JP2000255147A - Method and device for inspecting print quality - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a method and device for inspecting print quality in which a decision can be made accurately whether a print is acceptable or not even if the print is superposed on the pattern or the like of a package or printed on a transparent or translucent resin film. SOLUTION: In a process for putting a print C of commodity information, or the like, directly onto a package P and making a decision whether the print quality is acceptable or not, the print C is put using an ink I mixed with a fluorescent agent F. Under a state where the print C put on the surface of the package P is emitting fluorescence through use of a special light source 8, image of the print C is picked up and processed as an electric signal thus judging acceptability of image quality. Even if pattern recognition is difficult under ordinary light because of the pattern of the package P, an image pickup unit 2 can process only the print C part as an electric signal because fluorescence is emitted only therefrom. Consequently, pattern recognition can be made and acceptability of image quality can be judged accurately.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for inspecting a print on a package, and more particularly to a method for accurately judging the quality of a print even if the print is overlapped with a design or the like of the package. The present invention relates to a print quality inspection method and apparatus capable of performing the same.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In recent years, for the purpose of protecting consumers and ensuring safety, it has been required to specify product information such as the expiration date and the date of manufacture of many products. There are two ways to specify the product information: a method of attaching a label or sticker with a print on the package, and a method of directly printing the package with a print. Therefore, the demand for the method of directly printing the latter package is increasing.

[0003] However, when the package is printed with a pattern or the like, the pattern may be printed on the pattern, and when the material of the package is a transparent or translucent resin film or the like. Since the contents are transparent, the print and the design or the contents are overlapped. For this reason, FIG.
As shown in (b), although the shape of the print C can be naturally judged by the naked eye, the outline of the print C becomes unclear in pattern recognition using a CCD camera or the like, so that only the print C is used. It has not been possible to recognize it accurately, and it has been difficult to judge the quality of the printing quality.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such a background, and has been applied to a case in which a material such as a transparent or translucent resin film or the like is overlapped with a design of a package or the like. It is an object of the present invention to develop a printing quality inspection method and an apparatus for accurately determining the quality of a print attached thereto even if the print is attached.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for inspecting a print quality, wherein a print of merchandise information or the like is directly applied to a package and the quality of the print quality is determined. The printing is performed using ink mixed with a fluorescent agent. The printing is imaged in a state where the printing formed on the surface of the package is caused to emit fluorescent light using a special light source, and the printing is processed as an electric signal. Thus, the quality of the print quality is determined.
According to the present invention, only the printed portion emits fluorescent light even if the pattern is difficult to recognize under normal light due to the design of the package or the like, so that the imaging device processes only the printed portion as an electric signal. To recognize the pattern
It is possible to accurately determine the quality of the print quality.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing quality inspection apparatus comprising a printing means, a special light source, an imaging device, and an analyzing device, wherein the printing means prints using an ink mixed with a fluorescent agent. After that, the special light source causes the print to emit fluorescent light, the imaging device processes the print information converted into an electric signal, and the analysis device determines whether or not the print quality is good. Things. According to the present invention, even if the pattern recognition is difficult due to the design of the package under normal light, only the printed portion emits fluorescent light, so that the imaging apparatus can perform pattern recognition only on the printed portion. Thus, it is possible to implement a method of accurately processing the print quality by processing it as an electric signal. The above object is achieved by using the configuration of the invention described in each of the claims.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a basic embodiment of a print quality inspection apparatus according to the present invention will be described, and then a print quality inspection method using this apparatus will be described.
The inspection device 1 includes an imaging device 2 and an analysis device 3 for imaging the print C, and analyzing data obtained by the imaging.
As a main member, and the present invention further includes a printing device 5 for applying a print C to the product G. These members are arranged in the final step of the factory. As shown in FIG. 1, the printing device 5, the imaging device 2, and the folding device 3 are arranged in order from the starting end of the conveyor 6, which is an example of a conveying unit. Shall be placed.

The image pickup device 2 is arranged in an image pickup room 7, and the structure of the image pickup room 7 is such that a box-shaped housing made of a metal plate or the like is appropriately shielded from external light. In addition to the configuration, a special light source 8 is provided inside. The special light source 8 is an ultraviolet lamp such as a black light that emits ultraviolet light having a long wavelength, and is illumination capable of emitting a fluorescent agent F described later. In the present embodiment, as an example, the wavelength is around 360 nm. It is assumed that a black light, which is a fluorescent tube that blocks visible light by applying black paint to the glass tube so that the amount of light emission is maximized.

A color CCD camera, which is an example of the image pickup device 2, is provided on a ceiling portion of the image pickup room 7, and a lens, which is a light receiving section in the image pickup device 2, faces a transport surface of the conveyor 6. Arrange so that you can do it.

Further, an analysis device 3 is provided near the imaging room 7. As the analysis device 3, a general-purpose personal computer or the like is used as an example, and the pattern recognition of the print C and its analysis are performed. Perform processing according to the program to be performed. Therefore, in order to input the color signal obtained by the imaging device 2 to the analysis device 3, the two are connected by an appropriate cable or the like.

Further, a conveyor 6 is provided in front of the imaging room 7.
The packaging apparatus 9 includes a packaging device 9 for packaging the product G conveyed thereon with the packaging body P, and a known sealer or the like is applied as appropriate.

Further, for the packaging device 9, the package P
Adjacent to a printing device 5 for attaching a print C to
Alternatively, the printing device 5 is an ink jet type device as an example in the present embodiment, but may be a printing stamp or the like. The installation position of the printing device 5 is appropriately selected such as a position where printing is performed on the package P before packaging the product G or a position where printing is performed on the package P after packaging the product G. Can be done.

The inspection apparatus 1 of the present invention is configured as described above as an example, and a method of inspecting print quality using the apparatus will be described below.

(1) Packaging and Printing First, the merchandise G conveyed by the conveyor 6 is taken into the packaging device 9 by using appropriate means, and is wrapped by using a package P to which a polyethylene film is applied as an example. Next, the printing device 5 sprays the ink I mixed with the fluorescent agent F to form a print C (in the present embodiment, as an example, indicating the expiration date) on the surface of the package P.

The ink I is preferably a quick-drying ink, and the ink I and the fluorescent agent F may be mixed in advance or may be mixed at the time of ejection. The fluorescent agent F emits light by light emitted from the special light source 8, and in the present embodiment, an aminonaphthalimide-based azosol briant yellow is used as an example. Incidentally, the fluorescent agent F only needs to be able to maintain a light emitting state for at least a short time until the image C is imaged by the imaging device 2, so that it is not necessary to use an expensive material having a long light emitting time.

(2) Irradiation and imaging of special light The package P containing the product G that has reached the imaging chamber 7 with the movement of the conveyor 6 is special light (ultraviolet light near 360 nm) by the special light source 8. Is irradiated, and in the imaging room 7 where light from the outside is blocked,
Since the fluorescent agent F contained in the print C emits light as shown in FIG. 2A, the imaging device 2 captures only the portion of the print C as an image and outputs it as a color signal.

(3) Evaluation of Print Quality and Separation of Defective Items The analyzer 3 prints the print C sent from the imaging device 2.
The pattern of the print C is recognized based on the color signal, and it is determined whether or not the state of the print C is of a quality suitable for shipment. Then, the product G determined to be defective is removed from the conveyor 6, and the defective print C is removed, and the printing operation is performed again. In irradiating the package P with the special light, imaging by the imaging device 2, and evaluating the printing quality by the analysis device 3, the imaging by the imaging device 2 is reliably performed by operating the conveyor 6 intermittently. It is preferable to be able to do so.

[0018]

Other Embodiments Although the present invention is based on the above-described embodiment, the following embodiments can be adopted based on the technical idea of the present invention.
First, in the above embodiment, a color CCD is used as the imaging device 2.
Although a camera is used, the point is that an image of the print C is converted into an electric signal, and it is only necessary to process the electric signal. Therefore, a monochrome camera may be used. In this case, the manufacturing cost of the inspection apparatus 1 can be reduced. .

In the above-described basic embodiment, whether or not the state of the print C is suitable for shipment is determined based on whether or not the outer shape of the print C is accurate. May be determined to be a desired numerical value or the like.

[0020]

According to the present invention, even if the print C is overlapped with the design of the package or is applied to a transparent or translucent resin film, the print C can be accurately formed. It is possible to provide a print quality inspection method and apparatus capable of determining pass / fail.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an inspection device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the appearance of printing by a special light source and the appearance of printing by ordinary light.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Inspection device 2 Imaging device 3 Folding device 5 Printing device 6 Conveyor 7 Imaging room 8 Special light source 9 Packaging device C Printing F Fluorescent agent G Product I Ink P Package

Claims (2)

[Claims] In the step of directly printing product information or the like on a package and determining whether or not the printing quality is good, the printing is performed using ink mixed with a fluorescent agent. The print quality is characterized in that the print formed on the surface of the package is fluorescently illuminated using a special light source and the print is imaged, and the quality of the print quality is determined by processing it as an electric signal. Inspection methods. 2. A printing device, a special light source, an imaging device,
After printing is performed by using the ink mixed with a fluorescent agent by the printing unit, the printing light is emitted by the special light source, and the image information is processed by the imaging device. A print quality inspection device, wherein the quality of print quality is determined by the analysis device.