JP2008137201A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer which restrains the quality of a printing medium or a print from deteriorating without depending on a variation in the transport speed of the printing medium. <P>SOLUTION: The printer has a print head discharging ink to a packaging film 1, a drying heater 40 jetting warm wind to the printed packaging film 1 to dry the ink sticking to the packaging film 1 and permitting the temperature of the warm wind to be adjusted, an encoder 20 detecting the transport speed of the packaging film 1 at the time when the film passes the position to which the warm wind is jetted from the drying heater 40, and a control section 64 controlling the temperature of the warm wind from the drying heater 40 in accordance with the transport speed detected by the encoder 20. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printer.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known a printer including a drying heater that dries ink attached to a print medium by blowing warm air onto the printed print medium (see Patent Document 1). Such a drying heater is arranged so that warm air is blown to the printing medium in the middle of the conveyance path of the printing medium. The drying time of the ink is shortened by a drying heater.

Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-241263

  In such a printer, the conveyance speed of the print medium may change. For example, when the printer is incorporated in a production line, the print medium conveyance speed in the printer is set in accordance with the print medium conveyance speed in the production line. Therefore, when the printing medium conveyance speed changes due to the convenience of the production line, the printing medium conveyance speed in the printer also changes in the same manner. For example, when the production line is slow or stopped due to equipment trouble or the like, the conveyance of the print medium is also slow or stopped. In addition, when the shipment time of a product is advanced or the production quantity is increased more than usual, the production line is speeded up, and the printing medium is also transported at high speed.

  On the other hand, the temperature of the warm air of the drying heater provided in the printer is set uniformly according to the average conveyance speed of the printing medium. Accordingly, when the conveyance speed of the print medium in the printer changes, for example, when the conveyance speed decreases, warm air is blown over the print medium for a relatively long time. If hot air is blown for a long time, the print medium may be heated too much to cause elongation or wrinkles. In particular, when the conveyance of the print medium is also stopped, the print medium may stop at a position where the warm air from the drying heater is blown. In such a case, the occurrence of elongation and wrinkles is significant. Become.

  When the conveyance speed is increased, hot air is blown over the printing medium in a short period of time. For this reason, the ink adhering to the print medium may not be sufficiently dried, and the ink may be transferred to the roller portion and further transferred to the print medium.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides a printer in which deterioration of a print medium or print quality is suppressed regardless of a change in the conveyance speed of the print medium.

The above-described object is to provide a print head that discharges ink onto a print medium, and blows warm air toward the print medium after printing in order to dry the ink adhering to the print medium, and the temperature and / or air volume of the hot air. In accordance with the conveying speed detected by the detecting means, the detecting means for detecting the conveying speed of the print medium when passing through the position where the warm air is blown from the drying means, This can be achieved by a printer comprising control means for controlling the temperature of the hot air from the drying means.
With this configuration, the temperature and / or air volume of the drying means can be controlled in accordance with the conveyance speed of the printing medium, so that the conveyance speed of the printing medium is reduced and high-temperature hot air is blown over a long period of time. The printing medium can be prevented from stretching and wrinkles, and the transfer speed of the printing medium can be increased, and hot air can be blown only for a short period of time. it can. Accordingly, it is possible to suppress the deterioration of the print medium or the print quality.

Further, in the above configuration, when the conveyance speed detected by the detection means is less than a predetermined speed, the control means is configured to reduce the temperature of the hot air so that the temperature is lower than a predetermined temperature associated with the predetermined speed. The temperature of the hot air can be controlled so as to be higher than the predetermined temperature when the conveyance speed detected by the detection means is equal to or higher than a predetermined speed.
With this configuration, it is possible to suppress the deterioration of the print medium or the print quality.

Further, in the above configuration, when the conveyance speed detected by the detection means is less than a predetermined speed, the control means is configured to reduce the air volume of the warm air so as to be smaller than a predetermined air volume associated with the predetermined speed. And when the transport speed detected by the detection means is equal to or higher than a predetermined speed, the air volume of the warm air is controlled to be higher than the predetermined air volume.
With this configuration, it is possible to suppress the deterioration of the print medium or the print quality.

The said structure can employ | adopt the structure which controls the temperature and / or air volume of the said warm air according to the attribute of the said printing medium with the said conveyance speed.
With this configuration, it is possible to control the temperature and / or amount of hot air from the drying means in more detail. For example, since the drying property of the ink varies depending on the material of the print medium, which is an attribute of the print medium, the temperature of the hot air and / or the amount of air is controlled according to the attribute of the print medium as well as the conveyance speed. Degradation of print quality can be suppressed.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the printer by which deterioration of the printing medium or the quality of printing was suppressed irrespective of the change of the conveyance speed of a printing medium can be provided.

  Hereinafter, a plurality of embodiments according to the present invention will be described.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram when the printer according to the present invention is employed in a packaging machine.
As shown in FIG. 1, the packaging machine includes a printer unit 100 and a packaging unit 200.
The printer unit 100 performs printing using a packaging material that wraps a packaging material (product) as a printing medium. For example, the packaging film 1 serving as a printing medium is printed with a barcode, manufacturing date, expiration date, etc. corresponding to the product to be packaged.
The packaging film 1 printed by the printer unit 100 is then filled and packaged with a predetermined product by the packaging unit 200. Examples of products that are filled and packaged include foods.
The printer unit 100 includes a timing sensor 10, an encoder 20, a printing roller 21, a printing machine 30, a drying heater 40 (drying means), a barcode reader 50, a controller 60, and the like.

  A packaging film 1 for packaging a product is wound into a roll shape as shown in FIG. 1 and pulled out by a packaging unit. The wrapping film 1 is drawn around on the transport path while being transported by each roller, and is transported to the packaging section. The packaging film 1 has a predetermined mark (registration mark or the like) at a cut position that matches the size of the product to be packaged. Further, all rollers used in the printer unit 100 are driven rollers having no drive source.

  A timing sensor 10 is disposed on the conveyance path. The timing sensor 10 measures the timing for printing on the packaging film 1 and cutting the packaging film by reading the mark written on the packaging film 1. In the case where the mark is not described on the packaging film 1, a timing signal is generated from the cut dimensions set in the packaging unit 200 in advance, and the timing signal is transmitted to the controller 60. The above mark can be substituted.

The encoder 20 detects the conveyance speed of the packaging film 1 that passes through the conveyance path. That is, the encoder 20 detects the conveyance speed of the packaging film 1 when passing through a position where warm air is blown from the drying heater 40.
The encoder 20 is disposed so as to face the printing roller 21, and the packaging film 1 is conveyed between the encoder 20 and the printing roller 21. The encoder 20 is always pressed against the printing roller 21 by a spring (not shown). When a packaging film is passed between the encoder 20 and the printing roller 21, the packaging film is pressed against the printing roller 21 by the encoder 20, so that the printing roller 21 is used for packaging when the packaging film is conveyed. It is rotated by the frictional force with the film. On the other hand, the encoder 20 similarly rotates following the packaging film. In this way, the conveyance speed of the packaging film 1 can be detected.

  The printing machine 30 includes a print head (not shown) that discharges ink toward the packaging film 1 and is a device for printing the packaging film 1. The packaging film 1 corresponds to the production date and the expiration date described above by the printing machine 30, other product names, raw materials, usage methods, seller names, manufacturer names, and products packed and packaged in the packaging film 1. The barcode to be printed is printed. Note that what is printed by the printer 30 is not limited to the above.

  The drying heater 40 is located downstream of the printing machine 30 and is disposed so as to face the packaging film 1, and the packaging film 1 after printing in order to dry the ink attached to the packaging film 1. Blowing warm air toward Further, the drying heater 40 is formed so that the temperature of the hot air can be adjusted based on a command from the controller 60.

  The packaging unit 200 is disposed on the downstream side of the printer unit 100, and a mechanism for filling and packaging a predetermined product on the packaging film 1 is provided. After the product is filled and packaged in the packaging film 1, the packaging film 1 is cut at a predetermined position. A driving roller 22 is disposed near the entrance of the packaging unit 200, and a driven roller 23 is disposed to face the driving roller 22. The driven roller 23 is always in pressure contact with the driving roller 22 by a spring (not shown). When the driving roller 22 is rotated with the packaging film sandwiched between the driving roller 22 and the driven roller 23, the packaging film is pressed against the driving roller 22 by the driven roller 23, so that the driving roller rotates. The packaging film follows. In this way, the packaging film is fed into the packaging unit 200. In FIG. 1, the detailed configuration of the packaging unit 200 is omitted.

  The barcode reader 50 is connected to the control unit 64 by a communication cable, and the user can freely carry the barcode reader 50 as long as the length of the connection cable allows. The bar code reader 50 is used by a user to read a bar code printed on the packaging film 1. Details will be described later.

  The controller 60 is formed to be able to communicate with the timing sensor 10, the encoder 20, the drying heater 40, a packaging unit controller (not shown), and the like, and controls the operation of the printer unit 100.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram illustrating the configuration of the printer unit 100.
The controller 60 includes a power supply unit 61, a liquid crystal display unit 62, a key input unit 63, a control unit 64, a storage unit 65, and the like.
The power supply unit 61 is for supplying power to each unit of the printer unit 100.

  The liquid crystal display unit 62 and the key input unit 63 are user interfaces that can specify data of products to be filled and packaged in the packaging film 1. When the barcode corresponding to the product is already printed on the packaging film 1, the control unit 64 uses the barcode reader 50 to specify information for the user to specify the product to be packaged by the packaging film. The control unit 64 reads the product data corresponding to the barcode from the storage unit 65 based on the information described in the barcode, thereby specifying the product to be filled and packaged. Good. The barcode is most suitable immediately before the packaging film is drawn into the packaging unit 200, but may be anywhere on the conveyance path as long as the barcode reader 50 can be carried. The read product data is data for printing on the packaging film 1 set for each product. Based on the read product data, the control unit 64 issues a predetermined command to each device.

  The control unit 64 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like, and issues a command to each device. The controller 64 detects the temperature of the hot air from the drying heater 40 based on the conveyance speed of the packaging film 1 detected by the encoder 20 when passing through the position where the warm air is blown from the drying heater 40. To control. Specifically, the temperature of the drying heater 40 is read by reading from the storage unit 65 the product data related to the product filled and packaged by the packaging film 1 and the temperature setting data related to the product and the temperature setting of the drying heater 40. To control. Product data and temperature setting data will be described in detail later.

The storage unit 65 stores the product data and the temperature setting data.
The personal computer 80 is for creating product data and temperature setting data by the user and transmitting the data to the controller 60. The product data and temperature setting data transmitted to the controller 60 are stored in the storage unit 65 via the control unit 64.

  In addition, the control part 64 is connected so that communication with the packaging part controller 210 is possible. The packaging unit 200 and the driving roller 22 are controlled by the packaging unit controller 210.

Next, product data and temperature setting data will be described in detail.
FIG. 3A is an exemplary diagram showing product data, and FIG. 3B is an exemplary diagram of a table showing temperature setting data. The product data table is associated with the bar code number, such as product name, packaging material type, packaging material pitch, and printing form. The product name indicates a product that is filled and packaged in the packaging film 1. The packaging material type indicates the material and thickness of the packaging film 1. The packaging material pitch indicates the size of the packaging film 1 in accordance with the size of the product to be filled and packaged. The print form is an instruction for the content to be printed. The type of printing is categorized by type according to the type. For example, if type 1 is printed, the “best-before date 06.12.10” is printed. If type 2 is printed, the printed content is “best-before date 06.12.10. Have some variations. The printing form can be set and changed freely by the user using the personal computer 80. As described above, the product data includes the attribute information of the print medium. Note that the attributes of the printing medium include the packaging material type as well as the packaging material pitch and the printing form.

The packaging material types include PP (polypropylene) and paper PE (polyethylene laminated on the paper surface), but also PET (polyester), nylon, PVA (polyvinyl alcohol), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), It may be a composite material such as cellophane (PT) or a laminar film, or a vapor deposition system such as aluminum vapor deposition.
Since the print medium and ink are compatible, if the print medium is a resin film, the print surface may be roughened by corona treatment or the like, or a white background print may be added to the background. Good.

  The temperature setting data is associated with a reference temperature (predetermined temperature), a correction value based on the conveyance speed, and the like corresponding to the packaging material type. The reference temperature indicates a set temperature of hot air from the drying heater 40 according to a normally assumed conveyance speed (predetermined speed) of the packaging film 1. The correction value based on the conveyance speed indicates a correction value for the set temperature of the warm air from the drying heater 40 corresponding to each conveyance speed of the packaging film 1.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 3B, when the packaging material type is paper PE and the thickness is 50 μm, the reference temperature is 130 ° C., and the conveyance speed of 1 is 150 to 250 mm / second. The set temperature of the warm air of the drying heater 40 is controlled according to the reference temperature, but when the conveyance speed is increased to 250 to 350 mm / second, 10 ° C. is added to the reference temperature 130 ° C., Set to 140 ° C. When the packaging material type is PP and the thickness is 30 μm, the reference temperature is 90 ° C., and when the packaging film 1 is transported at a speed of 150 to 250 mm / second, the temperature of the drying heater 40 is The set temperature of the wind is controlled according to the reference temperature, but when the conveyance speed decreases to 50 to 150 mm / sec, it is set to 80 ° C. obtained by subtracting 10 ° C. from the reference temperature 90 ° C.

  When the conveyance speed detected by the encoder 20 is less than the reference speed, the control unit 64 controls the temperature of the hot air so that it is lower than the reference temperature, and the conveyance speed detected by the encoder 20 is the reference speed. In the above case, the temperature of the hot air is controlled to be higher than the reference temperature. Moreover, the control part 64 controls the temperature of warm air according to the kind of film 1 for packaging with a conveyance speed.

This temperature setting data is set so that the temperature of warm air is greatly increased by increasing the conveying speed for packaging materials that are relatively resistant to high temperatures, and the temperature of warm air is slightly decreased by decreasing the conveying speed. It is set to descend. For example, in the above example, the packaging material type is paper PE and the thickness is 50 μm.
For packaging materials that are relatively sensitive to high temperatures, the warm air set temperature is set to increase slightly by increasing the transfer speed, and the hot air temperature is set to decrease greatly by decreasing the transfer speed. Has been. For example, in the above example, the packaging material type is PP and the thickness is 30 μm.
By creating temperature setting data according to the packaging material type of the packaging film 1 together with the conveyance speed in this way, it is possible to efficiently dry the ink in consideration of the packaging material whose quality is likely to deteriorate due to hot air. it can.

  As described above, since the temperature of the warm air of the drying heater 40 can be controlled according to the transport speed of the packaging film 1, the transport speed of the packaging film 1 is reduced and the hot warm air is kept for a long time. Due to insufficient drying of the ink due to the fact that the packaging film 1 can be prevented from being stretched and wrinkled, and the packaging film 1 is transported at a higher speed and the hot air can be blown only for a short period of time. Generation of transfer stains can be suppressed. Therefore, deterioration of the quality of the packaging film 1 or printing can be suppressed.

  In particular, when the printer according to the present invention is employed in a production line such as a packaging machine as in the present embodiment, there may be a case where a large amount of products must be produced in a shorter period than usual. Even in such a case, the temperature of the drying heater 40 can be set higher than the reference temperature in response to the increase in the conveyance speed, so that the printing quality can be maintained and the product can be maintained. Productivity can be improved.

  Moreover, when the conveyance speed of the packaging film 1 decreases, the temperature of the hot air of the drying heater 40 is lowered below the reference temperature, so that the power consumption can be improved. FIG. 3C shows the temperature / fan setting data, which will be described later.

Next, an example of processing of the control unit 64 will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing of the control unit 64. This process is repeatedly executed at regular intervals after the apparatus is turned on.
When the control unit 64 receives the product name specified by the user using the liquid crystal display unit 62 and the key input unit 63 or specified by the barcode read by the barcode reader 50 (step S1), the control unit 64 The product data and temperature setting data corresponding to the product are read from the storage unit 65 (step S2), ready for transportation, and a standby completion signal is transmitted to the packaging unit controller 210. When receiving the standby completion command from the control unit 64, the packaging unit controller 210 drives the driving roller 22 to start conveyance of the packaging film 1 and simultaneously transmits a conveyance start signal to the control unit 64. (Step S3).

When the conveyance start signal is received, the control unit 64 operates the drying heater 40 at the reference temperature of the temperature setting data based on the temperature data (step S4).
Next, the control part 64 receives the conveyance speed of the packaging film 1 transmitted from the encoder 20, and corrects the temperature of the warm air of the drying heater 40 based on the conveyance speed and the temperature setting data (step). S5). In addition, when the conveyance speed transmitted from the encoder 20 is within the reference speed, the temperature of the warm air of the drying heater 40 is not corrected.
Next, the control unit 64 calculates the printing timing based on the signal from the timing sensor 10 or the timing signal from the packaging unit 200 (step S6), issues a command to the printing machine 30, and prints on the packaging film 1. Perform (step S7).

Next, a case where printing is performed on a box using the printer according to the present invention will be described.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram for printing on a box using a printer. In addition, about the location similar to the said Example 1, the description is abbreviate | omitted by attaching | subjecting the same code | symbol.
The box 2 as a printing medium is conveyed in a predetermined direction by a belt conveyor 24. The timing sensor 10, the printing machine 30, and the drying heater 40 are sequentially arranged from the upstream side to the downstream side so as to face the transported box 2. A mark (registration mark or the like) written on the box 2 conveyed by the belt conveyor 24 is read by the timing sensor 10 and the timing of printing is measured. The encoder 20 is arranged to be driven by the belt conveyor 24, and can detect the conveyance speed of the box 2 by detecting the speed of the belt conveyor 24. The printing machine 30 prints on the box 2 at a predetermined timing based on the printing timing and the conveyance speed detected by the encoder 20. The printed box 2 is dried by a drying heater 40.
Since the conveying speed of the belt conveyor 24 also varies depending on the overall state of the production line, the temperature setting of the warm air of the drying heater 40 is controlled according to the conveying speed of the box 2 to be the same as in the case of the first embodiment. The effect of can be obtained.

  In the first and second embodiments, the case where the air volume of the warm air is constant has been described. However, the air volume of the drying heater 40 is also formed so as to be adjustable based on a command from the controller 60, and FIG. If a table in which the temperature and the air volume are set as shown in FIG. 5 is created, the air volume can be controlled in the same manner as the temperature.

  Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments and can be modified and changed within the scope of the gist of the present invention described in the claims. It is.

  In the first embodiment, the packaging film is used as the print medium. However, the print medium may be paper or the like.

  In the said Example 1, although comprised so that the temperature of the drying heater 40 might be controlled according to the packaging material type of the packaging film 1 with the conveyance speed of the packaging film 1, it is not limited to such a structure, For example, the temperature may be controlled in consideration of the packaging material pitch, the printing form, and the like.

It is explanatory drawing at the time of employ | adopting the printer which concerns on this invention for a packaging machine. It is the functional block diagram which showed the structure of the packaging machine. It is an illustration figure of the table which showed product data, temperature setting data, and temperature and ventilation setting data. It is the flowchart explaining an example of the process of a control part. It is explanatory drawing in the case of printing on a box using a printer.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Packaging film 2 Box 10 Timing sensor 20 Encoder 21 Printing roller 22 Driving roller 23 Driven roller 24 Belt conveyor 30 Printing machine 40 Drying heater 50 Bar code reader 60 Controller 61 Power supply part 62 Liquid crystal display part 63 Key input part 64 Control 65 Storage unit 100 Printer unit 200 Packaging unit

Claims (4)

A print head for ejecting ink onto a print medium;
Drying means capable of blowing out hot air toward the print medium after printing in order to dry the ink adhering to the print medium and capable of adjusting the temperature and / or air volume of the hot air;
Detection means for detecting a conveyance speed of the print medium when passing through a position where the warm air is blown from the drying means;
A printer comprising: control means for controlling the temperature and / or air volume of the hot air from the drying means in accordance with the conveyance speed detected by the detection means.   The control means controls the temperature of the hot air to be lower than a predetermined temperature associated with the predetermined speed when the transport speed detected by the detecting means is less than a predetermined speed, and 2. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the temperature of the hot air is controlled to be higher than the predetermined temperature when the conveyance speed detected by the means is equal to or higher than a predetermined speed.   When the conveyance speed detected by the detection means is less than a predetermined speed, the control means controls the air volume of the warm air to be smaller than a predetermined air volume associated with the predetermined speed, and the detection 3. The printer according to claim 1, wherein when the conveying speed detected by the means is equal to or higher than a predetermined speed, the air volume of the warm air is controlled to be higher than the predetermined air volume. The said control means controls the temperature and / or air volume of the said warm air according to the attribute of the said printing medium with the said conveyance speed, The any one of Claim 1 thru | or 3 characterized by the above-mentioned. Printer.

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