JPH07238992A - Driving belt and belt mark printing method and printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the extent of noises being generated in time of the running of a driving belt by displaying a belt mark, having almost nothing of jogs, on the back of this driving belt. CONSTITUTION:This belt mark printer is equipped with an ink jet printer, a belt supporter 2 provided with a means locking a belt 1, and a traveling device (a base 6, a longitudinal traveling bed 3 or the like) traveling the belt supporter 2 and a printer head 4 in relative positional relations in the longitudinal direction (X direction) and in the cross direction (Y direction) of the belt. As for the printing method, this printer is used and it is superposed plural times on one onother and printed. In addition, as for the driving belt 1, this printer is used as well, through which a belt mark is displayed by the abovementioned method.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a belt, in particular, a transmission belt having a trademark, lot number, date of manufacture, size, grade, etc. (hereinafter referred to as a belt mark) on the back surface of the transmission belt, a printing method thereof, and Related to a printing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a belt mark of a transmission belt is generally displayed by a thermal transfer system. One of these methods is a mark sheet with a belt mark printed by screen printing on a base material such as release paper, cellophane, plastic film, etc., and an unvulcanized belt (slab) formed by molding multiple belt materials into a cylindrical shape. It is displayed by transferring the belt mark to the back surface of the belt by attaching it to a surface corresponding to the back surface of the belt and then vulcanizing by attaching a predetermined mold and a vulcanization sleeve. As another method of the thermal transfer method, there is a method of attaching the mark sheet to the surface of the vulcanized slab that corresponds to the back surface of the belt and then displaying the belt mark by heating and pressure bonding between the receiving shaft and the heat roll.

[0003]

A transmission belt having a belt mark displayed by a conventional thermal transfer system has a problem of generating noise when used as, for example, a fan belt of an automobile. It is considered that this is because when the mark is attached to the back surface of the unvulcanized belt and the belt mark is displayed by vulcanization, the base material of the mark sheet is pushed into the back surface of the belt to form a recess. Has been. Further, it is considered that when the heat transfer is performed after the vulcanization, the belt mark transferred to the back surface of the belt rises to form a convex portion. In the latter case, if the amount of the medium used for the belt mark is reduced in order to prevent the belt mark from rising, the belt mark may peel off or discolor during use of the belt. In addition, in any case, when the mark sheet is attached to the back surface of the belt, a defective product (mark difference) may occur due to the operator confusing the type of the mark sheet.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a transmission belt, a belt mark printing method, and a printing apparatus that solve these problems.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the transmission belt of the present invention has a belt mark printed by an ink jet printer.

According to the belt mark printing method, a printer head of an ink jet printer is supported close to the back surface of the belt, and the belt is supported at the print start position on the back surface of the belt (one end in the belt length direction at the belt mark display position). 2) and the print completion position (the other end of the belt mark display position in the belt length direction, see FIG. 2), the same belt mark is moved to the same position by reciprocating along the belt length direction. It is a method of printing multiple times over.

The belt mark printing apparatus includes a belt supporting base having means for fixing the belt, an ink jet printer having a printer head which can be mounted close to the back surface of the belt, and the belt supporting base and printer head. A moving device for moving the relative position in the belt length direction and the belt width direction.

As a device for moving the belt support base of the moving device in the length direction of the belt, a crank mechanism may be used and a belt support base position detecting means may be provided. Further, as the belt support base position detecting means, a rubber cone (having a cone formed of an elastic body such as rubber or plastics at one end and a rotational displacement measuring device on the opposite side), It can be configured with a position detection bar (a rod that moves in the X direction integrally with the belt support). As the belt supporting base position detecting means, the position of the belt supporting base can be detected by a combination mechanism of a rack and a pinion instead of the combination of the rubber cone and the position detecting lever.

[0009]

In the belt mark printed by the ink jet printer, the belt mark portion does not rise by using the ink for the ink jet printer having a small amount of medium as described later, and the mark sheet is not used. No concave portion is observed on the back surface of the belt due to the base material. For this reason, the transmission belt having the belt mark printed by the ink jet printer has very little noise generation when it is mounted on an automobile or the like and travels. Further, even when the ink having a low density is used, the belt mark having a predetermined density can be obtained by printing the ink a plurality of times so that the required durability can be secured.

According to the belt mark printing method of the present invention, the position where ink jet printing is possible is maintained by supporting the printer head of the ink jet printer close to the back surface of the belt, and the printing of the belt is completed from the print start position on the back surface of the belt. By reciprocating up to the position along the length direction of the belt, the same belt mark can be printed at the same position multiple times. According to the inkjet printer, the ink is thin (for example, 60 μm).
Since the ink used is adjusted to have low viscosity (low medium) and high density, the printed belt mark has an increased thickness due to medium etc. And the occurrence of peeling due to bending or friction of the belt is reduced. It is possible to print a belt mark with a predetermined density with one print depending on the ink density, but if the belt mark with a predetermined density cannot be obtained with one print due to the ink density, use the same belt mark multiple times. By overlapping and printing, a belt mark having a predetermined darkness can be displayed.

The ink jet printer used in the belt mark printing apparatus of the present invention is usually composed of a printer cabinet and a printer head. In an inkjet printer, ink is ejected as fine particles from a nozzle to print an object to be printed, so that a uniform and clear belt mark can be printed on the back surface of a belt having irregularities such as canvas. Further, since characters and the like can be easily designated by setting the character signal, various belt marks can be easily printed on various types of transmission belts and the like.

The belt support of the belt mark printing apparatus according to the present invention, which has means for fixing the belt, is provided with, for example, a belt retainer and a groove for suspending the belt. By suspending the belt in the groove and fixing the belt to the belt support by the belt retainer, the belt is prevented from moving on the belt support during the printing operation. This has the effect of preventing the belt mark from becoming unclear even when the same belt mark is printed at the same position.

The belt support is supported by a device that moves in the length direction of the belt for printing the belt mark (referred to as the X direction) and the width direction of the belt (referred to as the Y direction). By the X-direction moving device, the belt can be moved in the X direction as the printing of the belt mark progresses, and a long belt mark can be printed in the X direction. It can also be reciprocally moved for overlapping printing. When multiple belts are hung on the belt support, the Y direction moving device moves the belt support in the Y direction after the printing of one belt is completed and starts printing the next belt. Can be moved to a position.

By using the crank mechanism as claimed in claim 4 as the moving device for moving the belt support base in the X direction, the belt support base can be accurately returned to the printing start position, and the plurality of times can be used. Even when printing is repeated, the belt mark does not shift. Further, by providing the belt supporting base position detecting means, even if the moving speed of the belt supporting base changes due to the crank mechanism, it is not affected by this moving speed and printing is performed on the inkjet printer according to the moving distance of the belt supporting base. You can give instructions. That is, the rubber cone is rotated by the position detection lever that moves integrally with the belt support, and its rotational displacement is measured, so that even if the moving speed of the belt support changes, the movement of the belt support moves. The distance (position) can be accurately detected. Accurate printing can be instructed to the inkjet printer according to the detected position of the belt support. The rubber cone, which is a part of the belt support base position detecting means, is formed in a conical shape at a portion in contact with the position detecting bar. Accordingly, the printing interval (pitch) of the belt marks can be adjusted by changing the position of the rubber cone in the Y direction (direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the position detection lever).

[0015]

FIG. 2 shows a portion of the power transmission belt 1 according to the present invention with a belt mark 22. The belt mark 22 is a trademark (eg, X) on the back surface of the power transmission belt 1 (outside in use).
YZ), lot number (eg, 3582), etc. are displayed. The print start position is indicated by the symbol S, and the print completion position is indicated by the symbol E.

Next, an embodiment of a belt mark printing method and a printer according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The belt mark printing apparatus includes an inkjet printer having a printer cabinet 7 and a printer head 4, a belt support 2 having a belt retainer 5 and a groove 14 as a means for fixing the belt, and a belt support 2 having a belt length. From the front-rear moving bed 3 including the guide rails 16 that move in the vertical direction (X direction), and the base 6 including the guide rails 15 that move the front-rear moving bed 3 in the belt width direction (Y direction). And a moving device that moves the belt support base 2 in the X and Y directions.

The printer cabinet 7 is independently installed at a position where the printer head 4 can be mounted near the transmission belt 1 supported by the belt support 2. The printer head 4 is fixed by a support (not shown) in the vicinity of the transmission belt 1 supported by the belt support 2 or is supported so as to be easily movable before and after the printing operation.

As a means for fixing the transmission belt 1 to the belt support 2, the belt support 2 is provided with a groove portion 14 for mounting the transmission belt 1 and a belt retainer 5 via a pin 13. Thereby, after the transmission belt 1 is mounted in the groove portion 14, the belt retainer 5 can be pressed against the back surface of the transmission belt 1 to fix the transmission belt 1 to the belt support 2. The fixing means is not limited to this,
For example, the size of the belt and the size of the groove can be made close to each other so that the belt can be fixed only by the groove, and when the belt is thin, it can be fixed only by the belt retainer.

As another means for fixing the transmission belt 1 to the belt support base 2, the transmission belt 1 is hung over the hanging parts 52, 51 attached to the belt support base 2, and the hanging device width adjusting means 53 hangs the hanging device. The transmission belt 1 can also be fixed by widening the distance between 52 and 51 (see FIGS. 4 and 5).

The belt support base 2 is attached to the bed 3 for forward and backward movement via a guide rail 16 and can be moved in the longitudinal direction (X direction) of the belt via a screw rod 17 by a motor 8 for horizontal movement. it can. A left end position detection sensor, a right end position detection sensor, and a left-right direction movement amount sensor (for example, a rotary encoder) (not shown) are attached to the front-back movement bed 3, and the position of the belt support 2 can be accurately measured. As a result, the transmission belt 1 supported by the belt support 2 can be accurately moved in the belt length direction (X direction) between the print start position and the print end position. By this movement, it is possible to print on the transmission belt 1 even if the entire length of the belt mark 22 becomes long.

By repeating this movement (reciprocating movement), it is possible to print the same belt mark 22 at the same position a plurality of times. That is, printing is started from the print start position to the print completion position, and then the transmission belt 1 is moved to the print start position to print the belt mark 22 from the beginning, or the print start position is changed to the print start position. There is a method of printing the belt mark 22 in the reverse order of the previous time when moving. In the case of overlapping printing, the printing position may be shifted and the peripheral portion of the belt mark 22 may be unclear. In order to prevent this, the printer head 4
Of the positional relationship between the print position on the back of the belt and the print position, that is,
It is important that the first print position and the second print position match. Therefore, as described above, the transmission belt 1 is fixed to the belt support base 2, and the movement accuracy of the belt support base is increased by a horizontal movement amount sensor, such as a rotary encoder.

In the method of moving the transmission belt 1,
Instead of reciprocating from the printing start position to the printing completion position, printing is performed a plurality of times for each pitch without moving the moving device, and after finishing the belt mark at that position to a predetermined density, The pitch can also be printed. Here, one pitch refers to a unit (one feeding width in the belt length direction, symbol P in FIG. 3) that allows printing without moving the positional relationship between the printer head 4 and the transmission belt 1.

The bed 3 for moving back and forth is provided with a guide rail 15
It is attached to the base 6 via the motor and can be moved in the width direction (Y direction) of the belt by a motor 9 for back and forth movement via a screw rod (not shown). The base 6 is provided with a start position detection sensor 12, an end position detection sensor 11, and a front-back movement amount sensor 10. With these moving devices and sensors, after the printing of one of the plurality of transmission belts 1 mounted is completed, the next transmission belt 1 can be moved in the width direction and placed at the printing start position. By repeating this operation, a plurality of transmission belts 1 can be continuously printed.

In this embodiment, the printer head 4
Although the apparatus for printing with the position fixed is described, as another method, the transmission belt 1 may be fixed to the base 6 and the printer head 4 may be moved in the X and Y directions for printing.

The construction of the ink jet printer will be conceptually described with reference to FIG. Printer cabinet 7
The ink in the ink bottle 31 built in (FIG. 1) is pressurized by the supply pump 32 and ejected from the nozzle 34 of the printer head 4 (FIG. 1) via the pressure reducing valve 33. The ejected ink is vibrated by an electrostrictive element (not shown) to be turned into particles. When the atomized ink passes through the strip electrode 35, a voltage indicated by the character signal generation circuit 36 is applied to the strip electrode 35, whereby a corresponding charge is applied to the ink particles. Further, the ink particles are deflected by the deflection electrode 3.
When passing between 7, the course is deflected according to the electric charge, and a predetermined character or the like is printed on the printing material 38. Ink particles not used for printing are caught by the gutter 10 and collected in the ink bottle 31. However, the printer in this embodiment of the invention ejects ink vertically. The ink used is oil-based ink or water-based ink designed according to the material of the transmission belt 1, but usually oil-based ink can be used.

Next, the procedure of the belt mark printing method of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Before the start of printing, the printer head 4 stands by at a position apart from the belt support base 2, and the belt presser 5 is lifted upward to open the groove portion 14. Subsequently, a predetermined number of transmission belts 1 are fitted into the groove portions 14 of the belt support base 2. The transmission belt 1 is pressed by the belt presser 5 and fixed to the belt support 2. The back-and-forth moving bed 3 is moved to the start position (the position of the start position sensor 12), and the belt support 2 is moved so that the transmission belt 1 is located at the printing start position (the end of the guide rail 16 in FIG. 1). . The position of the belt support base 2 is adjusted by the size (length) of the belt mark. The printer head 4 is supported immediately above the print start position of the belt mark of the transmission belt 1 to be printed first. The inkjet printer is started, and the belt support base 2 is moved in the length direction (X direction) of the transmission belt 1 as needed. After printing the belt mark once, the belt support base 2 is returned to the work start position. If necessary, repeat the procedure of and. When the belt mark having a predetermined density is obtained, the printer head 4 is moved, the belt holder 5 is lifted, and the transmission belt 1 on which the belt mark is printed is removed.

Another means for moving the belt support 2 in the X direction will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. A support rod 46 attached to the belt support base 2 supported by the guide rail 16 and a speed reducer 56 driven by a motor 57 are connected by links 44 and a crank 45 via fulcrums 48 and 47. As a result, the belt support base 2 can be accurately returned to the work start position. The position detection bar 42 attached to the belt support 2 is extended in the X direction and attached so as to abut the rubber cone 41. A rotary encoder 43 is attached to the rubber cone 41. By moving the support base 2,
The rubber cone 41 is rotated via the position detection bar 42. By detecting the displacement of the rubber cone 41 by the rotary encoder 43, the position of the belt support base 2 can be detected and an accurate print instruction can be given to the inkjet printer.

[0028]

As described above, by using the belt mark printing apparatus of the present invention (claim 3) and utilizing the belt mark printing method (claim 1), the swelling of the belt mark portion is small, There are no recesses,
In addition, it is possible to manufacture a power transmission belt having a clear and durable belt mark. When the power transmission belt is mounted on an automobile or the like and travels, noise generated by the power transmission belt can be significantly suppressed.

According to the belt mark printing method of the second aspect, even when the ink having a relatively low colorant concentration is used, the belt mark having a required concentration can be printed by performing the overlapping printing.

According to the belt mark printing apparatus of the fourth aspect, by making the printing start position accurate, it is possible to improve the sharpness of the belt mark by the method of the second aspect.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing an embodiment of a belt mark printing device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a part of a transmission belt on which a belt mark is printed by the belt mark printing method of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a configuration of an inkjet printer used in the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a belt mark printing device in which an X-direction moving device according to claim 4 is used as a crank mechanism.

FIG. 5 is a front view of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ... Transmission belt 2 ... Belt support 3 ... Bed for forward / backward 4 ... Printer head 5 ... Belt holder 6 ... Base 7 ... Printer cabinet 8 ... Motor for horizontal movement 9 ... Motor for forward / backward 10 ... Forward / backward movement amount sensor 14 ... Groove 22 ... Belt mark 37 ... Deflection electrode 41 ... Rubber cone 42 ... Position detection bar 44 ... Link 45 ... Cranks 51, 52 ... Hanging device 53 ... Hanging device width adjusting means

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A transmission belt having a belt mark printed by an inkjet printer on the back surface of the belt. 2. A printer head of an ink jet printer is supported close to a back surface of a belt, and the belt is reciprocated along a belt length direction between a print start position and a print completion position on the belt back surface. A belt mark printing method, wherein the same belt mark is printed at the same position multiple times. 3. An ink jet printer having a belt support base having means for fixing a belt, and a printer head which can be mounted close to the back surface of the belt, and a relative position between the belt support base and the printer head. A belt mark printing apparatus including a moving device that moves a positional relationship in a belt length direction and a belt width direction. 4. A crank mechanism is used as a device for moving the belt support base of the moving device in the length direction of the belt, and belt support base position detecting means is provided.
Belt mark printing device described.