TWI796076B - Printing method and system for on-demand printing cups - Google Patents

Abstract

A printing system for on-demand printing of cups includes a jet printer and a control device. The jet printing machine can jet print the paint and drive the cup to rotate. The control device includes a remote communication unit for receiving printing information, a database for storing the printing information, a printing communication unit for outputting the printing information, and a computing unit, the computing unit according to the printing information , sending a print command to the jet printer for controlling the jet printer to print the graphic on the outer surface of the cup. The time from receiving the printing instruction to making the cup to hold materials is defined as an on-demand printing time, and the on-demand printing time is between 3 seconds and 5 seconds. In this way, when the cup is taken, it can be customized or randomly printed with different pictures and texts immediately, thereby increasing the added value and fun of use of the cup.

Description

Printing method and system for on-demand printing cups

The present invention relates to a printing method and system, in particular to a printing method and system for on-demand printing of cups.

"Water" is one of the three elements that constitute life, and the cups used to hold water or drinks have become one of the indispensable daily necessities. Therefore, it is a very effective way of publicity and promotion to form pictures and texts on the cup that are exclusive to the company's characteristics to achieve advertising effects.

There are generally two ways to form graphics and text on the cup:

1. Stickers: stickers need to be printed first, and then pasted on the outer surface of the cup. Limited by the printed stickers, the variability is low, and the sticking position of the stickers varies from person to person, which is not beautiful and has poor texture.

2. Printing: Taking paper cups as an example, graphics and text must be printed first, and then rolled into a tube. Therefore, although the texture is good, the convenience and immediacy of printing are poor. Unless customized graphics and texts are printed in advance, otherwise Cannot be applied to the cup that is about to be served.

Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a printing method and system for on-demand printing of cups that can enhance the added value of the cups and enjoyment of use.

Therefore, the printing method for on-demand printing cups of the present invention is used to realize the following steps:

(a): A cup is conveyed to a printing position.

(b): Select a print information related to a graphic.

(c): During the rotation of the cup, the picture and text are printed on the outer surface of the cup.

(d): Make the cup out of the printing position.

(e): Use the cup to hold the material.

Steps (b) to (e) define an on-demand printing time, and the on-demand printing time is between 3 seconds and 5 seconds.

A printing system for on-demand printing of cups includes a jet printer and a control device.

The jet printing machine includes a spray head unit capable of spraying paint, and a rotatable turntable arranged at a printing position, the print position is adjacent to the spray head, and the turntable is suitable for carrying the cup.

The control device includes a database, a printing communication unit communicating with the printing machine, and a computing unit, the database is used to store at least one The printing information of the text, the printing communication unit is used to output the at least one printing information, and the calculation unit sends a printing command including the at least one printing information to the printing machine according to the at least one printing information, for The turntable of the jet printer is controlled to drive the cup to rotate, and the nozzle unit of the jet printer is controlled to print the picture and text on the outer surface of the cup according to the at least one print information.

In this way, the time from receiving the printing instruction to making the cup to hold materials is defined as an on-demand printing time, and the on-demand printing time is between 3 seconds and 5 seconds.

The effect of the present invention is that when the cup is taken, it can immediately customize or randomly print different pictures and texts, thereby enhancing the added value and fun of use of the cup.

1: Jet printer

11: Nozzle unit

12: turntable

12: suction cup

2: Control device

21: Database

22: Remote communication unit

23:Jet printing communication unit

24: Operation unit

25: Display unit

3: Cloud device

4: Electronic device

5: Cup

S: print information

C: print command

P: print position

Other features and functions of the present invention will be clearly presented in the implementation manner with reference to the drawings, wherein: FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of the printing system of the present invention for printing cups on demand; FIG. 2 It is a three-dimensional view of a jet printing machine in this embodiment; FIG. 3 is a flow chart of the printing method for on-demand printing cups of the present invention; and FIG. 4 is a block diagram similar to FIG. 1, but a control device also A display unit is included.

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 , an embodiment of the printing system for on-demand printing of cups of the present invention includes a jet printer 1 , a control device 2 , and a cloud device 3 .

The inkjet printer 1 includes a nozzle unit 11 capable of inkjet printing, a rotatable turntable 12 disposed at a printing position P, and a suction cup 13 disposed on the turntable 12 . The printing position P is adjacent to the print head unit 11 . The turntable 12 can be driven by an electric power (such as a motor) to rotate, and is suitable for carrying a cup 5 and driving the cup 5 to rotate. The suction cup 13 absorbs the bottom surface of the cup 5 through negative pressure, so that the cup 5 is stabilized on the turntable 12 .

The control device 2 includes a database 21 , a remote communication unit 22 , a printing communication unit 23 , and a computing unit 24 .

The database 21 is used for storing data and printing information S. Each print information S is related to a picture and text.

The remote communication unit 22 can communicate with the cloud device 3 or other devices conforming to the communication protocol through wireless communication technology.

The printing communication unit 23 communicates with the printing machine 1 to output the printing information S.

The calculation unit 24 generates a printing command C containing the corresponding printing information S according to each printing information S, and after sending the printing command C to the inkjet printer 1, controls the turntable of the inkjet printer 1 12 drives the cup 5 to rotate, and controls the nozzle unit 11 of the jet printer 1 to print the graphic on the outer surface of the cup 5 .

The cloud device 3 transmits the printing information S to the computing unit 24 through the communication relationship with the remote communication unit 22 . The cloud device 3 also pre-stores a schedule. The schedule includes several periods, each period corresponds to a separate print information S, and the corresponding print information S is transmitted according to different periods of the schedule.

In this embodiment, the cloud device 3 belongs to a service provider, and the printing information S can be pre-stored in the cloud device 3 by the service provider, or come from an electronic device 4 . The electronic device 4 can be a smart phone, or a tablet, or a personal computer, or an interactive information service station (such as ibon). The electronic device 4 may belong to general users, or advertisers, or service providers.

When the electronic device 4 and the cloud device 3 communicate with each other, the printing information S is uploaded from the electronic device 4 to the cloud device 3 through the network. When the electronic device 4 and the cloud device 3 communicate with each other, the printing information S is uploaded by the electronic device 4 to the control device 2 through the remote communication unit 22 .

In addition, it is worth noting that the advertiser can obtain the right to determine the corresponding printing information S after paying for the time slots of the schedule to the service provider. For example, divide AM6:00~PM12:00 into 3 periods, among which:

The first time period: AM6:01~PM12:00, purchased by advertiser A, and the print information S corresponding to the first time period is used to display the trademark of advertiser A.

The second time period: PM12:01~PM6:00, purchased by advertiser B, and the print information S corresponding to the second time period is used to present the product information of advertiser B.

The third time period: PM6:01~AM12:00, is a free time period, and the print information S corresponding to the third time period can be used to present the images and texts pre-stored in the cloud device 3, or uploaded from the electronic device 4 to the The cloud device 3, or the pictures and texts uploaded to the control device 2.

The printing method of the on-demand printing cup of the present invention will be described below in conjunction with this embodiment. The printing method implements the following steps through the computing unit 24: First, it should be noted that the jet printer 1 and the control device 2 are arranged in A store, such as: convenience store, beverage store...etc.

Step S01 : The cup 5 is taken and placed on the turntable 12 of the inkjet printer 1 , at the printing position P, and is sucked by the suction cup 13 .

It is worth noting that when the cup 5 in the store is taken, it is usually established that the cup 5 has a demand for containing materials.

Step S02: Send the print command C to the inkjet printer 1 according to the corresponding print information. This is the starting point for a print-on-demand session.

For example, now it is PM2:00, the calculation unit 24 will select the print information S of the advertiser B, and send the print command C to the jet printer 1 . It should be noted that the print information S can be sent from the cloud device 3 to the control device 2 in advance and temporarily stored in the database 21 .

Step S03 : During the rotation of the cup 5 , print graphics and texts corresponding to the printing information S on the outer surface of the cup 5 .

Step S04: Make the cup 5 leave the printing position P.

Step S05: Use the cup 5 to contain materials. This is the end of the on-demand printing period.

Accordingly, the on-demand printing time defined by steps S02 to S05 is between 3 seconds to 5 minutes, preferably 3 seconds, or 3 to 5 seconds. That is to say, when the user decides to use the cup 5 to hold materials, the present invention can immediately form a picture and text on the cup 5 that is unique to the company's characteristics, to achieve advertising effects, or to meet personal characteristics and needs Graphics and texts increase the fun of use.

It should be noted that the inkjet printing communication unit 23 of the control device 2 can communicate with the inkjet printer 1 through wireless communication technology, and be two independent devices with the inkjet printer 1, or communicate with the inkjet printer 1 through wired communication technology. The printer 1 communicates with the jet printer 1 , and as shown in FIG. 4 , the control device 2 also includes a display unit 25 connected to the computing unit 24 . The display unit 25 is used for displaying information related to the printing information S.

Through the above description, the advantages of the aforementioned embodiments can be summarized as follows: The present invention can immediately customize or randomly print different pictures and texts when the cup 5 is taken, which not only has high variability, but also has a beautiful appearance and good texture, and can enhance the added value of the cup 5 and enjoyment of use.

But what is described above is only an embodiment of the present invention, and should not limit the scope of the present invention. Simple equivalent changes and modifications made in the content still fall within the scope covered by the patent of the present invention.

1: Jet printer

2: Control device

21: Database

22: Remote communication unit

23:Jet printing communication unit

24: Operation unit

3: Cloud device

4: Electronic device

S: print information

C: print command

Claims (12)

A printing method for on-demand printing cups, which is used to realize the following steps: (a): a cup is delivered to a printing position; (b): select a print information related to a graphic; (c): During the rotation of the cup, printing the picture and text on the outer surface of the cup; (d): disengaging the cup from the printing position; (e): making the cup be used for containing materials; and step (b) Go to step (e) to define an on-demand printing time, and the on-demand printing time is between 3 seconds and 5 seconds. The printing method for on-demand printing cups as described in Claim 1, wherein the printing information comes from a cloud device or an electronic device. The printing method for on-demand printing cups as described in claim 2, wherein the printing information is uploaded from the electronic device to the cloud device through the network. The printing method for on-demand printing cups as described in claim 3, wherein the cloud device belongs to a service provider, the electronic device can be a smart phone or an interactive information service station, and belongs to a general user, or an advertiser. The printing method for on-demand printing cups as described in claim item 4, wherein step (b) is to select the corresponding printing information according to a schedule, the schedule includes several time periods, and each time period corresponds to a separate column print information. The printing method for on-demand printing cups as described in claim 5, wherein, in at least one of the time periods, after the advertiser pays the service provider, the right to determine the corresponding printing information is obtained. A printing system for printing on-demand cups, comprising: a jet printer, including a nozzle unit capable of printing pigments, and a rotatable turntable arranged at a printing position, the printing position is adjacent to the nozzle unit, The turntable is suitable for carrying the cup; and a control device, including a database, a printing communication unit communicating with the printing machine, and a computing unit, the database is used to store at least one the printing information, the printing communication unit is used to output the at least one printing information, and the calculation unit transmits a message containing the at least one printing information according to the at least one printing information selected in step (b) of request item 1 The print command is given to the jet printer, which is used to control the jet printer to perform step (c) as in request item 1, so that the jet printer drives the cup to rotate through the turntable, and controls the nozzle unit of the jet printer according to the At least one print information to print the graphic on the outer surface of the cup; thereby, the computing unit sends the print command to the cup according to the at least one print information selected in step (b) of claim 1 as requested The time for step (e) of item 1 to hold the material is defined as the print-on-demand time of item 1 as requested. The printing system for printing on-demand cups as described in claim 7 further includes a cloud device, and the control device also includes a remote communication unit that communicates with the cloud device, and the cloud device communicates with the cloud device through the remote A unit for sending the print command and the at least one print information to the computing unit. The printing system for printing on-demand cups as described in claim 8, wherein the cloud device pre-stores a schedule, the schedule includes a number of time periods, and each time period corresponds to individual printing information, and the cloud device is based on The schedule transfers to Print information accordingly. The printing system for printing on-demand cups as described in claim 8 further includes an electronic device, the printing information comes from the cloud device or the electronic device, when the electronic device and the cloud device communicate with each other, The printing information is uploaded from the electronic device to the cloud device through the network, and when the electronic device communicates with the control device, the printing information is sent from the electronic device to the control device. The printing system for on-demand printing of cups as described in Claim 7, wherein the control device is installed on the jet printer. The printing system for printing on-demand cups as described in claim 11, wherein the control device further includes a display unit connected to the computing unit, and the display unit is used for displaying information related to the at least one printing information.

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