Printing – Stenciling – Rotary machines
Reexamination Certificate
2000-08-01
2003-01-21
Yan, Ren (Department: 2854)
Printing
Stenciling
Rotary machines
C101S116000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06508168
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a stencil printer, and more particularly to a stencil printer in which an internal press roll presses the peripheral wall of a printing drum against a back press roll when printing is done.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has been known a type of a stencil printer comprising a printing drum which has an ink-permeable peripheral wall and is rotated with a stencil master wound around the peripheral wall, a back press roll which presses a printing paper against the printing drum and conveys the printing paper together with the printing drum, and an internal press roll which is provided in the printing drum to be movable back and forth toward and away from the back press roll and pushes the peripheral wall of the printing drum toward the back press roll. See, for instance, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 1(1989)-204781. In the stencil printer of this type, the internal press roll is supported for rotation about its central axis by a pair of arm members which are rotated about an axis which is parallel to the axis of rotation of the printing drum and offset therefrom. The arm members are rotated between a retracted position where the internal press roll is held just in contact with the inner surface of the peripheral wall of the printing drum or away therefrom and a printing position where the internal press roll pushes a part of the peripheral wall of the printing drum toward the back press roll. The printing drum with a stencil master wound around the peripheral wall thereof and the back press roll are rotated in opposite directions with a part of the peripheral wall of the printing drum pressed against the back press roll by the internal press roll and a printing paper is fed between the back press roll and the part of the peripheral wall of the printing drum pressed against the back press roll, whereby ink supplied to the inner surface of the peripheral wall of the printing drum is transferred to the printing paper through the stencil master which has been perforated in a pattern of image to be printed, and printing is done.
Further, there has been proposed, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 3(1991)-254984, a stencil printer in which the internal press roll is driven by way of a gear train to rotate in synchronization with the printing drum and the arm members are rotated between the retracted position and the printing position under force which acts on the internal press roll by way of the gear train. In this stencil printer, the internal press roll is not rotated by way of friction between the internal press roll and the peripheral wall of the printing drum with ink intervening therebetween but is actively rotated by way of the gear train in synchronization with the printing drum at a predetermined speed ratio to the printing drum so that the degree of squeezing action between the internal press roll and the peripheral wall of the printing drum is stabilized.
Further, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 8(1996)-207416, there has been proposed a stencil printer in which the printing pressure is optimized by controlling flow of force transmitted to the internal press roll through the gear train, and thereby controlling the amount by which the internal press roll pushes the peripheral wall of the printing drum toward the back press roll.
However, in such a stencil printer where the internal press roll is driven in synchronization with rotation of the printing drum, the internal press roll urging force is obtained from the rotating force of the printing drum, and accordingly, the internal press roll urging force fluctuates according to the printing speed, the viscosity of ink and the like, which gives rise to a problem that it is difficult to stably obtain a proper printing pressure. That is, as the printing speed increases, the rotational speed of the printing drum increases and the internal press roll urging force increases. As a result, the amount by which the peripheral wall of the printing drum is pushed toward the back press roll increases and the printing pressure increases. Further, the ink to be supplied to the printing drum is supplied to the internal press roll while being stirred by an ink agitator which is driven in synchronization with rotation of the printing drum, and accordingly, when the viscosity of the ink increases because of, for instance, a low ambient temperature of the stencil printer, rotating torque of the printing drum is increased and the internal press roll urging force is increased, which results in a high printing pressure.
Further, a stencil master seat for fixing a stencil master is mounted on the printing drum, and in order to prevent the stencil master seat from being jammed between the internal press roll and the back press roll, the internal press roll must be moved away from the back press roll when the printing drum is rotated to a position where the stencil master seat is opposed to the back press roll. Further also when printing is temporarily interrupted, the internal press roll must be held away from the back press roll. In this case, since the printing drum is kept rotated and the internal press roll is kept urged toward the back press roll, the internal press roll must be moved away from the back press roll overcoming the urging force. As a result, an excessive force acts on the components of the printing drum such as the gear train and deteriorates durability of such components.
Since the internal press roll extends in a direction transverse to the direction of movement of the printing paper (in the direction of width of the printing paper), it is necessary to increase dimensional accuracy and assembling accuracy of the components of the stencil printer such as the internal press roll, the members for supporting the internal press roll, the gear train and the like in order to obtain a uniform printing pressure in the direction of width of the printing paper and it has been impossible to obtain a uniform printing pressure in the direction of width of the printing paper after the stencil printer is manufactured. Depending upon the kind of printings, it is sometimes desirable that printing can be done in different densities in the direction of width of the printing paper.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the foregoing observations and description, the primary object of the present invention is to provide a stencil printer in which a desired printing pressure can be easily obtained.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a stencil printer comprising a printing drum which has an ink-permeable peripheral wall and is rotated about a predetermined axis of rotation with a stencil master wound around the peripheral wall, a back press roll which associates with the printing drum to nip and convey a printing paper, and an internal press roll which is provided in the printing drum to be movable back and forth toward and away from the back press roll and pushes the peripheral wall of the printing drum toward the back press roll, wherein the improvement comprises
an internal press roll drive means which moves back and forth the internal press roll between a first position where the internal press roll is held away from the back press roll and a second position at a distance from the first position toward the back press roll and is able to freely change the distance between the axis of rotation of the printing drum and the second position.
It is preferred that the internal press roll drive means is provided with a means for moving opposite ends of the internal press roll independently of each other.
It is preferred that the stencil printer further comprises a printing speed setting means for setting the printing speed and the internal press roll drive means changes the distance between the axis of rotation of the printing drum and the second position according to the printing speed set by the printing speed setting means.
Further it is preferred that the stencil printer further co
Hara Yoshikazu
Nogi Hideaki
Oyama Koichi
Takahashi Yasuhiro
Nixon & Peabody LLP
Riso Kagaku Corporation
Studebaker Donald R.
Yan Ren
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