JPS6034593B2 - jet printing method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a printing method that allows direct printing on food/beverage products or medicines.

Traditionally, printing on food or pharmaceutical products has been carried out using stamp printing, flexo printing, silk screen printing, etc. using printing inks using edible resins such as food pigments and shellac, but all of these methods require the production of individual printing plates. This poses a serious problem in terms of work efficiency, especially when printing small lots.

It has been difficult to print on objects that are easily destroyed or deformed. Furthermore, printing may not be possible depending on the shape of the printing medium. As a result of intensive studies to address the above-mentioned problems, the present invention has been developed to provide printed matter that can be printed almost unaffected by the material and shape of the printing medium using a jet printing method, and that does not pose any food hygiene problems. This made it possible. Jet printing is a process in which printing ink is introduced into a metal or glass nozzle with around 20 to 100 inner nozzles, and the ink is pressurized to spray uniform ink fine particles from the nozzle tip, which are placed in front of the nozzle. The ink fine particles are electrostatically deflected by a deflection electrode, and an image is drawn on a printing material several feet apart according to a predetermined dot matrix.

The inkjet method used in jet printing can be roughly divided into the accelerated vibration type and the electrostatic acceleration type.The nozzle length of the latter is significantly thinner than the latter, less than 50mm, and in order to increase resolution, the Ink jets with nozzle diameters of approximately Furthermore, compared to conventional printing methods, since the printing process is electronically controlled, the operating noise is extremely low, high-speed printing is possible, and the printing material can be freely selected from paper, plastic, metal, etc. Furthermore, since it is a direct printing method, there is no need for any plate-making process, and it is flexible in that the font size and format can be freely selected. Important characteristics required of jet printing inks include not clogging fine nozzles and preventing solid matter from adhering to a portion of the nozzles and changing the ink jet direction.

This requirement is required not only during long-term continuous operation, but also when jet printing is restarted after jet printing has been interrupted.
In addition, important recording properties of jet printing ink include surface tension, viscosity, and electrical conductivity, which are affected by the stability of particle formation when the ink is ejected from the nozzle, cutting distance,
This is a major problem when producing jet printing ink, as it greatly affects the charging time and voltage, and is related to the type and amount of wetting agent added to prevent nozzle clogging. As mentioned above, the jet printing method allows printing on the printing material without contact, it is also possible to print on items where the printing material is easily destroyed or deformed, and it is a method that can print almost regardless of the shape of the printing material. .

Furthermore, since there is no need to produce individual printing plates during printing, it is very useful for printing in batches. Various jet printing methods can be applied to the present invention.

In other words, either the accelerated vibration type or the electrostatic acceleration type can be applied, and various types of ink can be used. However, in the present invention, the ink must be edible. The composition of the ink of the present invention may vary depending on the jet printing method, but it may contain at least one selected from edible colorants and edible coloring agents, {B} an edible solvent, and, if necessary, It is an ink consisting of {C} edible resin.

In other words, synthetic or natural food dyes, other edible coloring agents, and edible substances that develop color upon contact with the printing material or upon treatment such as heating are examples of the harmful substances. Synthetic food colors include Food Red No. 2 and its aluminum lake, Food Red No. 3 and its aluminum lake, and Food Red 102.
No. 104, No. 105, No. 106, Food Yellow No. 4 and its aluminum lake, Food Yellow No. 5 and its aluminum lake, Food Green No. 3 and its aluminum lake, Food Blue No. 1 and its aluminum lake, Food Blue 2 No. and its aluminum lake, sodium copper chlorophyllin, copper chlorophyll, etc. Examples of natural food pigments include betanin, carminic acid, latukaic acid, crocin, and anthocyanin pigments. Other edible colorants can also be used. As the edible coloring agent, it is possible to use a substance that develops color when printed on the printing medium, that is, a substance that develops color upon contact with the printing medium, or a substance that develops color by processing such as heating after printing on the printing medium. 'B} is water,
These include ethylene alcohol, ethyl acetate, glycerin, and propylene glycol. } as Estergum,
These include vinyl acetate resin, polyisobutylene, polybutene, methyl cellulose, etc. In the present invention, in addition to the legs, edible additives such as preservatives, antioxidants,
Edible substances such as bactericides, antifoaming agents, and flavoring agents may also be used. The jet printing ink composition as described above is used to jet print foods such as confectionery and fruits, pharmaceutical tablets, and the like.

Post-treatment and pre-treatment such as heating can also be performed as necessary. Printed matter using the edible jet ink by the jet printing method of the present invention can be printed clearly even with characters that require extremely high resolution, and can be printed at high speed. Since the present invention uses non-contact printing, it is possible to print on curved surfaces, uneven printing materials, and easily destroyed printing materials.

In addition, it is an extremely effective method for printing that requires sequentially different displays such as dates and lot numbers, and has an extremely large labor-saving effect when linked with a computer. Since no plates are used, there are no hygiene problems associated with printing. below,
A detailed explanation will be given based on examples.

In the examples, "parts" indicate parts by weight. Example 1 Food Blue No. 2 (synthetic food coloring) 3 (parts) Propylene glycol 7 Glycerin 3 Ion-exchanged water 87 In a composition such as the above, sufficiently dissolve pseudo-azusa as prescribed.

The ink thus obtained is introduced into a filtering machine (Millipore filter 1 French), and the filtering operation is repeated twice to obtain an edible jet printing ink. The physical properties of the obtained edible jet ink include electrical conductivity of 2.1 x 10-30/fox and viscosity of 2. $ps, surface tension 53 Pyne/skin, pH 7.5. Using this edible jet ink, a charging voltage of 120 V and a piezo voltage of 100 V was used using a nozzle with an inner diameter of 80 mm.
When jet printing was performed on a raw egg as a printing material under the printing conditions of a vibration frequency of 200 KHZ and a deflection voltage of 750 V,
A print with a good blue image was obtained. Example 2 Red beet (betanin) 2.3 (parts) cochineal (carminic acid) 1.5 propylene glycol
7.2 Glycerin
40 Ion exchange water 85.0
Using the above composition, an edible jet ink was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1.

The physical properties of the jet ink thus obtained were: electrical conductivity: 2.3 x 10-30/skin, surface tension: 5 m/y/y,
An edible jet ink with a viscosity of 3.7 cps and a pH of 7.0 was obtained. Using this edible jet ink,
Charging voltage 100V using Buddha nozzle, piezo voltage 13
When jet printing was carried out in the same manner as in Example 1 at 0 V, frequency of 170 KH2, and deflection voltage of 600 V, a printed matter with a good red image was obtained. Example 3 Food green No. 3 (synthetic food coloring) 3.0 (parts) Propylene glycol 8.2 Glycerin
1.5 vinyl acetate resin
5.1 Ion exchange water 82.2
Using the above composition, an edible jet ink was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1.

The physical property value of the obtained edible jet ink is electrical conductivity 1
．． 4×10-30/skin, viscosity 3.1 cps, surface tension 5
was yne/arc, pH 7.1. When this ink was used to jet print lemon onto a printing material using a nozzle with an inner diameter of 20 r at a charging voltage of 200 V, a piezo voltage of 100 V, and a deflection voltage of 650 V, the same results as in Example 1 were obtained. Example 4 Red beet 3.0 (parts) Methyl cellulose 2.1 Propylene glycol 5.4 Ion exchange water
The composition of 89.5 or higher is made into an edible jet ink by the same operation as in Example 1.

The physical properties of the edible jet ink thus obtained were electrical conductivity of 1.4 x 10-30/arc, viscosity of 3.0 ps, surface tension of 4 yene/g, and pH of 7.1. Using this edible jet ink, jet printing was performed using a nozzle with an inner diameter of 35 cm on a tablet used as a printing material for pharmaceuticals at a charging voltage of 150 V, a piezo voltage of 100 y, a vibration frequency of 18 Hz, and a deflection voltage of 850 V. , results having effects similar to those of Example 1 were obtained. Example 5 Food red No. 3 aluminum lake (synthetic food coloring) 2.8 (parts) Propylene glycol 5.1 Glycerin
28 vinyl acetate resin
2.4 Ion exchange water
The composition of 86.9 or higher is made into an edible jet ink by the same operation as in Example 1.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 (A) at least one selected from edible colorants and edible coloring agents; (B) a solvent selected from water, ethyl alcohol, glycerin, and propylene glycol; and, if necessary, (C) an edible resin. 1. A jet printing method comprising jet printing on food or medicine using an edible jet printing ink composition comprising: