JPS61287649A - Positioning method for beltlike transferred work - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To position a transferred work in a highly accurate manner, by irradiating a ray of detection light to a passing position of an identity mark of the transferred work, and then selecting a feed rate with the total of output values in both terminals of a sensor corresponding to the quantity of incoming light of the light receiving zone. CONSTITUTION:Each of one end parts 17a and 18a of both light emitting and receiving fibers 17 and 18 are oppositely attached to both sides of a nick 16a of a position detector 15, and a light emitting lamp 19 and a sensor 2 are set up face-to-face in the other end parts 17b and 18b. The sensor 20 is provided with a fixed areal light receiving zone 20a where a ray of detection light out of the fiber 18 is irradiated and both first and second terminals 201 and 202 outputting a signal according to a light receiving state at the zone 20a. The total of output values E1 and E2 out of both these terminals 201 and 202 corresponds to the total of quantity of incoming light into the zone 20a, while these output values E1 and E2 vary each according to an incoming light position at the zone 20a, making a transferred work Y change its speed or get stopped by a difference due to a deflection position of a slit Y3 of a film Y.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a method for positioning a belt-shaped transfer film used in, for example, a thermal transfer device, a simultaneous molding transfer device, etc., or a belt-shaped object such as another film or tape.

(Prior art) For example, a thermal transfer device called a hot stamp positions a pattern on a transfer film in correspondence with an object to be transferred, and in this state, heats the transfer film with a transfer pad and presses it against the object to be transferred. This thermal transfer device is designed to transfer the above-mentioned design onto an object to be transferred by transferring the above-mentioned transfer film one pitch only when the transfer work to one object to be transferred is completed. , a transfer film feeding device is provided for positioning untransferred designs on the film corresponding to the next transferred object.

However, when transferring the transfer film one pitch at a time using this feeding device, if the transfer film is not stopped correctly in a predetermined positional relationship with respect to the object to be transferred, errors may occur in the transfer position of the design to the object to be transferred. become. Therefore, this feeding device is provided with a positioning device that stops the feeding device when an optical sensor detects an identification mark provided for each pitch on the transfer film. but,
In conventional positioning devices, there is a tendency that the transfer film cannot be accurately positioned at a predetermined position due to a time delay between when a sensor detects a mark and when a feeding device completely stops. Further, in order to cope with this problem, the feeding speed of the transfer film may be reduced, but this will result in a significant deterioration of efficiency.

Such problems occur not only in the above-mentioned thermal transfer device, but also in simultaneous molding transfer devices that transfer the design on the transfer film to the resin product at the same time as the injection molding of the product. This phenomenon occurs not only in devices that use transfer films, but also in various types of devices that intermittently transport belt-shaped films or tapes to predetermined positions.

By the way, according to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-204522,
The following invention has been disclosed regarding positioning of a transfer film in a simultaneous molding and transfer device. That is, in this invention, two sensors are arranged at appropriate intervals along the transfer direction of the transfer film, and when the upstream sensor first detects a mark, the feed speed is switched from high speed to low speed, and then The feed is stopped when a downstream sensor detects a mark, and it can be expected that positioning errors due to delays in stopping the film will be reduced. However, even with this method, there are limits to positioning accuracy due to the characteristics of the sensor itself.
Positioning cannot be performed with greater precision. In other words, as shown in FIG. 7, when the slit-type mark B of the transfer film is positioned on the light-receiving surface A of the sensor, a signal is output from the sensor A. The position shown by the solid line (a) and the position shown by the chain line (
The position of mark B cannot be distinguished between (b) and an error within this range will always occur.

On the other hand, as a method for detecting identification marks with higher accuracy, there is a method using a television camera. In other words, it detects the position of the mark photographed by a television camera on the image receiving surface, and controls the feeding device in feedback so that the mark is positioned at a predetermined position (generally in the center) of the image receiving surface. According to this, positioning accuracy is significantly improved. However, this method requires expensive equipment such as a television camera and a receiver, and the television camera used as a detection means is large, so a large space is required to install the camera, and a thermal transfer device When the surrounding temperature becomes extremely high, as in the case of a television camera, there are disadvantages such as a decrease in the durability of the television camera.

(Object of the Invention) The present invention addresses the above-mentioned problems regarding the positioning of belt-shaped objects such as various films and tapes, including transfer films used in thermal transfer devices, simultaneous molding transfer devices, etc. The object of the present invention is to realize a positioning method that can use an extremely compact sensor as a sensor for detecting an identification mark provided on an object to be transported, and can also perform positioning with high precision.

(Structure of the Invention) That is, the positioning method according to the present invention includes a feeding means for longitudinally transporting a belt-shaped object to be transported, and a detection light irradiated to a passing position of an identification mark provided on the object to be transported. A method of controlling the operation of the sending means according to an output signal of the position detecting means, using a light projecting means that transmits light and a position detecting means that receives detection light transmitted through the mark or reflected by the mark. As the position detecting means, a sensor is used that outputs a signal indicating the amount of incident light and the position of the incident light in a certain light receiving zone. Then, the feeding speed of the feeding means is controlled according to the amount of light incident on the light receiving zone indicated by the output signal of this sensor, and the feeding means is stopped when the light incident position indicated by the signal is located at a predetermined position in the light receiving zone. It is characterized by

More specifically, the sensor has two output terminals, the sum of the output values from both terminals corresponds to the amount of light incident on the light receiving zone, and the absolute value of the difference between the 100 output values and +,
A sensor is used in which the sign - corresponds to the amount and direction of deviation of the light incident position with respect to the center of the light receiving zone, respectively. When the sum of the 100 output values is less than a predetermined value, the feeding means is operated at high speed, and when the sum of the 100 output values exceeds a predetermined value, the feeding means is switched to low speed feeding, and the absolute value of the difference between the 100 output values is When becomes less than a predetermined value, the operation is further switched to slow-speed feeding, and in this slow-speed feeding state, the above difference is +.

The feeding means is moved forward or backward depending on the sign of - so that the absolute value of the difference converges within the allowable error range.

In addition, if necessary, the detection light is irradiated from the light projecting means to the passing position of the identification mark on the object through the optical fiber, and the detection light transmitted through the mark or reflected by the mark is emitted. The light is configured to be received by a position detection means (sensor) via a fiber.

(Effects of the Invention) According to the above configuration, when a belt-shaped object is intermittently transferred, it is possible to transfer the object without deteriorating the efficiency unlike when the feeding speed is constantly slowed down. It becomes possible to accurately stop the object to be transported at a predetermined position. As a result, for example, in a thermal transfer device or a simultaneous molding transfer device, the transfer film is positioned with high precision with respect to the object to be transferred, and the generation of defective products in which the transfer position of the design is shifted is prevented. Even in devices designed to intermittently transport other films, tapes, etc., the films, etc. can be positioned with high accuracy, and predetermined operations on these films, etc. can be performed satisfactorily.

In particular, according to the present invention, the sensor that detects the identification mark is compact, and an optical fiber can be used if necessary, so it does not require a large space unlike the case where a television camera is used. It has the advantage of being inexpensive.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example in which the present invention is applied to a thermal transfer device will be described.

First, the schematic structure of the thermal transfer device will be explained with reference to FIG.
and a transfer pad 3 provided above and facing the pedestal 2. The pedestal 2 is moved up and down by a cylinder (not shown) via a support shaft 4, and the object to be transferred
After the is set, it is moved upward to the position shown.

Further, the transfer pad 3 is heated by appropriate means, and a support shaft 5 is heated by a cylinder (not shown).
It is moved downward from the position shown in the figure via the holder 2, and is pressed against the transferred object X on the pedestal 2.

On the other hand, this thermal transfer device @1 is equipped with a film supply device that supplies a transfer film Y between the transfer target X on the pedestal 2 and the transfer pad 3.

This supply device is composed of a film supply section 6 provided on one side of the transfer pad 3 and a film winding section 7 provided on the other side. A roll support shaft 8 that supports the roll Y', a feed roller 10 that is driven by a feed motor 9 and feeds the transfer film Y pulled out from the roll Y' to the transfer pad 3 side, and a roller that sandwiches the transfer film Y. A presser roller 11 that is in contact with the roller 10 is provided. The film winding unit 7 also includes a winding roller 12 that winds up the transferred transfer film Y, a guide roller 13 that guides the transfer film Y to the winding roller 12, and a winding roller 12 that winds up the transferred transfer film Y.
2 is provided. Here, the feed motor 9 is a pulse motor capable of forward and reverse rotation, and the take-up motor 14 drives the take-up roller 12 to follow the transfer film Y that is moved forward and backward by the feed motor 9. However, as a result, the transfer film Y is always maintained at the required tension between the film supply section 6 and the film winding section 7.

However, on the transfer film Y, as shown in FIG. 2, a large number of designs Y1...Yl are drawn in a row, and a black portion Y2 is provided on one side of the film Y. , and each of the above-mentioned patterns Y1...Yl in the black painted part Y2
Slit Y3 as an identification mark corresponding to each...
・Y3 is provided.

Then, on the side of the transfer pad 3 in this thermal transfer device @1, there is a slit Y3 in the transfer film Y...
A position detector 15 is provided so as to sandwich the side where Y3 is provided. This position detector 15 is connected to a notch 16 into which the side of the transfer film Y is inserted, as shown in FIG.
One end portion 178.18a of the light-emitting optical fiber 17 and the light-receiving optical fiber 18 is attached to the mouth-shaped main body 16 provided with a
are attached so as to face both sides of the notch 16a, and the other end 17 of the light emitting optical fiber 17
A floodlight lamp 19 is disposed facing b, and
A sensor 20 is disposed facing the other end 18b of the light-receiving optical fiber 18, so that when the slit Y3 in the transfer film Y is located between the opposing ends 178 and 188 of both optical fibers 17 and 18, the lamp 19 Detection light projected from the sensor 20 is input to the sensor 20.

Here, to explain the characteristics of the sensor 20, as shown in FIG. a light-receiving zone 20a, and a first. 2nd terminal 2
01.202. And both terminals 201.20
The sum of output values E+ and E2 from 2 corresponds to the total amount of human light to the light receiving zone 20a, and both output values Et.

E2 changes depending on the light incident position in the light receiving zone 20a. For example, as shown in FIG. 4(a), the light incident position x
1, that is, the slit Y3 of the transfer film Y is the light receiving zone 20
When it is deviated to one side of a, the output value E1 from the deviated terminal 2C)+ becomes large, and the output value E2 from the opposite terminal 202 becomes small, and as a result, E
l>E2, and when the light incident position χ is deviated to the opposite side as shown in FIG. 2(b), ET<E2.

Then, both output values E1. The magnitude of the difference JE=21-E2 between E2 corresponds to the amount of deviation of the light receiving zone 20a from the center line y, and the + and - signs thereof correspond to the direction of deviation. Therefore, when the light incident position x coincides with the center line y of the light-receiving zone 20a, as shown in FIG.

The operation of the feed motor 9 is controlled in accordance with the output of the sensor 20, and the configuration of the control circuit that performs this control will be described next.

As shown in FIG. 5, this control circuit includes the sensor 20
The two output signals a1. a2 is input and both signals a1.
The output value E1.a2 indicates. an amplifier 21 that calculates the sum (or average value) E of E2 and outputs it as an addition signal;
Similarly, the output signal a1 of the sensor 20. a2 is inputted to calculate the difference aE (=Et -22) between both output values E1 and E2, and outputs this as a subtraction signal C; and a high-speed feed judger 23 to which the above-mentioned addition signal S is inputted. , a low-velocity feed determiner 24 to which the addition signal S and the subtraction signal C are input, and a feed direction determiner 25 to which the subtraction signal O is input. Then, the high-speed feed determiner 23
When the value E indicated by the addition signal @b is less than the predetermined value EO, that is, when the amount of light incident on the light receiving zone 20a of the sensor 20 is less than the predetermined amount, the high-speed sending signal d is output. This signal d is inputted to the enable terminal of a high-frequency oscillator 28 for high-speed feed through a waveform shaper 26 and a feed amount detector 27 that detects the feed amount from the output time of the signal d, and is activated to operate the oscillator 28 to provide a high-speed The sending pulse signal e is output, and the gate 30 on the output circuit 29 of the signal e is opened.

Further, the low-speed and slow-speed feed determiner 24 outputs the value E indicated by the addition signal.
When exceeds a predetermined value Eo, that is, when the amount of light incident on the light receiving zone 20a of the sensor 20 exceeds a predetermined amount, a low-speed slow feed signal `` is outputted, and the value AE indicated by the subtraction signal C is less than the predetermined value AEo. When this occurs, that is, when the amount of deviation of the light incident position with respect to the center of the light receiving zone 20a becomes less than a predetermined amount, the switching signal g is output. The signal is input to the enable terminal of the low-frequency oscillator 33 for low-speed and slow-speed feed through the high-speed feed completion detector 32, which detects that high-speed feed is completed based on the output of f. The switching signal g is input to the switching terminal of the oscillator 33 to switch the frequency of the pulse signal from a low frequency to an extremely low frequency. The output circuit 34 is provided with a gate 36 to which the high-speed feed signal d is input via an inverter 35. Therefore, the pulse signal is output only when the high-speed feed signal d is OFF. .

Further, the feed direction determiner 25 determines the value A indicated by the subtraction signal C.
A direction command signal i instructing forward rotation or reverse rotation is output depending on the + or - sign of E. A gate 39 is also provided on the output circuit 37 for this signal i, to which the high-speed feed signal d is input via an inverter 38, so that the direction command signal i
is output only when the high-speed feed signal d is OFF.

Output circuits 29 and 34 of the high frequency oscillator 28 and low frequency oscillator 33 and the output circuit 3 of the feed direction determiner 25
7 is connected to the feed motor 9 via the driver 40,
The motor 9 is driven to rotate in response to the pulse signals e and h and the direction command signal 1 inputted through the output circuits 29, 34, and 37. Here, a manual high-speed feed signal j for manually high-speed feeding is input to the enable terminal of the high-frequency oscillator 28, and a manual low-speed signal j for manually causing low-speed or slow-speed feed is input to the enable terminal of the low-frequency oscillator 33. A slow feed signal k is input. Further, a manual direction changeover switch 41 is provided, and when the gate 43 provided in the output circuit 42 of the switch 41 is opened by the high speed feed signal d, the feed direction command signal 1 can be output manually. It looks like this.

Next, a method for positioning the transfer film Y using the above-mentioned apparatus will be explained with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, when a film feed command is output with the transferred object x set on the pedestal 2 and the transfer pad 3 retracted upward, high-speed feeding of the transfer film Y is started (
Step S+) in FIG.

This high-speed feeding is performed by rotating the feeding motor 9 at high speed in a predetermined feeding direction by a high-frequency pulse signal e outputted from the high-frequency oscillator 28 in response to the high-speed feeding signal d. The finished part is sent out to the film winding section 7 side, and the next untransferred part of the pattern Y1 is sent between the transferred object X and the transfer pad 3. Then, when this pattern Y1 is transferred to a position where it has a predetermined positional relationship with respect to the transferred object X, the slit Y3 on one side of the film Y reaches the installation position of the position detector 15, and the lamp 19 The detection light emitted from the sensor 20 enters the sensor 20 via the light emitting optical fiber 17, the slit Y3, and the light receiving optical fiber 18 (step 82). As a result, the output signal a1. of the sensor 20. The output value E1.a2 indicates. E2
When the sum E becomes larger than the predetermined value EO, the high-speed feed signal d is turned OFF, and the low-speed slow feed signal f is output, the low-frequency oscillator 28 is activated, and the low-frequency pulse output from the oscillator 28 is The signal causes the motor 9 to rotate at a low speed (step S3). Then, when the difference AE between the output values Et and Ez becomes less than a predetermined value JEo,
That is, the slit Y3 is located near the center of the light receiving zone 20a of the sensor 20 (the light receiving optical fiber 18 in the position detector 15).
By outputting the switching signal Q when reaching the center of the terminal 18a of the motor 9, the frequency of the pulse signal output from the low frequency oscillator 33 is switched from a low frequency to an extremely low frequency. The rotational speed, that is, the feeding speed of the transfer film Y is switched to a slow speed (step 84
). At this time, a feed direction command signal i is output according to the + or - sign of the difference AE between the output values, and when the slit Y3 is in front of the center line V of the light receiving zone 20a of the sensor 20, it moves forward at a slow speed. If it passes the center line y, it is moved backward at a slow speed. And the light receiving zone 20a
When the slit Y3 is positioned within an extremely small tolerance range with respect to the center line y, that is, when the difference AE becomes AE=O, the slow feed is stopped. This completes the positioning of the transfer film Y in the feeding direction (step Ss
, S6) However, as mentioned above, the transfer film Y
The film Y is fed at high speed until the slit Y3 reaches the installation position of the position detector 15, so efficiency is high.
Further, when the slit Y3 reaches the installation position of the position detector 15, the transfer film Y is switched to low-speed feeding or slow-speed feeding, so that the transfer film Y can be positioned with high accuracy. Therefore, if the transfer pad 3 is moved down after the feeding of the film Y is completed, the pattern Y1 on the film Y will be transferred to the object X without any deviation.

Particularly, according to this positioning method, the sensor 20 used as the position detecting means is compact, and by using the optical fibers 17 and 18 as in this embodiment, a space is created near the passing position of the transfer film Y. This can be done even if you don't have much time to spare.

In the above embodiment, the slit Y3 was provided as an identification mark in the transfer film Y, and the detection light transmitted through the slit Y3 was received by the sensor 20. However, a mark that reflects the detection light is provided as an identification mark, The detection light reflected by this mark may be received by the sensor.

In addition, if such a positioning method is applied to both the feeding direction of the transfer film and the width direction perpendicular to this direction, the design of the film will be aligned with respect to the transferred object in two directions: the feeding direction and the width direction. This means that positioning can be performed with high accuracy. Furthermore, this positioning method is applicable not only to the positioning of the transfer film in a thermal transfer device as described above, but also to the positioning of the transfer film in a simultaneous molding transfer device, or when intermittently transporting other strips such as films or tapes. It is widely applicable.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 to 6 show an example in which the method of the present invention is applied to a thermal transfer device, and FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of the thermal transfer device, and FIG.
The figure is a plan view of the transfer film used in the device, Figure 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of the position detection means, Figure 4 is an explanatory diagram of the characteristics of the sensor in the position detection means, and Figure 5 is the execution of the method of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the control circuit. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of problems in the prior art. 9... Feeding means (feeding motor), 17.18... Optical fiber, 19... Light projecting means (lamp), 20...
Position detection means (sensor), 20a... Light receiving zone, 2
01.202...Terminal, Y...Transferred object (transfer film), Y3...Identification mark (slit).

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) A positioning method in which a belt-shaped object to be transported in the longitudinal direction by a feeding means is stopped at a predetermined position,
The light projecting means irradiates detection light to a passing position of the identification mark provided on the object to be transported, and the position detection means receives the detection light transmitted through the mark or reflected by the mark. As the position detecting means, a sensor is used that outputs a signal indicating the amount of incident light and the position of the incident light in a certain light receiving zone, and the feeding speed of the feeding means is adjusted according to the amount of incident light indicated by the output signal of the sensor. 1. A method for positioning a belt-shaped object, characterized in that the feeding means is stopped when the light incident position indicated by the signal is located at a predetermined position in the light receiving zone. (2) As a position detection means, the sum of the output values from the two output terminals corresponds to the amount of light incident on the light receiving zone, and the absolute value of the difference between both output values and the + and - signs are the center of the light receiving zone. Using sensors corresponding to the amount and direction of deviation of the light incident position, respectively, the feeding means is operated at high speed when the sum of both output values is less than a predetermined value, and the sum of both output values is a predetermined value. When the absolute value of the difference between the two output values exceeds a predetermined value, the feeding means is switched to low-speed feeding operation, and when the absolute value of the difference between the above two output values becomes less than a predetermined value, it is further switched to fine-speed feeding operation.
, - The conveying means is moved forward or backward depending on the sign of the difference so that the absolute value of the difference converges within an allowable error range. Positioning method. (3) Detection light is irradiated from the light projecting means to the passing position of the identification mark on the object through the optical fiber, and the detection light transmitted through or reflected by the mark is transmitted to the position through the optical fiber. 3. A method for positioning a belt-shaped object according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the detection means receives the light.