JP4688328B2 - Laminator device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
[Industrial application fields]
The present invention relates to a laminator for thermocompression bonding of a transparent film for the purpose of protecting the surface of an ID card having a photo or personal information printed on the surface. More specifically, the transparent film continuously wound in a roll shape is applied to a predetermined film. The present invention relates to a laminator apparatus which is a way stress type laminator which performs lamination while cutting to length, and which has improved countermeasures against problems caused by a transparent film cutting process.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, various ID cards have been used, and in order to prevent tampering of the ID card and improve the card life, lamination is performed by thermo-compressing a transparent film about 30 microns thick on the surface of the ID card on which desired information is printed. It has come to be done. Laminators disclosed in US Pat. No. 5,807,461 and US Pat. No. 5,783,024 are known as apparatuses suitable for such lamination processing. The laminator disclosed in US Pat. No. 5,807,461 has a transparent film (patch) pre-cut into a predetermined shape on a carrier (mounting board), and is printed while only the pre-cut patch is separated from the carrier. A method of thermocompression bonding to the ID card surface is adopted. This method is not preferable in terms of operation cost and environmental protection because the carrier is discarded as waste.
[0003]
As a lamination method that has improved such drawbacks, a method disclosed in US Pat. No. 5,783,024 has been put into practical use. FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a laminator adopting this method. In the figure, a transparent laminating roll 2 wound in a roll shape is loaded onto a supply spindle 3, and the film is conveyed along a path 240. The continuous laminated film is suspended on the roller 4 of the first conveying means, passes between the two blades of the cutter 7, passes through the second conveying means comprising the rollers 8 and 9, and passes below the laminated film leading end detection sensor 11. It is a route that passes. On the other hand, the printed ID card is inserted from the laminator entrance 251, conveyed along the path 25, positioned at the origin by the card leading edge detection sensor 17, and then the laminated film conveyance path composed of the rollers 18 and 19 and the card It is sent to the confluence of the conveyance path.
[0004]
When the leading end of the laminated film is detected by the laminated film leading end detection sensor 11, the laminate film is temporarily stopped and cut by the cutter 7. The length of the laminate film to be cut, a method for physically determined by finely adjusting the relative distance of the laminate film leading end detection sensor 11 and the cutter 7 or the laminate film destination head end detection sensor 11 by the film destination head end detection, A method is adopted in which the film is finely conveyed and determined later. The laminated film cut in this way is superposed on the printed ID card at the junction point, and is sent between the heat roller 20 and the platen roller 21 provided on the downstream side to be thermocompression bonded. Thereafter, the roller 22 and the roller 23 perform a discharging operation, and the ID card that has completed the lamination is discharged from the laminator outlet 252. As a result, since the laminate film is always used after cutting only as much as necessary, there is an advantage that a useless carrier like the laminator disclosed in US Pat. No. 5,807,461 does not remain, and it is also called a way stress type laminator. Has been.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, the way stress laminator typified in U.S. Patent No. 5,783,024, in the cutting step of Ramine preparative film by the cutter 7, when it fails to cut in life and other causes cutter, detecting a failure of cutting Therefore, if the cutting is incomplete, the laminated film continuous to the ID card is directly heat-pressed, and the printed ID card is spoiled. Such drawbacks cause an increase in ID card issuance costs, and prevent the spread of ID cards having tamper resistance and long life. It is an object of the present invention to provide a laminator apparatus that eliminates the disadvantages found in the prior art and contributes to a reduction in operation cost at a low cost.
[0006]
[Means for solving problems]
In order to solve such a problem, in the laminator apparatus according to the present invention, a first transport means for transporting a film having a thermal adhesive layer on one surface and continuously wound in a roll shape along a first path, A cutter that is provided in the middle of the conveying path and detects the leading edge of the film and then cuts the film to a predetermined length after detecting the leading edge of the film, and conveys the film cut to the predetermined length along the first path. A second transporting means, a means for transporting the card along a second path that merges with the first path at a predetermined position, and the card surface transported downstream of the merge point to be cut to the predetermined length When the film was unwound to the upstream side after the cutting operation by the cutter, the laminator apparatus provided with a means for superimposing the films on each other and thermocompression bonding was judged to have failed to cut the film if the sensor output became inactive. It has a configuration which includes a means for. In addition, when the film is rewound after the cutting operation, the film is rewound only by the first conveying means, and the second conveying means is rewound by making the conveying force of the first conveying means larger than the conveying force of the second conveying means. It is also possible to slip the film in the returning process.
[0007]
[Action]
As a result, the cutting process of the laminator film by the cutter is equipped with means for detecting the failure of cutting, so that if the cutting is incomplete, the subsequent lamination process can be interrupted and appropriate recovery measures can be taken. This makes it possible to prevent the trouble of ruining the printed ID card. Further, when the film is rewound after the cutting operation by making the conveying force of the first conveying means larger than the conveying force of the second conveying means, the film is unwound in the rewinding process only by the first conveying means. Therefore, it is not necessary to add special parts, and the laminator device can be realized at a lower cost.
[0008]
【Example】
The laminator apparatus according to the present invention uses the same configuration as that of US Pat. No. 5,783,024, and therefore can be realized with the same configuration as the schematic configuration shown in FIG. The transparent laminating roll 2 wound in a roll shape is loaded on the supply spindle 3 and conveyed along the path 240. The laminated film presence / absence sensor 10 is an optical sensor typified by a reflective optical sensor, and is provided in the middle of the conveyance path 240 to detect the presence / absence of a laminated film. The laminated film is suspended on the roller 4 of the first conveying means, passes between the two blades of the cutter 7, passes through the second conveying means consisting of the rollers 8 and 9, and is laminated film as represented by a reflection type optical sensor. The path passes below the leading end detection sensor 11. On the other hand, the printed ID card is inserted from the entrance 251 of the laminator 1, conveyed on the belt 16 driven by the roller 13, the roller 14, and the roller 15, and held by the roller 12 facing the belt 16 in the roller 13 portion. However, after the origin is positioned by the card leading end detection sensor 17, which is conveyed along the path 25 and represented by the reflection type optical sensor, the laminated film conveyance path composed of the rollers 18 and 19 and the card conveyance path merge. Sent to point.
[0009]
Laminating roll 2, as shown in FIG. 2, fed from the top end 29, a continuous laminate film 24 is cut position 28, it will be cut sequentially by the cutter 7 in the cutting position 2 7. The laminate film 24 may be a transparent film or a film subjected to hologram processing for the purpose of preventing forgery. In the actual process, when the leading end 29 of the continuous laminated film is detected by the laminate film leading end detection sensor 11, the conveyance is temporarily stopped and the cutter 7 is cut. Figure 3 shows a Ramine bets roll 2 cutting state, the top side of the continuous laminate film 24 is cut has been laminated film 30 becomes at cutting position 28 corresponding to the length L, a is cut surface 26 then It becomes the leading edge of the laminated film to be cut. Adjustment of the length L, the conventional example as well as the laminate film destination head end detection sensor 11 and the method for determining the relative distance of the cutter 7 physically fine adjustment or film leader by a laminate film destination head end detecting sensor 11, A method is adopted in which the film is finely conveyed and determined after detection.
[0010]
The laminated film 30 cut in this way is overlapped with the printed ID card at the junction point, and is sent between the heat roller 20 and the platen roller 21 provided downstream and thermocompression bonded. Thereafter, a discharge operation is performed by the rollers 22 and 23, and the ID card that has completed the lamination is discharged from the exit 252 of the laminator 1. FIG. 4 shows the ID card for which the lamination has been completed. The laminated film 30 cut on the printed ID card 31 is subjected to thermocompression bonding, but the four sides of the printed ID card 31 are provided with blanks 311, 312, 313, and 314, respectively. The relative positional relationship between the ID cards is controlled so that a desired margin can be obtained. When the laminate film 30 is thermocompression bonded so as to protrude from the printed ID card, the laminate film 30 is easily peeled off from the protruding laminate film side. Therefore, it is important to provide the above margin in order to maintain the effect of lamination. Therefore, the continuous laminate film 24 needs to be surely cut at the predetermined cutting positions 28 and 27.
[0011]
Next, a method for confirming the cutting result of the laminate film will be described. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a successful cutting of the laminate film, and FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the cutting failure. As explained earlier, the head end 29 of the continuous laminate film 24 fed out from the laminate roll 2, when it is detected sensor output with a laminate film destination head end detecting sensor 11 becomes active, the transport stop of the laminate film 24 The cutting operation is performed by the cutter 7. When this cutting operation is completed, the roller 4 of the first conveying means is rotated in the CCW direction in the drawing so that the laminate film 24 is rewound by about several millimeters. At this time, the rollers 8 and 9 functioning as the second conveying means are stopped. If the cutting of the laminated film is successful, only the continuous laminated film 24 is conveyed in the direction of the arrow R1, and the laminated film 30 after the cutting is kept in its position. As a result, the output of the laminate film destination head end detecting sensor 11 also has a left active. With these operations, it is determined that the laminate film has been cut normally. The cut laminate film 30 is conveyed in the direction of arrow A1, and the printed ID card 31 is also conveyed in the direction of arrow C1 at the same time for lamination. Done.
[0012]
If the cutting fails, the laminate film 24 is rewound in the direction of the arrow R1 after the cutting operation, and the laminate film between the cutter 7 and the rollers 8 and 9 of the second conveying means is simultaneously pulled back in the direction of the arrow R1. since the leading end 29 of the laminate film 24 is away from the laminate film destination head end detecting sensor 11, the output changes from active to inactive. Therefore, after completing the cutting operation of the laminated film 24, rewound by a predetermined amount laminated film in the first conveying unit, if the inspection output signal of the laminate film destination head end detection sensor 11, or cut was successful Can be judged.
[0013]
The first conveying means is composed of roller 4, roller 5 and roller 6, and the conveying force is set to be larger than the conveying force by the rollers 8 and 9 constituting the second conveying means. . As a result, even if the laminated film 24 is conveyed in the direction of the arrow R1 by the rollers 4, 4 and 5 while the rollers 8 and 9 are stopped, the laminated film 24 that has failed to be cut slips between the rollers 8 and 9. However, it can be conveyed in the direction of arrow R1 as it is. This action makes it possible to determine the cutting result without adding a special mechanism necessary for driving shaft reversal, such as a one-way clutch, to the driving shafts (not shown) of the rollers 8 and 9.
[0014]
FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram of a control unit mounted inside the laminator 1. The entire control unit of the laminator 1 is centered on an arithmetic processing circuit 401 composed of a microprocessor or the like, and a card transport control circuit 402, a card transport motor 403, a laminate film transport control circuit 404, a laminate film transport motor 405, and a cutter drive circuit. 406, a clutch drive circuit 407, a laminate road electric clutch 408, a laminate feed electric clutch 418, a sensor signal processing circuit 409, a heater temperature control circuit 410, a heater 411, an operation panel signal processing circuit 412, an operation panel 413, and the like. The laminate load electric clutch 408 is used to transmit or block the driving force of the laminate film conveying motor 405 to the roller 4, and the laminate feed electric clutch 418 transmits the driving force of the laminate film conveying motor 405 to the roller 8. Or used to shut off. The rollers 5 and 6 are connected to the roller 4 by a gear, and the rollers 8 and 9 are also connected to each other by a gear. Each roller along the transport path 25 is driven by transmitting the driving force of the card transport motor 403.
[0015]
Hereinafter, the operation of the control unit will be described focusing on the determination process of the laminated film cutting result. The arithmetic processing circuit 401 first rotates the laminate film transport motor 405 via the laminate film transport control circuit 404 to feed out the laminate film 24, and at the same time, the laminate load electric clutch 408 and the laminate feed electric clutch 418 are also activated. , The roller 4 and the roller 8 rotate synchronously, and are conveyed until the leading end 29 of the laminate film 24 reaches the sensitive position of the laminate film leading end detection sensor 11. When the leading end 29 of the laminate film 24 reaches the sensitive position of the laminate film leading end detection sensor 11, the output of the laminate film leading end detection sensor 11 becomes active, and this active signal is sent to the arithmetic processing circuit via the sensor signal processing circuit 409. 401. The arithmetic processing circuit 401 stops the rotation of the laminate film transport motor 405 in response to the active signal and drives the cutter 7 to perform a cutting operation.
[0016]
Thereafter, the excitation of the laminate feed electric clutch 418 is stopped, and the laminate film transport motor 405 is reversed by a predetermined amount of rotation while the excitation of the laminate load electric clutch 408 is maintained. At this time, if the output of the laminate film leading end detection sensor 11 continues to maintain the active signal, it is determined that the laminate film has been normally cut, the excitation of the laminate feed electric clutch 418 is resumed, and the laminate load electric clutch 408 is restarted. Is stopped and the laminate film transport motor 405 is driven in the forward rotation direction to transport the cut laminate film 30 to the downstream side. At this time, the card conveyance motor 403 is driven, the leading edge 310 of the printed ID card 31 is detected by the card leading edge detection sensor 17, and conveyed to the downstream side in synchronization with the laminate film 30 to execute lamination.
[0017]
In the above process, when the laminate feed electric clutch 418 is de-energized and the laminate load electric clutch 408 is kept energized, the laminate film transport motor 405 is rotated reversely by a predetermined amount of rotation to detect the laminate film leading end. When the output of the sensor 11 changes to an inactive signal, the arithmetic processing circuit 401 determines that the laminate film has failed to be cut, outputs an error message to the operation panel signal processing circuit 412, and displays error information on the operation panel 413. To warn the operator to take appropriate measures and stop the subsequent operations. As a result, the operation of transporting the printed ID card to the lamination process is also stopped.
[0018]
In the detailed description of the present invention, the card conveying motor 403 and the laminate film conveying motor 405 are separately provided as the driving source of the lamination mechanism. However, the driving force of one motor is divided into a plurality of electric clutches. It is obvious that the same effect as that of the present invention can be obtained even in the configuration in which the transmission / cutoff is performed with the. Moreover, although the reflection type optical sensor has been described as an example of the detection sensor for the laminate film or the printed ID card, it is obvious that the same effect can be obtained even if another type of sensor is substituted. Furthermore, although the material of the ID card to be laminated is generally made of PVC, it can also be laminated to a composite card such as PET-G, and the present invention can be applied regardless of the card material. It is obvious. Furthermore, the object to be subjected to lamination is not limited to an ID card, and the present invention can also be applied to an application in which lamination is performed while cutting a continuous film on a substrate having another shape.
[0019]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, in the laminator according to the present invention, the first conveying means that has a thermal adhesive layer on one surface and continuously rolls the film wound along the first path, and the conveying path. A cutter for detecting the leading edge of the film and a cutter for cutting the film to a predetermined length after detecting the leading edge of the film, and a first film for conveying the film cut to the predetermined length along the first path. 2 conveying means, means for conveying the card along a second path that merges with the first path at a predetermined position, and a film cut to the predetermined length on the card surface conveyed downstream of the junction A means for determining that the film cutting has failed if the output of the sensor becomes inactive when the film is rewound upstream after the cutting operation by the cutter to the laminator device having means for superposing and thermocompression bonding It has been configured to include. In addition, when the film is rewound after the cutting operation, the film is rewound only by the first conveying means, and the second conveying means is rewound by making the conveying force of the first conveying means larger than the conveying force of the second conveying means. Since it is possible to slip the film in the return process, it is possible to detect the failure of cutting in the cutting process of the laminator film by the cutter, and if the cutting is incomplete, the subsequent lamination process is interrupted. Thus, it is possible to cope with an appropriate restoration procedure, and it is possible to prevent the inconvenience that the printed ID card is ruined. Further, when the film is rewound after the cutting operation by making the conveying force of the first conveying means larger than the conveying force of the second conveying means, the film is unwound in the rewinding process only by the first conveying means. Therefore, it is not necessary to add special parts, and the laminator device can be realized at a lower cost.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a way stress type laminator apparatus.
FIG. 2 is a view showing an example of a laminate film used in the laminator apparatus of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a view showing an example in which a laminate film fed from a laminate roll is cut.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a state where lamination of a cut laminate film to a printed ID card is completed.
FIG. 5 is a view showing a state in which the cutting of the laminate film has been normally completed in the laminator apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a view showing a state in which the laminate film has been unsuccessfully cut by the laminator according to the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a control unit mounted on a laminator device according to the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Laminator apparatus 2 Laminate rolls 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 Laminate film conveyance roller 7 Cutter 11 Laminate film leading edge detection sensor 13, 14, 15, 12 ID card conveyance roller 16 ID card conveyance belt 17 Card leading edge detection sensor 20 Heat roller 24 Continuous laminate film 30 Cut laminate film 401 Arithmetic processing circuit 403 Card transport motor 405 Laminate film transport motor 408 Laminate load electric clutch 409 Sensor signal processing circuit 413 Operation panel 418 Laminate feed electric clutch

Claims (1)

  A first conveying means having a thermal adhesive layer on one side and continuously wound in a roll shape along the first path, and a sensor provided in the middle of the conveying path for detecting the leading edge of the film A cutter for cutting the film into a predetermined length after detecting the leading edge of the film, a second transport means for transporting the film cut into the predetermined length along the first path, and a first path at a predetermined position. A laminator device comprising: means for conveying the card along a second path that merges with the card; and means for thermocompression bonding the film cut to the predetermined length onto the card surface conveyed downstream of the junction And a means for judging that the cutting of the film has failed if the output of the sensor is inactive when the film is rewound upstream after the cutting operation by the cutter. Location.

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