JP2020083391A - Decoration system and decoration method, and cylindrical container - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a decoration system and a decoration method capable of forming a design with a three-dimentional feeling at a high degree of freedom without involving problems such as blurring of an edge, fading of color, and cracks in an ink layer with respect to a cylindrical object to be processed, and to provide a cylindrical container having a design with a high-quality three-dimentional feeling without blurring of an edge, fading of color and cracks in an ink layer.SOLUTION: A decoration system includes: an uneven processing unit for performing uneven processing for molding an uneven part on a cylindrical object to be processed; and an inkjet printing unit for forming an ink image with respect to the uneven part molded at least by the uneven processing by the uneven processing unit. In a decoration method, the uneven part is molded at a trunk part of the cylindrical object to be processed, and then, the ink image is formed by the inkjet printing at least with respect to the uneven part.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to a cylindrical container having a concavo-convex image portion in which an ink image is formed while a trunk portion is subjected to concavo-convex processing, a decorating system for decorating the tubular container, and a decorating method.

Conventionally, for the purpose of improving the decorating property of a tubular processing object such as a seamless can made of a metal such as aluminum or steel, for example, forming a three-dimensional design on the outer peripheral surface of the body part of the processing object. As a specific decorating method, for example, a method of forming a three-dimensional image by performing thick printing by inkjet printing on the outer peripheral surface of the body of the object to be processed can be mentioned.
However, thick processing by inkjet printing has a problem that a large amount of ink is required to form a thick ink layer and that decoration takes a long time, resulting in low productivity.

On the other hand, as a method for forming a three-dimensional design without thickening, for example, after printing an image on the outer peripheral surface of the body of the object by plate printing or inkjet printing, embossing is performed according to this image. Processing is performed to form an uneven portion (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent No. 3823952

However, in the method of manufacturing an embossed can body as in Patent Document 1, when the image formed on the outer peripheral surface of the body of the object to be processed is an ink image formed by inkjet printing, for example, Problems such as so-called edge blurring and lightening of the color of the ink image occur near the mountain fold line (ridgeline) of the uneven portion. It is considered that this is because, when each ink dot forming the ink image is embossed, the ink dot is distorted or roughened due to expansion according to the molding of the uneven portion. Further, when an ink having a low elongation is used as the ink used for inkjet printing, the ink layer may not be sufficiently elongated at the time of unevenness processing, and the ink layer may be cracked. That is, in the method for manufacturing an embossed can body as in Patent Document 1, when an embossing process is performed after the ink image is formed by inkjet printing, a three-dimensional design is formed, and the ink image is visually recognizable. There has been a problem that the degree of unevenness due to embossing can be increased only to the extent that disorder does not occur.

The present invention solves these problems, and has a high three-dimensional design without causing problems such as blurring of edges and fading of colors, cracks of ink layers, and the like on a cylindrical object to be processed. An object of the present invention is to provide a decoration system and a decoration method that can be formed with a degree of freedom.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a cylindrical container having a high quality three-dimensional design without blurring of edges, fading of color, cracking of ink layer and the like.

The decoration system of the present invention is a concavo-convex processing unit that performs a concavo-convex process for forming a concavo-convex part on the body of a cylindrical object,
The problem can be solved by providing at least an inkjet printing unit for forming an ink image on an uneven portion formed by the uneven processing by the uneven processing unit.

The decorating method of the present invention is characterized in that an uneven image is formed on a body of a tubular object to be processed, and then an ink image is formed on at least the uneven part by inkjet printing.

The cylindrical container of the present invention is characterized by having a concave-convex image portion in which an ink image is formed by inkjet printing on the concave-convex portion formed by the concave-convex processing on the body of the cylindrical object to be processed.

According to the decorating system and the decorating method of the present invention, since an ink image is formed by inkjet printing on an uneven portion formed in advance on the body of the object to be processed, blurring of edges and fading of color, ink It is possible to form a design having a three-dimensional effect with a high degree of freedom without causing a harmful effect such as cracking of layers. Further, since the ink-jet printing is performed on an object to be processed in which the uneven portion is formed by the uneven processing in advance, it is not necessary to extend the ink layer at the time of the uneven processing. Therefore, a high degree of freedom is obtained in selecting the type of ink. Further, as compared with the case of thick printing, it is possible to form a three-dimensional design with a small amount of ink and in a short time, and thus high productivity can be obtained. Further, since the inkjet printing is a non-contact printing method, it is possible to form an ink image on a recessed portion regardless of the uneven state of the object to be processed, so that minute scratches are unavoidably formed by the uneven processing. Even in this case, it is possible to prevent the design from being impaired by forming an ink image on the minute scratches to make them inconspicuous.
Further, according to the cylindrical container of the present invention, since it has the uneven image portion in which the ink image by inkjet printing is formed on the uneven portion of the body portion of the object to be processed, the vicinity of the ridge line of the uneven pattern in the uneven image portion is provided. It is possible to obtain a high-quality three-dimensional design without blurring of edges, fading of color, and cracking of the ink layer.

It is explanatory drawing which shows roughly an example of a structure of the embossing apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows roughly an example of a structure of the inkjet printing apparatus which concerns on this invention.

[Processing object]
In the present invention, the cylindrical object to be processed specifically includes a metal can such as a beverage can having a cylindrical or conical body and a PET bottle container, a paper container, etc. Various surface-treated steel plates such as free steel (TFS), various plated steel plates such as tin plating, light metal plates such as aluminum, and various surface-treated light metal plates with surface treatment such as phosphoric acid chromate treatment, or these metal plates Drawing, drawing and ironing, drawing and redrawing, bending and stretching (stretching) by drawing and redrawing, and drawing of a resin-coated metal plate on which a resin coating made of thermoplastic resin such as polyester resin is formed. A seamless can produced by subjecting it to a conventionally known means such as bending/stretching/ironing by redrawing, impact processing of a light metal plate, and the like. In addition, a three-piece can that has undergone processes such as a tin plate cutting process, roll forming, a can body welding process, and a can body stretch forming process can also be mentioned.
It is preferable to form a white coat layer on the outer peripheral surface of the body of the object to be treated so as to conceal the background color of the object to be treated, in order to exhibit excellent sharpness in the formed ink image. The white coat layer can be formed by, for example, a white coat layer forming means installed on the upstream side of the inkjet printing unit in the conveyance route of the object to be treated. The white coat layer forming means includes, for example, a plate-type printing machine that prints a solid white image, a roller that applies white ink to the outer peripheral surface of the body of the object to be processed, and an outer periphery of the body of the object to be processed by spraying white ink. It is possible to use a sprayer or the like for coating the surface. When the white coat layer forming means forms the white coat layer in a non-contact manner, it may be installed on the downstream side of the concavo-convex processing unit and the upstream side of the inkjet printing unit. Further, instead of forming the white coat layer, a solid white (W) image may be formed as the lowermost layer of the ink image in the inkjet printing unit.
Further, it is preferable that an anchor coat layer is formed on the uppermost surface of the object to be treated. By forming the anchor coat layer, the ink image formed by inkjet printing is firmly held and fixed, and the image adhesion to the object to be processed is improved. In addition, ink bleeding can be reduced. The anchor coat layer can be formed by various conventionally known methods, and a coating solution prepared by dispersing or dissolving a transparent resin or the like having thermosetting property, ultraviolet curable property or electron beam curable property in a predetermined solvent is applied. It can be formed by drying, and then curing by heating, irradiation with ultraviolet rays, irradiation with electron beams, or the like. The anchor coat layer can be formed by an anchor coat layer forming means installed on the upstream side of the inkjet printing unit in the conveyance path of the object to be treated. The anchor coat layer forming means has a device for applying the transparent resin or the like to the outer peripheral surface of the body of the object to be treated, and examples of such an applying device include a plate-type printing machine, the above-mentioned applying roller, and a spraying device. Etc. can be used. When the anchor coat layer forming means forms the anchor coat layer in a non-contact manner, it may be installed on the downstream side of the unevenness processing unit and on the upstream side of the inkjet printing unit.
Further, the white coat layer is an anchor coat layer having a function of the white coat layer by containing a white pigment such as titanium dioxide in a coating solution containing the resin exemplified as the resin used for forming the anchor coat layer. It can also be formed.
Further, instead of forming a white coat layer, a resin-coated metal plate having a function of a white coat layer by containing a white pigment in the coating of a resin forming a resin-coated metal plate as an object to be treated. You may use what used.

The object to be processed may have an image formed in advance. Specifically, for example, unevenness processing and ink image formation may be performed by the decorating system of the present invention on an object to be processed on which a solid image or the like is printed by plate-type printing or the like. At this time, the concavo-convex processing and the formation of the ink image may be performed on the image formed in advance by plate printing or may be performed outside the image.
As the plate-type printing method, a printing method using letterpress, planographic printing, or the like, which has been conventionally used for printing seamless cans, can be adopted, and offset printing can be particularly preferably used. In offset printing, printing ink is supplied from an ink supply unit to a printing plate such as a relief plate on the plate cylinder, the ink on the halftone dots and image areas of the printing plate is transferred to a blanket, and each color of the color transferred onto the blanket is transferred. The ink is transferred onto the outer peripheral surface of the body of the object to be treated.
It is preferable that the image of the plate-type printing is temporarily cured by calcination before the unevenness processing is performed by the unevenness processing unit or before the ink image is formed by the inkjet printing unit.
Further, the object to be processed may be a label can to which a label is attached in advance. The label may be attached to the object to be processed before the concavo-convex processing is performed by the concavo-convex processing unit, or after the concavo-convex processing is performed and before the ink image is formed by the inkjet printing unit. ..

[Decorative system]
The decorating system of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
The decoration system of the present invention includes an embossing unit (concavo-convex processing unit) that performs embossing as a concavo-convex process on the body of a can C that is a cylindrical object to be processed, and at least a product formed by embossing in the embossing unit. An ink jet printing unit for forming an ink image on the uneven portion is provided. Specifically, the embossing unit is an embossing device 110 as shown in FIG. The inkjet printing apparatus 120 shown in FIG.
In the decoration system including the embossing device 110 and the inkjet printing device 120 separate from the embossing device 110, the embossing device 110 and the inkjet printing device 120 may perform inkjet printing on the same line. Well, it could be done on a different line.
In the present invention, “concavo-convex processing by the embossing device 110 and inkjet printing by the inkjet printing device 120 are performed on the same line” means that the embossing device 110 and the inkjet printing device 120 are controlled in an integrated manner. It means that embossing by the apparatus 110 and inkjet printing by the inkjet printing apparatus 120 are performed continuously or intermittently without human intervention. When embossing and inkjet printing are performed on the same line, the embossing device 110 and the embossing and inkjet printing device 120 are arranged in this order from the upstream side to the downstream side along the transport path of the can C. For example, a transporting unit (not shown) is provided for transporting the can C, which has a concavo-convex portion formed on its body by the embossing device 110, to the inkjet printing device 120.

Further, in the present invention, “the embossing device 110 and the inkjet printing device 120 perform the concavo-convex process and the inkjet printing device 120 on different lines” does not mean that the embossing device 110 and the inkjet printing device 120 are integrally controlled. In addition, a transport path such as a transport unit is not fixedly provided between the embossing device 110 and the inkjet printing device 120, and the embossing device 110 and the inkjet printing device 120 continue to print. Say not done on the same line. When embossing and inkjet printing are performed on different lines, the can C that has been embossed by the embossing device 110 is palletized once, and then the can C is transported to the inkjet printing device 120 by an appropriate transporting method to perform inkjet printing. Printing can be performed. Alternatively, the cans C, which have been embossed by the embossing device 110, may be moved to the inkjet printing device 120 by hand to perform inkjet printing.

In the decorating system having a configuration in which the embossing process and the inkjet printing are performed on separate lines, the inkjet printing can be performed on the necked can C. Specifically, the embossing device 110 forms an uneven portion on the body of the can C, applies varnish as necessary, and then performs necking, and then prints the necked can C on a printing device. Then, the ink image can be formed on the outer peripheral surface of the body of the can C by the inkjet printing device 120. Furthermore, the contents can be filled into the can C that has been subjected to the necking process, and the can C can be subjected to inkjet printing. Specifically, an embossing device 110 is used to form a concavo-convex portion on the body of the can C, and then necking is performed to fill, sterilize and seal the contents, and the sealed can C is used for the inkjet printing device 120. Then, an ink image can be formed on the outer peripheral surface of the body of the can C.

In the present invention, the concavo-convex portion refers to a shape having a non-flat convex portion and/or concave portion, for example, a shape having both a convex portion and a concave portion by embossing, or a zigzag cut by expanding is spread. This includes a shape having a concave portion due to the above, a shape having an annular concave portion by bead processing, and the like.

[Embossing device]
The embossing device 110 that constitutes the embossing unit according to the present invention forms an uneven portion by embossing the body of the can C that is the object to be processed.
As the embossing device 110, for example, one having the same configuration as the embossing device disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 4775424 or Japanese Patent No. 5428549 can be adopted. Specifically, for example, as shown in FIG. 1, one having an embossing turret 111 provided with an inner roll 113 and an outer roll 115 for embossing the can C may be mentioned. Specifically, the body of the can C carried by the holding member is provided with a rotatable holding member (not shown) carrying the can C and a carrying unit for moving the plurality of holding members along the carrying path. Further, it has an inner roll 113 and an outer roll 115 for performing uneven processing, and the inner roll 113 is provided in the holding member.
The inner roll 113 has a substantially columnar shape, and has a convex portion and a concave portion having a shape corresponding to the concave and convex portion to be formed by embossing on the outer peripheral surface thereof. In addition, the outer roll 115 is a cam-like member having a large diameter portion on a part of the circumference (for example, 1/4 circumference) and a small diameter portion on the remaining circumference. It has a convex portion and a concave portion having a shape obtained by reversing the concavo-convex shape formed in. That is, the inner roll 113 and the outer roll 115 have male and female type uneven shapes. The outer circumference of the large diameter portion of the outer roll 115 is substantially the same as the entire circumference of the inner roll 113.
In the embossing turret 111, a plurality of (16 in FIG. 1) inner rolls 113 and outer rolls 115 are attached to two shafts that rotate in synchronization with the rotation shaft 112 by planet gears, respectively, They are arranged at equal intervals so as to revolve and rotate about the rotation shaft 112 in synchronization. Then, the can C is rotated at the same circumferential speed as the inner roll 113, and the inner roll 113 and the outer roll 115 hold the body part of the can C while rotating the outer roll 115 in synchronization with the inner roll 113. The uneven shape of the inner roll 113 and the outer roll 115 is transferred to the body of the can C to form the uneven portion.

[Inkjet printer]
An inkjet printing apparatus 120 that constitutes an inkjet printing unit according to the present invention forms an ink image by inkjet printing on an uneven portion formed by embossing. The inkjet printing apparatus 120 is shown in FIG. 2, for example. As described above, the inkjet head 127, which is a print head provided so as to face the outer peripheral surface of the body of the can C supported by the mandrel 125 that is a holding member, is provided.
Specifically, in the inkjet printing apparatus 120, a plurality of rotatable mandrels 125 that fixedly support the cans C have a constant adjoining distance on the circumference of the mandrel wheel 121 with a predetermined radius of rotation. Each of the mandrel wheels 121 is rotatably provided at positions at equal intervals, and the mandrel wheel 121 is rotated so as to intermittently revolve the mandrel 125 in one direction (clockwise in FIG. 2) between a plurality of printing stations. Have. The mandrel 125 is rotated clockwise at each printing station. At each printing station, an ink jet head 127 for ejecting inks of different colors, for example, for white (W), yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C) and black (K), and a can C is provided. The ink jet heads 127 are provided so as to face each other in a non-contact state, and ink droplets of each color are ejected from the inkjet heads 127 of each color toward the outer peripheral surface of the body of the can C in each printing station. It is preferable that these inkjet heads 127 are arranged downward so that ink is dripped substantially perpendicularly to the outer peripheral surface of the body of the can C, for example.
The arrangement of the inkjet heads 127 for each color is not limited to the example shown in the figure, and may be in any order. Further, although it is subjected to the positioning process before reaching the printing station, it may be omitted depending on the design of the uneven pattern.

The inkjet head 127 may be of a piezo type, a thermal type, an electrostatic type, a bubble jet (registered trademark) type, or the like, depending on a mechanism for ejecting ink droplets, but the present invention can be used without particular limitation.
The distance between the inkjet head 127 and the body of the can C is, for example, in the range of 0.5 to 4.0 mm from the viewpoint of improving the accuracy of landing of ink droplets on the outer peripheral surface of the body of the can C. .. When the distance between the inkjet head 127 and the body of the can C is less than 0.5 mm, the inkjet head 127 may come into contact with the body of the can C.

The ink image formed by the inkjet printing apparatus 120 is formed at least on the uneven portion, but when it has a flat portion, it may be formed on the flat portion as well.
Further, the ink image formed by the inkjet printing apparatus 120 may be composed of a thick ink layer. According to the cylindrical container obtained by thick printing in addition to the uneven processing, it is possible to form fine unevenness, so that a high-quality design having an extremely delicate three-dimensional effect can be obtained.

The inkjet printing apparatus 120 shown in FIG. 2 is configured using five inkjet heads that eject inks of different colors, but the number may be increased or decreased. Also, the number of printing stations may be increased or decreased.
For example, the number of colors (different hues and shades) is increased/decreased, the number of inkjet heads is increased/decreased accordingly, or the number of inkjet heads ejecting droplets having the same color but different ejection droplet amounts is increased. Is mentioned. By using a combination of a plurality of inkjet heads of the same color and ejecting different amounts of liquid droplets, a solid image that requires high dot density so that the density becomes high, or a fine image using inkjet dots with a small diameter is required. An image with excellent sharpness can be printed at high speed so as to satisfy both a photographic image and a character image. That is, a high density is achieved with an inkjet head having a large amount of one droplet, and a fine image is realized with an inkjet head having a small amount of one droplet and the size of the dot diameter can be controlled by the number of drops. This makes it possible to efficiently handle both solid images and photographic images.
Further, it is possible to increase the number of inkjet heads (same inkjet head) that have the same color and the same amount of discharged droplets. Specifically, by arranging the same inkjet heads in the longitudinal direction of the cans C (the direction perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. 2), the cans C are long in the cylinder axis direction such as so-called long cans. In this case, the ink image can be accurately formed.
When increasing the number of inkjet heads in the same printing station, two or more inkjet heads 127 may be arranged on the outer peripheral side of the revolution track of the mandrel wheel 121, or mounted on the mandrel 125. One or two or more inkjet heads 127 may be arranged on the outer peripheral side and the inner peripheral side of the orbit of the mandrel wheel 121 with the can C in between.

〔ink〕
As the ink used for forming the ink image, a heat-drying type ink, a heat-curing type ink, an ultraviolet ray-curing type ink, an electron beam-curing type ink, or the like used in conventional inkjet printing can be used. Although the curing means and the provisional baking (temporary curing) means differ depending on the type, the heat-drying type ink can be preferably used because the equipment cost related to the attachment is inexpensive.
The heat-drying ink includes water-based type, oil-based type, solvent type and the like.

It is preferable that the ink image formed by the inkjet printing apparatus 120 is temporarily cured by calcination before the main curing is performed simultaneously with the heat curing of the finishing varnish. This makes it possible to form a sharp image without the ink spreading and bleeding. The timing of calcination differs depending on the intended ink image, the type of ink used for inkjet printing, etc., and (i) after supplying ink of all colors, (ii) immediately after supplying each ink, (Iii) After the supply of each ink, before the supply of the next ink, or (iv) immediately after the supply of the white ink and twice after the supply of all colors, it can be performed at various timings. From the viewpoint, as shown in FIG. 2, it is preferable to perform at the timing of (i) above.
When forming a solid white (W) image on the outer peripheral surface of the body of the can C in place of the white coat layer as the lowermost layer, the white (W) ink supplied first is temporarily baked, and then It is also possible to supply the inks of the respective colors onto the white (W) ink layer and perform the calcination again before the coating of the finishing varnish, and perform the calcination at the timing (iv).

The inkjet printing apparatus 120 may be provided with a finish varnish coating unit 130 that coats the finish varnish on the can C after the ink image is formed.
The finish varnish coating means 130 is provided with, for example, a sprayer 131 that applies a transparent layer of the finish varnish onto the ink image formed on the outer peripheral surface of the body of the can C in the inkjet printing apparatus 120. The finishing varnish may be applied by inkjet printing.
As the varnish, it is possible to use a transparent coating which has been conventionally used as a top coat for seamless cans and the like, and particularly a thermosetting transparent coating can be preferably used.

[Position adjusting means]
The decoration system further includes a position adjusting unit (see FIG. 3) for adjusting the carrying position of the can C with respect to the holding member so that the ink image is formed based on the alignment mark formed on the can C in the inkjet printing apparatus 120. (Not shown).
As the position adjusting means, various known ones can be used according to the type of the holding member in the inkjet printing apparatus 120.
The alignment mark can be formed at the same time when the white coat layer is formed before or after the uneven processing. When the alignment mark is formed before the concavo-convex process, the concavo-convex process is performed while adjusting the position according to the alignment mark, and then the position adjusting means adjusts the position of the can C based on the same alignment mark. Inkjet printing may be performed in this state.
Further, the alignment mark can be formed by an appropriate printing means at the time of processing the unevenness, and inkjet printing may be performed in a state in which the position of the can C is adjusted by the position adjusting means based on the alignment mark.
Further, the shape itself of the uneven portion may be used as an alignment mark during inkjet printing, and the inkjet printing may be performed with the position of the can C adjusted by the position adjusting means based on the alignment mark (shape of the uneven portion). it can.

[Decorative method]
The decorating method of the present invention uses the decorating system of the present invention described above to form an uneven portion by subjecting the barrel portion of the can C, which is a tubular object to be processed, to an uneven portion, and at least the uneven portion. On the other hand, it is a method of forming an ink image by inkjet printing.
Specifically, first, in the embossing device 110, when the can C is supplied from the can supply turret (not shown) to the position of the embossing turret 111 in FIG. 1A, the inner roll 113 is inserted into the can C. At the same time, the can C is rotated at the same peripheral speed as the peripheral speeds of the inner roll 113 and the outer roll 115. When it is revolved in this state and conveyed to the position of (b) in FIG. 1, it is illustrated by the cam member 117 arranged outside the inner roll 113 between the position of (b) and the position of (c). By pushing the outer circumference of the can C via the cam roller, the inner wall of the can C on the side in contact with the outer roll 115 is pressed by the inner roll 113 in the range from the position (b) to the position (c). While the body of the can C is being held between the roll 113 and the outer roll 115, the body of the can C is bitten by the recesses and protrusions of the inner roll 113 and the outer roll 115 for embossing. .. In this way, the concavo-convex portion is formed on the body of the can C. When the can C is conveyed to the position (d) in FIG. 1, the pressing of the cam roller by the cam member 117 is released, and the inner roll 113 is pulled out from the can C. Thereafter, the can C is carried out from the embossing turret 111 at a position (e) in FIG. 1 by a can carrying-out turret (not shown).
Next, the can C having the body portion having the uneven portion formed by embossing is conveyed to the inkjet printing apparatus 120 by an appropriate conveying means, and is fixedly carried by being fitted on the mandrel 125. The can C carried on the mandrel 125 is positioned on the printing station by rotating the mandrel wheel 121 after the ink image is positioned based on the design of the uneven portion formed on the body of the can C as necessary. The inkjet head 127 corresponding to each ink of white (W), yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K) is sequentially ejected at each printing station. An ink image is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the body of the can C mounted on the mandrel 125 in conformity with the uneven portion by embossing, whereby the uneven image portion is obtained. The can C having the concavo-convex image portion formed is subjected to calcination while being fitted to the mandrel 125, and then conveyed to the finishing varnish coating means 130, and is finished on the outer peripheral surface of the body of the can C by the sprayer 131. A varnish is applied to form a transparent layer.
After that, the can C is transferred from the mandrel wheel 121 to an appropriate transfer means and transferred to the next step. In the next step, for example, when a thermosetting ink is used for forming the ink image, the main baking of the ink of the ink image is performed at the same time as the baking of the finishing varnish, and the ultraviolet curable ink is used for forming the ink image. In some cases, irradiation with ultraviolet rays is performed. Thereby, a cylindrical container is obtained. Further, an image may be further formed on the outer surface of the bottom or the lid of the can C on which the ink image is formed by inkjet printing or the like.

(Cylindrical container)
The tubular container of the present invention obtained by the decorating system as described above is formed by ink-jet printing ink on an uneven portion formed by subjecting the body of the can C, which is a tubular object to be processed, to unevenness. It has an uneven image portion on which an image is formed. The tubular container of the present invention may have a flat image portion in which an ink image is formed by inkjet printing on a flat portion of the can C which has no unevenness.
In the tubular container of the present invention, for example, the uneven portion is formed by processing the portion that becomes relatively thick when forming a design having a three-dimensional effect by ordinary thick printing to be convex by uneven processing. ..
In the present invention, the uneven image portion in which the ink image is formed by inkjet printing on the uneven portion is enlarged in the vicinity of the mountain fold line (ridge line) of the uneven pattern in the ink image without so-called edge blurring or color fading. When observed, the ink dots formed by the droplets ejected by inkjet printing have a natural shape. When a circular ink dot is formed by ejecting ink perpendicularly to the flat portion of the uneven portion, the ink dot is formed by being jetted obliquely to the slope portion of the uneven portion. Is a slightly elliptical shape obtained by naturally falling the slope portion, but the natural shape is that the ink dots existing in the flat portion and the slope portion of the uneven pattern are deformed based on the difference in the slope. A shape that falls within a range that does not differ by more than a degree (for example, the degree of ovalization). Further, in the concavo-convex image portion of the cylindrical container of the present invention, the arrangement of ink dots on the slope portion of the concavo-convex pattern is arranged at equal intervals in a vertical view to the arrangement of the ink dots on the flat surface portion. In addition, in a case where unevenness processing is applied to a can on which an ink image is formed by ink jet printing in advance, the ink dots are spread by the uneven processing, and an ovalization different from the ovalization due to free fall, for example, a part of the ink dot Ellipse occurs in only one part, or the color fading occurs only in a part of the ink dot.

The tubular container of the present invention may have an ink image formed on the lid or bottom by inkjet printing. The lid portion and the bottom portion may not have irregularities, but may have complex irregularities with high three-dimensionality such as tabs. When the lid portion or the bottom portion has irregularities, an ink image can be formed on the irregularities by inkjet printing. When the lid and the bottom have the unevenness and the flat portion, the ink image can be formed on both the unevenness and the flat portion at the same time. The complicated unevenness with high three-dimensionality means, for example, an uneven shape in which the distance from the print head at an arbitrary point on the lid or the bottom is in the range of 0.5 to 5.0 mm.

The specific embodiment of the decorating system of the present invention has been described above, but the present invention is not limited to the above examples, and various modifications can be made without departing from the present invention described in the claims. It is possible to make design changes.
For example, the decorating system may be a decorating device in which the concavo-convex processing unit and the inkjet printing unit are incorporated in the same device. For example, a rotatable holding member that carries the can C and a transporting unit (not shown) that moves the plurality of holding members in one direction along the transporting path are provided, and the transporting unit has an upstream side in the transporting direction. A concavo-convex processing unit having an inner roll and an outer roll for performing concavo-convex processing is arranged on the body portion of the can C carried by the holding member, and is provided on the downstream side of the concavo-convex processing unit in the carrying direction of the carrying means. It may have a configuration in which an inkjet printing unit having a print head provided so as to face the body of the object to be processed carried by the holding member is arranged. Specifically, the inner roll 113 of the embossing device 110 may be provided on the mandrel 125 installed on the mandrel wheel 121 in which the printing station of the inkjet printing device 120 is installed. In such a decorating device, the molding of the concave-convex portion and the formation of the ink image are performed in a state where the cans C are carried by the same rotatable holding member.
Further, for example, the holding member for conveying the cans C is not limited to the mandrel 125, and may be a holding member for holding the bottom of the cans C by vacuum, and the lower end of the cans C is sandwiched (chuck). It may be a holding member for holding by carrying out.
Further, for example, in the decoration system in which the concavo-convex processing and the inkjet printing are continuously performed while the can C is fixedly held, the positioning of the can C with respect to the holding member before the inkjet printing can be omitted.
Further, for example, the concavo-convex processing performed in the concavo-convex processing unit is not limited to embossing, but bulging processing by water pressure, air pressure, electromagnetic force, diameter expansion processing that expands the end of the can, diameter reduction processing that contracts the end of the can Expanding process that expands the split mold inserted inside the can, bulge forming process that deforms by applying high internal pressure and axial load to the can installed in the mold and deforms it into a shape along the mold A bead process in which a bead is formed on a plate-like body and then bent is used.

110 Embossing Device 111 Embossing Turret 112 Rotating Shaft 113 Inner Roll 115 Outer Roll 117 Cam Member 120 Inkjet Printing Device 121 Mandrel Wheel 125 Mandrel 127 Inkjet Head 130 Finishing Varnish Coating Unit 131 Sprayer C Can (Processing Object)

Claims (8)

A concavo-convex processing unit that performs concavo-convex processing to form a concavo-convex portion on the body of a cylindrical object,
At least an inkjet printing unit for forming an ink image on an uneven portion formed by the uneven processing by the uneven processing unit. The inkjet printing unit has a rotatable holding member that carries the object to be processed, and a print head provided so as to face the body of the object to be processed carried by the holding member,
The inkjet printing unit includes position adjusting means for adjusting the carrying position of the object to be processed with respect to the holding member so that the ink image is formed based on the alignment mark formed on the object to be processed. The decoration system according to claim 1, which is characterized in that. The decorating system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the unevenness processing unit comprises an unevenness processing apparatus, and the inkjet printing unit comprises an inkjet printing apparatus separate from the unevenness processing apparatus. A rotatable holding member that carries the object to be processed, and a carrying unit that moves the plurality of holding members in one direction along a carrying path,
An unevenness processing unit having an inner roll and an outer roll for performing unevenness processing on the body of the object carried by the holding member is arranged on the upstream side of the carrying direction of the carrying means, and the carrying means is provided. An inkjet printing unit having a print head provided so as to face the body of the object to be processed carried by the holding member is arranged on the downstream side of the uneven processing unit in the transport direction of The decoration system according to claim 1 or 2. A decorating method comprising forming an uneven portion on a body of a tubular object to be processed, and then forming an ink image by inkjet printing on at least the uneven portion. The decoration method according to claim 5, wherein the forming of the uneven portion and the formation of the ink image are performed in a state in which the object to be processed is carried by the same holding member. A cylindrical container having an uneven image portion in which an ink image is formed by inkjet printing on an uneven portion formed by uneven processing on a body of a cylindrical object to be processed. The tubular container according to claim 7, wherein the object to be processed is a beverage can.

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