JPS61206692A - Method and appratus for printing date of production on food - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable a data of production to be printed on food directly and hygienically, by a method wherein a data of production is printed as a code on foods being moved along a line, by a laser beam. CONSTITUTION:When printing a date on a food 2, an ON-OFF signal is sent from a controller 6 to a laser power source 4 on the basis of a data set by a date setter 5, and a laser beam is emitted from a laser oscillator 3 to the food 2 on a conveyor 1 by turning ON and OFF the power source 4, thereby printing the date of production directly on the food. In order that an output of the oscillator 3 is not high, an ordinarily contemplated making method is replaced by a method of expressing the date by a code, e.g., a dot-dash code, by utilizing the movement of the food on the conveyor 1. In the figure, the pattern from the start (a) to a space (b) expresses '2', while the pattern following the space (b) expresses '6', and the patterns in combination express '26' (26th).

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for imprinting the manufacturing date on foods using laser light. .

[Conventional technology]

For example, food products such as bread and kamaboko generally have the manufacturing date displayed on the surface of the wrapping paper. Therefore, the date portion may be scratched and obscured during transportation, display, or selection by the purchaser.

Therefore, when a purchaser makes an inquiry or complaint regarding a food product to a manufacturer, troubles may occur between the two parties due to unclear manufacturing dates. or,
Even bigger troubles could arise if food buyers brought in complaints after throwing away the wrapping paper.

On the other hand, there are cases in which the manufacturing date is stamped directly onto the food itself, but in this case, methods such as a method of contacting the food are used, which poses hygiene problems.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

In view of the above-mentioned circumstances, the present invention is designed to hygienically imprint the manufacturing date directly onto food products.

[Failure to solve the problem]

In the present invention, a laser oscillator that emits laser light toward food that moves along a line, a date setter, and a controller that turns on and off the laser light from the laser oscillator based on the set date. [Function] Therefore, the date of manufacture is encoded and directly burned onto the food using a laser beam.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the apparatus of the present invention includes a laser oscillator (3) that emits laser light to food (2) on a conveyor (1) that constitutes a production or conveyance line; a laser power source (4) that sends an oscillation command to the
It is equipped with a date setter (5) for setting the date, and a controller (6) that converts the set date into codes such as long and short pulse codes and sends on/off commands to the laser power source (4). ing. In addition, the lens is a focusing lens that focuses the laser beam from the laser oscillator (3), and the focal length is set so that the influence of slight movement of the food (2) back and forth on the conveyor (1) is minimized. I am using a long one.

In such a configuration, when stamping the date on the food (2), the controller (6) sends an on/off signal to the laser power source (4) based on the date set by the date setter (5), and the laser By turning on and off the power supply (4), a laser oscillator (3) emits a laser beam onto the food (2) on the conveyor (1), directly imprinting the date of manufacture.

In this case, in order to prevent the output of the laser oscillator (3) from becoming too large, instead of the usual masking method, we use the point flowing through the conveyor (1) and set the date as shown in Figure 2, for example. It should be expressed using codes such as long/short codes as shown. In Figure 2, the period from the start to the space represents rr 2u, and the period after the space represents "6 +
Represents + and collectively means "26.", day.

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the device of the present invention, in which the laser beam from the laser oscillator (3) is once applied to a mirror (9) which is tilted by a drive device (8). By swinging the mirror (9) in a direction perpendicular to the flow direction of the food (2), the space required for printing the code is slightly reduced.

In this method, the date code imprinted on the food (2) is displayed vertically with a slight slant as shown in FIG. Therefore, baking of food (2) can be applied even when the space is narrow.

Fig. 5 shows another embodiment of the device of the present invention, in which the laser beam from the laser oscillator (3) is divided into two beams by a stripe riser, one laser beam is divided into two beams, and the other laser beam is mirrored. The shutters (12α) and (12b) for turning on and off each laser beam are controlled by commands from the controller (6). It is designed so that it can be operated.

In this method, the date is printed in two stages, upper and lower, so that printing is more convenient when the space is narrower than in the embodiment shown in FIG.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and when reducing the output of the laser oscillator (3),
For example, the beam diameter of the laser beam may be narrowed down using a focusing lens (7), or if a laser beam with a wavelength close to visible light is selected, the food (2) may be exposed to sunlight after packaging through transparent wrapping paper. It goes without saying that the attachment may be baked on, and that various changes may be made without departing from the gist of the invention.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, (i) dates are imprinted on foods using laser light in a non-contact manner, which is sanitary.

(ii) Since the date is encoded without using a mask, all the laser light can be effectively used for printing.

(iii) Burning is performed using the flow of the line,
Also, since there are no moving parts, the date is clear and highly reliable.

(1v) Therefore, even if the date on the wrapping paper becomes unclear, trouble between the manufacturer and the purchaser can be prevented.

It can produce excellent effects such as

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a detailed explanatory diagram of the present invention, Figure 2 is a coded and printed date, Figure 6 is an explanatory diagram of another embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 4 is a coded and printed date. What other wards on the date,
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of still another embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention. (1) is the conveyor, (2) is the food, (3) is the laser oscillator, (4) is the laser power supply, (5) is the date setter, (
6) indicates a controller. Patent applicant: Ishikawajima Harima Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. Patent applicant: Ishikawajima Yuki Co., Ltd. Figure 1 Figure 2 "22.6." Figure 3 ° "2,2" °6.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1) A method of imprinting manufacturing dates on food products, which comprises encoding and imprinting manufacturing dates on foods that move along a line using a laser beam. 2) Equipped with a laser oscillator that emits laser light toward the food moving along the line, a date setter, and a controller that turns on and off the laser light from the laser oscillator based on the set date. An apparatus for imprinting a manufacturing date on food, characterized by comprising: