JPH0750750Y2 - Punching device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of application] The present invention relates to an apparatus for forming punch holes for registering a printing plate after printing, and particularly, for automating the positioning of the printing plate with respect to a puncher. For technology.

[Conventional technology]

As is well known, in multicolor lithographic printing, a printing plate (printing plate) corresponding to each of a plurality of color components is prepared, and a multicolor overprinting using them is performed to obtain a printed matter.
Therefore, for example, yellow (Y), magenta (M),
When a color print is obtained by overprinting cyan (C) and black (K) inks, register marks (so-called “dragonfly”) formed in advance on each Y, M, C, K printing plate are used. As a reference, the relative positioning (so-called "registration") of these four plates must be performed.

Such relative positioning is, of course, important in the case of actual printing, but it is also one of the important matters in performing proof printing by mounting each color plate on a multicolor proofing machine. Then, as one of the methods of performing this relative positioning, there is a method of utilizing punch holes. As this method, there is a method in which punch holes are provided in advance on the printing plate before printing, and the punch holes are used during pattern printing and printing, but in the case of this method, expansion and contraction of the film and positional error during printing are involved. Accuracy error occurs due to. Therefore, the following methods are currently used.

In this method, first, a required number of punch holes are formed in each color plate based on the register mark. After that, each color plate is mounted on the plate surface plate for each color of the multi-color proofing machine, in which case the punch holes are inserted into the pins standing on each plate surface plate, thereby The pattern is overprinted at the same position.

As an apparatus for forming punch holes in each color plate (press plate) based on the register mark, for example, the position of the register mark is visually observed through a scope, and the printing plate is aligned so that the marked line on the scope and the register mark are aligned. There is a device that forms a punch hole with a manual puncher after manually positioning. Further, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-197952, a plurality of register marks are sequentially read visually,
An apparatus is disclosed for determining the position of a printing plate with respect to a puncher through a series of operations.

[Problems to be solved by the device]

However, although such a conventional device has a mechanism for observing the register mark and grasping the position thereof, the work until the position where the punch hole is to be formed is essentially specified. Manual work. Therefore, in the conventional apparatus, (1) the work is not swiftly performed, (2) it takes a long time to complete the formation of the punch holes in all the plates, and as a result, the utilization efficiency of the apparatus is low, (3) There is a problem that the accuracy of punch hole positioning varies depending on the skill of the operator.

[Purpose of device]

This invention is intended to overcome the above-mentioned problems in the prior art, and when forming a punch hole for registering on a printing plate, the punch hole forming position is automatically specified, thereby speeding up the work. The purpose of this is to improve the utilization efficiency of the apparatus and to obtain accuracy that does not depend on the skill of the operator.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the punching device according to the present invention is configured as a punching device for forming punch holes for registering on a printing plate after printing.

The apparatus includes: a plate mounting portion on which the plate is mounted; and a drive unit that applies two-dimensional translation and rotation to the plate mounted on the plate mounting portion. Is provided.

The control for registering is performed through image processing.
As means for that purpose, the apparatus includes: a plurality of image pickup means that can move along the plate surface of the plate and can pick up a plurality of register marks formed in advance on the plate, respectively; Image display means for superimposing and displaying each of the plurality of register marks imaged by the means together with position reference marks stored in advance as image data; and imaging output from the plurality of imaging means into digital image data. Image data converting means for converting; and image processing means for recognizing the relative positional relationship between each of the register marks and the position reference mark using the digital image data converted by the image data converting means. .

Further, as means for controlling the movement of the printing plate: an operation for calculating the amount of movement of the printing plate for spatially aligning the position of each of the plurality of register marks with the position reference mark by the image processing means. Means, and drive control means for controlling the drive means so as to move the printing plate by the movement amount calculated by the calculation means.

A puncher for forming punch holes is provided in the printing plate after the movement control by these is performed.

Preferably, the punching device is further provided with: manual control means for manually controlling the drive means so as to correct the positional relationship between the register mark and the position reference mark by an operator's visual observation on the image display means. Keep it.

[Action]

The printing plate after printing is mounted on the mounting portion, and the register mark is imaged by the imaging means.

The register mark is displayed together with the position reference mark stored in advance as image data on the image display means.

Further, by using the converted digital image data, the relative positional relationship between the register mark and the position reference mark is recognized by the image processing means, and the movement amount of the printing plate necessary for aligning them is calculated by the calculation means. At the same time, the movement amount is transmitted to the drive control means, and based on this, the drive means moves the plate by the movement amount according to a command from the drive control means.

When the manual control means is further provided, the movement of the printing plate can be controlled by a combination of automatic control and manual operation by the operator, and more appropriate registration can be performed.

〔Example〕

A. Outline of mechanical structure FIG. 1 shows a punching device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. This punching device 1 forms punch holes for relative positioning in advance, for example, when mounting each plate of Y, M, C, K after printing on a four-color planographic proofing machine. It is used for the purpose.

The punching device 1 includes a table 3 provided on a base 2.
Is equipped with. The table 3 can be translated and rotated two-dimensionally in the in-plane direction of the table by a mechanism described later. In the figure, the in-plane direction of this table is 2
It is shown in the XY Cartesian coordinate system. A printing plate is mounted on the upper surface of the table 3 in a range indicated by a broken line DL, for example.

Above the table 3, a bridge-shaped support structure 4 is provided so as to extend between upper portions of both sides of the base 2. This support structure 4 has a detailed structure which will be described later and has three CCD cameras 5
The a, 5b and 5c are supported above the table 3 and each of these CCD cameras 5a, 5b and 5c can be independently moved in the X and Y directions. CCD cameras 5a, 5b, 5c
Although a cable for guiding the image pickup output of (1) to the control circuit side is also provided, the portion related to this cable is not shown in FIG.

On the rear upper surface of the base 2, five punchers 6 are fixedly arranged in the X direction. Common drive shaft 7 for each puncher 6
Is connected to a link mechanism 8 on the left side of the base 2, and the link mechanism 8 is driven by an air cylinder 9.

A monitor device 10 having three CRTs 10a, 10b, 10c is erected on the upper rear surface of the base 2. An operation panel 11 incorporating a control circuit described later is attached to the front side of the base 2.

Further, the table 2 is formed with a required number of small holes 12 communicating with a vacuum pump (not shown), and a groove 13 extending from each small hole 12 for each pair of small holes 12. These small holes 12 and grooves 13
A plurality of combinations of and are provided according to each size of the printing plate, and by switching the changeover switch 14, the valve between them and the vacuum pump can be selectively opened and closed.
The printing plate is vacuum-adsorbed on the table 3 through the selected set of small holes 12 and grooves 13.

B. Positions of Registration Marks and Punch Holes on the Printing Plate Before describing the detailed configuration of each part of the device 1 in FIG. 1, an example of a printing plate to which the device 1 is applied will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the printing plate BL has a pattern I printed on the center thereof, and the register marks T _{a to} T _d as register marks are printed on the upper, lower, left, and right ends of the pattern I. However, only the three register marks T _{a to} T _c are used in the punching device 1 of this embodiment. The configuration of the plate BL shown is
Except for the content of the picture I for each color, it is common to the Y, M, C, and K printing plates.

Then, when the plate BL is attached to the punching device 1 and the operation described later is performed, the plate punches 6 are moved by the five punchers 6.
Five punch holes P1 to P5 are formed on the upper side of BL. However, the XY direction in FIG. 2 corresponds to the XY direction in FIG.

C. Details of Table Drive Unit FIG. 3A is a plan view of the table drive unit existing below the table 3, and FIG. 3B is a cutaway front view in the III-III direction of FIG. 3A. Ball casters 22 are attached to the upper frame 21 of the base 2 at four positions. A bracket 23 (Fig. 3B) is fixed to the inner surface of the table 3, and the table 3 is placed on the ball caster 22 so that the ball surface of the ball caster 22 contacts the corresponding bracket 23. Has been done. As a result, the table 3 is movable in the XY plane.

On the other hand, three actuators AY1, AY2, AX equipped with pulse motors are fixed to the lower surface of the table 3. The respective operating arms of these actuators AY1, AY2, AX are opposed to the contact fittings 24a to 24c fixed to the frame 21. Of these three actuators, two actuators AY1 and AY2 are aligned in the X direction, and their operating arms extend and contract in the Y direction. Also the remaining actuator
AX is provided in the intermediate portion of the two actuators AY1 and AY2, and its operating arm extends and contracts in the X direction. The position of the metal fitting 24c that contacts the actuator AX in the X direction remains 2
The respective X-direction positions of the one hitting metal fittings 24a, 24b are set, for example, at positions that divide them into two equal parts. In addition, each actuator
In the vicinity of AY1, AY2, and AX, springs 25 that urge the respective working arms against the frame 21 in the direction of contraction are provided.

Therefore, by operating these actuators AY1, AY2, AX, the table 3 can be moved as follows.

(1) If only the actuator AX is driven, the table 3
Moves in the X direction (hereinafter, unless otherwise specified, “X direction” refers to both positive and negative directions of the X axis. The same applies to “Y direction”).

(2) When the actuators AY1 and AY2 are driven in the same direction by the same amount, the table 3 translates in the ± Y directions.

(3) When the actuators AY1 and AY2 are driven in the opposite direction by the same amount, the table 3 rotates in the θ direction around the position of the contact metal fitting 24c.

(4) When only the actuator AY1 (or only AY2) is driven, the table 3 rotates.

Therefore, by combining the movements of (1) to (4), the table 3 can be automatically translated / rotated in the XY plane. Since the translation and rotation of the table 3 need only be performed in a relatively small amount, a configuration for translating or rotating the table 3 largely is not necessary.

D. Details of Support Structure 4 Returning to FIG. 1, the support structure 4 has two guide rods 41a and 41b that are laid between both upper surface portions of the base 2.
Both of these guide rods 41a and 41b extend in the X direction, and they are parallel to each other.

Three pairs of sliding bridges 42a to 42c extending in the Y direction are bridged between the guide rods 41a and 41b. Since these three sets of sliding bridges 42a to 42c have substantially the same structure, only the sliding bridge 42c will be described below.

Both ends of the sliding bridge 42c are sliding cylinders 43a and 43b. By inserting the guide rods 41a and 41b into the sliding cylinders 43a and 43b, respectively, the sliding cylinders 43a and 43b (thus, The entire sliding bridge 42c) is slidable in the X direction.

Further, each of the sliding cylinders 43a, 43b is provided with a fixing screw 44, and when the fixing screw 44 is loosened, it becomes slidable,
When the fixing screw 44 is tightened, the sliding cylinders 43a and 43b will be the guide rods 41a and 41b.
Fixed above. Also, if you rotate the fine adjustment screw 45,
The position of the sliding cylinder 43a in the X direction with respect to the portion fixed by the fixing screw 44 changes by a minute amount.

A pair of parallel guide bars 46 extending in the Y direction are laid between the sliding cylinders 43a and 43b. The pair of guide rods 46 are inserted into the pair of sliding cylinders 47, respectively. Although not shown, the pair of sliding cylinders 47 are fixedly connected to each other by a connecting portion, and the CCD camera 5c is attached to the connecting body. Further, one of the sliding cylinders 47 is provided with a fixing screw 48 and a fine adjusting screw 49 which are similar to the fixing screw 44 and the fine adjusting screw 45 described above. Therefore, by sliding this connecting body on the guide rod 46, the CCD camera 5c can be moved in the Y direction, and the fixed screw 48 can hold the position after the movement.

With the above configuration, each of the CCD cameras 5a to 5c has an XY
It can be moved independently in the in-plane direction and can be fixed at any position. The imaging windows of the CCD cameras 5a to 5c are vertically downward, that is, in the direction toward the table 3.

E. Details of Puncher 6 FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the puncher 6. The five punchers 6 shown in FIG. 1 are different in only the shapes corresponding to the punch holes P1 to P5 shown in FIG. Explains only one puncher.

The puncher 6 has a punch die 61 fixed to the base 2 side in FIG. 1 and a punch block 62 connected to the punch die 61. A guide hole 62a is formed in the punch block 62, and the punch 63 is inserted into the guide hole 62a. In addition, the punch dies 61 also have guide holes 61.
a is perforated, and the punch 63 moves down into the guide hole 62a by lowering the punch 63 with the end of the plate inserted in the gap 64, at which time the punch hole is formed in the plate. To be done.

A pair of plates 65 (a part of which is cut away in FIG. 4) is attached to both sides of the punch block 62. A fulcrum pin 67 is provided between the pair of plates 65, and the arm plate 66 is swingable about the fulcrum pin 67. Further, one end of the arm plate 66 is connected to the drive shaft 7
Is in contact with an eccentric cam 68 attached to the. Further, the other end of the arm plate 66 is fixed with a gripping tool 69 that rotatably grips a pin 63a provided above the punch 63.

Therefore, when the drive shaft 7 is rotated in the φ ₁ direction in the figure, one end of the arm plate 66 is rotated in the φ ₂ direction, and the fulcrum pin 67 is rotated.
Due to the existence of the above, the other end of the arm plate 66 rotates in the φ ₃ direction. As a result, the arm plate 66 pushes the top of the punch 63 downward, thereby forming a punch hole in the printing plate. Since the pin 63a is rotatably held by the holding tool 69, the punch 63 can be automatically returned to the original height by the reverse rotation of the drive shaft 7.

F. Details of Operation Panel 11 As shown in FIG. 5, the operation panel 11 includes various table switches SW1 to SW3 and various switches SW4 to SW8. The first inching switch pair SW1 is used when driving the actuator AY1 shown in FIG. 3A by a predetermined minute amount in the positive or negative direction of Y. Similarly, the second switch pair SW2 is for minutely driving the actuator AX, and the third switch pair SW2
The switch pair SW3 of is for minutely driving the actuator AY2. By repeatedly pressing these switches SW1 to SW3 or maintaining the pressed state, it is possible to repeatedly input a minute drive command to each actuator. Table 3 is operated by operating the switch groups SW1 to SW3.
Can be finely translated and rotated in the XY plane, and this function is used for table inching for punch hole positioning correction, which will be described later.

The next switch SW4 is used when giving a punch command to the puncher 6. That is, when the automatic mode is selected by the switch SW5 adjacent to the switch SW5, it is fully automatic until the punching operation is completed, but when the manual mode is selected, once the plate positioning is completed, the apparatus 1 Stops and the actual punching operation is performed by pressing the switch SW4. This is because, when the above-mentioned positioning correction is desired, it is necessary to execute the procedure for the correction before punching.

The switch SW6 is for vacuum adsorbing the printing plate on the table 3, and the next switch SW7 is the CCD cameras 5a to 5c.
ON / O of a lamp that is mounted on and illuminates within those angle of view
Used for FF. These controls are designed to be performed automatically, but the switches are manually operated when necessary.

The final switch SW8 is for instructing the operation start of the punching device 1.

G. Electrical Configuration FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the punching device 1, which is mainly shown by the image processing system 100 and the mechanism control system 200.

First, in the image processing system 100, the A / D converter 101 converts the image pickup signals from the CCD cameras 5a to 5c into digital image signals. The mark line memory 106 stores image data of cross-shaped mark lines as position reference marks.
The images read by each of the cameras 5a to 5c are superimposed on the marked line image by the superimposing circuit 107 and displayed on each of the CRTs 10a to 10c.

On the other hand, the A / D-converted imaging output is binarized by the binarization circuit 102 and given to the image processing CPU 103. This CPU103
A ROM 104 that stores operation programs and a RAM 105 used for storing various data are connected to the,
By processing the image received from the binarization circuit 102, the position of the registration marks T _{a to} T _c picked up by the CCD cameras 5a to 5c is recognized. The marking line memory 106 is also under the control of this CPU 103.

Data regarding the positions of the register marks T _{a to} T _c are transferred to the control CPU 201. The CPU 201 is connected to the ROM 202 and the RAM 203 and operates according to programs and data from these. The control CPU 201 controls each part of the punching device 1 based on a command input from the operation panel 11 via the input interface 204.

One of the controls is to generate a pulse in the pulse generation circuit 205 so that the actuators AY1, AY2, AX
In this control, the driver 206 of the pulse motor in the unit is activated, and thereby the actuators AY1, AY2, and AX are driven.
That is, it is the movement control of the table 3.

Other controls include ON / OFF control of the illumination lamp LNP of the CCD cameras 5a to 5c and drive control of the vacuum pump VP via the output interface 207. Further, it is one of the functions of the control CPU 201 to drive the air cylinder 9 via the air cylinder control system 9a and thereby perform the punching operation by the puncher 6.

H. Automatic Mode Operation Next, among the operations of the punching device 1 having the above configuration, an automatic mode for continuously and automatically performing plate positioning and punching will be described. The manual mode (inching operation) will be described later. In the following, Y, M,
Consider a case where punching is performed in this order for four color plates of C and K.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the entire punching process. First, the Y printing plate is manually placed on the table 3 (step S1). This placement is performed by arranging the end of the table surface of the table 3 on the puncher 6 side and the air cylinder 9
Reference line (not shown) displayed on the side end
Then, the edges of the printing plate are aligned. Since the final positioning of the printing plate with respect to the puncher 6 is performed automatically, the positioning accuracy in the above placement may be coarse. When a punch hole is provided in the printing plate for the purpose of mounting it on the printing machine instead of the proofing machine, the printing plate is placed in the center of the table 3 in the X direction (the puncher 6 in the Y direction is the same as that for the proofing machine). Align the edge with the reference line on the side). A broken line DL in FIG. 1 shows an example of the position of the printing plate thus placed.

Next, by manually moving the respective sliding portions in the sliding bridges 42a to 42c in FIG. 1, the CCD cameras 5a to 5c
c is moved in the XY plane, so that the registration marks T _a ~ T
The center (vertical and horizontal cross points) of _c (Fig. 2) is C
Make sure that it is within the angle of view of the CD cameras 5a-5c (step S
2). For this work, turn on the lamp LNP, and also read the images read by the CCD cameras 5a-5c together with the marked lines described below on the CRT1.
The operation is performed by displaying them on 0a to 10c and visually checking them. Further, the fixing and the fine adjustment of the positions of the CCD cameras 5a to 5c after the movement are performed by using the fixing screws 44 and 48 and the fine adjusting screws 45 and 49 of FIG.

FIG. 11 shows a display example of the CRTs 10a to 10c at the time when the positioning of the CCD cameras 5a to 5c is completed in this way. In this FIG. 11, the CRT10a～10c, is in cruciform marked line RM are displayed respectively (diagram with dragonfly T _a through T _c imaged indicates dragonfly T _a through T _c by a double line ing). The reference numeral P _a to P _c indicates the center of each of the register mark _{T a ~T c, Q a ~Q} c represents the center (cross point of vertical and horizontal) of the indicia RM. As can be seen from this figure, within the angle of view of the CCD cameras 5a to 5c, the positions of the registration marks T _{a to} T _c are marked
Not spatially aligned with RM. Generally, each register mark T _{a to} T _c
It is customary that the centers P _{a to} P _{c of the} are off the marked line RM.

The next step S100 corresponds to the movement and punching of the table 3 by the automatic operation, the details of which are shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B. First, the operator turns on the start switch SW8. This switch operation is step S10
It is detected in 1 and the origin of the table 3 is returned in step S102. Normally, the printing plate is placed with the table 3 at the origin.
Often, the position of does not change substantially. Further, the shift amount be offset from the origin is small, rarely dragonfly T _a through T _c by homing deviates from the angle of view of the CCD camera bodies 5a to 5c.

In step S103, the vacuum pump VP is turned on to fix the position of the printing plate on the table 3, and in step S104 the CCD camera 5
Turn on lamps LNP of a to 5c.

Details of the next automatic positioning step S200 are shown in FIG. First, in step S201, of the three actuators AY1, AY2, and AX for moving the table 3, only one actuator AY1 is driven by a predetermined minute amount. As described above with reference to FIG. 3A, when only the actuator AY1 is driven, the table 3 rotates. Then, this rotation is approximate to a circular motion with the position of the hitting metal fitting 24b as the center of rotation (origin).

In step S202, the registration mark centers P _{a to} P _c in the screens (FIG. 11) captured by the CCD cameras 5a to 5c, respectively.
The amount of movement of is detected two-dimensionally. Then, step S203
Then, the positions of the CCD cameras 5a to 5c based on the approximate rotation center (origin) are calculated based on the movement amount.

That is, the registration mark centers P _{a to} P _c are CC by the minute rotation.
Although it moves two-dimensionally within the imaging screen of the D cameras 5a to 5c,
The moving direction is the center of the register mark P _{a to} P _{c with} respect to the center of rotation
Reflects the azimuth angle of, and the moving distance reflects the straight line distance from the rotation center to the register mark centers P _{a to} P _c . Therefore, assuming a two-dimensional polar coordinate system with the center of rotation as the origin, the radial and azimuth angles of the register mark centers P _{a to} P _{c in} this polar coordinate system are known, and thereby the register mark centers P _{a to} P _c.
The position of is recognized. And the center of dragonfly P _a ~ P _c is CCD
Since it is within the field of view of the cameras 5a to 5c, the register mark center P _a to
CCD imaging them based on the polar coordinates of P _c
(Specifically the indicia centered Q _a to Q _c) the position of the camera 5a~5c is able calculate the position of the. If the error due to the above-described approximate calculation poses a problem, correction may be added in advance during the calculation. Although a polar coordinate system is assumed here for convenience of description, a rectangular coordinate system may be used in actual calculation.

These processes are provided because the positions of the CCD cameras 5a to 5c are manually adjusted and the positions cannot be known in advance by the control circuit side. Therefore, when a linear encoder or the like is attached to the CCD cameras 5a to 5c and the position thereof is automatically detected, the detection output thereof may be taken in the control circuit side.

In the next step S204, the registration mark centers P _{a to} P _c from the reference line RM.
The deviation (deviation) is grasped, and the correction amount of how much the table 3 should be moved in order to move the registration mark centers P _{a to} P _c onto the reference line RM is calculated. That is, as shown in FIG. 11, for the registration marks T _a and T _c , the deviations ΔY ₁ and ΔY ₂ between their centers P _a and P _c and the horizontal line (line in the X direction) of the marked line RM are grasped. At the same time, regarding the registration mark T _b , the deviation ΔX between the center P _b and the vertical line (line in the Y direction) of the marked line RM is grasped,
If table 3 is moved, these deviations ΔY ₁ , Δ
Calculate whether Y ₂ and ΔX can be zero.

Then, in the next step S205, the table 3 is moved by driving the pulse motors in the actuators AY1, AY2, and AX by the correction amount. This movement is one or a combination of X-direction movement, Y-direction movement and θ-rotation (FIG. 3A) depending on the situation. This movement may be performed at once, or may be a repetitive feedback method in which the positional relationship between the registration mark centers P _{a to} P _c and the reference line RM is sequentially confirmed and the movement is performed by a predetermined amount. Further, the positional consistency between the register mark centers P _{a to} P _c and the marked line RM is determined within a predetermined allowable error range.

FIG. 12 shows the CRT 10a after the correction movement in this way.
An example image on 10c is shown. The registration mark centers P _a and P _c shown in FIGS. 12 (a) and 12 (c) are on the horizontal lines in the marked line RM, and the registration mark centers P _b shown in FIG. 12 (b) are the vertical lines in the marked line RM. I'm on the line.

Here, three points of the registration mark centers P _{a to} P _c are to be processed, and as is well known, if position conditions for three points are imposed on the two-dimensional plane, the three points on the plane will be set. The position of an object is uniquely determined. Therefore, the position of the printing plate on the table 3 with respect to the CCD cameras 5a to 5c is uniquely determined by the above processing.

Since the registration marks T _{a to} T _c provided on the printing plate have a printing error and the like, even in the state shown in FIG. 12 in which the positions of the registration mark centers P _{a to} P _c are aligned with the reference line RM, generally. The vertical lines and the horizontal lines forming the register mark centers P _{a to} P _c are not parallel to the Y direction and the X direction, respectively. That is, the registration marks T _{a to} T _c are often inclined with respect to the coordinate axes of the XY coordinate system. However, since the position of the printing plate with respect to the CCD cameras 5a to 5c is uniquely determined only by aligning the registration mark center RM with the reference line RM as described above, this inclination does not cause a problem. When using the three register marks T _{a to} T _c as in this embodiment, the register mark center P _a
Since only the position information of ~ P _c is required, the registration marks T _a ~ T _c do not need to be cross-shaped, and at least each should be a register mark that displays one point.

Returning to FIG. 8A, when the above automatic positioning in step S200 is completed, the fact is displayed in characters on the CRT 10a and the operator is notified by a buzzer (not shown) (steps S105, S106).

In the next step S107, the automatic mode and the manual mode (inching mode) are set by the switch SW5 shown in FIG.
See which of these are specified. As described above, since the automatic mode is considered here, step S1
The judgment result of 07 is "A (automatic)". So CRT10a
Turn off the above character display and buzzer (steps S108, S10
9) Supply air to the air cylinder 9 shown in FIG.
As a result, the drive shaft 7 of the puncher 6 rotates, and the punching holes P1 to P5 are formed in the Y printing plate by the five punchers 6 (step S110).

After that, it is a post-processing, and in the process from step S111 to step S116 in FIG. 8B, the vacuum pump VP is turned off, a message is displayed on the CRT 10a indicating the completion of automatic operation and a notification is given by a buzzer, the origin of the table 3 is returned, The characters are displayed and the buzzer is turned off sequentially. It should be noted that the lamp LNP is not immediately turned off, but is turned off after a lapse of a predetermined time (step S117).
This is because the Y plate is even removed from the table 3 and the next M plate is placed on the table 3, and the registration mark is the CCD camera 5a.
This is to save the trouble of turning on the lamp LNP again when manually moving the M plate so that it is within the field of view of ~ 5c.

With the above, punching of the Y printing plate is completed, and the Y printing plate is removed from the table 3 in the entire routine of FIG. 7 (step S3).

The next step group SG is the punching process of the M plate. There, the M printing plate is temporarily placed on the table 3 and the operator manually moves it so that the center marks P _{a to} P _{c of} the M printing plate are within the field of view of the CCD cameras 5a to 5c. Yes (step S4). This work can also be performed while displaying images of the cameras 5a to 5c on the CRTs 10a to 10c and allowing the operator to visually observe the images.

However, in this work, table 3 and CCD camera 5
The positions of a to 5c are not moved. Of these, the table 3 is not moved for convenience, but the CCD cameras 5a to 5c are not moved based on the basic request for punching processing. That is, Y, M, C,
The punching of each printing plate of K is performed for the purpose of pattern matching between the printing plates.
The relative positional relationship between T _{a to} T _c and the punch holes P1 to P5 must be the same (although there is a slight difference in the inching correction described below, the above commonality is also secured in that case. It is a correction under the condition of obtaining). Of these, the positions of the register marks T _{a to} T _c on the table 3 are determined by the positions of the CCD cameras 5a to 5c. Therefore, with the puncher 6
The relative positional relationship with the CCD cameras 5a to 5c must be common for each color plate, but it is the CCD cameras 5a to 5c.
Since it is possible only when the position of c is not changed (from the position when the Y plate is used), the change of the positions of the CCD cameras 5a to 5c is prohibited in step S4.

In this way, the registration mark center P is set in the field of view of the CCD cameras 5a to 5c.
After each of _{a to} P _c is entered, in step S5, the same automatic positioning and punching as in step S100 described above are performed. Then, the M printing plate is removed from the table 3 (step S6).

For the remaining C and K plates, the step group SG is executed similarly to the M plate (step S7), thereby completing punching of the plates for all colors.

I. Manual (Inching) Operation By the way, when actually printing using a printing plate, the printed paper often stretches slightly in the printing direction.
The amount of expansion depends on the type of paper, the pattern area, the amount of ink, and the ambient temperature. Also,
Depending on the ratio of the right and left picture areas and the difference in the amount of ink in the printing direction, the left and right elongation amounts may differ. For this reason,
It may be necessary to make corrections such as changing the position of the punch hole with respect to the position of the register mark for each color plate, or changing the positional relationship between the punch hole and the register mark on the left and right sides even for one color plate.

This correction process can also be realized in principle by manually moving the printing plate on the table 3 after performing the position matching operation between the register mark center and the mark line. However, in order to do so, not only must the vacuum pump VP be turned off once, but when the printing plate is manually moved, the movement accuracy is poor, and it is extremely difficult to secure the required correction amount with high accuracy. is there.

Therefore, in the punching device 1 of this embodiment, in addition to the above-described fully automatic operation, the table is moved automatically for position alignment between the center of the registration mark and the marked line, and then based on the manual key input. The table 3 can be driven by an arbitrary amount. This operation is performed by step S107 in FIG. 8A.
Corresponds to the branch from S121 to S121, which will be described in detail below.

First, when such correction is desired, the operator preliminarily specifies the manual mode by the switch SW5 shown in FIG. Then, after the automatic operation is performed to align the registration marks centers P _{a to} P _c with the reference line RM,
Branch from step S107 to S121, and inching switches SW1 to S
See if any of W3 is ON.
When it is ON, the display and buzzer on the CRT 10a are turned OFF in steps S122 and S123 (these are steps S105,
It is turned on in S106).

The details of the inching operation, that is, step S300 is shown in FIG. First, in step S301, it is determined whether or not the inching switch is mistakenly turned on during automatic operation. Only when there is no such error, the ON state of the inching switch is confirmed again (step S302). Furthermore, ON
Actuator AY1, AY corresponding to the specified inching switch
For 2 or AX, it is checked whether or not the stroke is over (step S303). When it is over, the pulse motors of the actuators AY1, AY2, AX are not rotated, the indication that the stroke is over is displayed on the CRT 10a, and the buzzer is turned on for one second (steps S304 to S306). Then, the process returns to step S302 and waits for an inching command in a direction that does not exceed the stroke.

On the other hand, when the stroke is not exceeded, the corresponding pulse motor is driven to move the table 3 in the instructed direction by a small amount (for example, 10 μm), and when the display indicating that the stroke is over is made,
It is turned off (steps S307 and S308). Then, it waits for the next inching command.

The operator visually checks the CRTs 10a to 10c and moves the inching switch S
Repeatedly operating W1 to SW3, the registration mark centers P _{a to} P _c are marked with RM
This correction operation is continued until the deviation from the required amount. 10th
In step S302 in the figure, this subroutine is completed when a new inching command is not given by the elapse of a predetermined time. Then, such a series of inching operations is completed, or step S121 in FIG. 8A is performed.
If it is determined that the inching switch has not been pressed at all, the process proceeds to step S124 in FIG. 8B to check whether the punch switch SW4 has been pressed.

When the punch switch SW4 is pressed, the display of the CRT 10a and the buzzer are turned off, the air cylinder 9 is driven, and punching is performed (steps S125 to S127). Note that the display and buzzer are turned off when the step S121 in Fig. 8A becomes "NO".
If the routine moves to the routine of FIG. 8B, step S10 of FIG. 8A
This is done in response to the display of S106 and the buzzer ON state. Then, in step S128, suction from the vacuum pump VP is turned off, and thereafter, the process proceeds to steps S114 to S117 already described.

If the punch switch SW4 is not turned on, it is determined in step S131 whether or not the start switch SW8 has been pressed again, and if not pressed, the process returns to step S107, but if it is pressed again, steps S132 to S134 are turned off. After the operation, the process proceeds to step S114.

Through the above processing, the operator can correct and move the table 3 by a required amount, and can shift the position of the punch hole in consideration of the elongation of the paper at the time of printing.

Further, in the manual mode, the operation of the punching device 1 is temporarily stopped, and punching is performed after waiting for the punch switch SW4 to be pressed. Therefore, the center marks T _{a to} T _c on the CRTs 10a to 10c are correctly on the marked line RM. You can check whether you are on board.

J. Modified Example (1) Although the air cylinder 9 for driving the puncher 6 is provided in the above embodiment, the puncher 6 may be operated by a motor or the like, or may be manually operated by a handle or the like. This is because the punching operation itself can be performed in a short time regardless of the skill level of the operator.

(2) A motor or the like for moving the CCD cameras 5a to 5c (generally image pickup means) may be attached. However, since the CCD cameras 5a to 5c can be positioned roughly, there is no problem even if they are manually operated.

(3) Due to the small size of the printing plate, CCD cameras 5a-5c
When the three registration marks cannot be imaged by bringing the marks close to each other, the table may be moved based on only the two registration marks. In this case, if the conditions are such that one of the two register mark center points coincides with the center of the marking line and the other rides on the horizontal line of the marking line, the printing plate position will be unique. Since it is determined, automatic positioning is possible. However,
When the punching device is provided with the inching function as in this embodiment, the positioning may be performed by the inching operation.

(4) As described in (3) above, since positioning can be performed by using two image pickup means, it is not always necessary to provide three image pickup means as in the above embodiment. Even in the case of one printer, when the register mark has a directional pattern, the position and direction of the printing plate can be mathematically specified.
However, since the size of the register mark is considerably smaller than the size of the printing plate, if only one register mark is used for positioning, the positioning error becomes large and it is not practical. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a plurality of image pickup means. When four or more image pickup means are provided, it is possible to selectively use them.

(5) As a support structure for the CCD cameras 5a-5c, the CCD cameras 5a
It is more versatile to adopt a structure that allows ~ 5c to move freely in the XY plane, but in the case of a dedicated machine that targets only a specific size plate, CCD cameras 5a-5c should be fixed. It may be supported.

(6) Images captured by CCD cameras 5a-5c are one CRT
They may be arranged and displayed on (generally an image display means), or may be switched and displayed in a time division manner.

(7) In the above embodiment, the six inching switches SW1 to SW3 shown in FIG. 5 are used for position correction (hereinafter referred to as "manual correction") based on the manual operation of the operator, but instead of these, It is also possible to use a joystick or the like.

(8) As can be easily understood from the above description, the automatic adjustment and the manual correction in the embodiment can be independently executed.

For this reason, the manual correction does not necessarily have to be performed after the automatic adjustment, and may be omitted if the correction is not necessary.

Further, not only when the intentional misalignment is given after the automatic adjustment of the alignment between the registration mark center and the marking line is completed, for example, when the accuracy of the automatic adjustment of the alignment between the registration mark center and the marking line is rough. , Manual correction may be used to improve its accuracy.

(9) The present invention can be applied not only to the formation of punch holes for mounting on a proofing machine, but also to the formation of punch holes for mounting on a printing machine.

[Effect of device]

As described above, according to claim 1 of the present invention, after confirming that the register mark is included in the angle of view of the image pickup means by using the image display on the image display means, the position of the register mark is detected. Since the table is automatically driven to align the mark with the position reference mark, the punch hole forming position can be specified automatically.

Therefore, the work for punching is speeded up, the utilization efficiency of the punching device is improved, and the punching accuracy independent of the skill of the operator can be realized.

Further, according to claim 2 of the present invention, even when the registration of the register mark and the position reference mark is difficult to achieve by only automatic adjustment, the combination of automatic control and manual operation of the operator enables the plate Movement control is possible, and more appropriate registration can be performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a punching device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an example of a printing plate, FIG. 3A is a plan view showing a table drive mechanism, and FIG. 3B is a plan view. 3A is a cutaway front view seen from the direction of III-III, FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a puncher, FIG. 5 is a plan view of an operation panel, and FIG. 6 shows an electrical configuration in the embodiment. Block diagram, FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the whole punching process using the apparatus of the embodiment, FIGS. 8A and 8B are flowcharts showing the movement of the table and the punching process, and FIG. 9 is an automatic positioning operation. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an inching operation, and FIGS. 11 and 12 are diagrams showing image display examples on a CRT. 1 ... punching device, 2 ... base, 3 ... table,
4 ... CCD camera support structure, 5a-5c ... CCD camera, 6
…… Puncher, 10a-10c …… CRT

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor, Masatsugu Mizuta, 1 465, Kuze Tsukiyama-cho, Minami-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto Prefecture Dai-Nippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd., in the Kuze factory (56) Reference JP-A-59-154453 (JP, A) JP 61-72249 (JP, A) Actually open 62-69243 (JP, U) Actually open 62-188775 (JP, U)

Claims (2)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A punching device for forming punch holes for registering on a printing plate after printing, comprising: a plate mounting section for mounting the plate; and a plate mounting section for mounting the plate on the plate mounting section. A driving means for giving two-dimensional translation and rotation to the placed printing plate; and a plurality of register marks that are movable along the plate surface of the printing plate and are formed in advance on the printing plate. A plurality of image pickup means capable of picking up images, respectively, and a plurality of register marks picked up by the plurality of image pickup means, and image display means for displaying an image by superimposing them together with position reference marks stored in advance as image data, An image data conversion unit that converts the imaged output from the plurality of imaging units into digital image data; and the register mark using the digital image data converted by the image data conversion unit. Image processing means for recognizing the relative positional relationship between each of them and the position reference mark, and printing for spatially aligning the positions of the plurality of register marks with the position reference mark by the image processing means. Calculation means for calculating the amount of movement of the plate, drive control means for controlling the drive means so as to move the printing plate by the movement amount calculated by the calculation means, and punch holes are formed in the printing plate. A punching device, which is equipped with a puncher for. 2. The punching device according to claim 1, wherein the drive means is manually controlled so as to correct the positional relationship between the register mark and the position reference mark by the operator's visual observation on the image display means. A punching device further comprising a manual control means for