GB2263346A

GB2263346A - Zonal setting of ink and damping solution in an offset printing press

Info

Publication number: GB2263346A
Application number: GB9300399A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Dietmar Bohn
Original assignee: Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG
Current assignee: Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG
Priority date: 1992-01-15
Filing date: 1993-01-11
Publication date: 1993-07-21
Anticipated expiration: 2013-01-11
Also published as: DE4200822C2; GB9300399D0; JP3073351B2; FR2686046A1; GB2263346B; JPH05330023A; DE4200822A1; FR2686046B1

Description

2263346 1

SPECIFICATION

Arrangement for the zonal setting of ink and damping solution-in the printing unit of an offset printing press The invention can be used in printing presses in which there is the desire to make a remote setting of the inkfilm and/or damping-solution- film thickness profile in the printing unit.

DE 31 47 312 Al describes a setting device for a printing press, said setting device comprising a control device for a multiplicity of actuating motors for adjusting the ink-film thickness profile and/or dampingsolution-film thickness profile and/or for register adjustment. For the inputting of data and/or commands, a control unit is provided with a display panel, said display panel interacting with a light pen. In the display panel, the ink and damping-solution zones are associated with columns of individual light-emitting diodes, which, in their entirety, exhibit a matrix-like arrangement in the display panel. By moving the light pen transversely across the columns of the display panel, it is possible for the setpoint values for the actuating elements in the inking unit, damping unit or register-adjusting apparatus to be inputted manually into the control device to suit the requirements of the printed image, with the setpoint or actual positions of all actuating elements being discernible through the lighting-up of the light-emitting diodes used for the display.

In an embodiment of said apparatus, the light-emitting diodes are energized with pulses of current in a predetermined sequence, so that those light-emitting 2 - diodes that are not intended to display are energized with pulses of current of such short duration that, to the human eye, they appear to be unlit or only dimly lit. Conversely, those light-emitting diodes that are intended to display are energized with a relatively long pulse of current, which makes them appear brighter to the human eye. In addition to the long pulse, these brightly lit diodes are energized with a short pulse, with the light pen being activated only during the times of the short pulses. In order to display further information, the light-emitting diodes may be energized in such a manner that they have different light- emitting durations for different items of information, so that, for example, a further item of information is identified by the flickering illumination of the light-emitting diodes.

A disadvantage of this design is that light of the same wavelength is used for displaying and setting the positions of the actuating elements for ink, damping solution and register, with the result that there is the risk of incorrect settings if the person making the setting and reading the display fails at the same time to perceive the correct position of a display selector switch. It is not possible for the person to ascertain at first glance that the display relates, for example, to the positions of the ink-profile actuators; it is additionally necessary to check the display selector switch. The display and setting of the positions of the actuating elements for ink, damping solution and register must, therefore, be selected one after the other using the display selector switch, which adversely affects the ease of operation of the setting device.

In the case of the representation of different items of information by means of different light-emitting 3 - durations, although there is a reduced risk of making errors in reading the display and in making settings, the outlay on the energization of the light-emitting diodes is greater and, in the interests of convenience in the i7eading of the display and in the making of settings, it would, by comparison, be of advantage to have continuously illuminated light- emitting diodes.

The object of the invention is to develop an arrangement for the zonal setting of ink and damping solution, said arrangement reducing the risk of incorrect settings and, with little outlay, improving the ease of operation for the operator.

The invention consists in that the light-emitting elements in the display panel of a control apparatus emit light of two visually distinguishable wavelengths, with the display of the ink quantity being settable to the first wavelength and with the display of the damping-solution quantity being settable to the second wavelength.

This reduces the risk of confusion for the operator, because he/she is readily provided with a colour association between the display and the actuating elements. For example, a red display may identify the positions of the ink-profile actuators and a green display may identify the positions of the dampingsolution profile actuators.

In a further development of the invention, apart from the two main display colours, one or more additional secondary display colours may be emitted by the lightemitting elements. For example, a yellow display may be used to identify the circumferential-register setting, 4 with this not necessarily using all the columns of the display panel.

The display using light of different wavelengths may be continuous orpulsating, with it also being possible for a plural ity of colours to be displayed simultaneously. One possibility consists in that the light of a defined wavelength is emitted intermittently, with the light of the wavelength not intended for display purposes being emitted with an integral luminous flux, said luminous flux being essentially below the light-sensation threshold of the human eye. In this case, it would be of advantage if the working wavelength of the light pen were adapted to the wavelength of one of the display colours. From the design point of view, it is advantageous if the light-emitting elements are in the form of multi-colour light-emitting diodes.

The invention is to be described in greater detail with reference to a schematic drawing.

According to Fig. 1, the arrangement according to the invention consists of a control apparatus 1, said control apparatus 1 having a connection to actuating elements 2.1, 2.2 for ink, to actuating elements 3.1, 3.2 for a damping solution and to actuating elements 4.1, 4.2-for the register of a printing press 5 with two printing units 6.1, 6.2. The control apparatus 1 comprises a light pen 7 as well as a plurality of in-line-arranged columns 8 of individual two-colour LEDs 9. The number of columns 8 corresponds to the number of settable ink and/or damping-solution zones, which are distributed uniformly across the width of the printed image. In order to set the ink and damping-solution profiles in the individual printing units 6.1, 6.2, a printed-image master 10 is 1 associated with the columns 8 on the control apparatus 1. Furthermore, the control apparatus 1 comprises an address-memory logic 11, to which the light pen 7 is connected. The output of the address-memory logic 11 is connect6d to an input of an address-data memory 12, which is connected to a computer 13. An LEDenergization logic 14 is connected to a further input of the address-data memory 12 as well as to a substrateselection logic 15. The LED-energization logic 14 and the substrate-selection stage 15 are further connected to an ink/damping-solution selector switch 16. Detail in Fig. 1 shows a plurality of two-colour LEDs 9 in a column 8. According to this embodiment, red-light substrates 17 are disposed in the axis of symmetry 18 of the column 8, with green-light substrates 19 being disposed laterally offset with respect to the axis of symmetry 18.

The zonal setting of ink and damping solution can be effected as follows with said arrangement:

The zonal ink values are to be displayed by red light, with the zonal damping-solution values being displayed by green light, it being possible to set this by means of the ink/damping-solution selector switch. According to this specimen embodiment, either only the settings of the ink values or those of the damping-solution values are to be displayed. With the aid of the logic circuits and computing means provided in the control apparatus 1, it is possible for the red-light substrate 17 of the two-colour LEDs 9 to be energized according to the timing diagram shown-in Fig. 2. The light pen 7 is scanned during time tr-c--; this is followed by a time tF-xz for a possible fine display, while, during time toPz, which lasts twice as long as times tr-(-- and there is a coarse display of the setting values for the ink zone actuating elements 2.1 and 2.2.

In order to set the damping-solution values, the display of which is to be by means of green light, the ink/damping-solution selector switch 16 is set to its second position. The photoreceiver disposed in the light pen 7 is adapted with its working wavelength to the wavelength of the red- light substrate 17 and is insensiiive to the spectral range of the green- light substrate 19.

In order to set the damping-solution values, both substrates 17 and 19 are energized. During time trc,, the red-light substrate 17 is energized in such a manner that the light pen 7 detects the red-light pulses, which, however, are generated with such an integral luminous flux that they are not visible or only insignificantly visible to the human eye. During times tE,^z and however, the green-light substrate 19 is energized in such a manner that it is visually easily perceptible. Thus, despite the two-colour display, the light pen 7 needs to be sensitive to only one colour, which may be of advantage if one wishes to switch existing monochromatic setting arrangements to multi colour operation.

The address-memory logic 11 in the control apparatus 1 receives the signal pulses from the light pen 7, which are ampl-ified and filtered. The light-pen pulses are forwarded, as a function of the energization time (Fig. 2), in the form of a storage pulse to the addressdata memory 12. The address-data memory 12 is connected to the LED-energization logic 14 through the intermediary of a unidirectional and a bidirectional data bus. The control signals for the management of a dual-port RAM in the address-data memory 12 are made available via the unidirectional data bus, which additionally comprises the address bus for the selected column. The bidirectional data bus is the data bus for the selected LED row. Depending on the energization time (Fig. 2), the LED-energization electronics 14 enables and energizes one of the driver stages of the substrates 17-and 19, for which purpose the LEDenergization logic 14 is connected to the substrateselection stage 15. The computer 13 processes the data, relating to the ink and/or damping-solution zone, available in the address-data memory and generates signals for the actuators for the ink- or dampingsolution-film thickness profile. Furthermore, the computer 13 may be provided with data for the ink and/or damping-solution zones, said data coming from a peripheral device (not shown) and being forwarded to the address-data memory 12.

The arrangement of two adjacent LEDs 9 is such that the light cones of the substrates 17 do not overlap during time t,,c. The scattering of the emitted red light is kept to a low level due to the fact that the redlight substrate 17 is disposed centrally in the two-colour LED 9. A further possibility for keeping the scatter to a low level consists in that the LED lens or an LED reflector is provided with a specific geometry. Since the green-light-emitting component is not used for lightpen control, its scatter is irrelevant, with the result that it is possible for the green-light substrate 19 to be disposed off-centre.

It will of course be understood that the present invention has been described above purely by way of example, and modifications of detail can be made within the scope of the invention.

8

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. Arrangement for the zonal setting of ink and damping solution in the printing unit of an offset printing press, consisting of remotely controlled, zonally acting actuating elements for the quantities of ink and damping solution supplied in _the printing unit, consisting further of a control, apparatus, said control apparatus having a connection to the actuating elements and comprising a display panel and a light pen, with, in the display panel, each ink and damping-solution zone being associated with a column of individual light-emitting elements and with the light pen being movable transversely or longitudinally across the columns, with the result that, using the light pen in interaction with the light-emitting elements, the zonal quantities of ink and damping solution can be set to suit the printed image and can be displayed, wherein the light-emitting elements emit light of two visually distinguishable wavelengths, with the display of the ink quantity being settable to the first wavelength and with the display of the damping-solution quantity being settable to the second wavelength.

2. Arrangement according to claim 1 wherein the light is intermittently emittable, with the light of the wavelength not intended for display purposes being emittable with an integral luminous flux, said luminous flux being essentially below the light- sensation threshold of the human eye.

3. Arrangement according to claim 1 or 2 wherein one of the two wavelengths is adapted to the working wavelength of the light pen.

4. Arrangement according to claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein the light-emitting elements are in the form of two-colour LEDs.

5. Arrangement for the zonal setting of ink and damping solution in the printing unit of an offset printing press, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to 9 the accompanying drawings.

6. For use with a printing unit of an off set printing press, an arrangement substantially as hereinbefore 5 described with reference to the accompanying drawings.