Printing – Inkers – Fountains
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-31
2002-07-16
Eickholt, Eugene (Department: 2854)
Printing
Inkers
Fountains
C101S350100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06418848
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION AND RELATED ART STATEMENT
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink supply apparatus for a printing press and an ink tray mounted on the same apparatus and, more particularly, to an ink supply apparatus capable of being provided on a rotary press, a sheet-feed press, and the like, and an ink tray mounted on the same apparatus.
Also, the present invention relates to an ink tray suitably used for an ink supply apparatus provided with an ink fountain, and a method for mounting a contamination preventive surface cover to an ink tray.
Further, the present invention relates to an ink supply apparatus for a printing press such as a rotary press and a sheet-feeding press and, more particularly, to an ink supply apparatus provided with an ink tray detachably mounted on an ink fountain.
2. Description of Related Art
FIGS. 22 and 23
show a conventional ink supply apparatus provided on a printing press such as a rotary press and a sheet-feed press.
A conventional ink supply apparatus
51
has an ink fountain
53
arranged in front of an ink fountain roller
52
. The ink fountain
53
is composed of two side plates
53
a
(only one side is shown), which are located on both end sides in the axial direction (i.e. axial ends) of the ink fountain roller
52
, with a part of the front end of each side plate
53
a
being brought into slidable contact with the outer peripheral surface of the ink fountain roller
52
, an ink blade
54
forming the bottom surface of the ink fountain
53
, and the like.
The ink blade
54
is made up of a plurality of ink keys
54
a
to
54
n
divided in the axial direction of the ink fountain roller
52
. Each of the ink keys
54
a
to
54
n
can independently be swayed, i.e., moved vertically by pivoting, around a support shaft
55
, and an ink amount regulating device is provided under each of the ink keys
54
a
to
54
n.
The ink amount regulating device is provided with an arm plate
59
engaging with the lower face at the distal end of each of the ink keys
54
a
to
54
n
and a pusher
58
is in contact with the arm plate
59
and sways, i.e. causes pivoting and vertical movement of the arm plate
59
by extension and contraction. The pusher
58
is appropriately extended and contracted by turning a knob
56
or by a motor
57
arranged to turn the arm plate
59
, whereby each of the ink keys
54
a
to
54
n
can be swayed vertically. By vertically swaying each of the ink keys
54
a
to
54
n
in this manner, a gap between the ink key
54
a
to
54
n
and the ink fountain roller
52
can be regulated so that the thickness of ink film formed on the outer peripheral surface of the ink fountain roller
52
is made uniform in the axial direction of the roller
52
.
Ink
60
supplied into the ink fountain
53
passes through the gap between the outer peripheral surface of the ink fountain roller
52
and the distal end of the ink key
54
a
to
54
n
to adhere to the ink fountain roller
52
, and so that it can be transferred by the rotation of the roller
52
. Subsequently, the ink
60
is transferred to an ink roller group via a vibrating roller (not shown), which comes into contact with and separates from the ink fountain roller
52
, and is used for printing.
Leakage of the ink
60
from the ink fountain
53
in the axial direction of the ink fountain roller
52
is prevented by slidable contact made between the ink fountain roller
52
and the side plates
53
a
,
53
a
of the ink fountain
53
. Also, the ink
60
is prevented from flowing downwardly through gaps between the ink keys
54
a
to
54
n
by slidable contact made between the adjacent ink keys
54
a
to
54
n.
Reference numeral
61
in
FIG. 22
denotes an ink recovery tray, and reference numeral
62
in
FIG. 23
denotes a frame for the ink supply apparatus
51
.
The above-described conventional ink supply apparatus
51
has the following problems:
First, a minute gap is provided between the adjacent ink keys
54
a
to
54
n
and between each of the end ink keys
54
a,
54
n
and each side plate
53
a
so that these elements are slidable. Therefore, ink sometimes intrudes into the minute gap by capillarity etc. Specifically, the ink
60
put in the ink fountain
53
intrudes into the gap between the adjacent ink keys
54
a
to
54
n
and solidifies. Thereby, the movement (vertical sway) of the ink keys
54
a
to
54
n
sometimes becomes unstable. Further, the ink
60
put in the ink fountain
53
intrudes into the gap between the adjacent ink keys
54
a
to
54
n
over the whole region from the vicinity of liquid surface of the ink
60
to the distal end of the ink key
54
a
to
54
n,
so that there is a possibility of the ink keys
54
a
to
54
n
each becoming unmovable in the worst case. Therefore, it is impossible to carry out accurate control of ink film thickness.
Secondly when the ink fountain
53
is cleaned, it is difficult to remove the remaining ink
60
. In particular, it is difficult to remove the ink
60
having intruded into the gap between the adjacent ink keys
54
a
to
54
n.
Specifically, when the printing operation is completed or the ink is changed, the ink remaining in the ink fountain
53
must be wiped off with a waste cloth or the like or washed off with a cleaning fluid. However, it is difficult to remove the ink because of its high viscosity. In particular, it is difficult to remove the ink having intruded into the gap between the ink keys
54
a
to
54
n,
which leads to an increased burden to an operator performing the cleaning work. Further, in order to enhance the productivity, it is necessary to shorten the preparation time at the time of order change to increase the rate of operation of equipment. If the load caused by cleaning at the time of ink change is high, however, much time is consumed for cleaning. Therefore, the alleviation of burden to the operator by reduction in labor in cleaning work, the increase in rate of operation of equipment by shortened cleaning time, and the enhancement of productivity would be desirable.
OBJECT AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been made in view of the above situation, and accordingly in one aspect thereof an object is to provide an ink supply apparatus for a printing press, in which ink keys forming the bottom portion of an ink fountain can be operated stably, and ink intruding into gaps between the adjacent ink keys can be removed easily.
In another aspect, an object of the present invention is to provide an ink tray and a method for mounting a contamination preventive surface cover to the ink tray, in which labor saving and shortened work time for cleaning work for ink change etc. on the printing press can be achieved.
In still another aspect, an object of the present invention is to provide an ink supply apparatus in which labor saving for cleaning work for ink change etc. on the printing press can be achieved.
To address the above object(s), the present invention provides an ink supply apparatus for a printing press having an ink fountain formed by an ink fountain roller, a plurality of ink blades arranged in the axial direction of the ink fountain roller, and side plates holding the ink blades therebetween from both sides, so that the ink supply amount from the ink fountain to the ink fountain roller is controlled by regulating a gap between the ink blades and the ink fountain roller, wherein an integral type ink tray is provided comprising a bottom portion covering portions of the upper faces of the ink blades while not covering the distal end portions of the blades the ink tray for the comprising side portions covering the inside surfaces of the side plates, and a first seal member is interposed between the inside surface of the side plate and the side portion, and a second seal member in slidable contact with the ink blades is interposed between the ink blades and the bottom portion of the ink tray.
In one advantageous embodiment, the present invention provides an ink tray mounted in an ink fountain of a printing press which is formed, by an
Fujimoto Shin-ichi
Kihara Teruaki
Alston & Bird LLP
Eickholt Eugene
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd.
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