Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
  • B65H35/00—Delivering articles from cutting or line-perforating machines; Article or web delivery apparatus incorporating cutting or line-perforating devices, e.g. adhesive tape dispensers
  • B65H35/0006—Article or web delivery apparatus incorporating cutting or line-perforating devices
  • B65H35/006—Article or web delivery apparatus incorporating cutting or line-perforating devices with means for delivering a predetermined length of tape
  • B65H35/0066—Article or web delivery apparatus incorporating cutting or line-perforating devices with means for delivering a predetermined length of tape this length being adjustable
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
  • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
  • B41J11/00—Devices or arrangements  of selective printing mechanisms, e.g. ink-jet printers or thermal printers, for supporting or handling copy material in sheet or web form
  • B41J11/36—Blanking or long feeds; Feeding to a particular line, e.g. by rotation of platen or feed roller
  • B41J11/42—Controlling printing material conveyance for accurate alignment of the printing material with the printhead; Print registering
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
  • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
  • B41J11/00—Devices or arrangements  of selective printing mechanisms, e.g. ink-jet printers or thermal printers, for supporting or handling copy material in sheet or web form
  • B41J11/66—Applications of cutting devices
  • B41J11/663—Controlling cutting, cutting resulting in special shapes of the cutting line, e.g. controlling cutting positions, e.g. for cutting in the immediate vicinity of a printed image
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
  • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
  • B41J11/00—Devices or arrangements  of selective printing mechanisms, e.g. ink-jet printers or thermal printers, for supporting or handling copy material in sheet or web form
  • B41J11/66—Applications of cutting devices
  • B41J11/666—Cutting partly, e.g. cutting only the uppermost layer of a multiple-layer printing material
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
  • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
  • B41J15/00—Devices or arrangements of selective printing mechanisms, e.g. ink-jet printers or thermal printers, specially adapted for supporting or handling copy material in continuous form, e.g. webs
  • B41J15/005—Forming loops or sags in webs, e.g. for slackening a web or for compensating variations of the amount of conveyed web material (by arranging a "dancing roller" in a sag of the web material)
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
  • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
  • B41J15/00—Devices or arrangements of selective printing mechanisms, e.g. ink-jet printers or thermal printers, specially adapted for supporting or handling copy material in continuous form, e.g. webs
  • B41J15/04—Supporting, feeding, or guiding devices; Mountings for web rolls or spindles
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
  • B65H23/00—Registering, tensioning, smoothing or guiding webs
  • B65H23/04—Registering, tensioning, smoothing or guiding webs longitudinally
  • B65H23/042—Sensing the length of a web loop
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
  • B65H2511/00—Dimensions; Position; Numbers; Identification; Occurrences
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
  • B65H2511/00—Dimensions; Position; Numbers; Identification; Occurrences
  • B65H2511/10—Size; Dimensions
  • B65H2511/11—Length
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
  • B65H2553/00—Sensing or detecting means
  • B65H2553/40—Sensing or detecting means using optical, e.g. photographic, elements

Definitions

• the invention relates to a device for printing an endless film having no markings with print images of a first predetermined length, the film being divided into sections of a second predetermined length by means of a separating device after printing, and the printed images with exact position in relation to the separating points between the sections must be applied to the film.
• a printing device is used, for example, in the pharmaceutical industry. It is important here to provide so-called blister packs, in which tablets are located, for example, with a print image in a precise position.
• the tablets are regularly wrapped in a thermoformed film made of plastic or paper, which is sealed by means of a cover film.
• a cover film There is a printed image on the cover film, which usually contains information about the tablets, such as, for example, data about when which tablets are to be taken. It is therefore crucial that this information is placed on the cover film according to the position of the tablets.
• the printed image of the films which have already been pre-printed is designed to be somewhat smaller than would actually be required.
• the resulting difference in length is compensated for by a so-called stretching.
• the cover sheet is pulled to the required length by a special device.
• a printing device for printing labels which are located on an endless support in which the printing process is triggered by a sensor which detects the start edge of a label. Since the printing process is triggered by a label on the carrier, the position of the print image depends on the position of the label on the film. When using such a printing device for printing on blister packs, however, the same problem would arise as with previously printed films.
• a printer which has an input for triggering a positionally accurate printing process, and a sensor which emits a signal at its output whenever the length of the film between the separating device and the beginning of a section to be printed corresponding point corresponds to a predetermined multiple of the second predetermined length, the output of the sensor being connected to the input of the printer.
• the senor emits no signal, that is, a printing process is not started. If further film is now transported through the printer, so that the length between the separating device and the printer increases, the point is reached where the length of the film between the separating device and the point at which the printer at existing input signal would begin its print image, which corresponds to ten times the second predetermined length. At that moment the sensor emits an output signal to the printer. This means that the printer begins its printing process exactly at the point on the film which corresponds to the beginning of a section to be printed.
• an electrophotographic printer such as a laser or LED printer
• the arrangement works just as advantageously when an ion transfer printer or thermal transfer printer or the like is used. It is crucial for the selection of the printer that the printer can carry out its printing process with precise positioning and the positioning can be controlled via an input signal.
• the senor is an optical sensor which detects the position of a dancer roller which is movably arranged such that the Position of the dancer roller depends on the length of the film between the separator and the printer. This achieves a very high level of accuracy.
• the length of the film between the separating device and the printer is shortened.
• the reduction in the film length continues as long as the film is removed from the printing device at an increased speed. If the removal stops, i.e. if no film is temporarily removed from the printing device, the process is reversed.
• the continuous printing process increases the length of the film between the separating device and the printer.
• the dancer roller is provided to compensate for the changing length of the film between the separating device and the printer.
• the dancer roll is located in a loop of the film, which is produced by deflecting the film around the dancer roll. If the length of the film shortens, the dancer roller is moved in the direction of the loop opening. If the length of the film increases, the dancer roller moves away from the opening of the loop, which increases the path of the film around the dancer roller.
• the sensor is arranged at the location of the device at which the dancer roller is located, if the path along which the film extends between the separating device and the location corresponding to the beginning of a section to be printed, for example ten times the second matched length, the sensor sends a signal to the printer. This creates a print image at the desired location on the film.
• the accuracy could be further increased in that the change in length of the film located between the separating device and the printer is detected by, for example, wrapping a rope around the dancer roller, which is fixed at its end facing the separating device and at its end facing the printer End movably attached.
• the rope expediently takes the same course as the film. Since the rope is fixed immovably at one end, the position of the movably arranged rope end depends on the position of the dancer roller. The same change in length that occurs in the part of the film located between the separating device and the printer can thus be determined at the movably arranged end of the rope.
• an offset roller is provided which is arranged such that the length of the film between the separating device and the printer can be changed by it. This is advantageous if the format of the printed image or the section to be printed changes, as a result of this the length of the film between the separation point and the printer must be changed.
• the offset roller is shifted to such an extent that the length of the film located between the separating device and the printer is again a predetermined multiple corresponds to the second, now changed, predetermined length when the dancer roller is located opposite the sensor. This avoids having to change the position of the printer when the section length changes.
• a further advantageous embodiment of the invention provides that a device is provided by means of which the printer speed is controlled.
• a proximity sensor has been found to be particularly advantageous when using a dancer roller, which outputs a corresponding signal depending on the distance of the dancer roller from a ramp of the sensor. Since the dancer roller is constantly in motion during the discontinuous removal of film from the printing device, a mean value of the sensor output signal, which is also constantly changing due to the ramp of the proximity sensor, is preferably formed.
• the offset roller is set in such a way that the point around which the dancer roller swings back and forth is approximately in the middle of the ramp of the sensor at the usual section length and removal rate.
• the control is also expediently designed so that the size of the sensor signal is limited both upwards and downwards.
• the speed of the printer is likewise limited by a maximum and a minimum. If the removal rate or the length of the printed sections increases, more film is removed from the printing device per unit of time than before. Since the printer initially continues printing at a constant speed, the length of the film between the separating device and the printer is shortened. This causes the point around which the dancer roll swings to move up, increasing the speed of the printer. If the printer speed has adapted to the new section length and / or removal rate, the dancer roller pivots around a point which is now in the upper region of the ramp of the proximity sensor. This means that due to the changed center of the pendulum, the proximity sensor emits an average value signal, based on which the printer prints at a higher speed. The same process takes place with the opposite sign if the section length decreases and / or the removal rate decreases. In this case the dancer roller swings around a point of the proximity sensor which is located in the lower area of the ramp.
• the position of the sensor must also be changed.
• the sensor has to be shifted so far that it again emits an output signal when the length of the film located between the separating device and the printer again corresponds to a multiple of the second, possibly changed, predetermined length of a printed section.
• a film 1 to be printed which is unwound from a roll 8, is passed through a printer 2.
• the film 1 is deflected around a first deflection roller 9a.
• the film 1 wraps around an S-shaped dancer roller 6 and an offset roller 5.
• the dancer roller 6 and the offset roller 5 are each located in the bottom of loops which are formed by the course of the film 1.
• Behind the offset roller 5, the film 1 is deflected around a second deflection roller 9b.
• Behind the second deflecting roller 9b there is a removal device 10, which removes film 1 from the printing device in a discontinuous manner.
• the removal device 10 is a conventional device which repeatedly picks up part of the film 1 and pulls it out of the printing device by means of an oscillating movement.
• a separating device 4 is arranged in front of the removal device 10.
• the separating device 4 can be designed such that it cuts the film 1.
• the beginning of an area to be printed is determined by the separating device 4.
• the beginning of the print image generated by printer 2 is directed toward the beginning of the area.
• the dancer roller 6 and the offset roller 5 are arranged so that they can be moved towards and away from each other. While the offset roller 5 can be locked, the dancer roller 6 is freely movable.
• a ramp-shaped proximity sensor 7 is arranged opposite the dancer roller 6. The proximity sensor 7 is designed or arranged such that the distance between the dancer roller 6 and the proximity sensor 7 changes continuously over the course of the movement of the dancer roller 6 over an active area. Outside the active area, the distance of the dancer roller 6 from the proximity sensor 7 is constant.
• a sensor 3 is adjustably arranged approximately at the level of the lower third of the active area of the proximity sensor 7.
• the sensor 3 is designed as a light barrier and has an output 3a.
• a signal always appears at the output 3a of the sensor 3 when the dancer roller 6 is in a certain position in front of the sensor 3.
• the position for printed images of medium length and medium removal rate is expediently in the lower third of the active area of the proximity sensor 7. Such an adjustment can be effected by the offset roller 5.
• the output 3a of the sensor 3 is connected to the input 2a of the printer 2. If the length of the section containing the print image changes, the sensor 3 must be adjusted so that it is adapted to the changed length of the film located between the separating device 4 and the printer 2.
• the removal process removes film 1 from the printing device at a speed which corresponds to a multiple of the speed at which film 1 passes printer 2. Since more film 1 is removed from the printing device than is transported through the printer 2, the length of the film 1 between the separating device 4 and the printer 2 is shortened. The shortening of the length moves the dancer roller 6 upward.
• the length of the film 1 between the separating device 4 and the beginning of a section to be printed is corresponding position, for example ten times the length of a section to be printed. Since the printer 2 receives a signal for printing at that very moment, the print image is placed exactly at the beginning of a section to be printed. It is understood that if, depending on the type of printer, a distance has to be taken into account that corresponds, for example, to the part of the circumference of an image roller that is between the description of the image roller and the impression of the image roller on the film 1, this part by a corresponding offset compensation must be taken into account.
• the offset roller 5 is arranged in such a way that the oscillating movement of the dancer roller 6 due to the discontinuous removal of film 1 from the printing device with a medium length of the portion receiving the print image and an average removal rate around the center of the active area of the proximity sensor 7 takes place. If the first predetermined length D of the printed image and thus the second predetermined length L of the section to be printed increases, the part of the film 1 which is located between the separating device 4 and the printer 2 must also increase, since the length of this part always has to be a predetermined multiple, such as ten times the second predetermined length L. The dancer roller 6 would thereby come out of the area of the proximity sensor 7. The offset roller 5 must therefore be shifted upwards to such an extent that the oscillating movement of the dancer roller 6, which is increased by a larger section to be printed, takes place again around a point in the middle of the active region.
• the senor 3 Since the sensor 3 must always emit a signal at its output 3a when the length of the film 1 which is between the separating device 4 and the printer 2 corresponds, for example, to ten times the second predetermined length L, the sensor 3 is expediently be ⁇ arranged movably. It can therefore, if necessary, be adapted to the different path of the dancer shaft 6.
• the present invention has also been described with reference to a printing device from which film 1 is discontinuously removed, it can nevertheless be used in the same way for a continuous removal of film 1 from a printing device. Since the dancer roller 6 may possibly be dispensed with in the event of continuous removal of film 1 from a printing device, a different construction of the printing device would result. It is essential, however, that a sensor 3 is present which always emits a signal at its output when the length of the film 1 between the separating device 4 and the printer 2 corresponds to a multiple of the second predetermined length of the section to be printed.

Landscapes

• Handling Of Sheets (AREA)
• Controlling Rewinding, Feeding, Winding, Or Abnormalities Of Webs (AREA)
• Paper Feeding For Electrophotography (AREA)
• Controlling Sheets Or Webs (AREA)
• Discharging, Photosensitive Material Shape In Electrophotography (AREA)
• Electrostatic Charge, Transfer And Separation In Electrography (AREA)
• Auxiliary Devices For And Details Of Packaging Control (AREA)
• Printing Methods (AREA)
• Printing Plates And Materials Therefor (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (2)

Family

ID=7766841

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (10)

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Family Cites Families (18)

• 1995
  • 1995-07-15 DE DE19525713A patent/DE19525713C1/de not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 1996
  • 1996-07-15 WO PCT/DE1996/001323 patent/WO1997003837A1/fr not_active Ceased
  • 1996-07-15 JP JP50616797A patent/JP3357068B2/ja not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1996-07-15 EP EP96925637A patent/EP0839092B1/fr not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1996-07-15 DK DK96925637T patent/DK0839092T3/da active
  • 1996-07-15 ES ES96925637T patent/ES2129981T3/es not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1996-07-15 DE DE59601464T patent/DE59601464D1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1996-07-15 CA CA002226888A patent/CA2226888C/fr not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1996-07-15 AU AU66103/96A patent/AU704698B2/en not_active Ceased
  • 1996-07-15 AT AT96925637T patent/ATE177687T1/de active
• 1998
  • 1998-01-15 US US09/007,564 patent/US5964151A/en not_active Expired - Lifetime

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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