Optical: systems and elements – Lens – With viewed object support
Reexamination Certificate
2001-05-15
2003-04-01
Epps, Georgia (Department: 2873)
Optical: systems and elements
Lens
With viewed object support
C359S809000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06542318
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a testing stand for printing plates, comprising a movable printing plate support, a movable magnifying glass carriage including a correlated hand rest, and an illumination unit as well as a frame, with means for holding and guiding the aforementioned components provided on the frame. Such testing stands are used for inspection of printing plates in the graphic design industry.
2. Description of the Related Art
Testing stands for printing plates are known, i.e., so-called offset printing plate testing stands, for example, disclosed in the brochure “megastahl”, offsetplatten-prüftstand, brochure 9003 of the company Barent & Co. -megastahl, Augsburg, Germany, wherein an almost vertically positioned printing plate support is vertically slidably arranged in guides positioned on both sides and mounted on sidewalls.
For providing the slightly rearwardly inclined position of the printing plate support, the forward edges of the aforementioned sidewalls are slanted to the rear and a guide for the vertical sliding action of the printing plate support is stationarily arranged on the forward edge, respectively. The sidewalls and the printing plate support guided therebetween form a so-called common upper part which can be placed onto a base frame. For increasing the stability of the upper part, behind the vertically movable printing plate support, between the aforementioned sidewalls, at least one wall connecting the latter is provided which is generally parallel to the movable printing plate support. Moreover, in front of the movable printing plate support a working frame is arranged which has an upper rail and a lower rail which are secured by means of laterally arranged plate-shaped guide members at a spacing to one another. Each one of the lateral guide members is moveably and lockably arranged in a guide rail, respectively, and the guide rails are arranged stationarily on the guides of the printing plate support. The upper rail of the working frame is moreover provided for securing a magnifying glass that is movable in the horizontal direction as well as for receiving parts of the illumination unit. The lower rail of the working frame serves also as a support rail for the hand of the operator as well as for receiving parts of an illumination unit which illuminates the open area between the lower and the upper rails. In preparation for inspection of the printing plate, the operator moves the working frame to an eye level position and locks it then in the selected position. For inspecting the selected section of the printing plate, the operator moves, usually with his left hand, the printing plate support substantially vertically in the upward or downward direction so that the section of the printing plate to be inspected appears between the upper and lower rails of the working frame. The illumination unit arranged within the working frame illuminates the section of the printing plate between the upper and the lower rails of the working frame for inspection. The areas of the printing plate positioned above and below the working frame are illuminated only by the normal ambient light. The inspected section, on the other hand, is exposed to a very high light intensity which, depending on the type of the printing plate, can result in significant after exposure of the same.
For facilitating the movement of the printing plate support, the printing plate support is connected with a counterweight arranged in its upper part. When printing plates of different sizes are inspected successively, the adaptation of the counterweight to the mass of the printing plate to be inspected is relatively complex.
In order to be able to inspect the selected section of the printing plate more closely, the operator must first move the printing plate support to such an extent that the corresponding horizontal strip of the printing plate appears in the area of the working frame and subsequently he must move the magnifying glass to such an extent that the corresponding section within the horizontal strip can be viewed enlarged. This means that the operator with his “auxiliary” hand must move sequentially two different components of the testing stand in order to reach the section of the printing plate to be inspected more closely. For moving the aforementioned two components, the operator will usually not use his “working” hand and because the working hand generally holds working tools, for example, a retouching brush for corrective work on the printing plate.
As can be further taken from the brochure “megastahl”, catalogue 9801, “Ihr starker Partner in der grafischen Industrie” (Your strong partner in the graphic design industry) of the company Grassinger KG, Bobingen, Germany, nothing has changed over the years with respect to the above described basic principle of the configuration of a testing stand for printing plates used in the graphic design industry. From the last mentioned brochure it can be taken that only minimal changes in the configuration of the aforementioned working frame have resulted. A further disadvantage of these known testing stands is moreover their massive and thus heavy construction.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a testing stand for printing plates which substantially does not exhibit the aforementioned disadvantages of the known testing stands and which can be manufactured with a reduced manufacturing-technological expenditure as much as possible.
In accordance with the present invention, this is achieved in that on the printing plate support on both sides a respective guide member is arranged, wherein these guide members are connected to the frame and wherein the respective guide path for these guide members are positioned vertically.
In accordance with the present invention, this is achieved for a method for inspecting printing plates in that the printing plate support is positioned in an optimal basic position for the operator and in that, for the section-wise manual visual inspection, alternatingly a magnifying glass carriage, which secures the optical aid as well as a hand rest, is guidedly moved in the horizontal direction and/or the optical aid together with the hand rest is guidedly moved in the vertical direction.
The new testing stand for printing plates is characterized particularly in that a basically different configuration in comparison to known testing stand is selected. In particular, and especially, this testing stand for printing plates, which comprises a movable printing plate support, a movable magnifying glass carriage with a correlated hand rest, an illumination unit as well as a frame with means for holding and guiding the aforementioned components, is realized such that the almost vertically positioned movable printing plate support is movable only in the vertical direction, in contrast to the prior art construction principle according to which the printing plate support is moved in a plane that is slanted relative to the vertical direction. With this new and significant construction detail it is ensured that the lower edge of the printing plate support, which projects farthest toward the operator, has always a constant spacing to the body of the operator and, in contrast to the known testing stands, does not come closer and closer to the body of the operator upon movement in the downward vertical direction.
Preferably, on both lateral ends or sides of the printing plate support a guide member is arranged, respectively, wherein these guide members are connected to the frame and wherein the respective guide path for these guide members is positioned in the vertical direction. A special configuration provides that the guide members are slide bearings which are slidably secured on a column of the frame, respectively.
Moreover, it is preferably provided that the illumination unit of the testing stand is arranged in a head member of the frame which is open in the downward direction. The illumination unit is an asymmetric lamp.
A further developmen
Epps Georgia
Friedrich Kueffner
Just Normlicht Vertriebs-GmbH
Seyrafi Saeed H
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