JP7590936B2 - Printing machine ink supply information registration device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an ink supply amount information registration device for a printing press.

In conventional printing machines, when performing the same print (reprint) as a previous print, it is often possible to match the color tone with a smaller number of trial prints by setting (presetting) the ink supply amount using the key opening and ink fountain roller rotation speed during the actual printing of the previous print, rather than setting (presetting) the ink supply amount using the ink fountain key opening and ink fountain roller rotation speed newly calculated based on the image area ratio of the image to be printed. For this reason, the key opening and ink fountain roller rotation speed during the actual printing of the previous print are stored (registered) as optimal ink supply amount information and used when reprinting (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

However, if the room temperature or the machine temperature of the printing press when reprinting is different from when the optimal ink supply rate information was stored, the ink's physical properties (viscosity, etc.) will also be different, and the optimal ink supply rate information will not necessarily be optimal information. Therefore, even if test printing is performed to match the color tone using the optimal ink supply rate information, the number of test prints cannot be reduced compared to when a new setting is made based on the image area ratio of the image to be printed, and there is room for improvement.

Patent No. 2858438

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVETION The present invention has been made to solve such problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an ink supply amount information registration device for a printing press that can reduce the number of test prints.

To achieve the above object, the ink supply amount information registration device for a printing press according to the present invention is characterized by comprising a temporary registration means for temporarily registering ink supply amount information at any timing during actual printing, and a final registration means for final registration, as ink supply amount information for reprinting, of ink supply amount information selected from the ink supply amount information temporarily registered by the temporary registration means and the ink supply amount information at the timing when the actual printing ends.

According to the above configuration, the optimal ink supply amount information can be selected and registered from the ink supply amount information provisionally registered by the provisional registration means and the ink supply amount information at the timing when the actual printing is completed. Therefore, when reprinting the same print as the previous print, the number of trial prints can be reduced by printing based on the ink supply amount information for reprinting selected and registered from the multiple ink supply amount information.

In addition, in the ink supply amount information registration device for a printing press according to the present invention, the arbitrary timing preferably includes the timing at which actual printing starts, and the provisional registration means preferably automatically provisionally registers the ink supply amount information at the timing at which actual printing starts.

As described above, the ink supply amount information at the time when the trial printing ends and the actual printing starts is automatically provisionally registered by the provisional registration means, which prevents the ink supply amount information from being forgotten to be provisionally registered during the actual printing.

In addition, the ink supply amount information registration device for a printing press according to the present invention may, when a registration screen for the actual registration by the actual registration means is displayed on a display unit provided on the printing press, switch from the registration screen to display the provisionally registered ink supply amount information and the ink supply amount information at the timing when the actual printing ends, or may display them as a pop-up on the registration screen.

According to the above configuration, when the registration screen for registration by the main registration means is displayed, the provisionally registered ink supply amount information and the ink supply amount information at the timing when the main printing ends are switched from the registration screen to be displayed or are displayed as a pop-up on the registration screen, so that the ink supply amount information can be easily confirmed.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an ink supply amount information registration device for a printing press that can select ink supply amount information for reprinting to be registered from multiple pieces of ink supply amount information, thereby reducing the number of trial prints when reprinting, which is the same as the previous print.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of an ink supply section of a printing press. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an ink key screen that displays in real time the ink key opening and the rotation speed of the ink fountain roller in each unit of a printing press. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a registration screen displayed when registering key opening data. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a key opening data confirmation screen which is switched to when the confirmation button in FIG. 3 is pressed; 11 is a flowchart showing a process from the start of production printing to the registration of key opening data. FIG. 2 is a control block diagram of the present invention.

The following describes an ink supply amount information registration device for a printing press according to one embodiment of the present invention, with reference to the drawings.

Figure 1 shows the ink supply section installed inside one printing unit that prints in a printing press.

In FIG. 1, the ink source roller 1, which is supplied with ink from the ink fountain, rotates counterclockwise in the figure and supplies ink to a group of multiple ink rollers 3 located downstream via the ink call roller 2. The ink call roller 2, which is not shown in detail, reciprocates so as to be able to approach and separate from the ink source roller 1 and the lateral roll roller 4. That is, when the ink call roller 2 is in contact with the ink source roller 1, the ink call roller 2 is separated from the lateral roll roller 4. This reciprocating motion is also called the ink call operation, and the more ink is called, the more ink is supplied to the ink roller group 3. In addition, the ink key K of the ink fountain slides in the direction of the arrow S to be able to approach and separate from the ink source roller 1, and the ink key K is configured to be able to be opened and closed as the ink key K is separated from the ink source roller 1, so that a large amount of ink is supplied onto the ink source roller 1. Each ink key K is moved by the drive of an ink key drive motor not shown. In addition, a water tank 5 that contains dampening water is provided in the water section located below the ink roller group 3, and the dampening water in the water tank 5 can be supplied to the printing plate (not shown) wrapped around the plate cylinder 7 via a water source roller 6.

The ink keys K are arranged in a row in the axial direction of the ink fountain roller 1 (see Figure 1), i.e., in the width direction of the printing press (printed material) (direction perpendicular to the conveying direction). The distance (opening) of the ink keys K from the ink fountain roller 1 is determined for each ink key K according to the amount of ink required based on the pattern to be printed. The pattern to be printed has a number of pattern areas divided into a number of regions corresponding to each of the ink keys K arranged in a row in the width direction of the printing press.

Then, before performing a test print, the key opening of the ink keys K on the ink fountain and the rotation speed of the ink fountain roller 1, i.e., the ink supply amount information, are set (preset) according to the image area ratio of the image to be printed. A test print is performed using the set ink supply amount information, and the color tone (particularly the print density) of the printed matter is measured using an in-line or offline measuring means. In areas of the ink keys K where the color tone (particularly the print density) of the printed matter is inappropriate, the key opening of the ink keys K is adjusted to match the color tone to the target value (the central value of the tolerance range or its vicinity).

As shown in FIG. 6, the key opening of the ink key K is detected by a key opening detection means (e.g., a rotary encoder) 8, and the rotation speed of the ink fountain roller 1 is detected by an ink fountain roller rotation speed detection means (e.g., a potentiometer) 9. The detected key opening and ink fountain roller rotation speed are input to the control unit H, which drives the ink key drive motor 10 and the ink fountain roller drive motor 11 so as to match the color tone (particularly the print density) of the printed matter to the target value, as described above.

When the color tone of the printed matter undergoing trial printing matches the target value, a command to start trial printing is output to the printing press by pressing a trial printing button (not shown), and trial printing is started using the ink supply amount information set during trial printing, i.e., the key opening of the ink keys K and the rotation speed of the ink fountain roller 12 when the color tone of the printed matter matches the target value. Then, based on the measurement results of the measuring means described above, the control unit H performs trial printing while driving the ink key drive motor 10 and the ink fountain roller drive motor 11 so as to match the color tone of the printed matter (particularly the print density) to the target value. The trial printing start command can also be output automatically based on the inspection results of an inspection device equipped in the printing press.

As shown in FIG. 6, the control unit H is provided with a temporary registration means 12 that updates and temporarily registers at least one (one in this embodiment) new ink supply amount information at any timing during actual printing by updating the ink supply amount information set during trial printing, and a final registration means 13 that final registers at least one (one in this embodiment, but it may be two or more) ink supply amount information selected from the at least one (one in this embodiment) new ink supply amount information temporarily registered by the temporary registration means 12 and the ink supply amount information at the timing when actual printing ends, as information for reprinting.

In the present invention, after the start of production printing, the ink supply amount information to be used when reprinting the same print as the previous print is provisionally registered, and then the provisionally registered ink supply amount information and the ink supply amount information at the end of production printing can be selected and formally registered. The control by the control unit H up to the formal registration is explained based on the flowchart in Figure 5.

When a command to start production printing is output, the control unit H acquires the current value of the key opening data (step S1). The key opening data includes the key opening and the ink fountain roller rotation speed. The acquired key opening data (current value) is then retained (step S2), that is, the temporary registration means 12 temporarily registers the key opening data (current value) as ink supply amount information. By automatically temporarily registering the key opening data (current value) using the temporary registration means 12, it is possible to prevent forgetting to temporarily register the key opening data during production printing, especially at the start of production printing. In printing, an ink key screen 14 can be displayed on a GUI (Graphical User Interface) that serves as a display unit that can display various states of the printing press and also allows the operator of the printing press to perform various operations (see FIG. 2). On this ink key screen 14, the 30 key openings E and the ink fountain roller rotation speeds F of all printing units (8 units in FIG. 2) are displayed as bar graphs.

The memory button 15 is located at the bottom left of the ink key screen 14. The memory button 15 lights up green (in this embodiment, it is green, but it can be any color) when there is retained key opening data, i.e., temporarily registered ink supply amount information. When there is no retained key opening data, the memory button 15 lights up green at the point when the key opening data (current value) acquired at the start of actual printing is retained (temporarily registered). During the actual printing, it is confirmed whether the memory button 15 has been pressed (step S3). If the memory button 15 has not been pressed, printing (actual printing) continues (step S4), and it is confirmed whether printing (actual printing) has ended (step S5). If printing (actual printing) has not ended, the process returns to step S3.

If the memory button 15 that is lit green in step S3 is pressed, it is checked whether the key opening data held (provisionally registered) in step S2 should be updated to the key opening data at the time when the memory button 15 was pressed (step S6). Specifically, when the memory button 15 is pressed, a confirmation YES/NO button (not shown) pops up on the ink key screen 14 (see FIG. 2). By pressing the YES button, the key opening data (current value) at the time when the memory button 15 was pressed is acquired (step S7), and the key opening data held in step S2 is updated to the key opening data (current value) acquired in step S7 and is retained (step S8). In other words, the key opening data updated by the provisional registration means 12 is provisionally registered as ink supply amount information, and the process returns to step S3.

The key opening data can be updated any number of times while printing is in progress. In other words, if the operator determines that the key opening data is better than the key opening data that is being held (temporarily registered) while printing, the operator can update (temporarily register) it to the better key opening data at any time. In other words, the operator can provisionally register key opening data at any time.

When printing (final printing) is completed in step S5, the printing press goes into an idle state, and it is confirmed whether or not to register the key opening data (ink supply amount information) (step S9). If the key opening data is to be registered, the registration screen 16 shown in FIG. 3 is displayed. If the key opening data is not to be registered, the job is terminated. In the registration screen 16, the current value of the key opening data, that is, the key opening data at the timing when the final printing is completed or the retained (provisionally registered) value can be selected and registered. In other words, when moving to the final registration of the key opening data, the current value or the retained value is confirmed (step S10), and if the current value is selected, the current value button 17 shown in FIG. 3 is pressed. This causes the current value button 17 to light up in green. Then, by pressing the final registration end button 22, the current value of the key opening data (the key opening data at the timing when the final printing is completed) is acquired (step S11), the acquired current value of the key opening data is registered as the ink supply amount information (step S12), and the job is terminated. To select a retained (provisionally registered) value, press the memory data button 18 shown in FIG. 3. This causes the memory data button 18 to light up green. Then, by pressing the final registration end button 22, the retained (provisionally registered) value is permanently registered as ink supply amount information (step S12), and the job is terminated. Note that if the key opening data is not retained (provisionally registered), the control unit H does not accept an operation signal from the memory data button 18.

Note that by pressing the confirmation button 19 on the registration screen 16, the screen switches to the key opening data confirmation screen 20 shown in FIG. 4, where the current value of the key opening data and the retained (temporarily registered) value can be confirmed. When the screen switches to the key opening data confirmation screen 20, either the current value of the key opening data or the retained (temporarily registered) value is displayed. The display is switched by operating the current value button 17 and the retained value button 18. In this case, it is preferable to configure the button (current value button 17 or retained value button 18) of the displayed key opening data to be lit, so that it is possible to confirm which key opening data it is. In this case, pressing the unlit current value button 17 or retained value button 18 switches the display of the key opening data. After confirmation, pressing the close button 21 switches to the registration screen 16 shown in FIG. 3, where either the current value of the key opening data or the retained (temporarily registered) value is selected and registered permanently.

As described above, when the confirmation button 19 is pressed on the registration screen 16, the screen is switched to the key opening data confirmation screen 20 in FIG. 4, which displays the current value of the key opening data, which is the detailed information, and the retained (provisionally registered) value. However, the registration screen 16 may be configured to display the current value of the key opening data, which is the detailed information, and the retained (provisionally registered) value in a pop-up. In this case, when the registration screen 16 is displayed, the current value of the key opening data and the retained (provisionally registered) value may be automatically pop-up-displayed on the registration screen 16, or may be pop-up-displayed by pressing a button. Therefore, when the registration screen 16 for registration by the main registration means 13 is displayed, the provisionally registered ink supply amount information and the detailed information contained in the ink supply amount information at the timing when the actual printing is completed are switched from the registration screen and displayed or are pop-up-displayed on the registration screen, making it possible to immediately select the optimal ink supply amount information from among the multiple ink supply amount information.

In this embodiment, the optimal ink supply amount information can be selected from the ink supply amount information provisionally registered by the provisional registration means 12 and the ink supply amount information at the timing when the actual printing is completed, and can be officially registered by the official registration means 13. Therefore, when reprinting the same print as the previous print, the number of trial prints can be reduced by printing based on the ink supply amount information for reprinting that has been selected from the multiple ink supply amount information and officially registered.

The present invention may be a method for registering ink supply amount information for a printing press, characterized by comprising a provisional registration step for provisionally registering ink supply amount information at any timing during actual printing, and a final registration step for finally registering ink supply amount information selected from the provisionally registered ink supply amount information and the ink supply amount information at the timing when the actual printing ends, as ink supply amount information for reprinting.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications are possible without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

In the above embodiment, only one key opening data is retained (provisionally registered) by updating it to new key opening data, but multiple key opening data may be retained (provisionally registered) without updating. In addition, the retention (provisional registration) of multiple key opening data may be performed by an operator, or, for example, the control unit may be configured to automatically provisionally register key opening data at regular intervals. Furthermore, if multiple key opening data are configured to be permanently registered as ink supply amount information, the operator can select one key opening data from the multiple registered key opening data when reprinting.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the key opening and the rotation speed of the ink fountain roller are used as the ink supply amount information, but parameters that may affect printing, such as the machine temperature of the printing press, the rotation speed of the water fountain roller, and the temperature in the printing room, may also be used.

1... ink fountain roller, 2... ink call roller, 3... ink roller group, 4... traverse roller, 5... water tank, 6... water fountain roller, 7... plate cylinder, 8... key opening detection means, 9... ink fountain roller rotation speed detection means, 10... ink key drive motor, 11... ink fountain roller drive motor, 12... temporary registration means, 13... actual registration means, 14... ink key screen, 15... memory button, 16... registration screen, 17... current value button, 18... held value button, 19... confirmation button, 20... key opening data confirmation screen, 21... close button, 22... actual registration end button, E... key opening, F... ink fountain roller rotation speed, H... control unit, K... ink key, S... arrow

Claims (2)

a temporary registration means for temporarily registering ink supply amount information at any timing during the actual printing, and a final registration means for final registering, as ink supply amount information for reprinting, ink supply amount information selected from the ink supply amount information temporarily registered by the temporary registration means and the ink supply amount information at the timing when the actual printing is completed ,
The ink supply amount information registration device for a printing press is characterized in that the arbitrary timing includes the timing when the actual printing starts, and the temporary registration means automatically temporarily registers the ink supply amount information at the timing when the actual printing starts . a temporary registration means for temporarily registering ink supply amount information at any timing during the actual printing, and a final registration means for final registering, as ink supply amount information for reprinting, ink supply amount information selected from the ink supply amount information temporarily registered by the temporary registration means and the ink supply amount information at the timing when the actual printing is completed,
An ink supply amount information registration device for a printing press, characterized in that when a registration screen for final registration by the final registration means is displayed on a display unit equipped with the printing press, the provisionally registered ink supply amount information and the ink supply amount information at the timing when the actual printing is completed are switched to and displayed from the registration screen or are displayed as a pop-up on the registration screen .