System and method for monitoring and adjusting a decorator for containers

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11034145-B2
Application number	US-201815875968-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 19, 2018
Priority date	Jul 20, 2016
Publication date	Jun 15, 2021
Grant date	Jun 15, 2021

Abstract

An apparatus and methods of monitoring and adjusting a decorator for metallic containers are provided. More specifically, the present invention relates to apparatus and methods used to provide a decoration on a predetermined portion of a metallic container body. The decorator includes a sensor that senses decorations on metallic containers. A control system receives information related to the sensed decorations from the sensor and then determines if the decorations at least meet predetermined color, density, thickness, orientation, and consistency targets. The control system can optionally automatically adjust elements of the decorator to correct a deficient decoration. In one embodiment, the control system can automatically send a signal to the decorator to adjust the color, density, orientation, positioning, and consistency of decorations transferred to the metallic containers. In another embodiment, the control system can send a signal to adjust a position of an inking assembly, an ink roller, a ductor roller a plate cylinder, a printing plate, a blanket cylinder, and a transfer blanket of the decorator.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for monitoring and adjusting a decoration formed on an exterior surface of metallic containers, comprising:
a decorator including an inking assembly with a plurality of ink blades and an ink roller, a printing plate, a transfer blanket, and a support element to receive a metallic container and move the metallic container into contact with the transfer blanket to transfer a decoration to a cylindrical exterior surface of the metallic container, wherein each ink blade includes a body extending from a first endwall to a second endwall, and wherein a shaft extending from an actuator associated with each ink blade engages the first endwall;
an oven positioned downstream from the decorator to cure ink used to form the decoration on the cylindrical exterior surface of the metallic container;
a sensor positioned downstream from the oven to obtain data from predetermined targets within the decoration on the cylindrical exterior surface of the metallic container related to the quality of the decoration; and
a control system that receives the data from the sensor, the control system operable to compare the data to stored data to determine if the decoration is deficient, wherein the control system evaluates a plurality of data points associated with the predetermined targets in the data received from the sensor, and wherein, if the decoration is deficient, the control system sends a first signal to adjust at least one of an ink blade of the plurality of ink blades and a rate of rotation of the ink roller to correct the cause of the deficient decoration.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a pin chain to transport the metallic container from the support element, through the oven, and to the sensor, wherein the sensor comprises from three to six image sensing devices arranged in a predetermined orientation to sense portions of the cylindrical exterior surface of the metallic container, and wherein the image sensing devices are positioned such that they do not impede movement of the pin chain.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the control system can determine if the deficient decoration is associated with at least one of a color of the decoration, a density of the decoration, a depth of the decoration, an alignment of the decoration, a consistency of the decoration, and a position of the decoration, and wherein the sensor is operable to collect data about one or more of a color of the decoration, a density of the decoration, a depth or thickness of the decoration, an alignment of the decoration, a consistency of the decoration, a position of the decoration, and a shape of the metallic container.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the control system determines a lag time which occurs after sending the first signal to correct the cause of the deficient decoration and when a metallic container with a corrected decoration reaches the sensor.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first signal is sent to an actuator associated with the ink blade to alter an amount of ink transferred to the transfer blanket while the decorator is in operation, wherein the shaft has a distal end retained in an internal bore extending into the first endwall, the first signal causing the distal end to move further into the internal bore, and wherein the internal bore does not intersect the second endwall.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 , further comprising a second inking assembly with a plurality of second ink blades to transfer a second ink to a second printing plate, wherein, if the control system determines the decoration is deficient due to an improper amount of the second ink from the second inking assembly, the control system sends a second signal to a second actuator to adjust a second ink blade of the plurality of second ink blades to alter an amount of the second ink transferred to a portion of the second printing plate and then to the transfer blanket, and wherein the second actuator includes a shaft received in the second ink blade.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each ink blade has a longitudinal axis and the shaft of the actuator associated with each ink blade is approximately concentrically aligned with the longitudinal axis.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the control system is operable to:
determine an initial position for each of the plurality of ink blades based on an image of the decoration stored in a database; and
send a signal to the actuator associated with each of the plurality of ink blades to move each ink blade to its initial position before a production run to decorate the metallic containers begins.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the control system determines a color variation expressed as a ΔE between a target value of a color of the decoration and an actual color of the decoration measured by the sensor, and wherein the control system sends the first signal to correct the cause of the deficient decoration when the ΔE is between about 5% of the target value and about 15% of the target value.

10. A method of optimizing a decoration formed by a decorator on a cylindrical exterior surface of a metallic container, comprising:
providing a metallic container;
feeding the metallic container into the decorator which includes:
an inking assembly with an ink roller and a plurality of ink blades, wherein each ink blade includes a body extending between a first endwall and a second endwall, and wherein an actuator is interconnected to each ink blade by a shaft extending from a first side of the actuator that engages the first endwall;
a plate cylinder with a printing plate;
a blanket cylinder with a transfer blanket; and
a support element to move a cylindrical exterior surface of the metallic container into contact with the transfer blanket;

determining, by a control system, initial positions for each of the plurality of ink blades;
decorating the cylindrical exterior surface of the metallic container with the decorator;
positioning the metallic container on a pin chain;
transporting the metallic container on the pin chain through an oven to cure ink of the decoration;
transporting the metallic container on the pin chain past a plurality of image capturing devices positioned downstream from the oven;
obtaining a captured image of the decoration on the cylindrical exterior surface of the metallic container with the image capturing devices;
comparing, by the control system, the captured image to a stored image of an acceptable decoration, wherein the control system evaluates a plurality of data points associated with multiple target areas of the cylindrical exterior surface in the captured image received from the image capturing devices;
determining, by the control system, if the decoration in the captured image meets density quality parameters corresponding to one or more criteria, wherein the control system determines a color variation between a target value of a color of the decoration and an actual color of the decoration in the captured image; and
sending, by the control system, a signal to adjust at least one of a position of an ink blade of the plurality of ink blades and a rate of rotation of the ink roller of the inking assembly to alter at least one of a color, a density, a thickness, and a consistency of ink transferred to the transfer blanket when the color variation is between about 5% of the target value and about 15% of the target value.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the signal is operable to cause an actuator with a shaft received in the ink blade to move the ink blade in a specific direction while the decorator is in operation, wherein an end of the shaft is positioned within an internal bore formed in a body o

Assignees

• Ball Corp

Inventors

• Efner John

Classifications

• H04N1/00047 Primary

  using an image not specifically designed for the purpose · CPC title

• B41F33/0009

  Central control units · CPC title

• B41M1/06

  Lithographic printing · CPC title

• B41F33/0036

  Devices for scanning or checking the printed matter for quality control · CPC title

• B41F17/22

  by rolling contact · CPC title