ES2398008B1 - MACHINE AND PROCEDURE FOR LASER DRYING OF CERAMIC INK APPLIED ON GLASS. - Google Patents

Abstract

Procedure and machine for laser drying and / or vitrification of inks applied on glass for any type of printing. # Said machine incorporates a bridge on which a carriage with a laser head for drying and / or vitrified (or semi-vitrified) is moved ), using standard devices on the market. # The procedure allows to reduce energy consumption, total processing time, and space requirements by allowing the drying oven and / or the vitrification furnace to be suppressed.

Description

PROCEDURE AND MACHINE FOR DRYING AND / OR VITRIFIED BY LASER INK APPLIED ON GLASS FOR ANYONE PRINT TYPE

'

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention relates to a process and a drying and / or vitrified (or semi-vitrified) machine, through a laser, of the ink applied on glass. This machine incorporates a bridge

on

he that be shifts a car with a head, chief, engine head To be

from

dried up I vitrified, use do dispositives

standards

in the market.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The traditional process of the state of the art on glass surface printing comprises four main stages: image processing, ink printing, drying of the ink in the oven and final tempering to vitrify the ink (in organic inks it is not vitrified). These stages of the traditional procedure, known in the state of the art, require:

Large operating surfaces to accommodate, among others, the drying process and then the vitrification and / or semi-curing of the ink.

-

High energy consumption: traditionally ceramic and organic inks have to be applied on

the printing surface, of glass, to subsequently suffer a slow, delicate, and high energy consumption, drying process and, if applicable, a subsequent vitrified or semi-vitrified process. Thus, traditional procedures perform the printing ink deposit and the ink is wet on the glass by not incorporating drying. In this way, a mixture of colors is often produced as the glass is not porous and the inks, wet after being applied, are mixed creating effects and finishes that are often unsatisfactory or improvable. In addition, these processes require a subsequent drying stage that takes place in drying ovens with high energy consumption of approximately 100

KW

Specific and non-standard spare parts: traditional ink printing machines on

glass

usually to have heads specific specials

that

use a ink  that alone supplies he

maker

from the machine or their suppliers

authorized.

The Spanish patent P201000100 of the same applicant and inventor that the present patent overcomes the disadvantages of the state of the traditional technique related to space and high energy consumption by joining in the same process a digital printing and drying by means of a machine and procedure that perform the drying the ink simultaneously to its printing through a radiation emission device such as a laser and 1o an infrared lamp incorporated in a carriage

transport located in the printhead. In particular, the machine object of said patent P201000100 incorporates printing heads, an ink feed system, printing inks, a laser system and / or infrared lamp for drying the ink applied on the glass surface, a series of common components in machines such as motors, electronics, electricity and pneumatics known in the state of the art. By using commercial inkheads that also use commercial printing inks, machine maintenance and operation costs are reduced

compared to traditional printing procedures, providing great flexibility in the

Supply of key components and cost savings. When the printhead and the laser and the infrared lamp are drying together in a machine carriage, the laser and / or the infrared lamp cover and dry the entire print width on each pass of the carriage. printing on the glass surface. Thus, the heads deposit the ink and immediately, and simultaneously, the laser beam and the infrared lamp are drying, and / or even vitrifying (as in the patent of addition to the patent P201000100), the deposited ink. Therefore, allowing a drastic reduction in: energy consumption, physical space and process times.

The patent for the addition of the P201000100 patent achieves an additional saving of space and energy consumption, by achieving that an additional laser power allows saving the space and additional consumption of the vitrification process present in the state of the traditional technique and in the patent P201000100 by tempering furnace. Said addition patent allows the traditional independent stages of printing, drying and vitrification to be brought together in a single stage.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The machine and process object of the present invention overcomes the disadvantages of the state of the art of traditional printing machines and procedures, of any kind, on glass with inks of any type suitable for this type of industry (for example, ceramic and organic ) as described below. It also proposes an alternative to the technical solution of the Spanish patent P201000100 and its addition patent:

A first variant of the process object of the present invention basically consists of incorporating a step of drying the ink previously applied on glass, through a laser or infrared radiation. With this first variant, the steps of the process of printing ink on glass are: image treatment, printing of any type known in the state of the art, laser drying, and final tempering to allow vitrification.

A second variant of the process object of the present invention allows the vitrification process or stage to be carried out simultaneously with the drying process by means of the laser radiation itself or

Infrared drying described in the first variant. With this second variant, the steps of the procedure are: image treatment, printing, drying and simultaneous vitrification with laser. Depending on the laser power, a complete or semi-vitrified vitrified is obtained. For certain finishes, in certain products, a semi-vitrified is sufficient that on the other hand achieves a considerable energy saving and therefore reduction of the production cost.

A third variant of the process object of the present invention is that the process of vitrification (or semi-vitrification) is carried out by means of the own laser or infrared drying lamp described in the first variant, but without said vitrification being simultaneous to drying (object of the second variant). For this, pre-drying has been carried out in a traditional oven or independently, and even by laser (as in

the

first variant). With is third variant, the

stages

of the process They are: treatment from image,

Print,

dried up Y vitrified Independent with

To be.

In function from the power of the To be, be

gets

a full vitrified or semi-vitrified.

The machine object of the present invention implements the key drying stage and simultaneously / or alternatively the vitrified (or semi-vitrified) stage by means of the emission of the laser or infrared radiation through a laser device or infrared lamp incorporated in the same.

The machine consists of a structure adapted to the maximum format of glass to be printed and incorporates a bridge on which a carriage carrying the laser or infrared lamp that produces the drying and / or vitrified (or semi-vitrified) of the ink moves printed on the glass.

The machine object of the present invention uses conventional or standard mechanical and electromechanical elements in the market, thus lowering the costs of

maintenance

Y operation from the same providing

great

flexibility in he sumi nistro from components

keys,

Y saving from costs

With the machine and method object of the present invention, it is achieved:

Dramatically reduce the energy invested by not having to use a drying oven and / or vitrified oven. The drying and vitrified furnaces used in the current system have an average consumption of 120 Kw And with the laser system the average consumption is 4 Kw, including the transport engines used in the machinery.

A significant saving of operating space by allowing the possibility of combining the drying and vitrification process in a single stage.

Traditional drying and vitrifying furnaces often require that glass conveyor belts move at a lower speed than the passage of glass through the drying and / or machine

vitrified

To be or lamp from infrared object from

the

Present invention, by the that  the Present

invention

It allows time from process plus low that

the

Traditional

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following figures are included in order to facilitate the understanding of the invention:

Figure 1: top view of the distribution of the machinery (lay-out) to be used and workflow of the traditional procedure known in the state of the art of printing ink on glass.

Figure 2: Top view of the distribution of the machinery (lay-out) to be used and workflow of the procedure object of the P2 O 1 O O O 1 O O patent of the same applicant and inventor of the present patent.

Figure 3-A and 3-B: top view of the layout of the machinery (lay-out) to be used and workflow of the process object of the present invention according to two variants thereof.

Figures 4-A and 4-B respectively: perspective views of the drying and / or vitrifying machine with bridge and laser head object of the present invention, and bottom view of the laser drying head.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

Figure 1 shows the top view of the

layout of the machinery (lay-out) and flow of

5

traditional procedure work, known in the

state of the art, ink printing on

glass. After a first stage of image treatment,

the glass (1) is deposited on a loading table (2), which

incorporates a transport structure that allows the

1 o

displacement of the glass (1) in the sense "Xquot; to a

digital printing area where a machine is located

digital printing (3 '), to later move on to a

drying stage by means of a drying oven (4 ').

Finally, the glass continues its displacement quot; Xquot;

fifteen

to a discharge table (5). Subsequently, the

glass passes to a vitrified stage (12 O) by

tempering furnace To give an idea of the volume occupied

by this machinery, two operators have been represented

(6).

twenty

Figure 2 shows the top view of the

layout of the machinery (lay-out) and flow of

work of the patent procedure

P201000100 of the same inventor and applicant for

25

Digital printing of ink on glass. There is a table

loading (2) a printing area that incorporates a

ink-printing machine (3) and a table

download (5). Therefore, figure 2 shows the

Separate ink drying stage removal

30

by drying oven 4 'present in figure l.

Subsequently, the glass goes to a stage of

   vitrified (120) by tempering furnace.

Figure 3-A shows the top view of the distribution of the machinery (lay-out) to be used and the workflow of a first preferred embodiment of the process object of the present invention for printing ink on glass and drying it by To be. A loading table (2), a printing machine (3 '), a laser drying machine (104) and a discharge table (5) are observed. Subsequently, the glass passes to a vitrified stage (120) by means of a tempering furnace.

Figure 3-B shows the top view of the distribution of the machinery (lay-out) to be used and workflow of a second preferred embodiment of the process object of the present invention for printing ink on glass, and drying and simultaneous vitrification by laser. There is a loading table (2), a printing machine (3 '), a laser drying machine (104) that also acts, simultaneously, as a vitrified or semi-vitrified machine using the same laser, and a table download (5). In this second alternative, the space, and high energy consumption, of the vitrification stage is eliminated by means of a tempering furnace of Figures 1, 2 and 3-A.

A perspective of a drying machine is shown in Figure 4-A, which can also act as a vitrification machine (to execute the second variant of the process object of the present invention), by laser (104) comprising two rectangular structures ( 107,107 ') suitable for the maximum format of glass to be printed (for example 6000 mm x 3210 mm) on which

move a series of belts (108) with vacuum that carry the glass (not shown in figure 4-A, see figures 3-A and 3-B) on the axis "Xquot; (for example 6000mm). Between these two structures is the bridge

(1 or 9) on which the drying carriage and the vitrified (or semi-vitrified) carriage (110) travel in the direction "Yquot ;, transverse to the advance of the glass (1). The drying and / or vitrified laser heads (112) are mounted on the car (110). In this way a drying and / or vitrified carriage (110) is obtained which moves in the direction "Yquot; transporting the laser heads of drying and / or vitrified (112) and some straps (8) that move the glass in the direction `` Xquot ;.

The bottom view of the drying and / or vitrified laser head (112) is shown in Figure 4-B.

Everybody

the components from the machine (104) They are

commercial

Y no is it so designed exclusively for

is

machine (104)

Lastly, and for all the alternatives provided for in the present invention, lamination, bending and / or rapid cooling of cold processes by cold fluid, for example.

Claims (14)

l.

Glass drying machine (104) (1) characterized by movable drying laser head (112) (110). previous impression about understanding at least one mounted on a car

2 .

Machine (1 or 4), according to claim 1, characterized in that the displacement of the drying carriage (110) occurs along a bridge (109) located on the passage (quot; Xquot;) of the glass (1).

3.

Machine (1 or 4), according to previous claims, said drying carriage transverse (quot; Yquot;) to the drying step. any of those characterized in that (110) is movable (quot; Xquot;) of the glass (1) to

Four.

Machine (1 or 4), according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that said machine (104) also incorporates structures (7, 7 ') for transporting the glass (1) by vacuum belts (8).

5.

Machine (104), according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that said laser drying head (112) is of high power to allow at least a semi-vitrified of the printed ink (1)

6.

Machine (1 or 4), as characterized by said previous claim, laser drying head

(112) is of high power to allow complete vitrification of the printed ink (1).

7.

Printing process on glass, characterized in that it comprises an ink printing stage followed by a stage of at least drying the ink by means of a beam of infrared radiation.

8.

Printing process on glass, according to the preceding claim, characterized in that it further comprises an image processing process stage, a stage for loading and feeding the glass towards the area of said printing, and a final tempering stage (120) for the vitrification of the ink after said drying stage by means of laser radiation beam.

9.

Printing process on glass, according to any one of claims 7, characterized in that said step of drying the ink by infrared radiation emission is carried out with the machine (104) claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6.

10.

Printing procedure on glass, according to claim 7, characterized in that said beam of

Infrared radiation performs, simultaneously with the ink drying stage, the ink vitrification stage. 11. Printing process on glass characterized in that it comprises an ink printing stage and a drying stage of said ink followed by a stage of at least one semi- 5 vitrified ink using an infrared radiation beam. 12. Printing process on glass, according to the preceding claim characterized in that said The stage of at least semi-vitrification is carried out with any of the machines (104) claimed in claims 1 to 6. 13. Printing procedure on glass, according to Claim 11, characterized in that said stage of at least semi-vitrified is complete vitrified. 14. Printing procedure on glass, according to The preceding claim characterized in that said complete vitrification stage is carried out with any of the machines (104) claimed in claims 1 to 6.