EP0346573B1 - Inked dampener for lithographic printing - Google Patents

Inked dampener for lithographic printing Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0346573B1
EP0346573B1 EP19890104738 EP89104738A EP0346573B1 EP 0346573 B1 EP0346573 B1 EP 0346573B1 EP 19890104738 EP19890104738 EP 19890104738 EP 89104738 A EP89104738 A EP 89104738A EP 0346573 B1 EP0346573 B1 EP 0346573B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
water
dampening
ink
rollers
dampener
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Revoked
Application number
EP19890104738
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP0346573A3 (en
EP0346573A2 (en
Inventor
Thomas A. Fadner
Eugene M. Van Kanegan
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Goss International LLC
Original Assignee
Goss Graphic Systems Inc
Rockwell International Corp
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
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Application filed by Goss Graphic Systems Inc, Rockwell International Corp filed Critical Goss Graphic Systems Inc
Publication of EP0346573A2 publication Critical patent/EP0346573A2/en
Publication of EP0346573A3 publication Critical patent/EP0346573A3/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0346573B1 publication Critical patent/EP0346573B1/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Revoked legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41F—PRINTING MACHINES OR PRESSES
    • B41F7/00—Rotary lithographic machines
    • B41F7/20—Details
    • B41F7/24—Damping devices
    • B41F7/36—Inking-rollers serving also to apply ink repellants
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41F—PRINTING MACHINES OR PRESSES
    • B41F7/00—Rotary lithographic machines
    • B41F7/20—Details
    • B41F7/24—Damping devices
    • B41F7/26—Damping devices using transfer rollers
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41F—PRINTING MACHINES OR PRESSES
    • B41F7/00—Rotary lithographic machines
    • B41F7/20—Details
    • B41F7/24—Damping devices
    • B41F7/30—Damping devices using spraying elements

Definitions

  • a lithographic printing device and method are described that utilize dampening water input elements physically separated from a set of two or more oleophilic and hydrophobic dampener rollers, one of which is a form roller contacting the printing plate, which dampener set of rollers become and remain inked during printing operations.
  • dampening solution forms a water layer in all of the non-image areas of the printing plate thereby disallowing transfer of ink from a separate ink input system of rollers to all but the intended image areas of the printing plate.
  • the dampening water in lithography is commonly supplied to the printing plate in the form of a dilute aqueous solution containing various proprietary combinations of buffering salts, gums, wetting agents, alcohols, fungicides and the like, which additives function to assist in the practical and efficient utilization of the various water supply and dampening system combinations that are available for the practice of lithographic printing.
  • various proprietary combinations of buffering salts, gums, wetting agents, alcohols, fungicides and the like which additives function to assist in the practical and efficient utilization of the various water supply and dampening system combinations that are available for the practice of lithographic printing.
  • the salts and wetting agents have in practice been found essential if the printing press system is to produce printed copies having clean, tint-free background and sharp, clear images, without having to pay undue and impractical amounts of attention to inking and dampening system controls during operations of the press.
  • Dampening systems may also be classified according to whether the water being supplied at the printing plate cylinder of the press is supplied before or after the ink is supplied.
  • a device for dampening lithographic printing plates as defined in the preamble of claim 1 is disclosed.
  • the dampener portion is constituted by a receiving roller receiving dampening water from the dampening water input portion and a form roller between the receiving roller and the plate cylinder.
  • the receiving roller of the dampening water input portion is provided with a covering made of a plastic material accepting ink or copper. Ink is transferred from the plate cylinder to the receiving roller via the form roller to build up a film of ink on the receiving roller on which the dampening water is deposited.
  • a device for dampening printing plates on a plate cylinder of a printing machine is disclosed.
  • the dampening fluid is directly applied onto rollers of the inking system of the printing machine.
  • a dampener portion constituted by a fluid receiving roller and a form roller may be provided. With this dampener portion both rolls thereof are made of an ink repelling material.
  • DE-A-2 302 262 an offset printing machine is disclosed wherein a portion of the ink train is divided into two ink flow paths one of which is additionally used as dampener portion.
  • the dampening liquid is sprayed on one of the ink loving rollers of the ink train of the printing press resulting in the same problems as with the press according to DE-A-2 259 721.
  • the present invention relates to a device for dampening lithographic printing plates of a printing press as claimed in claim 1 and to a lithographic printing method as claimed in claim 5.
  • a principal object of this invention is to provide a lithographic dampening device that results in high printed copy quality independently of configuration sequence of the ink input and water input at the printing plate.
  • Another objective is to provide a dampening system that functions at the minimum possible water input rate consistent with that required to retain image differentiation at the printing plate.
  • a further object is to minimize the number and frequency of ink and water balance related problems during lithographic printing.
  • Yet another object is to provide a dampening system utilizing an ink-biased series of distribution rollers which does not require high levels of surface active additives to assure efficient, high-quality lithographic printing operation.
  • the elements of our invention comprise an input dampening solution means 100 and a dampener set of rollers 101.
  • the dampener set of rollers have oleophilic and hydrophobic surfaces and the set may consist of a receiving roller 102 or 102B, a dampening form roller 103, transfer roller 104 and one or more rider rollers 105.
  • the oleophilic and hydrophobic surfaces help assure that all of the rollers in dampener set 101 are able to carry an ink film during printing operations despite the presence of large quantities of water. All of the roller surfaces of the dampener set are rotating substantially at press speed.
  • Form rollers 103, rider rollers 105 and receiving roller 102B may be frictionally driven by physical interference with the surface of the plate cylinder 106 and/or with the separately driven receiving roller 102 or transfer roller 104.
  • this oleophilic/hydrophobic behavior can be more or less predicted by measuring the degree to which droplets of ink oil and of dampening water will spontaneously spread out on the surface of the metal or polymer rubber or plastic.
  • the sessile drop technique as described in standard surface chemistry textbooks is suitable for measuring this quality.
  • oleophilic/hydrophobic roller materials will have an ink oil (Flint Oil Co.) contact angle of nearly 0° and a distilled water contact angle of about 90° or higher. These values serve to define an oleophilic/hydrophobic material.
  • Another related test is to place a thin film of ink on the material being tested, then place a droplet of dampening solution on the ink film. The longer it takes and the lesser extent to which the water solution displaces or debonds the ink, the greater is that material's oleophilic/hydrophobic property.
  • the oleophilic receiving roller surface 102 may be a relatively hard, inelastic substance such as copper or a carbon filled Nylon polymer such as Rilsan or any other oleophilic and hydrophobic nominally non-yielding material.
  • the transfer roller 102B surface of the Figure 3 alternative is selected from among elastomeric rubber-like materials that are oleophilic and hydrophobic.
  • Rollers 102 and 104 are driven substantially at press speed either by gearing the roller to the press drive or by electrically coupling the speed of a separate motor attached thereto to the press drive. Alternately, roller 102B may be friction-driven by surface interference contact with roller 104.
  • Form rollers 103 in the Figures 1, 2 and 3 alternatives may be elastomeric carbon-filled rubber dampener form rollers typical in the art and practice of lithographic dampening, which rollers are naturally oleophilic and hydrophobic. Rollers 103 are advantageously friction driven by interference contact with both the printing plate 106 and the relatively hard roller 102 or 104. Alternately, these rollers may be press driven or separately driven.
  • Rider rollers 105 may also be friction-driven and should have surfaces made of an elastomeric rubber-like material that is oleophilic and hydrophobic.
  • Figure 4 illustrates an alternative roller arrangement wherein the dampener form roller 103 is part of an inking system of oleophilic and hydrophobic rollers 102, 102A and 107 through 110.
  • Other configurations can readily be visualized using the principles herein disclosed without departing substantially from the specified elements.
  • the result is a severe reduction in amount of ink transferred from the printing plate to the blanket and to the paper being printed.
  • the interfering water layer remains on the image areas disallowing full transfer of ink to those image regions during the rotationally subsequent contact with the ink form rollers.
  • the result is a build-up of unused ink on the form rollers and a printed copy deficient in intended optical density or even devoid of portions of the intended image format.
  • dampening system of Figure 3 when used with hydrophobic and oleophilic metering rollers, the prior art distinction in printing quality and in press stability between water-first and water-last dampening positions is lost.
  • the use of inked dampening rollers allows superior printing despite water-last input of the dampening solution. This factor can be useful in the design of compact, efficient, convenient multiple printing station printing presses.
  • dampening systems could safely be located only rotationally ahead of the inking input set of rollers if acceptable printed quality was to be obtained.
  • the three-inked-roller dampening system of Figure 2 is accordingly better than the prior art and the four-inked-roller dampening system of Figure 3 is so much better than the prior art systems that it dispels the prevalent trade myth concerning water-first verses water-last dampening.
  • the inked set of rollers in the first example delivered water more efficiently to the printing plate; that is, in a form or in such a manner that it was more directly usable by the printing plate than did the more conventional direct-to-plate hydrophilic roller dampening system.
  • the direct dampener of our invention specifically and advantageously uses a set of dampener rollers fully capable of accepting ink in presence of both ink and water; that is, having oleophilic and hydrophobic surfaces. And, also accordingly, we utilize inked dampener rollers to carry water to the printing plate in our invention and purposefully avoid any hydrophilic rollers in the dampener roller portion.
  • dampening systems herein disclosed significantly reduce the number and frequency of lithographic printing problems that are variously termed in the trade as ink-water balance problems.
  • ink-water balance problems We believe that the primary reason for ink-water balance problems in the prior art resides in the wide-spread expectation that the printing plate somehow accepts water and ink only in the non-image and image areas respectively of the plate when thin films of both are made available to the plate.
  • Prior art hydrophilic-roller-based dampening systems that utilize one of the inking form rollers to convey water to the printing plate require from about 10% to 25% of a bulk surface active additive such as isopropanol to allow reasonably fast dampening water transfer from the hydrophilic metering roller to the inked form roller.
  • the alcohol acts to assist the water-to-ink transfer process which, as previously discussed, cannot otherwise occur within the short single nip dwell times of this prior art system.
  • hydrophilic-roller-containing dampening systems are reportedly easier to control, to have more latitude in ink-water balance, and to have fewer ink-water balance problems when 10% to 25% isopropanol is used in the dampening solution, that is, when the water is helped into the ink by means of the chemical additive.
  • inked roller ink-train dampening systems have been previously noted herein as reference and background for the present disclosure. It should be noted that ink train-dampening systems have certain, somewhat adverse qualities that are avoided by using the direct inked-roller dampening system of this disclosure.
  • an additional path for water evaporation is provided, namely the inked dampener rollers.
  • the increased surface area allows evaporation of a greater amount of this excess water in cross press regions corresponding to the differing water contents. This minimizes the adverse affect of water build-up due to image format differences.
  • the dampening water of this invention enters the inking system only indirectly as compared to direct introduction of water into the inking train. Only the water already supplied to the plate and then fractionally removed by inking form rollers can enter the inking system. Water content within the incoming ink on the dampener set of rollers is thereby expected to be considerably lower than that encountered in ink-train-dampening. Accordingly, fewer problems in adjusting for ink and water input balance will be encountered.
  • any or all of dampener set of rollers in Figures 1, 2 and 3 may advantageously be caused to oscillate axially for similar reasons.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Rotary Presses (AREA)
  • Inking, Control Or Cleaning Of Printing Machines (AREA)
  • Printing Methods (AREA)
EP19890104738 1988-06-16 1989-03-16 Inked dampener for lithographic printing Revoked EP0346573B1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US20747988A 1988-06-16 1988-06-16
US207479 1994-03-04

Publications (3)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0346573A2 EP0346573A2 (en) 1989-12-20
EP0346573A3 EP0346573A3 (en) 1990-08-22
EP0346573B1 true EP0346573B1 (en) 1994-05-18

Family

ID=22770729

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP19890104738 Revoked EP0346573B1 (en) 1988-06-16 1989-03-16 Inked dampener for lithographic printing

Country Status (5)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0346573B1 (ja)
JP (1) JPH0220346A (ja)
AU (1) AU620387B2 (ja)
CA (1) CA1332318C (ja)
DE (1) DE68915340T2 (ja)

Families Citing this family (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
FR2726505A1 (fr) * 1994-11-08 1996-05-10 Sarda Jean Lucien Groupe de mouillage a film continu pour presses a imprimer offset
JP2933203B2 (ja) * 1995-09-21 1999-08-09 松下工業株式会社 ポケットコイルバネ構造体組み立て装置
DE102009030878A1 (de) * 2008-07-02 2010-02-11 Heidelberger Druckmaschinen Ag Offsetdruckverfahren

Family Cites Families (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE678543C (de) * 1937-10-06 1939-07-17 Carl Einar Larsen Verfahren und Vorrichtung zum Feuchten der Flachdruckformen einer Druckmaschine, namentlich beim Offsetdruck
US3764070A (en) * 1972-07-03 1973-10-09 Didde Glaser Inc Dampening fluid pump and metering apparatus for offset printing press
DE2259721C3 (de) * 1972-12-06 1979-10-25 Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nuernberg Ag, 8900 Augsburg Farbwerk für eine von Hochdruck auf Offsetdruck umrüstbare Rollen-Rotationsdruckmaschine
DE2301879A1 (de) * 1973-01-16 1974-07-18 Maschf Augsburg Nuernberg Ag Feuchtwerk fuer eine umsteuerbare rotations-offsetdruckmaschine
DE2302262C3 (de) * 1973-01-18 1979-05-17 Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nuernberg Ag, 8900 Augsburg Zweisträngiges Farbwerk einer Rotations-Offsetdruckmaschine
DE2845932A1 (de) * 1978-10-21 1980-04-24 Heidelberger Druckmasch Ag Kombiniertes feucht-farbwerk fuer offsetdruckwerke
US4601242A (en) * 1985-02-04 1986-07-22 Rockwell International Corporation Copper and ceramic composite ink metering roller

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
JPH0220346A (ja) 1990-01-23
CA1332318C (en) 1994-10-11
DE68915340D1 (de) 1994-06-23
EP0346573A3 (en) 1990-08-22
AU620387B2 (en) 1992-02-20
EP0346573A2 (en) 1989-12-20
AU3257489A (en) 1989-12-21
DE68915340T2 (de) 1994-08-25

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