US2253158A - Rotary printing press ink fountain - Google Patents

Description

E. W. WORTHINGTON ROTARY PRINTING PRESS INK-FOUNTAIN Aug. 19, 1941.

Filed May l, 1939 fill/111111,11

lll/ll H may ramadan.' 19, `1594i "UNIT- so STA-'rss' 4lui'rsla'r' ori-lcs :,ssalss The invention relates to new and useful improvements in methods and mechanisms for supplying ink to the plate cylinders of rotary printing presses, and more especially to such methods and mechanisms for cutting oi! the vfountain ink supply from parts of the plates. such as cutting o8V the ink supply from page-wide areas or plate units on'the plate cylinder.

The invention consists in the novel methods,f

steps, sequences, mechanisms andccombinations disclosed in the specification and pointed' out in the appended clagns. v

Objects and adv tages of the invention are set out in part hereinafter.,and in part will be obvious to those skilled in the art or may be learned bypractice with the invention. Y

'Ille accompanying drawing. referred to'herein andconstituting a part hereof, illustrates one mechanical embodimentof the invention and one manner of carrying out the methodof the invention. i

f the drawing: Fig. llista vertical transverse section through an ink fountain embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary plan on line 2-2 of F18- 1: n

Fig. 3 is a broken detail section corresponding the parts in a different position; and

' Fig. 4 is a detached enlarged detailfof the upper right hand part of Fig. l.

Objects of the invention are to provide a novel eiilciently cutting of! selected or desired areas of inking surface along the fountain roller, the operating umts being usually one page wide. which,

with the usual plate cylinder arrangement of rotary newspaper presses, will cut olf the inking for any two platesaround the plate cylinder; to provide such means which will operate in con- Junction with the usual ink regulating mechanism associated with the fountain roller and is `welladapted to operate in commotion with a pick-up roller type of inking mechanism, and to provide for cutting oif the ink from any predetermined or selected area of the fountain roller ahead of the ink regulating means4 which acts along the f entire fountain roller; to provide -such means having. a page-wide blade adapted to be moved into engagement"with and away from the founf tain roller, employing, if and when desired, presto the upper central part of Fig. ibut showing method of controlling at the fountain` the supply of'ink to, or withholding the ink' supply from, predetermined selected areas of the inking mechanism and of the plates on the plate cylinder,

ink from page-wide areas, that is from unit plates on lthe plate cylinder; .to provide such control of the inl:` supply by double regulation of the ink m layer or ink nlm along the fountain roller, particularly inthe type of inking mechanism where and `preferably to thus supply `or withhold the the ink is conveyed from the fountain roller to a 'Y non-contacting ink conveying or nick-up miler,

wherein, the amount of ink transferred from the fountain roller' to the pick-up roller being regulated by the relation of the thickness of the ink layer on. the fountain `roller `to the free spacev -between the fountain roller andthe pick-up roller.'l and for the other 'or further regulation, in selected4 or predetermined non-printing areas,

such as page-wide or plate unit areas, the thickness of the film layer on the fountain roller is reduced so that no ink will be taken by the piclrup roller. Further obiects of the invention are Surefregulating means to control the wiping action of the blade-on the roller; to provide mechanism of the kind described adapted for use with 'inking fountains of. standard commercial form:

to provide such mechanism which is readily insertable into and withdrawable from standard ink `fountain mechanisms; to provide such mechanisms which are pivotally mounted for move'- ment into and'out of operative relation with the fountain roller, and have screw-threaded means for moving the mechanism into and out of operative relation with the fountain roller; to provide such mechanism manually insertable into and withdrawable from the fountain mechanism and into and out of relation with its pivotal mounting and screw-threadedl positioning and regulating means.

Referring now .by way of example to the embodiment of the invention illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawing, an ink fountain i is suitably mounted upon the press frame and, as shown, the fountain is suspended from a cross member `2 lof they press frame,iand a driven rotatable fountain roller I is mounted in the fountain. The inkvis taken from the fountain roller l by a pick-up roller l. In this type of mechanisml the roller'l is driven rotay tively from the inking mechanism, and is spaced a slight distance from the fountain roller l, the space between the two rollers being minutely regulated. The thickness of the ink lm on the rotating fountain roller 3 is also nicely regulated, and the relation of these two governs the amount of ink supplied from the fountain roller to the inking mechanism. .In the embodied form tween the fountain roller 3 and pick-up roller 4. the pick-up roller is mounted in a pair of arms 5, xed'on a shaft 6, Journaled in the press frame.' Fixed to shaft 6 is a yoked arm 1, which straddles a 'screw-threaded pin 8 between two nuts 3 and 9'. 'I'hus the space between fountain roller 3 and pick-up roller 4 may be very accurately and minutely regulated. in cooperation with the regulation of the thickness of theink film on the fountain roller. The illustrated form of means for regulating the thickness of the ink iilm on the fountain roller 3 comprises a plurality of resilient blades I which are usually of page or press width, and are supported on the underneath side of the frame member 2 by means of a supporting bar II, extending along beneath the rear ends of the blades I0, this bar being fastened to the beam 2 by screw bolts I2, thus clamping the rear ends of the blades against the beam. The forward ends of the blades I0 are contiguous to the fountain roller 3, and the intervening spaces are minutely regulated by means of a' plurality of screw rods I3, screw threaded into the beam 2, the points of the rods bearing on the upper face of the blades I0 and flexing the ends of the blades toward or from the fountain roller 3. Thus the relation of the thickness of the ink lm and the space between fountain roller 3 and pick-up roller 4 may be closely regulated. A suitable closure I4 -is provided for the rear end of the fountain, this closure consisting of a plate hinged to the beam 2 at I5.

Means are provided for cutting off the ink supply for various areas along the ,fountain roller, as, for example, page width areas, and this means may operate to wipe the corresponding part of the fountain roller surface substantially clear of ink, or, where a pick-up roller is employed, to reduce the thickness of the ink film on the fountain roller so that the pick-up roller will not take any ink on to its corresponding area. The embodied mechanism is of this type, and operates on the fountain roller ahead, or beneath the mechanism for regulating the thickness'of the ink film on the roller. Saidl mechanism comprises for each` of such units, that is, each page-- wide or plate-wide unit, a carrier frame 20, the

frame having at its forward end a blade seat 2| onv which is seated a longitudinally-disposed wiping blade 22 adapted to engage with the surface of the fountain roller 3. The blade 22 is held firmly in its seat 2i by a superposed, longitudinally-extending clamping bar 23, which is clamped in position by screws 24 lpassing through glie bar and the blade and threaded into the seat frame 20 is readilyv insertable and from which it is readily withdrawable, and around which it is movable to exert the desired pressure on thel fountain roller, is located at the rear end of the fountain. As embodied, the pivotal bearing comprises lugs 21 and 28 fixed to the rear vertical wall of the fountain and projecting forwardly therefrom. At the rear corners 4of the carrier frame 20 are integral lugs'23 and 30, from which pins 3| and 32 project outwardly and rest in cyof the bearings, and are held in place by screw bolts 35.

The embodied m'eans for moving the frame member 20 into and out of ink film thinning or ink iiim removing relation with the yfountain roller 3, and, if desired, for regulating the presvof means for minutely regulating the space be- A pivotal bearing, into which the carrier f lindrical seats in the corresponding lugs 21 and 23. Removable plates 33 and 34 close the top sure of the wiping blade22 against the fountain roller comprises a rod 38, screw-threaded into the beam 2 and projecting downwardly therefrom. On the bottom protruding portion of the screw rod 38 are two spaced-apart collars 33 and 40, the intervening part `of the screw rod projecting through an opening 4I in the member 20, the collars being spaced. apart to permit considerable play between rod 38 and carrier frame 20. By retr-acting the screw rod 38 the carrier 20 will be lifted to the inactive position shown in broken line in Fig. 1, by being lifted by the collar 40. By screwing in the rod 38 the carrier 20 will drop and the blade 22 will engage the ysurface of the fountain roller 3. 'I'he blade 22 may rest by gravity on the surface of vfountain roller 3, thus acting to remove substantially the entireink layer along blade 22. However, if it is desired to apply pressure of blade 22 against the fountain roller, this may be eifected by further screwing down rod 38 and collar 39 will press the blade 22 as powerfully as desired against the fountain roller. This position of the parts is shown in full line in Fig. 1. easy insertion and withdrawalA of the carrier frame 20, the opening 4I therein is in the form of a key-hole'slot. To insert the carrier frame 2l),A it is introduced from the rear end of the fountain (the right-hand end in Fig. 1), and the collar 40 is passed through the large part of the slot 4I, the carriervframe is then/slid forwardly, ythe rod 38 passing into the narrow part of the slot 4I, and the pins v3I and 32 are seated in their bearings in the lugs 21 and 38. The retaining plates 33 and 34 are then screwed down in position. The carrier frames are yquickly and readily withdrawable in like manner.

The ink-wiping units may be placed side by side lengthwiseof the fountain roller, and are so shown in Fig. 2, a pivotal supporting lug 23 being common to two of the carriers.. For example, where the wiping units are one-page wide, and the form cylinder carries four plates along, four of the wiping units may be employed, each one controlling the inking of two plates around. It will be understood ythat the invention is not limited to the page-wide unit, but may be otherwise applied for ink supply control.

The invention consists in the novel steps, se-

quences, elements and combinations as pointed out in the accompanying claims, and it will be understood that departures may be made from the specific forms shown and described without departing from the principles of the invention and without sacrificing its chief advantages.

WhatIclaimis:

1. In a rotary printing press ink fountain in combination a rotatable fountain roller, a pickup roller spaced from the fountain roller, means for regulating the thickness of the ink iilm on the fountain roller, and means for independently removing a portion only of the ink film in pagewide areas along the fountain roller to reduce the thickness of the ink film on the fountain roller below the thickness of the space between the fountain and pick-up rollers.

2. In a rotary printing press ink fountain in combination a rotatable fountain roller,'a pickup roller, spaced from the fountain roller, means for regulating the space between the fountain` To permit quick and fountain roller and pick-up roller at a page-wide ,area around the fountain roller.

3. In a rotary printing press ink fountain in combination a rotatable fountain roller, apick-up roller spaced from the fountain roller, a plurality of side by side blades along the fountain roller for regulating the thickness of the ink nlm on said roller and means movable into and out of operative position for removing a portion only of the ink from a page-wide area around the fountain roller. i*

4. In a rotary printing `press ink fountain in combinationv a. rotatable fountain 'roller'. a. pick-up up roller spaced therefrom regulating the thickness of the ink film in each of a 'plurality of contiguous areas of less than page-width along the fountain roller to govern the supply of ink to the 'inking system andthe plate cylinder and preliminarily additionally removing a portion only ofthe supply of ink by page-wide areas by reducl the plates vof a rotary printing press which comroller spaced fromA the fountain roller, a plurality of individually-positionable column-wide ink-regulatingl blades arranged alongthe fountain roller, and a page-wideblade removing a l 'fountain roller to govern the supply of ink to the inking system and the plate cylinder andV additionally removing a portion only of the supply of ink by page-wide areas along the fountain roller to reduce the thickness of the ,ink iilm'on the ing th ethickness of the ink film on'the fountain roll'er so as to prevent contact between the ink film and the pick-up roller.

7. The method of regulating the ink supply to prises applying ink to a rotating fountain roller, transferring a predetermined supply of ink from the fountain roller to a pick-up' roller spaced i from the fountain roller by regulating the thickness of the ink film on-the fountain roller and preventing transfer of ink from a selectedfarea j to the pick-up roller, and removing a portion only fountainroller below the spacing of the pick-up roller from the fountain roller. I 'la 6. The method of regulating the ink' supply to the plates of a rotary printingpress which comprises applying ink toa rotating fountain roller, removing ink from the fountain roller by a pickabout the-fountain roller to the pick-up roller lby removing a portion only of the film of ink on said selected varea` of the fountain roller to` a thickness less than' the space between the fountain roller and pick-up roller.

8. The method of regulating the ink supply to the plates of a rotary printing press which com- 4 prises applying ink to a rotating fountain roller, removing ink from the fountain roller by a pick- -up roller spaced therefrom, regulating the thickness of ink on the fountain roller across the fountain roller to vary the amount of ink transferred of the 'ink on the fountain roller to. reduce the thickness of the film of ink on the fountain roller below .the thickness; of the space between the fountain roller and pick-up roller, to cut oif the ink' supplyv from certain areas widthwise of the pick-up roller. l l

- EMORY W. WRTHINGTON.

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