JPH08169104A - Type printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To easily and rapidly replace a type unit and to eliminate the wasteful consumption of the ink contained in an ink roller at the time of replacement. CONSTITUTION: A type unit 5 is mounted on a type wheel 2 from a stock wheel 3 by a robot 6. The type wheel 2 is rotationally driven by a motor and an ink roller 45 supplying ink to the type unit 5 mounted on the type wheel 2 is rotationally driven through a drive shaft 48 in cooperation with the type wheel 2. At the time of the replacement of the type unit 5, the ink roller 45 is separated in the axial direction of the type wheel 2 by the driving of the motor to be prevented from the contact with the type unit 5 to prevent the adhesion of ink to the type unit 5.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a type printer, and more particularly to a type printer for printing the date of manufacture on a package of a product.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional type printer of this type is provided with a type stocker that constantly stocks type characters such as characters and symbols to be printed and a type wheel on which type characters such as characters and symbols to be printed can be mounted. It is provided and you can manually take out the required type from the type stocker for printing.
This was mounted on a type wheel and then printed on the package. Further, an ink roller is provided as an ink supply means for adhering and supplying ink to a character mounted on the character wheel, and this ink roller is always in contact with the character of the character wheel at a predetermined contact portion. However, there is no structure for separating the ink roller from the printing wheel.

[0003]

Generally, a type printer for printing on a package of a product prior to packaging is incorporated in a part of the packaging machine, and the package after printing is continuously conveyed to the packaging section. Then, the product is packaged. Therefore,
Since the printed ink must solidify quickly, the ink used is a heat-meltable one, which keeps the ink at a predetermined temperature higher than its melting point (about 70 ° C) and also the type wheel. Printing is performed at a high temperature as with ink. For this reason, when printing another type after printing the same type, the type or type wheel is still hot even if you try to change the type, so you cannot change the type by hand. It takes extra time to cool down the type wheel, change the type after that, and heat up again. In addition, since the replacement of print characters is done by hand, there is a possibility that the characters may be mistakenly picked up.

Further, since the ink roller is always in contact with the character of the character wheel and there is no structure for separating the ink roller from the character, if the character wheel is rotated when the character is exchanged, the ink roller is also character. It rotates while contacting with, and ink adheres to the type that is not used for printing. For this reason, the ink is wastefully consumed, and more ink than necessary adheres to the printed characters, and when the printing is restarted, excess ink adheres to the printing surface and the printing surface becomes dirty.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to make it possible to easily and quickly replace characters, eliminate mistakes in replacement, and prevent wasteful consumption of ink, and to provide an ink supply means such as an ink roller. It is intended to prolong the service life and prevent the printed surface from becoming dirty after the printing is changed.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, a type printer according to the present invention is provided with a type mounting portion in which a type unit can be freely inserted and removed, and characters or symbols are printed on an object to be printed. The type wheel, the rotation drive means for the type wheel, the stock section that removably stocks the type unit attached to the type wheel, the robot that takes out the type unit from the stock section and attaches it to the type wheel, and the type wheel. Ink supply means for supplying ink to the mounted type unit, and when replacing the type unit,
And a separation drive means for separating the ink supply means from the character unit.

The separating drive means may separate the ink supply means in the axial direction of the type wheel, or may separate the ink supply means in the radial direction of the type wheel.

Further, when the separation driving means is constructed so as to separate the ink supply means in the axial direction of the printing wheel, the printing unit and the ink are printed at the time of printing on the printing medium. It is desirable to have a configuration that also serves as at least one of a unit for changing the contact position with the supply unit and a unit for moving the ink supply unit to a predetermined position when replacing the ink supply unit.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. The overall structure is shown in FIG. 1. Side plates 1, 1 are fixed to a packaging machine (not shown) at a predetermined interval, and the type printer of the present invention is incorporated by the side plates 1, 1. The type printer includes a type wheel 2 having a drum shape in this example, and a stock wheel 3 as a stock section for stocking a type unit 5 having a diameter smaller than that of the type wheel and to be attached to the type wheel 2. A robot 6 which is coaxially and integrally connected to one another, and which takes out a necessary type unit 5 from the stock wheel 3 and attaches it to the type wheel 2 is provided so as to be movable between the type wheel 2 and the stock wheel 3. Yes, the type unit 5 mounted on the type wheel 2
An ink roller unit 4 for supplying ink to the print wheel 2 is provided adjacent to the print wheel 2, and a platen 7 is provided so as to face the print wheel 2.

Both end portions of the guide rod 11 and the guide block 12 are supported by the side plates 1 and 1, and the support frame 8 of the type printer is slidably fitted to the guide rod 11 and the guide block 12. Position adjustment members 13, 1
It is fixed to 4,15. Since the space between the side walls 8a and 8b of the support frame 8 is narrower than the space between the side plates 1 and 1, the lock levers 13a and 14 of the position adjusting members 13, 14 and 15 are arranged.
By loosening a and 15a, it is possible to slide right and left, and by tightening the lock lever, the printing position of the type printer can be adjusted. With this type printer, so-called right-angle printing is performed in which characters and symbols are printed on the packaging body F as a printing object with the direction perpendicular to the conveying direction as the left-right direction, and the characters and symbols are conveyed to the packaging body F. It is possible to perform so-called flow-casting in which the printing is performed in the left-right direction.

As shown in FIG. 2, the type wheel 2 and the stock wheel 3 which are coaxially and integrally connected to each other have wheel shaft portions 2a and 3a at both ends thereof, and a side wall 8 of a support frame 8.
It is rotatably supported by a and 8b via a ball bearing 81. The type unit 5 includes the type unit 51 for right-angle printing and the type unit 5 for flow-type printing described above.
2 and these are different in the type orientation in the mounted state on the type wheel 2 as shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. Then, either one of these type units 51 and 52 is selectively attached to the type wheel 2 so that right-angled hitting and flow hitting can be selectively performed as needed (FIGS. 4 and 5). reference). Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the type wheel 2 has a type unit 51.
There is provided a typesetting unit 21 for mounting the type and a typesetting unit 22 for mounting the type unit 52. Further, the stock wheel 3 includes a type unit 51 and a type unit 5.
Type mounting part 3 for stocking 2 and 2 in place
1, 32 are provided.

The type wheel 2, the stock wheel 3, and the wheel shaft portions 2a, 3a thereof are hollow, and a rod-shaped heater 3 capable of simultaneously heating both wheels in the hollow portion.
0 penetrates. Both ends of the heater 30 have side walls 8a,
8b is fixed via a mounting member 100, and is connected to a power source (not shown).

As a rotation driving means for the type wheel 2 and the stock wheel 3, a drive gear 33 is fixedly attached to the stock wheel shaft portion 3a protruding from the side wall 8b.
The motor 82 is fixed to the inner surface of the. The rotation of the motor 82 is performed by the motor pinion 83, the transmission gear 84 and the pinion 8
It is transmitted to the drive gear 33 via 4a.

An inner wall 8c is provided between the side walls 8a and 8b, and the ink roller unit 4 is supported by the side wall 8a and the inner wall 8c. That is, as shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, the base 40 of the ink roller unit 4 is composed of the first guide shaft 41 and the second guide shaft 42 which are rotatably supported by the side wall 8a and the inner wall 8c. It is movably supported in the axial direction of the type wheel 2. That is, the base 40
The tubular portion 40a provided on the first guide shaft 41 is slidably fitted to the first guide shaft 41, and the guide member 40b provided on the base 40 is slidably fitted to the second guide shaft 42. ing. The base 40 is provided with a central tubular portion 40c protruding in the opposite direction at a predetermined distance from the tubular portion 40a, and a central shaft 43 is rotatably supported by the central tubular portion 40c. One end (right end) of the central shaft 43 projects from the central tubular portion 40c, and the gear 43a is fixed to the projecting end.

In order to drive the central shaft 43 to rotate, a drive shaft 48 is rotatably provided in the inner wall 8c.
The rotation of the motor 82 that rotationally drives the type wheel 2 is transmitted to the drive shaft 48. That is, in the portion that protrudes inward from the inner wall 8c of the drive shaft 48,
A transmission gear 48a is provided. The transmission gear 48a is configured to be able to slide in the axial direction of the drive shaft 48, although the rotational force from the drive shaft 48 is transmitted. Transmission gear 48a
Engages with the gear 43a of the central shaft 43 to transmit the rotational force. Side plates 48b and 48b having a diameter larger than the diameter of the transmission gear 48a are fixed to both surfaces of the transmission gear 48a.
The gear 43a and the gear 43a are not disengaged from each other.

A tubular body 44 is detachably fitted to the other end (left end) of the central shaft 43.

A knob 44a is fixed to one end of the tubular body 44, and the tubular body 44 and the central shaft 43 are connected to each other by a pin 44b.
It is configured to rotate integrally. Pin 44
b is free in the axial direction of the central axis 43. An ink roller 45 containing a heat-meltable ink is fixed to the other end of the cylindrical body 44.
The type unit 5 on the type wheel 2 comes into contact with the outer periphery of the type 5, and ink is attached and supplied to the type unit 5. A positioning member 44c is provided as a structure for removably positioning the cylindrical body 44 with respect to the central shaft 43, and a ball that can be moved forward and backward by a spring is provided in the central shaft 43 along a circumferential direction of the ring groove. It can be attached / detached to / from 43b, whereby the tubular body 44 can be attached / detached and positioned.

A cover 46 surrounding the ink roller 45 and having a predetermined space inside is fixed to the base 40. Inside the cover 46, a heater block 47 for heating and melting the ink is provided with heat insulating materials 46a, 46b, 46c.
Is provided via The heater block 47 includes a plurality of heaters 47 a arranged at equal intervals on the concentric circumference of the ink roller 45, and the heat of the heater is generated by the heater block 47.
By being transmitted to the whole, the entire ink roller 45 is heated uniformly. A thermistor 47b is connected to the heater block 47 in order to detect the temperature of the heater block 47 and control the heater 47a.

Separation drive means for separating the ink roller 45 from the character unit 5 will be described below. First, as a means for separating the ink roller 45 in the axial direction of the character wheel 2, as shown in FIG. 7, a feed screw portion 41a is provided in the half on the side of the inner wall 8c of the first guide shaft 41. A female screw 40d is fixedly provided on the base 40 at a position axially distant from the tubular portion 40a toward the inner wall 8c,
This female screw is screwed onto the feed screw portion 41a. The projecting end from the inner wall 8c of the first guide shaft 41 has a joint 41b.
It is connected to the drive shaft of the motor 49 via. Therefore, the rotation of the first guide shaft 41 by the motor 49 is converted into the axial movement of the type wheel 2 of the base 40 by the female screw 40d and the feed screw portion 41a.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the side wall 8 is used as a position detecting means for the axial direction of the character wheel 2 of the base 40.
The support plate 8e is fixed to the a and the inner wall 8c in parallel with the first guide shaft 41, and the sensor 8f and the sensor 8g are provided at a predetermined interval.
Is fixed, and the detection piece 40e protruding from the base 40 can be detected by both sensors. Detection piece 40e
Is detected by the sensor 8f at the ink roller 45.
Is the home position of the sensor, and the detection piece 40e is the sensor 8g.
The position detected by is the replacement position of the character unit 5 and the ink roller 45.

Next, the means for separating the ink roller 45 in the radial direction of the character wheel 2 will be described. This means also serves as means for adjusting the amount of ink supplied to the type unit 5 on the type wheel 2. That is, FIG.
And as shown in FIG. 8, one end of the second guide shaft 42 is
An eccentric bearing 8h rotatably supported on the inner wall 8c is connected by a pin 8i, and the other end of the second guide shaft 42 is rotatably supported on the side wall 8a.
Are connected by a pin 8k. The tip end portion of the second guide shaft 42 protruding from the eccentric knob 8j is a male screw portion, and the female screw portion of the stopper 42a is screwed onto this male screw portion. Therefore, the rotation of the second guide shaft 42 causes the axial center position of the second guide shaft 42 to move, so that the base 40 is moved to the first position.
Since the guide shaft 41 is swung around the guide shaft 41, the guide hole of the guide member 40b provided in the base 40 is shown in FIG. In addition, it is formed in a horizontally long rectangular shape that is long in the direction orthogonal to the line connecting the ink roller 45 and the axis of the type wheel 2.

The side wall 8a and the cover 46 have an outlet 8d having a diameter larger than the diameters of the knob 44a and the ink roller 45.
46d is provided so that the ink roller 45 can be taken out and attached.

The structure of the character unit 5 will be described below. As an example, FIG. 9 shows the type unit 52 for casting in the front view, and FIG. 10 shows the type unit 52 in FIG.
Also has substantially the same configuration, and the type orientation in the state of being attached to the type wheel 2 is rotated by 90 degrees. Therefore, the configuration of the common type unit 5 will be described. The type unit 5 includes a protrusion 5 a protruding from the type wheel 2 or the stock wheel 3 to the outer periphery thereof, and the type mounting portions 21 and 22 of the type wheel 2 or the stock wheel 3.
And an insertion portion 5b which is inserted and fitted in the character mounting portions 31 and 32. The top surface of the protrusion 5a is a surface 5c on which characters or symbols to be printed are formed, and a pair of chucks 60, 6 of the robot 6 described later are provided on both sides of the protrusion 5a.
There is provided a recess 5d that can be engaged with 0.

The insertion portion 5b is configured to hold the position of the character unit 5 in the character mounting portions 21 and 22 of the character wheel 2 or the character mounting portions 31 and 32 of the stock wheel 3, for which the torsion coil spring 53 is provided. It is used. The torsion coil spring 53 includes a coil portion 53a,
Locking part 53 bent so that both ends bulge outward
b and 53b, and restricting pieces 53c and 53c that are provided with both ends bent and restrict the expansion angle of the spring are formed.
The insertion portion 5b accommodates the torsion coil spring 53 and has a recess 5e having a shape in which the locking portion 53b can project outward, and a cylindrical portion 5f into which the coil portion 53a is fitted so as to project into the recess. And a protrusion 5g with which the restriction piece 53c is locked in an intersecting state.

After the torsion coil spring 53 is housed in the recess 5e of the insertion portion 5b, the spring pressing plate 54 is screwed to the cylindrical portion 5f with a screw 55 as shown in FIG. ing.

As shown in FIG. 11, the robot 6 is provided with a pair of chucks 60, 60 for sandwiching the character unit 5, and the chucks are moved forward and backward in the radial direction with respect to the character wheel 2 or the stock wheel 3. Means to make
Means are provided for rotating the chuck 90 degrees.

First, the first cylinder 62 is attached to the first mounting plate 61.
Is fixed, and the second mounting plate 63 is fixed to the cylinder rod 62a. By driving the first cylinder 62, the second mounting plate 63 moves forward and backward, and the chuck 60 moves forward and backward with respect to the type wheel 2 or the stock wheel 3.

A second cylinder 64 is fixed to the second mounting plate 63, and a rack 64a which is driven forward and backward by the second cylinder is provided. The second mounting plate 63 has a rotating shaft 65.
Is rotatably provided, and a pinion 65a that meshes with the rack 64a is provided on the rotating shaft. Second mounting plate 63
A third mounting plate 66 is fixed to the protruding end of the rotary shaft 65 protruding from the. The rack 6 is driven by driving the second cylinder 64.
4a advances and retreats, the pinion 65a rotates, the third mounting plate 66 rotates via the rotation shaft 65, and the chucks 60, 60 rotate, so that the facing direction of both chucks can be changed by 90 degrees.

A third cylinder 67 is fixed to the third mounting plate 66, and a cam member 67b having a triangular cross section is provided at the tip of the cylinder rod 67a. The pair of chucks 60, 60 are fixed to the front end faces of the pair of chuck mounting members 68, 68. The pair of chuck mounting members 68, 68 are slidably provided on the front end surface 66a of the third mounting plate 66, and the cross section of the cam member 67b is provided at the rear end portions of the chuck mounting members facing each other. Inclined cam surfaces 68a, 68a are formed so as to be in contact with the triangular inclined surface. Therefore, when the third cylinder 67 is driven, the cam member 67b moves back and forth, and is pushed by the inclined surface of the cam member so that the chuck mounting members 68, 68 slide in the opposite directions along the front end surface 66a of the third mounting plate 66. The chucks 60, 60 move to move away from each other and approach each other, whereby the chucks 60, 60 are opened and closed, and the type unit 5 can be held.

Further, as a means for moving the robot 6 in parallel with the type wheel 2 and the stock wheel 3, as shown in FIG. 1, a lead screw 69 rotatably supported on the side walls 8a and 8b is engaged with the robot 6 in a penetrating manner. , The side wall 8a of the motor 69a for rotating the lead screw.
Is stuck to. Further, the robot 6 is configured to move in parallel with the lead screw 69 while being guided by a guide rod 69b fixed to the side walls 8a and 8b.
This keeps the posture correct.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 12, at the edge of the package F, which is the material to be printed, a so-called cut reference position mark, which is a reference for cutting the package F by the packaging machine after packaging the product, so-called. The registration mark L0 is formed by printing at a predetermined interval, and a plurality of marks L1 to Ln are formed by printing at a predetermined interval between the registration mark L0 and the next registration mark L0. The type printer is provided with a sensor 10 for detecting the registration mark L0 and the marks L1 to Ln. The width of the registration mark L0 is formed thicker than the width of each of the marks L1 to Ln, and the sensor 10 distinguishes between the registration mark L0 and the marks L1 to Ln by detecting the difference in width. Has become.

The marks L1 to Ln correspond to the rotation angles of the type wheel 2, and the position where the sensor 10 detects the registration mark L0 is the home position of the type wheel 2. When the sensor 10 detects the registration mark L0 along with the conveyance of the package F, the motor 82 is excited to enter the drive standby state, and then the sensor 10 detects the mark L0.
The motor 82 is rotationally driven by a predetermined angle each time 1 to Ln is sequentially detected, and the driving of the motor 82 causes the sensor 10 to rotate.
While detecting the marks L1 to Ln, the type wheel 2 makes one revolution in synchronization with the conveyance of the package F at the same peripheral speed as the conveyance speed of the package F, and thereafter the drive of the motor 82 is stopped. ing. That is, the type wheel 2 stops rotating at the position where it has returned to the home position, and when the sensor 10 detects the next registration mark L0, the motor 82 is excited again to be in the drive standby state, after which the sensor 10 changes the mark L1. When the motor 82 is detected by this detection and the type wheel 2 starts rotating, the type wheel 2 is rotated from the home position. In this case, each time the sensor 10 sequentially detects the marks L1 to Ln, the motor 82 is rotationally driven by a predetermined angle.
By driving the motor 82, the sensor 10 causes the marks L1 ...
Since the type wheel 2 makes one revolution in synchronization with the conveyance of the package F at the same peripheral speed as the conveyance speed of the package F while detecting Ln, the printing position is determined corresponding to the positions of the marks L1 to Ln. The printing position can be changed to an arbitrary position by changing the distance between the registration mark L0 and the mark L1.

The marks L1 to Ln may be provided so as to be evenly divided between the adjacent registration marks L0. In this case, the type wheel is provided while the sensor 10 detects the marks L1 to Ln. The motor 8 when the sensor 10 detects the marks L1 to Ln so that the motor 2 rotates exactly once.
It is necessary to set the rotational drive angle of 2 or the diameter of the type wheel 2.

The motor 49 for moving the ink roller 45 in the axial direction may be configured to be rotationally driven in synchronization with the motor 82. In that case, while the motor 82 is stopped, it may be driven. First, the motor 49 is controlled to rotate in the reverse direction, and the ink roller 45 is returned to the original position. Further, when replacing the character unit 5 and the ink roller 45, a replacement drive signal is supplied to the motor 49 to move the ink roller 45 to the replacement position, and after replacement,
The motor 4 is set so that the ink roller 45 returns to its original position.
The drive of 9 is controlled.

Next, the operation will be described. When printing the manufacturing date and the like on the package F, electric power is supplied to the heater 30 and the heater 47a in advance to warm the type wheel 2 and the stock wheel 3 and also warm the ink roller 45 to melt the ink. At the same time, the type unit 52 for casting and the type unit 51 for right-angled are taken out from the stock wheel 3 and selectively attached to the type wheel 2. In addition, when the type unit 52 is attached to the type wheel 2, it becomes possible to print the manufacturing date and the like on the packaging body F with the conveyance direction as the left-right direction.
When 1 is attached to the type wheel 2, the manufacturing date and the like can be printed on the package F with the direction perpendicular to the transport direction as the left-right direction.

When the type unit 52 is taken out of the stock wheel 3 and attached to the type wheel 2, first, the motor 49 is driven to rotate the first guide shaft 41, and the action of the female screw 40d and the feed screw portion 41a. Due to
The base 40 is moved to the left as shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, and is separated to a position where the ink roller 45 does not face the character unit 5, for example, a position where the detection piece 40e is detected by the sensor 8g. After that, the motor 69a is driven to rotate the lead screw 69, and the robot 6 is moved to a position facing the stock wheel 3.

Next, the motor 82 is driven to rotate the stock wheel 3 so that the desired type unit 52 stocked on the stock wheel 3 faces the robot 6. After the desired type unit 52 is made to face the robot 6, the cylinder 64 is driven to align the chucks 60, 60 so that the facing directions of the chucks 60, 60 coincide with the recesses 5d, 5d of the type unit 52, and then the cylinder 67 is moved. To move the cylinder rod 67a forward to separate the chucks 60, 60 from each other via the cam member 67b,
Next, the cylinder 62 is driven to move the chuck forward so as to face the recesses 5d and 5d. After the chucks 60, 60 are opposed to the recesses 5d, 5d, the cylinder 67 is driven to retract the cylinder rod 67a, thereby bringing the chucks 60, 60 closer to each other to the recesses 5d, 5d of the character unit 52. The character type unit 52 is clamped by being engaged, and then the cylinder 62 is driven to drive the cylinder rod 6
2a is retracted, the insertion portion 5b of the character unit 52 is pulled out from the character mounting portion 32 of the stock wheel 3, and the character unit 52 is taken out of the character mounting portion 32 of the stock wheel 3. When the insertion portion 5b of the type unit 52 is pulled out from the type mounting portion 32 of the stock wheel 3, the locking portion 53b of the coil spring 53 flexes inward relatively against the spring force, and the type mounting portion of the stock wheel 3 is removed. It is possible to pull out the insertion portion 5b of the type unit 52 from the type attachment portion 32 of the stock wheel 3 without applying a large amount of pulling force to the insertion portion 5b of the type unit 52.

After removing the type unit 52 from the type mounting portion 32 of the stock wheel 3, the motor 69 is again operated.
A is driven to rotate the lead screw 69 to move the robot 6 to a position facing the type wheel 2.
After moving the robot 6 to a position facing the type wheel 2, the motor 82 is driven to rotate the type wheel 2, and the type mounting portion 22 of the type unit 52 for casting is clamped by the robot 6. The cylinder 62 is driven to move the cylinder rod 62a forward, the insertion portion 5b of the character unit 52 is inserted into the character mounting portion 22 of the character wheel 2, and the character unit 52 of the character wheel 2 is opposed to the character unit 52. It is attached to the type attachment unit 22. When inserting the insertion portion 5b of the character unit 52 into the character mounting portion 22 of the character wheel 2, the locking portion 53b of the coil spring 53 is inserted into the character mounting portion 22 while flexing relatively inwardly against the spring force. Then, the coil spring 53 expands by its spring force at a position where it passes through the type mounting unit 22, engages with the inner edge of the type mounting unit 22, and when the type unit 52 is mounted on the type wheel 2, the type unit 52 is mounted. Will not fall out easily.

When the type unit 51 is taken out of the stock wheel 3 and mounted on the type wheel 2, the robot 6 is operated in the same manner as when the type unit 52 is taken out of the stock wheel 3 and mounted on the type wheel 2. The character unit 51 is taken out from the character mounting portion 31 of the stock wheel 3 and mounted on the character mounting portion 21 of the character wheel 2.

After mounting the type unit 52 or the type unit 51 on the type wheel 2 in this way, the type wheel 2 is returned to the home position by driving the motor 82. In addition, the motor 49 is driven to drive the first
The guide shaft 41 is rotated in the opposite direction to return the base 40 to the home position, that is, the position where the detection piece 40e is detected by the sensor 8f. Next, the ink roller 4
The contact state between the character 5 and the character unit 5 is adjusted. At this time, when the stopper 42a is loosened and the eccentric knob 8j is rotated to rotate the second guide shaft 42 and the eccentric bearing 8h in an interlocking manner, the base 40 is moved to the position shown in FIG. The fine adjustment is performed in the vertical direction, and the contact state between the ink roller 45 and the character unit 5 is fine adjusted. In this way, the amount of ink supplied to the character unit 5 is adjusted to the optimum state.

Then, at the time of printing, the package F is conveyed, and the sensor 10 is moved to the registration mark L as the package F is conveyed.
When 0 is detected, the motor 82 is excited and enters a drive standby state, and thereafter, each time the sensor 10 sequentially detects the marks L1 to Ln, the motor 82 is rotationally driven by a predetermined angle and the motor 49 is synchronized with the motor 82. And is driven to rotate. By driving the motor 49 and the motor 82 at this time, the type wheel 2 makes one rotation in synchronization with the transport of the package F at the same peripheral speed as the transport speed of the package F while the sensor 10 detects the marks L1 to Ln. At the same time, the rotation of the motor 82 causes the ink roller 45 to rotate in synchronization with the rotation of the type wheel 2 at the same peripheral speed as that of the type wheel 2 because the central shaft 43 is interlocked with the drive shaft 48, the transmission gear 48a, and the gear 43a. And then rotate. Further, the rotation of the motor 49 causes the first guide shaft 41 to rotate, and the feed screw portion 41
By moving the female screw 40b screwed to a to the left in FIG. 7, the base 40 moves, and the transmission gear 48a
Follows this movement by sliding the drive shaft 48 in the axial direction. Therefore, the ink roller 45 moves in the axial direction at a predetermined timing while rotating. The rotation of the type wheel 2 at this time causes the type unit 52 or the surface 5c of the type unit 51 to come into contact with the ink roller 45 so that the ink adheres to the surface 5c, and thereafter the surface 5c faces the platen 7 at the position where the packaging body F is placed. When the ink comes in contact with the ink, the ink adheres to the packaging body F and printing is performed. At the time of this printing, the ink roller 45 and the character unit 52 are rotated by the rotation and the movement of the ink roller 45 in the axial direction.
Alternatively, the contact position with the character unit 51 is the ink roller 4
5, the ink contained in the ink roller 45 is uniformly consumed and always adheres evenly to the printed characters due to the change in the circumferential direction and the axial direction of No. 5, and ink unevenness does not occur in printing by the printed characters.

After the sensor 10 detects Ln and the type wheel 2 makes one revolution, the driving of the motor 49 and the motor 82 is stopped, the type wheel 2 is stopped at the position where it has returned to the home position, and the ink roller 45 is moved. The rotation of the ink roller 45 is stopped, the reversal signal is continuously supplied to the motor 49, the ink roller 45 is returned to the home position, and the movement is stopped. After that, when the sensor 10 detects the next registration mark L0 as the package F is conveyed, the motor 8
2 is excited again to be in a drive standby state, and thereafter, the next printing is performed in the same manner as above.

In the packaging body F thus printed, a product is packaged by a packaging machine (not shown), and a cutting machine cuts it at the registration mark L0.

Then, when it is necessary to replace the character unit 5 for the next printing, or when the ink held in the ink roller 45 is finally reduced and it is necessary to replace the ink roller, the motor 49 is replaced. When a signal for exchange is supplied to, as shown in FIG. 13 and FIG.
The base 40 is moved to the left, and its detection piece 40e is detected by the sensor 8g and stopped. At this position, the ink roller 45 is in a position where it does not contact the character unit 5, and the knob 44a projects from the outlet 8d of the side wall 8a. Therefore, in the same manner as described above, the robot 6
The character unit 5 may be replaced by driving. The type wheel 2 rotates during the replacement of the type unit 5, but since the ink roller 45 is separated, ink does not adhere to the type unit 5 and ink is not wasted. Alternatively, if the knob 44a is grasped and pulled out, the positioning member 44c separates it from the central shaft 43,
The ink roller 45 can be taken out, and if a new ink roller 45 is fitted to the central shaft 43 there, the ink roller 45 is held in position by the positioning member 44c and does not fall off easily. After that, the ink roller 45 is returned to the home position shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 by driving the motor 49.

In the above embodiment, the ink roller 45 is used.
The drive of the motor 49 that moves the ink in the axial direction is synchronized with the motor 82 that rotates the type wheel 2, but the invention is not limited to this. For example, a drive signal is supplied to the motor 49 every time a predetermined amount of printing is performed, The roller 45 may be configured to move in the axial direction by a predetermined distance.

Further, in the above embodiment, the means for separating the ink roller 45 in the axial direction of the printing wheel 2 is used as the main separating and driving means, but the means for separating in the radial direction may be the main separating and driving means. In that case,
The means for rotating the second guide shaft 42 can be easily configured to be automatically rotationally driven by using a motor, instead of the configuration of manually loosening the stopper 42a and rotating the eccentric knob 8j.

[0047]

Since the type printer of the present invention has the above-described structure, the operation of taking out the type unit from the stock portion and mounting it on the type wheel is performed by the robot, so that the type change is extremely easy. It can be speedy, and can eliminate the mistake of changing the type. Further, since the ink supply means is separated from the type unit when the type unit is replaced, ink does not adhere to the type unit even when the type wheel is rotated when the type unit is replaced, which results in wasteful consumption of ink. Therefore, the life of the ink supply means can be extended and the printing surface can be kept clean even if printing is restarted after the character unit is replaced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view showing a type wheel and a stock wheel.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a type wheel.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an essential part showing a state where a type unit for right-angled printing is attached to a type wheel.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an essential part showing a state in which a type unit for casting is attached to a type wheel.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing an ink roller unit.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged front view showing a type unit.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a type unit.

FIG. 11 is an enlarged sectional view showing a robot.

FIG. 12 is a partial front view illustrating a mark on an edge of a package.

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view of a state in which the character unit and the ink roller in FIG. 7 are replaced.

14 is a cross-sectional view of a state in which the character unit and the ink roller in FIG. 8 are replaced.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 type wheel 21,22 type mounting part 3 stock part (stock wheel) 31,32 type mounting part 45 ink supply means (ink roller) 5 type unit 6 robot 40d, 41, 41a, 49 separation drive means (female screw,
First guide shaft, feed screw portion, motor) 40b, 42, 8h, 8j Separation drive means (guide member, second guide shaft, eccentric bearing, eccentric knob) 82 Type wheel rotation drive means (motor) F Printed material

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Yuji Nakagaki 4-1-1 Taihei, Sumida-ku, Tokyo Inside Seikosha Co., Ltd.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A type character mounting portion for inserting and removing a type character unit is provided, a type wheel for printing characters and symbols on a printing medium, a rotation driving means for the type wheel, and a type wheel mounted on the type wheel. A stock unit that stocks the type unit in a removable manner, a robot that takes out the type unit from the stock unit and attaches it to the type wheel, and an ink supply means that supplies ink to the type unit attached to the type wheel. And a separation drive unit that separates the ink supply unit from the type unit when the type unit is replaced. 2. The character printer according to claim 1, wherein the separating drive means separates the ink supply means in the axial direction of the character wheel. 3. The type printer according to claim 1, wherein the separating drive unit separates the ink supply unit in a radial direction of the type wheel. 4. The character type according to claim 2, wherein the separating drive means also serves as means for changing a contact position between the character unit and the ink supply means during printing on the printing medium. Printer. 5. The type printer according to claim 2 or 4, wherein the separating drive means also serves as means for moving the ink supply means to a predetermined position when replacing the ink supply means.