Patent · US11220100B2 · B2 · US

Can body manufacturing system

(11) Publication number

US11220100B2

(21) Application number

17/261,575

(22) Filing date

2019-06-21

(30) Priority date

2018-08-27

(43) Publication date

2022-01-11

(45) Date of grant

2022-01-11

(51) IPC

B41F 17/14

(52) CPC

B41F Printing machines or presses: 17/14, 17/22
B21D Working or processing of sheet metal or metal tubes, rods or profiles without essentially removing material; punching metal: 51/2692
B41J Typewriters; selective printing mechanisms, i.e. mechanisms printing otherwise than from a forme; correction of typographical errors: 2/01, 3/40733
B41M Printing, duplicating, marking, or copying processes; colour printing: 1/40, 5/0088
B65G Transport or storage devices, e.g. conveyors for loading or tipping, shop conveyor systems or pneumatic tube conveyors: 2201/0252, 47/681, 47/71

(73) Assignee

Showa Aluminum Can Corp

(72) Inventors

Shinichi Ojima; Kazunori Ikeda; Kazuhisa Masuda; Hitomi MATSUSHIMA

(54) Title

Can body manufacturing system

(57) Abstract

While deterioration in processing efficiency caused by printing devices with slow printing speed is suppressed, facilities necessary to manufacture can bodies are able to be shared. A can body manufacturing system includes: a can body conveyance route, by which can bodies are conveyed, provided to branch halfway and thereafter merge again, the can body conveyance route at least including a first branching conveyance route and a second branching conveyance route; a first printing device performing printing on can bodies conveyed by the first branching conveyance route; and a second printing device performing printing on can bodies conveyed by the second branching conveyance route, the number of can bodies on which printing is performed by the second printing device per unit time being different from the number of can bodies on which printing is performed by the first printing device per unit time.

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Claims (15)

A can body manufacturing system comprising: a can body conveyance route, by which can bodies are conveyed, provided to branch halfway and thereafter merge again, the can body conveyance route at least including a first branching conveyance route and a second branching conveyance route; a first printing device performing printing on can bodies conveyed by the first branching conveyance route; and a second printing device performing printing on can bodies conveyed by the second branching conveyance route, the number of can bodies on which printing is performed by the second printing device per unit time being different from the number of can bodies on which printing is performed by the first printing device per unit time.
The can body manufacturing system according to claim 1, further comprising: at least one of a can body storage part provided in the first branching conveyance route for temporarily storing can bodies on which printing by the first printing device has been performed and a can body storage part provided in the second branching conveyance route for temporarily storing can bodies on which printing by the second printing device has been performed.
The can body manufacturing system according to claim 2, further comprising: a discharge unit provided on an upstream side of the can body storage part in a can body conveyance direction to discharge a can body that does not satisfy a predetermined condition out of the first branching conveyance route and/or the second branching conveyance route.
The can body manufacturing system according to claim 1, wherein the number of can bodies on which printing is performed by the second printing device per unit time is less than the number of can bodies on which printing is performed by the first printing device per unit time, and the second branching conveyance route is provided with a can body storage part temporarily storing can bodies on which printing by the second printing device has been performed.
The can body manufacturing system according to claim 4, further comprising: a discharge unit provided on an upstream side of the can body storage part in a conveyance direction of the can bodies conveyed by the second branching conveyance route and discharging a can body that does not satisfy a predetermined condition out of the second branching conveyance route.
The can body manufacturing system according to claim 1, wherein a merging part where the first branching conveyance route and the second branching conveyance route merge is provided, printing-processed can bodies, which are the can bodies on which printing by the first printing device has been performed, are conveyed to a downstream side and pass through the merging part of the first branching conveyance route and the second branching conveyance route, and the printing-processed can bodies are temporarily prevented from passing through the merging part, and thereafter, the can bodies on which printing by the second printing device has been performed are supplied to the merging part.
The can body manufacturing system according to claim 1, wherein a branch portion where the can body conveyance route branches to be the first branching conveyance route and the second branching conveyance route is provided, a part passing through the branch portion and heading for the first branching conveyance route from an upstream side and a part passing through the branch portion and heading for the second branching conveyance route from the upstream side are provided, the number of can bodies on which printing is performed by the second printing device per unit time is less than the number of can bodies on which printing is performed by the first printing device per unit time, and, in the branch portion where the can body conveyance route branches, the part passing through the branch portion and heading for the first branching conveyance route from an upstream side is linearly formed, and the part passing through the branch portion and heading for the second branching conveyance route from the upstream side is bent.
The can body manufacturing system according to claim 1, wherein a merging part where the first branching conveyance route and the second branching conveyance route merge is provided, printing-processed can bodies, which are the can bodies on which printing by the first printing device has been performed, are conveyed to a downstream side and pass through the merging part of the first branching conveyance route and the second branching conveyance route, and, every time a predetermined number of printing-processed can bodies pass through the merging part, the can bodies on which printing by the second printing device has been performed are supplied to the merging part from the second branching conveyance route.
The can body manufacturing system according to claim 1, wherein the number of can bodies heading for the second branching conveyance route from a branch portion, where the can body conveyance route branches, per unit time and the number of can bodies heading for the first branching conveyance route from the branch portion per unit time are different.
The can body manufacturing system according to claim 9, wherein the number of can bodies on which printing is performed by the second printing device per unit time is less than the number of can bodies on which printing is performed by the first printing device per unit time, and the number of can bodies heading for the second branching conveyance route from the branch portion per unit time is less than the number of can bodies heading for the first branching conveyance route from the branch portion per unit time.
The can body manufacturing system according to claim 1, wherein one of the first printing device and the second printing device is a printing device of a plate printing method and the other one is a printing device of an inkjet method.
The can body manufacturing system according to claim 1, wherein a merging part where the first branching conveyance route and the second branching conveyance route merge is provided, printing-processed can bodies, which are the can bodies on which printing by the first printing device has been performed, are conveyed to a downstream side and pass through the merging part of the first branching conveyance route and the second branching conveyance route, and the can body manufacturing system further comprises a supply control unit controlling supply of the can bodies on which printing by the second printing device has been performed to the merging part.
The can body manufacturing system according to claim 12, wherein the supply control unit controls supply of the can bodies to the merging part by performing regulation on movement of the can bodies from the second branching conveyance route to the merging part, and by lifting the regulation.
The can body manufacturing system according to claim 13, wherein, when the regulation is lifted, the supply control unit lifts the regulation for a predetermined time period.
The can body manufacturing system according to claim 12, wherein, when the can bodies on which printing by the second printing device has been performed are supplied to the merging part, the supply control unit supplies a predetermined number of can bodies to the merging part.

Description

The present invention relates to a can body manufacturing system.

Patent Document 1 discloses a process of printing plural brands on can bodies by use of plural printers, and thereafter, sorting the can bodies by each brand.

In Patent Document 2, there is disclosed a printing device, in which inkjet printing is performed in at least one inkjet printing station, and plural inkjet heads are arranged in the inkjet printing station.

When printing onto can bodies is to performed by use of plural printing devices arranged in line along a single can body conveyance route and printed can bodies are to be successively conveyed along the can body conveyance route, if each of the printing devices has different printing speed, due to being affected by printing devices with slow printing speed, a whole processing efficiency is reduced.

In contrast thereto, conveyance of the can bodies performed individually in each of the printing devices by providing the can body conveyance path for each of the printing devices makes it possible to suppress deterioration of the whole processing efficiency, but, in this case, facilities cannot be shared.

The present invention, while suppressing deterioration in processing efficiency caused by printing devices with slow printing speed, makes it possible to share the facilities necessary to manufacture can bodies.

Citations (20)

JPS338922B1
US3563170A
US5852971A
JP2005015173A
US20050199143A1
US20060288888A1
JP2008183613A
US20120216689A1
US20140049585A1
US20140028771A1
JP2012232771A
WO2012147695A1
US9862204B2
WO2017022402A1
JP2017029951A
US20180207955A1
WO2018008315A1
JP2018012320A
US20200009879A1
US20200122495A1

Record as JSON

{
  "publication_number": "US11220100B2",
  "country": "US",
  "kind": "B2",
  "title": "Can body manufacturing system",
  "abstract": "While deterioration in processing efficiency caused by printing devices with slow printing speed is suppressed, facilities necessary to manufacture can bodies are able to be shared. A can body manufacturing system includes: a can body conveyance route, by which can bodies are conveyed, provided to branch halfway and thereafter merge again, the can body conveyance route at least including a first branching conveyance route and a second branching conveyance route; a first printing device performing printing on can bodies conveyed by the first branching conveyance route; and a second printing device performing printing on can bodies conveyed by the second branching conveyance route, the number of can bodies on which printing is performed by the second printing device per unit time being different from the number of can bodies on which printing is performed by the first printing device per unit time.",
  "claims": [
    "1. A can body manufacturing system comprising: a can body conveyance route, by which can bodies are conveyed, provided to branch halfway and thereafter merge again, the can body conveyance route at least including a first branching conveyance route and a second branching conveyance route; a first printing device performing printing on can bodies conveyed by the first branching conveyance route; and a second printing device performing printing on can bodies conveyed by the second branching conveyance route, the number of can bodies on which printing is performed by the second printing device per unit time being different from the number of can bodies on which printing is performed by the first printing device per unit time.",
    "2. The can body manufacturing system according to claim 1, further comprising: at least one of a can body storage part provided in the first branching conveyance route for temporarily storing can bodies on which printing by the first printing device has been performed and a can body storage part provided in the second branching conveyance route for temporarily storing can bodies on which printing by the second printing device has been performed.",
    "3. The can body manufacturing system according to claim 2, further comprising: a discharge unit provided on an upstream side of the can body storage part in a can body conveyance direction to discharge a can body that does not satisfy a predetermined condition out of the first branching conveyance route and/or the second branching conveyance route.",
    "4. The can body manufacturing system according to claim 1, wherein the number of can bodies on which printing is performed by the second printing device per unit time is less than the number of can bodies on which printing is performed by the first printing device per unit time, and the second branching conveyance route is provided with a can body storage part temporarily storing can bodies on which printing by the second printing device has been performed.",
    "5. The can body manufacturing system according to claim 4, further comprising: a discharge unit provided on an upstream side of the can body storage part in a conveyance direction of the can bodies conveyed by the second branching conveyance route and discharging a can body that does not satisfy a predetermined condition out of the second branching conveyance route.",
    "6. The can body manufacturing system according to claim 1, wherein a merging part where the first branching conveyance route and the second branching conveyance route merge is provided, printing-processed can bodies, which are the can bodies on which printing by the first printing device has been performed, are conveyed to a downstream side and pass through the merging part of the first branching conveyance route and the second branching conveyance route, and the printing-processed can bodies are temporarily prevented from passing through the merging part, and thereafter, the can bodies on which printing by the second printing device has been performed are supplied to the merging part.",
    "7. The can body manufacturing system according to claim 1, wherein a branch portion where the can body conveyance route branches to be the first branching conveyance route and the second branching conveyance route is provided, a part passing through the branch portion and heading for the first branching conveyance route from an upstream side and a part passing through the branch portion and heading for the second branching conveyance route from the upstream side are provided, the number of can bodies on which printing is performed by the second printing device per unit time is less than the number of can bodies on which printing is performed by the first printing device per unit time, and, in the branch portion where the can body conveyance route branches, the part passing through the branch portion and heading for the first branching conveyance route from an upstream side is linearly formed, and the part passing through the branch portion and heading for the second branching conveyance route from the upstream side is bent.",
    "8. The can body manufacturing system according to claim 1, wherein a merging part where the first branching conveyance route and the second branching conveyance route merge is provided, printing-processed can bodies, which are the can bodies on which printing by the first printing device has been performed, are conveyed to a downstream side and pass through the merging part of the first branching conveyance route and the second branching conveyance route, and, every time a predetermined number of printing-processed can bodies pass through the merging part, the can bodies on which printing by the second printing device has been performed are supplied to the merging part from the second branching conveyance route.",
    "9. The can body manufacturing system according to claim 1, wherein the number of can bodies heading for the second branching conveyance route from a branch portion, where the can body conveyance route branches, per unit time and the number of can bodies heading for the first branching conveyance route from the branch portion per unit time are different.",
    "10. The can body manufacturing system according to claim 9, wherein the number of can bodies on which printing is performed by the second printing device per unit time is less than the number of can bodies on which printing is performed by the first printing device per unit time, and the number of can bodies heading for the second branching conveyance route from the branch portion per unit time is less than the number of can bodies heading for the first branching conveyance route from the branch portion per unit time.",
    "11. The can body manufacturing system according to claim 1, wherein one of the first printing device and the second printing device is a printing device of a plate printing method and the other one is a printing device of an inkjet method.",
    "12. The can body manufacturing system according to claim 1, wherein a merging part where the first branching conveyance route and the second branching conveyance route merge is provided, printing-processed can bodies, which are the can bodies on which printing by the first printing device has been performed, are conveyed to a downstream side and pass through the merging part of the first branching conveyance route and the second branching conveyance route, and the can body manufacturing system further comprises a supply control unit controlling supply of the can bodies on which printing by the second printing device has been performed to the merging part.",
    "13. The can body manufacturing system according to claim 12, wherein the supply control unit controls supply of the can bodies to the merging part by performing regulation on movement of the can bodies from the second branching conveyance route to the merging part, and by lifting the regulation.",
    "14. The can body manufacturing system according to claim 13, wherein, when the regulation is lifted, the supply control unit lifts the regulation for a predetermined time period.",
    "15. The can body manufacturing system according to claim 12, wherein, when the can bodies on which printing by the second printing device has been performed are supplied to the merging part, the supply control unit supplies a predetermined number of can bodies to the merging part."
  ],
  "description_excerpt": "The present invention relates to a can body manufacturing system.\n\nPatent Document 1 discloses a process of printing plural brands on can bodies by use of plural printers, and thereafter, sorting the can bodies by each brand.\n\nIn Patent Document 2, there is disclosed a printing device, in which inkjet printing is performed in at least one inkjet printing station, and plural inkjet heads are arranged in the inkjet printing station.\n\nWhen printing onto can bodies is to performed by use of plural printing devices arranged in line along a single can body conveyance route and printed can bodies are to be successively conveyed along the can body conveyance route, if each of the printing devices has different printing speed, due to being affected by printing devices with slow printing speed, a whole processing efficiency is reduced.\n\nIn contrast thereto, conveyance of the can bodies performed individually in each of the printing devices by providing the can body conveyance path for each of the printing devices makes it possible to suppress deterioration of the whole processing efficiency, but, in this case, facilities cannot be shared.\n\nThe present invention, while suppressing deterioration in processing efficiency caused by printing devices with slow printing speed, makes it possible to share the facilities necessary to manufacture can bodies.",
  "cpc": [
    "B41F 17/14",
    "B21D 51/2692",
    "B41F 17/22",
    "B41J 2/01",
    "B41J 3/40733",
    "B41M 1/40",
    "B41M 5/0088",
    "B65G 2201/0252",
    "B65G 47/681",
    "B65G 47/71"
  ],
  "ipc": [
    "B41F 17/14"
  ],
  "assignees": [
    "Showa Aluminum Can Corp"
  ],
  "inventors": [
    "Shinichi Ojima",
    "Kazunori Ikeda",
    "Kazuhisa Masuda",
    "Hitomi MATSUSHIMA"
  ],
  "filing_date": "2019-06-21",
  "publication_date": "2022-01-11",
  "grant_date": "2022-01-11",
  "priority_date": "2018-08-27",
  "application_number": "US-201917261575-A",
  "family_id": "69644142",
  "cited_by_count": 0,
  "citations": [
    "JPS338922B1",
    "US3563170A",
    "US5852971A",
    "JP2005015173A",
    "US20050199143A1",
    "US20060288888A1",
    "JP2008183613A",
    "US20120216689A1",
    "US20140049585A1",
    "US20140028771A1",
    "JP2012232771A",
    "WO2012147695A1",
    "US9862204B2",
    "WO2017022402A1",
    "JP2017029951A",
    "US20180207955A1",
    "WO2018008315A1",
    "JP2018012320A",
    "US20200009879A1",
    "US20200122495A1"
  ]
}

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