CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a 371 application of the international PCT application serial no. PCT/JP2019/024649, filed on Jun. 21, 2019, which claims the priority benefit of Japan application no. 2018-158535, filed on Aug. 27, 2018. The entirety of each of the abovementioned patent applications is hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a part of this specification.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a can body manufacturing system.

BACKGROUND ART

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.

CITATION LIST

Patent Literature

Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2008-183613Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2012-232771

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

Technical Problem

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.

Solution to Problem

A can body manufacturing system to which the present invention is applied includes: a can body conveyance route conveying a can body 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 a can body conveyed on the first branching conveyance route; and a second printing device performing printing on a can body conveyed on 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.

Here, the can body manufacturing system is further provided with 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.

Moreover, the can body manufacturing system is further provided with 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 branching conveyance route.

Moreover, 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.

Moreover, the can body manufacturing system is further provided with 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.

Moreover, 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 a 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.

Moreover, 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 a branch portion where the can body conveyance route branches, a part passing through the branch portion and heading for the first branching conveyance route from an upstream side is linearly formed, and a part passing through the branch portion and heading for the second branching conveyance route from the upstream side is bent.

Moreover, 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 a 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.

Moreover, 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.

Moreover, 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.

Moreover, 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.

Moreover, 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 a merging part of the first branching conveyance route and the second branching conveyance route, and the can body manufacturing system further includes 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.

Moreover, 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.

Moreover, when the regulation is lifted, the supply control unit lifts the regulation for a predetermined time period.

Moreover, 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.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

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

