Method and apparatus for producing printed edible objects

Abstract

Provided is a method for producing a printed edible object by printing on an edible object, the method comprising: a conveyance step for conveying the edible object; and a marking step for forming a marking pattern on the conveyed edible object. The marking step includes: a laser printing step for forming a first printing pattern P1 through laser printing on an edible object E; and an inkjet printing step for forming a second printing pattern P2 through inkjet printing on the edible object E after the laser printing step. A marking pattern P is formed by the first printing pattern P1 and the second printing pattern P2. The second printing pattern P2 is formed by a material in which the visibility state changes according to changes in the external environment, and information indicated by the marking pattern P changes according to changes in the visibility state of the second printing pattern P2.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for producing printed edible objects. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, the spread of counterfeit medicines has become a problem, especially in developing countries, and measures to combat this problem have been under consideration. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a tablet printing method in which a first display layer printed with visible ink and a second display layer printed with invisible ink are formed on a tablet. This tablet printing method is said to be effective in identifying counterfeit medicines, because even if two counterfeit medicines appear identical, the display on the invisible second display layer can be confirmed by irradiating them with an identifying light such as a black light. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2017-158632 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, the conventional tablet printing method described above requires an inspection device that emits identification light to determine whether a drug is a fake, which not only makes the inspection process complicated but also makes it difficult for consumers who do not own such an inspection device to determine whether a drug is a fake or not.

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a method and an apparatus for producing a printed edible object that can easily and accurately determine the authenticity of the edible object. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The object of the present invention is to provide a method for producing a printed edible body by printing on an edible body, the method comprising: a conveying step of conveying the edible body; and a marking step of forming a marking pattern on the conveyed edible body, the marking step comprising: a laser printing step of forming a first printed pattern by performing laser printing on the edible body; and an inkjet printing step of forming a second printed pattern by performing inkjet printing on the edible body after the laser printing step, the marking pattern being formed by the first printed pattern and the second printed pattern, and the visibility of the second printed pattern changing with changes in the external environment. Water-soluble ink formed, When the second print pattern is dissolved and disappeared by water or humidity, This is achieved by a method for producing a printed edible body in which the information represented by the marking pattern changes depending on the change in the viewing state.

[0009] Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for producing printed edible bodies by printing on edible bodies, the apparatus comprising: a conveying apparatus for conveying edible bodies; and a marking apparatus for forming a marking pattern on the conveyed edible bodies, the marking apparatus comprising: a laser printing apparatus for forming a first printing pattern by performing laser printing on the edible bodies; and an inkjet printing apparatus for forming a second printing pattern by performing inkjet printing on the edible bodies on which the first printing pattern has been formed, the marking pattern being formed by the first printing pattern and the second printing pattern, and the second printing pattern being visible in a manner that changes with changes in the external environment. Water-soluble ink formed, When the second print pattern is dissolved and disappeared by water or humidity, This is achieved by a manufacturing device for printed edible objects in which the information represented by the marking pattern changes depending on the change in the visual state. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a method and an apparatus for producing a printed edible object that can easily and accurately determine the authenticity of the edible object. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a printed edible body manufacturing device according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of the apparatus for producing printed edible bodies shown in FIG. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of a marking pattern. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a diagram schematically illustrating another example of a marking pattern. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a diagram schematically illustrating yet another example of a marking pattern. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0012] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a printed edible body manufacturing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the printed edible body manufacturing apparatus 1 includes a supply device 10 that supplies edible bodies, a conveying device 30 that conveys the edible bodies supplied from the supply device 10, and a marking device 40 that forms a marking pattern on the edible bodies conveyed by the conveying device 30, and can manufacture printed edible bodies by printing on the edible bodies. Preferred examples of edible bodies include those with a fixed shape such as tablets, capsules, empty capsules, and tablet-type foods. In this embodiment, a flat tablet is used as the edible body to be printed on.

[0013] As shown in Figure 2, the supply device 10 includes a hopper 11 for storing edible material E, a vibrating plate 13 that is driven to vibrate by a driving source 12 such as a drive motor or a vibrator, a plurality of vibrating guide members 14 that are fixed to the vibrating plate 13 and vibrate integrally with the vibrating plate 13, a supply roll 20 that supplies the edible material E, and a plurality of guide plates 15 that guide the edible material E toward the supply roll 20.

[0014] The plurality of vibrating guide members 14 are arranged at intervals along the axial direction of the supply roll 20, and convey the edible material E supplied between them toward the plurality of guide plates 15 by vibration in the direction of arrow A. The plurality of guide plates 15 are interposed between the vibrating guide members 14 and the supply roll 20 with slight gaps between them, and are fixed in the hopper 11 at intervals in the axial direction of the supply roll 20.

[0015] The supply roll 20 has a plurality of pockets 21 formed in both the axial and circumferential directions, and the edible bodies E conveyed from the vibration guide member 14 pass between the guide plates 15 and are contained in the pockets 21. The bottom of each pocket 21 of the supply roll 20 is connected to a suction path 23 extending in the axial direction via a communication path 22 extending radially inward. As the supply roll 20 rotates in the direction of arrow B and passes through the guide plates 15, the suction path 23 aligns with a suction shoe 24, and the contained edible bodies E are sucked and held.

[0016] When the edible objects E contained in the pockets 21 pass through the guide plates 15 due to the rotation of the supply roll 20, both the suction hold and the edge hold by the guide plates 15 are released, and the brush roll 16 prevents the edible objects E from flying out of the pockets 21. After passing through the brush roll 16, the edible objects E are forcibly turned over by a regulating guide 26 (see FIG. 1 ), which is arc-shaped in a side view and is arranged to partially cover the outer circumferential surface of the supply roll 20. The turning over of the edible objects E within the pockets 21 can also be performed by the brush roll 16, upstream of the regulating guide 26 in the conveying direction. The turned over edible objects E are transported by the supply roll 20 with one of their front and back surfaces exposed.

[0017] As shown in FIG. 1, the conveying device 30 is composed of a roll that is driven to rotate in the direction of the arrow. Similar to the supply roll 20, multiple pockets (not shown) are formed along the circumferential and axial directions, and each pocket is connected to a suction path (not shown). This suction path is sucked by a suction shoe (not shown) that is set from the vicinity of the edible body receiving position 31 to the vicinity of the delivery position 32, and the edible bodies stored in the pockets in a horizontal position are adsorbed by negative pressure. The conveying device 30 conveys the edible bodies with their surfaces exposed. The conveying device 30 of this embodiment is configured to hold the edible bodies in multiple rows in the axial direction and print the edible bodies on each row using the marking device 40, but it may also be configured to hold the edible bodies in a single row in the axial direction.

[0018] The marking device 40 includes an edible object detection device 41, a laser printing device 42, an inkjet printing device 43, and a print inspection device 44, which are sequentially arranged in the conveying direction near the conveying device 30. The operations of these devices are controlled by a control device 45.

[0019] Edible body detection device 41 comprises, for example, a CCD camera, and captures an image of the exposed surface of the edible body being transported by transport device 30 to obtain image data. Control device 45 obtains position information of the edible body from the contours of the edible body based on the acquired image data, and calculates the timing at which the edible body passes through laser printing device 42, inkjet printing device 43, and print inspection device 44 from the position information and transport speed of the edible body, and controls the operation of each. If the edible body has a characteristic part such as a secant line, edible body detection device 41 may obtain orientation information of the characteristic part in addition to the position information of the edible body.

[0020] The laser printing device 42 scans a laser beam emitted from a light source to form a first print pattern on the surface of an edible object. In this embodiment, the first print pattern is formed by irradiating the surface of the edible object with UV laser beams, discoloring discoloration inducers such as titanium oxide dispersed on the surface of the edible object. If the edible object detection device 41 acquires orientation information of characteristic features along with position information, the first print pattern can be formed along the characteristic features. The laser printing device 42 is not particularly limited as long as it employs a laser printing method capable of irradiating the surface of an edible object with laser beams to mark it. For example, the laser printing device 42 may be configured to irradiate a CO2 laser beam and modify or peel (etch) the surface of the edible object using thermal energy to form the first print pattern.

[0021] The inkjet printing device 43 is a known configuration equipped with a print head having a large number of nozzles, and after forming the first print pattern, performs inkjet printing on the exposed surface of the edible body transported to a predetermined position to form a second print pattern.

[0022] Printing by the laser printing device 42 and the inkjet printing device 43 is performed based on a first printing pattern and a second printing pattern, respectively, which are pre-stored in the memory unit of the control device 45, and marking patterns such as letters, figures, symbols, etc. are formed by the first printing pattern and the second printing pattern.

[0023] The second printed pattern is formed from a material whose visibility changes with changes in the external environment, such as humidity and temperature. A change in visibility is a change that can be visually recognized by consumers, and can occur, for example, by the disappearance, transparency, color development, or discoloration of the second printed pattern. Specifically, by forming the second printed pattern using water-soluble ink, the second printed pattern can be dissolved and disappeared by moisture or humidity, allowing the second printed pattern to be visually removed. Alternatively, by forming the second printed pattern using temperature-sensitive ink, the second printed pattern can be made transparent and visually removed by body heat, frictional heat, or the like, or the second printed pattern can be discolored to be visually distinguishable from the first printed pattern. A second printed pattern formed with temperature-sensitive ink can also be changed from a transparent state to a colored state or from a colored state to a discolored state by cooling in a refrigerator, etc. The second print pattern may be made of a material other than water-soluble ink or temperature-sensitive ink, as long as it is an edible material, and may be made of, for example, a material that changes color in sunlight or the like.

[0024] The print inspection device 44, which is composed of, for example, a CCD camera, captures an image of the exposed surface of the edible body and acquires the image data. Based on the acquired image data, the control device 45 compares the marking pattern formed on the edible body with a preset marking pattern to determine whether the marking is good or bad, and extracts only good products for subsequent processing. After passing the print inspection device 44, the edible body is released from suction by the conveying device 30 at the delivery position 32 and sent to subsequent processing by suction rollers, chutes, etc. (not shown).

[0025] The printed edible body manufacturing apparatus 1 having the above configuration can manufacture printed edible bodies by carrying out a conveying step in which edible bodies are conveyed by conveying device 30, and a marking step in which a marking pattern is formed on the conveyed edible body by marking device 40. The marking step includes a laser printing step in which a first print pattern is formed on the edible body by laser printing device 42, and an inkjet printing step in which a second print pattern is formed on the edible body by inkjet printing device 43 after the laser printing step, and the marking pattern is formed by the first print pattern and the second print pattern.

[0026] FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of a marking pattern formed on an edible object. For edible object E, as shown in FIG. 3(a), a first printing pattern P1 consisting of the letter "A" is formed by a laser printing process, and then, as shown in FIG. 3(b), a second printing pattern P2 consisting of the letters "BC" is formed adjacent to the first printing pattern P1 by an inkjet printing process. In this way, a marking pattern P consisting of the letters "ABC" is formed. The second printing pattern P2 is formed using temperature-sensitive ink, and changes from a colored state to transparent by body temperature.

[0027] When a consumer looks at edible object E shown in Figure 3(b), they can normally recognize the letters "ABC," but when they press it with their fingers to warm it, the letters "BC" become transparent and only the letter "A" is recognized, as shown in Figure 3(c). In this way, the information represented by the marking pattern P changes depending on the specific action of the consumer, and the authenticity of the edible object can be easily and accurately determined based on the presence or absence of this change in information.

[0028] FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically illustrating another example of a marking pattern formed on an edible object. For edible object E, as shown in FIG. 4(a), a first printing pattern P1 consisting of the letter "O" is formed by a laser printing process, and then, as shown in FIG. 4(b), a second printing pattern P2 consisting of the letter "," is formed by an inkjet printing process so as to partially overlap the first printing pattern P1. The first printing pattern P1 and the second printing pattern P2 form a marking pattern P consisting of the letter "Q." The second printing pattern P2 is formed using water-soluble ink and dissolves in moisture.

[0029] When consumers see the edible object E shown in Figure 4(b), they will normally recognize the letter "Q," but when they add moisture using a humidifier or the like, the comma is removed and they will recognize it as the letter "O," as shown in Figure 4(c). In this case, too, the information represented by the marking pattern P changes depending on the specific operation, making it easy and accurate to determine the authenticity of the edible object.

[0030] FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically illustrating yet another example of a marking pattern formed on an edible object. For edible object E, as shown in FIG. 5(a), a first printing pattern P1 consisting of minute letters reading "safety" is formed by a laser printing process. Then, as shown in FIG. 5(b), a second printing pattern P2 consisting of the letters "Qualicaps" is formed by an inkjet printing process so as to cover the entire first printing pattern P1. The marking pattern P consisting of this first printing pattern P1 and second printing pattern P2 is recognized as the letters "Qualicaps" because the first printing pattern P1 is covered by the second printing pattern P2 and cannot be seen. The second printing pattern P2 is formed using a temperature-sensitive ink, and changes from a colored state to a transparent state upon exposure to body heat.

[0031] When consumers look at edible object E shown in Figure 5(b), they will normally recognize the word "Qualicaps." However, when they press it with their fingers or other objects to warm it, the word "Qualicaps" becomes transparent, as shown in Figure 5(c), exposing the word "safety." Therefore, the authenticity of the edible object can be easily and accurately determined based on the presence or absence of this change in information.

[0032] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, specific aspects of the present invention are not limited to the above embodiments. For example, the visibility state of the second print pattern P2 can be changed by disappearing or becoming transparent as described above, or by changing the color to a color different from that of the first print pattern P1, thereby visually distinguishing the second print pattern P2 from the first print pattern P1 and changing the information represented by the marking pattern P. Alternatively, the information represented by the marking pattern P can be changed by changing the second print pattern P2 from a transparent state to a color and adding display content. Even when the marking pattern P is a figure or the like, the information represented by the marking pattern P can be changed by deleting, adding, changing the color, etc. of part of the component, as in the case of characters.

[0033] The printed edible body manufacturing apparatus 1 of this embodiment is configured to print on one side of the edible body using the conveying device 30 and marking device 40, but it is also possible to print on both sides of the edible body by providing another conveying device and marking device having the same configuration as the conveying device 30 and marking device 40 so that the edible body is received at the delivery position 32 of the conveying device 30 and a marking pattern is formed.

[0034] Conveying device 30 is not particularly limited as long as it is configured to hold and transport edible objects with the printed surface exposed, but is preferably configured to pass through laser printing device 42 and inkjet printing device 43 while maintaining the orientation of the edible objects so that first printing pattern P1 and second printing pattern P2 can be aligned with high precision. In addition to the suction rolls of this embodiment, examples of such a conveying device 30 include a configuration in which edible objects are sandwiched between a pair of sandwiching belts and transported. [Explanation of symbols]

[0035] 1. Printed edible body manufacturing equipment 10 Feeding device 30 Conveyor device 40 Marking device 41 Edible object detection device 42 Laser printing device 43 Inkjet printing device 44 Printing inspection equipment E Edible body P marking pattern P1 First printing pattern P2 Second print pattern

Claims

1. A method for producing a printed edible body by printing on an edible body, comprising: A conveying step of conveying edible objects; A marking step of forming a marking pattern on the conveyed edible object, The marking step includes a laser printing step of forming a first printing pattern by performing laser printing on the edible body, and an inkjet printing step of forming a second printing pattern by performing inkjet printing on the edible body after the laser printing step, and the marking pattern is formed by the first printing pattern and the second printing pattern, the second print pattern is formed using a water-soluble ink whose visibility changes depending on a change in the external environment; A method for producing a printed edible object, wherein when the second printed pattern is dissolved and disappeared by moisture or humidity, the information represented by the marking pattern changes due to a change in the visual state.

2. The second printing pattern is formed so as to partially overlap the first printing pattern, 2. The method for producing a printable edible material according to claim 1, wherein the marking pattern is made up of letters, and when the second printing pattern disappears, the letters of the marking pattern become different letters.

3. An apparatus for producing a printed edible object by printing on an edible object, A conveying device that conveys edible objects; a marking device that forms a marking pattern on the conveyed edible object, The marking device includes a laser printing device that forms a first printing pattern by performing laser printing on an edible body, and an inkjet printing device that forms a second printing pattern by performing inkjet printing on the edible body on which the first printing pattern has been formed, and forms the marking pattern using the first printing pattern and the second printing pattern; the second print pattern is formed using a water-soluble ink whose visibility changes depending on a change in the external environment; A manufacturing device for a printed edible object, in which when the second printed pattern is dissolved and disappeared by water or humidity, the information represented by the marking pattern changes due to a change in the visibility state.

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