JPH0740525A - Printing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a printing apparatus capable of efficiently performing printing such as double-side printing or multicolor printing over two or more times and drying treatment by a reduced number of equipments. CONSTITUTION:A printing apparatus applies printing to one work W two or more times and is equipped with a screen printing machine 20 applying printing to the work W, a dryer 60 drying the work W printed by the screen printing machine 20, feed conveyors 40-43 feeding the work W from the screen printing machine 20 to the dryer 60 and a circulating conveyor 45 feeding the work W so as to circulate the same from the dryer 60 to the screen printing machine 20.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus for printing a plate-shaped or sheet-shaped printing material such as a synthetic resin plate or a circuit board a plurality of times.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A printing device for printing on a plate-shaped or sheet-shaped printed material such as a synthetic resin plate or a circuit board is generally a printing machine for performing screen printing on the printed material and a printed material after printing. And a dryer for drying

[0003]

By the way, in the case of printing a single color or only on the surface, a printing apparatus having a printing machine and a drying machine arranged in parallel is used, and printing can be performed only once by a printing / drying process. can do. However, when performing printing on the front and back surfaces of an object to be printed or automatically performing multicolor printing using a plurality of colors, conventionally, two printing machines and two dryers are installed alternately and continuously, Alternatively, a printer and a dryer are alternately installed continuously in a line for the number of colors of multicolor printing to perform continuous printing (see, for example, JP-A-52-138217).

For this reason, a plurality of printers and dryers are required, which increases the equipment cost and the installation space of the printer.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and provides a printing apparatus capable of efficiently performing a plurality of times of printing such as front / back surface printing and multicolor printing and a drying process with a small amount of equipment. With the goal.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the printing apparatus of the present invention is a printing apparatus for printing a plurality of times on one printing material, and a printing machine for printing on the printing material. A dryer for drying the printed matter printed by the printer, a conveyor for conveying the printed matter from the printer to the dryer, and a circulation conveyor for circulating the printed matter from the dryer to the printer. Composed.

[0007]

In this type of printing apparatus, for example, in the case of multicolor printing, first, the material to be printed is carried into the printing machine and the first printing is performed. Then, the printed matter after printing is sent to a dryer by a conveyor, and the dried printed matter is then
It is returned to the printing machine again by the circulating conveyor.

Next, in the printing machine, the next color plate is set and the second printing is performed. Then, the printed matter after printing is sent to the dryer by the transport conveyor, and the dried printed matter is then returned to the printer again by the circulation conveyor.

In this way, the printing and drying are repeated for the number of colors of the multicolor printing, and when the predetermined multicolor printing is completed, the printed matter is carried out from a part of the circulation conveyor.

As described above, the dryer and the printing machine are connected by the circulation conveyor, the printed matter which has been printed and dried is returned to the printing machine, and one printing machine performs plural times of printing. Therefore, since it is sufficient to install only one printer and dryer, the facility cost is low and the installation space of the printer is small.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic perspective view of a printing apparatus for performing screen printing of a plurality of colors on a sheet-shaped object to be printed (hereinafter referred to as a work), for example. Reference numeral 1 denotes a carry-in conveyor for carrying in the work W. A plurality of works W are stored in a box-shaped magazine 2, and the carry-in conveyor 1 carries in the magazine 2 containing the work W.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the device for taking out the work W from the magazine 2 and supplying it to the printing machine is an extruding device 4 for extruding all the works in the magazine, and an extruding device 4 for extruding the work W from the magazine 2. The buffer device 5 stores the stored works W, and the delivery device 9 that delivers the works W stored in the buffer device 5 one by one.

A multistage shelf member 2a is provided in the magazine 2, and a plurality of works W are stored in the magazine 2 substantially horizontally. The shelf members 2a in the magazine 2 are provided so as to face each other on both sides and have a structure for supporting both ends of the work W.
The front and back sides of the magazine 2 are open, and the work W can be pushed out to the front side by the pushing member 4c of the pushing device 4 described later.

The push-out device 4 is arranged at a fixed position on the side of the carry-in conveyor 1, and has two fluid pressure cylinders 4b mounted horizontally and vertically in two stages on a body frame 4a which is erected.
A vertically long pushing member 4c is vertically attached to the tip of the piston rod of both fluid pressure cylinders 4b.

The pushing direction of the fluid pressure cylinder 4b is set to the transverse direction of the carry-in conveyor 1, that is, the carrying-in / carrying-out direction of the work in the loaded magazine 2, and the length of the pushing member 4c can be inserted into the magazine 2. And the length is set so that the entire work W can be extruded. On the opposite side of the push-out device 4 with the carry-in conveyor 1 in between, a buffer device 5 is arranged at an opposite position so as to accommodate all the works W pushed by the push-out device 4.

The buffer device 5 is composed of two vertical elevating conveyors 6 and 7 which are erected at regular intervals, and both elevating conveyors 6 and 7 elevate and lower all the works W extruded from the magazine 2. The support plates 6a and 7a of the conveyors 6 and 7 support the support plates 6a and
This is a structure in which 7a is raised step by step.

The two lifting conveyors 6 and 7 are provided with a belt or a chain that is wound around a pulley or a sprocket that is vertically supported, and a large number of support plates 6a and 7a are attached to the belt or the chain.
Are attached at the same intervals as the shelf members 2a in the magazine 2. The upper and lower pulleys or sprockets that drive the belt or chain are rotationally driven by motors 6b and 7b with reduction gears, and the support plates 6a and 7 located inside
When a reaches the same position as each shelf member 2a of the magazine 2, the structure is intermittently operated so as to stop once.

A delivery rail 8 for delivering the work is horizontally attached to the front of the upper portion of the buffer device 5, and the work W positioned at the uppermost stage is delivered to the delivery rail 8 on the upper portion of the buffer device 5. A delivery device 9 for The delivery rail 8 is composed of two rails having a substantially U-shaped cross section and horizontally arranged so as to face each other, and slidably supports both ends of the work W.

The delivery device 9 is constructed, for example, by arranging a rodless cylinder on the upper part of the buffer device 5 so that the delivery rail 8 is oriented, and a rearward pushing member 9a is attached downward to a piston (moving table) thereof. The uppermost work W is delivered toward the delivery rail 8 by the backing member 9a.

In front of the delivery rail 8, there is arranged a transfer device 10 for transferring the work W onto the pallet P as shown in FIGS.

The transfer device 10 receives the work W sent from the sending rail 8 and moves up and down the work loader 11.
A pallet pusher 12 that pushes the pallet P directly below the work loader 11; a conveyor 15 disposed on both sides of the pallet pusher 12; and a pallet lift 13 that lifts the pallet P sent to a fixed position by the pallet pusher 12. And a conveyor 14 that is arranged directly below the pallet lift 13 and sends the pallet forward,
And a delivery conveyor 16 for delivering the pallet P sent by the above to the printing machine side.

The work loader 11 has a body frame 11b attached to the tips of the piston rods of two fluid pressure cylinders 11a mounted downward with respect to the fixed portion, and a cross-section cord for holding both ends of the work W in the body frame 11b. The holding portions 11c and 11d are provided, and the holding portions 11c and 11d are provided.
11d is horizontally moved by the fluid pressure cylinders 11e and 11f to release the work holding.

The pallet P is formed in a plate shape having an intake chamber inside, a positioning pin is projected on the upper surface thereof, and a large number of suction holes are drilled on the upper surface. The pallet pusher 12 has a rectangular frame 12b attached to the tip of the piston rod of the fluid pressure cylinder 12a, and supports the pallet P on the frame 12b. The pallet lift 13 is configured by providing a support base 13b at the tips of the piston rods of the two fluid pressure cylinders 13a arranged upward, and supports the pallet P on the support base 13b to raise and lower it. A screen printer 20 is arranged in front of the delivery conveyor 16.

The screen printing machine 20 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG.
A guide member 22 is installed between 1a. The guide member 22 includes a drive motor 23 provided in the main body 21.
A movable member 24 having a power source as a power source is held so as to be movable in the horizontal direction.

The movable member 24 is provided with two squeegee driving fluid pressure cylinders 25, 25 and two scraper driving fluid pressure cylinders 26. A squeegee 27 is arranged at the tip end of the rods 25a, 25a of the squeegee driving fluid pressure cylinders 25, 25, and the squeegee 27 is raised.
It is possible to descend.

On the other hand, fluid pressure cylinder 26 for driving the scraper
A scraper 28 is provided at the tip of the rod 26a of
The scraper 28 can be raised and lowered. Below the squeegee 27 and the scraper 28, a plate 30 stretched on a plate frame 29 attached to the main body 21 is horizontally arranged.

Below the plate 30, a fluid pressure cylinder 31,
31 is arranged upward, and its piston rod 31a,
The push-up base 32 is horizontally attached to the tip of 31a. The pallet P conveyed by the delivery conveyor 16 is
It is supported on the lifting table 32. This pallet P is
It also functions as a printing table, an intake chamber is formed inside, and suction holes 35 are formed in the upper surface. This intake chamber has an air hose 3
It communicates with an intake pump (not shown) via 4, and sucks and holds the work W placed on the upper surface by suction from the suction chamber and suction holes.

A frame-shaped jig 38 is detachably mounted in the main body 21. The jig 38, as shown in FIG.
Locking portions 39, 39 that are locked to the main body 21 are formed on both left and right sides, and an opening portion 36 is formed in the central portion. The opening 36, as shown in FIG.
Is formed so that it can be accommodated with almost no gap,
The jig 38 is configured such that the upper surface of the jig 38 and the upper surface of the work W are flush with each other when the work W is accommodated in the opening 36.

Further, the jig 38 is formed with a stopper / suction hole masking surface 37. The stopper / adsorption hole masking surface 37 has a function as a stopper that abuts on the upper surface of the pallet P when the pallet P on which the work W is placed is lifted, and restricts subsequent upward movement, and the inside of the pallet P. When suction is started, the suction holes 35 opened on the upper surface of the pallet other than the mounting portion of the work W are closed, and both functions as a suction masking surface that makes the suction of the work W effective.

A print head 20a for external setup is provided adjacent to the printing machine 20 so that the screen printing machine 20 can perform printing a plurality of times with different plates and colors (FIG. 1).

As shown in FIG. 1, a screen printing machine 20
Next, the transfer conveyors 40, 41 and 42 for transferring the printed work W and the pallet P to the next step are continuously laid in an L shape. Then, the end of the last transfer conveyor 42 is located opposite to the transfer device 50 of the same structure installed at the position adjacent to the transfer device 10.

The transfer device 50 is constructed by providing a work loader 51, a pallet pusher 12, a work loader 51 having the same structure as the pallet pusher 13, a pallet pusher 52, and a pallet lift of the transfer device 10, and a transfer conveyor 42. Receives the pallet P with the work carried by the pallet and lifts the pallet P upward by the pallet lift,
The upper work loader 51 removes and holds the work W on the pallet P and sends it to the rail 58. The remaining pallet P is sent to the conveyor 12 on the transfer device 10 side by the pallet pusher 52 and is reused.

Further, at the tip end position of the rail 58 for feeding the work W, a buffer device 5 similar to the buffer device 5 is used.
5 and a pushing-in device for pushing in the work W on the rail 58 onto the buffer device 55. Further, the buffer device 55 has a work W on all supporting plates in the buffer device.
When the sheets are stored, an extruding device that pushes out the works W at a time is provided in an empty magazine 2 located behind the sheets.

The carry-in conveyor 1 is laid so as to pass behind the buffer device 5 and the buffer device 55, and the magazine 2 which has been emptied by sending the work W to the buffer device 5 is printed at a position behind the buffer device 55 after printing. The work W is stored again and is conveyed to the next process by the conveyor 1.

An L-shaped transfer conveyor 43 is connected to the end of the carry-in conveyor 1, and a dryer 60 is installed at the end of the transfer conveyor 43. The dryer 60 is a conveyor 4
The work W with a magazine carried in by 3 is put in the drying chamber, and hot air drying is performed.

A carry-out conveyor 44 for carrying out the dried magazine 2 is laid on the carry-out side of the dryer 60. The carry-out conveyor 44 is arranged at a position adjacent to the carry-in conveyor 1, and a circulation conveyor 45 is laid so as to connect and connect a part of the carry-out conveyor 44 and a part of the carry-in conveyor 1. When the printing of the work W to be printed a plurality of times has not been completed, the circulation conveyor 45 returns the magazine 2 from the carry-out conveyor 44 side to the carry-in conveyor 1 side, and allows the magazine 2 of the printed work to pass. Instead, they are switched and operated so that they can be carried out as they are.

Next, the operation of the printing apparatus having the above configuration will be described.

First, the magazine 2 containing the work W is
The carry-in conveyor 1 conveys the product to a position facing the pushing device 4 and stops. Next, the push-out device 4 operates, the fluid pressure cylinder 4b pushes out the piston rod, and the push-out member 4c advances toward the inside of the magazine 2 by this, and the work W in the magazine moves to the buffer device 5 side at a time. Is extruded into. The extruded work W is entirely pushed between the support plates 6a and 7a of the buffer device 5, both ends of which are supported by the support plates 6a and 7a, and stored in the buffer device 5.

Next, the delivery device 9 is actuated, and the rear pushing member 9a moves to the delivery rail 8 side, whereby the work W located at the uppermost stage of the buffer device 5 is pushed out to the front delivery rail 8. After that, the work W on the delivery rail 8 is fed to a printing device or the like (not shown) by a feeding device (not shown).

On the other hand, in the buffer device 5, when the uppermost work W is delivered by the delivery device 9, the motor 6b,
The elevating conveyors 6 and 7 are driven by 7b to drive the supporting plates 6a and 7a located inside thereof by one step.

Then, when the inside of the delivery rail 8 becomes empty, the delivery device 9 is actuated again, the back-pressing member 9a moves to the delivery rail 8 side, and the work W located at the uppermost stage of the buffer device 5 is moved. Are pushed out to the delivery rail 8.

On the other hand, the empty magazine 2 is moved to the position of the adjacent buffer device 55 by the carry-in conveyor 1, and the new magazine 2 containing the work W enters the position of the pushing device 4 and stands by.

The work W delivered from the delivery rail 8 is
As shown in FIG. 5, the work W held by the holding portion 11c of the work loader 11 and then held by the operation of the fluid pressure cylinder 11a descends, and the pallet lift 13 directly below the work W is lowered.
The work W is placed at a fixed position on the pallet P placed above.

Next, the fluid pressure cylinder 13a of the pallet lift 13 is operated to lower the support table 13b thereof, so that the pallet P is lowered and placed on the conveyor 14. Then, the pallet 14 is sent to the next delivery conveyor 16 by the operation of the conveyor 14, and the pallet P holding the work W is sent from the delivery conveyor 16 to the screen printing machine 20.
Sent to.

The pallet P is placed at a fixed position on the push-up table 32 below the screen printing machine 20. Then, as shown in FIG. 9, the push-up table 32 is raised by the pushing operation of the piston rod 31a of the fluid pressure cylinder 31, and the pallet P is raised. Then, the work W on the pallet P enters the opening 36 of the jig 38, and the upper surface of the pallet P is the stopper / suction hole masking surface 37 of the jig 18.
, The pallet P is pressed against the jig 38, and the upper surface of the workpiece W exposed from the opening 36 of the jig 38 is flush with the upper surface of the jig 38. Becomes

The air hose 34 is connected to the pallet P, and air is sucked through the suction chamber and the suction holes 35 in the pallet P, so that the work W is surely sucked and held on the upper surface of the pallet P.

In this state, the squeegee driving fluid pressure cylinder 25 lowers the squeegee 27, the squeegee 27 presses the plate 30 against the upper surface 21b of the main body 21, puts the ink on the plate 30, and moves it by the drive motor 23. The member 24 is moved and the squeegee 27 is slid on the plate 30 to print on the upper surface of the work W.

When printing is completed, the fluid pressure cylinder 31 operates and the push-up table 32 is lowered, whereby the pallet P and the work W are lowered away from the main body 21 and the tool 38 of the printing press. Then, as shown in FIG. 1, the pallet P and the work W after printing are sent from the carry-out side opposite to the carry-in side and placed on the transport conveyor 40, and are sequentially sent from the transport conveyor 40 to the transport conveyors 41, 42. To be

The pallet P with work is mounted on the conveyor 4
2 is sent to the pallet lift directly below the transfer device 50,
The work loader 51 is lifted by the operation of the pallet lift, and at the same time, the work loader 51 is lowered, and both ends of the work W are held by the holding portions provided inside thereof. Then, the work loader 51 rises and stops when the work W reaches the horizontal position of the sending rail 58, and the work W is sent to the buffer device 55 through the sending rail 58.

On the other hand, an empty pallet P on the pallet lift
Is placed on the pallet pusher 52 by the lowering of the lift, is sent to the conveyor 15 by the pushing operation of the pallet pusher 52, and is further sent to the pallet pusher 12 of the adjacent transfer device 10 by the operation of the conveyor 15. And used again as above.

On the other hand, the work W sent to the buffer device 55 is stored therein, and when the number of the works stored on the multi-stage support plate of the buffer device 55 reaches a predetermined number, the pushing device operates. Then, all the works W in the buffer device 55 are pushed toward the magazine 2 located behind.

The extruded work W is stored in the magazine 2, and the magazine 2 is conveyed to the conveyer conveyor 43 by the carry-in conveyor 1 and further conveyed to the dryer 60 by the conveyer conveyor 43. The magazine-containing work W placed in the dryer 60 is dried with hot air, and after the drying is completed, it is taken out from the opposite side of the dryer 60 onto the carry-out conveyor 44. Then, the magazine 2 containing the work W is sent from the carry-out conveyor 44 to the circulation conveyor 45, and the circulation conveyor 45
To the carry-in conveyor 1 again for the next printing.
It is sent to the front of the buffer device 5.

Then, similarly to the above, the works W in the magazine 2 enter the buffer device 5, the individual works W are sent from the sending conveyor 8 to the transfer device 10, and the work loader 11 moves the works W into the pallet P. The pallet P holding the work placed in the screen printing machine 20 enters the screen printing machine 20, and the same printing as described above is performed using another plate and color.

The pallet P holding the printed work W is conveyed by the conveyors 40, 41, 42 in the same manner as above.
The work W sent to the transfer device 50 through the transfer device 50 and removed from the pallet P by the transfer device 50 is stored in the magazine 2 via the buffer device 55. Then, the magazine 2 containing the work W is transported to the dryer 60 by the transport conveyor 43 and dried and processed.

By repeating such steps, the work W is printed a plurality of times, and the magazine 2 of the work W for which all printing has been completed is finally carried out from the carry-out conveyor 44.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of an apparatus that supplies a work W to a transfer apparatus side.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the device.

FIG. 4 is a front view of the same device.

5 is a perspective view of the transfer device 10. FIG.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the device.

FIG. 7 is a side view of the device.

FIG. 8 is a rear view of the same device.

9 is a side view including a partial cross section of the screen printing machine 20. FIG.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view of the printing machine.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view including a partial cross section of a jig of the printing machine.

[Explanation of symbols]

1-carry-in conveyor, 2-magazine, 5-buffer device,
10-transfer device, 20-screen printing machine, 40, 4
1, 42, 43-transport conveyor, 44-unload conveyor,
45-circulating conveyor, 60-dryer, W-work (material to be printed), P-pallet.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A printing apparatus for printing a plurality of prints on one printing medium, a printing machine for printing on the printing medium, a dryer for drying the printed matter printed by the printing machine, and the printing machine. And a circulation conveyor that conveys the printed matter from the drier to the printing machine so as to circulate the printed matter.