JPS606463A - Continuous multi-color printing method and apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it possible to obtain precise printing accuracy, by a method wherein a substrate is intermittently fed while bringing into close contact with an endless belt provided with small perforations by drilling under negative pressure and a mark at every feed is printed to said substrate prior to performing first color printing. CONSTITUTION:A substrate 1 to be printed is fed to a printing region P without generating positional shift or extension and contraction in a state closely contacted with an endless mesh belt 4 by negative pressure due to a blower 10 by the intermittent rotation of a drive motor 5. A mark at every feed is printed to the blank part of the substrate 1 by a marking apparatus 20 prior to applying first color printing and, when said mark is detected by a detection apparatus 21 before the first printing region A, the speed of a drive motor 5 is reduced by the signal of said detection apparatus 21 and, when a detection apparatus 22 detects the mark, said motor 5 is stopped and the substrate 1 is printed by a lithographic screen printing apparatus 11 while the printed substrate is descharged through an intermediate and a final drying apparatuses 12, 13. By this method, highly precise printing is enabled.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a continuous multicolor printing method and apparatus, and more particularly to continuous multicolor printing in which a substrate to be printed is conveyed to a printing area using suction pressure and printed. METHODS AND APPARATUS.

Generally, various printing devices such as gravure printing and rotary offset printing are used as a means for continuously performing multicolor printing on long substrates such as paper, various films, and metal foils.

However, in the screen printing method using stencils, there is no appropriate method for transporting the substrate to be printed to ensure registration accuracy, and in order to perform multicolor screen printing, it is necessary to 1 as a sheet of leaves
Printing is performed continuously by exchanging plates for each color or by intermittently pulling the base material a fixed length at the rear of the printing area.

Therefore, in the former method, productivity is naturally very low (it is impossible to print on long substrates. In addition, in the latter method, tension is applied to the substrate, so the substrate expands and contracts. , due to the limitations of the base material in order to perform precise printing,
Furthermore, large-scale equipment and controls are required to keep the feeding tension of the base material constant.

On the other hand, a different example of such continuous multicolor screen printing is an automatic screen printing machine for textile products. In this case, an endless belt is used to transport the substrate, and the substrate is glued to it using a suitable adhesive, so that the substrate and the belt are completely integrated and are provided with an intermittent drive for constant feed. . Therefore, the feeding accuracy, that is, the registration accuracy is maintained. However, when the base material is paper, film, etc., even if adhesion is possible, peeling is difficult or impossible, and therefore a conveying method using a belt cannot be adopted, which is an obstacle.

That is, the purpose of the present invention is to achieve continuous multi-color printing with precise printing accuracy by adopting a conveying method similar to that of an automatic screen printing machine, without adhering even to substrates that cannot be conveyed by adhesion with an endless belt. An object of the present invention is to provide a screen printing method and apparatus.

According to the present invention, an endless belt stretched between a pair of pulleys is intermittently driven by one of the pulleys, and the substrate to be printed placed on the belt is intermittently fed to the printing area. and a continuous multicolor printing method comprising printing on the substrate via a flat screen,
A large number of small holes are provided in the endless belt, a negative pressure is applied to the lower side of the belt, and the substrate is intermittently fed to the printing area while being in close contact with the endless belt. Print marks for each feed on the
A continuous multicolor printing method is provided, characterized in that intermittent feeding of an endless belt is controlled by detecting the marks.

According to the present invention, there is further provided an endless belt stretched across a printing work area by at least one pair of pulleys, a drive mechanism for intermittently driving at least one of the pulleys to intermittently feed the endless belt, and the printing A continuous multi-color printing device consisting of a printing unit equipped with a flat screen provided in a working area, using a mesh held as the endless belt, and providing a suction table communicating with a suction device below the transport area of the mesh belt,
A marking device for transporting a base material to be printed to a printing work area together with a mesh belt by suction force, and marking the base material in front of the second printing unit with respect to the moving direction of the mesh belt, and the mark. A continuous multicolor printing device is provided, characterized in that a detection mechanism is provided for detecting the mark, and the drive mechanism is decelerated and stopped in response to a detection signal from the mark detection mechanism to control intermittent feeding of the mesh belt. .

The present invention will be explained below based on specific examples shown in the accompanying drawings.

In FIG. 1 showing an example of the continuous multicolor printing apparatus of the present invention, a driving pulley 2 is provided in parallel on the rear side in the traveling direction of the substrate 1 to be printed, and a driven pulley 6 is provided in parallel on the front side. An endless metal mesh belt 4 is stretched in circulation.

The drive pulley 2 is given intermittent rotation by a drive motor 5 via a worm 6 and a worm gear 7, and the mesh belt 4 is given intermittent feed in accordance with this.

The first important feature of the present invention is that the mesh belt 4 is used to transport the substrate 1 to the printing area P, and suction tables 8, 8. The purpose is to establish... This suction table 8,8. . . . are each connected to a vacuum pump or an exhaust fan 10 by a pipe 9.

That is, with reference to FIGS. 2 and 6 for explaining the positional relationship and structure between the suction table 8 and the mesh belt 4, the suction table 8 is attached to the mesh belt 4 on the transport side.
It is fixed to a machine base (not shown) in a positional relationship below and adjacent to the machine.

In addition, a large number of small holes 8A are provided almost uniformly on the upper surface of this suction table 8, and a suction pipe 9 is connected to the lower surface or side surface and leads to a vacuum pump or exhaust fan 10. Due to the operation, the hollow chamber 8B becomes vacuum or negative pressure.

That is, when conveying the base material 1 on the mesh belt 4,
When the vacuum pump or exhaust fan 10 is operated, the hollow chamber 8B of the suction table 8 becomes vacuum or negative pressure, so that the base material 1 is brought into close contact with the mesh belt 4, preventing troubles such as misalignment. It is smoothly transported to the printing area.

Although small mesh holes 4A are formed in the mesh belt 4, a high mesh is advantageous from the viewpoint of providing a suction effect to the entire surface of the substrate 1 to be conveyed and also from the viewpoint of smoothness of the printing surface.

This mesh belt 4 is manufactured by the same method as the rotary screen mesh using the electroplating method which is currently widely used in practical use, and in such a case, 40 to 200 meshes are usually obtained.

In addition, various metal and non-metal materials can be used, but they must have frictional resistance with the suction table 8, easy drilling of the mesh small hole 4A, and be completely endless. From these points of view, the electroplating method described above is practical.

Returning to FIG. 1 again, in the present invention, suction force is applied to the entire surface of the base material 1 by the operation of the vacuum pump or exhaust fan 10, so that the base material 1 is in close contact with the mesh belt 4 and is integrated with the belt 4. The paper is conveyed to the printing area P in a state where the paper is stained. At this time, by continuing to perform the suction operation even when the mesh belt 4 is stopped, the base material 1 is fixed in close contact with the mesh small holes and the belt 4, so it can be smoothly prevented from shifting, expanding and contracting, etc. Accurate printing is performed.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of lithographic screen printing units 11 are arranged at intervals corresponding to the feed repeat, and an intermediate drying device 12 is provided in between, if necessary, to perform printing and drying for each color.

The second feature of the present invention is that prior to printing the first color, marks for each feed are printed on the base material 1, and in the subsequent printing operation, the marks for each feed are detected and the mesh belt 4 is fed. The key is to control the length.

For this purpose, a marking device 20 is provided for printing marks for each feed on the substrate 1 prior to printing the first color. This marking device 20 consists of, for example, a stamping device or a small screen device,
Print a mark on the margin of profiteering 1. The size of this mark may be any size as long as it can be detected by a photoelectric device, for example, and if the base material 1 is white paper, it can be provided with dark or brown ink.

In front of the first printing area A, a detection mechanism 21,22 is provided for detecting the mark. This detection mechanism comprises, for example, a photoelectric device that detects marks by reflection of light beams, and preferably includes a detection device 21 for a deceleration signal located at the front and a detection device 21 for a stop signal located at the rear with respect to the movement of the mesh belt 4. A pair of devices 22 is provided.

That is, the drive motor 5 is decelerated by the deceleration signal detection device 21 detecting the mark made on the base material 1, and then the stop signal detection device 22 detects the mark and the drive motor 5 is stopped. As a result, the mesh belt 4 is driven intermittently.

These detection mechanisms 21 and 22 are provided so that their positions can be adjusted with respect to the traveling direction of the belt, and can be arbitrarily adjusted according to the feed length and repeat length of the belt 4.

That is, the distance between the mark position by the marking device 20 and the detection mechanism 22 corresponds to the intermittent feed length of the belt 4.

In this way, the base material 1 is intermittently driven together with the mesh belt 4 by the above-mentioned suction action and drive mechanism, and after printing the required number of colors, it is separated from the mesh belt 4, passes through the final drying device 13, and is wound up or otherwise dried. Move on to the process.

In FIG. 1, the suction table 8 is provided in a divided state, but of course it may be provided as a single unit, and the suction table 8 produces a suction effect over the entire area from before the start of printing to the end of printing, and the suction table 8 is provided in a divided state. It suffices if it is arranged so as to prevent expansion/contraction, slipping, etc.

Figure 4 shows a case in which the feed repeat is large in lithographic screen printing, or the number of colors is large (or a long printing area is required).As mentioned above, the mesh belt 4 is made by the electroplating method, but it is completely endless. Therefore, there is naturally a limit to the length of the belt.If the number of repeats is large or the number of colors is many, the length will be insufficient.For this reason, as shown in Fig. 4, the length of the mesh belt 4 and its drive is limited. It is also possible to divide the device and perform connected operation of each device.

In this case, the mesh belt 4, driving pulley, driven pulley, suction table, and others are the same as in FIG. 1 above, but
The drive motor 5 is driven by each division via a reduction gear 17 such as a worm gear to reach each drive pulley 2, and each is operated synchronously by a line shaft 18.

As mentioned above, in the present invention, an endless metal mesh belt is used as the conveying material, and the substrate to be printed is constantly and continuously sucked through the metal mesh belt from a suction table fixedly installed on the underside of the metal mesh belt. Due to the pressure, the vehicle is always attracted and transported under one weight regardless of whether it is traveling or stopped, and its position is maintained even when it is stopped.

Furthermore, in the present invention, since the intermittent feeding of the mesh belt is controlled by detecting the marks made on the base material, highly accurate intermittent feeding is maintained.

(Thus, according to the present invention, feeding accuracy that is not affected by the degree of expansion and contraction of the base material is maintained, making it possible to print with high registration accuracy on any material.

In addition, the base material is prevented from expanding, contracting, or moving slightly over the entire length of the printing area, and the mesh belt for conveying material and the base material are completely integrated, simplifying the tension adjustment device for both the unwinding and winding sections of the base material. A significant advantage is achieved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a printing device of the present invention, FIGS. 2 and 6 are diagrams showing the structure and arrangement of a mesh belt and a suction table in the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a printing device of the present invention. It is a figure showing other aspects of. Reference number 1 is the printing base material, 2 is the driving pulley, 6 is the driven pulley, 4 is the metal mesh belt, 4A is the mesh small hole, 5
is the drive motor, 6 is the worm, 7 is the worm gear,
8 is a suction table, 8A is a small hole, 8B is a hollow chamber, 9 is a suction pipe, 10 is a vacuum pump or exhaust fan, 11 is a lithographic screen printing device, 12 is an intermediate drying device, 16 is a final drying device, and 14 is a receiving device. board, 17 is a speed reducer, 18 is a line axis, 20 is a marking device, 21 is a deceleration signal detection device,
22 indicates a stop signal detection device. Special fraud applicant Toshin Kogyo Co., Ltd. Agent Ikuo Benkondo Suzuki

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) An endless belt stretched between a pair of googly belts is intermittently driven by at least one pulley to intermittently feed the base material to be printed placed on the belt to the printing area. In a continuous multi-color printing method comprising printing on a material through a seven-rat screen, the endless belt is provided with a large number of small holes, the lower side of the belt is subjected to negative pressure, and the substrate is placed on the endless belt. The endless belt is intermittently fed to the printing area in close contact, and marks are printed on the base material for each feed prior to printing the first color, and the intermittent feeding of the endless belt is controlled by detecting the marks. A continuous multicolor printing method characterized by: (2) The continuous multiplication system according to claim 1, wherein the mark is detected by a deceleration signal detection mechanism located in front of the endless motion and a stop signal detection mechanism located at the rear. Color printing method. (3) an endless belt stretched across the printing work area by at least one pair of pulleys; a drive mechanism for intermittently driving one of the pulleys to intermittently feed the endless belt; A continuous multi-color printing device comprising a printing unit equipped with a flat screen installed in a continuous multi-color printing device, using a mesh belt as the endless belt,
A suction table communicating with a suction device is provided below the conveyance area of the mesh belt, and the substrate to be printed is conveyed to the printing work area together with the mesh belt by suction force, and the printing unit is moved in the direction of movement of the mesh belt. A marking device for marking a base material and a detection mechanism for detecting the mark are provided in front, and the drive mechanism is decelerated and stopped in response to a detection signal from the mark detection mechanism to control intermittent feeding of the mesh belt. A continuous multicolor printing device characterized by: (4) The detection mechanism comprises a detection mechanism for deceleration signals located in front of the movement of the endless belt and a detection mechanism for stop signals located at the rear.
Continuous multicolor printing device as described in Section 1.