A device for processing printing defects detected in a printing machine

Device for processing printing defects detected in printing machines

<p>1. . . Reel/belt</p><p>2. . . . tracking device</p><p>3. . . . Jiejie</p><p>4. . . Border strip</p><p>5. . . pattern</p><p>11. . . track</p><p>12. . . track</p><p>13. . . track</p><p>14. . . Reference mark</p><p>20. . . Printing defects</p><p>twenty one. . . Printing defects</p><p>twenty two. . . Printing defects</p><p>twenty three. . . Part of the reel</p><p>twenty four. . . Downstream cross cutting</p><p>25. . . Upstream cross cutting</p><p>29. . . arrow</p><p>30. . . Forward direction</p><p>31. . . Insertion station</p><p>32. . . Printing and drying station</p><p>33. . . Detect and locate stations</p><p>34. . . Group</p><p>36. . . Receiving station</p><p>37. . . reel</p><p>40. . . Scanning unit</p><p>41. . . camera</p><p>42. . . Lighting device</p><p>43. . . Measuring instrument</p><p>44. . . Monitor</p><p>45. . . control unit</p><p>46. . . Pulse generator</p><p>47. . . database</p><p>48. . . Marking device</p><p>50. . . Insertion station</p><p>51. . . Error handling device</p><p>52. . . Longitudinal cutting station</p><p>53. . . Transverse cutting device</p><p>54. . . Discharge reel</p><p>55. . . Second receiving station</p><p>56. . . Narrower reel</p><p>57. . . Narrower reel</p><p>58. . . Narrower reel</p><p>60. . . Scanning unit</p><p>61. . . Detector</p><p>62. . . The second measuring instrument</p><p>63. . . Second pulse wave generator</p><p>65. . . Processing unit</p><p>70. . . Stored data processing interface</p><p>71. . . Processing unit</p><p>72. . . Output peripheral equipment</p><p>74. . . Filter group</p>

By studying a complete non-limiting embodiment, the present invention will be understood more clearly. Among them, the embodiment is illustrated by the accompanying diagram, in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic representation of the state of a part of a printing roll

Figure 2 is a schematic representation of the operation of the main components of the currently known web during the printing phase; and

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the operation of various elements in the phases of processing defects and cutting the roll piece.

Summary of the invention

The present invention relates to a device for processing printing defects detected in a printing machine, the printing machine from a support (such as paper, cardboard or another flexible material such as polyethylene thin plate or continuous roll Tube) began to transport printed products used in the packaging industry.

The present invention mainly relates to a decision aid, especially for displaying an entire support, such as a diagram, a table format, or an image format. It was previously detected by a traditional device. With various virtual filters, even after the defects are irreparably cut off and before they are discharged from the reel, the decision aid can display some patterns or design conditions that represent the quality of the reel. And in each case, the reel parts can be completely covered with defective parts that are excessively marked and must be removed to be numbered and located.

In particular, flexible packaging made from the material of the roll is produced in various continuous phases, during which the reel must be repeatedly wound and unrolled in order to print the roll and package the product that needs to be packaged .

A first step starts with the printing roll element, which starts with an unused roll with a width that can usually accommodate several substantially identical packaging marks. The several imprints are therefore arranged side by side across the width of the reel that defines the number of tracks of the reel. Once printing is completed, the web is dried and inspected by a device to detect, identify, and record all types of printing defects that can be avoided by the device. These defects are positioned in the Cartesian coordinate system and stored by the detection and positioning device. The detection and positioning device marks the defects relative to the origin in the longitudinal direction and relative to the various types occupying in the transverse direction. The position of the track. Some devices can detect "initial" defects. The "initial" defects are usually caused by abrasion or drift of an element of the rotating imprinter, and will inevitably increase as printing progresses. Any defects found will require the intervention of the machine operator. The operator marks the approximate location of the detected error by placing a label (cardboard protrusion) on the roll piece, so that When the roll is unrolled, the label will slightly protrude from its edge and can be easily detected. Operator intervention can alternatively be done via an automatic labeling machine. If necessary, the machine operator must even stop printing in order to eliminate possible defects before an initial defect becomes unacceptable. After review, as opposed to the product presented in the form of a thin plate, in the case of a machine that delivers a reel product, the printed roll is unrolled.

The second step in the traditional process involves taking out the printed reel and cutting it longitudinally to form a number of small reels, the number of which is equal to the number of tracks on the reel. . For this purpose, the printed reel is unrolled forward again and inserted into a rotating cutter that divides the reel along a straight line defined by the track and boundary therein. During the unwinding phase of the roll member, the operator must pay attention to the approach of all labels before the labels are attached to the roll member. At the arrival of each label, the reel must be stopped, and the operator will have to find the detected error, and before eliminating the error by the transverse tangent in the two questionable tracks Look at where the error started and where it ended. After the detected part has been removed, the appropriate ends of the track are glued together with, for example, tape. Then, all the tracks are unrolled simultaneously before being delivered to the customer in the form of independent reels. In the third and final steps, the customer will pack his products by unrolling each small reel again. .

The present invention is mainly used in the second step, before the printed reel starts to be converted. Devices for detecting printing errors are known, such as those mentioned previously and described in Patent No. EP452769 and Patent No. EP554811, which use cameras and monitor screens to display Like errors that occur in a roll during printing or in a material in the form of a thin plate.

The printed reel can be used as the base material for the packaging machine in the form of a thin plate, or it can be reprocessed and re-returned in the form of a smaller reel to package the rolled product that has been removed from the package. The first type of product is very easy to operate, especially when it is related to the removal and discharge of all detected objects from the production line; although this operation is certainly not performed on products that are stored in the form of continuous rolls. It is very easy. When the packaged product is a continuous roll piece stored on a reel, it is difficult and expensive to remove all parts of the roll piece that have been judged to be defective. During the first step, the removal of such parts will require the complete shutdown of the printing machine, which will seriously affect productivity, and during the rotation pressing phase that is usually difficult to restart, it may be possible in subsequent printing. Will cause other problems. The removal of the defective part during the second step will cause the same problem, which in this case caused the problem of the rotary cutter. However, this kind of machine system has the advantages of being simpler and less fragile in structure, and does not present any additional risk when the reel member must be continuously stopped and started repeatedly.

However, the number of joints in the final reel will greatly affect the estimate of its quality and, of course, its selling price. For technical reasons that can be easily checked, it has been found that the joints in the reel parts often cause problems with the product packaging machine, which constitutes the third step in the use of these reels. . In view of these problems, although there may be any residual printing errors in these reels, many customers believe that these reels should not contain more than two or three joints as a general standard.

So far, there is no known device that can display all the status of the reel and its defects, so as to deal with them under the unrestricted priority of possible occurrences. Each situation represents some adjustment in the tolerance of these defects in order to optimize production, and between the maximum number of joints that the customer can tolerate and the number of residual defects that are still considered acceptable. Achieve the best possible compromise.

Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a tool that is used to comprehensively evaluate the printing quality of the web, and by using various feasible solutions and before the irreversible cutting is carried out, from the roll allowed by the customer The maximum number of piece joints begins to define all the parts that are deemed suitable for priority discharge.

This objective is achieved by a device according to the first item of the patent application.

Schematic description

By studying a complete non-limiting embodiment, the present invention will be understood more clearly. Among them, the embodiment is illustrated by the accompanying diagram, in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic representation of the state of a part of a printing roll

Figure 2 is a schematic representation of the operation of the main components of the currently known web during the printing phase; and

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the operation of various elements in the phases of processing defects and cutting the roll piece.

Symbol description of main components

1. . . Reel/belt

2. . . . tracking device

3. . . . Jiejie

4. . . Border strip

5. . . pattern

11. . . track

12. . . track

13. . . track

14. . . Reference mark

20. . . Printing defects

twenty one. . . Printing defects

twenty two. . . Printing defects

twenty three. . . Part of the reel

twenty four. . . Downstream cross cutting

25. . . Upstream cross cutting

29. . . arrow

30. . . Forward direction

31. . . Insertion station

32. . . Printing and drying station

33. . . Detect and locate stations

34. . . Group

36. . . Receiving station

37. . . reel

40. . . Scanning unit

41. . . camera

42. . . Lighting device

43. . . Measuring instrument

44. . . Monitor

45. . . control unit

46. . . Pulse generator

47. . . database

48. . . Marking device

50. . . Insertion station

51. . . Error handling device

52. . . Longitudinal cutting station

53. . . Transverse cutting device

54. . . Discharge reel

55. . . Second receiving station

56. . . Narrower reel

57. . . Narrower reel

58. . . Narrower reel

60. . . Scanning unit

61. . . Detector

62. . . The second measuring instrument

63. . . Second pulse wave generator

65. . . Processing unit

70. . . Stored data processing interface

71. . . Processing unit

72. . . Output peripheral equipment

74. . . Filter group

Detailed description of the preferred embodiment

Figure 1 schematically shows the state of a portion of a roll piece 1 which comes from a rotating printing machine. The roll piece 1 includes a tracker 2 in the downstream part and two border strips 3 and 4, a mosaic pattern 5 is printed between the border strips 3 and 4, and the pattern 5 is a rotating machine Those left behind by the printed cylinder. The printed patterns can be the same or different, but after the final production step, each pattern will be converted into packaging by itself. The pattern 5 is carefully aligned, and in the case shown, the pattern 5 forms three different tracks 11, 12, 13. The reference mark 14 (such as a self-adhesive label) is adhered to one or the other boundary strips 3, 4 at precisely regular intervals. The diagram schematically shows various printing defects 20, 21, and 22. The severity of these defects is not the same, the severity of the permissible printing defect 20 is lower, the border printing defect 21 is ordinary, and the unacceptable printing defect 22 is higher. When some unacceptable defects 22 are together, it will therefore be judged that the part 23 of the roll piece that needs to be removed is justified, and this part is made by a downstream cross-cut 24 and an upstream cross-cut. 25 and was removed. It must be noted that the aforementioned reel part 23 does not need to include all the tracks 11, 12, 13, as long as the wrong track must be (smartly) removed by the cross-cuts 24 and 25.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of the main components operating in the phase for the printing roll 1, wherein the phase constitutes the first step of the process of packaging the product. The continuous reel 1 starts from an unused reel 30 (usually wide enough to accommodate some prints or prints 5) and moves downstream in the direction indicated by the arrow 29. The continuous roll piece is continuously passed through various stations: the most common is the insertion station 31 from which a roll piece passes, one or several printing and drying stations 32, and one for detecting and locating printing defects The station 33, a traction station or group 34 for straightening the roll piece and compensating for tension changes by using a sliding gear, and finally a station in which the roll piece is stored in the form of a printing reel 37 The receiving station 36.

During the printing phase, what may happen is that the web 1 will get various printing defects 20, 21, 22, such as lack, excess or splashing of ink, stains or oil stains from a part of the machine, or defect adjustment Or mark reference marks caused by the transfer between the printing of the base color of the printed pattern. Other printing defects that are relatively gentle and easier to be detected are called "nascent", and they are due to one or several parts of the printing machine (such as ink squeegees, printing components, or supporting impressions). The progressive degradation caused by the normal abrasion of the cylinder. Although initially within allowable limits, these defects will develop and increase during printing until they become excessive and unacceptable.

In order to detect all these defects, the printed web 1 travels through a scanning unit 40, which includes at least one camera 41 and a measuring instrument 43, wherein the camera 41 has a The illuminating device 42 provides a clearly visible field of view. The measuring instrument 43 is used to synchronize the acquisition of the image with the advancement of the reel 1. The camera 41 is connected to a control unit 45, which takes the defects into account, and is connected to a monitor 44 for visualizing the defects. A pulse generator 46 shown in the figure connects the printing and drying station 32 to the control unit 45. The pulse generator 46 constitutes a timer for detecting and locating the defective station 33. According to the printing speed, it is possible to refer to the difference under the mark mainly because of the difference caused by the normal tension and length of the roll member, and thus distort the accurate information transmitted by the measuring instrument 43 to compensate for errors. The measuring instrument 43 is only composed of rubber-coated rollers, wherein the rollers enter permanent contact with the belt 1 in a manner without sliding, and transfer, for example, 100 pieces during each revolution of the rollers. And 200 pulse waves. The pulse wave system from the pulse generator 26 is transmitted to the control unit 45, which combines the pulse wave with the pulse wave transmitted by the measuring instrument 43 so as to be along a longitudinal virtual axis (representing the spool piece). The length of the detected defect 20, 21, 22 under the mark. The camera 41 can detect the track 11, 12 or 13 where the defect occurred.

The control unit 45 is thus able to locate the positions of the defects 20, 21, 22 on the reel member along two vertical axes, and classify them according to the characteristics of the defects and the frequency of occurrence. All this information is stored in a database 47 connected to the control unit 45. The origin of the longitudinal axis used to locate all printing errors is indicated by the first reference mark 14, wherein the first reference mark 14 is attached to the boundary of the roll piece 1 by a marking device 48 Article 3, 4. In order to limit symmetry errors and improve the accuracy of positioning defects, some marks 14 are attached to accurate regular intervals on the reel 1. Each reference mark 14 will constitute a new origin, which is regarded as a reference point in the second step of processing the roll 1. The device 48 may be, for example, a label machine controlled by the controlled unit 45 based on the pulse waves received by both the measuring device 43 and the pulse generator 46.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of the various elements operating in the phase of cutting the roll piece 1, wherein the phase constitutes the second step of the production packaging process as previously described. The printing roll 1 from the receiving station 43 is placed on a new insertion station 50. The insertion station 50 is upstream of a second production line for continuous processing. According to the present invention, all the data about printing defects 20, 21, 22 have been previously stored, and then it is based on the use of an error processing device 51 The estimated best compromise is to cut the printing web 1. The device can also control all the operations of cutting the reel 1, most of the operations are carried out in the advancing direction 29 using a rotating cutting blade in a longitudinal cutting station 52, and occasionally a transverse cutting device 53 is used in the The vertical advancement direction 29 is carried out. During the longitudinal cutting, the rails 11, 12, 13 are separated, and the border strips 3, 4 of the roll piece 1 are removed. Now, the track will be wound independently and finally for the last time in a second receiving station 55 to form the narrower reels 56, 57, 58 from which the production line constitutes the final product. Of course, the number of these reels will be directly related to the number of tracks contained in the reel 1 during printing.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the printing error processing device 51 includes a scanning unit 60, which is connected to a processing unit 65 and a stored data processing interface 70, wherein the stored data processing interface 70 is located in Between the database 47 and the processing unit 65. The scanning unit 60 includes two scanning mechanisms, that is, a detector 61 with a reference mark 14 and a second measuring instrument 62. The second measuring instrument 62 has an instrument 43 corresponding to the previous description. Same purpose. After detection of the reference mark 14 previously defined as a fully known fixed origin, the detector 61 brings the defect mark back to synchronize with the sometimes unstable roll member. The measuring instrument 62 is directly connected to the processing unit 65, and the detector 61 is indirectly connected via a second pulse wave generator 63. The pulse wave generator 63 provides a digitally synchronized pulse wave for each channel of a reference mark 14.

The processing unit 65 is a control element of the printing defect processing assembly 51. It controls the advancement and longitudinal cutting of the roll piece 1 by the common drive acting on the insertion station 50, the longitudinal cutting station 52, and the receiving station 55; and when the transverse cutting station 53 is automated, it also controls The cutting edge of the transverse cutting station 53. The processing unit 65 controls the operation of all these components based on the information obtained about the processing error of the data processing interface 70. The interface 70 includes a processing unit 71 compatible with a computer console. The machine operator uses the interface 70 to process and manipulate all the information previously collected in the database 47 connected to the processing unit 71. The interactive dialogue between the machine operator and the processing unit 71 is generated through an output edge device 72 (such as a monitor) and an input peripheral device (such as a keyboard, a mouse, or the tactile part of a monitor). The processing unit 71 is also connected to a filter group 74, the use of which will be described below. The interface 70 composed of units forming a standard data processing station can advantageously be arranged far away from the production line, such as a monitoring room isolated from noise.

The operation of the device 51 for processing printing defects is as follows. The processing unit 71 that accesses all information (especially the description type, importance and location of each classified defect 20, 21, 22) is able to feed all the information back to the machine operator, who then Such information is displayed on the monitor 72. The information can be in the form of images or tables, or, for example, in FIG. The unit 71 for processing the information recorded in the database 47 can supply a result additionally derived from the statistical data of the total length of the reel. This combination of information has several advantages in use. For example, it is used to quantify the printing quality of the entire web, to show that all the printing is found to be a key area of poor quality, and to use a number of simulators in a certain place. Various cutting schemes are simulated, in which the filter system masking is regarded as a less important defect.

For this purpose, the operator can access various information tools to generate the aforementioned virtual filters, and store them in the filter group 74 when necessary. The virtual filter is usually in the form of a list of letters and numbers, which can be deciphered by a data processing system. They include all situations where the disclosure of defects defined as minor can be excluded under the criteria of selection. One or more filters applied to the data representing print defects 20, 21, 22 can best define the ideal location of cross cuts 24, 25, where these cross cuts are among the limited numbers recognized by the customer . Therefore, based on the experience and knowledge of the entire printing reel 37, the operator will have a decision aid that enables the operator to optimize the quality of the reel. It is worth noting that the production and selection of the most suitable filter can be manually defined or automatically selected (for example, by using a search algorithm).

Once the final structure of the cross-cut 24 has been selected, the printing reel 37 can begin to rewind and the process of converting the reel can begin. Once the reel is recognized by the detector 61, the reel 1 first advances under the measuring instrument 62 to calculate its length relative to the origin of the longitudinal marking system. The origin is first defined by the first reference mark 14 encountered, and then continuously incremented; and during the rewinding of the reel, the origin is replaced by each new reference mark 14 that is recognized . At normal times, before the roll piece appears in the form of a narrow roll piece (the width of which symmetrically corresponds to the width of the rails 11, 12, 13), the roll piece 1 continues to advance through the longitudinal cutting station 52. The processing unit 65 that identifies the abscissa at which the next cross cut 24, 25 will occur uses the measuring instrument 62 that allows the number of the reference mark 14 that has been encountered to find the data to be transmitted thereto. At the required moment, the processing unit sends a signal to the belt driving the device in the stations 50, 52, 55, and gradually stops the unwinding printing reel 37, so that the downstream cutting 24 of the web 1 reaches the transverse direction. The cutting device 53 stops. The station 53 may only include a cutting device, such as a blade or a knife edge configured to be perpendicular to the direction of movement of the roll piece, and cut a track or number that is detectable between two adjacent printed patterns 5. Tracks 11,12,13. The upstream of the roll element 1 will then be offset toward the discharge spool 54 to store all the tracks of the roll element portion 23 to be retracted from the roll element 1. The number of discharge reels 54 will of course be directly related to the number of tracks on the reel. Upstream cutting 25 is done in the same way. Then it is only necessary to restore the continuity of the track cut from the reel 1 by joining the remaining upstream and downstream parts. This bonding can be achieved very easily by carefully applying adhesive tape.

In addition to the direct advantages of the device according to the present invention, it can also provide a type of upstream usage information for statistical purposes to discover changes in product quality over time, for example, by supplying a type for final customers or internal The products used can be traced and reported. This information can also be used to improve the maintenance control of printing machines and to predict defects caused by wear before wear becomes excessive. As a result, certain parts of the machine can advantageously be replaced immediately before starting the printing cycle, thus avoiding highly undesirable maintenance work during printing. Finally, at a more commercial level of quality, the device can also be determined, for example, by supplying a certificate and guaranteeing the lowest quality required by a customer in relation to the reels 56,57,58 supplied to the customer.

The description of the device according to the present invention refers to the support in the form of reels and continuous rolls, but of course these products can be stored in, for example, a stack as discontinuous elements in the form of thin plates without difficulty.

Several other various improvements of the present invention can be achieved within the scope of the patent application.