Apparatus and method for printing on containers

Abstract

A printing system capable of printing directly onto the surface of random height packages includes the ability to adjust the height of the printer to accommodate differences in the height of different packages. Macro adjustments of the printer height may be made to the printer relative to the frame. A conveyor, e.g., a high friction belt, moves the package to a print area between the printer and the belt where the printer prints information on the package, such as address information and / or other information that would normally be printed on a label. The printer height may be adjusted by a lifter that raises the printer relative to the frame to an individual height appropriate for printing on that package. As the package passes through the print area, the printer may be maintained at an individual adjusted height appropriate for that particular package.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates generally to the field of package handling and packaging information application. [Background technology]

[0002] There is often a need to provide information on containers or packages, such as boxes, used to ship or transport items from one location to another. For example, a container may have associated therewith address information or other information regarding the destination or contents, information that may be viewed and referenced during the shipment or transport.

[0003] The information is often applied to the container or package using an adhesive label on which the information is printed. The label is then affixed to the container or package. Automating the application of labels is complicated in random packaging situations where the containers to be labeled vary in size. Summary of the Invention

[0004] Applying a printed label is effective but requires additional steps (separate printing and application) and additional materials (label material and adhesive).This disclosure describes a printing system that prints information directly onto a container, such as a box that has a lid or inwardly folded flap sized to close the open side of the box, and that automatically adjusts the height of the printer to accommodate the different heights of different containers.

[0005] An exemplary printing apparatus that facilitates printing directly on the surface of packages such as boxes having different heights (height dimensions) has the ability to adjust the height of the printer to accommodate the difference in height of different packages. A conveyor, e.g., a high friction belt, moves the package or other item to be printed to a print area between the printer and the belt where the printer prints information on the package, such as address information, contents information, and / or other information that might normally be printed on a label. Macro adjustments of the printer height can be made to a frame that houses the printer. The printer height may then be adjusted by a lifter, such as a roller, that raises the printer relative to the frame to an individual height appropriate for printing on that package. As the package passes through the print area, the printer can be maintained at an individual adjusted height appropriate for that particular package until the package leaves the print area between the printer and the conveyor.

[0006] An exemplary printing system includes a frame, a printer that is height adjustable relative to the frame, and a lifter that lifts the printer when an article to be printed engages the lifter. The lifter may include rollers or sliding guide members. The lifter may be at the front end of the printer where the article to be printed enters the print zone where printing of the article takes place. The lifter may engage the item being lifted at an angle of 2° or less.

[0007] The printing system may further include a damper operatively coupled to the printer and the lifter for damping movement of the printer relative to the frame when the printer is lifted by the lifter. The printing system may further include a conveyor that transports the boxes to a print area between the printer and the conveyor. The conveyor may comprise a belt. The belt may be a high friction belt.

[0008] The printing system may further include a support that keeps the printer elevated and off the conveyor while the article to be printed is in the print zone. The support may include a pair of bars that engage the article to be printed. The bars may be substantially parallel to the direction of movement of the printed article through the print zone. The bar may engage the article being printed outside of the printing area on the article being printed. The bars may have upturned ends to facilitate engagement of the article to be printed as it enters the print zone. The support may include rollers that engage the top surface of the article to be printed while it is in the print area.

[0009] The printing system may further include a low friction coupling between the printer and the frame. The low friction coupling may include a bearing. The coupling may include a roller bearing.

[0010] The printing system may further include a spring that engages the printer and the frame and biases the printer to a predetermined height relative to the frame. The spring may include a coil spring. The coil spring may include four coil springs located at the corners of the printer.

[0011] The printing system may further include a macro height adjuster that is used to selectively adjust the height of the printer and frame. The macro height adjuster may include a servo motor that adjusts the height of the printer and frame.

[0012] The printing system may further include a lock that secures the printer and frame together during operation of the macro height adjuster. The lock may include a solenoid lock. The lock may include a magnetic switch. The article to be printed may be a box. The printer may include a print head that prints on a print area of ​​the article to be printed.

[0013] A method of printing on an article to be printed includes the steps of moving the article to be printed to a printing area between a printer and a conveyor that moves the article to be printed, lifting the printer by an amount corresponding to the height of the article to be printed while the article to be printed is engaged with a lifter that is operably coupled to the printer and lifts the printer, and printing on the article to be printed by the printer while the printer is in the lifted state.

[0014] The method may further include setting an initial height of the printer such that the article engages the lifter prior to movement of the article. The method may further include maintaining the printer elevated while the article is in the print zone by engagement of the article with a support operably coupled to the printer.

[0015] The printing step may include printing in a print area on the article. The maintaining step may include engaging the article with a support outside the print area. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0016] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of an exemplary printing system for printing directly onto a printed article. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is a top view of a portion of an exemplary printing system. [Diagram 3] FIG. 1 is a side view of a printer for use in an exemplary printing system. [Figure 4] 1 is a flow chart outlining a method for direct printing on a printed article. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0017] An exemplary printing system prints information on the top surface of a printed article, such as a packaging container, where each container may have a different height. Therefore, the printer must adjust the height, typically with a tolerance of ±1 mm. If the printer is too far away from the printed article, the print quality will be reduced. If the distance is too small (crash), the printer may be damaged.

[0018] Thus, the printer is pre-adjusted, for example via a servo mechanism, to an initial position close to the planned or final height. The initial position is deliberately set slightly (e.g., about 2-3 mm) lower than the planned height. The planned height is measured or pre-determined by other methods, such as a barcode, and communicated to the printing system. The article moves, for example by a conveyor, contacts the printing system, and a guide system forces the printer to move upwards to the planned height, causing the printer to slide or roll over the article. In other words, the article moves horizontally past a static printer that moves vertically but is fixed horizontally. The guide system may comprise rollers or sliders.

[0019] This double adjustment process ensures print quality and prevents damage to the printer, even on articles that have a height slightly different from the measured value or that are not perfectly flat.

[0020] To prevent large forces on the guidance system (which could damage the article being printed or shock the printer), the printer may be supported by a spring / damper that takes up a large portion of the printer weight (80-90%) and absorbs shocks on engagement with the article being printed. The initial height adjustment to the initial height can be done relatively quickly, within about 1 second for a height adjustment of up to 400 mm.

[0021] Turning now to the drawings and referring first to Figure 1, Figure 1 shows a printing apparatus or system 10 used to print directly onto the surface of a package or container (printed article), such as a box 12, having a random height dimension. The box 12 is moved along a conveyor, such as a conveyor belt 14, through a print zone 18 between a printer 20 and the conveyor belt 14. The belt 14 may be made of a high friction material to prevent slippage between the box 12 and the belt 14. For example, the belt 14 may be made of rubber.

[0022] Printer 20 has a print head 22 configured to print directly onto a top surface of box 12, such as a top lid or closed flap of the box, as box 12 passes through print zone 18. Printer 20 may be any of a variety of suitable printers. Non-limiting examples include inkjet printers and laser printers.

[0023] Printer 20 has an adjustable height that can compensate for differences in height of different individual boxes or other containers or articles. Printer 20 can adjust its height relative to conveyor belt 14 and / or frame 24. Thus, printer 20 is suitable for use in random packaging situations where each box has a different height dimension.

[0024] The height adjustment may include a macro height adjustment mechanism (or macro height adjuster) 26 that adjusts the initial height of the printer 20. The initial height of the printer 20 may be set at a level above the conveyor belt 14 such that boxes passing through the print zone 18 require several individualized further height adjustments that raise the printer 20 by the amount necessary for proper printing of each individual box. The initial position is intentionally set slightly lower (e.g., about 2 to 3 millimeters) than the planned or final height. However, the amount of lift or other height adjustment required to adjust to this final height is relatively small so that the printer 20 can be quickly raised from the initial height to the final height. This second height adjustment may be referred to as a micro height adjustment, in contrast to the initial height adjustment, which is referred to as a macro height adjustment.

[0025] To achieve precise micro-height adjustments, the system 10 has a lifter 30 at the front end 31 of the printer 20 and, optionally, at the rear end of the printer 20. The lifter 30 engages the box 12 as the box enters the print zone 18. The engagement of the lifter 30 with the box 12 raises the printer 20 an appropriate amount for proper printing on the box 12. Printing requires a distance of less than about 1.5 mm between the print head and the printing surface to achieve adequate quality. Box flatness and height tolerances are often greater than about 2 mm (typically about 5 mm), and the micro-adjustment maintains the proper height for high quality printing even when the printing surface is not flat. The lifter 30 may be (or may comprise), for example, a roller 32 mechanically coupled to the printer 22, a bearing, or a bar or other member that slides on the surface of the box 12. As the box 12 approaches the print zone 18, the box 12 contacts the roller 32 and pushes it upward. This contact also pushes the printer 20 upward within the frame 24 when the rollers 32 are attached to or otherwise mechanically coupled to the printer 20 .

[0026] The rollers 32 may engage the box 12 at a shallow angle. For example, the rollers 32 may engage the box at an angle of less than 9°, such as 2°, although it will be understood that this is merely an exemplary value and other values ​​are possible.

[0027] The printer 20 may be movable relative to the frame 24 via a low friction coupling, such as the illustrated roller bearings 34, between the printer 20 and the frame 24. The roller bearings 34 allow the printer 20 to change height upwards and downwards without binding and without noticeable hysteresis.

[0028] At the corners of the printer 20, or the like, there are springs 38 coupled to the printer 20 and frame 24 that can provide a biasing force to return the printer 20 to a default height when there is no force holding the printer 20 in an elevated position. The springs 38 can be coil springs, and there can be four such springs. The springs 38 can be located between the printer 20 and the frame 24, for example, at the corners of the printer 20. There can be more or fewer springs and / or the spring configurations can be different.

[0029] It may be desirable to keep the printer 20 in an elevated position until the box 12 has exited the print zone 18. This may, for example, avoid streaking or smearing the just-printed portion of the box 12 due to contact with parts of the printer 20 or other parts of the system 10. To accomplish keeping the printer 20 in an elevated position, the system 10 may include a pair of support bars 42, 44. The support bars 42, 44 may include angled portions at their upstream ends that function as lifters 30.

[0030] In the illustrated embodiment, the support bars 42, 44 are positioned on opposite sides of the print zone 18 along the bottom surface of the printer in a direction substantially parallel to the movement of the box 12 through the print zone 18. The support bars 42, 44 may project downwardly from the rest of the printer 20 and may contact the box 12 on opposite sides thereof, preferably outside the printing area on the box 12 where the printer 20 prints information, to avoid smearing or streaking the printing made by the printer 20 on the box 12. The support bars 42, 44 may be configured to keep the printer 20 elevated after the roller 32 is no longer in contact with the box 12 while a significant portion of the box 12 is still within the print zone 18. The support bars 42, 44 may have upwardly facing ends 46, 48 that facilitate movement of the support bars over the top surface of the box 12. The support bars 42, 44 also maintain a predetermined spacing between the printer 20 and the printing surface in the print zone 18.

[0031] An article such as box 12 may be printed with any of a variety of suitable information. For example, routing or recipient information, such as the recipient's name and address, may be printed on the article. Other types of information may also (or alternatively) be printed on the article, such as instructions, or the contents, origin, brand, picture, or history of the article. Printing directly on the article also allows for easier individualization of the packaging and greater branding freedom compared to the previous practice of inserting pre-printed material into the package.

[0032] Optionally, a damper 50 may be disposed between the printer 20 and the frame 24. The damper 50 may be, for example, one or more pads of flexible / resilient material such as rubber. The damper 50 is employed to control vibrations and / or fast movements of the printer 20 relative to the frame 24. The damper may reduce vertical movements and vibrations as a result of inertia after macro height adjustments.

[0033] Optionally, the system 10 may also have an actuatable lock 54 between the printer 20 and the frame 24. The lock 54 may be actuatable to secure the printer 20 and the frame 24 together during operation of the macro height adjuster 26. By locking the printer 20 to the frame 24 immediately prior to initiating a macro height adjustment and releasing the printer 20 to move relative to the frame 24 after the macro height adjustment, vibrations can be minimized while allowing the micro height adjustment to follow. Non-limiting examples of suitable locks include solenoids and magnetic switches.

[0034] 2 shows the process from another perspective. Box 12 has a top surface 60 with a print area 62 that will ultimately be printed by print head 22. Support bars 42, 44 are configured to engage the outside of print area 62 and top surface 60 of the box on the side opposite print area 62, to avoid streaking or smearing the freshly printed material.

[0035] 3 shows an alternative embodiment of an exemplary printer 20' that includes one or more rollers 32' at the trailing end 33 in addition to the rollers 32 at the leading end 31. The one or more rollers 32' may act as a support to keep the printer 20' elevated while a container (such as a box) is in the print zone.

[0036] 4 is a flow chart outlining a method 100 for printing directly onto an article to be printed, for example, using the printing system 10 (FIG. 1) described above. In step 102, an initial height of the printer 20 (FIG. 1) is set using the macro height adjuster 26 (FIG. 1). As previously described, this initial height is set so that the lifter 30 (FIG. 1) engages the article to be printed, allowing individual adjustment of the height of the printer 20 for each article.

[0037] In step 104, an individual item (such as a box 12 (FIG. 1)) is conveyed by conveyor belt 14 (FIG. 1) into print area 18 (FIG. 1). As this occurs, in step 106, the item engages lifter 30 (FIG. 1), which lifts printer 20 an appropriate amount for printing on item 12.

[0038] In step 108, an article (such as box 12 (FIG. 12)) is printed by print head 22 (FIG. 1). Finally, in step 110, printer 20 (FIG. 1) may be maintained in an elevated position until the article (box 12) leaves print zone 18 (FIG. 1).

[0039] In summary, the printing system 10 capable of printing directly on the surface of random height packages 12 includes the ability to adjust the height of the printer 20 to accommodate the differences in height of different packages 12. Macro adjustments of the printer height can be made by adjusting the position of the printer 20 relative to the frame 24. A conveyor, e.g., a high friction belt 14, moves the package 12 to a print area between the printer 20 and the belt 14 where the printer 20 prints information on the package 12, such as address information and / or other information that might normally be printed on a label. The printer height may be adjusted by a lifter 30 that raises the printer relative to the frame 24 to an individual height appropriate for printing on that package 12. As the package 12 passes through the print area, the printer 20 may be maintained at an individual adjusted height appropriate for that particular package 12.

[0040] While the invention defined by the following claims has been shown and described with respect to specific embodiments, equivalent substitutions and modifications will occur to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding this specification and the accompanying drawings. In particular, with respect to the various functions performed by the above-described structures (components, assemblies, devices, compositions, etc.), the terms used to describe such structures (including references to "means") are intended, unless otherwise indicated, to correspond to any structure that performs the specified function of the described structure (i.e., is functionally equivalent) even if it is not structurally equivalent to the disclosed structure that performs that function in the exemplary embodiment of the invention illustrated herein. In addition, while a particular feature of the invention may be described above with respect to only one of several exemplary embodiments, such feature may be combined with one or more other features of other embodiments as may be desired and advantageous for any given or particular application.

Claims

1. 1. A system for printing on random height articles, comprising: A frame, a printer whose height is adjustable relative to the frame; and a lifter that lifts the printer when a container to be printed engages the lifter.

2. The printing system of claim 1 , wherein the lifter comprises a roller.

3. 3. The printing system of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the lifter is at a front end of the printer where the article enters a print zone where the printing takes place.

4. The printing system of claim 1 , wherein the lifter engages the article at an angle of 2° or less.

5. 5. The printing system of claim 1, further comprising a damper operatively coupled to the printer and the lifter for damping movement of the printer relative to the frame when the printer is lifted by the lifter.

6. The printing system of claim 1 , further comprising a conveyor for transporting the article to a printing area between the printer and a conveyor.

7. The printing system of claim 6 , wherein the conveyor comprises a belt.

8. The printing system of claim 7 , wherein the belt is a high friction belt.

9. 9. The printing system of claim 6, further comprising a support for maintaining the printer elevated and off the conveyor while the article is in the print zone.

10. The printing system of claim 9 , wherein the support comprises a pair of bars that engage the article.

11. The printing system of claim 10 , wherein the bars are substantially parallel to a direction of movement of the article through the print zone.

12. 12. The printing system of claim 10 or claim 11, wherein the bar engages the article outside of a printing area on the article.

13. 13. The printing system of claim 10, wherein the bar has an upwardly facing end to facilitate engagement of the article as it enters the print zone.

14. The printing system of claim 9 , wherein the support comprises a roller that engages a top surface of the article while the article is in the print zone.

15. The printing system of claim 1 , further comprising a low friction coupling between the printer and the frame.

16. The printing system of claim 15 , wherein the low-friction coupling comprises a bearing.

17. The printing system of claim 15 , wherein the low-friction coupling comprises a roller bearing.

18. 18. The printing system of claim 1, further comprising a spring engaging the printer and the frame and biasing the printer to a predetermined height relative to the frame.

19. The printing system of claim 18 , wherein the spring comprises a coil spring.

20. 20. The printing system of claim 19, wherein the coil springs include four coil springs located at corners of the printer.

21. 21. The printing system of claim 1, further comprising a macro height adjuster used to selectively adjust the height of the printer relative to the frame.

22. 22. The printing system of claim 21, wherein the macro height adjuster comprises a servo motor that adjusts the height of the printer relative to the frame.

23. 23. The printing system of claim 21 or claim 22, further comprising a lock that secures the printer and the frame together during operation of the macro height adjuster.

24. 24. The printing system of claim 21, wherein the lock comprises a solenoid lock.

25. 24. The printing system of claim 21, wherein the lock includes a magnetic switch.

26. 26. The printing system of claim 1 , wherein the item to be printed is a box.

27. 27. The printing system of claim 1, wherein the printer comprises a print head for printing on a print area of ​​the article.

28. moving an article to be printed into a print area between the printer and a conveyor along which the article moves; while the article is moving, engaging a lifter operatively coupled to the printer for lifting the printer, thereby lifting the printer an amount corresponding to a height of the article; and printing said article with said printer while said printer is elevated.

29. 30. The method of claim 28, further comprising setting an initial height of the printer such that the article engages the lifter prior to movement of the article.

30. 30. The method of claim 28 or claim 29, further comprising maintaining the printer in an elevated state while the article is in the print zone by engagement of the article with a support operatively coupled to the printer.

31. the printing step includes printing on a print area on the article; and The method of claim 30, wherein the maintaining step includes engaging the article with the support outside of the print area.

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