JPH0221944B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention will be explained in the following order.

(a) Technical field (b) Summary of the invention (c) Prior art and its drawbacks (d) Purpose of the invention (e) Structure of the invention (f) Embodiments Structural description Operational description (g) Effects of the invention (a) Technology Field This invention has a drum that rotates in synchronization with the conveyance of a long object such as a tape measure in a conveyance path, and prints characters on the surface of the long object using printing means provided on the outer peripheral surface of the drum. The present invention relates to a device, and particularly relates to a printing device in which a printing means is rotatably equipped with a printing disk having a printing portion on its outer peripheral surface, and prints arbitrary characters by rotating the printing disk every rotation of the drum.

(b) Summary of the Invention In order to simplify work and maintenance, accurately control printing, and increase printing speed, the printing device according to the present invention omits the ratchet mechanism and clutch mechanism and uses the reciprocating motion of the push rod. a printing means having a means for converting the rotational motion of the motor into a rotational motion of the printing disk; a means for converting the rotational motion of the motor into a reciprocating motion of the push rod; and controlling the drive of the motor by comparing the amount of movement of the means with a set amount. This means that there is a means to do so.

(c) Prior Art and Its Disadvantages When printing arbitrary characters on a long object, a printing machine is generally used that continuously conveys the long object to a printing means at a constant speed. Further, when performing a so-called numbering process in which consecutive numbers are printed, a printing means is used which includes a printing disk with numbers formed on its outer peripheral surface and prints the necessary numbers by rotating this printing disk. In such products, especially when printing a tape measure as shown in FIG. 9, high precision is required in the printing position.

For this reason, conventional printing devices provide a single or multiple printing means on the outer periphery of a drum that rotates in synchronization with the transport speed of the tape measure, and print a printing disk with characters on the outer periphery every time the drum rotates once. It rotates and prints the necessary characters one after another. Conventionally, as means for rotating the printing disk, a ratchet disk having a pitch corresponding to the character spacing on the printing disk is provided coaxially with the printing disk, and the teeth of the ratchet are moved one pitch at a time by the operation of an actuator. The characters on the printing disk facing the front surface were to be changed. Also, lowercase letters 82 for quick reading shown in Figure 9
(82a, 82b) were provided with a clutch mechanism, which was unnecessary in the first 1 m range, to prevent the outer circumferential surface of the printing disk from hitting the surface of the tape measure in areas where printing was not required.

However, the ratchet mechanism only rotates in one direction, and if it goes too far, it must make another rotation. In addition, since both the ratchet disk and the printing disk are coaxially arranged and rotate, it is difficult to detect the characters facing the printing surface. The operation may result in multiple pitch rotations.

For these reasons, in conventional printing apparatuses, the printing disk must be manually rotated to set the first character to be printed before printing begins. Also, during printing operations, it is necessary to check that the printing disk does not malfunction. This has resulted in a drawback that the printing process becomes complicated. In addition, the ratchet mechanism and clutch mechanism are constructed by connecting multiple devices, each installed at a specific location, which makes maintenance such as inspecting and replacing devices extremely complicated, and further increases the printing speed. There were drawbacks that could not be addressed.

(d) Object of the Invention In view of the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks, the object of the present invention is to omit the ratchet mechanism that rotates the printing disk of the printing means and the clutch mechanism that selects whether or not to print. To provide a printing device that simplifies printing work and maintenance, can reliably control printed characters, and can improve printing work.

(e) Structure of the Invention The printing apparatus of the present invention includes a printing means having a printing disk and a disk rotation means for converting reciprocating motion of a push rod into rotational motion and transmitting the same to the printing disk, and A guide that moves the push rod to a predetermined position within a rotation range, a guide moving means that includes a motor and converts the rotational force of the motor into reciprocating motion and transmits it to the guide, and an operating amount and a setting amount of the guide moving means. The present invention is characterized in that it has a comparison means for comparison, and a motor drive control means for controlling the drive of the motor based on the comparison result.

(f) Example: Structural description A printing device that prints characters for quick reading will be described below.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing a schematic structure of a tape measure printing press in which a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is used.

A tape measure 8 is installed from the right side inside the printing press main body 100.
1 is transported. A dryer 101 is provided on the left side of the printing press main body 100. Dryer 10
The tape measure that has passed through the tape measure 1 is wound up by a winding unit 102. At the center of the printing press main body 100, a transport path for the tape measure 81 is formed by four drums 2a to 2d. On the outer periphery of the drum 2a, there is formed a plate showing the accuracy grade, overall length, etc. written on the tip of the tape measure 81. On the outer periphery of the drum 2b, there are formed scales at 1 mm intervals and plates with numbers every 1 cm, as shown in FIG. The drum 2c has small letters 82 for quick reading shown in the figure.
A printing means for printing (82a, 82b) every 10 cm is provided. The drum 2d is also equipped with printing means for printing metric numbers 83 every 1 m. Furthermore, drums 2a to 2d
An ink supply unit 103 is attached to each of the drums, and supplies ink to the plate formed on the outer periphery of each drum and to the fixed printing means.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing a schematic structure of a drum to which a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is fixed.

The outer periphery of the drum 2c for printing small letters 82 for quick reading is divided into ten parts, and stations 3a to 3i, which are printing means constituting a part of the printing apparatus of the present invention, are fixed to nine of the ten parts. The drum 2c rotates in the direction of arrow B in synchronization with the conveyance speed of the tape measure moving in the direction of arrow A below the drum 2c. The drum 2c rotates once while the tape measure advances by 1 m, and numbers on printing disks (not shown) possessed by the stations 3a to 3i are printed at 9 locations at 10 cm intervals over the course of 1 m. At the 10th location, the next metric numeral is printed by the printing means provided on the drum 2d, so the quick reading lowercase letters 82 are not printed. For this reason, the outer circumference of the drum 2c is divided into 10 equal parts, and only 9 locations are provided with stations 3a to 3.
i is fixed.

Push rods 4a to 4c each of the stations 3a to 3i have on the outer periphery of the drum 2c
Guide moving devices 1a to 1c each having guides 5a to 5c corresponding to the guides 5a to 5c are disposed at positions shifted on the circumference. This guide moving device is the guide moving means of the present invention. Each of the guides 5a to 5c is formed over a range corresponding to the rotation angle of 72 degrees of the drum 2c.

FIG. 4 is a front sectional view showing the structure of a station that constitutes a part of the printing apparatus.

The station 3 is formed into a hollow box shape by a housing 301 and a housing cover 310. In the hollow part there is a push rod 4a.
Fixing members 302 to 304 are located to which fixing members 302 to 4c are fixed. Rack gears 331-333 are formed at each end of the fixing members 302-304.

Fixing member 302 with push rod 4a
Attach the mounting bolts 31 to the housing cover 310.
A fixed bearing 313 is in contact with the bearing 313 via a pinion gear 305, and its rack gear 331 meshes with the pinion gear 305. pushyrod 4b
The fixing member 303 having a diameter contacts a bearing 315 provided on the housing 301 via a mounting bolt 316, and its rack gear 332 meshes with the pinion gear 306. Further, the fixing member 304 having the push rod 4c is in contact with a bearing 311 which is attached to the housing cover 310 via a mounting bolt 312, and its rack gear 333 is engaged with the pinion gear 307. Each of the fixing members 302 to 304 is positioned at a predetermined position inside the station 3 by contacting bearings 311, 313, and 315.

Housing 301 and housing cover 3
A shaft 308 is rotatably supported at the lower end of the shaft 10 . A key 309 is inserted into approximately the center of this shaft 308. Pinion gears 305-307 are printing discs 321-323
It is also inserted into this shaft 308. The pinion gear 305 is integrated with the printing disk 321 by a set screw 325. Further, the pinion gear 307 is integrated with the printing disk 323 via a set screw 327. The pinion gear 306 is connected to the shaft 30 by a set screw 324.
8, and the printing disk 322 is fixed to the key 309 via a set screw 326. The pinion gear 306 is therefore integrated with the printing disk 322 via the shaft 308. The pinion gears 305, 307 and the printing disks 321, 323 are freely rotatable relative to the shaft 308, but the pinion gear 3
06 and the printing disk 322 rotate together with the shaft 308. A spacer 334 is inserted between the pinion gear 308 and the housing cover 310 in the shaft 308, and the spacer 334 is inserted between the pinion gear 308 and the housing cover 310.
The horizontal movement of 323 is restricted. The set screws 324 to 327 are hexagon socket set screws specified in JIS.

FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional side view showing the structure of a guide moving device that constitutes a part of the printing apparatus.

A moving shaft 102 is fixed to the lower end of a frame 101 that the guide moving device 1 has. A bearing 103a is attached to this moving shaft 102.
Guide fixing member 10 formed with and 103b
3 is installed. Two guides 5a are attached to the guide fixing member 103 via fixing bolts 104.

A motor 6 is fixed to the subframe 115. A timing roller 105 is fixed to the rotating shaft 61 of this motor 6. Further, the drive shaft 108 is supported by the subframe 115 and the frame 101 via bearings 111, 112, and 113, respectively. This drive shaft 108 includes a timing roller 10.
6 is fixed. timing roller 105
A timing belt 107 is stretched between and 106, and the rotation of the rotating shaft 61 is accurately transmitted to the drive shaft 108. A threaded portion 108a is formed on the drive shaft 108,
A nut portion 109 that engages with this threaded portion 8a is attached to the guide fixing member 103 via a fixing bolt 110. Also, the drive shaft 108
A worm 121 is formed therein. Worm wheel 12 that meshes with this worm 121
0 is the rotation axis 132 of the potentiometer 131
is fixed.

With the above configuration, the rotation of the rotating shaft 61 of the motor 6 is transmitted to rotate the drive shaft 108. As the drive shaft 108 rotates, the nut portion 109 that engages with the screw 108a moves in the direction of arrow E or F, and the guide fixing member 103 to which this nut portion 109 is fixed similarly moves in the direction of arrow E or F. Also, the drive shaft 10
8 is transmitted to the worm wheel 120 that meshes with the worm 121, and the rotating shaft 132 of the potentiometer 131 rotates.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a main part showing details of a push rod included in a station that constitutes a part of the printing apparatus.

A plurality of radial grooves 8 are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the push rod 4. pushyrod 4
is the guide case 351 that the station 3 has
It passes through the hole 352 of. Guide case 3
A hole 358 is formed in the push rod 51 in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the push rod 4. This hole 35
8 is provided with a steel ball 7 that partially fits into the groove 8 of the push rod 4. The elastic force of a spring 357 acts on this steel ball 7 in the direction of the push rod 4 via a pressure contact member 356. When the push rod 4 moves in the direction of arrow G, the steel ball 7 leaves the groove 8a where it is currently located and comes into contact with the outer surface 41 between it and the adjacent groove 8b. When the push rod 4 further moves in the direction of arrow G and the contact point of the steel ball 7 reaches the groove 8b, the spring 3
Due to the elastic force of the steel ball 57 and the inclined surface of the groove 8b, the steel ball 7 tends to be located at the center of the groove 8b. Due to this action, the steel ball 7 is always located at the center of the groove 8. This also occurs when the push rod moves in the direction of arrow H. That is,
The same effect and operation occurs in the groove on the left side of groove 8a.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing a printing disk included in a station forming a part of the printing apparatus.

Printing disk 321 (including 322, 323)
The outer circumferential surface of is divided into 14 equal parts, and consecutive numbers from 1 to 0 are formed in 10 of them. 1
The first half numbers from ~5 are formed in order in the direction of arrow C, and the second half numbers from 6 to 0 are formed in order in the direction of arrow D.
They are formed sequentially in the direction and between the first half numbers. Since continuous numbers are formed in this way, when adding up or subtracting the numbers to be printed, the numbers to be printed can be changed by rotating one or two pitches of the outer periphery, which is divided into 14 pitches. Four locations between 5 and 0 in the direction of arrow C are reserved positions. In particular, the position to the left of 0 is left blank, and this position is controlled so as to face the surface of the tape measure in the first 1 m portion where it is not necessary to print characters for quick reading.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are a plan view and a front view, respectively, of a guide included in the printing apparatus.

The guide 5 is curved with the same curvature as the rotational trajectory of the push rod 4, as shown in FIG. 7B. Further, as shown in FIG. 1A, a circular arc portion 501 is formed in the planar shape. This arcuate portion 501 corresponds to the end of the push rod 4 that moves in the direction of arrow I due to the rotation of the drum 2c. Therefore, by controlling the position of the end portion 502 of the guide 5 in the direction of arrow J, the end position of the push rod 4 can be moved to an arbitrary position, and the printing disks 321 to 321 can be moved to an arbitrary position.
You can control the characters facing the 323 tape measure.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a servo mechanism having a guide moving device and a motor drive control section that constitute a part of the printing apparatus.

When the guide 5 moves, the motor 6 is driven,
The rotation of the rotating shaft 61 is transmitted to the drive shaft 108 of the guide moving means 23. The rotation of this drive shaft 108 is controlled by a potentiometer 13 by a worm wheel 120 and a worm 121.
1. This potentiometer 13
The detected amount of 1 is inputted as the operating amount of the guide moving means 23 to the operational amplifier 22 constituting the comparison amplifier. The operation amount of the guide moving means is compared with the set amount S in the operational amplifier 22, and when the two match, the output to the motor drive control section 21 is stopped and the drive of the motor is stopped.

:Operation description As shown in FIG. 4, a station 3 equipped with three printing disks 321 to 323 is attached to nine locations on the outer periphery of the drum 2C that prints small letters 82 for quick reading on a tape measure 81. . Since the lowercase letters 82 for quick reading are not printed within 1 m from the tip of the tape measure, printing disks 321 to 32 are used.
3 is arranged so that the vacant position next to 0 shown in FIG. 6 faces the tape measure. While the tape measure is conveyed by 1 m and the drum 2c makes one revolution, the guide moving device 1a moves all the push rods 4a of the stations 3a to 3i and operates the guide 5a so that the printing disk 321 rotates one pitch in the direction of arrow C. let At this time, the reversible motor 6 rotates by an amount corresponding to one pitch rotation of the printing disk 321, thereby operating the guide 5a. While the drum 2C rotates in the direction of arrow B, the stations 3a to 3
The push rod 4a of i is in turn connected to the guide 5.
It hits point a and moves by a predetermined amount. This movement of the push rod 4a is transmitted as a rotational motion to the printing disk 321 via a rack gear 331 and a pinion gear 305 formed on the fixed member 302.

The guide 5a repeats the above operation every time the drum rotates, and the tape measures 9 points from the 10cm position to the 90cm position.
Print numbers in the same place. Printing disk 321
When changing the printed characters from 5 to 6, the reversible motor 6 is driven in the opposite direction to the rotation shaft 6.
Rotate 1 in the opposite direction. This causes the printing disk 321 to rotate in the direction of arrow D, allowing the necessary numbers to be printed. After this, it rotates in the same direction until 0. After 10m, the guide moving device 1b operates 10
1 or 2 printing disks 322 of the digits once every 10m
Rotate pitch by pitch. Similarly, the guide moving device 1c rotates the 100 printing disk 323 by 1 or 2 pitches every 100 m.

In the above embodiment, if the spacing between the grooves of the push rod 4 is made to correspond accurately to the pitch at which the numbers on the printing disk 321 are formed, the spring 3
Even if the steel ball 7 attempts to move to the center position of the groove due to the action of 57 and an error occurs in the amount detected by the potentiometer 131, the printing disk can be rotated to the correct position as long as it is within the width of the groove. can do. In other words, the accuracy of the servo mechanism consisting of the guide moving means and the motor drive control section can be determined by considering the width of the groove 8.

By configuring the printing disk as shown in FIG. 6, the numbers 1 to 0 can be successively moved to the printing position in one reciprocating motion. Therefore 0
Even when moving from 1 to 1, only one rotation is required, and there is no wasted movement, so the operation time is fast.

(g) Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, the rotation of the motor is converted into reciprocating motion by the guide moving means and transmitted to the guide to operate the push rod, and furthermore, the reciprocating motion of the push rod is converted to reciprocating motion by the disc rotating means. It can be converted into a rotational motion to operate the printing disk. The amount of rotation of the printing disk is determined by the amount of movement of the push rod, and the amount of movement of the push rod is determined by the amount of rotation of the motor. The amount of rotation of this motor is controlled by comparing the amount of operation of the guide moving means with a set amount by a comparing means, and based on the comparison result. Therefore, it is possible to always detect which characters are currently being printed on the printing disk, and it is also possible to reliably position characters selected and input using a counter switch or the like in the printed state. Further, since the disk is rotated via the guide moving means and the disk rotation means, the conventional ratchet mechanism and clutch mechanism are not required, and printing speed can be increased. Furthermore, since these guide moving means and disc rotating means are each constructed independently, maintenance such as inspection or replacement of parts can be performed extremely easily.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional side view showing the structure of a main part of a guide moving device that constitutes a part of a printing device that is an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic structure of a printing press in which the same printing device is used. FIG. 3 is a front view showing a schematic structure of a drum included in the printing machine, and shows the configuration of the printing apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a front cross-sectional view showing the structure of a station having a disc rotating means that constitutes a part of the printing apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a side view of the main part showing the push rod of the station and the state of its vicinity. The sectional view and FIG. 6 are side views showing the configuration of a printing disk included in the station. FIGS. 7A and 7B are a plan view and a front view, respectively, of a guide forming a part of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a servo mechanism constituted by guide moving means and motor drive control means of the same printing apparatus. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a part of a tape measure printed by a printing machine using the same printing apparatus. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Guide moving device, 2... Drum, 3... Station, 305-307... Pinion gear, 321
〜323...Printing disk, 331-333...Rack gear, 4...Push rod, 5...Guide, 6...Motor.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A printing device including a single or plural printing means provided on the outer circumference of a drum that rotates in synchronization with conveyance of a long object, wherein the printing means forms a printing section on the outer circumference. and a disk rotation means for converting reciprocating motion of a push rod into rotational motion and transmitting the same to the printing disk, and moving the push rod to a predetermined position within a specific rotation range of the drum. Comparison of a guide, a guide moving means that has a motor that can rotate in both forward and reverse directions and converts the rotational force of this motor into reciprocating motion and transmits it to the guide, and the operating amount and set amount of the guide moving means. 1. A printing apparatus comprising: a motor control means for controlling driving of the motor according to a comparison result of the comparison means. 2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the push rod has a plurality of radial grooves on its outer peripheral surface, and the disc rotating means includes a sphere that presses against the grooves together with the push rod by elastic force. 3. The printing disk is a number printing disk in which continuous numbers are formed on the printed portion of the outer peripheral surface, with the first half numbers being formed in one direction and the second half numbers being formed in the opposite direction and between the first half numbers. A printing device according to claim 1 or 2.