Machine system and method for monitoring and / or controlling the production of benefits

Abstract

The invention relates to a machine system comprising a printing press and a finishing machine, wherein the printing press has a printing unit configured for applying a printed image comprising several panels, each having a control element, to a substrate, wherein a quality control device and, in the transport direction of the substrate downstream of the quality control device, at least one marking device are configured, with which the control elements can be changed for the purpose of marking, wherein the quality control device is configured to detect at least one feature of all control elements. The invention also relates to a method for monitoring and / or controlling the production of panels.

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a machine system comprising a printing press and a finishing machine and a method for monitoring and / or controlling the production of benefits.

[0002] To remove defective printed materials (faulty images, waste sheets) from the post-press process, these must be identified, marked, and separated from the correct printed products. This can be done directly on the printing press, or after marking the defective images (individual prints) or waste sheets on the printing press, or during post-press processing, for example, on downstream folding, die-cutting, gluing, or binding machines. Quality control, marking, and separation incur additional costs and should therefore be as efficient as possible.

[0003] Printing presses with integrated automatic substrate inspection systems for print quality control are known. These consist of an inline image acquisition device (e.g., line scan camera), a lighting unit, a control unit, an operating unit, an evaluation unit, and optionally display units (e.g., monitors).

[0004] Marking devices are used within printing presses to mark defective printed images. These devices are controlled by the quality control systems and mark the defective printed images or waste sheets in the unprinted marginal areas with dye markings or adhesive labels.

[0005] The marked substrates are either temporarily stored together with the acceptable substrates and subsequently sorted manually in a separate operation, or the printing press is equipped with a substrate diverter or multi-stack delivery system, in which the defective substrates are identified by a second quality control device and removed from the stream of error-free substrates or placed separately on an additional defective pile and disposed of. Sorting at the printing press can be relatively time-consuming and uneconomical compared to the cost of the substrates.

[0006] A second method for waste removal involves separating non-compliant individual prints or substrates at the processing machines following the printing process. These machines typically have suitable inline inspection and rejection systems for individual prints, thus eliminating the need for additional sorting processes. Furthermore, in the common cases where multiple prints are applied to a single sheet, only the non-compliant prints are rejected, not the entire sheet. Packaging printing typically involves producing more than one print on a single sheet. Detected defects in the prints can also be marked, for example, by label inserters or transmitted to subsequent processes via logs from the inline inspection systems, which are linked to the printing press counter and the batch number.

[0007] From DE 203 03 574 U1, an image inspection system for a printing press is known, in which a printing unit, controllable according to the image signals, is located downstream of the image acquisition device, by which visible or invisible markings can be generated at designated locations on the substrate. The printing units can be inkjet or laser printing systems or numbering units and are located upstream of the sheet delivery.

[0008] From DE 103 32 211 B3, a banknote printing machine is known with an inspection module and a numbering module, wherein the numbering module may be assigned an additional marking device comprising an inkjet printing unit, the printheads being directed at each column of printed banknotes and, together with a printhead arranged at the unprinted side edge of the sheet for line marking, marking defective banknote prints. A second inspection device for detecting and depositing defective sheets onto a separate waste paper pile may be arranged downstream of the marking device.

[0009] From DE 10 2005 012 913 A1, a printing press with at least one machine element adjustable by an actuator is known, wherein an optical detection device detects the print quality and corrects printing press settings corresponding to the printing defect by means of a control device. The control device can interact with a marking device for identifying defective substrates, which is designed as an inkjet or laser printer or as a typographic printing device. The control device simultaneously controls a substrate diverter for rejecting defective substrates in a second delivery.

[0010] DE 10 2007 036 326 A1 discloses a device for marking and rejecting defective printed images applied to a substrate in a printing press, wherein the printing press includes at least one inline quality control device for print image inspection. The marking device comprises spray heads, downstream of which is an image capture and processing system for capturing the marking produced by the spray heads.

[0011] The established solutions for error marking using printing devices require significant effort to integrate the marking printing and sorting equipment into the printing press. The marking printing devices are complexly designed to produce easily detectable markings that can be reliably identified by the sorting equipment.

[0012] The invention is based on the objective of creating an alternative machine system and an alternative method for monitoring and / or controlling production.

[0013] The invention is based in particular on the objective of improving the reliability of the detection of faulty and error-free uses.

[0014] The problem is solved according to the invention by the features of claim 1 and claim 16.

[0015] Advantageous embodiments are the subject of the subclaims.

[0016] The advantage of the invention is to reduce the influence of randomly occurring printing errors in areas where the blanks are marked for the purpose of later sorting or rejection.

[0017] The marking device used and the control devices for detecting markings are comparatively simple in design.

[0018] An embodiment of the invention is shown in the drawing and is described in more detail below.

[0019] It shows: Fig. 1 A representation of the delivery area of ​​a sheet-fed offset rotary printing press with a marking device.

[0020] The invention will be explained in more detail using the example of a printing press designed as a sheet-fed rotary printing press and a downstream finishing machine.

[0021] The invention is not limited to sheet-processing machines designed as pure printing machines, but can be used on or be part of all types of substrate-processing printing machines.

[0022] In an advantageous further development of the printing press, it can also be configured as a hybrid machine, a sheet-processing machine (01) with at least one die-cutting or embossing unit and at least one additional printing unit located upstream of the die-cutting or embossing unit in the substrate or transport path. The delivery unit 14, in particular the product delivery unit 14, e.g., the stack delivery unit 14 of such a machine, can also be configured for delivering bundles formed from sheets 01. The printing press can also include one or more coating units.

[0023] The converting machine is specifically designed as a folding, die-cutting, gluing, or binding machine. In particular, the converting machine is a folding carton gluing machine.

[0024] The sheet-fed rotary printing press is preferably constructed in series from several printing units arranged one behind the other, in each of which monochrome images are applied to sheet 01, for example, to substrate sheet 01. A section of the last printing unit is shown, including a cylinder 03; 04 guiding the sheet 01, e.g., impression and transfer cylinders 03; 04, and a blanket cylinder 02 transferring the printing ink to the sheet surface. Each printing unit preferably also includes an inking unit for inking a printing plate arranged on a plate cylinder (not shown). The inking unit can also be designed as a combined inking and dampening unit.

[0025] In a printing unit, a printing device consists of a blanket cylinder 02, a plate cylinder with a printing plate mounted on it, and an inking unit or an inking and dampening unit. Instead of a printing device consisting of a blanket cylinder 02, a plate cylinder with a printing plate mounted on it, and an inking unit or an inking and dampening unit, any other type of printing device, in particular an inkjet printing device, can also be provided.

[0026] Alternatively, the last unit can also be designed as a coating unit, in which case a coating form cylinder 02 is designed instead of the rubber blanket cylinder 02 and the printing device is designed in a unit upstream of the coating unit.

[0027] The printing device is designed to apply a printed image comprising several uses, each having a control element, to a substrate, in particular sheet 01.

[0028] The printed image thus comprises several identical units, also referred to as single units, with each unit having its own control element assigned to it.

[0029] Following the printing zone of the last printing unit, or the coating zone of the last coating unit, a quality control device 08 for print image inspection is arranged above the impression cylinder 03. This device can be, for example, a line or area scan camera with a corresponding image analysis unit. Color density or spectral measuring devices can also be provided. A delivery chain 05 is located downstream of the last printing unit. This chain uses a gripper carriage 13 to pick up the sheets 01 from the impression cylinder 03 and transport them to a delivery stack 06.

[0030] The quality control device 08 is designed to record at least one characteristic of all control elements.

[0031] In the transport direction of the printed material, in particular sheet 01, after the quality control device 08, at least one marking device 09 is arranged.

[0032] Preferably the marking device 09 is arranged in the area of ​​the delivery chain circle 05, more preferably in the ascending section of the delivery chain circle 05 and in particular at a distance from the arc track.

[0033] The marking device 09 is designed to change the control elements or a respective control element for the purpose of marking.

[0034] The arrangement of the quality control device 08 and / or the marking device 09 is not limited to the installation locations described within a printing press.

[0035] Similarly, the quality control device 08 can be located in the printing press and the marking device 09 in the finishing machine.

[0036] In particular, both the quality control device 08 and the marking device 09 are preferably arranged in the further processing machine and preferably are part of it.

[0037] The marking device 09 is preferably designed as a laser marking device or as an inkjet marking device.

[0038] The marking unit 09 can have several marking heads distributed across the sheet width. An arrangement of the marking heads in a delivery extension is also possible. Delivery extensions serve to lengthen the drying section during the final varnishing of the printed materials, especially sheets 01.

[0039] The marking heads are preferably arranged on a traverse 07 spanning the machine width, with known (not shown) bearing means, in a positionable manner either manually or by motor.

[0040] To adapt the marking position to the respective layout on the substrate, particularly on sheet 01, the marking heads are mounted so as to be displaceable at least laterally across the sheet width and are directed at the sheet surface at an adjustable angle, whereby the marking heads can be positioned individually or in groups in the sheet width direction, printing distance and / or swivel angle. Advantageously, the positioning of the marking heads can be remotely controlled from the printing press control station via the printing press control system 11.

[0041] The marking heads can be designed as spray heads and apply marking fluid under pressure to the sheet surface to mark a defective print job on sheet 01. For this purpose, the spray heads are connected via supply lines to a pressure vessel containing the marking fluid, which is pressurized in both the pressure vessel and the supply lines. The pressure is generated by compressed air or a pump. A valve controls the ink output at each spray head. The valves are pneumatically or electrically actuated and are controlled by a marking control unit 10 within the printing press control system 11. The marking control unit 10 can be coupled to a rotary encoder 12 on one of the sheet-guiding cylinders 03; 04 to synchronize the spray heads with the sheet position for correct marking application.In the case of motorized positioning of the spray heads, the control of the positioning devices can be integrated into the marking control unit 10.

[0042] Advantageously, the marking control device 10 incorporates various basic programs for the manner in which the markings are applied.

[0043] Suitable marking materials include, for example, visible colors or inks, liquids with magnetic particles or UV-active substances, provided they can be applied by the spray heads.

[0044] The marking device 09 is designed as an inkjet marking device for printing free-space applications, in particular if the control elements are, for example, free spaces or control boxes with internal free spaces.

[0045] If the marking heads are designed as laser heads, they are preferably arranged and positionable in the same way as described for the spray heads.

[0046] The marking heads are designed as laser heads, in particular, when the control elements are printed elements. Preferably, the marking device 09 is designed in this case as a laser marking device that ablates and / or chemically and / or thermally alters the control elements. Ablation of the control elements is understood to mean the removal of printing ink in the area of ​​the control elements, which can be full-surface or partial-surface and can affect the entire thickness of the printing ink layer or a portion thereof.

[0047] The laser marking device can, in particular, include a high-speed laser capable of removing ink particles from the printed area. If the removal is only partial, machine-readable codes can be generated. The ability to generate machine-readable codes can be provided in both laser and inkjet marking devices.

[0048] A downstream converting machine (not shown) is connected to the sheet-fed rotary printing press. This downstream machine can be, for example, a gluing machine within a folding carton production line, in particular a folding carton gluing machine. The converting machine is designed for processing individual panels and preferably includes an inspection device and a rejection device for removing defective panels. The inspection device is designed to detect the control elements of the panels. In particular, the inspection device can detect for each panel whether the control element of the respective panel has been modified, in particular marked, by the marking device 09. The inspection device provided for marking detection can, in particular, be an optical sensor or an image acquisition device (video camera, scanner, spectrometer), an inductive sensor, or a UV testing device.

[0049] The rejection device prevents defective intermediate products from being processed. Preferably, the rejection device is activated to reject a particular batch when a change in the control element of that batch is detected.

[0050] Preferably, the printing press and the finishing machine are connected to a higher-level production planning / control system and / or to a prepress department. The quality control device 08 is preferably designed to transmit at least one characteristic of all or selected control elements to the production planning / control system.

[0051] If a faulty control element is detected by a quality control device 08, this information is available throughout the entire machine system and can be used for evaluation at the appropriate point.

[0052] Preferably, the quality control device 08 can be designed to record density values ​​in the respective utility and to compare the recorded density values ​​with target values ​​and to control the marking device 09 depending on the result of the comparison.

[0053] In particular, the quality control device 08 and / or the marking device 09 can be configured to receive position data from control elements on the substrate or to receive position data for markings on the substrate.

[0054] Preferably, a display device may be configured to show the positions of control elements in relation to and / or superimposed on a printed substrate or an image of the printed substrate, and / or to be configured for a corresponding display. The display device may be part of the control station of the printing press or the finishing machine, or of the higher-level production planning / control system.

[0055] In order to enable a response time of the marking device 09 appropriate to the speeds of a normal production process, the marking device 09 is connected to the quality control device 08 via a data transmission, which is designed for real-time data transfer.

[0056] The following explains the mode of operation of the invention and a method for monitoring and / or controlling the production of benefits, in particular using the described machine system.

[0057] The unprinted sheets 01 first pass through the printing press. Inside the printing press, a printed image comprising several units, each containing a control element, is produced on each sheet 01. The control elements are identical in all units. After printing, and especially after leaving the last printing zone, at least one feature of each control element is detected by the quality control device 08.

[0058] In particular, the control elements are checked for defects by the quality control unit 08 of the printing press.

[0059] Likewise, all panels are checked for defects by the quality control unit 08 of the printing press. The inspection of the control elements and the panels can be performed using the same quality control unit 08. The results of the inspection of the control elements of the panels on the one hand, and of the panels excluding their respective control elements on the other, are considered separately for control purposes, in particular to trigger rejection.

[0060] Separate inspection of the control elements is necessary because, for example, a printing error may occur in a particular control element, which a control device located, for instance, in the downstream processing machine might mistakenly interpret as a modification of the control element made by the marking device 09 for marking purposes. Likewise, the reverse could occur, and a printing error could lead to a situation where a modification of the control element made by the marking device 09 for marking purposes is not recognized as such by a control device located in the downstream processing machine.

[0061] If a defect is detected in a print unit, the quality control unit 08, in particular via the printing press control unit 11, sends a marking signal to the marking control unit 10, taking into account the sheet travel time, considering the position of the respective print unit on sheet 01, until the defective print unit arrives at the marking unit 09. The marking signal activates the marking unit 09 to change the control element of the respective print unit.

[0062] After marking by the marking device 09, the panels are preferably separated, which can be done inside the printing press if it is designed as a hybrid machine. Alternatively, a stripping device can be used outside the printing press.

[0063] The system then checks for each utility whether its respective control element has been changed. Utility units with a changed control element are rejected.

[0064] The batches in which the quality control unit 08 has detected a faulty control element can also be rejected.

[0065] In cases where a control element has been detected as faulty by the quality control unit 08, the application of a separate marking to the utility may also be provided.

[0066] The described equipment and procedures are also applicable to other printing machines, for example, roll-to-roll printing machines for marking printing errors on substrate webs. Reference symbol list 01 sheet, printed material sheet 02 blanket cylinder, varnish form cylinder 03 Cylinder, counter-pressure cylinder, bow-guiding 04 Cylinder, transfer cylinder, arc-guiding 05 Display chain circle 06 Display sheet stacks 07 Traverse 08 Quality control facility 09 Marking device 10 Marking control device 11 Printing press control 12 rotary encoders 13 grabber trolleys 14 Display, product display, stack display QUOTES CONTAINED IN THE DESCRIPTION

[0000] This list of documents cited by the applicant was automatically generated and is included solely for the reader's convenience. The list is not part of the German patent or utility model application. The DPMA accepts no liability for any errors or omissions. Cited patent literature

[0000] DE 203 03 574 U1

[0007] DE 103 32 211 B3

[0008] DE 10 2005 012 913 A1

[0009] DE 10 2007 036 326 A1

[0010]

Claims

[1] Machine system with a printing press and a further processing machine, wherein the printing press has a printing device which is designed to apply a print image comprising a plurality of blanks, each having a control element, to a printing substrate, wherein a quality control device (08) and, in the transport direction of the printing substrate, downstream of the quality control device (08), at least one marking device (09) is designed, with which the control elements can be changed for the purpose of marking, wherein the quality control device (08) is designed to detect at least one feature of all the control elements. [2] Machine system according to claim 1, characterized by that the marking device (09) is designed to change the control element of a blank recognized as defective by the quality control device (08). [3] Machine system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized bythat the marking device (09) is a laser or inkjet marking device. [4] Machine system according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized by that the control elements are printed elements and the marking device (09) is designed as a laser marking device that ablates and / or chemically and / or thermally changes the control elements. [5] Machine system according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized by that the control elements are free surfaces and the marking device (09) is designed as an inkjet marking device printing the free surfaces. [6] Machine system according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5, characterized by that the quality control device (08) is designed to transmit at least one feature of all or selected control elements to a higher-level production planning / control system connected to the printing press and / or the further processing machine. [7] Machine system according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6, characterized by that the quality control device (08) and / or the marking device (09) are designed to receive position data of control elements on the printing material or to receive position data for markings on the printing material. [8] Machine system according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7, characterized by that a display device is designed which displays the positions of control elements in relation to and / or superimposition on a printed substrate or on an image of the printed substrate. [9] Machine system according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8, characterized bythat a prepress stage and / or a higher-level production planning / control system are connected to the printing press and / or the postpress machine and are designed to transfer position data of markings to the printing press and / or the postpress machine. [10] Machine system according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9, characterized by that the quality control device (08) is designed to detect density values ​​in respective panels and to compare the detected density values ​​with target values ​​and to control the marking device (09) depending on the result of the comparison. [11] Machine system according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10, characterized by that the quality control device (08) and the marking device (09) are connected to one another via a data transmission and the data transmission is designed for data transfer in real time. [12] Machine system according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 or 11, characterized by that a control device arranged downstream of the marking device (09) in the transport direction of the printing material is designed to detect the control elements of the blanks. [13] Machine system according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 or 12, characterized by that the quality control device (08) and / or the marking device (09) and / or the or a control device are arranged in the further processing machine. [14] Machine system according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 or 13, characterized by that the finishing machine has a rejection device for faulty blanks and that the rejection device is connected to a or the control device. [15] Machine system according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 or 14, characterized bythat the finishing machine is a folder gluer. [16] Method for monitoring and / or controlling the production of blanks, in particular using a machine system according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 or 15, wherein a printing machine is used to produce a print image comprising a plurality of blanks, each having a control element, on a printing substrate, and at least one feature of all control elements is detected by a quality control device (08). [17] Method according to claim 16, characterized by that the control elements are modified for the purpose of marking faulty benefits. [18] Method according to claim 17, characterized by that the benefits are separated and the benefits are discharged with a modified control element. [19] Method according to claim 16, 17 or 18, characterized bythat the panels in which the quality control device (08) has detected a faulty control element are rejected.

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