Rotary Die Cutting System

Abstract

A rotary die cutting system comprising: a rotary die cutter (21) having a die cutting cylinder (22) that can rotate about a die cutting axis; a counter-pressure cylinder (23) that can rotate about a counter-pressure cylinder axis; and an adjusting mechanism, by means of which a gap width between the die cutting cylinder and the counter-pressure cylinder (22, 23) can be adjusted; and a die cutting sheet (25) that can be fixed to the die cutting cylinder (22). A machine-readable information carrier (26) is associated with the die cutting sheet (25), more particularly the die cutting sheet (25) has said information carrier, by means of which carrier at least the die cutting sheet (25) can be identified, and the rotary die cutting system has a detection unit (27) designed to read out the information carrier (26). The adjusting mechanism has a servomotor and a control unit (28) and is designed to adjust the gap width according to the die cutting sheet (25). Also disclosed is a method for adjusting the gap width.

Claims

1.-23. (canceled)

24. A rotary die cutting system comprising: one or more die cutting devices each comprising: a die cutting cylinder rotatable about a die cutting cylinder axis, a counter pressure cylinder rotatable about a counter pressure cylinder axis, and an adjusting device configured to adjust a gap width between the die cutting cylinder and the counter pressure cylinder; a die cutting sheet configured to be fixed on the die cutting cylinder, wherein the die cutting sheet comprises a machine-readable information carrier configured to at least provide an identification of the die cutting sheet; a detection unit configured to read out the information carrier; wherein the adjusting device comprises a servomotor and a control unit and is configured to adjust the gap width based on the die cutting sheet.

25. The rotary die cutting system according to claim 24, wherein the information carrier and the detection unit are configured to communicate with each other by radio.

26. The rotary die cutting system according to claim 24, wherein the detection unit is an optical detection unit and the information carrier is an optically readable information carrier.

27. The rotary die cutting system according to claim 26, wherein the optical detection unit is a camera and the information carrier is a QR code.

28. The rotary die cutting system according to claim 24, wherein the information carrier is a structure introduced into a surface material of the die cutting sheet.

29. The rotary die cutting system according to claim 28, wherein the structure is etched or introduced by laser into the surface material of the die cutting sheet.

30. The rotary die cutting system according to claim 24, wherein the adjusting device is configured to automatically adjust the gap width based on the die cutting sheet.

31. The rotary die cutting system according to claim 24, further comprising a memory configured to store information of the die cutting sheet.

32. The rotary die cutting system according to claim 31, wherein the information stored in the memory is the identification of the die cutting sheet, read out from the information carrier by the detection unit, and a gap width adjustment of the gap width effected by the adjusting device.

33. The rotary die cutting system according to claim 31, wherein the memory is provided in the control unit.

34. The rotary die cutting system according to claim 24, further comprising an operating unit comprising an input unit and a display unit.

35. The rotary die cutting system according to claim 34, wherein the operating unit is connected movably with the rotary die cutting system or is mobile.

36. The rotary die cutting system according to claim 35, wherein the detection unit is arranged in the operating unit.

37. The rotary die cutting system according to claim 34, wherein the control unit and the operating unit that is separately arranged relative to the control unit are configured to synchronize die cutting sheet-specific data among each other.

38. The rotary die cutting system according to claim 24, further comprising a first memory configured to store information of the die cutting sheet, wherein the rotary die cutting devices are configured such that, by reading the information carrier, a repeated use of the die cutting sheet is detectable and, depending on a gap width adjustment of the gap width on the rotary die cutting device used last with the die cutting sheet stored in the memory, the control device is configured to automatically adjust the gap width suitable for the die cutting sheet on the rotary die cutting device now being used.

39. The rotary die cutting system according to claim 38, further comprising a second memory wherein the first and second memories are configured to be at least temporarily linked with each other.

40. A method for adjusting a gap width between a die cutting cylinder and a counter pressure cylinder of a rotary die cutting device of a rotary die cutting system according to claim 24, the method comprising: reading out the machine-readable information carrier of the die cutting sheet; determining the gap width suitable for the die cutting sheet; and adjusting the gap width.

41. The method according to claim 40, wherein in the step of reading out at least one of the elements of the group consisting of an identification of the die cutting sheet, information about a standard gap width, a circumference of a standard die cutting cylinder, a number of teeth of the standard die cutting cylinder, and a toothing of the standard die cutting cylinder is read out.

42. The method according to claim 40, further comprising using a database containing information about one or a plurality of the die cutting sheets.

43. The method according to claim 42, further comprising: searching the database for information about the die cutting sheet currently employed and the gap width that has been adjusted last for the die cutting sheet currently employed; and using the gap width stored in the database or using a standard gap width, stored in the information carrier, for adjusting the gap width.

44. The method according to claim 42, further comprising storing a combination of the identification of the currently employed die cutting sheet and of the gap width last used for the currently employed die cutting sheet in the database.

45. The method according to claim 40, further comprising identifying the die cutting cylinder currently employed in the rotary die cutting device.

46. The method according to claim 45, wherein the step of identifying includes automatically making available for each rotary die cutting device at least a stored information for the currently employed die cutting cylinder or selecting manually the die cutting cylinder.

47. The method according to claim 46, wherein the stored information for the currently employed die cutting cylinder includes at least one of the elements selected from the group consisting of a die cutting cylinder diameter, a number of teeth, and a toothing.

48. The method according to claim 45, further comprising comparing a nominal gap width that is stored for the currently employed die cutting cylinder with a standard gap width of the die cutting sheet and, when a difference is determined, determining a required gap width correction.

49. The method according to claim 45, further comprising using a die cutting cylinder-specific driving curve, retrieved from a die cutting cylinder database, for adjusting the gap width.

50. The method according to claim 49, further comprising: retrieving a control signal for the servomotor required for adjusting the gap width from the die cutting cylinder-specific driving curve; or determining the control signal for the servomotor by interpolation from neighboring values of the die cutting cylinder-specific driving curve and transmitting the control signal determined by interpolation to the servomotor.

51. The method according to claim 40, further comprising, in the step of determining a gap width, taking into a account a user-defined safety allowance.

52. A die cutting sheet comprising at least one machine-readable information carrier and configured to be used on a rotary die cutting system according to claim 24.

Description

[0030] Further advantageous configurations of the invention will be explained in more detail with the aid of the embodiment described in the following. It is shown therein:

[0031] FIG. 1 a flowchart of a method according to the invention;

[0032] FIG. 2 a schematic partially perspective illustration of an article according to the invention.

[0033] In the following, elements of the invention acting in the same way are provided with the same reference number, inasmuch as this is expedient. The features of the embodiment described in the following can also be subject matter of the invention in other feature combinations than illustrated.

[0034] FIG. 1 shows a method according to the invention. In a first method step 1, the machine-readable information carrier 26 which is provided at the die cutting sheet 25 is read out by the detection unit 27. In method step 2, the die cutting cylinder 22 which is to be used with the die cutting sheet 25 is identified. For this purpose, it is checked in step 3 whether information in regard to the die cutting cylinder 22 exists. When this is the case, the data in regard to the die cutting cylinder 22 are retrieved and the die cutting cylinder 22 identified in step 4. When, on the other hand, no data in regard to the die cutting cylinder 22 are existing, the message die cutting cylinder not present is deployed in step 5. Subsequently, a manual selection of the die cutting cylinder 22 to be used is made in step 6. In step 7, a cylinder-specific driving curve is loaded. In step 8, it is checked whether information in regard to prior use of the corresponding die cutting sheet 25 exists. When this is not the case, a standard gap width that is, for example, stored in the information carrier 26 is adjusted in method step 9. When a prior use of the die cutting sheet 25 is documented, the last used gap width is used for gap width adjustment in the method step 10. In step 11, the gap width to be adjusted is calculated. In this context, for example, a safety allowance is used. In step 12, it is checked whether for this gap width a corresponding value pair with the required control signal is stored in the driving curve. When this is not the case, at least a preceding and a following value in the driving curve are determined in step 13 and the searched-for control signal is calculated by interpolation, preferably linear interpolation. In the method step 14, the determined control signal is transmitted to the servomotor and the gap width is adjusted. The now adjusted position is stored in a database together with at least the identification of the die cutting sheet.

[0035] According to FIG. 2, a rotary die cutting system according to the invention comprises a rotary die cutting device 21, with a die cutting cylinder 22 that is rotatable about a die cutting cylinder axis, not identified in detail by number, as well as with a counter pressure cylinder 23 that is rotatable about a counter pressure cylinder axis (also not identified by number) as well as with a multi-part adjusting device with actuating means 24 by means of which a gap width between die cutting cylinder and counter pressure cylinder can be adjusted. Moreover, the rotary die cutting system comprises a die cutting sheet 25 that can be fixed on the die cutting cylinder. The die cutting sheet 25 comprises a machine-readable information carrier 26 which is configured here as QR code which can be detected by an optical detection unit 27 which here is embodied as a camera. Moreover, the adjusting device comprises a control unit 28 which carries out data processing and the control of the actuating means 24 comprising servomotors. The actuating means 24 are secured respectively by flange means 29 directly in the sides of the rotary die cutting device 21 in slide blocks 31 guided in a frame 30. The control of the actuating means 24 is realized by cable 32 but can also be done wireless, however. The same holds true also for detecting the information carrier 26 which can also be embodied, for example, as an RFID tag.