GB Patent 401036 - Improvements in or relating to inking mechanism for printing machines

Description

PATENT ASPECIFICATION.-7, 7 1- r-

PATENT SPECIFICATION

Convention Date (United States): Aug. 27, 1931. 401,036 _ Application Date (in United Kingdom): June 11, 1932.No. 16,614/32.

Complete Accepted: Nov. 9, 1933.

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.

Improvements in or relating to Inking iXechanism for Printing Machines.

We, THE Goss PRINTING PRESS CO., a corporation organized under the laws of the State of Illinois, one of the United States of America, of 1535, South Paulina Street, in the City of Chicago, State of Illinois, United States of America, Manufacturers, Assignees of ERNEST JAMES SMITH, a subject of the King of England, of 18 and 19, White io Friars Street, Fleet Street, London, England, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:

The present invention relates to inking mechanism for printing machines and method and more particularly to such a mechanism and method adapted for use with high speed rotary presses.

The present invention has for its principal object the provision of an improved inking mechanism particularly adapted for use with high speed rotary printing machines. A further object of the invention is the provision of an inking mechanism in which the ink is continuously and uniformly supplied to an inking drumn.

Another object is the provision of an inking mechanism of the kind referred to in which the ink is maintained in a thoroughly mixed condition. Still another object is the provision of an improved method of supplying ink to a press.

:35 The inking mechanism according to the present invention comprises the eombination of an ink roller to which ink is applied by an ink drum having part of its surface in an ink reservoir to which ink is applied under pressure and means comprising a regulable blade adapted to scrape off surplus ink from the drum after ink has been applied to it by the reservoir for the purpose of ensuring a uniform coating of ink on the drum before the ink is applied to the roller.

We are aware that it has already been proposed to scrape off the surplus ink from a roller to which the ink has been applied S0 by spraying, in contradistinction to the present method wherein part of the surface of an ink drum is in the reservoir to which ink is supplied under pressure.

The ink reservoir preferably extends substantially the entire length of the;5 drum the edges of the end walls of the reservoir being curved correspondingly to the contour of the drum and forming a relatively tight seal between said edges.

The reservoir is preferably provided 60 with a longitudinal edge, closely fitted to the drum and is also provided with arigid, relatively wide edge, spaced a slight distance from the drum, which serves to limit the thickness of the film 65 of ink applied to the drum, renders the film of ink uniform and ensures thorough coating of the drum with ink. The ink under pressure may flow past the first edge reversely to the movement of the drum, 70 while it is firmly pressed against the drum by the second edge. A regulable blade is:

also provided to remove a predetermined and variable amount of the ink from the drum surface, this blade being preferably.j capable of adjustment throughout, its length to vary the amount of ink as required by different sections of the plate '2 cylinder.

The surplus ink removed by the regul- 80.

able blade is removed from the fountain and is pumped through a filter after which it is returned to the ink reservoir adjacent to the drum. For the purpose of cleaning the surface of the drum, after 35 transfer of the ink therefrom, a scraper blade may be provided, and in order to, secure even greater uniformity in the ink film, the ink drum may be vibrated.

In order that the said invention may he cab more clearly understood and readily carried into effect the same will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:F'igulre 1 is a fragmentary plan view of a,9 one of the embodiments of the inkin"' mnechanism of the present invention, with the ink drum omitted and other parts broken away to show the structure more clearly; J O Figlure 2 is an enlarged detail sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Figure I; Figure 3 is a similar sectional viei7 taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 1:

Figure 4 is a side elevation of the ink- 1O5 ing mechanism of the present invention, L D 401,036 with certain parts diagrammatically indicated; a Figure 5 is a detailed verticpl section ol a modified embodiment of inking mech.

anism of said invention; and Figure 6 is a sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of Figure o.

Referring now in detail to the present preferred and illustrative embodiment ol the invention as shown in Figures 1 to 4 of the drawings, an inking drum 10 extends across the width of the press' and is rotated at press speed, being rotatably -journalled in the press frames 12 by means of shaft 13. While drum 10 may be of any suitable construction, it is preferably provided with a relatively hard surface which readily accepts the ink applied to it.

Immediately adjacent drum 10 is mounted an ink reservoir R provided with end walls 15 at either end, substantially at the ends of the drum, the edges of the walls being curved correspondingly to the contour of the drum 10 to form a relativelv tight seal between the edge and drum, part of the surface of the drum thereby being as it were in the reservoir.

Along the upper side of the reservoir is provided a relatively heavy and rigid blade 16, securely fastened by bolts 17 to the casting 18 forming the base of the reservoir. Casting 18 is securely mounted on the side frames 12 by the end plates 18a. The edge 19 of the blade 16, which ior the purposes of this description will be termiied the lead edge of {he reservoir, extends to within a relatively small distance of the inking drum 10, providing a narrow, and preferably fixed, passageway between the edge 19 and the drum 10 thloughouLt the entire length of the reservoir.

At the bottom edge of the reservoir, the wall 20, forming the lower edge of the reservoir, which for the purposes of this description will be termed the following edge of the reservoir, is positioned very close to the surface of the drum and is also curved to correspond with the surface of the drum, providing a rigid distributing and regulating member of substantial width. -This following edge limits the amount of ink retained on the surface of the drum as the drum rotates past the reservoir, and also serves to press or wedgre the ink against the drum with a relatively high degree of pressure.

Means are also provided for maintaining the reservoir filled with ink under pressure, and if desired for supplying to the reservoir a quantity of ink sufficient to maintain a slight flow Past lead edge 19 in a direction reverse to that of the rotation of the drum 10. As embodied, the reservoir R is formed with a plurality of downwardly-extending passageways 21 (Figure 1), which are attached at their lower ends to pipes 22, receiving ink under pressure from a pump 23 driven by motor 70 24. Pump 23 has sufficient capacity to supply considerably more ink to the reservoir than is required by the drum, although it need not be operated at full capacity. 75 Means are provided for collecting and L returning the excess ink supplied to the reservoir and the ink flowing between leading edge 19 and drum 10 drains through passageway 26 into a collecting 80 chamber 27, from which it is removed by nmotor-driven pump 28 through pipes 29.

If desired, a single pump may be employed instead of the separate pumps 23 and 28. 85 Pumps 23 and 28, in addition to their function of circulating. ink to and from the reservoir, also serve to maintain the ink in a thoroughly mixed, uniform condition, thereby preventing settling of the 90 pi2,ment fromn the relatively thin vehicle generally employed in inks used on high speed presses.

In order to maintain the ink clean and free of specks, grit and other foreign 9a matter, which would cause imperfection in the printed product, the ink removed from the reservoir or cavity adjacent to the drum 10 is filtered before it is returned to the reservoir. As embodied, i 0 pump 28, receiving the excess ink from the reservoir, forces the ink through a Suitable filter 31 and into a storage tank J2, from which it is withdrawn and returned to the reservoir by pump 23. As i05 ink is used, additional ink may be applied to the inking mechanismI by adding it to the tank -32.

To regulate the amount of ink supplied to the press, and to vary this longitudin- 11O ally of the ink drum 10 in accordance with the individual requirements of the various sections of the plate cylinder, a regulable blade is provided, mounted on the founrain below the reservoir, and contacting 115 with the surface of the ink drum. As embodied, blade 40 comprises a relatively thin resilient member, rigidly fastened to a longitudinally extending ledge 41 by means of plate 42 and screws 43. These 120 parts are so positioned that the normal resiliency of the blade 40 presses it into firm contact with the drum. Means are also provided for moving the blade toward and away from the drum, to take 125 up wear in the blade, and these means comprise a plurality of thumb screws 44.

threaded in the casting 45, and bearing against the lower or rear edge of the plate 42. By loosening the screws 43 anw 130 401,036 turning the thumb screws 44, the blade may be moved toward the drum 10.

For variably positioning the blade 40, and thereby regulating the amount of ink retained on the inking drum 10 and transferred to the press, a plurality of uniformly spaced thumb screws 46 are threaded in the upper part of the casting, with their relatively long shanks 47 proi0 jecting downwardly through supporting guides 48, and their rounded ends 47a bearing against the upper side of the free end of the blade 40. By turning the thumb screws 46, the free end of the blade 40 is moved back and forth, and the thickness of the film of ink retained on the ink drum 10 is thereby varied throughout the length of the cylinder.

For the purpose of securing better in- 20 dividual regulation of the ink supplied to the various longitudinal sections of the drum, the blade 40 is formed in a plurality of similar contiguous sections, having their upper or drum-contacting edges alined, the individual blades being so positioned relatively to the thumb screws 46 that the ends 47a bear against the middle portions of the blades near the edge.

In order to clean the surface of the ink drum immediately prior to the application of ink thereto, for the purpose of eliminating lint and any other foreign matter which may collect on the surface of the inking drum, a relatively stiff scraper blade 50 is provided to contact with the surface of the inking drum immediately prior to the application of ink thereto and after transfer of ink from the drum to the inking roll 11. As eknbodied, blade 50 extends along the length of the inking drum 10, and is mounted on the casting 18 immediately above the reservoir by means of screws 51, the front end of the blade 50 being permanently Dressed into contact with the drum 10 by the resiliency of the relatively stiff blade.

Blade 50 may also be provided with drain holes 52.

For securing uniform distribution of the ink over the surface of the drum 10, means may be provided for longitudinally vibrating the drum. As embodied, drum is longitudinally movable with respect to the side frames 12, and at one end of shaft 13 is provided a collar 55 fixed to the shaft. An eccentric 56, mounted on a bracket 57 on the corresponding press frame 12 is connected by pitman 58 to a bell crank 59, which is pivotally mounted in bracket 60 on frame 12. At the other end of the bell crank, a roller 61 is rotatably mounted to run in the groove of collar 55, so that as eccentric 56 is driven at a relatively slow speed from the press, bell $ crank 59 is oscillated, thereby vibrating inking drum 10.

In order to collect any ink which may drip from drum 10 adjacent to the point of its contact with blade 40, the blade- 70@ securing plate 42 is formed with a forwardly-extending lip 64, directly beneath the forward end of blade 40, lip 64 terminating slightly in front of the lowermost portion of drum 10. 75 The modified embodiment of the invention, illustratively shown in Figures.5 and 6 of the drawing, is generally similar to that previously described. In this embodiment, ink is supplied to the reservoir 80 by means of pipes 22 connected with pump 23, sufficient ink being- provided to maintain the desired pressure in the reservoir and to cause a small flow of ink between edge 19 and drum 10 in a direc- Ad tion opposite to that of the rotation of the drum. The relatively wide edge 20 limits the amount of ink retained on the drum 10 at the passage past the reservoir.

The surplus ink supplied to the reservoir 0 collects in the chamber 27, is removed by pump 28 and after mixing and filtering, it is returned to the reservoir by pump 23.

The regulation of the amount of ink 95 supplied to the press is effected by means of a resilient blade 70, securely fastened to the fountain casting 18 by means of plate 71 and screws 72, the plate, blade and screws being movable toward and 100 away from the drum. Casting 18, in this embodiment, is provided with a plurality of relatively long apertures 73 extending substantially parallel to blade 70 and sub6tantially uniformly spaced from each i05 other corresponding to the individual sections of the plate cylinder. To secure better individual regulation of the ink supplied to the several longitudinal sections of the plate cylinder, the blade 70 110 may be formed as a plurality of narrow, contiguous members, each corresponding in width to the sections of the plate cylinder. Thumb screws 74, having pointed ends 75 and threadedly secured in the 115 apertures 73 are provided, and their pointed ends 75 contact with small balls 76 seated in apertures 77 communicating with apertures 73. Balls 76 support the under side of the blades 70, so that the 120 blades may be variably positioned relatively to the drum to regulate the pressure of the blade against the cylinder and thereby control the supply of ink.

In accordance with the method forming 125 part of the present invention, which may be carried out by mechanism of the type described above, the ink drum 10 is rotated at substantially the same speed as that of the printing press cylinder, its 130.

surface being continually cleaned and adherent foreign matter being removed therefrom by means of the relatively stiff scraper blade 50. The clean surface of the drum is then contacted with a mass of - ink under pressure in reservoir R, and the initial contact of the surface with this ink may be made while the ink is flowing relatively fast in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation of the surface of the drum past edge 19 and thoroughly coats the drum. After application of the ink in this manner, all but a small uniform quantity of the ink is j5 removed from the surface of the drum, this small quantity being firmly pressed or wedged against the surface of the drum by passage of the drum past the relatively wide rigid edge 20. A substantial part of the adherent film of ink is then removed leaving only the desired and easily regulable amount of ink on the drum which corresponds substantially exactly with the requirements of the press. The regulable removal of the surplus ink is accomplished by means of the blades 40, which can be variably tensioned against the surface of the drum. Due to the fact that only a small quantity of ink is contained no in the reservoir R, only a relatively small amount of ink is subjected to the disintegrating action of the ink drum, thereby maintaining the ink in a homogeneous condition for a much longer period of time. As only a small quantity of ink is removed by the blade, no large quantity of ink can build up against the blade tending to vary the position of the blade.

The excess ink, comprising the ink removed by the regulable blade 40, as well as the excess ink flowing past edge 19, is collected in chamber 27 from which it:s drained by motor driven pump 28, and after filtering through filter 31. is recirculated to the ink reservoir R under pressure by means of motor-driven pump 23, pumips 23 and 28 each serving to thoroughly mix the ink and maintain it o in a uniform condition thereby avoiding any settling of the pigment from the vehicle which might otherwise occur.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we claim is 1. Inking mechanism for printing presses having in combination an ink roller to which ink is applied by an ink drum having part of its surface in an ink reservoir to which ink is applied under pressure and means comprising a regulable blade adapted to scrape-off surplus 36 ink from the drum after ink has been applied to it by the reservoir for the purpose of ensuring a uniform coating of ink on the drum before the ink is applied to the roller.

2. Inking mechanism according to 70 claim 1, in which the following edge of the edges of the end walls of the reservoir, extending substantially the entire length of the drum is closely located thereto and shaped to form a relatively tight 75 seal between the said following edge and drum.

3. Inking mechanism according to claim 2, in which the leading edge of the edges of the end walls of the reservoir, 80 is also located closely adjacent the drum but is spaced further away therefrom than the following edge.

4. Inking mechanism according to claim 2, in which the said following edge 85 has a relatively wide concave portion adjacent the drum surface for the purpose of distributing the ink uniformly on said surface and of firmly pressing the ink thereon. 9o 5. Inking mechanism according to claim 3, in which the leading edge has a blade-like shape.

6. Inking mechanism in accordance with any of the preceding claims wherein the surplus ink removed from the drum is filtered and returned to the reservoir under pressure.

7. Inking mechanism in accordance with any of the preceding claims wherein 100 the drum is rotated at press speed and is vibrated to assist the uniform distribution of ink over its surface.

8. Inking mechanism in accordance with any of the preceding claims having i05 a pump for supplying ink under pressure to the reservoir, the surplus ink removed from the drum and overflowing past the two edges of the reservoir being collected and returned by said pump to the reser- 1O voir S. Inking mechanism as claimed in 4aim 1, wherein the said regulable blade is capable of adjustment throughout its iength to vary the amount of ink retained 115 on the drum as required by different sections of the plate cylinder.

10. The method of supplving ink to the fountain drum of a printing 'ress substantially as hereinbefore described. 120 11. Inking mechanism for printing presses or the like having its parts constructed arranged and adapted to operate substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Dated the 11th day of Tune, I'l'.

401,036 401,030 G 28, Southampton Buildings, London, England, and RASELTINE, LAKE & Co., 19, West 44th Street, New York, N.Y., U.S.A., Agents for the Applicants.

Bg.edhill:Printed for His Majesty's Stationery Office, by Love & Malcomson, Ltd.-1933