JP7139211B2 - Information processing apparatus, printing system, and information processing method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, a printing system, and an information processing method used in a printing system.

Conventionally, in a printing system such as a gravure printing system, information regarding the quality of a base material may be handled for quality control of a base material such as a web. For example, in the technique of Patent Document 1, when color misregistration occurs on a web in multicolor printing, data indicating the position of the color misregistration is generated, and the data is used for web inspection.

JP-A-2003-72037

The technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-200000 only provides information on the range of the base material in which an abnormality such as a color misregistration occurs, and does not provide information on the printing operations of individual printing units. In addition, it is not easy to grasp the correspondence relationship between the information about print quality and the printed portion after printing. For example, an image of a printed base material is displayed on a display, and based on the display, the printing state of the actual printed matter is checked to determine the quality. In addition, image processing is performed on captured image data to detect printing defects such as adhesion of dust. However, if a printing abnormality is discovered at this stage, it is difficult to analyze the image data by comparing the color shift information and the like, because the image data and the color shift information are not associated with each other. There is a problem that there is Based on these findings, the inventors of the present invention have recognized that there is room for improvement in the prior art in order to achieve advanced information management.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An aspect of the present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and one of the objects thereof is to provide a technology capable of realizing advanced information management in a printing system.

In order to solve the above problems, an information processing apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention is an information processing apparatus used in a printing system in which a printing unit prints on a base material that is continuously conveyed, and holds print information. A print information storage unit is provided. When the substrate is divided into a plurality of unit areas in the conveying direction, the printing system is configured to acquire images of each of the plurality of unit areas printed by the printing unit as image information. It includes operation information about the printing operation for the unit area of the unit and image information of the unit area. Motion information corresponding to the same unit area is associated with image information of that unit area.

Another aspect of the present invention relates to a printing system comprising a printing unit for printing on continuously transported substrates and an information processing device as described above.

Another aspect of the present invention is an information processing method. This method is an information processing method used in a printing system in which a printing unit prints on a base material that is continuously conveyed, wherein when the base material is divided into a plurality of unit areas in the conveying direction, the same unit area and the image information obtained for the unit area are stored in the print information storage unit.

Arbitrary combinations of the above constituent elements, and mutually replacing the constituent elements and expressions of the present invention in methods, systems, etc. are also effective as aspects of the present invention.

According to the present invention, advanced information management can be achieved in a printing system.

1 is a configuration diagram showing a printing system in which a control device according to an embodiment is used; FIG. It is a block diagram which expands and shows a part of FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing functions of the printing system of the embodiment; FIG. FIG. 4(a) is a view of the base material viewed from arrow Pb in FIG. 1, and FIG. 4(b) is an enlarged view of range Pc in FIG. 4(a). 4A and 4B are diagrams illustrating examples of information held by a motion information storage unit and information held by an image information storage unit according to the embodiment; FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of information held by a print information storage unit according to the embodiment; FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the process which the data processing part of embodiment performs. 7 is a graph showing misregistration amounts of the second to fourth printing units for each ordinal number of unit areas. 7 is a graph showing cumulative misregistration amounts from a first detection mark to another detection mark for each ordinal number of unit areas;

[Embodiment]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention will be described below based on preferred embodiments with reference to the drawings. In the embodiment and modified examples, the same or equivalent constituent elements and members are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant explanations are omitted as appropriate. In addition, the dimensions of the members in each drawing are appropriately enlarged or reduced for easy understanding. Also, in each drawing, some of the members that are not important for explaining the embodiments are omitted.
Also, terms including ordinal numbers such as first, second, etc. are used to describe various components, but these terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from other components, and the terms The constituent elements are not limited by

In the following description, "parallel" and "perpendicular" include not only perfectly parallel and perpendicular, but also deviate from parallel and perpendicular within a margin of error.

The main configuration of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. FIG. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a printing system 10 using a control device 16 of the embodiment. FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing an enlarged part of FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the functions of the printing system 10. As shown in FIG. FIG. 4 shows a printed substrate 12. As shown in FIG. FIG. 4(a) is a view of the substrate 12 viewed from the arrow Pb of FIG. 1, and FIG. 4(b) is an enlarged view of the range Pc of FIG. 4(a). FIG. 4(a) shows the detection marks 28 and identification information 56 printed on the substrate 12, and FIG. 4(b) is an enlarged view of the detection marks 28-A to 28-D. The detection mark 28 and the identification information 56 will be described later.

The printing system 10 is for sequentially printing on a continuously transported substrate 12 by a plurality of printing units 14-A through 14-D. In this specification, "printing" includes the case of transferring ink so as to form a predetermined pattern such as characters and patterns intermittently, as well as the case of transferring ink so as to be uniformly continuous. be The former is performed, for example, by gravure printing or offset printing, and the latter is performed, for example, by a coater. In this embodiment, an example in which a gravure printing system is applied to the printing system 10 will be described.

The substrate 12 in this embodiment is a web, but it may be a box-making sheet, a sheet, or the like. The base material 12 is supplied from a base material supply mechanism (not shown) and is continuously conveyed using a conveying member such as a guide roll (not shown).

The printing system 10 mainly includes a plurality of printing units 14-A to 14-D, an image information acquisition device 58, a control device 16, an information processing device 18, a start signal sensor 52, and an identification information printing unit. 54.

(printing unit)
The plurality of printing units 14-A to 14-D are arranged in order in the conveying direction Pa of the substrate 12. As shown in FIG. In this embodiment, four printing units 14-A to 14-D are arranged. Hereinafter, the plurality of printing units 14-A to 14-D are named "first, second, third, and fourth" in the conveying direction Pa of the substrate 12, and are denoted by "-A , -B, -C, -D” to distinguish them. When referring generically, these are omitted. The same is true when distinguishing components associated with each of the plurality of printing units 14-A through 14-D.

The printing unit 14 is for printing on the substrate 12 by transferring ink from the transfer roll 20 to the substrate 12 . The printing units 14 of this embodiment transfer different colors of ink to the substrate 12 in individual printing units 14 . The transfer roll 20 is set to have the same peripheral length Ls in each printing unit 14 . The printing unit 14 mainly includes a drive motor 22 and a rotation detection device 24 in addition to the transfer roll 20 . The printing units 14-B to 14-D are further equipped with sensors 26. As shown in FIG.

(drive motor)
The drive motor 22 is for driving the transfer roll 20 . The printing system 10 of this embodiment employs a sectional drive method in which each transfer roll 20 is independently driven by an individual drive motor 22 .

(Rotation detector)
The rotation detection device 24 is connected to the rotation shaft of the drive motor 22 . The rotation detection device 24 is for detecting the rotation angle of the transfer roll 20 . The rotation detection device 24 may be, for example, an encoder, resolver, or the like. The rotation detection device 24 of this embodiment functions as an incremental rotary encoder. The rotation detection device 24 can output an origin pulse signal of one pulse per rotation at a predetermined rotation angle of the transfer roll 20 and an encoder pulse of a plurality of pulses (for example, 1000 pulses) per rotation.

(detection mark)
Before describing the sensor 26, the detection marks will be described. As shown in FIG. 4A, the detection mark 28 is printed together with one printed image such as a pattern each time the transfer roll 20 rotates once. The detection mark 28 of the present embodiment is a register mark used for register control, which will be described later. The detection marks 28 of the present embodiment are printed so as to line up in the transport direction Pa corresponding to each of the plurality of printing units 14 . For example, the first detection mark 28-A is printed by the first printing unit 14, and the second detection mark 28-B is positioned downstream and adjacent to the first detection mark 28-A. It is printed by the printing unit 14-B. Also, the third detection mark 28-C is printed by the third printing unit 14 at a position adjacent to the downstream side of the second detection mark 28-B, and the fourth detection mark 28-D is printed on the third detection mark 28-D. It is printed by the fourth printing unit 14-D at a position adjacent to the detection mark 28-C on the downstream side. Note that it is not essential that the first to fourth detection marks 28-A to 28-D are printed at this position in this order, and they may be printed at another position in another order. For example, the first to fourth detection marks 28-A to 28-D may be arranged in this order from the downstream side to the upstream side.

(sensor)
Sensor 26 is for detecting operational information regarding the printing operation of printing unit 14 . The sensor 26 of this embodiment detects the amount of misregistration as operation information of the printing unit 14 . As shown in FIG. 4B, the misregistration amount here refers to the detection printed by the printing unit 14 to which the printing unit 14 belongs from a specific point on the detection mark 28 printed by the printing unit 14 adjacent on the upstream side. Refers to the distances A2 to A4 to a specific point of the mark . Distances A2 to A4 may be referred to as motion information A2 to A4. As shown in FIG. 1, the sensor 26 of the present embodiment is provided on the downstream side (hereinafter simply referred to as "downstream side") in the transport direction Pa from the transfer roll 20 of the printing unit 14 to which it belongs. The sensors 26 of this embodiment are individually provided in the second printing unit 14-B to the fourth printing unit 14-D. It should be noted that it is not essential that the sensor 26 is provided at such a position, and the sensor 26 may be provided at any position where the amount of misregistration can be detected.

As shown in FIG. 4A, the base material 12 and the base material 12 printed by the printing unit 14 (hereinafter sometimes referred to as "printing base material 12p") are arranged in a plurality of directions in the transport direction Pa. are divided into unit areas 46 and managed for each unit area 46 . Therefore, the motion information detected by the sensor 26 includes information on the printing position using the detection mark 28 printed on each unit area 46 shown in FIG. 4(a) as a reference mark. Example motion information includes information about the relative position of another mark printed by another printing unit.

(Image information acquisition device)
As shown in FIG. 2, the image information acquisition device 58 is for acquiring an image of a predetermined range of the printing substrate 12p. The image information acquisition device 58 of this embodiment functions as an imaging device. The image information acquisition device 58 of this embodiment acquires the range of each unit area 46 as a still image. Specifically, the continuously conveyed printing material 12p is irradiated with a strobe (not shown) at a predetermined timing, and an image of the printing material 12p at that timing is captured by a camera (not shown). Therefore, the image information acquisition device 58 can acquire the still image for each unit area 46 .

The image information acquisition device 58 of this example is connected to the control device 16 and acquires the image by imaging the unit area 46 at the timing based on the control of the image acquisition control section 35 of the control device 16 . The image information acquisition device 58 also outputs the acquired image to the control device 16 as image information. The image acquisition control section 35 sequentially stores the image information acquired from the image information acquisition device 58 in the image information storage section 45 of the information processing device 18 . Therefore, the image information storage unit 45 stores time-series image information arranged in chronological order. The image information acquisition device 58 of FIG. 2 is also connected to a display (not shown), and can display image information on the display. The operator can perform a visual inspection based on the still image of the unit area 46 of the printing substrate 12p displayed on the display. That is, the image information acquisition device 58 constitutes a still image photographing device.

Further, the image information acquisition device 58 may send the acquired image as image information to the defect detection device. In this case, the defect detection device can image-process the image information from the image information acquisition device 58 and detect printing defects such as dust adhering to the unit area 46 .

(function block)
Each functional block such as the control device 16 and the information processing device 18 shown in FIG. Although it is realized by a computer program or the like, functional blocks realized by their cooperation are drawn here. Therefore, those skilled in the art who have read this specification will understand that these functional blocks can be implemented in various ways by combining hardware and software. The configuration and related operations of each functional block of the control device 16 will be described below. The information processing device 18 will be described later.

(Control device)
The control device 16 is for controlling the printing unit 14, the image information acquisition device 58, the identification information printing section 54, and the marking device (not shown). The control device 16 of FIG. 3 includes a control section 30 , a control information storage section 32 , an identification information print control section 33 , an image acquisition control section 35 and a marking control section 37 . The control section 30 controls the plurality of printing units 14 . The control information storage unit 32 holds information used for controlling the control unit 30 .

(Image acquisition controller)
The image acquisition control unit 35 performs image information acquisition so as to acquire an image of a predetermined unit region 46 of the printing base material 12p conveyed from the printing unit 14 that prints on the continuously conveyed base material 12 in a predetermined cycle. Control device 58 . Here, the image information acquisition device 58 may acquire an image of the printing substrate 12p at a timing that is out of phase with the printing position of the unit area 46. If the image of the printing substrate 12p is acquired at this timing, Since an image in the middle of the continuous unit area 46 is acquired, the entire unit area 46 cannot be displayed, which hinders the visual inspection. Therefore, the image acquisition control unit 35 of the present embodiment detects the printing cycle of the printing unit 14 and controls the image information acquiring device 58 so as to acquire the image of the printing substrate 12p at the timing corresponding to the detection result. .

The print cycle of the printing unit 14 can be detected by obtaining the cycle of repetitive motion of each part of the printing unit 14 . In this embodiment, the printing unit 14 has a transfer roll 20 that transfers ink to the substrate 12, and one unit area 46 is printed each time the transfer roll 20 rotates. A rotation cycle can be a print cycle. In particular, the present embodiment controls the image information acquiring device 58 so as to acquire the image of the printing base material 12p at the timing determined based on the rotational phase of the transfer roll 20. FIG. That is, in the present embodiment, the rotational phase of the transfer roll 20 is detected, and the strobe light is emitted at a timing having a fixed phase relationship with the detected rotational phase to perform imaging. This phase relationship may be set by experiment, or may be set by calculation based on the dimensions, distances, conveying speed of the substrate 12, and the like.

In this embodiment, the origin pulse signal from the rotation detection device 24 is used as the predetermined phase signal based on the rotation phase of the transfer roll 20 . The origin pulse signal in this example is a signal of one pulse (=one cycle) per rotation of the transfer roll 20, and is a pulse signal having a rising or falling edge at a predetermined rotation angle for each rotation of the transfer roll 20. be.

(Identification information printing unit)
Next, the identification information printing section 54 will be explained. The identification information printing section 54 is for printing the identification information 56 on each of the plurality of unit areas 46 under the control of the control device 16 . An example of the printed identification information 56 is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the identification information printing section 54 of the embodiment is arranged immediately after the sensor 26 of the fourth printing unit 14-D. The identification information printing section 54 may be arranged at another position within the range from the upstream side of the first printing unit 14-A to the downstream side of the fourth printing unit 14-D. The identification information printing unit 54 in this example is an inkjet type printing device that sprays droplets of ink onto the substrate 12 . The identification information printing unit 54 may be a printing device using another printing method such as laser printing.

The identification information 56 is printed on each unit area 46 to identify the plurality of unit areas 46 . The identification information may be anything that can identify each of the plurality of unit areas 46 included in the base material 12, and may be numbers, letters, figures, symbols, patterns, barcodes (including two-dimensional barcodes), or composites thereof. may include The identification information 56 of the present embodiment may be generated based on the order numbers assigned to the individual unit regions 46 in ascending order from the downstream side to the upstream side of the substrate 12 . By arranging the identification information printing unit 54 immediately after the sensor 26 of the unit 14-D, the identification information 56 is the order number associated with the operation information (misregistration amount) from the sensor 26 of the unit 14-D. generated based on The identification information 56 may be converted from the ordinal number by a predetermined data processing, but in this example, the ordinal number is used as the identification information 56 as it is. Operation information and ordinal numbers will be described later.

(Identification information print control unit)
The identification information printing control section 33 acquires the identification information 56 and controls the identification information printing section 54 so as to print the identification information 56 at a predetermined position. The identification information print control unit 33 of the present embodiment acquires the order number from the information processing device 18 and controls the identification information print unit 54 to print the acquired order number in the corresponding unit area 46 . The identification information 56 may be printed at a position avoiding the detection mark 28 .

(Marking control unit)
When the abnormality determination unit 40 determines that the operation information (misregistration amount) obtained from the printing substrate 12p exceeds a predetermined reference value (for example, 100 μm), the marking control unit 37 determines that there is an abnormality. , controls the marking applicator to apply a visible marking to the printed substrate 12p. The marking is visible and can be removed later. In this embodiment, a peelable tape piece is attached to the printing substrate 12p as the marking. The abnormality determination unit 40 will be described later.

The controller 30 is connected to the drive motor 22 , the rotation detector 24 and the sensor 26 . Operation information (misregistration amount) detected by the sensor 26 and the rotation angle of the transfer roll 20 detected by the rotation detection device 24 are input to the control unit 30 . Upon receiving the motion information detected by the sensor 26 , the control portion 30 stores the motion information in the control information storage portion 32 .

The control unit 30 executes register control for controlling the register adjustment mechanism based on the misregister amount of the printing unit 14 so as to reduce the misregister amount. In this embodiment, the drive motor 22 of the printing unit 14 is used as the register adjustment mechanism, and register control is executed by correcting the rotation phase of the transfer roll 20 so that the amount of misregister becomes small. Since this register control is publicly known, the description is omitted.

(Information processing device)
The information processing device 18 includes a data processing section 34 , a storage section 36 , an output section 38 and an abnormality determination section 40 . The storage unit 36 has an operation information storage unit 42 , a print information storage unit 44 and an image information storage unit 45 . The data processing unit 34, the output unit 38, and the abnormality determination unit 40 will be described later.

Please refer to FIG. As described above, in the present embodiment, information is managed for each individual unit area 46 of the substrate 12 . In FIG. 4(a), the boundary lines of the individual unit regions 46 are indicated by two-dot chain lines. Each unit area 46 is defined as an area having a constant length in the transport direction Pa, with reference to the state in which the substrate 12 is transported. When the base material 12 is long in the conveying direction Pa like a web, each area obtained by dividing the single base material 12 in the conveying direction Pa by a certain length is regarded as a unit area 46 . When the base material 12 is short in the conveying direction Pa like a sheet, each base material 12 may be regarded as a unit area 46 .

In the present embodiment, the length La of the unit area 46 in the transport direction Pa is equivalent to the circumferential length Ls for one rotation of the transfer roll 20 . The unit area 46 of the present embodiment can be understood as an area including the entire sheet of printing substrate obtained after printing by the printing system 10 . This printing base material is obtained by cutting the web printed by the printing system 10 at a predetermined position with a cutting machine (not shown).

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of information held by the motion information storage unit 42 and information held by the image information storage unit 45. As shown in FIG. The operation information storage unit 42 holds operation information of each of the multiple printing units 14 . In FIG. 5, misregistration amounts A2 to A4 are shown as operation information of the second printing unit 14-B to the fourth printing unit 14-D, respectively. The image information storage unit 45 holds the acquisition result of each unit area 46 by the image information acquisition device 58 as image information 49 .

The operation information storage unit 42 holds time series data 48 in which operation information for each cycle of the printing unit 14 is arranged in cycle order (time series order). Here, for each of the plurality of printing units 14, the operation of rotating the transfer roll 20 of that printing unit 14 at a predetermined rotation angle is defined as one cycle. The rotation angle of the transfer roll 20 required for one cycle in each printing unit 14 is set to the same magnitude. Since the circumferential length Ls of the transfer roll 20 is set to be the same size for each printing unit 14, the cycle time required for one cycle for each printing unit 14 is the same size. This "predetermined rotation angle" is set such that the circumferential length Ls of the transfer roll 20 corresponding to the rotation angle matches the length La of the unit area 46 in the transport direction Pa. In the present embodiment, one cycle is defined as an operation in which the transfer roll 20 rotates by a rotation angle corresponding to one rotation. The operation information storage unit 42 holds operation information for each cycle of the printing unit 14 as a plurality of time-series data 48 grouped for each printing unit 14 .

The image information storage unit 45 holds image information 49 in which images obtained in each cycle of the printing unit 14 are arranged in cycle order (time series order). The image information 49 may be image data of a still image obtained by imaging the unit area 46, or may be character information such as a file name that can be linked to this image data. As an example, the image information 49 in FIG. 5 is image data in jpeg format.

Time-series data 48 of motion information and image information 49 of the same unit area 46 will be described. The third printing unit 14-C is arranged downstream from the second printing unit 14-B by S cycles, and the fourth printing unit 14-D is arranged downstream from the third printing unit 14-C by T cycles. , and the image information acquisition device 58 is arranged downstream of the fourth printing unit 14-D by Q cycles. In this case, each time-series data for one same unit area 46 is shifted by this number of cycles. That is, the time-series data 48 of the third printing unit 14-C is data S cycles before the time-series data 48 of the fourth printing unit 14-D, and the time-series data 48 of the second printing unit 14-B is , S+T cycles before the time-series data 48 of the fourth printing unit 14-D.

Also, for one same unit region 46, the image information 49 of the image information acquisition device 58 is data after Q cycles of the time-series data 48 of the fourth printing unit 14-D. Therefore, by dividing the arrangement interval of each printing unit and the image information acquisition device 58 by the circumferential length Ls of the transfer roll 20 and converting it into the number of cycles, and shifting each time-series data by this number of cycles, the same unit area 46 can be associated as data of

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of information held by the print information storage unit 44. As shown in FIG. In this figure, operation information (misregistration amount), identification information, and image information of individual printing units 14 corresponding to the same unit area 46 are arranged in the order of the unit area 46 described later. . The print information storage unit 44 holds print information 50 relating to the print content of the printing system 10 . The print information 50 includes a plurality of pieces of operation information (misregister amounts A2 to A4) relating to the printing operation on the unit area 46 for each printing unit 14, an order number indicating the order of the unit area 46 in the conveying direction Pa, and the unit It includes identification information 56 for identifying the area 46 and image information acquired by imaging the unit area 46 . In this example, the ordinal number is used as the identification information 56 as it is.

Please refer to FIG. In FIG. 2, Po, Pe, Pf, and Gp indicate positions in the transport direction Pa. Po indicates the position of the printing point of the fourth printing unit 14-D, Pe indicates the position of the sensor 26, Pf indicates the position of the printing point of the identification information printing unit 54, and Gp indicates the imaging of the image information acquisition device 58. Indicates the center position of the range. Lo, Le, and Lf respectively indicate distances from Gp to Po, Pe, and Pf. In the example of FIG. 2, there is a relationship of Lo≧Le≧Lf.

Next, the number of cycles Q for shifting the image information 49 to associate the image information 49 with the time-series data 48 of the fourth printing unit 14-D will be described. The image information acquisition device 58 of FIG. 2 is arranged downstream of the sensor 26 of the fourth printing unit 14-D. The image information acquisition device 58 acquires an image of the printing substrate 12p in a range centered on a position separated by a distance Le in the transport direction Pa from the information acquisition position Pe of the sensor 26 . When the circumference of the transfer roll 20 is Ls, the number of cycles Q is given by equation (1).
Q=INT (Le/Ls) (1)
However, INT( ) indicates an integer obtained by truncating the decimal point of the numerical value in parentheses. That is, the cycle number Q can be calculated as the integer part of the number obtained by dividing the distance Le by the circumference Ls. The information processing apparatus 18 of the present embodiment associates the image information 49 with the motion information acquired in the cycle Q cycles before the cycle in which the image information 49 was acquired. In the example of FIG. 2, the number of cycles Q is set to two.

(ordinal number)
Next, the ordinal number will be explained. The plurality of operation information includes operation information for each printing unit 14 and corresponding to each of the plurality of unit areas 46 . As described above, order numbers are assigned to individual unit areas 46 in ascending order in the counter-transport direction Pa of the substrate 12 . The counter-conveyance direction Pa here refers to the direction from the downstream side to the upstream side. The ordinal number of the unit area 46 in the present embodiment indicates the number of the printed substrates 12p obtained after the substrates 12 are printed by the printing system 10, counting in order of printing. The print information 50 includes operation information of each printing unit 14 corresponding to the same unit area 46, the order number of the unit area 46, identification information 56 of the unit area 46, and image information of the unit area 46. are associated.

(Data processing part)
Next, the data processing section 34 will be described. The data processing unit 34 uses the order number to obtain the operation information of each printing unit 14 for the same unit area 46 and the identification information 56 from the time-series data 48 of the operation information of the plurality of printing units 14 arranged in cycle order. and the image information are associated with each other. The data processing unit 34 also generates the print information 50 from the associated motion information, identification information 56 and image information for the same unit area 46 and stores the print information 50 in the print information storage unit 44 . The data processing unit 34 of the embodiment performs the following processing to obtain the print information 50 described above. The basic concept of this processing will be described below.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining processing performed by the data processing unit 34 of the embodiment. In this figure, the operation information of the X-th cycle of the p-th printing unit 14 in the transport direction Pa is expressed as Ap-X. X is a natural number of 1 or more.

A path along the transport direction Pa from the printing position of the printing unit 14 on the upstream side (hereinafter referred to as the upstream unit) to the printing position of the printing unit 14 on the downstream side (hereinafter referred to as the downstream unit) Let the length be Lc [m]. The printing position of the printing unit 14 here means the position where the transfer roll 20 of the printing unit 14 transfers the ink to the substrate 12 . The conveying distance of the substrate 12 per cycle is defined as a unit conveying distance Ld [m/cycle]. Also, as shown in the following equation (2), the shift number S is the integral part of the number obtained by dividing the path length Lc by the unit transport distance Ld. The number of shifts S represents a number approximating the number of cycles required for the substrate 12 to be transported by the path length Lc. Since the circumferential length Ls corresponding to the rotation angle for one cycle of the transfer roll 20 matches the length Lb of the unit area 46, the unit conveying distance Ld is the same as the length Lb [m] of the unit area 46. FIG. Therefore, the number of shifts S is represented by the following formula (3).
S=INT (Lc/Ld) (2)
S=INT (Lc/Lb) (3)

For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the shift number S corresponding to the path length of the second printing unit 14-B and the fourth printing unit 14-D is 4, and the third printing unit 14 and the fourth printing unit 14- Let the number of shifts S corresponding to the path length of D be two. In this case, the unit area 46 passing through the printing position of the second printing unit 14-B in the 14th cycle is highly likely to pass through the printing position of the fourth printing unit 14-D after four cycles. Similarly, the unit area 46 passing through the printing position of the third printing unit 14 in the 16th cycle is highly likely to pass through the printing position of the fourth printing unit 14-D after two cycles.

This is indicated by a black box at the bottom left of FIG. This means that there is a high possibility that the operation information A4-18 of the 18th cycle of the 4-printing unit 14-D is the operation information of the same unit area 46. FIG. From another point of view, the operation information of the X-th cycle of the fourth printing unit 14-D, the operation information of the X-2th cycle of the third printing unit 14, and the X-4 of the second printing unit 14-B There is a high possibility that the motion information of the cycle is the motion information of the same unit area 46 . Therefore, in this embodiment, the operation information of the specific number of cycles for each printing unit 14 is regarded as the operation information of the same unit area 46, and the operation information is associated with each other. I will explain in more detail.

The data processing unit 34 of the embodiment performs a matching process including the following steps (a), (b) and (c). In step (a) of the present embodiment, the operation information of the N-th printing unit 14 (hereinafter referred to as the reference unit), which is the operation information of the X-th cycle counted from the predetermined start timing, is acquired. N here indicates the number of total printing units 14 . In this embodiment, N=4, so in step (a), the fourth printing unit 14-D is used as the reference unit, and the operation information of the X-th cycle is acquired.

Further, in step (b), the operation information of the m-th (m≠N) printing unit 14 in the conveying direction Pa is transferred at a predetermined number of shifts S from the X-th cycle counted from the aforementioned start timing. Acquire operation information in the shifted cycle. Here, m is a natural number other than N among 1 to N. In this embodiment, the operation information of the second printing unit 14-B and the third printing unit 14 is obtained in step (b). In other words, among the 2nd to Nth printing units 14, the operation information of each printing unit 14 other than the Nth printing unit is acquired.

A value corresponding to the m-th printing unit 14 is set as the "predetermined number of shifts S". The number of shifts S for the m-th printing unit 14 is obtained using the above equation (3) based on the path length Lc of the reference unit 14 and the m-th printing unit 14 and the length Lb of the unit area 46 . These path length Lc and length Lb are stored in the storage unit 36 in advance.

(sensor for start signal)
The start signal sensor 52 will be described. The start timing in this embodiment refers to the timing at which the data processing unit 34 receives a start signal output from another device. The printing system 10 of the embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, includes a start signal sensor 52 for generating this start signal. The start signal sensor 52 of the embodiment can detect a splice point that serves as a joint of a plurality of substrates 12 (webs), and is arranged immediately before the sensor 26 of the fourth printing unit 14-D. The control section 30 of the control device 16 outputs a start signal to the data processing section 34 of the information processing device 18 at the timing when the start signal sensor 52 detects the splice point of the base material 12 .

In steps (a) and (b), the data processing section 34 uses the rotation detection device 24 to identify the number of operation cycles of each of the plurality of printing units 14 . The data processing section 34 determines the number of cycles of operation of the printing unit 14 using the rotation detection device 24 of that printing unit 14 . Specifically, the data processing unit 34 has a counter (not shown) that counts up each time the rotation detection device 24 detects that the transfer roll 20 has rotated at a predetermined rotation angle.

The counter resets the count value to an initial value (eg, 1) at the start timing described above. The data processing unit 34 acquires the count value of the counter as the number of cycles of operation of the printing unit 14 . The data processing section 34 of this embodiment has a counter corresponding to each of the plurality of printing units 14 and acquires the count value of the counter as the number of operation cycles of the corresponding printing unit 14 . The data processing section 34 of the present embodiment independently specifies the number of cycles of operation of the printing units 14 for each of the plurality of printing units 14 .

In step (c), the operation information of each printing unit 14 obtained in steps (a) and (b) is associated with the same unit area 46 as operation information of each printing unit 14 . By the above-described association processing, the operation information of each printing unit 14 can be associated with the same unit area 46 from the time-series data 48 in which the operation information of a plurality of printing units 14 are arranged in cycle order.

The data processing unit 34 associates the operation information of each printing unit 14 with respect to the unit area 46 obtained by the above-described association processing with the order number corresponding to the unit area 46, and furthermore, determines the operation information through the order number. is associated with the identification information 56 and the image information to generate the print information 50 . This ordinal number has a corresponding relationship with the cycle number. For example, in this embodiment, at the printing position of the fourth printing unit 14-D, the first unit area 46 passes through the entire substrate 12 when the splice point of the substrate 12 is detected. Therefore, the operation information output from the sensor 26 of the fourth printing unit 14 -D in the first cycle corresponds to the first unit area 46 in the entire substrate 12 . In other words, the actual order number of the unit regions 46 of the substrate 12 and the cycle number match. Therefore, the same ordinal number as the number of cycles may be associated with the X-th cycle operation information of the fourth printing unit 14-D.

Note that the method of associating the order numbers with the motion information is not limited to this. For example, a table or formula defining the correspondence relationship between the number of cycles and the order numbers is stored in the storage unit 36, the table or formula is used to calculate the order number based on the number of cycles, and the calculated value is used as the order number. may be

Next, an example of an information processing method using the information processing apparatus 18 of this embodiment will be described.
The control unit 30 of the control device 16 controls the drive motor 22 and the like so that the plurality of printing units 14 sequentially print on the substrate 12 while executing the register control described above. The sensor 26 sequentially detects movement information (misregister amount) of the substrate 12 being conveyed, and outputs the movement information to the control device 16 each time the movement information is detected.

The control unit 30 of the control device 16 sequentially stores the operation information output from the sensor 26 in the control information storage unit 32 . The control unit 30 outputs a strobe signal corresponding to the printing unit 14 to which the sensor 26 belongs to the data processing unit 34 of the information processing device 18 each time the operation information of the sensor 26 is stored in the control information storage unit 32 . In this embodiment, strobe signals corresponding to each of the second printing unit 14-B to the fourth printing unit 14-D are output to the data processing section 34. FIG. The sensor 26 of the printing unit 14 outputs operation information (misregistration amount) regarding the unit area 46 once per cycle, that is, each time the transfer roll 20 of the printing unit 14 to which the sensor 26 belongs rotates once. Along with this, the control section 30 outputs individual strobe signals corresponding to the second printing unit 14-B to the fourth printing unit 14-D to the data processing section 34 for each cycle.

Each time the data processing section 34 receives a strobe signal output from the control section 30, it acquires operation information of the latest cycle of the printing unit 14 corresponding to the strobe signal. The data processing unit 34 reads out the control information storage unit 32 of the control device 16 to acquire operation information of the latest cycle of the printing unit 14 . The data processing unit 34 associates the acquired operation information of the printing unit 14 with the number of cycles, and stores it in the operation information storage unit 42 . For each of the plurality of printing units 14, the data processing unit 34 associates the operation information of the latest cycle of the printing unit 14 with the cycle number and stores it in the operation information storage unit 42 for each operation cycle of the printing unit 14. store times. The data processing unit 34 of the present embodiment generates time-series data 48 in which operation information of the printing unit 14 is arranged in cycle order, and stores the data in the operation information storage unit 42 .

The data processing unit 34 associates the operation information stored in the operation information storage unit 42 with the identification information 56 for each cycle of the printing unit 14 . In particular, the data processing unit 34 performs the above-described association processing based on the motion information held in the motion information storage unit 42, and transfers the motion information to the image information storage unit 42 via the order number corresponding to the same unit area 46. 45 and the identification information 56 are associated with each other. The data processing unit 34 may perform the association processing each time the motion information is stored in the motion information storage unit 42, or may perform the association processing at another timing.

Effects of the information processing apparatus 18 described above will be described.
The print information storage unit 44 of the information processing device 18 associates the operation information of each printing unit 14 corresponding to the same unit area 46, the order number of the unit area 46, the identification information 56, and the image information. It holds the print information 50 received. Therefore, the operation information of each printing unit 14, the identification information 56, and the image information can be managed in units of the order numbers of the unit areas 46, and advanced information management can be realized.

For example, if the operational information of the printing unit 14 is the amount of misregistration, there are the following advantages. The print information 50 includes misregistration amounts A2 to A4 of each printing unit 14 for each order number of the unit area 46 . This means that, as shown in FIG. 4(b), all the detection marks 28 for each unit area 46 contain information specifying their relative positions in the transport direction Pa. Therefore, by using these misregistration amounts A2 to A4, the distance from the specific point of any detection mark 28 to the specific point of any other detection mark 28 can be calculated.

For example, FIG. 8 is a graph showing the misregistration amounts A2 to A4 of the printing units 14-B to 14-D for each ordinal number of the unit area 46. FIG. Also, FIG. 9 shows cumulative misregistration amounts A1→2, A1→3, A1 from the first detection mark 28-A to the other detection marks 28-B to 28-D for each ordinal number of the unit area 46. → It is a graph showing 4. Any of these graphs are obtained using the printed information 50 described above. Using these graphs, it is possible to analyze the trend of change in print positions.

In addition to this, by using the abnormality determination unit 40 to be described later, it is possible to specify which printing unit 14 is the cause of the abnormality, and to determine the order number range of the location where the abnormality occurs. can be identified. In this way, by obtaining the operation information of the individual printing units 14 corresponding to the same unit area 46 and the printing information in which the ordinal numbers of the unit areas 46 are associated with each other, various analysis methods for the operation information of the printing unit 14 can be obtained. can be made

Further, the data processing unit 34 stores the operation information of the plurality of printing units 14 in the operation information storage unit 42 for each cycle, with the operation of the transfer roll 20 making one rotation as one cycle. The printing unit 14 normally outputs operation information (misregistration amount) at a much shorter cycle than this cycle. Therefore, the amount of data stored in the operation information storage section 42 can be reduced as compared to storing the operation information output from the printing unit 14 sequentially.

Further, in the information processing device 18, since the motion information corresponding to the same unit area and the identification information printed on the unit area are stored in the print information storage unit 44 in association with each other, the motion information (registration) is stored. deviation amount) and the actual printing base material can be matched and confirmed. For example, even if the unwinding splice point is unwound and some of it is discarded, and the information about the number of sheets is lost, the identification information is printed, so the operation information (misregistration amount) is It can be easily matched with the actual printed substrate. In addition, since the two pieces of information can be confirmed at a glance via the identification information, it is possible to easily confirm the operation information (misregistration amount) and the actual printing base material in a short time. For example, by using the printed identification information, it is possible to easily find the unit area whose misregistration amount is larger than the reference value. By visually reconfirming the actual printing state of the unit area, it is possible to assist the secondary determination of whether or not the product can be shipped in a short period of time.

In particular, by using the marking applied to the unit area by the above-described marking applying device, it is possible to reconfirm the printing state in a shorter time. For example, from printing substrates, those whose operation information (misregistration amount) exceeds a reference value are sorted using markings as marks, and for the selected printing substrates, the corresponding operation information (register deviation) can be confirmed. Since it is only necessary to check the operation information (misregistration amount) for the selected printing base material, the work time can be shortened.

In addition, by confirming the printed identification information of the shipped printed matter for which the user has requested improvement, the corresponding operation information (misregistration amount) can be confirmed. amount) to infer the user's acceptance level. A reasonable shipping quality can be realized by adjusting the reference value of the operation information (misregistration amount) based on the estimated acceptance level.

Further, in the information processing device 18, since the motion information and the image information corresponding to the same unit area are associated and stored in the print information storage unit 44, the motion information (misregistration amount) and the actual printed matter are stored. It can be confirmed by matching with the image information. Therefore, it is possible to easily confirm the correlation between the motion information (the amount of misregistration) and the image information for the same unit area in a short period of time.

In particular, by using the marking applied to the unit area by the above-described marking applying device, it is possible to reconfirm the printing state in a shorter time. For example, the correlation between operation information (misregistration amount) and image information can be confirmed in a short period of time for printing substrates sorted using markings as marks. By visually reconfirming the image information, it is possible to assist in making a secondary decision on whether or not the product can be shipped in a short period of time.

Another feature of the information processing device 18 of the embodiment will be described. As shown in FIG. 3, the information processing device 18 includes an output section 38 and an abnormality determination section 40 in addition to the data processing section 34, as described above.

The output unit 38 outputs the print information 50 held in the print information storage unit 44 in a visible form. Although the output unit 38 in this embodiment is a printer, it may be a display or the like. The output unit 38 outputs the print information 50 in the form of a table, graph, or the like.

The abnormality determination unit 40 performs determination processing for determining whether or not there is an abnormality in the printing operation of the printing unit 14 . The abnormality determination unit 40 performs determination processing based on the operation information of the print information 50 held in the print information storage unit 44 instead of the operation information held in the control information storage unit 32 of the control device 16 .

The abnormality determination unit 40 performs determination processing by comparing the numerical value of the operation information with the determination threshold set for the numerical value (misregistration amount) of the operation information of the print information 50 . The determination threshold may be set in advance before the association processing by the data processing unit 34, or may be set after the association processing. When the numerical value of the operation information exceeds the determination threshold value, the abnormality determination unit 40 generates abnormality information indicating that there is an abnormality in the printing unit 14 and the order number unit area 46 corresponding to the operation information. The abnormality determination unit 40 of the present embodiment updates the print information 50 held in the print information storage unit 44 in association with the generated abnormality information, as shown in FIG. As a result, it is possible to determine the presence or absence of an abnormality by changing the determination conditions even after the printing operation on the base material 12 is completed, thereby diversifying analysis methods for the presence or absence of an abnormality.

The abnormality determination unit 40 performs the determination process described above based on the operation information of the plurality of printing units 14 for each order number of the unit area 46 . As a result, it is possible to determine whether or not there is an abnormality in the printing operation of the plurality of printing units 14 for each order number of the unit area 46 . For example, in the example of FIG. 6, it is possible to identify that the occurrence of an abnormality with a large amount of misregistration is in the 14th to 16th unit areas 46 and that the cause of the occurrence is in the second printing unit 14 .

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been described above in detail. All of the above-described embodiments merely show specific examples for carrying out the present invention. The contents of the embodiments do not limit the technical scope of the present invention, and many design changes such as changes, additions, and deletions of constituent elements can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention defined in the claims. It is possible. In the above-described embodiment, descriptions such as "of the embodiment", "in the embodiment", etc. are added to the contents that allow such design changes. Changes are not unacceptable.

Although the printing system 10 has been described using a gravure printing system as an example, the specific example is not particularly limited. For example, it may be a coater system, a box-making machine system, a sheet-fed machine system, or the like. An example in which the printing system 10 employs the sectional drive method as the drive method for the transfer roll 20 has been described. This driving method is not particularly limited, and for example, a compensator method may be adopted.

Although an example in which the operation information is the misregistration amount of the printing unit 14 has been described, the specific example is not limited to this. For example, the operation information may be the detected values of the speed, rotational position, and torque of the drive motor 22 of the printing unit 14, or the deviation between the target values and the detected values.

Although an example in which the length of the unit area 46 in the transport direction Pa is equivalent to the circumferential length of the transfer roll 20 for one rotation has been described, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the length may correspond to the circumference of the transfer roll 20 for half a turn.

An example in which the data processing unit 34 acquires the operation information of the second to N-th printing units 14 in the transport direction Pa has been described. Alternatively, the operation information of the first printing unit 14 may be acquired and associated with the operation information of the other printing units 14 .

The data processing unit 34 may associate defect information regarding the presence or absence of printing defects with the print information 50 held in the print information storage unit 44 . The print defects here include stains on the base material 12, foreign matter, missing characters, and the like. In this case, the data processing section 34 may associate the defect information of each unit area 46 with the ordinal number of the unit area 46 . In addition, information regarding the quality of the base material 12 handled in order number units of the unit areas 46 may be associated with the print information 50 .

The data processing unit 34 shifts the operation information of the m-th printing unit 14 by S cycles using the time-series data 48 in which the operation information of the printing unit 14 is arranged in cycle order, and shifts the operation information after the shift by S cycles. An example of association with operation information of other printing units 14 has been described. In addition, by using a serial input/serial output type shift register, the operation information of the m-th printing unit 14 is shifted by S cycles, and the operation information after the shift is used as the operation information of the other printing units 14. may be associated with

In the embodiment, an example has been described in which the number of cycles of the other printing units 14 is shifted based on the number of cycles of the Nth printing unit 14 . The reference unit 14 that serves as the reference for the number of cycles may be another printing unit 14 other than the N-th printing unit. Let this reference unit 14 be the n-th printing unit (n is any one natural number from 1 to N). At this time, in step (a), the operation information of the X-th cycle of the n-th printing unit is acquired, and in step (b), the operation information of the XS-th cycle of the m (m≠n) printing unit is obtained. It means that you can get At this time, in step (b), only the operation information of one printing unit 14 other than the n-th printing unit 14 may be acquired, or the operation information of each of a plurality of printing units 14 other than the n-th printing unit 14 may be acquired. may be obtained.

In the embodiment, an example has been described in which the start signal that determines the start timing of steps (a) and (b) is output to the data processing section 34 at the timing when the splice point of the base material 12 is detected. The output timing of this start signal is not particularly limited, and for example, it may be output at the timing when a switch for resetting the number of cycles is operated. Further, the position of the start signal sensor 52 is not particularly limited, and it may be arranged immediately before the sensor 26 of the second printing unit 14-B as well as immediately before the sensor 26 of the fourth printing unit 14-D.

In the embodiment, an example in which the detection mark 28 is a linear figure has been described. The detection mark 28 may be of any type as long as it can detect information about the print position. For example, it may be a mark having a shape different from a straight line, such as a right-angled triangle.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10... Printing system, 12... Base material, 14... Printing unit, 18... Information processing apparatus, 20... Transfer roll, 34... Data processing part, 35... Image acquisition control part, 38... Output part, 40... Abnormality determination part, 42... Operation information storage unit 44... Print information storage unit 45... Image information storage unit 46... Unit area 50... Print information 54... Identification information print unit 56... Identification information 58... Image information acquisition device.

Claims (8)

An information processing device used in a printing system for printing on a substrate that is continuously conveyed by a printing unit, the information processing device comprising a print information storage unit for holding print information,
When the substrate is divided into a plurality of unit areas in the conveying direction, the printing system is configured to acquire images of each of the plurality of continuous unit areas printed by the printing unit as image information. ,
The print information is
operation information about the printing operation of the printing unit for the unit area;
and the image information of the unit area,
The motion information corresponding to the same unit area and the image information of the unit area are associated with each other, and the motion information relates to the printing position of the predetermined reference mark printed on each of the plurality of unit areas. An information processing device characterized by including information. The printing unit has a transfer roll that transfers ink to the substrate,
The information processing apparatus stores the operation information of the printing unit in the operation information storage section for each cycle, and the image information is stored based on the stored operation information. 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the correspondence between the . The printing system includes an image information acquisition device that acquires the image information,
The image information acquisition device is arranged to acquire an image of a range centered on a position a distance Le away downstream from the motion information acquisition position in the transport direction,
The information processing apparatus associates the image information with motion information acquired in a cycle that is Q cycles before the cycle in which the image information is acquired,
3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the number of cycles Q is given by equation (1), where Ls is the circumferential length of the transfer roll.
Q=INT (Le/Ls) (1)
However, INT( ) indicates an integer obtained by truncating the decimal point of the numerical value in parentheses. The print information is
further comprising identification information for identifying the unit area printed on the unit area;
4. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the motion information corresponding to the same unit area is associated with the identification information of the unit area. 5. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , further comprising an abnormality determination section that determines whether there is an abnormality in the printing operation of the printing unit based on the print information. 6. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5 , further comprising an output unit that outputs the print information in a visually recognizable form. a printing unit for printing on a continuously transported substrate;
A printing system comprising the information processing apparatus according to claim 1 . An information processing method used in a printing system in which a printing unit prints on a continuously conveyed substrate,
When the base material is divided into a plurality of continuous unit areas in the conveying direction, operation information about the printing operation of the printing unit corresponding to the same unit area is associated with the image information acquired for the unit area. including storing the print information in the print information storage unit;
the print information stored in the print information storage unit includes the image information of each of the plurality of continuous unit areas printed by the print unit;
The information processing method , wherein the motion information includes information relating to printing positions of predetermined reference marks printed on each of the plurality of unit areas .

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