阅读说明：本技术 用于印刷印刷物的印刷设备和方法 (Printing device and method for printing printed matter ) 是由 安吉洛·谢斯特 于 2018-08-01 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明涉及用于印刷印刷物的印刷设备(10)和方法,带有多个印刷工位(14)、至少一个预处理工位和/或后处理工位(18,20,22)和用于容纳印刷物和用于将印刷物运输到所述工位(16,18,20,22)的多个印刷物托架(40)。根据本发明设置成,印刷物托架(40)分别具有专用的驱动器、可转向的底盘(42)和控制单元,以为了独立地移动印刷物托架(40),且所述工位(14,16,18,20,22)布置在运输面(12)处,所述印刷物托架(40)可自由地在所述运输面上移动。(The invention relates to a printing device (10) and a method for printing printed matter, comprising a plurality of printing stations (14), at least one pre-and/or post-treatment station (18,20,22) and a plurality of printed matter carriers (40) for receiving the printed matter and for transporting the printed matter to the stations (16,18,20, 22). According to the invention, the print carriers (40) each have a dedicated drive, a steerable chassis (42) and a control unit, in order to move the print carriers (40) independently, and the workstations (14,16,18,20,22) are arranged on a transport plane (12) on which the print carriers (40) can be freely moved.)

1. A printing apparatus for printing printed matter has

-a plurality of digital printing stations (14),

-at least one pre-and/or post-treatment station (18,20,22), and

-a plurality of print carriers (40) for receiving prints and for transporting the prints to the stations (16,18,20,22),

it is characterized in that the preparation method is characterized in that,

-the print carriage (40) has a dedicated drive, a steerable chassis (42) and a control unit, respectively, for moving the print carriage (40) independently, and

-the stations (14,16,18,20,22) are arranged at a transport plane (12) on which the print carrier (40) is freely movable.

2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1,

it is characterized in that the preparation method is characterized in that,

at least one loading station (30) for loading the printed matter onto the printed matter carrier (40) and/or at least one unloading station (38) for removing printed matter from the printed matter carrier (40) are provided.

3. Printing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,

it is characterized in that the preparation method is characterized in that,

the control unit of the printed matter carrier (40) has a receiving device (46) for receiving job data for a print job of the accommodated printed matter.

4. The printing apparatus according to claim 2 or 3,

it is characterized in that the preparation method is characterized in that,

a transmitting device (32) is provided at the loading station (30) for transmitting task data.

5. The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4,

it is characterized in that the preparation method is characterized in that,

a central computing unit is provided, which is connected to the workstations (14,16,18,20,22,30, 38).

6. The printing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein,

it is characterized in that the preparation method is characterized in that,

the workstations (14,16,18,20,22,30,38) have data transmission means which transmit information data about the load ratios of the workstations to the central processing unit and/or to a control unit of the print carrier (40).

7. The printing apparatus according to claim 5 or 6,

it is characterized in that the preparation method is characterized in that,

the central processing unit is in data connection with the movable print carrier (40).

8. The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7,

it is characterized in that the preparation method is characterized in that,

the drive of the print carrier (40) is designed as an electric drive, and

the print carrier (40) has a rechargeable battery.

9. The printing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein,

it is characterized in that the preparation method is characterized in that,

at least one electric charging station (34) is provided, which is designed to charge the batteries of the print carrier (40).

10. Printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9,

characterized in that at least one dryer station (20) and/or at least one extrusion station and/or at least one flocking station and/or at least one screen printing station (24) and/or at least one further processing station are provided.

11. Printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 10,

it is characterized in that the preparation method is characterized in that,

can store which work stations (14,16,18,20,22) have been moved to for the processing of tasks, and

an evaluation unit is provided, which compares the printing result of the printed material with the used stations (14,16,18,20,22) for quality assurance purposes.

12. Method for printing a print, in particular with a printing apparatus (10) according to one of claims 1 to 11, wherein a plurality of digital printing stations (14) and at least one pre-and/or post-treatment station (16,18,20,22) are provided for printing a print and the print is arranged on a print carrier (40) in each case and is thereby transported to the stations (16,18,20,22),

it is characterized in that the preparation method is characterized in that,

the print carriers (40) each have a dedicated drive, a steerable chassis (42) and a control unit, with which the print carriers (40) are moved independently of one another, and

the work stations (14,16,18,20,22) are arranged on a transport surface (12) on which the print carrier (40) is freely movable to the respective work station (14,16,18,20, 22).

Technical Field

The invention relates to a printing device for printing (Bedrucken) printed matter (Druckgut) according to the preamble of claim 1, comprising a plurality of digital printing stations, at least one pre-and/or post-treatment station and a plurality of printed matter carriers for receiving and transporting the printed matter to the stations.

The invention further relates to a method for printing printed products according to the preamble of claim 12, wherein a plurality of digital printing stations and at least one pre-treatment station and/or post-treatment station are provided for printing and the printed products are each arranged on a printed product carrier and are thereby transported to the stations.

Background

A printing device of this type is known, for example, from WO 2009/146767 a 1. In this known printing machine, the fabric to be printed is applied as a print to a print carrier. The print carrier with the unwound web travels through a plurality of digital print stations that are positioned in a row along a conveyor track. Further processing stations can be arranged along the conveying track, for example for pretreatment or reprocessing. Such a printing apparatus works efficiently when many prints should be printed identically.

It may be necessary for individual printing of fabrics (e.g. T-shirts), for example, a first fabric may be printed with only one pigment, while subsequent fabrics may be printed with multiple pigments. It is also possible that some fabrics require a pre-treatment, such as under painting (Grundierung), whereas others do not. However, since all the fabrics travel through all the stations, the time consumption for all the fabrics is almost equally high and the efficiency of such printing equipment is reduced.

From EP 2509791B 1 a printing machine is known in which a plurality of printing stations are arranged along an oval circumferential track along a base frame. Furthermore, a plurality of print carriers are provided which transport the workpieces to be printed along a circulating path to the individual printing stations. In order to increase the flexibility, it is provided in the printing machine that each print carrier is equipped with a drive which is connected to an electrical energy source via a contact connection. Furthermore, each print carrier has at least one drive wheel for driving the print carrier, wherein the drive wheel is in frictional or form-fitting engagement with the guide rail. Despite the increased flexibility, it determines the total throughput through the printing machine (sometimes referred to as total throughput), for example when workpieces which are to be printed with a plurality of colors are to be run through.

EP 3121015 a1 discloses a printing unit with a printing table on which two trays are mounted so as to be movable parallel to one another between a setup station and a printing station.

Disclosure of Invention

The object of the present invention is to provide a printing device and a method for printing printed matter, with which printed matter to be printed individually and differently can also be printed with high efficiency.

According to the invention, this object is achieved by a printing unit having the features of claim 1 or by a method having the features of claim 12. Preferred embodiments of the invention are given in the dependent claims.

The printing unit according to the invention is characterized in that the print carriers each have a dedicated drive, a steerable chassis and a control unit, for the purpose of moving the print carriers independently and the stations are arranged at a transport plane on which the print carriers can be freely moved.

The basic idea of the invention is to start with a linear transport path for all print carriers and to configure all print carriers as freely movable print carriers. The print carriers each have a dedicated drive, a steerable chassis and a control unit in order to move the print carriers independently.

According to a further aspect of the invention, the individual stations are no longer arranged linearly or sequentially relative to one another, but are positioned distributed in the plane at a transport plane, on which the print carriers can be moved freely or at will.

According to one aspect of the invention, the individual print carriers can thus freely and only depending on the job data go to a suitable and freely available station of the printing unit. Thus, the first-in first-out principle is eliminated and the printing tasks are processed sequentially. Print carriers with print that is to be printed, for example, using only one color, can therefore exceed print carriers that have to pass through a plurality of printing stations that were originally designed earlier. Thus, the printed matter can be printed efficiently in time, wherein the individual printing stations and processing stations can be used efficiently at the same time.

A further advantage of the invention is that the entire printing system can be adapted relatively easily to changes in throughput, in particular by adding further necessary printing or processing stations.

A preferred embodiment of the invention provides that at least one loading station for loading printed material onto the printed material carrier and/or at least one unloading station for removing printed material from the printed material carrier is provided. An operator may be provided at the loading or unloading station for manual loading or unloading. The loading station can also be provided partially or fully automated, in which, for example, a loading robot takes the prints (e.g. T-shirts) out of the warehouse and transfers them to print carriers.

In the printed area, a textile, in particular a garment such as a T-shirt, a jersey or the like, is preferably provided. However, the invention is not limited to the printing of textiles, but can also be used in particular for the printing of leather, wood, stone, ceramics, metal parts, cardboard, plastics or other individual items.

A further preferred embodiment variant of the invention can consist in that the control unit of the print carrier has a receiving device for receiving job data for a print job of the accommodated prints. For data transmission, for example, at the loading station, the receiving device can be operated in a contact-connected or preferably contactless manner. The receiving unit may in particular be a scanner.

In this case, it is particularly advantageous if a transmitting device for transmitting and/or displaying the task data is provided at the loading station. The movable print carrier with the print accommodated thereby receives all the necessary job data and thus the necessary information: which individual printing stations and processing stations can be driven to. The stations present can be stored in a corresponding memory of the control unit of the print carrier.

In a further development of the invention, it is particularly expedient to provide a central processing unit which is connected to the workstations. The operating state of all workstations can thus be accessed via the central computing unit and corresponding data can also be transmitted to the workstations.

According to a further embodiment of the invention, a particularly efficient mode of operation is achieved in that the workstations have data transmission devices which transmit information about the load factor of the workstations to the central processing unit and/or to the control unit of the print carrier.

In this case, it is particularly expedient for the central processing unit to be in data connection with the movable print carrier.

In this way, the control unit of the movable print carrier obtains all the necessary information, which is necessary for processing the assigned tasks in an efficient manner. With the aid of predefined conditions, the control unit or the central processing unit can decide independently which stations can be driven to and in which sequence to the individual stations in order to complete the printing job.

In principle, the print carrier can be provided with any suitable drive. In particular, the transport surface can also be driven inductively and/or at least supplied with inductive energy. The development according to the invention is particularly advantageous if the drive of the print carrier is designed as an electric drive and the print carrier has a rechargeable battery. The battery can be a lithium-ion accumulator, which is very powerful and a relatively inexpensive energy store.

In this case, it is particularly expedient to provide at least one electrical charging station, which is designed to charge the batteries of the print carrier. The charging station may be combined with the processing station or may be a separate charging station or maintenance station. In particular, a plurality of charging stations may be arranged at the transport face. In this case, the control unit or the central computer unit of each print carrier determines when and to which charging stations the movable print carrier can travel. This may be determined depending on the remaining capacity of the battery and the free capacity at the charging station.

Even though the printing device according to the invention is preferably provided with a digital printing station, additional printing stations or other processing stations can additionally or alternatively be provided if necessary. In this case, it is particularly preferred to provide at least one dryer station and/or at least one extrusion station and/or at least one flocking station and/or at least one screen printing station and/or at least one further processing station.

The dryer station is used to dry the applied substrate or ink during or after printing. The extrusion station can be used for additionally fixing the applied medium and in particular the ink. For certain printed products with a fibrous surface, a so-called flocking station can be provided for applying fibers or other artistic elements. For the rapid application of larger quantities of ink or other substances, at least one screen printing station with a screen printing stencil can be arranged. In this case, screen printing is particularly advantageous for applying a base color, for example a white base color on a dark or black textile.

In accordance with a further development of the invention, it is advantageous if the control unit can store which workstations a printing result of the print to be printed has already been moved to for the processing task, and if an evaluation unit is provided which compares the printing result of the print to be printed with the workstations used for quality assurance purposes.

If defects are determined at the printing result in the event of quality assurance, they can be obtained with the stations used by means of the stored process data, which stations may have to be maintained or have to be shut off in order to avoid incorrect printing. Thus, by appropriate automation of the quality assurance, for example by a camera system with an image processing system, the first deviation at the printing result can also be obtained so early that a fault-free printing operation can be achieved or at least sought after by timely maintenance of the individual workstations.

The method according to the invention is characterized in that the print carriers each have a dedicated drive, a steerable chassis and a control unit and the print carriers are moved independently of each other and the stations are arranged at a transport plane where the print carriers are freely moved to the respective stations.

The method according to the invention can be carried out in particular with the printing apparatus according to the invention described previously. The advantages described above can be achieved here.

Drawings

The invention will be further elucidated by means of preferred embodiments schematically shown in the drawing.

The printing device 10 according to the invention is shown schematically in a top view in a greatly reduced scale in the single figure.

Detailed Description

The printing unit 10 has a transport surface 12, which can be, in particular, a factory floor. On the transport surface 12, a plurality of movable print carriers 40 are arranged, each having a box-shaped, steerable chassis 42 and an upper receiving surface for the print to be printed, in particular a T-shirt. The receiving surface may have a fixed or releasable tray. The steerable chassis 42 is understood to be not only a mechanical steering mechanism with a steering shaft, but also a single-wheel manipulator with a rigid shaft or other suitable steering means. The movable print carrier 40 has an electrical drive, not shown in detail, which is supplied with energy from a rechargeable battery. The printed matter carrier 40, which may also be referred to as a robot (bot), has a receiving or reading device for receiving job data.

When the printed matter is applied automatically or by an operator with or without a pallet to the receiving surface on the printed matter carrier 40, the task data can be received at the loading station 30 provided with the corresponding delivery device 32. Here, the fabric can be taken from the store 5 arranged directly at the loading station 30. In the exemplary embodiment shown, the loading station 30 for loading a plurality of print carriers 40 is designed as a charging station 34 at the same time in order to charge the batteries of the print carriers 40 with electrical energy. However, a further charging station 34 may also be provided at the transport surface 12 separately from the loading station 30.

Furthermore, a monitoring device, in particular a camera system, can be provided at the loading station 30, with which a correct, in particular wrinkle-free application of the print on the print carrier 40 can be checked. If an error is detected during loading, the print carrier 40 is moved back directly into the loading station 30 again in order to eliminate the error.

Depending on the assignment data transmitted in the loading station 30, the control unit of the print carrier 40 determines which stations are to be reached at the transport plane 12, if necessary under the influence of a central processing unit.

The print carrier 40 can then first run to the pretreatment station 16, in which the print is first pretreated in a known manner for subsequent printing. The print carrier 40 with the print can then be guided to one or more digital printing stations 14, in which one or more pigments are applied to the print by means of a digital inkjet print head. The digital print station 14 may be configured as a continuous print station (Durchlaufdruckstation)14a, in which the print carrier 40 travels straight through the print station. Alternatively or additionally, the print carrier 40 with the print can also be routed to the station printer 14b, in which the print carrier 40 with the print remains stationary in the printing position during the printing process. After digital printing, print carriage 40 is again moved out of the printing position at station press 14 b.

Depending on the printing job, in the exemplary embodiment shown, the print carrier 40 can also run to one or more screen printing stations 24, in which, for example, white substrates, pretreatments, special effects such as Glitter (Glitter), films, adhesives, HD, etc. can be applied. The screen printing station 24 can be provided with an automatic screen changing device.

Additional stations such as dryers may also be provided for post-processing.

In the illustrated exemplary embodiment of printing system 10, print carrier 40, after the last printing and processing step, moves to an unloading station 38, dryer station 20 being situated after unloading station 38. In the unloading station 38, the printed print can be taken from the print carrier 40 separately or together with the releasable tray and moved through the last dryer station 20 and the packaging station 22 via the transport device 39. The finished and packaged printed matter can then be brought to the delivery station 6 by the transport device 39.

Corresponding devices, in particular camera systems, can also be provided for quality testing at the unloading station 38. In the event of a quality defect being determined, the defective goods can be removed or the print carrier 40 with the print can be returned to the preceding station for further processing, in particular also to the loading station 30.

After the completed prints have been removed from print carrier 40, print carrier 40 can be returned to loading station 30 again for additional processing.