JPH05269973A - Color tone measurement device for printing ink, and centralized printing ink supply system therewith - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To save time and labor for transporting color samples to an ink manufacturing factory by a method wherein the color samples are converted into numerical values as data comprising reflectance for each of wavelengths and the values are sent through a transmission circuit to an ink manufacturing factory, and inks corresponding to the color samples are manufactured therewith. CONSTITUTION:A color tone measurement device 2 is equipped with a spectrophotometer 4 that obtains wavelength patterns for color samples for printing by measuring reflectance of each of the wavelengths, and data of the wavelength patterns obtained by such measurement are sent through a transmission circuit 6. The data of the wavelength patterns received by a data receiving means 10 through the transmission circuit 6 are stored as an inputted wavelength pattern A. Then, operation is made on comparison between the inputted wavelength pattern A and registered wavelength patterns R1, R2...Rn, and compounding ratio B for a base ink for developing a color in the inputted wavelength A is obtained therewith.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a toning and measuring device for mixing a large number of base inks of different colors to obtain a printing ink for producing a desired color of a printed matter, and a centralized supply system using the same. ..

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a field where printing ink is used, such as in a printing factory, a color sample of a printed material or the like is carried to an ink manufacturing factory in order to obtain a printing ink that produces a desired color of the printed material. At the ink manufacturing plant, base inks such as red, blue, yellow, transparent medium, and black were blended to produce printing inks compatible with color samples.

[0003]

However, in such a method, there is a problem that it takes a lot of time and labor to bring the color sample to the ink manufacturing plant, the number of steps until the printing ink is obtained is increased, and the delivery time of the printing ink is delayed. there were.
In order to solve such a problem, there has been a place to install a toning and measuring device for printing ink on site. However, in this case, another problem arises that a large amount of equipment cost is required.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to reduce the number of steps required to obtain a printing ink and to shorten the delivery time of the printing ink by eliminating the labor and time required to carry the color sample to the ink manufacturing plant. To provide a toning and measuring device. Another object of the present invention is, in addition to the above object, to provide a centralized supply system of printing ink which does not require a large equipment cost.

[0005]

A toning and measuring device for a printing ink according to the present invention comprises a spectrophotometer for measuring a reflectance for each wavelength of a color sample of a printed matter or the like to obtain a wavelength pattern,
Data transmitting means for transmitting the data of the wavelength pattern obtained by the spectrophotometer through the communication line, data receiving means for receiving the data of the wavelength pattern through the communication line, and the data receiving means A large number of input pattern storage means for storing the received data of the wavelength pattern as an input wavelength pattern, a registered wavelength pattern that has already been measured, and a blending ratio of the base ink used for producing the color of the registered wavelength pattern. Registered pattern storage means for storing, and a blending ratio determining means for calculating the blending ratio of the base ink for producing the color of the input wavelength pattern by comparing and calculating the input wavelength pattern and the registered wavelength pattern,
The base ink ejector for ejecting the base ink, the ejection amount detector for detecting the ejection amount of the base ink, the ejection amount detected by this ejection amount detector, and the blending ratio obtained by the above blending ratio determining means. Based on this, a predetermined amount of base ink is ejected from the base ink ejector.

In the printing ink centralized supply system according to the present invention, a large number of sites using the printing ink are connected to the center by a communication line, and a spectrophotometer and a data transmitting means are installed at each of the sites. The center is provided with a data receiving means, an input pattern storing means, a registered pattern storing means, a blending ratio determining means, a base ink ejector, an ejection amount detector and a measuring means.

[0007]

The operation of the printing ink toning and measuring device according to the present invention is as follows. When a color sample is measured with a spectrophotometer, a wavelength pattern consisting of reflectance for each wavelength is obtained.
The data of this wavelength pattern is sent to the communication line by the data transmitting means and received by the data receiving means. The data received by the data receiving means is stored in the input pattern storage means as an input wavelength pattern. On the other hand, a large number of registered wavelength patterns and their compounding ratios of printing inks are stored in the registered pattern storage means. With the mixing ratio determination means,
A large number of registered wavelength patterns are compared with the input wavelength pattern, the registered wavelength pattern and its mixture ratio are corrected by calculation as necessary, and the one that matches the input wavelength pattern is selected from the large number of registered wavelength patterns. The mixture ratio of the registered wavelength pattern at this time becomes the mixture ratio of the input wavelength pattern. The mixing ratio is determined for each base ink. The discharge amount detector outputs the discharge amount of the base ink to the measuring means. The metering means operates the base ink ejector so that the amount of the base ink ejected becomes a predetermined amount based on the blending ratio.

The operation of the printing ink centralized supply system according to the present invention is as follows. Many sites are connected to the center by communication lines. From each site, wavelength pattern data obtained by measuring a color sample with a spectrophotometer is sent to the communication line by the data sending means. At the center, the data of the wavelength pattern is received by the data receiving means from the communication line. The data of the wavelength pattern received by the data receiving means is stored in the input pattern storage means as the input wavelength pattern. Hereafter, the operation is the same as that of the toning and weighing device described above.

[0009]

1 is a functional block diagram of a toning and weighing apparatus according to the present invention. The toning and metering device 2 measures the reflectance of each color sample of a printed matter or the like for each wavelength to obtain a wavelength pattern, and the wavelength pattern data obtained by the spectrophotometer 4 through the communication line 6. Data transmitting means 8 for transmitting via the communication line 6, data receiving means 10 for receiving the data of the wavelength pattern via the communication line 6, and data receiving means 1
Input pattern storage means 14 for storing the data of the wavelength pattern received at 0 as the input wavelength pattern A;
Registered wavelength patterns R1, R2, ..., Rn already measured
, And the registered pattern storage means 16 for storing a large number of the blending ratios S1, S2, ..., Sn of the base ink used for producing the color of the registered wavelength pattern, the input wavelength pattern A, the registered wavelength pattern, and R1, R2. , Rn are compared to calculate the mixture ratio B of the base ink for producing the color of the input wavelength pattern A, the base ink ejector 20 for ejecting the base ink, and the base ink ejector 20. A discharge amount detector 22 for detecting the discharge amount, and a predetermined amount of base ink based on the discharge amount detected by the discharge amount detector 22 and the mixing ratio B obtained by the mixing ratio determining means 18 And a metering means 24 for discharging from.

Mixing ratio of base ink S1, S2, ..., S
The term “n” refers to the proportion of the base ink such as red, blue, yellow, transparent medium, black, etc. for making a printing ink that produces the colors of the registered wavelength patterns R1, R2, ..., Rn. For example, the compounding ratio Sm of the registered wavelength pattern Rm is red: blue:
It is stored as yellow: black = 1: 2: 3: 1.
The registered wavelength pattern and the compounding ratio are the wavelength patterns of the colors printed so far and the compounding ratio at that time, and there are many combinations and they are databased.

FIG. 2 is an overall configuration diagram specifically showing one embodiment of the toning and weighing apparatus according to the present invention. The same parts as those in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

A general telephone line is used as the communication line 6. The data transmitting means 8 comprises a personal computer 26 and a modem 28. The personal computer 26 controls the spectrophotometer 4 and the modem 28, and stores the data of the wavelength pattern obtained by the spectrophotometer 4. Since the data of the wavelength pattern is a digital signal, the modem 28 modulates this into an analog signal in the voice frequency band and sends it to the communication line 6. The wavelength pattern data is the reflectance Y1 of the color sample at the wavelength X1 of light, the reflectance Y2 of the color sample at the wavelength X2 of light,
.., when X1, Y1, X2, Y2, ...
It is an array of numbers like.

The input pattern storage means 14, the registered pattern storage means 16, the blending ratio determination means 18, and the weighing means 24 constitute a control section 30 which comprises a host computer. A keyboard 32, a CRT 34, a printer 36, and a peripheral device such as a modem as the data receiving means 10 are connected to the control unit 30. This modem demodulates data of a wavelength pattern composed of analog signals into digital signals.

The base ink ejector 20 comprises an ink tank 40, a pressure feed pump 42, an electromagnetic valve 44, etc. The pressure feed pump 42 pushes the base ink out of the ink tank 40 and ejects it from a nozzle 46 via a pipe 45. It is what makes them. A container 48 for receiving the base ink is placed below the nozzle 46. Although not shown, the base ink ejector 20 is installed for each base ink such as red, blue, yellow, transparent medium, and black.

3 to 5 are flowcharts showing the outline of the operation of the toning and weighing apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a graph showing the input wavelength pattern. The operation of the toning and weighing apparatus 2 will be described below with reference to FIGS.

The reflectance for each wavelength of the color sample 50 such as a printed matter is measured by the spectrophotometer 4 (step 101). The color sample 50 is not limited to a printed matter, and may be a photograph, an actual article, or the like. The input wavelength pattern A as shown in FIG. 6 is obtained from the data.

The input wavelength pattern A is modulated into an analog signal via the personal computer 26 and the modem 28 and transmitted to the communication line 6 (step 102). The transmitted input wavelength pattern A is received by the modem as the data receiving means 10 and demodulated into a digital signal (step 103), and then stored in the input pattern storage means 14 (step 104). Further, the input wavelength pattern A is displayed on the CRT 34.

In the blending ratio determining means 18, the input wavelength pattern A and the registered wavelength pattern are compared with R1, R2, ..., Rn (step 105). As a result, the registered wavelength pattern Ra that matches or is closest to the input wavelength pattern A
Is selected (step 106). Registered wavelength pattern R
When a matches the input wavelength pattern A, the mixture ratio Sb of the registered wavelength pattern Ra becomes the mixture ratio B of the input wavelength pattern A (steps 107 and 108). When the registered wavelength pattern Ra does not match the input wavelength pattern A, the registered wavelength pattern Ra and the mixture ratio Sb are corrected by calculation (steps 107 and 109), and the corrected registered wavelength pattern Ra2 matches the input wavelength pattern A. To do. The corrected mixture ratio Sb2 at this time becomes the mixture ratio B of the input wavelength pattern A (step 110).

An example of the correction method will be described. The registered pattern storage means 16 stores wavelength patterns of various densities of the respective base inks, and using the wavelength pattern,
Kubelka-Munk's color mixing theory is used to correct the amount of base ink by increasing or decreasing it so that the color difference and hue difference are minimized. In this way, by performing correction from the approximate color, the correction amount becomes smaller than when the mixture is calculated from the beginning, and the color becomes closer to the target color. In the case of printing ink, this is
This is because it does not match Kubelka-Munk's theory of color mixing.

The mixing ratio B is a ratio for each base ink, and is a numerical value such as red: yellow: black = 3: 4: 1. Further, the amount of the printing ink after blending is input from the keyboard 32, and the predetermined amount of each base ink is determined based on this amount and the blending ratio B (step 111). Then, the base ink is ejected from the base ink ejector 20 (step 112). The discharge amount of the base ink is sequentially detected by the discharge amount detector 22 and output to the measuring means 24. When the discharge amount of the base ink reaches a predetermined amount, the measuring unit 24 outputs a signal and closes the valve 44 to end the measurement (step 113). A plurality of base ink ejectors 20 are installed for each color, and the base ink ejectors are ejected one by one or simultaneously.

As described above, the color sample 50 is digitized as the data of the reflectance for each wavelength, and this data is transmitted to the ink manufacturing plant through the communication line 6, and the printing ink corresponding to the color sample 50 is manufactured based on this data. By doing so, it is possible to eliminate the trouble and time required to carry the color sample 50 to the ink manufacturing plant or the like.

Further, the input wavelength pattern A, the registered wavelength pattern and R1, R2, ..., Rn are compared and calculated to obtain the mixture ratio B, and a predetermined amount of the base ink is automatically ejected based on the mixture ratio B. Therefore, the operator only needs to measure the reflectance for each wavelength of the color sample 50 with the spectrophotometer 4. Therefore, it can be easily done by anyone without abundant experience and sharp feeling, and the work time can be shortened. Further, since a large number of registered wavelength patterns R1, R2, ..., Rn are database-based, there is almost no error in the mixing ratio B, and waste of the base ink can be suppressed.

As the discharge amount detector 22, a weight meter, a flow meter or the like is used. Since it is necessary to mount the container 48 on the weighing scale,
There is a problem that it will definitely grow. This problem is particularly noticeable in a device that ejects a large amount of base ink. On the other hand, if a flow meter or the like is used, the size can be extremely reduced regardless of the discharge amount of the base ink. This is because the weight meter measures the total discharge amount, so if the discharge amount is large, the scale must be increased accordingly, whereas the flow meter measures the flow rate per hour and numerically integrates the value. Therefore, even if the discharge amount is large, it is not necessary to increase the size of the flow meter as long as the flow rate per unit time does not change. As the flowmeter, an oval (non-circular) gear is preferable because it is sensitive to a highly viscous fluid such as a base ink.

After closing the valve 44, the base ink remaining in the pipe 45 from the valve 44 to the nozzle 46 may flow out. If the outflow amount is input to the measuring means 24 in advance, the measuring means 24 expects the outflow amount before the discharge amount of the base ink reaches a predetermined amount, and the valve 44.
By closing the, the accuracy of weighing can be improved. The outflow amount can be, for example, a value obtained by multiplying the length from the valve 44 to the nozzle 46 by the inner diameter of the pipe 45.
When the outflow amount is input to the measuring means 24, it may be replaced by the time when the outflow amount is exhausted.

FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram of the printing ink centralized supply system according to the present invention. The same parts as those in FIGS. 1 to 6 are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

The centralized supply system 60 for printing ink according to the present invention has a large number of sites 62a using printing ink,
62b, ... Are connected to the center 64 by the communication line 6,
A spectrophotometer 4 and a data transmitting means 8 are installed at the sites 62a, 62b, ..., And a data receiving means 10, an input pattern storing means 14, a registered pattern storing means 16 and a mixture ratio determining means 18 are provided at the center 64. The base ink ejector 20, the ejection amount detector 22, and the measuring means 24 are installed. Here, the sites 62a, 62b, ...
Is a printing factory, and the center 64 is an ink manufacturing factory.

From the respective sites 62a, 62b, ..., Waveform pattern data obtained by measuring the color sample 50 (see FIG. 2) with the spectrophotometer 2 is transmitted by the data transmitting means 8. It is sent to the line 6. At the center 64, the data of the wavelength pattern is received by the data receiving means 10 from the communication line 6. The wavelength pattern data received by the data receiving means 10 is the input wavelength pattern A.
(See FIG. 1) is stored in the input pattern storage means 14. Hereinafter, it is the same as the above-described toning and measuring device 2. In this way, it is not necessary to provide the toning and measuring device 2 for each of the sites 62a, 62b, ....

[0028]

According to the toning and measuring device for a printing ink according to the present invention, a color sample is digitized as data of reflectance for each wavelength, and this data is transmitted to an ink manufacturing plant or the like through a communication line, and this data is transmitted. By producing the printing ink corresponding to the color sample based on the above, it is possible to eliminate the trouble and time to carry the color sample to the ink manufacturing plant or the like. Therefore, the number of steps required to obtain the printing ink can be reduced, and the delivery time of the printing ink can be shortened.

Further, the composition ratio is obtained by comparing and calculating the input wavelength pattern and the registered wavelength pattern, and a predetermined amount of the base ink is automatically ejected based on this composition ratio, so that the operator can disperse the color sample. All you have to do is measure with a photometer. Therefore, anyone can easily operate it without needing abundant experience or a sharp feeling, and the work time can be shortened by automation. Further, since a large number of registered wavelength patterns are made into a database, there is almost no error in the mixing ratio, and the waste of the base ink can be suppressed.

According to the printing ink centralized supply system of the present invention, only the spectrophotometer and the data transmission means need to be installed at the site, and it is not necessary to provide a toning and measuring device for each site, so the equipment cost is reduced. Can be suppressed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a printing ink toning and toning device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an overall configuration diagram specifically showing one embodiment of a printing ink toning and measuring apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing the operation of an embodiment of the printing ink toning and toning device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of an embodiment of a printing ink color adjustment and weighing device according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the operation of an embodiment of a printing ink toning and weighing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a graph showing an input wavelength pattern of an embodiment of a printing ink toning and metering device according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram of a printing ink centralized supply system according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 ... Toning measuring device 4 ... Spectrophotometer 6 ... Communication line 8 ... Data transmitting means 10 ... Data receiving means 14 ... Input pattern storing means 16 ... Registered pattern storing means 18 ... Mixing ratio determining means 20 ... Base ink ejector 22 ... Discharge amount detector 24 ... Measuring means 50 ... Color sample 60 ... Centralized supply system 62a, 62b ... Site
64 ... Center

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A spectrophotometer that obtains a wavelength pattern by measuring reflectance for each wavelength on a color sample of a printed matter, and the data of the wavelength pattern obtained by the spectrophotometer is transmitted through a communication line. Data transmitting means, data receiving means for receiving the data of the wavelength pattern via the communication line, and input pattern storing means for storing the data of the wavelength pattern received by the data receiving means as an input wavelength pattern, Registered pattern storage means for storing a large number of registered wavelength patterns that have already been measured and the blending ratio of the base ink used for producing the color of the registered wavelength pattern, and a comparison operation between the input wavelength pattern and the registered wavelength pattern. And a mixing ratio determining means for calculating a mixing ratio of the base ink for producing the color of the input wavelength pattern, and a base for discharging the base ink. Sink ejector, ejection amount detector for detecting the ejection amount of base ink, and a predetermined amount of base ink based on the ejection amount detected by this ejection amount detector and the blending ratio obtained by the blending ratio determining means. And a measuring device for discharging the ink from the base ink discharger. 2. A large number of sites using printing ink are connected to a center by a communication line, a spectrophotometer and a data transmitting means are installed at each of the sites, and a data receiving means and an input pattern are provided at the center. The centralized supply system for printing ink using a toning and measuring apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a storage means, a registered pattern storage means, a blending ratio determination means, a base ink ejector, an ejection amount detector, and a measuring means.