JPH0570721A - Toning and metering equipment for printing ink - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To avoid the waste of base ink, shorten the operation time, and facilitate the operation without resort to special expertise. CONSTITUTION:The title equipment 10 is provided with a spectrophotometer 12 for obtaining the wavelength pattern from the color of a printed matter or the like, an input pattern memory means 14 for storing the input wavelength pattern A, a registered pattern memory means 16 for storing various registered wavelength patterns R2-Rn and various base ink compounding ratios S1-Sn, a compounding ratio decision means 18 for determining the base ink compounding ratio B with the input wavelength pattern A by comparing the input wavelength pattern A with each of the registered wavelength patterns R1-Rn, a base ink delivery device 20, a delivery detector 22 for detecting the amount of base ink delivery, and a metering system 24 for making the delivery device 20 deliver the required amount of base ink which is determined based on the amount of ink delivery and the compounding ratio B.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a toning and metering device for mixing a large number of base inks of different colors to obtain a printing ink which gives a desired print color.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when obtaining a printing ink corresponding to a desired color of a printed matter, a base ink such as red, blue, yellow, transparent medium or black is blended by repeating trial and error by experience and intuition of a skilled person. Was.

[0003]

However, in such a method, there is a problem that the waste of the base ink is large and the working time is long. Moreover, it is becoming more and more difficult to secure skilled workers due to the shortage of manpower in recent years.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a toning and measuring device for a printing ink, which can eliminate the waste of the base ink, shorten the working time, and can be easily operated by anyone without requiring special skill. There are things.

[0005]

A color-measuring and measuring apparatus for printing ink according to the present invention inputs a spectrophotometer for measuring a reflectance for each wavelength of a color of a printed matter or the like to obtain a wavelength pattern, and the wavelength pattern. Input pattern storage means for storing as a wavelength pattern, registered pattern storage means for storing a large number of already measured registered wavelength patterns and the blending ratio of the base ink used for producing the colors of the registered wavelength patterns; 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 wavelength pattern and the registered wavelength pattern, a base ink ejector for ejecting the base ink, and a base ink ejector. Based on the discharge amount detector that detects the discharge amount, the discharge amount detected by this discharge amount detector, and the mixture ratio obtained by the above mixture ratio determination means The base ink quantitative those with a metering means for discharging from the base ink dispenser.

The discharge amount detector may be a flow meter. The base ink ejector may be composed of a valve, and the estimated outflow amount of the base ink after the valve is closed may be input in advance to the measuring means.

[0007]

According to the toning and weighing device of the first to third aspects, the input wavelength pattern obtained by measuring the color of the printed matter with the spectrophotometer is stored in the input pattern storage means.
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. The compounding ratio determining means compares a large number of registered wavelength patterns with the input wavelength pattern, corrects the registered wavelength pattern and its compounding ratio by calculation as necessary, and matches the input wavelength pattern from the large number of registered wavelength patterns. What is done is selected. 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.

According to the toning and measuring apparatus of the second aspect, the discharge amount of the printing ink is detected by the flow meter.

According to the third aspect of the toning metering device, the metering means closes the valve in consideration of the outflow amount of the printing ink after the valve is closed before the ejected printing ink reaches a predetermined amount. ..

[0010]

1 is a functional block diagram of a toning and weighing apparatus according to the present invention. The toning metering device 10 includes a spectrophotometer 12 that obtains a wavelength pattern by measuring reflectance for each wavelength of a color of a printed matter, an input pattern storage unit 14 that stores the wavelength pattern as an input wavelength pattern A, and , Rn and the registered pattern storage means 16 for storing a large number of the compounding ratios S1, S2, ..., Sn of the base ink used for producing the colors of the registered wavelength patterns R1, R2 ,. , The input wavelength pattern A, the registered wavelength pattern and R1, R2, ..., Rn are calculated to obtain the mixture ratio B of the base ink for producing the color of the input wavelength pattern A, and the base ink. Base ink ejector 20 for ejecting the ink, an ejection amount detector 22 for detecting the ejection amount of the base ink, and an ejection amount detected by the ejection amount detector 22 and a mixture ratio determining means. A predetermined amount of base ink based on the mixing ratio B obtained by 8 and a metering means 24 for discharging from the base ink dispenser 20.

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. 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 unit 30 composed of a computer. The control unit 30 includes a keyboard 32,
Peripheral devices such as the CRT 34 and the printer 36 are connected. The base ink ejector 20 is composed of an ink tank 40, a pressure feed pump 42, an electromagnetic valve 44, etc., and the pressure feed pump 42 pushes out the base ink from the ink tank 40 and ejects it from a nozzle 46 via a pipe 45. is there. 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 6 are flowcharts showing the outline of the operation of the toning and weighing apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a graph showing the input wavelength pattern. The operation of the toning and weighing apparatus 10 will be described below with reference to FIGS.

The reflectance of each color of the printed matter 50 to be obtained from each wavelength is measured by the spectrophotometer 12 (step 1).
01). The object to be measured is not limited to the printed matter 50, and may be a photograph, an actual article, or the like. Figure 6 from the data
The input wavelength pattern A as shown in is obtained and stored in the input pattern storage means 14 (step 102). Further, the input wavelength pattern A is displayed on the CRT 34.

The blending ratio determining means 18 compares the input wavelength pattern A with the registered wavelength pattern R1, R2, ..., Rn (step 103). As a result, the registered wavelength pattern Ra that matches or is closest to the input wavelength pattern A
Is selected (step 104). 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 (step 105). 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 (step 106), and the corrected registered wavelength pattern Ra2 matches the input wavelength pattern A. The corrected mixture ratio Sb2 at this time becomes the mixture ratio B of the input wavelength pattern A (step 107).

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 108). Then, the base ink is ejected from the base ink ejector 20 (step 109). 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. A plurality of base ink ejectors 20 are installed for each color, and the base ink ejectors are ejected one by one or simultaneously.

Thus, the blending ratio B is obtained by comparing and calculating the input wavelength pattern A, the registered wavelength pattern, and R1, R2, ..., Rn, and based on the blending ratio B, a predetermined amount of base ink is automatically obtained. Since the ink is ejected, the operator only needs to measure the reflectance for each wavelength of the color of the printed matter 50 with the spectrophotometer 12. 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 scale, 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.

[0021]

According to the toning and weighing apparatus of the present invention,
The composition ratio is calculated by comparing and calculating the input wavelength pattern and the registered wavelength pattern, and a predetermined amount of base ink is automatically ejected based on this composition ratio, so the operator measures the color of the printed matter with a spectrophotometer. All you have to do is 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.

When a flow meter is used as the discharge amount detector, the size of the flow meter does not change depending on the total discharge amount of the base ink, so that the device for discharging a large amount of the base ink can be made extremely small.

The outflow amount of the base ink after the valve is closed is inputted into the measuring means in advance, and the measuring means closes the valve in anticipation of the outflow amount before the discharge amount of the base ink reaches a predetermined amount. The accuracy of can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

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

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of an embodiment of the toning and weighing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of an embodiment of the toning and weighing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of an embodiment of the toning metering device according to the present invention.

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

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ... Toning and measuring device 12 ... Spectrophotometer 14 ... Input pattern storage means 16 ... Registered pattern storage means 18 ... Mixing ratio determining means 20 ... Base ink ejector 22 ... Ejection amount detector 24 ... Measuring means

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A spectrophotometer that obtains a wavelength pattern by measuring reflectance for each wavelength of a color of a printed matter, an input pattern storage unit that stores the wavelength pattern as an input wavelength pattern, and a registered wavelength that has already been measured. Registered pattern storage means for storing a large number of patterns and the blending ratio of the base ink used for producing the color of the registered wavelength pattern, and the input wavelength pattern by comparing and calculating the input wavelength pattern and the registered wavelength pattern. With the blending ratio determining means for obtaining the blending ratio of the base ink for producing the color of, the base ink ejector for ejecting the base ink, the ejection amount detector for detecting the ejection amount of the base ink, and this ejection amount detector. A predetermined amount of base ink is ejected from the base ink ejector based on the detected ejection amount and the composition ratio obtained by the composition ratio determining means. Toning metering device for a printing ink and a quantity unit. 2. The toning and measuring device for printing ink according to claim 1, wherein the discharge amount detector comprises a flow meter. 3. The printing according to claim 1, wherein the base ink ejector is composed of a valve, and the estimated outflow amount of the base ink after the valve is closed is previously input to the measuring means. Ink toning and measuring device.