JPH024503B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a misprint monitoring device that monitors misprints that occur during the bookbinding process.

When identifying printed matter, a commonly used device converts the light condition of the printed surface into an electrical signal, and compares this with the electrical number on the paper to determine whether it is the same type or different type. It is for making a judgment. This device is equipped with optical sensors corresponding to several points on the paper surface, and for discrimination, it is possible to use a static device that fixes both the paper surface and the sensor and captures the signal, or a device that captures the signal from the entire surface, such as a television camera. There are static types that take images, and dynamic types that move either the sensor or the paper surface and extract changes in light within a certain zone of the paper surface as a signal.

This dynamic device is often used as a misprint monitoring device. In that case, JP-A-58-
As shown in Japanese Patent No. 48834, a sensor is placed on each signature stacking table of the collating machine, and the lowest paper surface of the signatures is monitored by the sensor. Each signature is pulled in a predetermined direction and delivered to a transport conveyor.

Since a large number of signatures are stacked on the signature stacking table, the signatures often shift from each other when placed.
Conventional sheet misalignment monitoring devices detect when sheets are placed in a misaligned manner on the folding table of the collating machine.
It is not possible to correct misalignment of signatures. Therefore, even if the folded sheets were good, they were often mistakenly determined to be defective, resulting in poor collation efficiency.

Therefore, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 58-47756 and Japanese Patent Publication No. 61-
As shown in Publication No. 46384, the following misprint monitoring device was proposed. That is, a plurality of optical sensors are installed on the fold stacking table of a collating machine used in bookbinding and are arranged perpendicular to the moving direction of the folded sheets, and each output from the plurality of optical sensors is converted into a digital signal. AD controller to convert and
an AD converter, one standard memory and a plurality of monitoring memories for storing the digital signals, a level failure detector for comparing the contents of each memory with a predetermined level, and a failure signal from the level failure detector. and a defective rate detector that compares the number of measurement points with the number of measurement points, and a non-defective determination memory circuit that determines whether the monitored signature is a good product or a defective product based on the comparison result. The bottom surface of the standard signature is measured by one of the plurality of optical sensors, and the output is sent to the AD controller and
The digital signal is converted into a digital signal by an AD converter and stored in the standard memory, and the bottom paper surface of the monitoring signature placed on the signature stacking table is measured by all of the plurality of optical sensors, and each output is converted to a digital signal by the AD converter. After converting it into a digital signal using a controller and an AD converter and storing it separately in the plurality of monitoring memories, the plurality of monitoring memories are sequentially stored for monitoring in the left and right direction in order to correct the positional deviation of the monitoring signature. An operation of reading the data and comparing it with the standard memory using a level defect detector, and an operation of adding or subtracting a constant to the address of the separate monitoring memory for forward and backward monitoring, and reading it and comparing it with the standard memory using the level defect detector. determine the monitoring memory to be read out, and calculate the difference between the read contents of the monitoring memory and the standard memory;
The number of defective signals whose difference exceeds a predetermined level is stored in the defect rate detector, the number of defective signals and the number of measurement points are compared, and based on the comparison result, a non-defective product judgment storage circuit is used. A misprint monitoring device has been proposed which is configured to monitor misprint by determining whether the monitored signature is a good product or a defective product.

On the other hand, in general, in the collation process, there is not one fold stacking table on which signatures are placed, but a large number of folding stacking tables are lined up and collation is performed. A sensor is placed on each stacking table to monitor for misaligned pages or missing pages. Therefore, according to the conventional sheet misalignment monitoring device, a complete system of misalignment monitoring device is required for each fold stacking table. This increases the number of parts and wiring, making it very uneconomical. In addition, the judgment device is precise and expensive, and should be installed at a desired location as far away from the collation machine as possible to avoid degradation of judgment accuracy or failure due to vibrations from the collation machine or its peripheral equipment. desirable. However, the conventional apparatus requires a determination device for each fold stacking table, and therefore, a plurality of determination devices must be set at predetermined positions. For this reason,
There are problems with installation space and wiring, and moreover, it is inconvenient to handle. Furthermore, as labor saving in factories is desired, it is desired that one operator be able to perform the following operations from a position where he or she can see the entire collating machine. In other words, the operator must set the defect level for each fold stacking table, which is the standard when comparing the information on the measurement points on the monitoring paper surface of each fold stacking table with the information on the measurement points on the standard paper surface. The operator sets the defective rate of the measuring point on the monitoring paper surface for each folding table for each folding table, and determines which folding table's signatures are defective among the signatures on each folding table. It is for the operator to know. If these operations can be performed at one location, one operator can centrally manage the entire collating machine, and collating work efficiency can be significantly improved.

Therefore, JP-A-58-100061 and JP-A-61-
As described in Publication No. 60012, the following misprint monitoring device was proposed. In other words, a sensor is installed on each of the plurality of signature stacking tables of a collating machine used in bookbinding, and the bottom monitoring paper surface of the signatures placed on each of the signature stacking tables is measured by the sensor, and the output is outputted by an amplifier. A misprint monitoring device that monitors for misprinted pages by amplifying the signal and comparing it with a standard paper signal using a determining device, wherein a multiplexer is provided between the amplifier and the determining device to separate the determining device from the collating machine. The determination device is configured such that one determination device can process a plurality of outputs, and the determination device includes:
When comparing the measurement point information on the monitoring paper surface of each fold stacking table with the measurement point information on the standard paper surface, the defect level is determined in advance for each fold to determine whether the information on the measurement point on the monitoring paper surface is good or bad. A defective level setting means for setting each folding table for each folding table; and a defective rate setting means for setting in advance for each folding table the ratio of the number of defective signals at the measurement points on the monitoring paper surface of each folding table to the total number of measurement points. Then, a paper misalignment monitoring device was proposed which is equipped with a defect display means for displaying which folding table has defective folds.

Conventional misprint monitoring devices print marks such as spines on the backs of folded pages, detect the marks with optical sensors, and identify whether or not the folded pages are normal. However, with this conventional device,
It is necessary to print a backing mark on the signature, and the position of the backing mark varies depending on the printed matter, so it is necessary to adjust the installation position of the backing mark detector depending on the printed matter being handled.

In addition, since all printing paper is folded by machine, compared to the traditional hand-folding process, folding may be uneven or misaligned, and the spine tag may be folded in and erased.
Each time, the machine malfunctioned or stopped.

The present invention further improves the above-described misprint monitoring device, and in order to perform more precise misprint monitoring, the present invention performs an operation of comparing all the standard sheets on each fold stacking table, thereby determining the defect level. To provide a misprint monitoring device configured to automatically set, in a setting and defective rate setting device, the largest defective level and defective rate that can distinguish all standard paper sheets from each other.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a misprint monitoring device according to the present invention.

The sensor unit 1 is connected to a folding stacking table (hereinafter referred to as
It is fixed to the collating machine (simply a frame) and monitors the bottom page of the signatures stacked on the collating machine frame. For example, if there are n frames, n sensor units 1 are also required. No.1...No.n indicates the frame number. The sensor section 1 is composed of a plurality of optical sensors.
Therefore, the misprint monitoring device of the present invention uses a plurality of points as measurement points. The sensor unit 1 is made to reflect the light from a light source lamp onto the paper surface, and convert the reflected light into an analog quantity of electricity using an optical sensor.
The output of the sensor section 1 is amplified by an amplifier 2.
The amplifier 2 is preferably a buffer amplifier that performs impedance conversion in order to prevent noise and the like from entering.

The amplified signal is sent to multiplexer 79. The analog signal is time-divided by the multiplexer 79 and sent to the AD converter 13 one after another. In the AD converter 13, the analog signal is converted into a digital signal.

Through this operation, the analog signal is stored as a digital signal in the storage circuit 75 for each measurement point according to instructions from the memory controller 14.

The case where there is one frame will be described below. The same idea can be applied to the case where there are multiple frames.

The memory circuit 75 can be broadly divided into a standard memory 15 and a monitoring memory 16 based on their roles. There is no functional difference between the standard memory 15 and the monitoring memory 16. The memory 15 stores information on the standard paper, and the memory 16 stores information on the monitored paper. Regarding the standard paper surface, the bottom side of the signature stacked on the folding table is initially treated as the correct standard paper surface by visual inspection by the worker.
A common practice is to compare the signal obtained from the standard paper with the signal obtained from the monitored paper.
In that case, when the monitored paper surface of the monitored signature is determined to be good by comparing the fixed method in which the bottom surface of the first signature is always the standard paper surface and the signal of the bottom surface of the first signature. There is an update method in which the paper is sequentially updated to a new standard paper. The operations of memory 15 and memory 16 are as follows.

The contents of the memory 16 are stored in the level failure detector 31.
The data is compared with the contents of the memory 15, and if there is a difference of more than a predetermined defect level M, it is detected as a defective point. In other words, the first standard page of the memory 15
Information on the th measurement point (hereinafter referred to as E ₁ t ₁ ) is led to the level failure detector 31 . Next, the information of the first measurement point on the monitoring paper in the memory 16 (hereinafter
E ₁ 't ₁ ) is led to the level failure detector 31.
Then, the level failure detector 31 determines that E ₁ t ₁ −E ₁ ′t ₁ <
Based on the determination of M, it is determined whether E ₁ 't ₁ is a defective point. Failure level M is determined by failure level setter 3.
2 is automatically set. The defect level M can be automatically set depending on the state of the monitoring paper.

If E ₁ 't ₁ is a defect signal, one pulse is sent from the level defect detector 31 to the defect rate detector 51 . The defect rate detector 51 counts the number of pulses. Next, the information on the second measurement point on the standard paper (E ₂ t ₂ ) and the information on the second measurement point on the monitoring paper (E ₂ 't ₂ ) are compared in the same way,
It is determined whether E ₂ ′t ₂ is a bad signal. This operation is performed for all measurement points.

When all measurement points are compared in this way, the number of defective signals is stored in the defective rate detector 51. Whether or not a signature is defective is determined based on the ratio of the number of defective signals to the total number of measurement points. The defective rate setter 42 sets the ratio of defective signals to the total number of measurement points. For example, when the defective rate setting device 42 is set to 20% and the total number of measurement points is 60, the limit for the number of defective signals is 12 points. These two pieces of information are transferred from the defective rate setter 42 to the defective rate detector 51.
sent to. The defective rate of the defective rate setter 42 is automatically set. The number of defective signals is stored in the defective rate detector 51, and this number of defective signals is compared with the information sent from the defective rate setting device 42.
A signal indicating whether the monitored papers are of the same type or different types is sent to the continuous defect occurrence detector 61. Continuous failure detector 61
When the number of times of failure determination reaches the number of consecutive failures set by the continuous failure count setting device 62, a failure command is issued to a command circuit (not shown) as a final failure. If the continuous failure count setting device 62 determines that even one sheet is defective, it can issue a failure command.
In the case of incorrect pages due to a loading error, 50 to 100 sheets in a row
Since failures occur on the order of 1 sheet, if the consecutive failure count setter 62 is set to 3, for example, a failure command will be issued only when three consecutive failures are discovered. The setting of the number of consecutive failures setter 62 can be set arbitrarily, and this number of consecutive failures setter 62 makes it possible to monitor only irregular pages due to loading errors. The final defect determination sent to the command circuit is notified to the operator by sounding a buzzer or stopping the collating machine.

The setting of the defective level M in the defective level setter 32 and the setting of the defective rate in the defective rate setter 42 are automatically performed.

When a paper surface to be treated as a standard paper surface is placed on the folding table, the automatic discrimination level setting device 86 sets the defective level M and the defective rate by the following operation.

For example, if there are frames from No. 1 to No. 6, No.
The standard paper surfaces are compared in all 15 combinations, such as the No. 1 standard paper surface and the No. 2 standard paper surface, the No. 1 standard paper surface and the No. 3 standard paper surface, and so on. At this time, the defective level M and the defective rate are set to appropriate values. Comparison between standard sheets is performed according to instructions from the memory controller 14. Since there are no two standard papers that are the same, if even one set of standard papers is determined to be of the same type, the set values for the defective level M and the defective rate are large. Therefore, the value of the defective level M or defective rate is automatically reduced by the automatic discrimination level setter 86. Conversely, if all the standard sheets are determined to be "different types", the values of the defective level M and the defective rate are sufficiently small. However, if the values of the defective level M and defective rate are too small, a discrimination error will occur in which "same type" is treated as "different type", so the values of the defective level M and defective rate are
slightly larger.

The automatic discrimination level setter 86 repeats the above operations and sets the highest defective level M and defective rate that can distinguish all standard sheets from each other in the defective level setter 32 and defective rate setter 42. be.

The above method is very convenient because the operator does not have to manually set the defective level M and the defective rate.

Further, the sensor section 1 is composed of at least six optical sensors. Therefore, if there are variations in the sensitivity characteristics of the optical sensor, it is not possible to accurately monitor misprinted pages. Therefore, the sensitivity characteristics of the optical sensor are corrected as follows.

Sensitivity correction of each optical sensor is performed by an amplifier 2.
Two types of reference inputs are given to perform two-point calibration. Two-point calibration is performed using the input signal when the paper surface is completely black and the input signal when the paper surface is completely white as reference inputs.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of an amplifier having a sensitivity correction function.

The output of the optical sensor 81 of the sensor section 1 is input to the positive input of the amplifier 82. Black data B as a digital signal is input to the negative input of the amplifier 82 via a black DA converter 83. Black data B is converted into an analog signal by a black DA converter 83 and input to an amplifier 82. amplifier 82
The gain control terminal 82a of the white DA
White data W as a digital signal is input via the converter 84. The white data W is converted into an analog signal by a white DA converter 84 and sent to an amplifier 82.
is input.

In this way, for example, when an all-black reference input is input, the output of the amplifier 82 is 0, and when an all-white reference input is input, the output of the amplifier 82 is 50. This calibration is performed for all optical sensors 81. When the reference input is all black, the black data B is used to calibrate the output so that it becomes 0.
When the reference input is all white, the output is 50 due to the white data W.
Calibrate so that The output of amplifier 82 is AD
The converter 85 converts it into a digital signal.

By doing the above, it is possible to correct variations in the output characteristics of each optical sensor 81 based on when the paper surface is completely black and when the paper surface is completely white. As a result, it is possible to more precisely monitor irregular pages.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a misprint monitoring device of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of an amplifier having a sensitivity correction function. 1...Sensor section, 2...Amplifier, 13...
AD converter, 14...Memory controller, 15...Standard memory, 16...Monitoring memory, 31...Level defect detector, 32...Failure level setter, 42...Failure rate setter, 51...
Defective rate detector, 61...Continuous failure occurrence detector, 6
2...Continuous failure count setting device, 81...Optical sensor, 82...Amplifier, 83...DA converter, 84...DA converter, 85...AD converter, 86...Discrimination level automatic setting device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A sensor section that is installed on each fold stacking table of a collating machine used in bookbinding and is composed of an optical sensor;
an amplifier that amplifies each output from the optical sensor; and an amplifier that amplifies each output from the optical sensor, and time-divides each output from the amplifier in order.
a multiplexer for sending the digital signal to the AD converter; a standard memory and a monitoring memory for storing the digital signal converted by the AD converter; a level failure detector for comparing the contents of each memory with a predetermined level; A defective rate detector that compares the number of defective signals from the level defective detector and the number of measurement points, and the bottom surface of the standard signature placed on each of the folding stacks is measured by the optical sensor of the sensor unit. Then, the output is converted into a digital signal by an AD converter and stored in the standard memory.Furthermore, the bottom surface of the monitoring signature placed on each of the signature stacking tables is measured by the optical sensor of the sensor unit, and the After converting the output into a digital signal with the AD converter and storing it in the monitoring memory,
The difference between the content of the monitoring memory and the content of the standard memory at the same measurement point is taken, the number of defective signals for which the difference exceeds a predetermined level is stored in the defective rate detector, and the number of defective signals and the number of defective signals are measured. In the misprint monitoring device that monitors misprint by comparing the number of points, the defect level setting device and the defect rate setting device An apparatus for monitoring irregular pages, characterized in that a defective level and defective rate automatic setting means is provided for automatically setting the largest defective level and defective rate that can distinguish all the standard papers.