JPH0323339B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to printing on a moving surface by a printing press having a rotatable printing wheel in which ink is transferred from an ink reservoir via a rotating ink transfer roller.

The above type of printing machine is disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 3,361,062,
It is already well known as disclosed in No. 3457854 and No. 3662682. U.S. Patent No. for Proctor
No. 3,361,062 features means for adjusting and aligning the angle of the transfer roller relative to the print wheel for proper ink transfer. U.S. Pat. No. 3,457,854 to Moratsutsui relates to the problem of adjusting the amount of ink transferred by adjusting an excess ink wiping device associated with the transfer roller. U.S. Pat. No. 3,662,682 to Moratsutsui features fast drying ink storage in a replaceable ink storage cartridge. Printing machines of the above type suffer from various problems including rapid wear of parts causing vibration, performance degradation and rapid depletion of ink.

It is therefore an important object of the present invention to print articles, packaging films, etc. at discrete locations on moving surfaces with acceptable print quality with relatively fast drying inks during long periods of uninterrupted operation. The object of the present invention is to provide an improved printing press for printing.

According to the invention, in a printing machine of the type mentioned above, a printing wheel that rotates continuously during the working interval and an ink transfer roller that rotates intermittently during the working interval, the rotation of the transfer roller is interrupted each time the printing wheel rotates. However, they are rotated at the same linear surface speed by an improved intermittent gearing system to reduce the negative effects of shock, thereby reducing wear on both the transfer roller and the extra ink wiper blade. The ink transfer roller is carried by an ink cylinder which is adjustably arranged on the support arm by means of an eccentric adjustment element to establish optimum meshing conditions for the intermittent gear mechanism. The ink cylinder also carries a replaceable ink storage cartridge from which an arcuate ink pad projects into sliding contact with the transfer roller. The ink pad has a Teflon covering surface and has a flat wiper blade adjustably positioned relative to the transfer roller to remove excess ink from the transfer roller.

These and other objects will become more apparent from the following description of structure and operation, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Like reference numbers in the figures indicate like parts.

Referring now in detail to the accompanying drawings, FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 illustrate a printing press, generally designated by the reference numeral 10, constructed in accordance with the present invention. The printing machine 10 includes a fixed support shaft 12 for movement with a continuously moving web or strip that rests around the surface being printed, e.g. a bucking roller 16.
supported on a suitable frame. Other moving surfaces advanced by separate drive mechanisms can also be printed. No. 3,662,682 of the same applicant discloses the general arrangement of this printing press 10, which includes a printing wheel assembly 18 rotatably mounted on one end of a mounting lever arm 20. , the other end of the lever arm is pivotally supported on a support shaft 12. An angled bracket 22 is secured to the support shaft 12 and has an adjustment screw 24 threaded therein that engages the end of the support arm 20 adjacent the print wheel assembly 18 to move the print wheel assembly 18. The print wheel assembly is held in an angular adjustment position to print an area strip 14. Accordingly, the upper end of the adjusting screw 24 is provided with an adjusting knob 26, which abuts one end of a coil spring 28 seated on a washer 30 that abuts the bracket 22. The screw 24 is now locked in the adjusted position and the support arm 20 is urged into engagement with the screw 24 by the spring 32, one end of which is attached to a hub secured to the support arm 20 as shown in FIG. It is locked at 34. The other end of the spring 32 is locked to a sleeve 36 which is secured to the support shaft and has an end collar 38 axially spaced from the hub 34. A cylindrical cover 40 extends from the support arm 20 over the flange portion of the hub 34 and engages the collar 38 to engage the sleeve 3
The spring 32 around 6 is closed. Sleeve 36 projects axially beyond support arm 20 and is secured to hub portion 44 of bracket 22 by set screw 42. An inking device 46 is carried by arm 20 between the ends of support arm 20 . Associated with the inking device is a cylindrical ink transfer housing 48 from which an ink transfer roller 50 projects toward the print wheel assembly 18, as more clearly seen in FIG. Also protruding from the ink transfer housing 48 opposite the transfer roller is an ink storage cartridge 52, which is described in the applicant's above-mentioned U.S. Pat.
It is of the type disclosed in No. 3662682.

Referring again to FIG. 4, print wheel assembly 18 includes a cylindrical body 54 secured to a continuously rotatable power shaft 56, which shaft 56 is supported by bearings 58 and 60 spaced within a hub portion 62 of support arm 20. It is pivoted. A hub portion 62 projects axially into a bearing cavity formed within the cylinder 54 and is mounted on the cylinder 54 between space disks 66 and 68 for registration with the surface 14 to be printed. A cylindrical printed bucking sleeve 64 is arranged axially. An assembly locking element 70 is threaded onto one end of power shaft 56 within cylinder 54 adjacent one end of the cylinder. The other end of the power shaft is
It extends into the printing press drive mechanism (not shown). A drive gear wheel 72 is secured to a power shaft on the side of the support arm 20 opposite the print wheel assembly 18 and is capable of providing rotational force to the ink transfer roller 50 in accordance with the present invention as described in detail below.

The inking device 46, clearly shown in FIGS. 1, 3, 5 and 10, includes an adjustable mounting element 74 connected to an adjacent circular end plate 76 of the housing 48.
is carried on the support arm 20 by. A cylindrical portion 78 of the housing interconnects the end plate 76 and the other circular end plate 80 to enclose a chamber 82 and a type mounting plate 8 on the print wheel assembly as shown in FIG.
A transfer roller 50 projects from the chamber 82 through an opening 84 in alignment with the transfer roller 50 . The ink storage cartridge 52 is insertable into or withdrawn from the chamber 82 and is located at the inner end 8.
8, from which an arc-shaped ink pad 90 protrudes from the inner end, as shown in FIG. When the cartridge 52 is inserted and installed into the housing 48, the end plate 80 of the housing 48
Cartridge 52 is urged toward the transfer roller by a locking screw 94 secured to and a spring 92 connected at both ends to the outer end of the cartridge. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, sliding contact is maintained between the ink pad 90 and the transfer roller 50, which is fixed to the roller shaft 96 supported by bearings 98 and 100 in the end plates 76 and 80. Ru. Roller shaft 96 extends axially beyond end plate 76 and has a gear wheel 102 secured to the shaft and meshing with gear wheel 72 as shown more clearly in FIG.

In order to establish correct meshing of gear wheels 72 and 102, housing 48 of inking device 46 is mounted on support arm 20 by said mounting element 74.
are arranged in an adjustable manner. The mounting element 74 is pivotally connected to the support arm by a shouldered pivot bolt 104, and the bolt 104 is threaded into the support arm 20 and welded to the mounting element 74.
It is pivotally supported by a bushing 106 that is press-fitted into a plug 107 that protrudes from 4. Pivot bolt 104
is screwed onto the arm 20 with its head 108 in contact with the end of the plug 107. The angular position of the mounting element relative to the support arm is determined by a slotted circular head 110 eccentrically connected to a threaded shank 112 passing through the support arm 20.
Adjusted by. The nut 114 is the head 11
0 engages mounting element 74 in groove 116 to lock shank 112 in the angularly adjusted position. The upper end of the mounting element is connected to the end plate 76 of the housing 48 by a headed pivot member 118. Pivot member 118 has a threaded bore that receives threaded fastener 120. Compression spring 122 flexibly holds the mounting element in its adjusted position as clearly shown in FIGS. 2 and 11. The ends of spring 122 are connected to housing blocks 123 and 1 which are fixed to one end of support arm 20 and mounting element 74, respectively.
Reacts to 25. Accordingly, a spring bias force is applied to the mounting element 74 to maintain the oxygen 74 in contact with the eccentric head 110 during adjustment. Further adjustment is made by positioning the angle of housing 48 about pivot member 118 on mounting element 74. To this end, a second headed shank member 124 extends from the end plate 76 of the housing 48 through an arcuate slot 126 in the mounting element. Slot 126 has a center of curvature on the axis of pivot member 118, as clearly shown in FIG. Member 124 is locked in an angular position within slot 126 by the head of a clamp screw 128 threaded into the bore of member 124.

When the inking device 46 is in an adjusted position relative to the mounting arm 20, the gear wheel 72
and 102 are in proper mesh and intermittently transmit motion from the continuously rotating power shaft 56 to the roller shaft 96. The gear wheel 102 has a rim segment 132 formed with gear teeth spaced apart at a predetermined angle of the gear wheel 72, as shown in FIG.
a 360° outer gear tooth rim 130 arranged to mesh with the rim 130; Therefore, the ink transfer roller will not rotate while the type mounting plate 86 on the print wheel assembly is not in contact with the printing surface. The gear teeth 134 of the gear wheel 102 have an involute shape 1 shown in dotted lines as shown in FIG.
36, this involute shape has been improved by grinding the front and rear surfaces of the tooth so that the edges 138 converge to a relatively sharp tooth tip. Similarly, the involute shape of the gear teeth 140 with respect to the rim segment 132 of the gear wheel 72 is improved. Furthermore, the two teeth 140' and 140'' of each rim segment 132 have a tip height that gradually decreases in the forward direction as shown in FIG. 13. As a result of improving the gear tooth shape as described above, Smooth ink transfer to the ink transfer roller improves ink transfer efficiency from the cartridge 52 to the print wheel assembly.

This ink transfer efficiency is further enhanced and/or
or change due to this. Wiper unit 14
2 includes a leaf spring element 144 cantilevered to the cylindrical housing portion 78 by a screw 146 threaded between a washer 148 and a lower clamp plate 150. A rigid wiper blade 152 is fixed to the free end of this leaf spring 144,
The wiper blade 152 is located below the leaf spring,
As shown in FIG. 10, it protrudes forward from the leaf spring 144 in a substantially tangential direction with respect to the transfer roller 50.
The wiper blade is secured to the leaf spring by a screw 154 passing through a lower clamp plate 156 and a bearing plate 158 on top of the leaf spring. The bearing plate engages the inner end of the adjustment screw 160, and the other outer end of the adjustment screw 160 is connected to the adjustment knob 162. A coil spring 164 acts between the housing portion 78 and the adjustment knob 162 to create a thread locking pressure that holds the adjustment screw 160 in the axial adjustment position against an internally threaded nut formation 166 on the spring portion. do. Therefore, leaf spring 1
44 is held in a controlled bent position to provide contact between wiper blade 152 and transfer roller with appropriate wiper pressure to remove excess ink from the roller during rotation, as well as gear wheels 74 and 102 during meshing. The rotation provided by the power drive device is intermittently stopped through a gear mechanism formed by.

The ink pad 90 shown in FIG. 9 serves to supply a controlled amount of liquid ink from the cartridge 52. The ink pad consists of an arc of absorbent material 168 that closes the inner end 88 of the cartridge and extends from the inner end to the roller 50.
protruding towards. Teflon film 170
forms a surface layer with suitable porosity on the arcuate body 168 to control the flow of liquid ink to the roller surface during intermittent rotation, allowing ink transfer operations with unexpected optimal efficiency. .

The foregoing description is merely illustrative of the principles of the invention; numerous modifications and improvements will readily occur to those skilled in the art, and it is not intended to limit the invention to the structure and operation described above. Undesirable. Accordingly, suitable modifications and equivalents are within the scope of this invention.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a printing assembly according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 2 is a partial side view of the printing press from the opposite side to FIG. 1; and FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the plane shown on line 4-4 in FIG. 1, and FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the plane shown on line 5-5 in FIG. FIGS. 6 and 7 are enlarged partial sectional views taken along the planes 6-6 and 7-7 of FIG. 4, and FIG. 8 is an enlarged partial sectional view taken along the planes 8-8 of FIG. 9 and 10 are partial sectional views taken along the planes shown by lines 9-9 and 10-10 in FIG. 5, and FIG. FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the wiper disassembled from the inking device shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is an enlarged partial side view of the gear device. 18... Printing wheel assembly, 20... Mounting arm, 46... Inking device, 50... Transfer roller, 52... Cartridge, 72, 102...
Gear wheel, 90...Printed pad.

Claims (1)

Claims: 1 a pivoting mounting arm, a printing wheel rotatably mounted on the arm, an ink storage cartridge carried by the mounting arm and operatively mounted to the cartridge and the printing wheel; a first gear wheel having a continuous toothed rim and connected to the transfer roller; and a second gear wheel having at least one toothed rim segment of less than 360° and connected to the printing wheel. an article printing machine comprising an intermittently engaged gear means including a wheel, the intermittently engaged gear means having an adjustable gear relative to the printing wheel to maintain optimum meshing of the gear wheel of the intermittently engaged gear means; at least two of the gear teeth of the rim segment forward in one direction of rotation, including means for supporting the inking device on the mounting arm in a positional relationship to minimize operational wear and depletion of ink stored by the inking device; An article printing machine characterized in that one of the teeth is gradually reduced at the tips of the teeth. 2 having a pivoting mounting arm, a printing wheel rotatably mounted on the arm, and a transfer roller carried by the mounting arm and operatively mounted to an ink storage cartridge and to one end of the cartridge and to the printing wheel. An article printing machine comprising an inking device and a power transmission means connected to the printing wheel to rotate the printing wheel, the article printing machine comprising means for minimizing wastage of ink stored in the cartridge, the means at one end of the cartridge. An article printing machine comprising an arcuate ink pad projecting from the ink pad toward the transfer roller, the ink pad having an absorbent body and an outer Teflon surface layer contacting the transfer roller spaced apart from the one end of the cartridge. . 3. The inking device includes a housing enclosing a chamber in which the transfer roller and the ink pad are in contact with each other and also includes wiper means;
The wiper means includes a rigid element, a flexible element latched to a housing supporting the rigid element, and a flexible element for retaining the rigid element in sliding contact with a transfer roller in the chamber. 2. A printing press according to claim 1, further comprising adjustable means engageable with the elements. 4 having a pivoting mounting arm, a printing wheel rotatably mounted on the arm, an ink storage cartridge and a transfer roller operatively mounted relative to the cartridge and the printing wheel;
an inking device carried on a mounting arm; and a power transmission means connected to the printing wheel for rotating the printing wheel in one direction, said power transmission means having a continuous toothed rim and connected to a transfer roller. a first gear wheel and a second gear wheel having at least one toothed rim segment of less than 360° and connected to the printing wheel, said rim and rim segment having both teeth toward the leading edge. In an article printing machine in which improved involute gear teeth are formed with converging surfaces, at least two of the gear teeth of the front rim segment in one rotational direction are tapered at the tips of the teeth, and the improved involute gear teeth are formed. means are provided for holding the transfer roller in an adjustable position on the arm so as to avoid forced interlocking and to minimize impact on said forward gear teeth of the rim segment during ink transfer intervals; An article printing machine characterized by: