HOT FOIL STAMPING PRESS

Abstract

A hot foil stamping press with a pressing table (10) on which a sheet can be advanced, a pressing system (20) for pressing a foil (14) onto the sheet, a guiding system (18) for guiding the foil (14) over the sheet, the guiding system (18) defining a foil transportation path which extends across the path along which the sheet is being advanced, a holder (11) for receiving a supply (12) of foil, and a discarding system (22) for the used foil, the holder being arranged at an operator side of the press.

Description

The invention relates to a hot foil stamping press with a pressing table on which a sheet can be advanced, a pressing system for pressing a foil onto the sheet, a guiding system for guiding a foil over the sheet, the guiding system defining a foil transportation path which extends across the path along which the sheet is being advanced, a holder for receiving a supply of foil, and a discarding system for the used foil.

The sheet can be cardboard or paper, and the foil is either a metallized plastic foil or a thin metal foil. The pressing system presses the foil onto the surface of the sheet so that part of the foil is transferred to the sheet where it adheres.

The foil typically is provided in the form of a roll on a bobbin. The used portion of the foil is typically rewound on another bobbin.

As the rewinding is critical to a certain extent, it needs more intervention, and therefore the discarding system for the used foil is arranged on the front of the machine, the operator side, while the supply of foil is arranged at the back of the machine, opposite to the operator side.

The object of the invention is to reduce the amount of effort required by an operator to operate the machine.

To this end, the invention provides in a machine as defined above that the holder is arranged at an operator side of the press. The main advantage of a hot foil stamping press with this layout is that the operator does not have to bring the new foil to the back of the machine if a replacement has to take place.

According to an aspect of the invention, the discarding system comprises a brush system for removing used foil from the press. It is also possible that the discarding system comprises a waste foil container. Thus, the invention uses an entirely new concept of discarding the used foil. In the prior art, the used foil is rewound on a bobbin. As the used foil cannot be rewound easily, operator invention is often required. If there is a more severe problem, the operation of the machine has to be stopped so that the operator can remove the waste foil. According to the invention, the waste foil is now simply withdrawn from the machine and no longer rewound but simply discarded. No operator intervention is necessary to make sure that the waste foil is properly rewound.

According to another aspect of the invention, a blower for separating the foil from the sheet is provided, the blower being arranged at the side of the discarding system. The blower can thus act on the used foil. Accordingly, the blower settings are much less critical than with a prior art layout of the machine where it acts on the new foil; with the new layout, any damage which occurs at the foil because of the operation of the blower occurs at the used foil.

The pressing system preferably comprises a platen system.

The invention will now be described with reference to the enclosed drawings. In the drawings,

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of part of a hot foil stamping press with the layout according to the invention; and

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the hot foil stamping press shown in FIG. 1.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, the essential parts of a hot foil stamping press are shown. It comprises a pressing table 10 on which a sheet, in particular consisting of paper or cardboard, can be advanced along a feeding direction F. In FIG. 2, the feeding direction is perpendicular to the plane of the cross section. The sheet advanced in the feeding direction F is not shown here for better clarity.

A schematically shown holder 11 is provided for holding a supply 12 of foil 14. Supply 12 can be in the form or a roll or bobbin on which foil 14 is wound.

Supply 12 is arranged on a front side of the machine (referred to as operator side, “OS”). The front or operator side of the machine is the side where the control elements used for adjusting the settings of the machine are arranged.

The foil 14 is a thin foil from plastic which has been metallized, or a thin metal foil. With the hot foil stamping press, certain portions of the foil are applied to the sheet.

As can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, a second foil 16 can also be supplied.

Foil 14 is guided over the sheet by means of a guiding system comprising a plurality of rollers 18. It is essential that the foil is guided over the sheet in a direction which is transverse and in particular perpendicular to the feeding direction F of the sheet (see the orientation of arrow A in the region of pressing table 10, with arrow A designating the direction in which the foil is advanced over the pressing table).

For pressing foil 14 onto the sheet and for making part of the foil adhere to the sheet, a pressing system is provided which is schematically shown in FIG. 2 with reference numeral 20. Pressing system 20 comprises a platen press.

On the backside of the machine, the side opposite to the operator (“OOS”), a discarding system 22 for the used foil is arranged. It here comprises a plurality of brushes 24 which cooperate so as to exert a traction force on the used foil.

Discarding system 22 further comprises a waste container 26 into which the used foil is discarded from brushes 24.

It can be seen that discarding system 22 does not require operator attention as it does not have to properly rewind the foil. Rather, the foil is simply withdrawn from the machine and discarded towards container 26.

On the backside of the machine, a blower 30 is arranged which directs an air stream into the gap between the sheet and the foil. It assists the process of separating the foil from the sheet.

As the air flow acts on the used foil, it can be accepted if the air stream to a certain extent damages the foil.

Claims

1. A hot foil stamping press comprising: a pressing table on which a sheet can be advanced;a pressing system for pressing a foil onto the sheet;a guiding system for guiding the foil over the sheet, the guiding system defining a foil transportation path which extends across a path along which the sheet is being advanced;a holder for receiving a supply of the foil; anda discarding system for the used foil,wherein the holder is arranged at an operator side of the hot foil stamping press.

2. The hot foil stamping press of claim 1, wherein the discarding system comprises a brush system for removing the used foil from the hot foil stamping press.

3. The hot foil stamping press of claim 1, wherein the discarding system comprises a waste foil container.

4. The hot foil stamping press of claim 1, further comprising: a blower for separating the foil from the sheet, the blower being arranged at a side of the discarding system.

5. The hot foil stamping press of claim 1, wherein the pressing system comprises a platen press.