JPH079666A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To adjust the speed of the side wall of an object interposed between mandrels to the corresponding speed with a printing roller capable of obtaining proper printing quality by providing an annular ring to a means for rotating mandrels with respect to a mandrel wheel and elastically pressing the shaft parts of the respective rotatable mandrels. CONSTITUTION: A mandrel rotating assembly includes the ring 28 held with respect to an mandrel wheel in concentric relation around a central fixed hub by a rotatable assembly 30. Next, the ring 28 is separated from an end surface 54a by a relatively short distance to be certainly pressed to the shafts 22 of mandrels. The ring 28 is produced from a material generating no slip with respect to the shafts. The driving of a belt 74 is different from the rotary driving of the mandrel wheel and the other member of this apparatus. That is, it is important to change of the mandrels independently of that of the mandrel wheel because the rotational speed of the mandrels is desired to be increased, for example, corresponding to the material of a container according to circumstances.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is a device for printing on an object, such as a frusto-conical cup, each having a plurality of radially extending and rotatably mounted for supporting the object. A mandrel wheel provided with a mandrel and rotatably mounted, and the mandrel wheel is intermittently rotated to move each of the mandrels sequentially, for example, a loading station, a pre-treatment station, a printing station, a curing station and an ejection station. It relates to a printing device comprising means for bringing up multiple stations and means for printing an object when it is at the printing station.

[0002]

The object of the present invention is to provide a simple device for rotating a mandrel, the speed of rotation of the mandrel being independent of the rotation of the mandrel foil. is there. With this device, the speed of the side wall of the object interposed in the mandrel can be adjusted so as to correspond to the speed of the printing roller that can obtain appropriate print quality.

[0003]

In accordance with the invention, the apparatus includes means for rotating the mandrel with respect to a mandrel wheel, the means comprising an annular ring rotatably mounted with respect to the mandrel wheel. Including a ring biased toward the mandrel and against the mandrel shaft portion of each mandrel rotatably mounted by the shaft of the mandrel to the mandrel foil, for continuously rotating the ring. Drive means are provided.

According to another aspect of the invention, an annular ring is connected to a support ring rotatably mounted on a fixed central hub carrying said mandrel foil,
The support ring is driven by a belt running over a part thereof and over a pulley driven directly or indirectly by a motor.

To prevent slippage between the annular ring and the mandrel shaft, the annular ring and / or shaft may be coated with a friction material.

The present invention will be described below with reference to the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

In FIG. 1, the printing device is designated 10 and is used to print the outer surface of an object, such as a frusto-conical cup 12. The device 10 includes an intermittently rotatable mandrel wheel 14 rotatably mounted on a central shaft 16. A plurality of regularly spaced mandrels 18 are rotatably mounted about the mandrel foil 14 and extend radially outwardly therefrom.

Each mandrel 18 is basically a cup 1.
It includes a container holding section 20 that is frustoconical corresponding to the two shapes. Each retaining section 20 is rotatably mounted about mandrel foil 14 by any conventional means and secured to a shaft 22 extending radially outwardly therefrom. In addition, each section 20 has a plurality of openings 24 formed in its outer surface that are in fluid communication with at least one conduit through container holding section 22. Each conduit is in fluid communication at its opposite end with a vacuum or pressurized air source (not shown).

Although eight mandrels 18 are shown in the figure, the number may vary. In operation, the cup 12 is dropped from above into the holding section 20 of the mandrel 18 at the loading station, position A. At that time, the opening 24
A vacuum is applied through to hold cup 12 securely.

Next, the mandrel wheel rotates to rotate the cup 1.
Bring 2 to the next position B. Position B is a pre-treatment station, where the outer surface of the cup 12 is pre-treated by electrical discharge or the like so that the ink is more likely to adhere to the next printing station C. By rotating mandrel foil 14 again, cup 12 is brought to printing station C where the printing blanket contacts cup 12 for printing on its outer surface. Subsequent movement of the mandrel foil brings the cup 12 to position D, where it is brought to position E without any work. Position E is the first curing station, where the ink is cured or dried by UV radiation. At the position F, the second curing is performed by ultraviolet rays.

At the discharge station G, the cup 12
Is discharged from the mandrel 18. Specifically, the opening 24
The vacuum that has been supplied through is released, and the air blown from a pressurized air source (not shown) blows the mandrel 18 to the collector in the direction indicated by the arrow.

As shown in FIGS. 2-4, the mandrel rotation assembly 26 is concentric about a central fixed hub 32 and is a ring 28 held by a rotatable assembly 30 relative to the mandrel wheel 14. including. For more information,
An annular inner fixed support 34 is fixed to the central hub 32, and an annular outer support 36 is fixed to the inner fixed support 34 by a plurality of bolts 38. In the assembled state, the inner support 34 and the outer support 36 form a recess 40, and two circular guides 42, 44 are fixed to both corners of the recess 40, and arcuate races 46, 48 facing outward are formed. It is provided.

Assembly 30 includes an annular rotatable inner support 50, an annular rotatable intermediate support 52, and an annular rotatable outer support 54, each support having a plurality of bolts 56 to secure inner and outer fixed supports 34. , 3
It is fixed as an integral assembly in a surrounding relationship with 6. The supports 50, 52 define a recess 58, in which guides 60, 62 are fixed. The guides are each provided with arcuate races 64,66. The races 46, 48 and 64, 66 are arranged on the outer surface of a common circle 68. With such an arrangement, the plurality of ball bearings 70 centered on the circle 68 are connected to the races 46, 48,
Inner support 5 that can be rotated by riding 64, 66
0, an intermediate support 52, and an outer support 54 are positioned to support the assembly.

The rotatable supports 50 and 54 extend radially beyond the rotatable support 52, so that the axially outer end surface 50a of the support 50 and the intermediate support 52 are supported.
Defining an annular recess between the radial end surface 52a of the rotator and the axially inner end surface 54a of the rotatable support 54.
A front annular ring 28 for tightening can be located in the recess. To move the ring 28 with the assembly 30, the ring is provided with a number of holes 90 for receiving pins 92 extending from the end surface 50a of the support 50. A spring 94 is located on the pin 92 to urge the ring 28 against the associated portion of each shaft 22 of the mandrel 18. The end faces 54a of the annular rings 28 are separated by a relatively short distance, so that they are positively pressed against the shaft 22 of the mandrel 18. Ring 28
Is made of a material that prevents any slippage between the ring and the shaft 22. It is also possible to coat the ring with a friction material.

In order to rotatably drive the ring 28,
A rotatable inner support 50 has a belt 74 around it.
Is formed with an inwardly directed projection 72 having a circular outer surface 72a on which is located. Belt 7 as described below
4 is made to move and engages the circular outer surface 72a so that the rotatable inner ring 50 and ring 28 are rotated.

As shown in particular in FIGS. 2 and 3, the first pulley 76 is mounted on a drive shaft 78 which is directly or indirectly connected to a motor 80 via a suitable link. The drive belt 82 is connected between the first pulley 76 and the second pulley 84 and drives the second pulley. The second pulley 84 is fixed to the rotatable shaft 86,
Pulley 88 is fixed to the opposite end of the rotatable shaft 86. As shown in FIG. 2, the belt 74 is positioned and driven around the third pulley 88 that engages with the circular outer surface 72a. Therefore, the belt 74 is connected to the drive shaft 7
It is driven by the motor 80 via the 8, first pulley 76, drive belt 82, second pulley 84, rotatable shaft 86 and third pulley 88. Therefore, the belt 7
4 continuously rotates the annular ring 28 as described above. Therefore, it is recognized that a simple rotary drive is obtained. However, the drive for the belt 74 is not limited to the mandrel wheel 14
And the rotational drive for the rest of the device 10. This means that the rotational speed of the mandrel 18 can be changed independently of the rotational speed of the mandrel foil 14. This is important because there are times when it is desired to increase the rotational speed of the mandrel 18 depending on the material of the container, for example.

It will be appreciated that the invention is not limited to the embodiments shown and described above. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 is a schematic side view of a mandrel foil with a mandrel forming part of the device according to the invention.

2 is a front view of a part of the device shown in FIG. 1, in particular of a mandrel rotation device according to the invention.

3 is a partial cross-sectional view of a portion of the apparatus shown in FIG. 2 taken along line 3-3 of FIG.

4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a part of the mandrel rotating device shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Printing Device 12 Cup 14 Mandrel Wheel 18 Mandrel 22 Shaft 28 Annular Ring 30 Support Ring 34 Central Hub 80 Motor 88 Pulley

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A device for printing an object, such as a frusto-conical cup (12), each comprising a plurality of radially extending and rotatably mounted mandrels (18) for supporting the object. Rotatably mounted mandrel foil (14) with, eg loading, pretreatment, printing,
And means for moving the mandrel foil in an intermittently rotatable manner so as to bring each mandrel to a number of stations (A-F) in sequence, such as a discharge station, and means for printing it when an object is present at the printing station. A device comprising: a mandrel wheel (14) including means for rotating the mandrel (18), said means including an annular ring (28) rotatably mounted to the mandrel foil (14); The ring is biased towards the mandrel (18) and against the portion of each mandrel shaft (22) rotatably mounted to the mandrel wheel (14), An apparatus for printing an object, which is provided with a driving unit for continuously rotating. 2. A fixed central hub (34) in which an annular ring (28) carries a mandrel foil (14).
Connected to a support ring (30) rotatably mounted on said support ring (30) running on a portion of said ring and a pulley (88) driven directly or indirectly by a motor (80). Device according to claim 1, characterized in that it is driven by a belt (74). 3. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the annular ring (28) and / or the shaft (22) are covered with a friction material.