US3818830A

US3818830A - Arrangement for supplying ink for a printing machine

Info

Publication number: US3818830A
Application number: US00253345A
Authority: US
Inventors: J Schultz
Original assignee: INT MACHINE PROD Inc
Current assignee: INT MACHINE PROD Inc
Priority date: 1972-05-15
Filing date: 1972-05-15
Publication date: 1974-06-25
Anticipated expiration: 1991-06-25

Abstract

A rubber roll picks up ink from an ink reservoir and supplies it to the cells of an anilox roller to completely fill the cells through the rubber roll exerting a selected adjustable pressure on the anilox roller.

Description

United States Patent 1191 Schultz June 25, 1974 1 ARRANGEMENT FOR SUPPLYING INK 3,155,037 11/1964 Haskin 101/364 FOR A PRINTING MACHINE 3,168,037

' 3,283,707 11/1966 Greubel et a1. 101/364 x [75] Inventor: John E. Schultz, Cmcmnan, Ohio 3,433,155 3/1969 Norton 101/349 x 3,535,932 6/1971 Granger. 101/350 [73] Assgnee' i g l M g? pmducts 3,587,460 6/1971 Chambom. 101/350 x mcmnatb 3,613,578 10/1971 HeLlflCh 101/350 [22 Filed; May 15 1972 3,688,694 9/1972 Preuss et a1 101/350 X [2]] Appl- 253,345 Primary ExaminerRobert E. Pulfrey Assistant Examiner-Paul T. Sewell 52 us. c1. 101/350, 101/364 Attorney, Agent, Firm-40h" Schenk [51] Int. Cl. B41f 31/06, B41f 31/14 [58] Field of Search 101/349, 350,351, 364, ABSTRACT 101/363, 367 A rubber roll picks up ink from am ink reservoir and supplies it to the cells of an-anilox roller to completely [56] References Cited fill the cells through the rubber r01] exerting a selected UNITED STATES PATENTS adjustable pressure on the anilox roller. 2,374,096 4/1945 Heywood et al 101/350 1 Claim, 3 Drawing Figures PATENTED JUHZ 5 I974 SHEET 1' BF 2 Illllllll FIG.1

ARRANGEMENT FOR SUPPLYING tlNK J FOR A PRINTING MACHINE In my copending application, Ser. No. 75,868,'filed Sept. 28, l970, now abandoned, having common Assignee, there is shown a printing machine in which an anilox roller rotates through an ink pan to pickup ink with the excess ink being removed by a doctor blade. The doctor blade also prevents any dirty particles in the ink from entering the cells of the anilox roller.

While the printing machine of my aforesaid applica tion functions satisfactorily normally, there are some instances in which the cells of the anilox roller are not completely filled with ink. It has been previously suggested to decrease the speed of rotation of the anilox roller to fill the cells but this has not functioned satisfactorily in all situations.

The present invention satisfactorily solves the foregoing problem by providing an arrangementin which the cells of the anilox roller are completely filled so that there is sufficient ink to have the desired printing results. The present invention accomplishes this by utilizing a roll, which is separate from the anilox roller, to pick up the ink from the ink reservoir and transfer it to the cells of the anilox rollerunder pressure. This arrangement completely fills the cells of the anilox roller and does not require the speed of rotation of the anilox roller to be increased. It isonly necessary to selectively control the pressure exerted by the roll on the anilox roller to insure that the cells are filled.

An object of this invention is to provide an improved ink supply arrangement for a printing machine.

Another object of this inventionis to provide a pressure roll for controlling the supply of ink to the cells of an anilox roller of a printing machine.

Other objects, uses, and advantages of this invention are apparent upon reading of this description, which proceeds with reference to the drawings forming part thereof and wherein:

FIG. 1 is an enlarged sectional view, partly in elevation, of the ink supply arrangement of the present invention taken along line 11 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the ink supply arrangement of FIG. I with some parts omitted for clarity purposes.

FIG. 3 is an end elevational view, partly in section, of a portion of the ink supply arrangement of the present invention. 7

Referring to the drawings, there is shown an ink supply arrangement of the present invention for use with. a printing machine of the type more particularly shown and described in my aforesaid. application wherein labels are printed. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the ma chine includes a rear plate 10 and a front plate 11. Both of the

plates

10 and 11 extend upwardly from a base in a manner more particularly shown and described in my aforesaid application. Furthermore, as more particularly shown and described in my aforesaid application, the machine includes a second front plate (not shown) extending upwardly from the base.

An impression cylinder 12 (see FIG. 1) is rotatably supported between the rear plate 10 and the front plate 11 and cooperates with a printing cylinder 14 to cause printing on the paper passing between the impression cylinder 12 and the printing cylinder 14. The printing cylinder 14 has rubber printing plates thereon to print the desired information on the paper passing between the impression cylinder 12 and theprinting cylinder 14 as more particularly shown anddescribed in my aforesaid application. Whilethe printing cylinder 14 is preferably rotatably mounted in the manner more. particu- *larly shown and described in my aforesaid application,

it should be understood that suchis not a requisite for satisfactory operation of the inksupplyarrangement of the present invention as any means for rotatably mounting the printing cylinder l4 may beemployed.

The printing cylinder 14 picks up ink from an ink supply roller 15, which is rotatably mounted between the rear plate 10 and the front plate 1 1. The ink supply roller T5 is an aniloxroller, which ispreferably formed of steel, that is engraved to have a number of cells per inch formed therein with each cell having the same periphery and depth.

The ink is supplied to the ink supply roller 15 from an ink pan 16 by a pressure roll 17, which is rotatably mounted between the rear plate Ill) and the front plate 11. The pressure roll 17 has its periphery rotate through the ink in the ink pan 16 and then transfer it to the cells of the ink supply roller 15 by passing in contact therewith at a selectedlpressure.

The pressure roll 17 is formed of rubber so that its periphery in contact with the ink supply roller 15 is squeezed when the pressure roll 17 .is rotated with the ing belt extending therearound for causing the impression cylinder 12, the printing cylinder 14, and the ink supply roller 15 to be driven in the manner more particularly shown and described in my aforesaid application.

The ink pan 16 is formed of a different configuration than the ink pan in my aforesaid application. However, the pan 16 may be supported in a similar manner. Thus, the ink pan 16 has its front end resting on stops (one shown at 22), which are fixed to the rear plate 10. and the front plate 11. The pan 16 has its side walls (one shown at 23) designed so that the shafts for the ink sup ply roller 15 and the pressure roll 17 are disposed above the side walls. Furthermore, the location of the pan 16 is such that a doctor blade assembly 24 is disposed thereabove as shown in FIG. 1.

The pan has a pair of splash guards or fenders 25 disposed over slinger collars 26, which are thin plates mounted on the journal 19 of the pressure roll 17 and a journal 27 of the pressure roll 17. The slinger collars 26 stop the creeping of the ink along the

journals

19 and 27 and provide a larger surface from which the ink, which creeps from the pressure roll 17 along the journals l9 and 27, can be returned to the ink pan 16 due to the splash guards 25 being disposed thereover.

The pan 16 has its bottom wall 28 supported by a pair of pins 29, which are carried by the rear plate 10 and the front plate 11. The pins 29 are held in position in the rear plate 10 and the front plate 11 by screws 30. In the position shownin FIGS. 1 and 2, the pins 29 bear against tabs 31 (see FIG. 1), which extend downwardly from the bottom wall 28 of the pan l6.

Accordingly, the pan 16 is locked in position when the screws 30 hold the pins 29 against the tabs 31. Thus, it is only necessary to release the screws 30 and pull the pins 29 out of engagement with the tabs 31 to allow retraction of the pan 16 so that it ceases to be supported by the stops 22.

Because of the resiliency of the plastic material of the splash guards 25, the pan 16 may be tilted to allow easy removal from its support. In this manner, the pan 16 may be removed for filling. Of course, it is not necessary to remove the pan 16 for filling since the upper surface of the panels open except for the splash guards 25. However, removal of the pan l6 permits cleaning to remove any dirty particles therefrom.

The journal 27 of the pressure roll 17 has an eccentric 32, which is not centered with the longitudinal axis of the pressure roll 17, connected thereto. The eccentric 32 has a hub 33 attached thereto. The hub 33 is rotatably supported in the front plate 11 so that turning of the hub 33 changes the pressure exerted by the pressure roll 17 on the ink supply roller 15. Thus, rotation of the hub 33 by the handle 34 enables the pressure to be selectively controlled. It should be understood that only a light touch of the pressure roll 17 with the ink supply roller 15 is normally desired.

The doctor blade assembly 24 is continuously urged into engagement with the ink supply roller 15 in the manner more particularly shown and described in my aforesaid application. However, it is necessary to mount the spring biasing arrangement on the front plate 11 rather than the rear plate as in my'aforesaid application because of the location of the

gears

18 and 20.

If the pressure of the pressure roll 17 on the ink supply roller were increased to increase the squeezing of the pressure roll 17, the doctor blade assembly 24 could be eliminated since the pressure roll 17 also would meter the ink. However, it is preferred that the doctor blade assembly 24 meter the ink.

An advantage of this invention is that it insures that the cells of an anilox roller are completely filled with ink. Another advantage of this invention is that the ink is supplied to the anilox roll under an adjustable pressure.

For purposes of exemplification, a particular embodiment of the invention has been shown and described according to the best present understanding thereof. However, it will be apparent that changes and modifications in the arrangement and construction of the parts thereof may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. In a printing machine having a rotatably mounted impression cylinder and a rotatably mounted printing cylinder cooperating therewith to print material passing therebetween, the improvement comprising in combination: front and rear plates forming the housing for the printing machine; an ink reservoir for carrying ink therein supported between said front and rear plates; stop means on said front and rear plates supporting one end of said ink reservoir; a removable lock pin on each of said front and rear plates cooperating with said ink reservoir to support said reservoir with said stop means, said ink reservoir being removable from the printing machine when said lock pins are disengaged from said reservoir; a rubber pressure ,roll; journals rotatably mounted to said front and rear plate for carrying said pressure roll therebetween and supported within said ink reservoir, said pressure roll being rotatable with said journal wherein the peripheral surface of said pressure roll passes through the ink in said reservoir whereby a supply of ink is carried thereon; an ink supply roll rotatably mounted between said front and rear plates and spaced from said pressure roll such that the peripheral surface thereof is engageable with said pressure roll wherein rolling peripheral contact between said pressure roll and said ink supply roll transfers a layer of ink over the peripheral surface of said ink supply roll; an eccentric connected with said journal to permit adjustment of said eccentric relative to the axis of rotation of said pressure roll thereby selectively adjusting the peripheral contact pressure between said pressure roll and said ink supply roll; a collar mounted about said journals between the ends of said pressure roll and said front and rear plate to stop the creeping of ink along said journals; a pair of elongated splash guards flexibly mounted at one end to said ink reservoir, the other end of each of said guards respectively being disposed over each of said journal mounted collars wherein ink is returned to said ink reservoir from said collars; a doctor blade mounted between said front and rear plate and spaced from said ink supply roll, the blade being relatively engagable with said ink supply roll to meter the ink on said ink supply roll to insure that a uniform distribution of ink is present on said ink supply roll; and the printing cylinder rotatably mounted relative to said ink supply roll for rolling peripheral surface engagement therewith wherein a uniform distribution of ink is transferred from said ink supply roll to said printing cylinder.

Claims

1. In a printing machine having a rotatably mounted impression cylinder and a rotatably mounted printing cylinder cooperating therewith to print material passing therebetween, the improvement comprising in combination: front and rear plates forming the housing for the printing machine; an ink reservoir for carrying ink therein supported between said front and rear plates; stop means on said front and rear plates supporting one end of said ink reservoir; a removable lock pin on each of said front and rear plates cooperating with said ink reservoir to support said reservoir with said stop means, said ink reservoir being removable from the printing machine when said lock pins are disengaged from said reservoir; a rubber pressure roll; journals rotatably mounted to said front and rear plate for carrying said pressure roll therebetween and supported within said ink reservoir, said pressure roll being rotatable with said journal wherein the peripheral surface of said pressure roll passes through the ink in said reservoir whereby a supply of ink is carried thereon; an ink supply roll rotatably mounted between said front and rear plates and spaced from said pressure roll such that the peripheral surface thereof is engageable with said pressure roll wherein rolling peripheral contact between said pressure roll and said ink supply roll transfers a layer of ink over the peripheral surface of said ink supply roll; an eccentric connected with said journal to permit adjustment of said eccentric relative to the axis of rotation of said pressure roll thereby selectively adjusting the peripheral contact pressure between said pressure roll anD said ink supply roll; a collar mounted about said journals between the ends of said pressure roll and said front and rear plate to stop the creeping of ink along said journals; a pair of elongated splash guards flexibly mounted at one end to said ink reservoir, the other end of each of said guards respectively being disposed over each of said journal mounted collars wherein ink is returned to said ink reservoir from said collars; a doctor blade mounted between said front and rear plate and spaced from said ink supply roll, the blade being relatively engagable with said ink supply roll to meter the ink on said ink supply roll to insure that a uniform distribution of ink is present on said ink supply roll; and the printing cylinder rotatably mounted relative to said ink supply roll for rolling peripheral surface engagement therewith wherein a uniform distribution of ink is transferred from said ink supply roll to said printing cylinder.