JP2021045931A - Squeegee device for intaglio printing and printing device - Google Patents

Abstract

To satisfactorily eliminate in a short time, stringiness of a printing material that may occur when a blade is separated from an intaglio plate.SOLUTION: A squeegee device for intaglio printing comprises: a squeegee head that vertically movably holds a first blade; and a head elevating part that vertically moves the squeegee head. A head elevating distance of the squeegee head covered by the head elevating part is longer than a blade elevating distance of the first blade covered by the squeegee head, and therefore, when the first blade is separated upward from a plate surface after filling of a printing material, the first blade is moved up in the squeegee head after the head elevating part moves up the squeegee head by just the head elevating distance.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

The present invention relates to an intaglio printing squeegee device that scrapes off the printing material adhering to the plate surface of the intaglio plate and fills the recesses provided on the plate surface with the printing material, and a printing device using the device.

Many intaglio printing techniques have been proposed for printing a pattern formed of a printing material such as ink on a flat plate base material (glass plate, resin film, etc.) or a three-dimensional base material (container, bottle, etc.). For example, in the printing apparatus described in Patent Document 1, ink is filled in the recesses provided on the plate surface of the intaglio plate corresponding to the above pattern to form an ink pattern (filling step). The ink pattern is received by the transfer roller (acceptance process). The accepted ink pattern is transferred to the substrate (transfer process).

JP-A-2018-158499

In the filling step, ink is supplied to the intaglio from a supply unit such as a dispenser. Further, the doctor blade is lowered and the tip member abuts on the plate surface of the intaglio plate to press it. In this state, the intaglio moves horizontally. As a result, ink is filled in the recesses on the plate surface of the intaglio plate, and excess ink is scraped off from the plate surface. Further, for the purpose of preventing the ink remaining on the intaglio plate after the ink is received by the transfer roller from drying and sticking to the plate surface, the tip member of the doctor blade for temporary filling is brought into contact with the plate surface to make the ink. Temporary filling is performed (temporary filling step).

When the above-mentioned filling step and temporary filling step are completed, each doctor blade moves upward and retracts from the intaglio. At this time, an ink stringing phenomenon, that is, a phenomenon in which the ink extends like a thread and is connected between the plate surface of the intaglio plate and the tip member of the doctor blade may occur. Then, the ink in the stringed state may interfere with the device component and stain the device component. Here, the above problem can be avoided by stopping the operation of each part of the device and waiting until the stringing is eliminated, but the printing tact increases by the amount of the waiting time.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to satisfactorily eliminate the stringiness of the printing material generated when the blade separates from the intaglio in a short time.

The first aspect of the present invention is to obtain a printing material that adheres to the plate surface by moving the first blade relative to the intaglio plate in the first horizontal direction while the tip of the first blade is pressed against the plate surface of the intaglio plate. An intaglio printing squeegee device that scrapes and fills recesses provided on the plate surface with printing material. A squeegee head that holds the first blade so that it can be raised and lowered in the vertical direction, and a head elevating part that raises and lowers the squeegee head in the vertical direction. The head elevating distance of the squeegee head by the head elevating part is longer than the blade elevating distance of the first blade in the squeegee head, and when the first blade is separated upward from the plate surface after filling the printing material. The head elevating portion raises the squeegee head by the head elevating distance, and then raises the first blade in the squeegee head.

A second aspect of the present invention is a printing device, which has the intaglio printing squeegee device, and is covered with a printing pattern of the printing material formed by filling the recesses with the printing material by the intaglio printing squeegee device. It is characterized in that it is transferred to a transfer body and a print pattern is printed.

As described above, in the present invention, when the filling of the printing material in the recess is completed, it is necessary to separate the first blade upward from the plate surface. Here, when the first blade is raised in the squeegee head following the filling of the printing material, the moving distance, that is, the blade raising / lowering distance of the first blade is relatively short, so that the stringing of the printing material is effective in a short time. It is difficult to solve the problem. Therefore, in the present invention, the first blade is raised together with the squeegee head by a head raising / lowering distance longer than the blade raising / lowering distance prior to raising the first blade alone. Therefore, even if stringing occurs, the stringing state can be satisfactorily resolved in a short time while the squeegee head is rising.

It is a schematic diagram which shows the schematic configuration example of the printing system equipped with the squeegee unit corresponding to 1st Embodiment of the intaglio printing squeegee apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the plate stage unit and the squeegee head. It is a block diagram which shows the electrical structure of a printing system. It is a front view of the squeegee unit equipped with the printing apparatus shown in FIG. It is a side view of the squeegee head which comprises the squeegee unit. It is a flowchart which shows the operation of a blanket roll, a stage and a squeegee unit. It is a figure which shows typically the operation of the squeegee unit in a filling process and a temporary filling process. It is a figure which shows typically the operation of the squeegee unit in a filling process and a temporary filling process. It is a figure which shows typically the operation of the squeegee unit in a filling process and a temporary filling process. It is a figure which shows typically the operation of the squeegee unit in a filling process and a temporary filling process. It is a figure which shows typically the operation of the squeegee unit in a filling process and a temporary filling process. It is a figure which shows typically the operation of the squeegee unit in a filling process and a temporary filling process. It is a figure which shows typically the operation of the squeegee unit in a filling process and a temporary filling process. It is a figure which shows typically the operation of the squeegee unit in a filling process and a temporary filling process.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a schematic configuration example of a printing system equipped with a squeegee unit corresponding to the first embodiment of the intaglio printing squeegee device according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a plate stage unit and a squeegee head. Further, FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the printing system. The printing system 100 includes articles having a rotationally symmetric shape around an axis of rotational symmetry parallel to the horizontal direction X, such as a glass container or bottle, a resin container or bottle, etc. This is a system for printing an ink pattern corresponding to the concave portion Pb provided on the plate surface Pa of the concave plate P on the side surface Ba (referred to as "bottle B"). Here, in order to show the directions in each figure in a unified manner, the horizontal direction orthogonal to the X direction is defined as the Y direction, and the vertical direction is defined as the Z direction. Further, in each of the following figures, the dotted arrow attached in the vicinity of the component indicates the movement of the component.

The printing system 100 includes two sets of printing devices, that is, a first printing device 101 and a second printing device 102, each of which prints on the side surface Ba of the bottle B with one ink color. These printing devices 101 and 102 are arranged in parallel in the X direction. More specifically, the printing device 102 points in the arrow direction X1 in the X direction when viewed from the printing device 101, and conversely, the printing device 101 points in the arrow direction X2 in the X direction when viewed from the printing device 102. Since the two printing devices 101 and 102 are provided in this way, the printing system 100 can perform two-color printing on the side surface Ba of the bottle B. It is also possible to configure a single-color printing system in which one set of printing devices is provided, or a multi-color printing system in which three or more sets of printing devices are provided.

The first printing device 101 and the second printing device 102 include a plate stage unit 1, a squeegee unit 2, a transfer unit 3, and a temporary curing unit 4, respectively. These units are arranged side by side in the above order from the Y2 direction side to the Y1 direction side. Further, the main curing device 200 is provided on the Y1 direction side of the second printing device 102. The bottle B is circulated by the bottle transfer device 400 while being held by the bottle holding device 300 between the first printing device 101, the second printing device 102, the main curing device 200, and the bottle attachment / detachment station (not shown). Be transported. In the present embodiment, the bottle B is attached to and removed from the bottle holding device 300 by a manual operation by an operator at the bottle attachment / detachment station. On the other hand, in order to automate other operations, the printing system 100 further includes a control device 900 that controls the operation of each of these units.

The first printing device 101 and the second printing device 102 have the same configuration and execute the same printing process as described below. The printing process in the printing system 100 is
(1) Formation of an ink pattern using photocurable ink by the plate stage unit 1 and the squeegee unit 2,
(2) Acceptance of ink pattern by transfer unit 3,
(3) Transfer of the ink pattern from the transfer unit 3 to the side surface Ba of the bottle B,
(4) Temporary curing of ink by light irradiation from the temporary curing unit 4.
After executing the single-color printing operation consisting of each of the above steps on the printing devices 101 and 102, respectively,
(5) Main curing of ink by the main curing device 200,
It is completed by executing.

More specifically, the bottle B is attached to and detached from the bottle holding device 300 by a manual operation by an operator at the bottle attachment / detachment station. That is, after the printed bottle B is removed from the bottle holding device 300, the bottle B to be printed is attached to the bottle holding device 300. The bottle B thus attached is rotatably held around the axis of rotational symmetry by the bottle holding device 300, and in that state, is conveyed to the first printing device 101 by the bottle conveying device 400 integrally with the bottle holding device 300. In the first printing device 101, each of the above steps (1) to (4) is executed on the bottle B while the bottle B is rotatably held by the bottle holding device 300. After that, the bottle holding device 300 holding the bottle B is conveyed from the first printing device 101 to the second printing device 102.

As shown in FIG. 2, the plate stage unit 1 includes a stage 11 on which an intaglio P for forming an ink pattern is placed on the upper surface. The stage 11 is attached to the base portion 13 via the alignment mechanism 12. An alignment drive unit 12a (FIG. 3) is connected to the alignment mechanism 12, and the stage 11 is moved in the XYZ direction and the rotation direction around the Z axis in response to a control command from the control device 900. In particular, in order to control the height position of the plate surface Pa of the intaglio P mounted on the stage 11, the alignment drive unit 12a moves the stage 11 up and down in the Z direction, and the intaglio mounted on the stage 11 in the vertical direction Z. The plate surface Pa of P is positioned at the scraping height position (reference numeral H1 in FIGS. 7A, 7B, 7C) and the receiving height position (reference numeral H3 in FIGS. 7A, 7B, 7C). As the alignment mechanism 12, for example, a cross roller bearing mechanism can be used.

The base portion 13 is engaged with a guide rail 14 extending in the Y direction on the pedestal of the printing system 100. A base drive unit 13a (FIG. 3) is connected to the base unit 13, and the stage 11 is reciprocated in the Y direction along the guide rail 14 in response to a control command from the control device 900. The position closest to the Y2 direction side in the movable range of the base portion 13 (the position shown by the solid line in FIG. 2) is the home position of the base portion 13.

An alignment camera (not shown) is arranged above the stage 11 when it is positioned at the home position. The alignment camera captures an alignment mark provided on the peripheral edge of the intaglio P or the upper surface of the intaglio P placed on the stage 11, and sends the image data to the control device 900. The control device 900 detects the position of the intaglio P on the stage 11 and operates the alignment mechanism 12 as necessary to adjust the position of the intaglio P to an appropriate position.

A squeegee unit 2 and a transfer unit 3 are provided along a path in which the base portion 13 moves from the home position in the Y1 direction. The squeegee unit 2 includes a nozzle 23 facing the upper surface of the intaglio P mounted on the stage 11 passing directly under the squeegee unit 2. Photocurable ink (hereinafter, may be simply referred to as “ink”) is supplied to the nozzle 23 from the ink supply unit 24 controlled by the control device 900. The supplied ink is ejected from the ejection port provided at the lower end of the nozzle 23, and is applied to the plate surface Pa of the intaglio P.

Photocurable inks are made from pigments as color initiators, polymer materials (including at least one of monomers and oligomers) that form a strong polymer layer by polymerization, and active species produced by chemical changes upon exposure to light. It contains a photopolymerization initiator that promotes the polymerization reaction of the polymer material.

A first blade mechanism 21 that functions for main filling is provided on the Y1 direction side of the nozzle 23, and a second blade mechanism 22 that functions for temporary filling is provided on the Y2 direction side. The main filling process is executed by the doctor blade provided in the first blade mechanism 21, and the temporary filling process is executed by the doctor blade provided in the second blade mechanism 22. By performing these two types of filling treatments, ink is filled in the recess Pb provided on the plate surface Pa of the intaglio P while preventing ink sticking, while excess ink other than that is removed to form an ink pattern. .. The configuration and operation of the squeegee unit 2 will be described in detail later.

The intaglio P filled with ink in this way further moves in the Y2 direction and reaches the arrangement position of the transfer unit 3. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the transfer unit 3 includes a blanket roll 30, a roll rotating portion 33 for rotating the blanket roll 30, and a roll horizontal moving portion 34 for moving the blanket roll 30 in the Y direction (FIG. 3). And have. More specifically, the blanket roll 30 includes, for example, a blanket cylinder 31 which is a metal cylinder and a blanket 32 wound around the surface thereof, and has a substantially cylindrical shape as a whole. The blanket roll 30 is rotatably supported by a frame (not shown), and is rotationally driven around the central axis shown by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 1 by the roll rotating portion 33 controlled by the control device 900.

The blanket 32 is made of an elastic resin material, for example, a silicone resin, and can support an ink pattern on its surface. The blanket 32 has a thickness sufficiently larger than the unevenness that may occur on the surface of the bottle B, which is the side surface Ba of the bottle B. As shown in FIG. 2, when the intaglio P placed on the stage 11 passes directly under the blanket roll 30, the surface of the blanket 32 comes into contact with the upper surface of the intaglio P. At this time, the ink filled in the recess of the intaglio P is transferred to the surface of the blanket 32. In this way, the ink pattern on the intaglio P is accepted by the blanket 32.

The ink pattern once received (primary transfer) on the blanket 32 is secondarily transferred to the surface of the bottle B, which is the final transfer body. As described above, the blanket 32 functions as an intermediate transfer body that temporarily supports the ink pattern that is finally transferred to the side surface Ba of the bottle B. In this embodiment, two printing devices 101 and 102 are provided to form two types of ink patterns.

In the printing system 100 configured in this way, the bottle transfer device 400 is controlled by the control device 900, so that the bottle holding device 300 becomes a bottle attachment / detachment station, a first printing device 101, a second printing device 102, and a book. It is circulated and conveyed in the order of the curing device 200. Of these, at the bottle attachment / detachment station, the operator manually attaches / detaches the bottle B to the conveyed bottle holding device 300. That is, when the printed bottle B is attached to the bottle holding device 300, the holding of the bottle B by the bottle holding device 300 is released and the printed bottle B is removed from the bottle holding device 300. On the other hand, when the bottle B before printing is not attached to the bottle holding device 300, the operator carries the bottle B before printing to the bottle holding device 300 and holds the bottle B before printing by the bottle holding device 300. When the bottle B mounting operation is completed in this way and an input to that effect is input to an input device (not shown) such as an operation panel, the control device 900 that receives the bottle B mounting operation sets the bottle holding device 300 that holds the bottle B to the first printing device. It is transported to 101 for printing processing.

This printing process is realized by the control device 900 executing a program stored in advance and causing each part of the device to execute a predetermined operation. In this printing process, the intaglio P is carried into the first printing apparatus 101, set on the stage 11, and undergoes alignment adjustment. On the other hand, in the bottle holding device 300 conveyed to the first printing device 101, a motor (not shown) starts operating in response to a drive command from the control device 900, and the bottle B rotates about an axis of rotational symmetry. .. The printing start position of the bottle B is detected during the rotation, and the rotation amount of the bottle B is adjusted based on the detection result, so that the bottle B is positioned so that the printing start position faces the printing device 101. The positioning process may be performed based on an image obtained by imaging the bottle B with a camera in the same manner as the alignment adjustment process of the intaglio P, or the sensor detects a specific part of the bottle B with a sensor. It may be performed based on the detection signal output from. In any case, in the present embodiment, the positioning process of the bottle B with respect to the printing apparatus 101 is automatically performed in parallel with the alignment adjusting process of the intaglio P. Of course, the positioning process of the bottle B may be configured to be performed in parallel with the ink pattern receiving process in the printing apparatus 101 described below.

Subsequently, the stage 11 of the first printing apparatus 101 starts moving in the Y1 direction, the photocurable ink is applied to the plate surface Pa of the intaglio P from the nozzle 23 of the squeegee unit 2, and the doctor blade of the first blade mechanism 21. By scraping off the excess ink, the recess Pb of the plate surface Pa is filled with the ink. As the stage 11 moves further and passes directly under the rotating blanket roll 30, the ink pattern formed on the intaglio P is received on the surface of the blanket 32. After that, the bottle holding device 300 moves in the Y1 direction, and the printing start position of the side surface Ba of the bottle B is pressed against the surface of the blanket 32. As a result, the transfer of the ink pattern from the blanket 32 to the bottle B is started. In this transfer process, the ink pattern on the surface of the blanket 32 is sequentially transferred to the bottle B by rotating with each other while the blanket 32 receiving the ink pattern and the bottle B are in contact with each other.

Here, the body portion Bb of the bottle B is in contact with the backup roller (not shown), and when the ink pattern reaches the contact position with the backup roller as the bottle B rotates, uncured ink is discharged from the bottle B. It may be transferred to the backup roller. Further, when the bottle B rotates one turn or more, the ink pattern on the side surface Ba of the bottle B may be re-transferred to the blanket 32. These disturb the ink pattern on the side surface Ba of the bottle B and contaminate the blanket 32 and the backup roller with ink.

In order to prevent this problem, a temporary curing treatment is performed by irradiation with a relatively low exposure amount of ultraviolet rays. That is, light (ultraviolet rays) is irradiated from the temporary curing unit 4 toward the surface of the bottle B immediately after the ink pattern is transferred from the blanket 32. As will be described later, the light emitted from the temporary curing unit 4 increases the viscosity of the ink by polymerizing a part of the polymer material contained in the ink, but has a property of not curing the entire ink. It is a thing.

As the viscosity of the ink increases in this way, the adhesiveness to other objects decreases, and when the side surface Ba of the bottle B carrying the ink comes into contact with the backup roller or the blanket 32, the ink may be transferred to these. Be prevented.

When the printing process in the printing device 101 is completed, the bottle holding device 300 is conveyed from the first printing device 101 to the second printing device 102 while holding the bottle B on which the ink pattern is printed. Then, the printing process is performed by the second printing device 102 in the same manner as in the first printing device 101. As a result, another ink pattern by the second printing apparatus 102 is superimposed and printed on the already printed ink pattern. After that, the bottle holding device 300 is conveyed from the second printing device 102 to the main curing device 200 while holding the bottle B on which these ink patterns are printed.

At this point, the ink is not completely cured. In order to completely cure this, the main curing device 200 irradiates the bottle B with light (ultraviolet rays) having a higher output than the temporary curing unit 4. As a result, the ink is completely cured and printing is completed. After that, the bottle holding device 300 is returned from the main curing device 200 to the attachment / detachment station while holding the bottle B. Such a series of operations is repeatedly executed.

Next, the configuration of the squeegee unit 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, and then the operation of the squeegee unit 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7A to 7H.

FIG. 4 is a front view of the squeegee unit mounted on the printing apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and is a view of the entire squeegee unit 2 viewed from the Y1 direction side toward the Y2 direction. Further, FIG. 5 is a side view of the squeegee head constituting the squeegee unit, and shows the blade posture at the time of performing the main filling process as described in detail later. The squeegee unit 2 includes a squeegee head 2H and a head elevating portion 2E that raises and lowers the squeegee head 2H in the vertical direction Z.

The squeegee head 2H includes a head body 20, a first blade mechanism 21, a second blade mechanism 22, a nozzle 23, and an ink supply unit 24. On the other hand, the head elevating portion 2E has rails 25 and 25 extending in the vertical direction Z, support plates 26 and 26, air cylinders 27 and 27, and connecting members 28 and 28.

As shown in FIG. 4, the rails 25 and 25 extending in the Z direction are fixedly arranged apart from each other in the X direction at intervals slightly narrower than the size of the head body 20 in the X direction. Along these rails 25, 25, the head body 20 is vertically movable in the vertical direction Z. Support plates 26 and 26 are fixedly arranged on the X1 direction side and the X2 direction side of the head body 20, respectively. An air cylinder 27 is attached to the plane of each of the support plates 26, 26 on the Y1 direction side. Each air cylinder 27 is connected to the head body 20 via a connecting member 28. Then, when each air cylinder 27 moves the connecting member 28 in the Z2 direction in response to a lowering command from the control device 900, the squeegee head 2H is located directly above the plate surface Pa of the intaglio plate P as shown in FIGS. 4 and 7A. It is positioned (hereinafter referred to as "head lowering position H2"). At this time, the stage 11 is positioned so that the plate surface Pa is located at the scraping height position (reference numeral H1 in FIG. 7A) in the vertical direction Z.

On the contrary, when each air cylinder 27 moves the connecting member 28 in the Z1 direction in response to the ascending command from the control device 900, the squeegee head 2H is at the highest position of the blanket roll 30 (hereinafter, "" It is positioned at a position higher than the blanket upper limit position H4) (hereinafter referred to as “head rising position H5”). The distance at which the squeegee head 2H is moved in the vertical direction Z by the head elevating portion 2E in this way is referred to as a "head elevating distance DH". In the present embodiment, the head elevating unit 2E uses the air cylinders 27 and 27 as the elevating drive source, but other elevating drive sources such as a motor may be used.

The first blade mechanism 21 and the ink supply unit 24 are attached to the Y1 direction side of the head body 20 driven up and down in this way, while the second blade mechanism 22 is attached to the Y2 direction side. Further, at the lower end of the head body 20, four nozzles 23 are arranged in the X direction with the discharge ports facing downward.

The ink supply unit 24 has four syringes 241. In each syringe 241, the upper end is connected to an ink tank (not shown) and the lower end is connected to the nozzle 23 via a tube 242. Therefore, when all the syringes 241 are operated in response to a command from the control device 900 in a state where the stage 11 holding the intaglio P is positioned at the predetermined ink supply position PY3 as shown in FIG. 7A, the viscosity becomes relatively high. The ink (reference numeral IK in FIG. 7A) is ejected downward from the ejection port of the nozzle 23 and is supplied to the plate surface Pa of the intaglio P.

The first blade mechanism 21 is provided for so-called main filling, in which the ink supplied to the plate surface Pa is filled in the recess Pb to form an ink pattern, and as will be described later, for temporary filling after the acceptance process. A second blade mechanism 22 is provided. The first blade mechanism 21 and the second blade mechanism 22 have a substantially symmetrical configuration with the head body 20 interposed therebetween. Therefore, in the following, the configuration of the first blade mechanism 21 will be described, and the configuration of the second blade mechanism 22 will be designated by a corresponding reference numeral and the description of the configuration will be omitted.

The first blade mechanism 21 includes a doctor blade 211 for main filling, a blade elevating portion 212, an ink receiving member 213, and a moving mechanism portion 214. In FIG. 5, the doctor blade 211 is moved up and down in the vertical direction Z with respect to the head body 20 by the blade elevating portion 212 in a posture in which the tip portion 211a extends diagonally downward to the left (hereinafter referred to as “main filling posture”). That is, in the blade elevating portion 212, the slider 212b is provided so as to be movable in the vertical direction Z with respect to the rail 212a attached to the head body 20 on the Y1 direction side. The upper end of the blade support member 212c is fixed to the slider 212b. The blade support member 212c extends in the Z2 direction, and the doctor blade 211 is attached in the Z2 direction from the lower end thereof in the main filling posture. In this way, the blade elevating portion 212 movably supports the doctor blade 211 in the vertical direction Z while maintaining the main filling posture.

Further, the blade elevating part 212 has an air cylinder 212d as a drive source for moving the doctor blade 211 in the vertical direction Z. The air cylinder 212d is fixed to the head body 20 by a cylinder support member (not shown) with the piston portion 212e facing the Z2 direction. The piston portion 212e is connected to the upper end portion of the blade support member 212c by the connecting member 212f. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, when the piston portion 212e of the air cylinder 212d extends downward in response to a command from the control device 900, the doctor blade 211 is positioned in the downward position in the main filling posture. The distance that the doctor blade 211 is moved in the vertical direction Z by the air cylinder 212d in this way is referred to as a "blade elevating distance DB".

The ink receiving member 213 has a dish shape extending in the X direction, and is supported by the moving mechanism portion 214 at a position directly below the doctor blade 211 (FIGS. 7A, 7F, etc.) and on the Y1 direction side from the position directly below. It is moved to and from a separation position (FIG. 7B, FIG. 7C, etc.). The size of the ink receiving member 213 in the X direction is longer than that of the doctor blade 211, and both ends of the ink receiving member 213 in the X direction are supported by the lower ends of the swing plates 214a and 214a of the moving mechanism portion 214, respectively. .. Each of the swing plates 214a and 214a has a substantially right angle bracket shape when viewed from the paper surface side (X1 direction side) in FIG. The upper ends of the swing plates 214a and 214a are swingable around the swing shaft AX (FIG. 4) extending in parallel with the X direction with respect to the protrusions protruding from the head body 20 in the Y1 direction. ing.

In the present embodiment, the swing plates 214a and 214a stand still with the ink receiving member 213 positioned directly below the doctor blade 211 while no external force is acting on the swing plates 214a and 214a (FIG. FIG. In 5, see the swing plates 224a and 224a of the second blade mechanism 22). On the other hand, when an external force acts on the swing plates 214a and 214a, the swing plates 214a and 214a swing accordingly. More specifically, in the present embodiment, a roller 212g that functions as a cam in the Y1 direction is rotatably attached from the lower end of the blade support member 212c. Further, a cam follower portion 214b projecting toward the roller 212g is provided on the side surface of the swing plate 214a on the Y2 direction side. Therefore, when the doctor blade 211 descends in the Z2 direction, the swing plate 214a is swung along the arrow R1 while the peripheral surface of the roller 212g is in sliding contact with the cam follower portion 214b. As a result, the ink receiving member 213 moves from the position directly below the doctor blade 211 to the separated position. On the contrary, when the doctor blade 211 rises in the Z2 direction, the swing plate 214a swings in the direction opposite to the arrow R1, and the ink receiving member 213 moves from the separated position to the position directly below the doctor blade 211. In this way, the moving mechanism unit 214 reciprocates the ink receiving member 213 between the directly below position and the separated position in conjunction with the raising and lowering of the doctor blade 211 by the blade elevating unit 212.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the blanket roll, the stage, and the squeegee unit. Further, FIGS. 7A to 7H are diagrams schematically showing the operation of the squeegee unit in the filling process and the temporary filling process. When the printing operation is started in the printing devices 101 and 102, the stage 11 on which the intaglio P is placed is moved to the ink supply position PY3 as shown in FIG. 7A (step S21). Further, the stage 11 is lowered so that the plate surface Pa of the intaglio P is located at the scraping height position H1 in the vertical direction Z at the same time as or before and after the stage movement (arrow M1).

In the squeegee unit 2, the head elevating unit 2E operates in synchronization with the descent of the stage 11, and the squeegee head 2H is lowered from the head raising position H5 to the head lowering position H2 as shown by the arrow M2 (step S31). Subsequently, the ink IK is ejected from each nozzle 23 and supplied to the plate surface Pa (step S32). As a result, an ink reservoir is formed on the plate surface Pa.

When the ink supply is completed, the stage 11 moves from the ink supply position PY3 to the main filling start position PY4 as shown by the arrow M3 in FIG. 7B (step S22). As a result, the ink pool is located on the Y1 direction side from the position directly below the doctor blade 211.

In the squeegee unit 2, after the movement of the stage 11 to the main filling start position PY4 is completed, the doctor blade 211 for main filling is lowered by the blade elevating portion 212 (arrow M4), and the tip portion 211a of the doctor blade 211 (FIG. 5). Is in contact with the plate surface Pa on the Y2 direction side of the ink pool (step S33). Further, the ink receiving member 213 moves to a separated position in conjunction with the lowering of the doctor blade 211 (arrow M5).

When the main filling preparation is completed in this way, the stage 11 moves from the main filling start position PY4 (dotted line position) to the main filling completion position PY1 as shown by an arrow M6 in FIG. 7C (step S23). That is, the doctor blade 211 is moved relative to the intaglio P in the Y1 direction while the tip portion 211a of the doctor blade 211 is pressed against the plate surface Pa, so that the ink IK on the plate surface Pa is scraped off and provided on the plate surface Pa. The recess Pb (FIG. 1) is filled with ink IK. As a result, the ink pattern IKP is formed on the intaglio P (main filling process).

Next, in order to shift to the acceptance process, it is necessary to retract the doctor blade 211 above the plate surface Pa of the intaglio plate P. However, immediately after the main filling process, ink IK is attached to the tip portion 211a of the doctor blade 211, and if the doctor blade 211 is raised in that state, stringing of the ink IK may occur. If the printing process is continued while the stringing is generated, the peripheral configuration of the doctor blade 211 may be contaminated. Further, if the ink receiving member 213 is returned to the position directly below while the stringing is generated, the ink IK adheres to the ink receiving member 213.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, before the doctor blade 211 is raised by the blade elevating portion 212 in the squeegee unit 2, the squeegee head 2H is greatly raised by the head elevating portion 2E as shown by the arrow M7 in FIG. 7D. .. More specifically, the blade elevating unit 212 raises the squeegee head 2H from the head lowering position H2 by the head elevating distance DH while keeping the ink receiving member 213 at the separated position, and positions the squeegee head 2H at the head elevating position H5 (step S34). The stringing of the ink IK is eliminated during the ascending movement of the squeegee head 2H, and contamination of the ink receiving member 213 is also avoided.

In synchronization with the rise of the squeegee head 2H, the stage 11 is raised so that the plate surface Pa is located at the receiving height position H3 (step S24: arrow M8). Here, the acceptance height position H3 is a position where the ink pattern IKP coincides with or is slightly higher than the lowermost lower limit position of the blanket 32 in the vertical direction Z, and the height position of the plate surface Pa on which acceptance to the blanket 32 can be executed is defined. Means.

In this way, when the preparation for the acceptance process is completed, the roll rotating portion 33 starts the rotation of the blanket roll 30 (step S11), and at the same time, the stage directly below the blanket roll 30, that is, the stage toward the acceptance start position. The movement of 11 is started (step S25). Then, as shown in FIG. 7E, the ink pattern IKP is primarily transferred from the plate surface Pa to the blanket 32 while the intaglio P passes the acceptance start position due to the movement of the stage 11 in the Y2 direction (arrow M9) (acceptance). processing). Then, the rotation of the blanket roll 30 is stopped in synchronization with the movement (step S26) of the stage 11 to the acceptance completion position (not shown) (step S12).

While the acceptance process is being executed, in the squeegee unit 2, the doctor blade 211 is raised by the blade elevating distance DB by the blade elevating portion 212 as shown by the arrow M10 in FIG. 7E (step S35). Further, in conjunction with this, the ink receiving member 213 is moved from the separated position to the position directly below (arrow M11). In this way, the squeegee head 2H is returned to the initial state, and can receive the ink IK dripping from the tip portion 211a of the doctor blade 211 during standby and effectively prevent contamination by the ink IK.

After the acceptance process is completed, the temporary filling process is executed independently of the transfer of the ink pattern IKP received by the blanket roll 30 to the bottle B (steps S13 and S14) (steps S27 to S29 and S36 to S39). As shown in FIG. 7F, the stage 11 is moved in the Y1 direction as it descends from the receiving height position H3 to the scraping height position H1 (step S27: arrow M12) and is positioned at the temporary filling start position PY2 (step S27: arrow M12). Step S28: Arrow M13). This "temporary filling start position PY2" means the position of the stage 11 when the end portion of the plate surface Pa in the Y1 direction is located directly below the doctor blade 221 for temporary filling.

On the other hand, in the squeegee unit 2, the head elevating portion 2E operates in synchronization with the descent of the stage 11, and the squeegee head 2H is lowered from the head raising position H5 to the head lowering position H2 as shown by the arrow M14 (step S36). .. Further, after the positioning of the stage 11 to the temporary filling start position PY2 is completed, the temporary filling blade elevating portion 222 lowers the temporary filling doctor blade 221 (arrow M15), and the tip portion 221a of the doctor blade 221 (FIG. 5). ) Comes into contact with the plate surface Pa (step S37). Further, the ink receiving member 223 moves to a separated position in conjunction with the lowering of the doctor blade 221 (arrow M16).

When the temporary filling preparation is completed in this way, the stage 11 moves from the temporary filling start position PY2 (dotted line position) to the temporary filling completion position PY5 as shown by the arrow M17 in FIG. 7G (step S29). That is, the doctor blade 221 is moved relative to the intaglio P in the Y2 direction while the tip portion 221a of the doctor blade 221 is pressed against the plate surface Pa, so that the ink IK on the plate surface Pa is inked in the recess Pb (FIG. 1). IK is fed to prevent the ink IK remaining in the recess Pb from drying and sticking (temporary filling process).

After the temporary filling process is completed, the squeegee head 2H is returned to the initial state in the same manner as after the main filling process. That is, in the squeegee unit 2, as shown by the arrow M18 in FIG. 7G, the squeegee head 2H is raised from the head lowering position H2 by the head raising / lowering distance DH by the head raising / lowering portion 2E, and is positioned at the head raising position H5 (step S38). ). The stringing of the ink IK is eliminated during the ascending movement of the squeegee head 2H, and contamination of the ink receiving member 223 is also avoided. Subsequently, as shown by the arrow M19 in FIG. 7H, the doctor blade 221 is raised by the blade elevating distance DB by the blade elevating portion 222 (step S39). Further, in conjunction with this, the ink receiving member 223 is moved from the separated position to the position directly below (arrow M20), and receives the ink IK dripping from the tip portion 221a of the doctor blade 221 to effectively contaminate the ink IK. Can be prevented.

The series of operations described above is repeated to continuously print on the bottle B.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the doctor blade 211 immediately after the main filling treatment and the doctor blade 221 immediately after the temporary filling treatment are raised in two steps. In the first stage, since the head elevating distance DH is relatively long, even if the stringing occurs immediately after the ascent, the stringing can be forcibly eliminated during the ascending. Therefore, contamination due to stringing can be reliably prevented.

Further, since the first step of raising is executed with the ink receiving members 213 and 223 positioned at separate positions, contamination of the ink receiving members 213 and 223 due to stringing can be reliably prevented.

Further, focusing only on eliminating the stringing, it may be possible to wait for the stringing to be eliminated after the raising of each of the doctor blades 211 and 221 is completed, but the printing tact increases by the amount of the waiting time. I will be there. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, since the stringing is eliminated during the ascending of the doctor blades 211 and 221, deterioration of the printing tact can be surely prevented.

Further, it is conceivable to lengthen the blade elevating distance DB in order to eliminate the stringing during the ascending of the doctor blades 211 and 221. However, since it is necessary to raise and lower the doctor blades 211 and 221 individually, it is necessary to set a long piston stroke of the air cylinder as a drive source for any of the blade raising and lowering portions 212 and 222. Therefore, it is unavoidable to increase the size and weight of the squeegee head 2H. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the ascending distance of the doctor blades 211 and 221, that is, the blade elevating distance DB is set short, while the common head elevating portion 2E is used to greatly elevate both doctor blades 211 and 221. There is. Therefore, the size and weight of the squeegee head 2H can be reduced, and the operating speed of the doctor blades 211 and 221 can be increased.

Further, in the above embodiment, the ink receiving members 213 and 223 are configured to move in conjunction with the raising and lowering of the doctor blades 211 and 221. Therefore, the ink receiving members 213 and 223 can be moved with a simple configuration and at an appropriate timing, and the ink IK dropped from the tip portions 211a and 221a of the doctor blades 211 and 221 can be reliably collected. it can.

As described above, in the above-described embodiment, the doctor blades 211 and 221 correspond to examples of the "first blade" and the "second blade" of the present invention, respectively. Further, the Y direction, the Y1 direction and the Y2 direction correspond to the "horizontal direction", the "first horizontal direction" and the "second horizontal direction" of the present invention, respectively. Further, the blade elevating portions 212 and 222 correspond to examples of the "first blade elevating portion" and the "second blade elevating portion blade" of the present invention, respectively. Further, the ink receiving members 213 and 223 correspond to examples of the "first receiving member" and the "second receiving member" of the present invention, respectively. Further, the positions directly below the doctor blades 211 and 221 correspond to the "first position directly below" and the "second position directly below" of the present invention, respectively. Further, the moving mechanism units 214 and 224 correspond to examples of the "first moving mechanism unit" and the "second moving mechanism unit" of the present invention, respectively. Further, the ink supply unit 24 corresponds to an example of the "supply unit" of the present invention. Further, the ink IK and the ink pattern IKP correspond to an example of the "printing material" and the "printing pattern" of the present invention, respectively. Further, the bottle B corresponds to an example of the "transferred body" of the present invention.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications other than those described above can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, the present invention is applied to a printing apparatus that performs main filling and temporary filling, but the present invention is also applied to a printing apparatus that performs only main filling and an intaglio printing squeegee apparatus equipped in the printing apparatus. Can be applied.

Further, although the present invention is applied to a printing apparatus for printing an ink pattern IKP on a bottle B, the present invention also applies to an intaglio printing technique using another three-dimensional base material and a flat plate base material (glass plate, resin film, etc.) as a transfer target. Can be applied.

Further, in the present embodiment, the present invention is applied to a printing apparatus using the blanket roll 30 as an intermediate transfer body, but the present invention can also be applied to other intaglio printing apparatus.

The present invention is applicable to all intaglio printing squeegee devices and all printing devices using the intaglio printing squeegee device, which scrapes the printing material adhering to the plate surface of the intaglio plate and fills the recesses provided on the plate surface with the printing material.

2 ... Squeegee unit (squeegee device for intaglio printing)
2E ... Head elevating part 2H ... Squeegee head 11 ... Stage 20 ... Head body 21 ... First blade mechanism 22 ... Second blade mechanism 23 ... Nozzle 24 ... Ink supply unit 101 ... First printing device 102 ... Second printing device 211,221 ... Doctor blades 211a, 221a ... (Doctor blade) tip parts 212, 222 ... Blade elevating parts 214, 224 ... Movement mechanism parts B ... Bottle (transferred body)
DH ... Head lifting distance IK ... Ink (printing material)
IKP ... Ink pattern (printing pattern)
P ... Intaglio Pa ... Plate surface Pb ... Concave Z ... Vertical direction

Claims (6)

With the tip of the first blade pressed against the plate surface of the intaglio, the first blade is moved relative to the intaglio in the first horizontal direction to scrape off the printing material adhering to the plate surface and to the plate surface. An intaglio printing squeegee device that fills the recesses provided with the printing material.
A squeegee head that holds the first blade up and down in the vertical direction,
The squeegee head is provided with a head elevating part that elevates the squeegee head in the vertical direction.
The head elevating distance of the squeegee head by the head elevating portion is longer than the blade elevating distance of the first blade at the squeegee head.
When the first blade is separated upward from the plate surface following the filling of the printing material, the head elevating portion raises the squeegee head by the head elevating distance, and then the squeegee head raises the squeegee head in the squeegee head. An intaglio printing squeegee device characterized by raising the first blade. The intaglio printing squeegee device according to claim 1.
The squeegee head
A head body that is raised and lowered in the vertical direction by the head raising and lowering portion,
A first blade elevating part that elevates the first blade in the vertical direction with respect to the head body,
The printing material dripping from the first blade can be received at the position directly below the first blade, and the separation position laterally separated from the position directly below the first blade and the position directly below the first blade. The first receiving member provided so as to be able to reciprocate between and
The first receiving member is moved to the separated position in conjunction with the lowering of the first blade by the first blade elevating portion, and the first blade is interlocked with the ascending of the first blade by the first blade elevating portion. An intaglio printing squeegee device having a first moving mechanism portion for moving the receiving member to the position directly below the first. The intaglio printing squeegee device according to claim 1 or 2.
A printing material that adheres to the plate surface by moving the second blade relative to the intaglio in the second horizontal direction opposite to the first horizontal direction while the tip of the second blade is pressed against the plate surface. Temporarily fill the recess with
The head elevating distance is longer than the blade elevating distance of the second blade at the squeegee head.
When the first blade is separated upward from the plate surface following the temporary filling, the head elevating portion raises the squeegee head by the head elevating distance, and then the second blade is moved in the squeegee head. Intaglio printing squeegee device that raises the blade. The intaglio printing squeegee device according to claim 3.
The squeegee head
A second blade elevating part that elevates the second blade in the vertical direction with respect to the head body,
The printing material dripping from the second blade can be received at the position directly below the second blade, and the separation position laterally separated from the position directly below the second blade and the position directly below the second blade. A second receiving member that can be reciprocated between and
The second receiving member is moved to the separated position in conjunction with the lowering of the second blade by the second blade elevating portion, and the second blade is interlocked with the ascending of the second blade by the second blade elevating portion. An intaglio printing squeegee device having a second moving mechanism portion that moves the receiving member to the position directly below the second. The intaglio printing squeegee device according to any one of claims 1 to 4.
The squeegee head is an intaglio printing squeegee device having a supply unit for supplying the printing material to the plate surface. The intaglio printing squeegee device according to any one of claims 1 to 5 is provided.
A printing apparatus characterized in that a printing pattern of the printing material formed by filling the recesses with the printing material by the intaglio printing squeegee device is transferred to a transfer target to print the printing pattern.

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