WO1990010891A1

WO1990010891A1 - Method and apparatus for automation of the working step of composing in a process reproduction plant

Info

Publication number: WO1990010891A1
Application number: PCT/FI1990/000057
Authority: WO
Inventors: Urho PIETILÄ
Original assignee: Pietilae Urho
Priority date: 1989-03-10
Filing date: 1990-03-05
Publication date: 1990-09-20
Also published as: FI81917B; FI891165A0; FI81917C; AU5196890A

Abstract

A method and an apparatus for automation of the working step of cmposing in a process reproduction plant, wherein, based on a sketch of the product to be printed, first a layout pattern is created as computer-aided planning in the memory of a computer. Hereupon the fair-drawing of the layout pattern, the cutting of the masks, and the transfer of picture films and text films and their sheet composing on transparent sheet are carried out automatically as guided by a computer. The apparatus comprises a computer and a drawing unit (1), by means of which the movement of an exchangeable tool (2) attached to the drawing unit in the directions X and Y is produced as controlled by a computer. The number of said tools (2) is two, of which the standard tool performs the drawing of the layout image and the cutting of the masks, and a particular composing tool carries out the fetching of the picture films and text films from an initial position (3) placed on the table of the drawing unit (1) as well as their transfer and composing onto a transparent sheet, guided by a computer.

Description

Method and apparatus for automation of the working step of composing in a process reproduction plant

The invention concerns a method and an apparatus for automation of the working step of composing in a process reproduction plant, wherein, based on a sketch of the product to be printed, first a layout pattern is created as computer-aided planning in the memory of a computer, whereupon the fair-drawing of the layout pattern, the cutting of the various masks, and the transfer of picture films and text films and their sheet composing on trans¬ parent sheet are carried out as controlled by a computer, based on the layout pattern that was created.

In printing technology it is well known to use a computer and a drawing unit in the fair-drawing of the layout patterns of a product to be printed and in the cutting of masks. An example of such an equipment is the product Digi-Mask/GS marketed by the German Messrs. Dr. Hδjring Graphische Systeme GmbH. This equipment comprises a digitizing table, a computer, a graphics terminal, an alphanumeric terminal, and a drawing unit.

In printing technology it is also known to use an apparatus controlled by a computer, by means of which the pictures and the text portions are imposed in their correct posi¬ tions on the base sheet. An example of such an equipment is the product Digi-Mont/DC marketed by the German enter¬ prise mentioned above. This equipment comprises a film punching apparatus, a digitizing table, a computer, a graphics terminal, a printer, and a film installation apparatus. The films are first perforated in a high- precision punching device, in which, owing to the optical system and the cross-hairs in the film, the perforations are always produced in the same locations in the film with very high precision. Hereupon the perforated film is placed on the layout pattern made ready on the digitizing table in the correct location, whereupon the position data of the film are digitized in the computer. When all posi¬ tion data are in the memory of the computer, the computer controls the composing apparatus to the first position, whereupon the first film is placed by hand onto the regis¬ ter pins in the tool of the composing apparatus, said pins corresponding to the perforations of the film. Hereupon the tool of the composing apparatus is lowered onto the base sheet, and the film can be affixed to the sheet, whereupon the composing apparatus moves to the following position.

Problems of the apparatuses mentioned above include the high number of apparatuses, large size, slowness, and high cost. In said equipments, the picture films of the first component colour are composed by hand on a fair- drawn layout pattern, from which their position data are then digitized to the memory of the computer. Thus, the ultimate precision of the work depends on the precision of the human hand and eye.

In the equipment in accordance with the present invention, one and the same apparatus, i.e. in practice the drawing unit, carries out the drawing of the layout pattern, the cutting of the masks, and fetches the films in the desired sequence from an initial position placed on the table of the drawing unit and transfers them to their correct positions onto the base sheet. This operation is carried out in respect of all of the different component colors. Compared with: the prior art, the advantages include lower cost of the equipment as well as, as a result of integra¬ tion, considerably lower requirement of space as well as freer and more flexible working. In order to carry out the operations carried out by the equipment in accordance with the present invention, both of the above equipments Digi-Mask/GS and Digi-Mont/DC: are needed, in addition to which' the apparatus of the present invention also carries out the fetching of the films from the initial position on the drawing table, which cannot be accomplished by the apparatuses mentioned above.

The invention will be described in the following with' reference to the accompanying figures.

Figure 1 is a schematical illustration of principle of the various working steps,

Figure 2 shows the apparatuses that are primarily needed in the invention,

Figure 3 is an illustration of principle of the drawing unit in accordance with the invention, and

Figure 4 is a block diagram of principle of the equipment in accordance with the invention.

The apparatus in accordance with the invention mainly consists of a computer and of a drawing unit 1 provided with an exchangeable tool 2. The drawing unit l is in itself a standard drawing unit, which' has been modified by therein installing additional electronic cards in order to permit communication between the computer and the drawing unit to carry out all of the operations mentioned above. In the drawing unit 1, two different tools 2 are used, i.e. a standard tool and a particular composing tool, the drawing and the mask cutting being performed by means of the standard tool, and the transfer and positioning of the images being performed by means of the composing tool. The composing tool is provided with a stepping motor, which carries out the displacing of the suction pad mounted on the tool perpendicularly to the plane of the drawing-unit table, and a second stepping motor, which carries out the rotating of the suction pad 360o around its shaft, always in the same direction in order that any inaccuracy derived from the play in the mechanism could be eliminated.

All of the operations mentioned above are controlled by a computer, i.e. in practice by means of a computer program created for the function, said program executing the necessary control commands on the basis of the layout pattern of the product to be printed, created into the memory of the computer.

The work is started from a sketch of the product to be printed, created by an artist, which sketch arrives in the process reproduction plant. As the initial values, the operator feeds to the computer the dimensions of the pages of the printed product as well as the number of pages. Hereupon the operator processes the future printed product on the terminal one page at a time, and the computer automatically takes care that each page is placed in the correct location and in the correct alignment in the sheet formed out of the pages, from which: sheet the ultimate printed product is obtained by means of suitable folding. Hereinafter, as computer-aided planning, the operator creates the layout pattern of each page, on the basis of the sketch, in the memory of the computer.

In accordance with the layout pattern drawn by the machine, the compositor types the texts of the printed product by means of text processing equipment.

Hereupon, if necessary, the finished layout image and the composed texts can be sent to the customer for approval.

After the texts have been composed to their ultimate form, they are photographed on film.

If multi-colour printing is concerned, the scanning of the pictures of the printed product is also carried out, for example, in the case of four-colour printing, the preparation of the images corresponding to the four component colors - yellow, violet, blue-green, and black - in the scanner in accordance with the layout pattern. Hereupon both: the films that contain text and those that contain pictures are perforated in a high-precision puncher, in which, by means of the optical system of the apparatus and the cross-hairs provided in the film, the film can always be positioned in the same position, whereby the perforations can also always be provided in the same positions. This perforation of the films creates the foundation for the precision of the subsequent steps.

After the films have been punched, they are, one at a time, placed onto the pins corresponding to the perfora¬ tions, provided on the tablet 4, from which films the size of the films, i.e. the points at the corners of the film that are supposed to coincide with the corners of the mask openings, are digitized into the computer. This is necessary because the films are larger than the area reserved for the image proper in the layout image. Further, the desired point of attaching of the suction pad to the film is fed to the computer, whereupon the program takes care of the control commands to be given to the drawing unit in the composing.

When the ultimate layout image is finished and approved, the mask can be cut. A blade fitted in the drawing unit 1, in the same tool 2 with the pen, performs the cutting of the mask or masks, being controlled by the computer, on the basis of the layout pattern created into the computer. For example, when positive images are used, the so-called ulano mask is cut so that pieces of mask are allowed to remain on the pictures and the rest of the mask is removed.

As the last working step, the composing proper of the films is carried out by means of the drawing unit l. The films are placed, one at a time, in the desired sequence to the initial position 3 on the table of the drawing unit 1, where the film is positioned by means of the perforations of the film to the zero point of the table. From this initial position the composing tool 2 of the drawing unit fetches the film and transfers it onto the base sheet to the location and position determined by the layout pattern, being controlled by the computer. The film can be placed on the base sheet in any arbitrary position, because the suction pad of the composing tool 2 revolves 360o around its shaft by means of the stepping motor. Hereupon the film is attached to the base sheet in the normal way.

Said initial position 3 on the table of the drawing unit 1 may consist exclusively of register pins corresponding to the perforations made by the high-precision punching device, onto which said pins the films are placed one at a time as the suction pad fetches the films and imposes them onto the base sheet.

A second alternative is that the films are placed one at a time onto holes provided in the initial position 3 on the table of the drawing unit 1 and corresponding to the perfo¬ rations of the film, whereupon an aligning tool, which is attached to the table of the drawing unit by the intermedi¬ ate of an articulated joint, is passed from above into the perforations in the film. The tool is provided with pins, which: correspond to the perforations, whose ends are conically shaped, and which center the films precisely to the zero point.

A third alternative is that the initial position 3 consists of a cassette, into which all the films related to one double page in the printed product are placed in the desired sequence. The affixing proper of the films to the base sheet, after the drawing unit 1 has shifted them to their correct posi¬ tion, may take place, e.g., manually by means of adhesive tape. A second possibility is to provide the tool 2 fitted in the drawing unit l with particular affixing members, e.g. a heating pin or a laser-based apparatus, by means of which the affixing of the film to the base sheet can be carried out automatically.

The equipment may also be connected with a digitation table, by means of which it is easy to transfer information present in drawn form to the computer terminal and further to the memory of the computer.

The work can be interrupted at any time whatsoever, and it can be started again from the point of interruption. Nor is the work in any way bound to the sequence of pages or pictures, but the work can be done in the sequence that is desired by the operator and at a point of time that is best suitable for the operator.

In the invention described above, the same principles of work are followed highly extensively as in composing that is carried out manually, with: the difference that in the apparatus of the present invention these working steps are carried out by the drawing unit automatically, being controlled by the computer. With this principle, a small size of the equipment and a relatively low purchase price have been achieved, together with a considerably shorter process time, as compared with manual composing.

In the apparatus in accordance with the invention, the precision of each working step is determined by the machine precision. In multi-colour printing, wherein several pieces of base sheets and, thus, printing blocks are made, one per each component colour, the image of each component colour must be placed precisely in the same location on the base sheet in order that turbidity should not be present in the ultimate printed product. Even a difference of about one hundredth of a millimeter in the positioning of the films of the different component colors on the base sheet is distinguished by a trained eye as inaccuracy in the ultimate printing product.

Claims

Claims :

1. Method for automation of the working step of composing in a process reproduction plant, wherein, based on a sketch of the product to be printed, a precise layout pattern is created as computer-aided planning in the memory of a computer, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the fair- drawing of the layout pattern, the cutting of the masks, and the fetching of the picture films and text films from the initial position, the transfer of the picture films and text films and their sheet composing on transparent sheet are carried out automatically as guided by a computer, based on the layout pattern that was created.

2. Method as claimed in claim 1, c h a r a c t e r ¬ i z e d in that, in multi-colour printing, the imposing of all of the different component colors on the respective base sheets of the component colors takes place as guided by a computer, on the basis of the layout pattern that was created, whereby a precision of an order of a micro¬ meter is achieved, which is independent from the precision of human hand or eye.

3. Method as claimed in claim 1, c h a r a c t e r ¬ i z e d in that the picture film or text film can be placed on the base sheet in any arbitrary position.

4. Apparatus for carrying out the method as claimed in claim 1, comprising a computer and a drawing unit (1), by means of which the movement of an exchangeable tool (2) attached to the drawing unit in the directions X and Y is produced as controlled by a computer, c h a r a c t e r ¬ i z e d in that there are two tools (2) , of which the standard tool performs the drawing of the layout image and the cutting of the masks, and a particular composing tool carries out the fetching of the picture films and text films from an initial position (3) placed on the table of the drawing unit (1) as well as their transfer and compos¬ ing onto a transparent sheet, guided by a computer.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4, c h a r a c t e r ¬ i z e d in that the composing tool (2) includes a grasping member.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5, c h a r a c t e r ¬ i z e d in that the grasping member is a suction pad, to which: a suction is connected which is sufficiently strong to raise and to displace a picture film and a text film.

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5, c h a r a c t e r ¬ i z e d in that the grasping member can be rotated 360o around its shaft in the same direction.

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4, c h a r a c t e r ¬ i z e d in that in the initial position (3) placed on the table of the drawing unit (1) , there is an aligning device which: is attached to the table by means of an articulated joint and which centralizes the films to the zero point of the table by means of its pins, which: are fitted to per¬ forations of the films and which are conical at their ends.

9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4, c h a r a c t e r ¬ i z e d in that in the initial position (3) placed on the table of the drawing unit (1) , there is an alignment cassette, into which the films are placed in the desired, freely selectable sequence and from which the grasping member fetches the films one by one.

10. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4, c h a r a c t e r ¬ i z e d in that, on the tool (2) of the drawing unit, affixing means are mounted, e.g. a heating pin or a laser- based apparatus, by means of which the films are affixed to the base sheet.