DEVICE AND METHOD FOR PROCESSING A MATERIAL WEB

Abstract

A device for processing a material web (3) that includes means (2) for conveying the material web in a longitudinal direction (L), wherein both an applied, in particular repeated printed image (9) and a control line (10, 11) extending in the longitudinal direction are configured on the material web (3). The control line (10, 11) has a defined position transverse to the material web (3), and the control line (10, 11) is scanned by means of a sensor (15, 16) in a material web (3) processing step. The control line (3) has a digital code structure in its longitudinal direction (L) that encodes a data set of at least four bits, in particular at least two bytes, of information content.

Claims

1. A device for processing a material web (3), comprising: means (2) for conveying the material web in a longitudinal direction (L), wherein both an applied, repeated printed image (9) and a control line (10, 11) extending in the longitudinal direction are configured on the material web (3), wherein the control line (10, 11) has a defined position transverse to the material web (3; the control line (10, 11) is scanned by means of a sensor (15, 16) in a material web (3) processing step, and the control line (3) has a digital code structure in its longitudinal direction (L), that encodes a data set of to at least four bits, of information content.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the control line (10, 11) is applied to the material web by applying ink by means of a printing mechanism (8) and the application takes place in the same processing step as an application of the printed image (9).

3. The device according to claim 1, wherein at least a second control line (11) running in the longitudinal direction is arranged in another region of the material web (3).

4. The device according to claim 3, wherein the two control lines (10, 11) are assigned to different print orders on the same material web.

5. The device according to claim 3, characterized in that the control line (10) is arranged in a first edge region of the material web (3) and the second control line (11) is arranged in a transversally opposite second edge region of the material web (3).

6. The device according to claim 1 wherein the code structure comprises gaps (13) in the control line (3), wherein a length of each of the gaps (13) does not exceed a maximum value.

7. The device according to claim 1, wherein the code structure comprises gaps (13) in the control line (3) and a length of each of the gaps (13) does not exceed a maximum value. Wherein code segments (14) of the control line (10, 11) are defined by the gaps (13) and at least two different discrete lengths of the code segments (14) are provided corresponding to a digital item of information of at least two different values per code segment (14).

8. The device according to claim 6, wherein the data set comprises a large number of gaps (13) and code segments (14) following one another and the data set is of a length in the longitudinal direction which depends on the encoded information, wherein the length does not exceed a defined maximum length.

9. The device according to claim 1, wherein the device comprises a corrugated cardboard machine (1), and the control information for the corrugated cardboard machine (1) is contained in the data sets of the material web (3).

10. The device according to claim 1, wherein the material web (3) is configured as a digitally preprinted roll of a digital printing machine.

11. The device according to claim 1, wherein the material web (3) has at least two different printed images (9) arranged alongside one another and repeated in the longitudinal direction, and the printed images (9) have repeat lengths (RL) which differ in the longitudinal direction.

12. The device according to claim 1, wherein a breadth of the control line (10, 11) is less than 4 mm, and wherein a clearance with a breadth of less than 4 mm to at least one side of the control line (10, 11) is provided.

13. The device according to claim 1, wherein cut marks (23) are printed laterally alongside the control line (10, 11) and the cut marks (23) can be read as a control signal for a cutting mechanism (6).

14. The device according to claim 1, wherein the data set contains one or more items of information selected from the group consisting of consecutive numbering of the printed image (9), identification of a print order, information on an order change and information on defects.

15. The device according to claim 1, wherein the sensor (15, 16) records a two-dimensional digital image of the control line (10, 11) and the image is electronically evaluated.

16. The device according to claim 1, wherein the code structure is configured to be bidirectionally readable.

17. The device according to claim 1, wherein in addition to the digital code structure (12), a human-readable item of information in plain text (24) is applied to the material web (3), wherein, the human-readable item of information (24) is correlated with the information content of the code structure (12).

18. The device according to claim 17, wherein the plain text (24) is positioned congruent with the control line (10, 11).

19. The device according to claim 17, wherein the plain text (24) is positioned outside the control line (10, 11) and inside the printed image (9).

20. The device according to claim 17, wherein the digital code structure (12) comprises a human-readable item of information in plain text (24) and the digital item of information comprises exclusively the plain text (24).

21. The device according to claim 17, characterized in that the plain text (24) consists of alphanumeric characters selected from the group consisting of Latin letters and Arabic numbers.

22. A material web for processing with a device according to claim 1, wherein both an applied, repeated printed image (9) and a control line (10, 11) extending in the longitudinal direction (L) are configured on the material web (3), and the control line (10, 11) has a defined position transverse to the material web (3), wherein the control line (10, 11) has a digital code structure in its longitudinal direction (L), wherein the code structure encodes a data set of at least four bits, in particular at least two bytes, of information content.

23. A corrugated cardboard packaging produced by a method that includes the steps of applying the material web (3) according to claim 17 to a support (4) and cutting the support (4) in conjunction with detecting the control line.

24. A method for processing a material web, comprising the steps of: feeding a roll with an untreated material web (3) to a printing machine and conveying the material web in a longitudinal direction (L); printing the material web (3) with at least one printed image (9) which is repeated, in particular, in the longitudinal direction (L), in particular by means of a digital printing mechanism; printing the material web (3) with a control line (10, 11) arranged, in particular, at the edge; wherein the control line (10, 11) has a digital code structure in its longitudinal direction (11) [sic], wherein the code structure encodes a data set of at least four bits, in particular at least two bytes, of information content.

25. The method according to claim 24, wherein the method is carried out by means of a device according to claim 1.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0047] FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of a device according to the invention from the side.

[0048] FIG. 2 shows a schematic three-dimensional view of a material web according to the invention with sensors arranged thereabove.

[0049] FIG. 3 shows a plan view of an enlarged detail of the material web from FIG. 2.

[0050] FIG. 4 shows a representation of a section of a control line of a material web according to the invention with a code structure.

[0051] FIG. 5 shows a second exemplary embodiment of the invention in which a control line contains additional information in human-readable plain text.

[0052] FIG. 6 shows a third exemplary embodiment of the invention in which additional information in human-readable plain text is provided outside a control line.

[0053] FIG. 7 shows a fourth exemplary embodiment of the invention in which a control line exclusively contains information in human-readable plain text.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0054] The device shown in FIG. 1 is a corrugated cardboard machine (CCM) 1 which has a plurality of stations 2 for feeding, conveying and processing material. An upper printed material web 3 is applied two-dimensionally onto other webs 4 as a support here and are thereby joined together to form a printed corrugated cardboard 5.

[0055] After being joined together, the web consisting of printed corrugated cardboard 5 is cut into individual cardboard packaging or pieces of corrugated cardboard or packaging in a cutting station 6, the latter being stacked in a deposit station 7.

[0056] In a procedure which is preferred here, the printed material web 3 is produced on an external printing machine (not shown). Already preprinted rolls are therefore supplied to the CCM and fixed.

[0057] Alternatively, the printing of the material web 3 can also be carried out directly during the production of the corrugated cardboard by means, in particular, of a digital printing machine 8. No such integrated printing machine is shown in detail, but one would be arranged in the region of reference numeral 8 in an apparatus according to FIG. 1.

[0058] Irrespective of how the material web 3 is produced, printed images 9 are applied to the latter. The printed images 9 are repeated at a repeat length RL in a longitudinal direction L of the material web 3.

[0059] A control line 10, 11 is configured on each side of the material web. The control lines 10, 11 are applied to the material web 3 by the printing machine 8 by means of printing ink. The control lines 10, 11 are each located in an edge region of the material web 3, wherein the edge regions are transversely opposite.

[0060] Each of the control lines 10, 11 has a breadth B of 3 mm. A free unprinted region at least 3 mm in breadth is provided on at least one side of each of the control lines. Each of the control lines 10, 11 therefore requires a strip which is 6 mm in breadth at the edge of the material web 3.

[0061] The control lines 10, 11 each have code structures 12 which are configured as a whole by gaps 13 or unprinted regions and code segments 14 extending between the gaps 13.

[0062] The control lines 10, 11 are each visually perceived here by a separate sensor 15, 16. For this purpose, alongside sensors 15, 16, a defined light 17, 18 of the control lines 10, 11 is provided above the material web 3. The sensors 15, 16 are connected to a control computer 19 which evaluates the signals from the sensors. The control computer 19, for its part, is connected to a process control system 21 of the CCM via an interface 20.

[0063] In the present case, the sensors 15, 16 are in each case configured as a CCD camera in the form of a line scan camera. The line scan camera, when triggered by a speed signal, scans line by line. This produces an endless 2D image of the control lines 10, 11. The images are electronically evaluated by the control computer 19. Algorithms extract the data contained therein in coherent code sequences and evaluate their contents.

[0064] The code structure is configured to be bidirectionally readable here so that the item of information is recognized irrespective of the direction in which the image is taken and/or in which the material web 3 is passing through.

[0065] The processing of the material web to produce fully cut cardboard packaging or pieces of corrugated cardboard can be controlled and monitored by following the control lines 10, 11 and reading the code structures 12.

[0066] The sensors (scanners) used hitherto in the prior art are improved upon in the solution here by a factor of 4 and the scanning speed is also more than doubled. The demands on the printed control line therefore need to be reassessed. If the resolution of the line breadth by the sensor was approx. 1 mm in the prior art, resolution is 0.25 mm according to the invention.

[0067] Alongside the code structures 12, the control lines 10, 11 consist of continuous or uniformly printed sections which are in principle of any desired or quasi-infinite length. These sections serve solely to ensure lateral positional control of the material web in the manner of an analog control signal. By arranging the two control lines on the opposite edges of the material web, in particular, a change in the breadth of the material web can be accurately controlled. Such changes in breadth through external influences constitute a possible source of errors in the production of corrugated cardboard.

[0068] The makeup of the code structures 12 is as follows here:

[0069] The gaps 13 in the control lines extend over the entire breadth of the control line 10, 11. They are a minimum length of 3 mm in the longitudinal direction L. The minimum length of a feature, be it a gap or a printed section,is 3 mm here and is referred to as a block. Depending on the resolution of the sensors 15, 16, a breadth of the control line or a length of a block may also assume other values.

[0070] The end of a quasi-infinite section of the control line 10, 11 is in each case introduced by a gap 13 which is three blocks in length. For redundancy reasons, there follows in each case a printed index mark 22 which is one block in length. The index mark 22 serves as a start code and also prescribes the reading direction.

[0071] The control computer 19 has been reliably informed hereby that there now follows a sequence which is provided with data content (see also the representation in FIG. 4).

[0072] The sequence or the entire data set consists of a succession of code segments 14. The number of code segments 14 per data set is stipulated here and is 24 pieces. Each of the code segments 14 is separated from the following code segment 14 by a gap 13 which is 3 mm in length or a block.

[0073] A code segment 14 is configured is a continuously printed section which is of one of four possible lengths: two blocks, three blocks, four blocks or five blocks. These different code segments 14 may, for example, be assigned to the binary numbers 00, 01, 10 and 11 so that a code segment 14 has an information content of 2 bits. Since a data set comprises 24 code segments 14 in this case, it contains an item of information of 48 bits or 6 bytes.

[0074] The end of the data set is in turn indicated by a gap 13 which is three blocks in length. In the present case, the term gap 13 is used both for the start and end signals of the code structures 12 which are three blocks long and for the spaces between the code segments 14 which are just 1 block long. In principle, however, these types of gaps are different types of segment of the code structure. The respective length of the region has a corresponding significance both in the printed and in the free regions of the code structure.

[0075] There are therefore a total of seven different types of segment in the code structure, these being summarized again in the table below:

TABLE-US-00001 Length Name Description Value Length [mm] Module Index Start signal, 1 block.sup. 3 printed Code seg. 0 Data value 00 2 blocks 6 Code seg. 1 Data value 01 3 blocks 9 Code seg. 2 Data value 10 4 blocks 12 Code seg. 3 Data value 11 5 blocks 15 Gap Unprinted length 1 block.sup. 3 between code segments Start gap Unprinted gap to 3 blocks 9 beginning and end of the data set

[0076] The absolute length of a data set depends on the information content to be displayed (237 mm-453 mm). The makeup of the code enables bidirectional decoding (reading forward and backward).

[0077] A data set of the control line 10 is illustrated in abbreviated form by way of example in FIG. 4. From left to right in the drawing, there is first a gap 13 which is three blocks in breadth followed by the index mark 22 which is one block in breadth. Then come the first four code segments 14 of different length, that is to say the information bits 0 to 7.

[0078] Because of the abbreviated illustration, the last four code segments, that is to say the information bits 40 to 47, are shown again hereafter. There then follows the end gap 13 which is 9 mm or 3 blocks in length. After that comes another quasi-infinite section of the control line 10.

[0079] To control a cross cutter or cutting mechanism of the CCM, special cut marks 23 are also already printed during the printing process. These cut marks 23 are read immediately before a knife shaft on the CCM with corresponding sensor technology.

[0080] The cut mark 23 may be integrated in the control line or printed on the inside of the control line 10, 11, see FIG. 3. The control line 10, 11 with the code structure is removed when the edge is trimmed whilst the cut mark 23 remains and can control the cutting knife transversely to the web.

[0081] The individual data sets of the code structure and the cut marks 23 are usually always printed per repeat. Through integration into the control line 10, the cut marks 23 can also be perceived by the same sensors (scanners) 15, 16 on the CCM. This results in redundant evaluation.

[0082] In the second exemplary embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 5, in addition to the digital code structure 12, a human-readable item of information in plain text 24 is applied to the material web 3. The human-readable item of information 24 is correlated with the information content of the code structure. At least some of the information in the binary digital code structure 12 is repeatedly applied to the material web 3 in plain text 24.

[0083] The plain text 24 comprises alphanumeric characters, in the present case Latin letters and Arabic numbers.

[0084] The second exemplary embodiment differs from the first exemplary embodiment only by the additional plain text 24 and a somewhat larger breadth of the control line, so reference is made to the first example with respect to the further characteristics, in particular the binary code structure 12.

[0085] Even in highly automated production processes, it may, in certain situations, be necessary to intervene or control manually. It is advantageous for the intervening party if an integrated item of information can be ascertained simply by reading it.

[0086] In the exemplary embodiment according to FIG. 5, the plain text 24 is positioned here congruent with the control line 10, 11. The quasi-infinite section of the control line 10, 11 described in the first exemplary embodiment is used here as a continuous part of the control line 10, 11 without binary or any other encoding in order to provide for the plain text 24 in a space-saving manner. The plain text 24 is configured in the present case as reverse print, that is to say as an omission inside the control line printed over the full surface. There therefore remain sufficient continuous edges of the control line in order to rule out any misinterpretation of the plain text 24 as a binary code structure 12.

[0087] Particularly in the case of control lines 10, 11 with large breadths B of several millimeters, 5 mm in the present example, particularly good human readability is provided at the same time. Breadths of the control line 10, 11 in combination with human-readable plain text 24 which are preferred according to the invention range from 3 mm to 8 mm, particularly preferably 4 mm to 6 mm.

[0088] The human-readable information in plain text 24 is applied in the same operation as the rest of the control line 10, 11. The plain text is also applied to the material web 3 by applying ink by means of a printing mechanism, in the present case by the printing machine 8.

[0089] In a third exemplary embodiment of the invention according to FIG. 6, unlike in the second exemplary embodiment, the plain text 24 is positioned outside the control line 10, 11. In the present case, the plain text is in each case in one of the printed images 9.

[0090] In a fourth exemplary embodiment of the invention according to FIG. 7, the digital code structure within the meaning of the invention comprises a human-readable item of information in plain text 24, wherein the digital item of information consists exclusively of the plain text 24. Such a code structure 24 allows a space-saving arrangement along with the human readability. Machine readability can also be provided for through suitable sensors 15, 16 and programs (OCR systems).

[0091] The fourth exemplary embodiment according to FIG. 7 corresponds, including with respect to the breadth of the control lines 10, 11, to the second exemplary embodiment according to FIG. 5, but the binary code structure 12 is not present. The plain text 24 is positioned congruently on one of the control lines 10, 11 in each case.

[0092] In other words, the example according to FIG. 7 relates to conventional continuous control lines 10, 11 on which a digital code structure in the form of the human-readable plain text 24 is stored.

[0093] Since the present case relates to alphanumeric Latin letters and Arabic numbers, there are at least 36 different characters. A single character therefore already encodes an information content of more than five bits. With four of these characters (36*36*36*36=1679616 combinations), an information content of more than two bytes can be encoded.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0094] 1 Corrugated cardboard machine (CCM)

[0095] 2 Stations of the CCM

[0096] 3 Material web

[0097] 4 Further webs, support for the material web

[0098] 5 Printed corrugated cardboard

[0099] 6 Cutting station, CCM cutting mechanism

[0100] 7 CCM deposit station

[0101] 8 CCM printing machine

[0102] 9 Printed images

[0103] 10 First control line

[0104] 11 Second control line

[0105] 12 Code structure

[0106] 13 Gap

[0107] 14 Code segment

[0108] 15 First sensor

[0109] 16 Second sensor

[0110] 17 First light

[0111] 18 Second light

[0112] 19 Control computer

[0113] 20 Interface

[0114] 21 Process master computer

[0115] 22 Index mark

[0116] 23 Cut mark

[0117] 24 Human-readable plain text, alphanumeric characters

[0118] RL Repeat length

[0119] L Longitudinal direction of the material web

[0120] B Breadth of the control line