the position detection mechanism, the data of the rotational printing pattern at the predetermined timing. The printing apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising a buffer unit that sequentially outputs the print control unit for each line.

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