JP6343255B2 - Foil stamping device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a foil stamping apparatus, and more particularly to a foil stamping apparatus that transfers a color material coated on a dedicated film to a medium.

  In this specification, the term “media” refers to various recording media such as plain paper, various resin materials such as PVC, polyester, aluminum, iron, wood, cloth, and leather. The following materials shall be included.

  Conventionally, by using a dedicated film coated with a color material (in this specification, “a dedicated film coated with a color material” is appropriately referred to as “foil film”) For example, a technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 is known as a foil stamping apparatus that transfers a desired pattern or the like to a medium by transferring it to the medium.

  The foil stamping device 100 described in Patent Document 1 is driven in response to an input from a personal computer 102 and performs a foil stamping process on the media 104 by a foil stamping drive program stored in the personal computer 102.

  The foil stamping device 100 is provided with a table 108 slidably forward and rearward on the upper surface of the flat base member 106, and a holding member 110 that holds the media 104 on the table 108. Is provided.

  Further, on the rear side of the base member 106, a support member 112 standing in a gate shape is provided, and the support member 112 is provided with a slider 114 slidably provided on the left side and the right side. It has been.

  Further, the slider 114 is provided with a slider 116 slidably provided on the upper side and the lower side. The slider 116 has a pen whose tip is heated at a predetermined temperature (in this specification, "A pen whose tip is heated in a predetermined temperature range" is appropriately referred to as a "thermal pen".) 118 is gripped.

  With this configuration, in the foil stamping device 100, the relative positional relationship of the thermal pen 118 with respect to the medium 104 held by the holding member 110 can be moved in a three-dimensional direction.

  In the above configuration, when the foil pressing process is performed on the medium 104, the medium 104 is held on the holding member 110 in a state where the personal computer 102 and the foil pressing apparatus 100 are activated.

  Next, the foil film is fixedly placed on the medium 104, and the foil pressing process is executed by the foil pressing device 100 according to the foil pressing drive program stored in the personal computer 102.

  Then, the foil pressing device 100 scans the thermal pen 118 based on the graphic data stored in the personal computer 102 while pressing the tip of the thermal pen 118 onto the medium 104 via the foil film.

  At this time, since the tip of the thermal pen 118 is heated, the color material of the foil film is transferred to the area where the tip of the thermal pen 118 is pressed on the medium 104 by the heat and pressure of the thermal pen 118. The foil stamping process is performed on the medium 104.

  In such a foil stamping process performed by the foil stamping apparatus 100, a product as a figure formed on the medium 104 has a high-class feeling due to a metallic feeling or gloss that is difficult to express by a process such as general printing.

  However, in such a foil stamping apparatus 100, when the thermal pen 118 is scanned, the scanning speed is not constant during acceleration / deceleration.

  On the other hand, since it is difficult to instantaneously change the temperature of the thermal pen 118 that is heated in accordance with the acceleration / deceleration during scanning, the temperature of the thermal pen 118 is controlled to be kept constant during scanning. ing.

  For this reason, the amount of heat (heat input amount) supplied from the heat pen 118 to the foil film is not constant, and there is a problem that uneven transfer of the coloring material may occur at each location where the heat pen 118 is scanned. It was.

  In order to suppress the occurrence of such color material transfer unevenness, the acceleration when scanning the thermal pen 118 is increased, or the scanning speed when scanning the thermal pen 118 is decreased, etc. The time required for acceleration / deceleration when scanning 118 may be shortened.

  However, there is a new problem that there is a limitation in the mechanism of the foil stamping device 100 in order to increase the acceleration when scanning the thermal pen 118.

  In addition, if the scanning speed when scanning the thermal pen 118 is slow, a new problem that the processing time of the foil pressing process becomes long is caused.

JP 2005-313465 A

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described various problems of the prior art, and the object of the present invention is to prevent uneven transfer of the color material without increasing the processing time of the foil pressing process. It is an object of the present invention to provide a foil stamping device that is not likely to occur.

  In order to achieve the above object, the foil stamping apparatus according to the present invention has a response speed when changing the light intensity such as a laser or a light emitting diode (LED) as a heat source for supplying heat to the foil film. A high light source is used.

  Therefore, according to the foil stamping apparatus according to the present invention, even if the scanning speed of the light source is not constant, the amount of heat input to the foil film can be kept constant by controlling the light intensity according to the scanning speed of the light source. This can suppress the occurrence of uneven transfer of the color material.

  Further, according to the foil stamping apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to switch between irradiation (ON: ON) and non-irradiation (OFF: OFF) of the foil film even during scanning of the light source. The amount of heat can be selectively supplied.

  This prevents the foil film from irradiating light during acceleration / deceleration when scanning the light source, and irradiates the foil film only at constant speed when scanning the light source. The occurrence of unevenness can be more reliably suppressed.

  That is, the foil pressing device according to the present invention is a foil pressing device for transferring the coloring material from the foil film coated with the coloring material to the medium, and a pen that emits light for supplying heat to the foil film coated with the coloring material; Scanning means for scanning the pen by relatively changing the positional relationship between the pen and the media on which the foil film is stacked in a state where the pen is pressed on the media on which the foil film is stacked, and the scanning means And a control means for controlling the light intensity of light emitted from the pen in accordance with the scanning speed of the pen.

  Further, the foil stamping apparatus according to the present invention is the above-described foil stamping apparatus according to the present invention, wherein the control means increases the light intensity of the light emitted from the pen as the scanning speed of the pen increases, so that the scanning speed of the pen is increased. The light intensity of the light emitted from the pen is lowered as the speed becomes slower.

  Further, the foil stamping device according to the present invention is the foil stamping device according to the present invention described above, wherein the control means does not emit light from the pen at the time of acceleration / deceleration when scanning the pen, and the like when scanning the pen. Light is emitted from the pen at high speed.

  Moreover, the foil stamping apparatus according to the present invention is the above-described foil stamping apparatus according to the present invention, wherein the pen emits laser light.

  Moreover, the foil stamping device according to the present invention is such that a light absorbing sheet is stacked on the foil film in the above-described foil stamping device according to the present invention.

  Since the present invention is configured as described above, it has an excellent effect that it can provide a foil pressing device that does not cause the occurrence of uneven transfer of the coloring material without increasing the processing time of the foil pressing process. Play.

FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory diagram of a conventional foil stamping apparatus. FIG. 2 is a schematic explanatory diagram of a foil stamping apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 3 (a-1) is an explanatory view of the optical pen as viewed from the arrow A in the foil stamping apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 (a-2) shows the internal structure of FIG. 3 (a-1). FIG. 3 (a-3) is an enlarged view of the main part of FIG. 3 (a-2), and FIG. 3 (b-1) is a light in the foil stamping device according to the present invention. It is explanatory drawing equivalent to FIG. 3 (a-1) which shows the modification of a pen, and FIG.3 (b-2) is principal part sectional drawing which showed the internal structure of FIG.3 (b-1). 3 (b-3) is an enlarged explanatory view of the main part of FIG. 3 (b-2). 4 (a) and 4 (b) are explanatory views showing the operation of the foil stamping apparatus according to the present invention.

  Hereinafter, an example of an embodiment of a foil stamping device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  Here, FIG. 2 shows a schematic configuration explanatory diagram of the foil stamping apparatus according to the present invention. The foil stamping device 10 shown in FIG. 2 includes a fixed base member 14 supported by a base member 12 and extended in the main scanning direction, and arranged at right and left ends of the base member at right angles to the base member 14. Side members 16L and 16R provided, a cover portion 18 extending in the main scanning direction to connect the left and right side members 16L and 16R, and extending in the main scanning direction in parallel with the cover portion 18. A guide member 20 and a head portion 22 fixedly disposed on a wire (not shown) movably disposed in the main scanning direction and slidably disposed on the guide member 20; It has an electrostatic adsorption sheet 24 that adsorbs and holds the medium 40 (see FIG. 4A).

  The overall operation of the foil stamping device 10 is controlled by a microcomputer 50 built in the foil stamping device 10.

  More specifically, the base member 14 is provided with a grid roller 26, and a pinch roller 28 is provided above the grid roller 26.

  When the electrostatic attraction sheet 24 is sandwiched between the grid roller 26 and the pinch roller 28 and the grid roller 26 is rotated by the rotation of a servo motor (not shown), the electrostatic attraction sheet 24 is main-scanned. It is conveyed in the sub-scanning direction which is a direction orthogonal to the direction.

  The head portion 22 is fixedly disposed on a wire (not shown) and is slidably provided on the guide member 20, and is fixedly disposed on the carriage 30, which will be described later. A pen serving as a light source that functions as a heat source for supplying heat to the foil film (in this specification, “a pen serving as a light source that functions as a heat source for supplying heat to the foil film” is appropriately referred to as a “light pen”). And a light pen 34 that is held by the holding member 32 and can emit light of a predetermined intensity from the tip.

  In addition, the electrostatic adsorption sheet 24 performs electrostatic adsorption provided around the electrostatic adsorption portion 24a-1 and the electrostatic adsorption region 24a-1 that is an area that adsorbs the medium 40 by electrostatic adsorption on the upper surface 24a. And a non-adsorption region 24a-2.

  The electrostatic attraction sheet 24 is sandwiched and conveyed between the grid roller 26 and the pinch roller 28, and the grid roller 26 and the pinch roller 28 are connected to the left side end in the main scanning direction and The dimension is set so as to sandwich the non-contact region 24a-2 located at the right side end.

  In addition, conventionally known techniques such as those disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Nos. 62-123992 and 64-18042 can be applied to the electrostatic attraction sheet 24. Therefore, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

  The electrostatic attraction sheet 24 is configured not to bend with a predetermined curvature or more. The predetermined curvature is a minimum curvature that may cause a foil film (not shown) superimposed on the medium 40 to be displaced.

  And the electrostatic attraction area | region 24a-1 in this electrostatic attraction sheet | seat 24 is a dimension substantially corresponded with the maximum size of the medium 40 in which foil pressing process is possible, or larger than the maximum size of the said medium 40. FIG.

  Further, the side member 16R is provided with an operation element 36, and the microcomputer 50 incorporated in the foil pressing apparatus 10 controls the entire foil pressing apparatus 10 based on the operation of the operation element 36 by an operator. Do.

  Next, the configuration of the optical pen 34 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 3 (a-1), (a-2), and (a-3).

  The optical pen 34 serving as a light source that functions as a heat source includes a laser oscillation device 34a disposed at a predetermined location such as the base member 14, an optical fiber 34b that guides laser light emitted from the laser oscillation device 34a, and an optical fiber 34b. Has a housing portion 34c that holds the optical fiber 34b therein so as to penetrate the inside.

  The housing portion 34c is provided with a pen tip portion 34c-2 for pressing the medium 40 on a bottom surface 34c-1 facing the medium 40 positioned on the lower side (see FIG. 4A). .

  A through hole 34c-3 is formed in the bottom surface 34c-1, and a through hole 34c-4 is formed in the pen tip portion 34c-2. The through hole 34c-3 and the through hole 34c- 4, the optical fiber 34b is inserted into the through hole 34c-3 and the through hole 34c-4, and the laser beam guided by the optical fiber is irradiated from the pen tip 34c-2 to the outside. The

  Reference numeral 34c-5 is a through-hole formed in the upper side of the housing 34c in order to introduce the optical fiber 34b into the internal space of the housing 34c.

  The laser oscillation device 34a is a light source having a high response speed when changing the light intensity of the laser light, and the timing and light intensity of the laser light irradiation are controlled by the microcomputer 50.

  As the laser oscillation device 34a, for example, a semiconductor laser having a wavelength of 450 nm and a maximum output of 1 W can be used.

  In the above configuration, when a predetermined figure is formed on the medium 40 by the foil pressing process in the foil pressing device 10, first, as shown in FIG. The medium 40 is electrostatically adsorbed and fixed at a predetermined position 24a-1. In addition, the foil film 42 is overlaid on the medium 40 at this time, and further, the light absorbing sheet 44 is overlaid on the foil film 42, and the foil film 42 and the light absorbing sheet 44 are also electrostatically attracted. It is fixed on the medium 104.

  The light absorbing sheet 44 is provided to improve the absorption efficiency of the laser light emitted from the optical fiber 34b. For example, a yellow polyimide sheet having a thickness of about 25 μm can be used.

  As described above, the light absorption sheet 44 is provided to improve the absorption efficiency of the laser light emitted from the optical fiber 34b. Therefore, the light absorption sheet 44 is provided when the light intensity of the laser light emitted from the optical fiber 34b is high. It is not necessary to determine whether or not to provide the light absorbing sheet 44 according to an appropriate situation.

  Next, the electrostatic adsorption sheet 24 is sandwiched between the grid roller 26 and the pinch roller 28. At this time, the pinch roller 28 is positioned on the non-adsorption region 24 a-2 on the upper surface 24 a of the electrostatic adsorption sheet 24.

  Then, the microcomputer 50 moves in the main scanning direction on the medium 40 fixed to the electrostatic attraction sheet 24 conveyed in the sub-scanning direction based on the graphic data indicating the predetermined graphic inputted in advance. The optical pen 34 is scanned while pressing the pen tip portion 34 c-2 of the optical pen 34 provided on the head portion 22 through the light absorbing sheet 44 and the foil film 42.

  At this time, laser light is emitted from the pen tip portion 34 c-2 of the optical pen 34, and the scanning speed of the optical pen 34 is controlled by the microcomputer 50 even if the scanning speed of the optical pen 34 is not constant. Accordingly, the amount of heat input to the foil film 42 can be kept constant by controlling the light intensity of the laser light emitted from the light pen 34, thereby suppressing the occurrence of uneven transfer of the color material to the medium 40. be able to.

  Specifically, for example, the light intensity of the laser light is increased as the scanning speed of the light pen 34 is increased, and the light intensity of the laser light is decreased as the scanning speed of the light pen 34 is decreased. The amount of heat input by laser light irradiation per unit area in the irradiated region of the laser light can be kept constant.

  Further, even during scanning of the light pen 34, it is possible to switch between irradiation (ON: ON) and non-irradiation (OFF: OFF) of the laser light from the light pen 34 by the control of the microcomputer 50, so that the foil film The amount of heat can be selectively supplied to 42.

  As a result, under the control of the microcomputer 50, the foil film 42 is not irradiated with laser light during acceleration / deceleration when scanning the optical pen 34, and the foil film 42 is applied only at the constant speed when scanning the optical pen 34. A laser beam should be irradiated.

  That is, the color material is transferred from the foil film 42 to the medium 40 on the basis of the graphic data indicating a predetermined graphic inputted in advance only at the constant speed when the light pen 34 is scanned.

  Since the foil film 42 is irradiated with the laser beam only at a constant speed when the optical pen 34 is scanned, the amount of heat input by the laser beam irradiation per unit area in the irradiation region of the laser beam emitted from the optical pen 34 is always constant. As a result, the occurrence of uneven transfer of the color material to the medium 40 can be more reliably suppressed.

  As described above, by irradiating a laser beam from the optical pen 34 while pressing the optical pen 34 against the medium 40, the foil film 42 is formed on the medium 40 as shown in FIG. The color material is transferred in a predetermined graphic shape, and a predetermined graphic is formed on the medium 40.

  As described above, the foil pressing device 10 according to the present invention uses the light pen 34 having a high response speed when changing the light intensity as a heat source for supplying heat to the foil film 42.

  Therefore, according to the foil stamping device 10 according to the present invention, even if the scanning speed of the light pen 34 is not constant, the amount of heat input to the foil film 42 is constant by controlling the light intensity according to the scanning speed of the light pen 34. Therefore, the occurrence of uneven transfer of the color material can be suppressed.

  Further, according to the foil pressing device 10 according to the present invention, it is possible to switch between irradiation (ON: ON) and non-irradiation (OFF: OFF) of the foil film 42 even during the scanning of the optical pen 34. The amount of heat can be selectively supplied to the foil film 42.

  Thus, the foil film 42 is not irradiated with light at the time of acceleration / deceleration when scanning the light pen 34, and the foil film 42 is irradiated with light only at a constant speed when the light pen 34 is scanned. Thus, the occurrence of uneven transfer of the color material can be more reliably suppressed.

  The embodiment described above may be modified as shown in the following (1) to (5).

  (1) In the above-described embodiment, the case where the laser beam is emitted from the optical pen 34 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, light emitted from a light emitting diode, a halogen lamp, or the like may be emitted from the light pen 34, and any light source can be used as long as it functions as a heat source for supplying heat to the foil film 42. Light may be used.

  (2) In the above-described embodiment, the optical pen 34 guides the laser beam emitted from the laser oscillation device 34a by the optical fiber 34b and emits it from the pen tip portion 34c-2. Of course, it is not possible. For example, you may comprise a light pen as shown in FIG.3 (b-1) (b-2) (b-3).

  The optical pen 340 shown in FIGS. 3 (b-1), (b-2), and (b-3) has a laser pointer 340a that emits laser light, and a light condensing that condenses the laser light emitted from the laser pointer 340a. A lens 340b and a housing 340c for attaching the laser pointer 340a to the upper side end 340c-1 and holding the condenser lens 340b therein are configured.

  The casing 340 c is provided with a pen tip 340 c-3 for pressing the medium 40 against a bottom surface 340 c-2 facing the medium 40 located on the lower side.

  The bottom surface 340c-2 is provided with a through hole 340c-4, and the pen tip portion 340c-3 is formed of a material that transmits part or all of the laser beam, for example, quartz glass. The laser beam condensed by the condenser lens 340b passes through the through hole 340c-4 and the pen tip portion 340c-3 and is irradiated to the outside.

  The laser pointer 340a is a light source having a high response speed when changing the light intensity of the laser light, and the timing and light intensity of the laser light irradiation are controlled by the microcomputer 50.

  Also with such a light pen 340, the same operational effects as when the above-described light pen 34 is used can be obtained.

  (3) In the above-described embodiment, the pen tip 34c-2 of the optical pen 34 is provided with the through hole 34c-4, the optical fiber 34b is inserted into the through hole 34c-4, and the light is guided by the optical fiber 34b. Although the laser beam is irradiated from the pen tip 34c-2 to the outside, it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to this. That is, when the pen tip portion 34c-2 is formed of a material that transmits laser light, such as quartz glass, the laser light is emitted to the outside without providing the through hole 34c-4. Does not have to provide the through hole 34c-4.

  (4) In the above-described embodiment, the case where the optical pen 34 moves in the main scanning direction and the medium 40 on which the foil film 42 is stacked moves in the sub-scanning direction has been described. Of course not. That is, the optical pen 34 and the medium 40 on which the foil film 42 are stacked need only be able to change the relative position. For example, only the optical pen 34 may move, or Only the medium 40 on which the foil film 42 is stacked may be moved. In short, the optical pen 34 can be scanned by relatively changing the positional relationship between the optical pen 34 and the medium 40 with the foil film 42 superimposed on the medium 40 with the foil film 42 superimposed thereon. Any configuration may be adopted as long as it is a simple configuration.

  (5) You may make it combine suitably the embodiment shown above and the modification shown in said (1) thru | or (4).

  The present invention is suitable for use as a foil stamping apparatus that performs printing with a metallic feeling and a high-class feeling due to gloss.

  10,100 foil stamping device, 22 head part, 24 electrostatic adsorption sheet, 26 grid roller, 28 pinch roller, 34,340 light pen, 40 media, 42 foil film, 44 light absorption sheet, 118 thermal pen

Claims (5)

In a foil stamping apparatus for transferring the color material from a foil film coated with the color material to a medium,
A pen that emits light to supply heat to the foil film coated with the color material;
In a state where the pen is pressed on the medium on which the foil film is stacked, scanning means for scanning the pen by relatively changing the positional relationship between the pen and the medium on which the foil film is stacked;
And a control unit that controls light intensity of light emitted from the pen in accordance with a scanning speed of the pen by the scanning unit. In the foil stamping apparatus according to claim 1,
The control means includes
Increasing the light intensity of the light emitted from the pen as the scanning speed of the pen increases,
The foil pressing device, wherein the light intensity of light emitted from the pen decreases as the scanning speed of the pen decreases. In the foil stamping apparatus according to claim 1,
The control means includes
During acceleration / deceleration when scanning the pen, light is not emitted from the pen,
A foil pushing device that emits light from the pen at a constant speed when scanning the pen. In the foil stamping apparatus according to any one of claims 1 and 2,
The pen pushes out a laser beam. In the foil stamping device according to any one of claims 1, 2 and 3,
A foil stamping device, wherein a light absorbing sheet is stacked on the foil film.