JP6039489B2 - Jig for printing - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing jig that can be used mainly in an ink jet printer.

  Various apparatuses that can print on a curved surface have been proposed. As a curved surface printing apparatus capable of printing on a printing medium made of a rotating body such as a cone, for example, an apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 below has been proposed.

  The apparatus of Patent Document 1 includes a rotation support mechanism for a printing medium (10) and a sub-scanning support for an inkjet print head (30) in order to perform main scanning and sub-scanning for printing on the printing medium (10). A mechanism and a mechanism for adjusting the inclination angle of the print head arm (20) are provided.

That is, the printing medium (10) is rotatably supported about its axis by a rotation support mechanism including a lower turntable (12) having a support jig (13) and an upper presser plate (17). On the other hand, the ink jet print head (30) is supported so as to be movable up and down by a sub-scanning support mechanism including a lead screw (21) and a guide rail. Further, the opposed distance of the inkjet print head (30) to the printing surface of the printing medium (10) is kept constant by a mechanism that adjusts the inclination angle of the print head arm (20).

JP-A-5-318715

  However, in the apparatus of Patent Document 1, the rotation support mechanism includes a lower rotary table (12) having a support jig (13) and an upper presser plate (17), and a printing medium (10 ) Is complicated. Further, the sub-scanning support mechanism supports the inkjet print head (30) so as to be movable up and down along the printing medium (10) that rotates about the vertical axis, and is complicated and large. Further, a mechanism for adjusting the inclination angle of the print head arm (20) is provided in order to maintain a constant spacing between the inkjet print head (30) and the printing surface of the substrate (10). Thus, a very large and complex device must be specially manufactured.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a printing jig capable of easily and inexpensively performing curved surface printing using a general-purpose printing apparatus. .

In order to achieve the above object, a printing jig according to the present invention is a printing jig used in an apparatus including a printing medium conveyance base and a printing head that reciprocates in a direction perpendicular to the printing medium conveyance direction. And
A rack gear fixed on the transport table so as to extend in the transport direction of the print medium;
A pinion gear that meshes with the rack gear and rotates;
A reversing gear that rotates in the opposite direction to the pinion gear in conjunction with the pinion gear;
A support section for supporting a print object that rotates in conjunction with the reversing gear and has an outer peripheral side surface as a printing surface;
The main point is that

In order to achieve the above object, the printing apparatus of the present invention provides:
A printing apparatus comprising: a printing medium conveyance table; and a printing head that reciprocates in a direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the printing medium,
A rack gear fixed on the transport table so as to extend in the transport direction of the print medium;
A pinion gear that meshes with the rack gear and rotates;
A reversing gear that rotates in the opposite direction to the pinion gear in conjunction with the pinion gear;
A support section for supporting a print object that rotates in conjunction with the reversing gear and has an outer peripheral side surface as a printing surface;
The main point is that

In order to achieve the above object, the method for producing a printed material of the present invention comprises:
A printed matter manufacturing method using an apparatus including a printing medium conveyance table and a print head that reciprocates in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the printing medium,
A rack gear is fixed on the transport table so as to extend in the transport direction of the print medium,
Engage the rack gear with the pinion gear and rotate it,
In conjunction with the above pinion gear, rotate the reverse gear in the opposite direction to the pinion gear,
In conjunction with the reversing gear, the supporting part for supporting the printing object having the outer peripheral side surface as the printing surface is rotated,
The gist of the present invention is to perform printing with the print head on the outer peripheral side surface of the printing object supported and rotated by the support portion.

  In the present invention, when the transport table moves in the print medium transport direction, the rack gear fixed thereto moves in that direction. The pinion gear is rotated by the movement of the rack gear. At this time, in the pinion gear, the movement direction of the outer periphery on the print head side is opposite to the movement direction of the rack gear (that is, the conveyance direction of the print medium). As the pinion gear rotates, the reverse gear rotates in conjunction with it. The direction of rotation of the reversing gear is opposite to that of the pinion gear. Therefore, in the reverse gear, the movement direction of the outer periphery on the print head side is the same as the movement direction of the rack gear (that is, the conveyance direction of the print medium). And the printing target object which uses an outer peripheral side surface as a printing surface is supported by the support part rotated in response to the said inversion gear. For this reason, when the transport base moves in the transport direction of the print medium, the print object having the outer peripheral side surface as the print surface is supported by the support unit, and the movement direction of the outer periphery on the print head side is the movement direction of the rack gear. It rotates so that it becomes the same as that (that is, the conveyance direction of a printing medium). Therefore, the printing surface, which is the outer peripheral surface facing the print head, is printed by a print head that reciprocates in a direction perpendicular to the print medium conveyance direction with respect to a print target that moves in the same direction as the print medium conveyance direction. Is done.

  As described above, a general-purpose printing apparatus including a printing medium conveyance base and a printing head that reciprocates in a direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the printing medium can be used to easily print a printing object having an outer peripheral side surface as a printing surface. In addition, curved surface printing can be realized at low cost.

In the present invention, the pinion gear and the reversing gear are set such that the peripheral speed of the outer peripheral side surface of the printing object that is supported by the support portion and rotated is substantially equal to the transport speed of the print medium by the transport base. If you have
In the same manner as printing on a printing medium conveyed by the conveyance table, curved surface printing can be realized on the outer peripheral side surface of the printing object supported and rotated by the support unit.

In the present invention, when the outer peripheral side surface that is the printing surface is a conical shape or a truncated conical shape,
For a printing object having a conical or truncated conical printing surface, curved printing can be realized easily and inexpensively on the outer peripheral side surface using a general-purpose printing apparatus. For example, printing on a printing object such as a paper cup or a cup-shaped container can be realized.

In the present invention, when the rotation axis of the support portion is set so that the outer peripheral side surface that is the printing surface of the print object is parallel to the reciprocating direction of the print head,
When the print head reciprocates, the distance between the print head and the print surface of the print object is kept constant. Therefore, it is possible to easily and inexpensively perform curved surface printing on a printing object whose outer peripheral side surface is a printing surface by using a general-purpose printing apparatus.

In the present invention, when further provided with a masking member that is arranged along the reciprocating direction of the print head and masks the ink ejected from some of the nozzles in the print head,
The nozzles in the print head are formed so as to form a line aligned in a direction perpendicular to the reciprocating direction of the print head. Therefore, when performing curved surface printing, the distance between the printing surface and the nozzle is longer at the nozzle near the end of the row than at the nozzle near the center. For this reason, in the printing with the ink ejected from the nozzle near the end of the row, the resolution of the printed image is lowered. Therefore, the curved surface printing of a clear image can be realized by masking the ink ejected from the nozzle of the portion with the masking member.

It is a figure which shows 1st Embodiment of the jig for printing of this invention, and is a top view for demonstrating the positional relationship of a rack gear, a pinion gear, and a reverse gear. It is a figure which shows the said 1st Embodiment, and is the figure seen from the side surface in order to demonstrate the positional relationship of a rack gear, a pinion gear, and a reverse gear. It is a figure which shows the said 1st Embodiment, and is the figure seen from the front in order to demonstrate the positional relationship of a reverse gear, a support part, and a printing target object. It is a figure which shows the said 1st Embodiment, and is a figure for demonstrating the dimensional relationship of a reverse gear and a printing target object. It is a figure which shows 2nd Embodiment of the jig for printing of this invention, and is a figure explaining a masking member.

  Next, an embodiment for carrying out the present invention will be described.

  1 to 4 show a first embodiment of a printing jig to which the present invention is applied.

  This printing jig is a printing jig used in a printing apparatus including a printing medium conveyance base 1 and a printing head 2 that reciprocates in a direction orthogonal to the printing medium conveyance direction.

  As the printing apparatus, what is generally called an ink jet printer can be used.

  The transport table 1 is for mounting a print medium (not shown) such as paper or a resin film, and for transporting the print medium in the transport direction (the arrow X direction in the figure).

  The print head 2 reciprocates along the guide bar 3 in a direction (arrow Y direction in the figure) orthogonal to the print medium conveyance direction (X). The print head 2 has nozzles that eject ink on the lower surface facing the print medium. The ink ejected from the nozzles is supplied from an ink cartridge (not shown).

  As a general method of use, the printing apparatus discharges ink from the nozzles while reciprocating the print head 2 in the Y direction while mounting the print medium on the transport base 1 and transporting the print medium in the X direction. With this operation, an image, characters, or the like is printed on the upper surface of the flat print medium such as paper facing the print head 2.

  This printing jig uses the above-described printing apparatus to form a printing object 8 having a conical or frustoconical outer peripheral side surface, which is the printing surface 15, such as a paper cup or cup-shaped object. On the other hand, curved surface printing is realized.

  The printing jig is interlocked with the rack gear 5 that is fixed on the transport table 1 so as to extend in the transport direction of the print medium, the pinion gear 6 that rotates in mesh with the rack gear 5, and the pinion gear 6. And a reversing gear 7 that rotates in the opposite direction to the pinion gear 6. Further, the apparatus further includes a support portion 9 that rotates in conjunction with the reversing gear 7 and supports the printing object 8 having the outer peripheral side surface as the printing surface 15.

  This will be described in detail below.

  The rack gear 5 is fixed with the gear surface facing upward at a position outside the printing area where the print head 2 reciprocates on the transport table 1. The rack gear 5 is disposed so as to extend in the transport direction (X) of the print medium.

  The pinion gear 6 is a circular gear that meshes with the rack gear 5 and rotates. The pinion gear 6 is pivotally supported on the first pivot support 11 by the first rotating shaft 13. In addition, the print head 2 on the transport table 1 is disposed outside the printing area where the reciprocating movement is engaged with the rack gear 5.

  In this example, the reversing gear 7 is a circular gear that meshes with the pinion gear 6 and rotates in the opposite direction to the pinion gear 6. The reversing gear 7 is pivotally supported on the second shaft support 12 by the second rotating shaft 14. In addition, the print head 2 on the transport table 1 is disposed outside the printing area where the reciprocating motion is engaged with the pinion gear 6.

  The support portion 9 rotates in conjunction with the reversing gear 7 and supports the print object 8 having the outer peripheral side surface as the print surface 15. In this example, the printing object 8 is a cup-shaped object, and the support portion 9 has a truncated cone shape that fits inside the opening of the cup-shaped object. The frustoconical support portion 9 has a wider bottom surface attached coaxially to the surface of the reversing gear 7. Thereby, when the reversing gear 7 rotates about the second rotation shaft 14, the support portion 9 also rotates about the second rotation shaft 14.

  The second rotation shaft 14 that is a rotation shaft for rotating the support portion 9 is set so that the outer peripheral side surface that is the printing surface of the print object 8 is parallel to the reciprocation direction (Y) of the print head 2. . That is, with the print object 8 attached to the support portion 9, the upper side of the outer peripheral side surface of the print object 8 (the side facing the nozzle surface of the print head 2) is the reciprocating direction (Y) of the print head 2. Become parallel. Thus, the 2nd rotating shaft 14 is attached to the 2nd axis support 12 so that it may incline a little.

  A cup-shaped printing object 8 is placed on and attached to the truncated cone-shaped support portion 9. With this mounting structure, the cup-shaped print object 8 is coaxially attached to the support portion 9.

  In a state where the print object 8 is attached to the support portion 9, the print object 8 is arranged in a printable area where the print head 2 reciprocates. In this state, the center axis of the cup-shaped print object 8 is parallel to the reciprocation direction (Y) of the print head 2 in plan view. Further, the print head 2 reciprocates along the central axis of the cup-shaped print object 8. Further, the upper ridge line portion of the outer peripheral side surface of the printing object 8 that is the printing surface 15 faces the nozzle surface of the print head 2 that reciprocates. In order to realize such a positional relationship, the support portion 9 and the reversing gear 7 are disposed, and other members are also disposed in accordance with them.

  The pinion gear 6 and the reversing gear 7 are set so that the peripheral speed of the printing object 8 supported and rotated by the support portion 9 is substantially equal to the printing medium conveyance speed by the conveyance table 1. Yes.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the dimensional relationship between the reversing gear 7 and the printing object 8.

  Thus, the pitch circle diameter (dimension R1 in the drawing) of the reversing gear 7 becomes equal to the outer diameter (R2) of the central portion in the height direction of the outer peripheral side surface that is the printing surface 15 of the cup-shaped printing object 8. Is set to

  The pinion gear 6 and the reverse gear 7 have the same diameter and the same number of teeth. Thereby, the transmission of the rotation from the pinion gear 6 to the reversing gear 7 is the same in the rotation speed and the rotation speed only by reversing the rotation direction.

  In such a configuration, printing on the printing object 8 is performed as follows.

  First, the cup-shaped printing object 8 is put on and attached to the truncated cone-shaped support portion 9. When printing is started, the carriage 1 moves in the X direction while the print head 2 reciprocates in the Y direction. At this time, when the print head 2 passes over the print object 8, ink is ejected downward from the nozzles of the print head 2.

  When the transport table 1 moves in the X direction, the rack gear 5 fixed to the transport table 1 moves in the X direction (the longitudinal direction of the rack gear 5 itself). The movement of the rack gear 5 rotates the pinion gear 6 that meshes with the rack gear 5. The rotation direction of the pinion gear 6 is a direction (arrow P in the figure) in which the upper side of the first rotation shaft 13 moves opposite to the movement direction (arrow X) of the transport table 1.

  When the pinion gear 6 rotates, the reversing gear 7 engaged therewith rotates. The rotation direction of the reverse gear 7 is opposite to the rotation direction (P) of the pinion gear 6. That is, the reverse gear 7 is a direction (arrow T in the figure) in which the upper side of the second rotation shaft 14 moves in the moving direction (arrow X) of the transport table 1.

  When the reversing gear 7 rotates, the support portion 9 attached thereto rotates in the same direction. Further, the printing object 8 attached to the support portion 9 also rotates in the same direction. Therefore, the rotation direction of the printing object 8 is a direction (T) in which the printing surface 15, which is the outer peripheral surface facing the print head 2, moves in the movement direction (arrow X) of the transport table 1.

  In this state, ink is ejected from the nozzles of the print head 2 to the print surface 15, and characters, images, and the like are printed on the print surface 15 that is the outer peripheral side surface of the print object 8.

  At this time, since the peripheral speed of the printing object 8 supported and rotated by the support unit 9 is set to be substantially equal to the conveyance speed of the print medium by the conveyance table 1, printing on the conveyance table 1 is performed. It is possible to perform printing on the printing surface 15 that is the outer peripheral side surface of the cup-shaped printing object 8 in the same manner as when the medium is loaded.

  As described above, in the printing jig of the present embodiment, when the transport base 1 moves in the transport direction (X) of the print medium, the rack gear 5 fixed thereto moves in that direction (X). As the rack gear 5 moves, the pinion gear 6 rotates. At this time, in the pinion gear 6, the movement direction (P) of the outer periphery on the print head 2 side is opposite to the movement direction of the rack gear 5 (that is, the conveyance direction of the print medium; X). As the pinion gear 6 rotates, the reversing gear 7 rotates in conjunction therewith. The rotation direction (T) of the reversing gear 7 is the opposite direction to the pinion gear 6. Accordingly, in the reversing gear 7, the movement direction (T) of the outer periphery on the print head 2 side is the same as the movement direction of the rack gear 5 (that is, the conveyance direction of the print medium; X). The printing object 8 whose outer peripheral side surface is the printing surface 15 is supported by a support portion 9 that rotates in conjunction with the reversing gear 7. For this reason, when the transport table 1 moves in the transport direction (X) of the print medium, the print object 8 having the outer peripheral side surface as the print surface 15 is supported by the support 9 and the outer periphery on the print head 2 side. , So that the movement direction (T) is the same as the movement direction of the rack gear 5 (ie, the printing medium conveyance direction; X). Therefore, the printing surface 15 which is the outer peripheral side surface facing the print head 2 is orthogonal to the printing medium conveyance direction with respect to the printing object 8 moving in the same direction (T) as the printing medium conveyance direction (X). Printing is performed by the print head 2 that reciprocates in the direction (Y).

  As described above, the outer peripheral side surface is printed by using a general-purpose printing apparatus including the print medium conveyance platform 1 and the print head 2 reciprocating in the direction (Y) orthogonal to the print medium conveyance direction (X). Curved surface printing can be realized easily and inexpensively on the printing object 8 as the surface 15.

In addition, the pinion gear 6 and the reverse gear 7 are configured such that the peripheral speed of the outer peripheral side surface of the printing object 8 that is supported and rotated by the support portion 9 is substantially equal to the transport speed of the print medium by the transport base 1. Because it is set,
In the same manner as printing on the printing medium conveyed by the conveyance table 1, curved surface printing on the outer peripheral side surface of the printing object 8 supported and rotated by the support unit 9 can be realized.

Moreover, since the outer peripheral side surface which is the printing surface 15 is a cone shape or a truncated cone shape, the said printing object 8 is,
By using a general-purpose printing apparatus, curved surface printing can be easily and inexpensively realized on the outer peripheral side surface of the printing object 8 having the conical or truncated conical printing surface 15. For example, printing on the printing object 8 such as a paper cup or cup-shaped container can be realized.

Further, the second rotating shaft 14 of the support portion 9 is set so that the outer peripheral side surface, which is the printing surface 15 of the print object 8, is parallel to the reciprocating direction (Y) of the print head 2.
When the print head 2 reciprocates, the distance between the print head 2 and the print surface 15 of the print object 8 is kept constant. Therefore, curved surface printing can be realized easily and inexpensively on the printing object 8 having the outer peripheral side surface as the printing surface 15 by using a general-purpose printing apparatus.

  FIG. 5 shows a second embodiment.

  In this example, a masking member 10 is further provided that is arranged along the reciprocating direction of the print head 2 and masks the ink ejected from some of the nozzles in the print head 2.

  For this reason, the nozzles in the print head 2 are formed so as to form a line aligned in the reciprocating direction (Y) of the print head 2 and the direction (X) perpendicular thereto. Accordingly, when performing curved surface printing, the distance between the printing surface 15 and the nozzle is longer at the nozzle near the end of the row than at the nozzle near the center. For this reason, in the printing with the ink ejected from the nozzle near the end of the row, the resolution of the printed image is lowered. Accordingly, by masking the ink ejected from the nozzles of that portion with the masking member 10, it is possible to realize curved surface printing of a clear image. Other than that is the same as that of the said 1st Embodiment, and there exists the same effect.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and is intended to include the following modifications.

  In each of the above embodiments, the reversing gear 7 meshes with the pinion gear 6 and rotates in the opposite direction to the pinion gear 6, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, rotation can be transmitted between the pinion gear 6 and the reverse gear 7 via a plurality of gears. Further, rotation can be transmitted by connecting the pinion gear 6 and the reverse gear 7 with a belt or the like.

  In each of the embodiments described above, printing may be performed by changing the rotation speed of the printing object 8 with respect to the conveyance speed of the conveyance table 1 by changing the gear ratio.

  In the above description, only one set of the rack gear 5, the pinion gear 6, and the reverse gear 7 is illustrated and one print target 8 is printed. However, a plurality of sets of the rack gear 5, the pinion gear 6, and the reverse gear 7 are illustrated. A plurality of print objects 8 can be simultaneously printed in the moving direction Y of the print head 2.

In the above description, the second rotating shaft 14 is attached to the second shaft support 12 so as to be inclined slightly, and printing is performed on the outer peripheral surface of the truncated conical print object 8. Is arranged in parallel with the moving direction Y of the print head 2, so that printing can be performed on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical print object 8 whose outer diameter does not change in the axial direction.

1: Transport base 2: Print head 3: Guide bar 5: Rack gear 6: Pinion gear 7: Reversing gear 8: Print object 9: Supporting part 10: Masking member 11: First shaft support 12: Second shaft support 13: First rotating shaft 14: Second rotating shaft 15: Printing surface

Claims (7)

A printing jig used in an apparatus provided with a printing medium conveyance table and a print head that reciprocates in a direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the printing medium,
A rack gear fixed on the transport table so as to extend in the transport direction of the print medium;
A pinion gear that meshes with the rack gear and rotates;
A reversing gear that rotates in the opposite direction to the pinion gear in conjunction with the pinion gear;
A support section for supporting a print object that rotates in conjunction with the reversing gear and has an outer peripheral side surface as a printing surface;
A printing jig characterized by comprising: 2. The printing according to claim 1, wherein the pinion gear and the reverse gear are set such that a peripheral speed of a printing object that is supported and rotated by a support portion is substantially equal to a conveyance speed of a print medium by a conveyance table. Jig. The printing jig according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the printing object has a conical shape or a truncated conical outer peripheral side surface that is a printing surface. The rotation axis of the support portion is set so that an outer peripheral side surface, which is a printing surface of the print object, is parallel to the reciprocating direction of the print head. jig. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a masking member that is arranged along a reciprocating direction of the print head and masks ink ejected from a part of the nozzles of the print head. jig. A printing apparatus comprising: a printing medium conveyance table; and a printing head that reciprocates in a direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the printing medium,
A rack gear fixed on the transport table so as to extend in the transport direction of the print medium;
A pinion gear that meshes with the rack gear and rotates;
A reversing gear that rotates in the opposite direction to the pinion gear in conjunction with the pinion gear;
A support section for supporting a print object that rotates in conjunction with the reversing gear and has an outer peripheral side surface as a printing surface;
A printing apparatus comprising: A printed matter manufacturing method using an apparatus including a printing medium conveyance table and a print head that reciprocates in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the printing medium,
A rack gear is fixed on the transport table so as to extend in the transport direction of the print medium,
Engage the rack gear with the pinion gear and rotate it,
In conjunction with the above pinion gear, rotate the reverse gear in the opposite direction to the pinion gear,
In conjunction with the reversing gear, the supporting part for supporting the printing object having the outer peripheral side surface as the printing surface is rotated,
A method for producing a printed matter, wherein printing is performed with the print head on an outer peripheral side surface of a printing object supported and rotated by the support portion.

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