JP6184138B2 - Printing system and printing system presetting method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing system for multicolor printing on a web such as paper or film, and a preset method of the printing system.

  When multicolor printing is performed on a web by a multicolor printing system, one color is overlaid and printed on a plate cylinder of a plurality of printing units to form one pattern. At this time, a misregistration of printing positions called misregistration may occur between the colors, and a registration control device that controls the misregistration is used.

  The registration control device detects a register mark printed on the web by each plate cylinder with a mark sensor, calculates a registration deviation amount based on the detection result, and drives the plate cylinder drive motor and compensator roller so that the registration deviation is corrected. To control.

  The amount of misregistration is generally calculated based on the positional relationship between the two register marks printed on the plate cylinders of adjacent printing units (see Patent Document 1). For this reason, it is necessary for the mark sensor to detect the two marks separately from the other patterns. As a countermeasure, a period during which a specific mark is predicted to pass the detection position of the sensor is preset in the register control device. The register control device outputs a gate signal to the sensor during this period, takes only a signal input from the sensor while the gate signal is being output, and can thereby detect a specific mark by distinguishing it from other pictures.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 08-052865

  As a drive system of a printing system, a sectional drive system in which each plate cylinder is driven by an individual motor is known. In the sectional drive method, the operator sets the period for outputting the gate signal to the mark sensor individually in each printing unit, and it takes a long time for presetting.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to preset a printing system and a printing system that can quickly set a period for detecting a specific register mark by a mark sensor in a sectional drive type printing unit. It is to provide a method.

  One embodiment of the present invention relates to a printing system. The printing system is provided in each of the plurality of sectional drive type printing units, and when the phase detection means for detecting the phase of the plate cylinder and the reference position of the plate cylinder of each printing unit are at predetermined circumferential positions. A storage unit for storing a reference output value output from the phase detection means of each printing unit; and a predicted phase of the plate cylinder when the register mark printed by the plate cylinder passes the detection position of the mark sensor, at least A predicted phase calculation unit that calculates based on the reference output value, and a setting unit that sets a period for detecting the register mark by the mark sensor based on the predicted phase of the plate cylinder in association with the output of the phase detection means of each printing unit; .

  One embodiment of the present invention relates to a printing system presetting method. The preset method of the printing system is a reference output from the phase detection means provided in each printing unit when the reference position of each plate cylinder of the plurality of sectional drive type printing units is at a predetermined circumferential position. The output value is stored, the predicted phase of the plate cylinder when the register mark printed by the plate cylinder passes the detection position of the mark sensor is calculated based on at least the reference output value, and the register mark is detected by the mark sensor The period is set based on the predicted phase of the plate cylinder in association with the output of the phase detection means of each printing unit.

  According to an aspect of the present invention, a period for detecting a specific register mark by a mark sensor can be quickly set even in a sectional drive type printing system.

1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing system according to an embodiment. (A) is a figure which shows the positional relationship of each register mark when there is no registration gap, (b) is a figure which shows the positional relationship when there is a registration gap. It is a figure which shows the structure of the printing unit which concerns on this embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the registration control apparatus which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the flowchart of the preset method which concerns on this embodiment.

  FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a printing system 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The printing system 10 includes a first printing unit 11A, a second printing unit 11B, a third printing unit 11C, a fourth printing unit 11D, and a register control device 30. Hereinafter, the first printing unit 11A to the fourth printing unit 11D are collectively referred to as a printing unit 11 as appropriate.

  The first printing unit 11A includes a first plate cylinder 13A, a first impression cylinder 17A, a first drive motor 19A, and a first encoder 21A. The second printing unit 11B includes a second plate cylinder 13B, a second impression cylinder 17B, a second drive motor 19B, a second encoder 21B, and a second mark sensor 23B. The third printing unit 11C includes a third plate cylinder 13C, a third impression cylinder 17C, a third drive motor 19C, a third encoder 21C, and a third mark sensor 23C. The fourth printing unit 11D includes a fourth plate cylinder 13D, a fourth impression cylinder 17D, a fourth drive motor 19D, a fourth encoder 21D, and a fourth mark sensor 23D. Hereinafter, the first plate cylinder 13A to the fourth plate cylinder 13D are collectively referred to as the plate cylinder 13 as appropriate, and the first impression cylinder 17A to the fourth impression cylinder 17D are collectively referred to as the impression cylinder 17 as appropriate. The first drive motor 19A to the fourth drive motor 19D are collectively referred to as the drive motor 19 as appropriate, the first encoder 21A to the fourth encoder 21D are collectively referred to as the encoder 21 as appropriate, and the second mark sensor 23B to the fourth mark. The sensor 23D is collectively referred to as a mark sensor 23 as appropriate.

  Each printing unit 11 is installed along the traveling direction of the web 50. The web 50 is guided by the guide roll 25, and a pattern of a color corresponding to the plate cylinder 13 is printed by the plate cylinder 13 and the impression cylinder 17 of each printing unit 11.

  The plate cylinder 13 includes a register mark printing unit 14 and a register mark printing unit 15. FIG. 2A shows the positional relationship between the first register mark 53A to the fourth register mark 53D when there is no misregistration, and FIG. 2B shows the positional relationship when there is a misregistration. In FIG. 2A, a registration mark 52 is also shown. The registration mark 52 is printed by the registration mark printing unit 14 of each plate cylinder 13. The first register mark 53A is printed by the register mark printing unit 15 of the first plate cylinder 13A, and the second register mark 53B is printed by the register mark printing unit 15 of the second plate cylinder 13B. The third register mark 53C is printed by the register mark printing unit 15 of the third plate cylinder 13C, and the fourth register mark 53D is printed by the register mark printing unit 15 of the fourth plate cylinder 13D. Hereinafter, the first register mark 53A to the fourth register mark 53D will be collectively referred to as the register mark 53 as appropriate.

  When there is no misregistration, the register mark 52 and the first register mark 53A are printed at the interval L0, and each register mark 53 is printed at the regular position at the interval L1. When the registration error occurs, each register mark 53 is printed out of the normal position. In the illustrated example, the position of the second register mark 53B is shifted.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the registration mark printing unit 14 and the register mark printing unit 15 are formed at an interval of L0 + (n−1) × L1 in the n-th plate cylinder 13 from the front. Each plate cylinder 13 is formed in the same circumference.

  Each plate cylinder 13 is rotationally driven by an individual drive motor 19. During the printing operation of the printing system 10, each drive motor 19 is electrically rotationally synchronized, and each plate cylinder 13 rotates at the same rotational speed. That is, the printing system 10 is configured by a sectional drive method. Each drive motor 19 is provided with an encoder 21 on its mechanical axis.

  The encoder 21 is an incremental encoder. The encoder 21 outputs a predetermined number of A-phase and B-phase pulse signals and one Z-phase pulse signal per rotation of the plate cylinder 13. The A-phase and B-phase pulse signals are counted by a counter, and the count value is reset by a Z-phase pulse signal. The phase of the plate cylinder 13 is detected by the count value of the pulse signal.

  FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the printing unit 11. The mark sensor 23 is provided on the downstream side of the plate cylinder 13 of the same printing unit 11. The mark sensor 23 includes a plurality of light detection elements T1 and T2. The first light detection element T1 on the upstream side and the second light detection element T2 on the downstream side are arranged at an interval L1. For this reason, if the adjacent register marks 53A to 53D are printed at regular intervals at the interval L1, the marks 53A to 53D are detected by the light detection elements T1 and T2 at substantially the same timing.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the register control device 30. This configuration is realized in terms of hardware by a CPU, memory, or other LSI of an arbitrary computer, and is realized in terms of software by a program loaded in the memory. Here, functional blocks realized by their cooperation are shown.

  The register control device 30 includes a control unit 31 and a storage unit 41. The control unit 31 includes a register control unit 33, a predicted phase calculation unit 35, a setting unit 37, and a phase difference calculation unit 39.

  A detection signal from the mark sensor 23 of each register mark 53 is input to the register control unit 33. The registration control unit 33 determines the presence or absence of misregistration based on this detection result, and if a misregistration occurs, a correction signal is sent to the drive motor 19 or side array (not shown) of the printing unit 11 in which the misregistration occurs. Is output. The drive motor 19 or the sidelay drives the plate cylinder 13 so that the misregistration is corrected based on the correction signal. The drive motor 19 adjusts the misregistration of the web 50 in the running direction, and the side layout adjusts the misregistration of the web 50 in the width direction.

  Further, the register control unit 33 generates a gate signal so that a specific register mark 53 is detected, and uses the gate signal to convert a signal input from the mark sensor 23 during a preset period into a mark waveform. Recognize as In the second mark sensor 23B, the first register mark 53A and the second register mark 53B are set as detection targets, and their periods are set. In the third mark sensor 23C, the period is set with the second register mark 53B and the third register mark 53C as detection targets. In the fourth mark sensor 23D, the period is set with the third register mark 53C and the fourth register mark 53D as detection targets.

  This period is set based on the start address Ao and the end address Ac associated with the outputs of the encoders 21B to 21D. The start address Ao and the end address Ac are individually set in each printing unit 11. The address is generated by addressing the count values of the pulse signals of the encoders 21B to 21D from zero to the maximum value Amax.

  The register control unit 33 starts outputting a gate signal to the mark sensor 23 when counting a pulse signal having the same count value as the start address Ao, and when counting a pulse signal having the same count value as the end address Ac, End the output of. While the gate signal is being output, the registration control unit 33 takes in the detection signals of the light detection elements T1 and T2 of the mark sensor 23 and detects the marks that have passed the detection positions of the light detection elements T1 and T2.

  FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of the preset method according to the present embodiment. First, the plate cylinder 13 of each printing unit 11 is replaced. After the new plate cylinder 13 is attached to the printing unit 11, the registration mark printing unit 14 of the plate cylinder 13 of each printing unit 11 is rotated so that it is at a position of 90 ° from the printing point P. That is, the registration cylinder mark printing unit 14 is used as a reference position of the plate cylinder 13, and the plate cylinder 13 is aligned by rotating so that the reference position is at the same circumferential position determined in advance by each printing unit 11. This alignment is performed by projecting a laser pointer or the like to provide a reference position on the printing unit 11 and aligning the registration mark printing unit 14 at the reference position. Hereinafter, the phase of the plate cylinder 13 when the reference position of the plate cylinder 13 is at a predetermined circumferential position is referred to as an initial phase.

  After aligning the plate cylinder 13, the operator transmits a trigger signal to the register control device 30, and the count value (reference output value) of the pulse signal output from the encoder 21 at that time is stored in the storage unit 41 (S12). . Operations from transmission of the trigger signal to storage of the count value of the pulse signal are performed for each printing unit 11. Thereby, the circumferential position of the reference position of the plate cylinder 13 when in the initial phase is stored by the count value of the pulse signal. This count value is stored individually as a reference address Ao by each printing unit 11. For example, when the count value of the pulse signal of the second encoder 21B is 300 and the count value of the pulse signal of the third encoder 21C is 500, 300 and 500 are stored as the respective reference addresses Ao.

As shown in FIG. 3, when the register mark printing unit 15 of the plate cylinder 13 in the initial phase moves to the printing point P, the plate cylinder 13 rotates by the phase difference θA. When the register mark printed at the printing point P moves to the detection position Q, the plate cylinder 13 rotates by a phase difference θB corresponding to the same circumferential length as the path length Ls from the printing point P to the detection position Q. Therefore, the predicted phase θm of the plate cylinder 13 when the register mark passes through the detection position Q of the mark sensor 23 is based on the phase differences θA and θB, and the following equation (1-1), assuming that the initial phase is θo. expressed.
θm = θo + θA + θB (1-1)

The initial phase θo has a relationship of the following expression (1-2) with the reference address Ao that is an output value of the encoder 21. The phase difference θA is obtained by adding the phase difference θa1 from the printing point P to the registration mark mark printing unit 14 and the phase difference θa2 from the registration mark mark printing unit 14 to the register mark printing unit 15, and the following equation (1 -3). The phase difference θa2 is expressed by the following equation (1-4). The phase difference θB is related to the path length Ls from the printing point P to the detection position Q by the following expression (1-5).
Ao = (θo / 2π) × Amax (1-2)
θA = θa1 + θa2 (1-3)
θa2 = {L0 + (n−1) × L1} × 2π / Ld (1-4)
θB = Ls × (2π / Ld) (1-5)

  Among these, the path length Ls from the printing point P to the detection position Q, the maximum address value Amax, the length L0 between the registration mark 52 and the first register mark 53A, the length L1 between the register marks 53, the plate cylinder The circumferential length Ld and the phase difference θa1 of 13 are stored in the storage unit 41 in advance. The predicted phase calculation unit 35 calculates the predicted phase θm based on these parameters (S14).

The setting unit 37 sets the start address Ao and the end address Ac based on the predicted phase θm of the plate cylinder 13 that is the calculation result of the predicted phase calculation unit 35 (S16). The start address Ao and the end address Ac are set based on an address Am representing the predicted phase θm of the plate cylinder 13 and a predetermined gate width Lw, and are expressed by the following equations (3-1) and (3-2), respectively. It is represented by The address Am is represented by the following formula (3-3). INT (X) is the largest integer that does not exceed X. The setting unit 37 stores the set start address Ao and end address Ac in the storage unit 41.
Ao = Am + Lw / 2 (3-1)
Ac = Am−Lw / 2 (3-2)
Am = INT {(θm / 2π) × Amax} (3-3)

This completes the setting of the period for outputting the gate signal. In addition to this, the phase difference calculation unit 39 is configured such that the path length Lp from the printing point P of the first printing unit 11A to the printing point P of each of the subsequent printing units 11B to 11D is an integer of the circumferential length Ld of the plate cylinder 13. Judge whether it is double. When it is an integral multiple, there is no misregistration in printing by the first plate cylinder 13A and the subsequent plate cylinders 13B to 13D. If it is not an integer multiple, a registration error is caused by a remainder Lp ′ obtained by dividing the path length Lp by the circumference Ld. The phase difference calculation unit 39 calculates the phase difference θp between the units 11 represented by the following equation (4) (S18). The path length Lp is stored in the storage unit 41 in advance.
θp = (Lp ′ / Ld) × 2π (4)

  Based on the calculated phase difference θp, the phase difference calculation unit 39 outputs a correction signal to the drive motor 19 of the printing unit 11 in which the misregistration occurs, and rotates the drive motor 19 by the phase difference θp.

According to the above embodiment, even in the sectional drive type printing system 10,
The period for detecting the register mark 53 by each mark sensor 23 can be set quickly and automatically. Further, since the period is set based on the output of the encoder 21 for each printing unit 11, it is not necessary to change the period setting even if a phase difference is caused in each plate cylinder 13 for register control.

  As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated based on embodiment, embodiment shows only the principle and application of this invention. In the embodiment, many modifications and arrangements can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention defined in the claims.

  In the above-described embodiment, the Z-phase pulse signal has been described as means for resetting the count value of the pulse signal of the encoder 21. However, a proximity switch or the like may be used as long as a signal can be output once per rotation of the plate cylinder 13. . The encoder 21 may be an absolute encoder. Further, the number of printing units 11 is not limited to that of the above-described embodiment.

  In step S12, the registration mark printing unit 14 is set as the reference position of the plate cylinder 13, and the output of the encoder 21 when the registration mark printing unit 14 is at the same circumferential position determined in advance by the plate cylinder 13 of each printing unit 11 is output. I remembered. However, it is also possible to store the output of the encoder 21 when the register mark printing unit 15 is at the same circumferential position determined in advance by the plate cylinder 13 of each printing unit 11 with the register mark printing unit 15 as a reference position.

10: Printing system, 11A to 11D: Printing unit, 13A to 13D: Plate cylinder, 19A to 19D: Drive motor, 21A to 21D: Encoder, 23B to 23D: Mark sensor

Claims (2)

Separately provided for each of the plurality of sectional drive type printing units, provided on the mechanical shaft of a drive motor that rotates the plate cylinder of each of the plurality of printing units, and detects the phase of the plate cylinder of the corresponding printing unit. Phase detecting means for
A storage unit for storing a reference output value output from the phase detection unit of each of the plurality of printing units when the reference position of the plate cylinder of each of the plurality of printing units is in a predetermined circumferential position;
A predicted phase calculation unit that calculates a predicted phase of the plate cylinder when the register mark printed by the plate cylinder passes the detection position of the mark sensor, based on at least the reference output value;
A setting unit that sets a period for detecting a register mark by the mark sensor in association with an output of the phase detection unit of each of the printing units, based on a predicted phase of the plate cylinder ,
The storage unit outputs a reference that is output from the phase detection unit when a trigger signal is transmitted to a register control device including the storage unit when a reference position of the plate cylinder is at a predetermined circumferential position. printing system characterized that you store the output value. A printing system preset method comprising a plurality of sectional drive type printing units,
The printing system is provided individually for each of the plurality of printing units, and is provided on a mechanical shaft of a drive motor that rotates the plate cylinder of each of the plurality of printing units, and the phase of the plate cylinder of the corresponding printing unit. Phase detection means for detecting
Storing a reference output value output from the phase detection means of each of the plurality of printing units when the reference position of the plate cylinder of each of the plurality of printing units is at a predetermined circumferential position;
A register mark printed by the plate cylinder calculates a predicted phase of the plate cylinder when passing through a detection position of the mark sensor, based on at least the reference output value,
The period for detecting the register mark by the mark sensor is set based on the predicted phase of the plate cylinder in association with the output of the phase detection means of each printing unit
In the step of storing the reference output value, when the reference position of the plate cylinder is at a predetermined circumferential position, from the phase detection unit at the time when a trigger signal is transmitted to the register control device including a storage unit. A preset method for a printing system, wherein the output reference output value is stored in the storage unit .

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