Printing – Planographic – Dampeners
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-07
2001-02-27
Hilten, John S. (Department: 2854)
Printing
Planographic
Dampeners
C101S148000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06192796
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a spray dampening device for spraying fountain solution on a rotating roller in a printing press, comprising a spray casing to be fixedly mounted to the printing press frame in the vicinity of the roller and a number of spray valves for spraying fountain solution on the roller through the spray casing.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A device of the kind defined above is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,595,116, which is regarded as the closest prior art. The spray casing is divided into two parts, of which a forward one is fixedly mounted to the printing press frame and a rearward one is provided with the spray valves and can be position adjusted in relation to the forward one by a complicated arrangement.
Normally, however, a spray dampening device is an integrated unit, comprising a spray beam with the spray valves and the spray casing, mounted in the printing press frame. With a design of this type an adjustment of the position of the valves in relation to the roller is very awkward, and also the servicing of the valves and the cleaning of the entire device may be very difficult.
A certain improvement in the above respects has been obtained by having the spray casing and the spray beam with its valves as separate units, but still the above drawbacks have in principle not been eliminated.
THE INVENTION
A better solution is according to the invention attained in that a separate spray beam, in which the spray valves are arranged, at each end is attached to the spray casing by means of a mounting bracket, allowing longitudinal adjustment of the spray beam and thus the spray valves in relation to the fixed spray casing. In this way the spray dampening device can also be made totally enclosed but still be easy to mount, dismount and service.
The mounting bracket may preferably be attached to the spray beam, in a first embodiment, or to the spray casing, in a second embodiment, by means of screws or the like extending through at least two oblong bracket holes, which are substantially parallel to a line normal to the roller, so that an easy adjustment of the position of the spray beam in relation to the spray casing may be performed.
By its fixed mounting the spray casing may be arranged so close to the roller that very little fountain solution leaves it inadvertently in the form of undesired mist, whereas the design with the mounting brackets for mounting the spray beam with the valves to the spray casing enables a very simple and accurate position adjustment of the spray beam and thus the valves in relation to the casing and the roller.
A further advantage can be obtained, if according to the invention the mounting bracket is pivotably and releasably attached to the spray casing, in the first embodiment, or to the spray beam, in the second embodiment, by means of two attachment devices at opposite sides of the line normal to the roller. Depending on which attachment devices that are released the spray beam may be pivoted to either side or even be released completely. It will hereby be very easy to mount, clean and service the beam and its valves and nozzles. Also, the beam can be mounted at either side of the roller or with the connection devices to the left or the right without any design changes.
An advantageous design is obtained in that the attachment devices are spring-biassed pins, which extend into corresponding bores in the ends of the spray casing or the the spray beam, respectively. Further, each pin may preferably be locked in a position retracted out of engagement with its bore.
With the design of the spray dampening device according to the invention the spray casing may be of a rather simple construction and can for example be made of a plastic material. The valve nozzles of the spray beam valves may extend into the valve casing through circular openings, which are provided with flexible sealing means. In this way the fountain solution sprayed through the nozzles will not appear as undesired mist in the printing press and is prevented from reaching the spray beam with its different details and electrical installations. The sealing means may also fulfil its sealing task after every adjustment of the spray beam position.
In previously known spray beams the valves were mechanically attached to the beam at predetermined locations. The valves were connected by means of hoses and couplings. A far better solution is according to the invention attained in that rigid pipes are utilized instead of the hoses. The distances between the valves in the spray beam are hereby determined by the length of the liquid pipes, which are simply sealingly inserted into the valves. No separate attachment for the valves is hereby needed, which makes it possible to mount the spray beam at a lower cost and much easier to service the beam, which can be detached from the fixedly mounted spray casing without any difficulty.
By constructing the device according to the invention, the spray beam is symmetric and may be mounted in any position without any modification.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2543663 (1951-02-01), Marsden
patent: 4044674 (1977-08-01), Smith, Jr.
patent: 4831927 (1989-05-01), Lin
patent: 5040457 (1991-08-01), Lin
patent: 5505126 (1996-04-01), Ohno et al.
patent: 5595116 (1997-01-01), Ohkawara
Grohusky Leslie J.
Hilten John S.
James Ray & Associates
Jimek AB
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