GB2024103A - Inking ring - Google Patents

Abstract

A flexible, inking ring formed as an annular band 22 of resilient spongy ink absorbent material, a liner 28 of ink impervious thin rubber along the inner wall of the ring and extending along the limited portion of the opposite sides of said ring and a woven textile sleeve 30 surrounding the remainder of the annular band and embedded between liner and band. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Inking ring This invention relates generally to inking rings for use in code dating devices.

In U.S. Patents 2,562,627 issued July 21, 1951 and 2,890,654 issued June 16, 1959, there are described rotary inking devices of the general type with which this invention is concerned. These inking devices have great utility in automatic code dating equipment operative in conjunction with a conveyor system for transporting packages past the equipment in a continuous line to have selected indicia applied thereto during such transit.

Such inking devices are installed in operative position adjacent the printing wheel to transfer ink to the printing members continuously as the printing device rotates. Other patents illustrating the general type of inking devices with which this invention is concerned are described in U.S. Patents 2,887,047 and 2,701,519, In many devices of this general character, it has been desirable to provide an inking ring of some type of material which is absorbent, which can be pre-inked and which is capable of being mounted upon a hub. The intention is to provide a disposable ring. Such a disposable ring has much advantage, but its principal characteristic of disposability is a disadvantage in most usage in that it cannot be reinked once depleted. Presently available preinked rings have short useful lives, and the handling of same is messy.It would be desirable to permit the advantages of a pre-inked member but provide one which is capable of easily loading with ink, permits clean handling and further which does not permit the ink to be extruded other than at its exposed surface instead of, for example, oozing around the side portions or soaking ink onto the hub of the wheel. Among other advantages, the availability of an inking ring which could easily and cleanly be removed and replaced from the inking wheel would assure materially reduced downtime of the coding apparatus now required to effect replacement of the exhausted absorbent member of the inking wheel. In addition, the manufacturer and/or user could carry a stock of rings of many different widths instead of being required to carry assembled stocks of inking wheels, as is the present experience.Manufacture of the ink-absorbent members for inking wheels is facilitated when machining steps not required.

It would be expected that the useful life of soft inking rings would be somewhat limited since the normally encountered steei type would tend to splay the material causing small particles of the material to be separated to foul the ink and the transfer intself. Further, the material could become brittle and dry as a result of the aging process and continued exposure to the solvents used in the ink.

Again, this may result in crumbling of the material with resultant particles entering the ink or being transferred therewith to the secondary roller or to the type face proper. Such fouling may well result in incomplete, fractional or blurred markings upon the articles being processed by the code dating apparatus, for example.

Textile covers have been applied to rigid ink applicators and transfer media in the printing arts. The purpose of such textiles has been to provide a resilient surface of sufficient porosity to enable good transfer of ink from the rigid or firm body members to a type font face, for example.

Textile covers in the printing art are used in the form of sleeves elastically fitted over the rigid member. After some lapse of time and use, it would be expected that the woven material would tend to stretch unevenly, causing bagging and/or creasing which in turn results in uneven transfer. Further, the material is likely to wear unevenly, fray, tear, etc.

Such sleeves would be expected to be capable of use only with a roller having rigid or very firm body, in order to retain and support the cover upon said roller. High speed operation did not appear amenable to the use of textile covers.

If one desired to use a textile cover on soft inking rings, one would be deterred by the expected difficulty of gaining a purchase upon the soft, flexible ring to retain the cover thereupon. In addition, and perhaps even of greater importance, would be the expectation that such a cover would surround the whole ring and accordingly, the ink would pass along the textile by capillarity and hence foul the environment of use, as well as to render ineffective the principal advantage of the particular inking ring, that is, the ability to be installed and removed without fouling the hands of the operator, the surroundings of the installation or the work treated by the apparatus. One could not be expected to remove the inking ring after use without getting one's hands, the wheel and the work ink fouled.

Accordingly, the invention provides a flexible resilient inking ring comprising a band of sponge-like ink absorbent material, a thin inkimpervious liner covering the inner circumferential wall of the band and extending part way radially outward along the opposite sides of the band to define an ink-impervious barrier and a textile sleeve surrounding the remaining otherwise exposed portion of the band and embedded permanently between the liner and the band, said sleeve conforming to the surface of said band and a bonding layer disposed between the band and the liner.

The preferred embodiments of this invention will now be described, by way of exam ple, with reference to the drawings accompa nying this specification in which: Figure 1 is a perspective exploded view of an inking wheel and the inking ring of the invention mounted thereupon; Figure 2 is an elevational view of the inking ring of Fig. 1; and Figure 3 is an enlarged selectional view of the inking ring taken along lines 3-3 of Fig.

2.

Referring to the drawing, an inking wheel 10 is illustrated in Fig. 1 with the inking ring 20 of the invention mounted upon the hub 1 2 thereof. A shaft 14 is passed through the hub 12. Shaft 14 carries hub 12 to enable rotation of the wheel. An annular back plate 1 6 forms a part of the wheel to backstop the ring 20 which slidably is mounted on the hub 12, the assembly being completed by retainer 18 sandwiching the ring 20 therebetween.

The inking ring 20 is engaged upon the hub 1 2 by stretching slightly the ring radially to increase its inner diameter whereby the ring 20 can be slipped onto the hub 1 2. The ring 20 then is permitted constrictably to selfreturn so that the inner circumferential surface of the ring grasps the annular circumferential surface of the hub 1 2 in functional engagement therewith. The ring 20 nevertheless is capable of frictional slidable movement on the hub 12 for positioning said ring along the hub. The retainer 18 then is assembled to the hub 12, as by use of bolt 1 7 in threaded openings 1 9.

The inking ring 20 has an annular band 22 of spongy ink absorbent material selected from sponge rubber, foam rubber or flexible synthetic cellular foamed materials. Liner 24 is disposed fully along the inner circumferential wall 26 of the band 22 and includes a pair of unitary side walls 28 extending radially part way along the opposite sides 30 of the band 22, said side walls 28 merely being an extension of the portion of the liner 24 which covers the inner circumferential wall 26 of the band 22.

A woven textile annular sleeve 32 is seated sandwiched about the outer circumference of the band 22 by the side walls 28 of the liner, said sleeve 32 terminating within the liner 24 and preferably within that portion 28 of the liner 24 extending along the inner circumferential wall 26 of the band 22. The liner 24 is formed of uncured (unvulcanized) thin rubber sheet material.

A bonding layer 36, preferably formed as a slurry of uncured rubber in a volatile solvent, is applied between the liner 24 and the band 22 subsequent to mounting of the sleeve 32 onto the band 22. Preferably the bonding layer 36 need only be applied to the inner side walls of the liner and to that portion of the liner 24 extending inward of said side walls 28 and coextensive with the terminal portions of the sleeve 32.

The liner 24, bonding layer 36 and the band 22 are assembled and the assembly vulcanized simultaneously firmly embedding the sleeve 32 between the liner 24 and its side walls 28 and the band 22. The textile material surrounding the outer portion circumferential portion of the band is smooth and conforms to the band surface, especially around the annular rims 38 and 40 thereof.

The sleeve 32 exhibits capillarity to the ink, protects the band, reduces materially the deterioration of the band surface into which the type font faces are impressed, reduces the tendency of the band 22 to become brittle, to dry out and/or crumble. If crumbling occurs, the sleeve 32 prevents shed particles of fibers from reaching the ink or contaminating the surface to which the ink is transferred. Nevertheless, the ring 20 retains sufficient resilience to enable the type font face to be adequately impressed thereinto as well as to effect a wiping action upon the font or upon a transfer roller in effecting transfer of ink thereto.

The inking ring 20 can be removed easily from the hub by effecting sliding movement thereupon and said ring 20 can be handled without getting ink on the hands of the operator, the environs or the work. The ring 20 has a greatly extended useful or working life over conventional soft inking members. Capillarity provided by the textile surface aids in effecting ink transfer smoothly.

The band 22 can be formed by placing the opposite ends of an elongate band of said sponge rubber or foam rubber, etc., end to end, with the aforementioned slurry of uncured rubber used as a bonding or adhesive medium and applied to said ends. The band 22 can also be formed by molding or stamping sheet sponge or foam rubber, etc. in ring shape eliminating the boundary or adhesive end-to-end connection.

The sleeve can be applied next to the resultant annular band. The liner can be preformed in place by laying a flat, thin, uncured rubber strip in a mold with a ring formed also of the same material placed on the floor of the mold to constitute one side 28. The annular band 22 carrying the sleeve 32 thereon is placed in the mold and a second thin ring placed thereupon to constitute the other side 28. Of course a coating or layer of the slurry of uncured rubber is applied to the engaged surfaces of sleeve and liner (i.e., strips). The mold is closed and raised to vulcanizeing temperature, usually 309"F and held at that temperature for a duration of about 9 minutes, for example. The liner has been found to have a durometer hardness measured at about 35 to 40 after vulcanizing. The slurry can be vulcanizable at room temperature, in which case heat need not be applied.

Claims (5)

1. A flexible resilient inking ring comprising a band of sponge-like ink absorbent mate rial, a thin ink-impervious liner covering the inner circumferential wall of the band and extending part way radially outward along the opposite sides of the band to define an inkimpervious barrier, a textile sleeve surrounding the remaining otherwise exposed portion of the band and embedded permanently between the liner and the band, said sleeve conforming to the surface of said band and a bonding layer disposed between the band and the liner.

2. The inking ring as defined in claim 1 in which the inking ring is radially expandable.

3. The inking ring as defined in claim 1 in which said sleeve extends between said liner and the inner circumferential wall of the band.

4. The inking ring as defined in any one of claims 1, 2 or 3 in which said bonding layer is disposed between the sleeve and the liner.

5. The inking ring as defined in any one of claims 1, 2 or 3 wherein said band is formed of sponge rubber.