JPH0257505B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for inspecting printed matter, such as lottery tickets, securities, etc., in which codes such as numbers are printed on each of a large number of small sections distributed in the longitudinal direction on a roll of paper. It is.

When printing this type of printed material, if there is a malfunction or poor adjustment of the printing device, defects such as incorrect numbers or half-returns may occur in the printed material, so it is essential to inspect the printed material after printing.

Conventionally, these printed materials have been visually inspected manually, but such visual inspections not only result in omissions but also are extremely inefficient. In order to eliminate such drawbacks, the code printed on the printed material is read by a photoelectric conversion means, and the corresponding electrical signal is compared with the electrical signal of the standard printed code. Determines whether or not there is a defect, and displays or prints the result on a display, printer, alarm, etc.
Automatic inspection methods have been proposed.

In addition, in order to improve the efficiency of printing and inspecting codes, there is a rotary printing method in which designs and codes are printed on rolls of paper in multiple units, which are then cut into sheets and printed on paper. It has also been proposed to combine this with an automatic inspection method. In this conventional method, just before printing the necessary code on the printed material, a trial printing is performed with a specific code.
After confirming the printing effect of the code in advance, a cam insertion motion is performed in order to move on to the actual printing of the necessary code without stopping the printing device, and inspection is started based on the signal generated by this operation.
Due to the wide lag in the timing of the cam insertion operation, there is an error in the timing, and the code of the trial print may be mistakenly read as the code of the actual print, or the code of the actual print may be mistakenly omitted, resulting in incorrect inspection results being displayed. Sometimes.

In the present invention, reading marks indicating the position of a small section and a starting mark for pulse counting are provided on the roll paper at predetermined positions without being directly based on the cam insertion operation signal, and the reading sensor senses the reading marks and reads the data. A mark pulse is transmitted, and after the actual printing starts, the counting sensor detects the counting mark and starts counting the reading mark pulses, and when the number of counting pulses reaches a predetermined value, the code inspection is started. The object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for inspecting printed matter that can reliably perform inspection from the first code printed during actual printing, without the risk of misreading, while eliminating the above-mentioned drawbacks of the conventional method. It is something to do.

The present invention provides a printed matter inspection method for inspecting the quality of codes printed in a large number of small sections that are repeatedly distributed in the same pitch distribution for each sheet of a certain sheet length L ₀ in the longitudinal direction of a web. A reading mark indicating the position of the small section is attached to the paper roll in a manner that corresponds to the code printed on the small section and has the same pitch distribution on each sheet, and one pulse is applied to each sheet. A starting mark for counting is placed at a pitch equal to the sheet length _L0 , and each time the reading mark is detected by the reading mark detecting means located at a position an integral multiple of the sheet length _L0 from the code checking means. A reading mark pulse is transmitted, and when the printing means starts printing the code, the starting mark is detected by the starting mark detecting means after the main printing process is started, and counting of the reading mark pulse is started, and a predetermined number of pulses are detected. This is a method for inspecting printed matter, characterized in that when the number N is reached, the code inspection by the code inspection means is started, and the code inspection is started from the code printed in the final printing.

The present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings based on examples.

In FIG. 1a, 1 is a web of paper, which moves in the direction of arrow 2. This web 1 has a large number of small sections 4A, 5A, 6A, 4B, 5B, 6B, which are repeatedly distributed in the same pitch distribution in the longitudinal direction for each sheet 3A, 3B, 3C of a constant sheet length _L0 .
It is divided into 4C, 5C, 6C, etc., and codes such as symbols and numbers are printed on each of the small sections 4A, etc. Since the pitch distribution of each subdivision in each sheet is the same, the subdivisions at similar positions on each sheet are arranged at a pitch of the sheet length L ₀ . For example, the distance between each of 4A, 4B, and 4C, and the distance between each of 5A, 5B, and 5C are equal to the sheet length L ₀ .

7A, 8A, 9A, 7B, 8B, 9B, 7C,
8C, 9C, etc. are reading marks indicating the position of each small section. The reading marks provided on each sheet are distributed with the same pitch distribution. In addition, this first subdivision is
This is the first subsection to be printed among the subsections on each sheet.

10A, 10B, 10C, etc. are starting marks provided on each sheet, and are located at fixed positions on each sheet, so that the distance between them is equal to the sheet length L ₀ .

The process of printing and inspecting such a web 1 will be explained with reference to FIG.

11 is a feeder that unwinds the web 1 from the roll 12 and supplies it to each of the following processes; 13 and 14 are pattern printing units that print patterns, starting marks, reading marks, etc.; 15 is a code printing unit that prints codes; A first printing cylinder 16 that prints the first, third, and fifth subsections (for example, 4A, 6A, and the next) of each sheet, and a second printing cylinder 17 that prints the second, fourth, and sixth subsections of each sheet. has. 18 is an impression cylinder, and the above-mentioned sheet length L ₀ is the circumference of the impression cylinder 18. 19
Reference numeral 20 indicates a code inspection means such as a television camera that works with a strobe device; 20 indicates a starting mark sensor that detects a starting mark; and 21 indicates a reading mark sensor that detects a reading mark, and transmits a reading mark pulse every time a mark is read. . 22 is an inspection unit, 23 is a sensor (for example, an eccentric cam operation sensor) that issues a signal to start printing, 24 is a cutter unit, and 25 is a stacker.

If the relative positions of these code checking means, mark sensors, etc. are explained with reference _to FIG. Inspection means 19
(3 units in the case of this figure) are arranged, and the code inspection means 1
mark sensor 20 starting at a distance L ₂ downstream from 9;
A read mark sensor 21 is provided at a distance L ₄ . Therefore, the distance L ₄ is selected as follows: L ₄ =kL ₀ (k is an integer including 0). In the example of this figure, k=1.

In addition, k is a negative integer (reading mark sensor 21
may be located upstream from the inspection means 19).

Here, it is assumed that sheets 3A and 3B are trial printing, and actual printing starts from sheet 3C.
FIG. 1a shows the first printing cylinder 16 as a printing means.
This shows the state at the moment when the first actual printing is performed on the row of the first small section 4C of the sheet 3C.

At this time, the starting mark on the upstream side closest to the starting mark sensor serving as the starting mark detection means is 10.
A, and the small section 4C located at the position of the first printing drum 16
The distance between the reading mark 9A and the reading mark 9A is _L1 .

When printing is started, a signal is emitted by the eccentric cam motion sensor or other means to emit a read mark pulse each time a read mark passes under the read mark sensor 21. When the web 1 advances and the starting mark 10A reaches the position of the starting mark sensor 20 and is sensed as shown in FIG. 1b, counting of reading mark pulses is started. At this time, the first small section 4C, which was first printed, has not yet reached the code checking means 19 and is located a distance L _x in front of it. As is clear from the figure, this L _x is L _x = L ₁ − L ₂ .

Since the distance L ₄ between the code checking means 19 and the reading mark sensor 21 is set equal to L ₀ , the distance L ₅ from the reading mark sensor 21 to the reading mark 8A is L ₅ =L _x , and this L The positional relationship among the subdivisions, reading marks, and counting marks in the range of ₅ is exactly the same as in the range of L _x between the code checking means 19 and the subdivision 9A. Therefore, at the same time that the reading mark 8A reaches the reading mark sensor 21, the small section 4C, which has been printed for the first time, is detected by the code checking means 1.
It reaches just below 9. Therefore, after the starting mark is detected by the starting mark sensor 20, the reading mark sensor detects the number of reading marks included in the range _L5 , that is, from the reading mark 9A downstream to L _x (=
Number of reading marks included in the range L ₁ − L ₂ )
By activating the code inspection means 19 and starting the code inspection when N _x (six in this figure) is counted, it is possible to reliably start the inspection from the printing surface that was first printed in the actual printing.

The starting mark sensor 20 may be located upstream of the code checking means 19. In that case, the distance L ₂ will be a negative value.

That is, in this case, L _x = L ₁ + |L ₂ |, and from the reading mark 9A to the downstream side, this
The number of reading marks included in the range of L _x is N _x .

Note that the number N _x of reading marks included between L _x mentioned above may be determined by counting the number of reading marks falling within the range of L _x on the actual item in the state shown in FIG. 1b.

An example of an electric circuit that performs the above operation is shown in the third example.
The state of the output is shown in FIG. 4.

The electric signal a obtained from the sensor 23 that detects the operation of the eccentric cam for advancing the type wheel of the first printing cylinder 16 is sent to the AND gate 26 along with the electric signal b from the starting mark sensor 20 that detects the starting mark. The output signal is input to the flip-flop circuit 27. The output signal d is input to the AND gate 28 together with the electric signal C from the reading mark sensor 21, the output signal e is input to the counter 29, the output signal is input to the flip-flop circuit 30, and the output signal f
is input to the AND gate 31 together with the signal C from the reading mark sensor 21, and the output signal g is supplied to the strobe device to cause it to emit light, and the paper roll 1
The printed surface is irradiated and inspected. 33 is a controller.

At the start of the actual printing, the signal a from the sensor 23 rises to the H level at time _t1 due to the cam movement in the first printing cylinder 16, and the starting mark sensor 20 generates a pulse signal at time _t2 . That is, at time _t2 , the output signal d of the flip-flop circuit 27 rises to H level. Thereafter, the output pulse C from the reading mark sensor 21 is supplied as a pulse e to a counter 29 via an AND gate 28 and counted there. When the pulses are counted by a predetermined number N, the counter 29 generates an output signal and supplies it to the flip-flop circuit 30. The output signal f of the flip-flop circuit 30 rises to the H level at this time _t3 , and the output pulse C of the read mark sensor 21 passes through the AND gate 3.
1 to the strobe device 32 as an output signal g, and the strobe device emits light in synchronization with the pulse g (therefore, the pulse C).

A code inspection means 19 reads the code on the printed surface in synchronization with the light emission of the strobe device. The video signal of the code is input to a testing unit 22, such as a computer, and is compared with the electrical signal of the corresponding standard code.
The test results are displayed or printed on a display, printer, alarm, or the like. When the test is completed, the flip-flop circuits 27 and 30 and the counter 29 are reset by a control signal from the controller 33.

According to the present invention, by starting the inspection not directly based on the cam insertion operation signal, it is possible to prevent the erroneous reading of the code of the trial printing as in the past, or the failure to read the code of the actual printing to be inspected. Since there are no markings, inspection errors can be prevented, and it can be easily applied to existing rotary printing machines. Codes printed at high speed, such as consecutive numbers, can be accurately inspected as individual numbers, resulting in highly reliable inspection. It is possible to provide a method and apparatus for inspecting printed matter that can perform this, and has extremely great practical effects.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings relate to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 1a and 1b show the relative positions of the printing means, the code checking means, the starting mark sensor, the reading mark sensor, and the printing surface of the web, the starting mark, and the reading mark. Explanatory diagram, Figure 2 is a flow diagram of the entire device, Figure 3 is a flow diagram of the entire device.
The figure is an electric circuit diagram, and FIG. 4 is a line diagram showing the state of the output. 1... Roll paper, 2... Arrow, 3A, 3B, 3C... Sheet, 4A, 4B, 4C... Small section, 5A, 5B,
5C...small section, 6A, 6B, 6C...small section, 7
A, 7B, 7C...reading mark, 8A, 8B,
8C...Reading mark, 9A, 9B, 9C...Reading mark, 10A, 10B, 10C...Starting mark, 11...Feeder, 12...Roll, 13, 14
...Design printing unit, 15...Number printing unit,
16...first printing cylinder, 17...second printing cylinder, 18...impression cylinder,
19... Code inspection means, 20... Starting mark sensor,
21...Reading mark sensor, 22...Inspection unit, 23...Sensor, 24...Cutter unit,
25...Statsker, 26...Andgate, 27...
Flip-flop circuit, 28...AND gate, 2
9...Counter, 30...Flip-flop circuit,
31...AND gate, 32...stroboscopic device, 33
…controller.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A printed matter inspection method for inspecting the quality of codes printed on a large number of small sections that are repeatedly distributed in the same pitch distribution for each sheet with a constant sheet length L ₀ in the longitudinal direction of a web. , on the web,
A reading mark indicating the position of the small section is attached in correspondence with a code printed on the small section so as to have the same pitch distribution on each of the sheets, and a pulse count is calculated starting from one pulse on each sheet. The starting mark for sheet length L ₀
The reading marks are attached at _a pitch equal to At the start of printing, after the actual printing process is started, the starting mark is detected by the starting mark detection means and counting of the reading mark pulses is started, and when a predetermined number of pulses N is reached,
A method for inspecting printed matter, characterized in that the code inspection by the code inspection means is started, and the code inspection is started from the code printed by the final printing. 2. At the start of the actual printing of the code, the distance between the upstream starting mark closest to the starting mark detection means and the reading mark of the first small section after the start of the actual printing is _L1 , and the code is When the distance from the inspection means to the starting mark detection means is L ₂ (L ₂ > 0 when the starting mark detection means is downstream of the code inspection means, L ₂ < 0 when it is upstream) , where Nx is the number of reading pulses that enter between the reading mark of the first subdivision and a distance of L _x = L ₁ - _{L 2} , _the patent in which the predetermined number of pulses N is N = N _x . The method according to claim 1. 3. In a printed matter inspection device that inspects the quality of codes printed on a large number of small sections that are repeatedly distributed in the same pitch distribution for each sheet of a certain sheet length L ₀ in the longitudinal direction of the web, the web has a , a readable mark indicating the position of the small section corresponds to the code printed on the small section and is attached so that the pitch distribution is the same on each of the sheets, and one pulse count starting mark is placed on each sheet. A transport means for attaching counting marks at a pitch equal to the sheet length L ₀ and transporting the web; a printing means for printing a code on each of the small sections; and a code check for inspecting the quality of the printed code. means, a reading sensor that senses the reading mark and emits a reading pulse, a starting sensor that senses the starting mark and starts counting the reading pulses, and counts the number of reading pulses until a predetermined number N of pulses is reached. counting means for emitting a signal to start the inspection of the inspection means when the code inspection means reaches the mark, and the reading sensor is located at a distance from the code inspection means that is an integral multiple of the sheet length L ₀ . inspection equipment.